Quote:
I agree this game can't be beat playing ABC poker, but I also haven't seen skill win out either. I know my exposure here is limited -
Skilled players beat this game and unskilled ones lose, in the long run. The further the game diverges from the games described in your favorite book/video, the more you'll need to adjust the standard plays you memorize from said book/vid.
Quote:
I haven't really seen position as a big advantage, in contrast to a NL game. If the villain is drawing to the river, it doesn't matter whether he's first to act or not, he's gonna check call 30/60/60 everytime.
Position matters less in a LHE game than NL, because in LHE you sometimes get an extra or get to save a bet and in NL the thing saved/lost can be most of a buyin. Big bet games punish lack of position more. Also draw games have a doubled effect because you get to see both bets and draws -- think about 27TD where position is huge. Still those bets matter on your WR. I'd attribute this feeling you have to inexperience with limit games and maybe some runbad or confirmation bias.
Quote:
Is the answer as simple as sample size? In the long run AA are more likely to win so just put on your big boy pants and hold on? Or do you play more suited connectors and just hope to hit the flop hard?
You're playing like
them if you pass on raising good hands that never win and play a large number of speculative hands, passively. Some of this seems like NL thinking creeping in. You cold-call in position hoping to get huge implied odds from your deep stacks -- in LHE your edges come more thinly, you don't get these implied odds, and this plan works less often.
Quote:
And the one thing I know for sure is 1) it's still crazy as ever and 2) the swings are heart-attack inducing...
Haven't been up for a couple months. Bellatrix and I went up when she was in town, the game seemed much calmer. A few better players replaced some of the familiar faces. I'd say it is still a decent 30 game, but not off-the-hook good.
As a strong winning player, I'd still want a $30K+ roll if I had to play this game over the long run. That's a lot of swong.
Here's the thing, a few people are making a living out of this game. There are certainly decent pros who you're playing against most of the time. If there are 2-4 of them in the game, and you don't have the skills to be a good pro, your WR isn't as high as it might seem it would be. Take that vs. a small stakes game where you are in the top 2 of skill. Add in losing players who are willing to fight for pots, and I'd never be surprised that even a decent player would struggle to move up to this game. Be patient.
When you say that you haven't seen skill win out, I worry. It could be a sign that you're not recognizing the good players actions where they're doing good things. It could also be that it has been a luck-fest every time you sit. In that game, let's say it is all luck all around except that you make or save an extra bet an hour over everyone else. You know to thin bet one river an hour or something. That's $70+/hour, and likely more than anyone makes in that game. Think about it. Your entire edge from making one big street decision better than the field, every hour.