The Argosy 10/20 Game: revisited
Last night (Friday night) I went out to the Argosy to play 10/20 again. I ended up playing about 9 hours and losing money on the night. In fairness, aside from hitting a couple of flops with suited gappers, I didn't run particularly well. I lost with AA at least twice and also lost twice with KK (though one was on a questionable river fold). However, all that said I also didn't play all that great, especially later in the session when I was playing at a table with 3 other pretty strong players. I misplayed a couple of key pots against the good players and kept getting into confrontations with one donkey who probably ended up taking money off of me in the long run. Again, I'm not sure, but I think I misplayed some pots against him too.
At any rate, while there were definitely donators at the table, it wasn't nearly as soft as the 6/12 game that I was used to sitting in there. At 6/12 I can't recall ever sitting at a table where I didn't feel like I was clearly the best player at the table. At the 10/20 game there were at least 3 players at the table who were at least as good as (and probably better than) me. I know I got outplayed by some of these guys in the pots that I got into with them and all in all I feel like I made some major mistakes. All of this leads me to wonder if I have any business playing this game again at this point in my poker career. Granted, I could probably improve my game by playing against people who are better than me and also watching them, but at what cost. If I have a higher earn rate in the 6/12 game I probably ought to stick with it for a while longer. My live bankroll isn't that large and I'm certainly at risk if I take a big downswing at the 10/20 level. Even though I'm still probably better than half the players at the table, which means I should be able to beat the game, I think the presence of the good players is going to make it tougher for me to win, which will cut into my earn rate and increase my variance. In fact, the only reasons I can think of for staying are my personal pride (not wanting to admit defeat) and wanting to improve my game (and I do believe that by playing with people who are better than me I can improve my game). However, I think the bottom line is that right now I really should be playing to make money first and foremost and I can probably do that better at the 6/12 level.
What I'm probably going to do is go back to playing 6/12, then wait to take another shot at 10/20 until I have at least 100 BB for the game. The biggest key is that I think 6/12 plays to my strengths a little better and I've never been at a table there where I didn't feel like I was clearly the favorite. At 10/20 it was much more marginal. I could identify the people that I was pretty sure I was better than, but I certainly wasn't the best player at the table and I do feel that I got flat outplayed in a couple of spots. Hence, I think I'm better off for the time being sticking to a game I know I'm better than. Down the road, when I have a more stable financial situation and a bigger bankroll I'll probably take another shot and hopefully get better at the game as a result.
At any rate, while there were definitely donators at the table, it wasn't nearly as soft as the 6/12 game that I was used to sitting in there. At 6/12 I can't recall ever sitting at a table where I didn't feel like I was clearly the best player at the table. At the 10/20 game there were at least 3 players at the table who were at least as good as (and probably better than) me. I know I got outplayed by some of these guys in the pots that I got into with them and all in all I feel like I made some major mistakes. All of this leads me to wonder if I have any business playing this game again at this point in my poker career. Granted, I could probably improve my game by playing against people who are better than me and also watching them, but at what cost. If I have a higher earn rate in the 6/12 game I probably ought to stick with it for a while longer. My live bankroll isn't that large and I'm certainly at risk if I take a big downswing at the 10/20 level. Even though I'm still probably better than half the players at the table, which means I should be able to beat the game, I think the presence of the good players is going to make it tougher for me to win, which will cut into my earn rate and increase my variance. In fact, the only reasons I can think of for staying are my personal pride (not wanting to admit defeat) and wanting to improve my game (and I do believe that by playing with people who are better than me I can improve my game). However, I think the bottom line is that right now I really should be playing to make money first and foremost and I can probably do that better at the 6/12 level.
What I'm probably going to do is go back to playing 6/12, then wait to take another shot at 10/20 until I have at least 100 BB for the game. The biggest key is that I think 6/12 plays to my strengths a little better and I've never been at a table there where I didn't feel like I was clearly the favorite. At 10/20 it was much more marginal. I could identify the people that I was pretty sure I was better than, but I certainly wasn't the best player at the table and I do feel that I got flat outplayed in a couple of spots. Hence, I think I'm better off for the time being sticking to a game I know I'm better than. Down the road, when I have a more stable financial situation and a bigger bankroll I'll probably take another shot and hopefully get better at the game as a result.
posted by TheCinciKid @ 8:33 AM
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