The last few Fridays I've been playing live poker down at a new night just off Baker Street - Fourth Street Poker. Nice little tournaments (under 20 entrants) and a young, friendly clientele make for a fun evening out.
Last Friday I started quite well, I got my starting stack of 800 up to 2300 in the rebuy period (thanks in part to getting dealt QQ twice) and yet still managed to have to use a rebuy as I lost them all. The major damage was done when I had a J-high flush lose to a K-high flush (with the Ace on the board). Managed to get some chips somehow and made it to the final table, but cards went cold and I had no opportunities to snatch chips and I went out in 8th. My last hand was KQ, which is my traditional hand for exiting live tournaments with.
Over the weekend I decided to give no-limit cash games another go. My first foray into the field last month was a nightmare - I played twice and lost my £100 buy-in both times. The mistake I made was treating it like the early stages of an internet MTT. The objective in the early stages of these tournaments is to try and get all your chips in the middle with big hands and hope they hold up, as there are many players who will go all-in with less than premium hands. I did the same in the cash games with QQ and KK, only to run into KK and AA respectively. I failed to understand that no-limit cash games are all about trying to accumulate chips through your betting and play, rather than by going to showdowns and your good cards holding up. (It's also about successfully trapping someone with a big pair by hitting two pair or a straight, but I haven't had a chance to do this yet).
I played four sessions of no-limit cash games and won about £50 in each one - 4 winning sessions wiping out the losses from my first dabble. I feel more confident about the game now and will try and make this my staple for earning the bonuses on the Crypto cash tables as I've been finding limit poker a bit boring recently.
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