Reflections

I've been trying to analyze why I suck so much lately and here's a few things I've noticed about my game.

1. I suck so hard preflop
I'm a preflop pussy. I'd never raise anything but Pocket Jacks and up, and would fold anything else to an average preflop raise by someone else. Yes, I'd fold AK to a preflop raise of 3 or times the blinds, all in the name of "trying to lessen my variance", which I've always thought was a good thing. This is also why I always used to play the 6max tables instead of FR, my reasoning being that in 6max I don't need to raise since with less players the need for preflop raising is less as well. What an idiot I am.

As for lessening my variance, that's a big mistake to begin with. I read something about this on 2+2 which hit me pretty hard. It states The best players don't try to avoid or lessen their variance. the best players simply don't even care about the variance." If you're playing correctly like you should, variance is just what it is, a short term spike in luck. Over the long run variance disappears anyway and your true results will be evident, which makes worrying about it stupid and worthless.

2. Repeat after me: Bankroll, bankroll, bankroll...
Of course, I need to actually be able to reach the long term first. That means having a bankroll that can withstand the variance. I, in my everlasting intelligence, decided to start playing 25NL with a bankroll of around only $250. With just 10 buy-ins, I had to play carefully and avoid too much gambling. This also relates to my 1st point where I was trying to avoid variance. And as any knowledgeable player will tell you, if you're playing with scared money you might as well give it all up right now and stop wasting time, you're going to lose it all eventually anyway.

3. Short stacks should only happen in tournaments
With my bankroll not large enough for the stakes I was playing, I had to make things worse by starting to buy-in short. I resorted to hit and run tactics, I bought in for $7 or $8 at 25NL, looked to double up, then moved to a different table, rinse, and repeat.

Short stacking is bad for a variety of reasons. First, I was negating my advantage and playing to my disadvantage. I've already said I suck at preflop poker, but it didn't bother me too much before because I think I'm above average postflop. Postflop, I know can generally make the right decisions, even get away from a big hand if I sense I'm beat. With shorstacking, I'm looking to gamble preflop to double up quickly or bust, so my advantages were reduced to nil.

Also, as a shortstack I can't put too much pressure on my opponents, my bets have no leverage whatsoever. I noticed that when I play for the max buy-in, I prefer to have shortstacks opponents instead of other big stacks. I find it easier to make decisions against them, plus there's a certain satisfaction that comes with busting someone. Knowing all this I still tried to play a shortstack for a significant amount of time. What. The. Fuck.

I'm trying to correct all 3 above, but it will take some time. I've dropped back to 10NL, now always starting with a full buy-in, and raising and calling preflop more. Last night I made it a rule where if I'm the first one in the pot, I'm raising it if I decide to play. No more open limping, if at all possible. Of course I'll have to refine that again and again, but it's a good start. It's a long, very hard road from where I am right now to where I want to be.