Home Game Strategy

In the past few years our home games have been nearly non-existent.  We will pick things up for a month or two, but eventually it all returns to games being scarce.

During this slow decline of play I have gone from being one of the best players at our home re-buy tournaments, to being the constant bubble boy (going out in the highest spot without winning money), to lasting a few hours and not coming close to the money (or the bubble for that matter).  I knew a change was needed.

Knowing my play needed some work, I pulled a Boase and read a few paragraphs in a few chapters of a few books last night prior to a $20 re-buy tournament at Danny's house.  We have always made fun of the fact that our buddy Chad Boase would do such a thing, leaving the game prior to the re-buy time being over and returning at the last minute claiming he had read the first and last paragraph of each chapter in some poker book he had stashed away in his car.  Not expecting to find some life-altering point in whatever books I could find at a local half-price bookstore, I did come across a tip that wasn't new, but reminded me to implement a strategy I have apparently abandoned.

The idea was to play some questionable starting hands like K-5 suited and not getting caught up in it if you hit a king.  Without a regular game to hone my skills, I have become complacent in my strategy.  Playing the questionable starting hands wasn't a problem, because you can't wait all night for aces only, but my problem had become getting attached to top pair, weak kicker when the strategy going in was to hit the flush.  I needed to revamp my scheme and learn to let go of the hands I thought would improve and ultimately would get me to lose half my stack chasing a second pair to beat my opponent's better kicker.

Following games I would claim it just wasn't my night, blaming the cards for my loss.  How can you win a tournament when you only win two hands?  But the real problem was in siphoning off my chips all night chasing bad turns and rivers, it didn't give me the time needed at the table to ever find the good starting hands that are needed to mix in with the ones you are speculating with.

If I could learn to fold a pair with a weak kicker after the flop, whereas before I would chase to get a better hand knowing I was behind, it would keep my chips with me so when I did hit a big hand I had more to double up with.

All that said, I stuck to my new strategy of continuing the prospecting game of playing lots of hands pre-flop but not committing myself post-flop and it ended up improving my night.  I still didn't make the money, but I did make the bubble.  While that sounds like it is just as bad as busting out in last place, what makes me feel like strides are being made to improve my game is that I really can blame the cards last night.

Prior to becoming a bit of a maniac on the short stack at the end of the night, I only won two legitimate hands, one with pocket aces and another where I flopped trips and turned a full house.  Other than those couple of hands, I either let go of missed opportunities and mediocre hands that were second best after the flop or I bluffed a turn or river bet that I was nearly positive would win the pot.  The only bluff I lost on was my last hand of the night and as it was three handed and I was on the short stack, there wasn't much I could do at the time.  I gave myself every opportunity to improve on speculation hands, but I didn't commit to anything subpar.

I saw improvement last night and think if I can get a little luck on my side and continue to be disciplined at folding the speculation hands when they improve a little but are still not good enough to win then I really think I will start seeing some wins again in the future.