Petals Around The Rose
January 21st, 2013
Threes and fives. That's what I saw when I woke up this morning, and immediately started playing. A 6 swing in the first hour, and then back to even. Woosh. With stakes like these now a reality, elite regs come out of the woodwork. For them, twos are too low to bother. Fives pique their interest -- a $500 tournament that lasts 20 hands can be a source of tremendous profit, but you'd have to squeeze every drop of value out of those hands.
I had to stop and evaluate. How much did I have to put up? Maybe 100ish. How much downswing time could that buy me? Before I got back into the black this year, I withstood a 60 prerb downswing, running very, very below. I ran 22 below on the worst such day and I ran 10 below yesterday. And yet through all of that, I recovered sharply. However, how much was that in petals land -- and was I ready? I started getting ready.
There was no option. If threes and fives were a reality, then the volume available at twos diminishes. It makes it mandatory to play higher to recapture that volume. At the same time, my earning potential could be higher. But only if I became an even better reg. Winnings are not equally distributed. At a table of 5 regs, the elite reg wins the majority of the money. As the stakes increased, competition did too. Those positions were now being contested sharply.
The day had me re-evaluate. In many ways, I feel renewed, that this is a new race, with a different goal. Now, instead of volume being the motive, skill was. It pushed me to pursue studying holdem deeply. Before, my goal was a classical approach: apply "the solution" to the game in great volume. Now, my goal is a more modern one: realize that no one understands the game and try to understand it better than everyone else. Win at nosebleed stakes, with low volume and high winrate. Study the important subgames of the format very deeply; beyond a superficial level. Try to exploit as much as possible. And get back to playing a lot every day, regardless of results.
The key moment is when I really tried. And then I began to notice things. One hand in particular that I played, I think is a completely standard hand at any other limit. But I realized it was actually theoretically awful. In a one, this was standard and the best line. In a five, this was completely unacceptable -- precisely because people would notice and attack. And it really stuck with me, all these glaring weaknesses I could spot in my game when measured under an elite lens.
Here, theory mattered; and players, especially elite players, seemed to find much more poker to play than the typical regs, even with the shortest of stack sizes. Nash play seemed to be heralded, even in minraised and limped pots. The time for guessing was over. I actually needed to know how to play every spot optimally. And I needed to know right now.
I decided to study hard. Then, refresh by watching the leafs game (home opener) with my friends. It was sorely needed. Beforehand, over coffee, I overheard someone chitchatting with another: "...won big on the leafs last time. $250." At that point I realized, my world had actually changed. The units in my life were and became thousands, not ones.
We are not the same, I am a martian.
There's no turning back. Before, I was ready to put 50 over the line. Now, the stakes are even higher. 100 is going over the line. Maybe for an established regular, this would be modest. For me, its everything I can put up for poker. If I lost more than 100 at fives and threes, I would have to drop down to twos. Daily swings of 10 might be common. And anything can happen.
I'm ready. I want the title.
It's my money, and I want it now. Bay bay, AY. GET THAT MONEY, GO.
AW
