To Grind or Not To Grind
More and more these days, I think about grinding it out as a poker player. I don’t live in Vegas or any major poker city, but I am trying my hands at playing “part time” for extra money just to see how it goes. I think much of my family would flip if I told them what I was doing, and I know it is grueling to grind for a living, but a part of me wants to do it. Now granted, I won’t leave the security of my job to jump out and do it, but hopefully, I can earn my way into the WSOP and just keep building from there.
Some may call me a wimp for wanting to make a big kill before I go full time, but others will call me wise because I have a wife and I’d like to keep her without moving in with her family 
So far this year, I have made money every time I have played poker, including two small tournaments. One tourney paid for my trip to Vegas and the other bought me some food and gas. Last night, I averaged a bit more than $35 per hour which is roughly 28.5% higher than the median income here in Phoenix. Once I move to higher stakes, I will surely increase that and if I can double it, a 30 hour work week could generate a six-figure income for me. I have to say, for me… that would be the life. Of course, if I could parlay that info a six figure WSOP paycheck every year, I think I would be set. My only problem would be convincing my kids that they need a good education when dad plays card for a living. Oh well, we will cross that bridge when we get there. Dad has done his time and put in lots of blood sweat and tears in the trenches of “work” and as a business owner multiple times. I think dads harvest is due.
Wish me luck!
Limit vs. No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em
Now that I live in Arizona I am playing Low-Stakes Limit Texas Hold ‘Em. Why Limit? Because the gaming laws of Arizona don’t allow No-Limit Poker. Don’t ask why.
I LOVE poker (mainly Texas Hold ‘Em), but I am not a huge fan of limit Hold ‘Em. My wife asked if she could sit and play and I strongly advised her against it because she has never played limit. So what the big deal you ask?
Well, here are my notes on Limit Hold ‘Em:
1. In Limit Poker you really can’t bluff. Well, at least not at lower stakes. I am getting my feet wet with limit before moving up to the larger stakes. Who knows, maybe limit will be by game of choice at the 2009 WSOP.
2. It’s easy to lose money. Even if you are playing low stakes, some people don’t mind paying to see an extra card or two, so it can hurt after a while if you don’t play premium hands.
3. The upside is that you can limit your losses. You are limited to a few multiples of the big blind, which at least can help you stay in the game a bit longer than losing an unfair all-in hand in a no limit game.
The first time I played, I should have walked away when I hit a huge pot and more than doubled up, but I still left up nearly 100%. Last night, I was up about 140%, but of course my lovely wife spent about $100 playing blackjack, so it reduced our net. It’s ok, it made for a fun night. Where else can you get paid to go out and have fun instead of spending money.
I told her I was pretty confident that if I “lost my day job” I’d still be able to make some money. Tonight I will go back to test this theory with day 3.
Remember, “it’s only gambling if you don’t know the rules”
Until next time.. play tight and play strong!
What it Takes to Play Poker Like a Pro
Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Over the past several years as online poker has gained massive acceptance worldwide, players from all over the world have been able to do something that the old timers never got a chance to do which is play LOTS of hands over a short period of time. The learning curve has been immensely shortened and whether you play online for money or not, the more you play, the more hands you will see, the more analysis you will be able to make, and therefore you should end up making more educated decisions abouts hands and winning more money.
These days, I play lots of free poker at Full Tilt. They even have “freerolls” where you can win money for tournaments that don’t cost any money to play. Granted, you’ve got out play a lot of people to end up in the money, but where else can you get paid to improve your skills in the ultimate game?
Check out Full Tilt Poker for more info. You can register for FREE and start making money today!
Keep Your Eye on Your Opponents Chips
Always be aware of two players; the one with the most chips (possibly a “bully”) and the one with the least chip (a.k.a. the short stack). The bully may just bet because she has the juice to do so and try to scare you off. The short stack can mess with your play by having to gamble ay his or her last hand. This theory is especially true in tournament play where it’s “do or die”.
My advice, always play your best hands - and only your best hands - especially when you have a bully or a short stacked player at the table. You will be thankful after folding those “this could turn into something” hands once you see the short stacked player to your left go all in after you fold.
Playing Good Poker is Boring
Playing good poker means not playing every hand. That’s why it’s often referred to as “grinding” - it gets boring just sitting there are folding, but as long as your chip stack keeps growing it will seem like the prudent thing to do. This is why a lot of people just aren’t good poker players; they lack patience and want to just play every hand - good, bad, or marginal.
If you find yourself losing or see your chip stack dwindling down, I challenge you to try just sitting out the next several hands and only play if you get super strong hands like KK or AA.
The goal (if you remember the movie Rounders) is to win one big hand an hour. Shooting for anything else is gambling.
- BigSlick
Playing Agressive Poker - Go Hard or GO HOME!
Like the song says “you’ve got a choice to make - you can go hard or go home!” When playing poker, you’ve got to be aggressive. If you’re weak, your opponents can smell it. Of course, there are times to back down, but for the most part, I favor aggressive play.
I was coaching my wife the other day as she played poker online and she thought I was too aggressive, but she soon saw how people would just fold to her. Bottom line is if no one is betting, you can either do nothing and take a chance on someone else stepping up, put out an “information bet” - a reasonable but no too strong bet to test the waters, or just be aggressive.
So when should you not be too aggressive?
1. If there is a pair on the board and you don’t have trips, and there are a lot of players, you might was to tread cautiously.
2. When you are bluffing. This should be pretty obvious, because if you get called, you may have to put the rest of your chips on the line on a gamble or fold and lost all of those chips.
Anyhow, I have adopted the motto of the NHRA (the only other worthy sports sanctioning body) which is “Go Hard or GO HOME”. With that, I leave you this video:
