I will lose all "Table Cred"

But it's a risk I'm willing to take, even with the Mookie tonight.

So here it is. I am a ridiculously low-limit player with minimal success in my past performance line. Wow. It feels better to get that out there.

Now that we've established that, anyone reading this (my mother and some ridiculously bored inmates...thank you Iggy) has context for what I'm about to say.

I cashed last night in the $10 Daily Double A tournament on Full Tilt, finishing sixth out of over 1,100 entrants for a cool $400, taking my Full Tilt bankroll over $500 for the first time ever. Yes, you read that right. Not only is this my biggest cash ever in online poker, but the first time my account has been over $500. I have never deposited more than $125 in FT at any one time and have been grinding, grinding and grinding and playing WAY above my bankroll.

This cash was satisfying for several reasons. First of all, I finally have a legitimate online cash on my resume...popping my cherry if you will. "You're my Cherry Pie..." sorry...Warrant flashback. Secondly, it is the first time I have ever loosened my play up enough in the late stages of a large tournament to do anything other than bubble. Because I have been playing so far over my head, every $15 is important so instead of pushing with those pocket sevens, I make a limp-wristed call and fold when the 10-6-2 flop comes down. Yeah, I suck.

But more importantly, it drastically underscored the importance of bankroll management, even for a recreational player. The comfort level I had playing in that tournament, playing to win, not to save enough for the next .05/.10 PL Omaha table took me into a completely different mindset and completely elevated my game. I had always viewed bankroll management as simply a financial issue. Sure, I felt a little more tight when playing above my head (read: could barely breathe in the $5 PL Omaha game at 9:45), but I convinced myself that it didn't affect my play. Ha.

The scary thing is that now I don't have an excuse. I have $500 to play with, plenty of tournaments and tables that fall within that range and I need to practice what I'm currently preaching and play within that bankroll. We shall see. However, I can foresee an epic battle in the near future between my newfound view on bankroll management and my aforementioned quest for respect. With FTOPS on the horizon and the WSOP looming in the distance, I fear for my bankroll's safety.

And not just from that "Brazen Beauty" inmate.

Follow-up

I’ve been thinking about my last post and I think I have a solution. Someone needs to write a book about online play. Not the online play of “BodogAri” or the infamous “Waffles.” But solid, perceptive online play and things like bankroll management, how to detect betting patterns, how to recognize the “squeeze play” and benefits of deep stack tournaments (tricks to avoid the inevitable suck-out). So many of these principles are crucial for the $1-$2 limit live games too...these games are just online ring games played in person, aren’t they? You’ll find people of all skill levels, hiding behind relative anonymity and completely clueless to bet and pot sizes. You find tells are virtually worthless, hand valuation is a lost art and “all-in” is as common as “fold.”

All of this makes complete sense. Where are these $1-$2 players coming from? Where did they learn the game? Super System? Nope. Sawdust-infested card halls in the Lone Star state? Nope. More likely Party Poker. Freerolls even. And yet, here we are reading everything we can from the best in the world. Soaking up every CardPlayer article on the intricacies of playing pocket pairs from middle position.

Know thy enemy, right? Now…where can we find a bad rounder with enough time on his hands to tell us all he doesn’t know? Hmmm…I just might know one.