No Creative Title

Well, May has really blown.  Or sucked, depending on your pressure ratio.

I think my efforts to win large pots has backfired slightly and has cost me some coinage.  The Theory of Poker in effect states that you should play your hand in the same manner as you would if you could see your opponents cards face up.  Looking back the last few days and nights, I certainly wouldn’t change how I’ve played some of my hands, but I’d like to offer a new theory.

The Theory of Suckage.  Play your hand as if you know that your opponent will catch his miracle card to win.

What this effectively means is that rather than slow play your 85-90% favorites on the turn or river, you’ll bet them hard and win smaller pots.

I believe I’ve managed to play consistently aggressive when warranted.  However, I do know that I’ve been guilty of lapses when the aggressiveness goes awry.  It’s the aggressiveness that increases your long-term win rate, but it also increases your variance too.  So when my aggressiveness is not quite at the right level for the current situation and it causes me to lose a pot rather than win it, I get gun shy.  Compounding my problems, a lapse into passive play usually costs me a pot or two before I realize my errors.  All of a sudden, I’m in a larger hole.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

The negative feedback of bankroll depletion is tugging at my poker game.  To regroup a bit, I’ve temporarily stepped back down a level to work out some issues.  I’ve also taken to the full ring games rather than the shorthanded tables to work on patience.

Back to the front!