Ripptyde took second place in our Poker Thoughts Contest with his entry below.
Hey Gang !
First of all I would like to say how glad I am I
stumbled across FTR. This is a great site with a
terrific forum section and lots of good people making
a variety of contributions from all different kinds of
perspectives. I have a lot of respect for the
administrators who run the site, and have learned much
from many of the people posting here. Kudos to all.
With that said, I wanted to chime in a little on how
I have come to interpret and enjoy this amazing game
over the last year since I started. No-Limit Texas
Holdem is like no other kind of poker the way I see
it. I mean with all the different games available
(Omaha,Draw,Stud etc) I think that NLTH is the
truest form of PURE poker in every sense of the word.
I played a little poker here and there over the
years, but until I was introduced to this game
(online) from a co-worker, I never realized how much
skill was involved and how many elements you have to
be focusing on with each and every hand you're dealt.
The aspect of 'no limit' really opens up a whole new
realm to the game which I have thrived on and
embraced. Like the
familiar adage from Porche'..."there IS no substitute.
The first few months I started playing more and more,
often staying home all day playing hundreds of hands
at a time...completely immersed. Often losing,
often winning, and witnessing irony of epic proportions
on a regular basis. I started to fine tune my
strategy for tournaments. The more I played the more
I began to realize that there is more to NLTH than
meets the eye, and only a fraction of people playing
today have a grasp on the game as a whole. I remember
vividly just starting out, playing well in a mini, in
2nd place, relatively late - only to be caught off guard
by the blinds increasing and being hung out to dry
finishing in 4th...but it taught me a valuble lesson.
Then I started paying closer attention to where I
ranked and studied my opponents position before I
threw the 1st chip on the table. And then went through a
period of over-aggressive play. Episodes of the WSOP
on ESPN seemed to have ignited a raging fire of
misguided confidence with the wave of newbies hitting
the internet, and I began to get excited about my
prospects for taking down dead money players jumping
on the bandwagon.
Unfortunately it didn't seem to go as planned
initially. My consistency was essentially
non-existent and didn't really have any kind of
defined system other than taking it one hand at a
time. I played all kinds of variations. Mini
tourneys of all entry denominations, 1 on 1's, ring
games and large tourneys with rebuys and add ons.
Naturally I'd all too often have a drink or two (or
10), and my bankroll kept getting flushed down the
proverbial toilet over time. All too often I'd have
a
great day, going up several hundred dollars only to
piss it all away on a flurry of foolishness when my
focus
had long since abandoned me as a result of a
criminally high
blood alcohol level. One evening I found myself over
four hundred ahead, then somehow stumbled into a 20/40
limit game thinking I'd come in for a quick kill
before bed..big mistake. Within minutes I was hitting
the cashier again and then it dawned on me... it was
time to re-evaluate. (lesson 1: Don't mix poker with
alcohol)
The next morning after waking up in a bourbon induced
fog, I sat down and took pen and paper to hand and
jotted down some of the things I had learned and the
approach I was going to adopt from that moment on.
Giving up the game was not an option (probably never
will be) and I came up with some ground rules and set
some financial limits. Self-disclipline and ego were
my biggest enemies and ultimately to blame for a my
bankrolls gradual, but inevitable demise.
After roughly a 2 week hiatus I got back in the saddle
implementing my new guidelines.
Now don't get me wrong, I am an aggressive player and
sometimes dangerously reckless,
but my style of play wasn't the problem. Simply
put, the problem was consistency, focus and bankroll
management.
For instance, if I made a $60.00 deposit
I began to play small $10+1 games, not jumping right
into a $50+5 trying for the quick kill. Texas Holdem
is a game of patience, but more importantly it demands
that you are constantly evaluating the big picture.
Meaning I am more likely to go-all in with pocket 9's
after winning the previous tourney than I am going all
in with the same hand in a $50+5 with a short
bankroll. This is a game that demands you to
effectively manage RISK...which holds true not only
from hand to hand, but from week to week and with every
single event you participate in. Any fool can go all
in with pocket Aces, but the great players milk every
last card they are dealt with an uncanny efficiency
for maximizing VALUE. Going all-in short stacked
with 9/8 offsuit isn't always a bad move, just like a
pair of Kings can turn sour with a quick Ace on the
flop. And sometimes calling a small bet with 2/4os can
pay off huge...you just never know.
Now I am not an experienced player, far from it. A year
playing this game does not a Johhny Chan make. I've
had flashes of brilliance, but taken my share of bad
beats and made my share of poor decisions like
everyone else, but all in all I feel confident that I
can compete with the best players in the world given
the opportunity and right conditions. The thing I
love most
about no limit holdem is that for all intents and
purposes,
it's a level playing field. The element of
competition is spine tingling and I love the raw
excitement that comes from winning huge pots. My
heart will beat so loudly I can almost hear it, and
the taste of victory is confidence building and truly
satisfying in more ways that I can possibly begin to
describe. Admittedly I am a dreamer (always have
been) and have visions of winning the WSOP or even
being able to build a large enough bankroll to 'make a
move' for some high end cash...but for now it is just
that, a dream. For now I live in a place called
reality, but I confess that I have a deep seeded
desire to take that big step to the world class stage.
Who
knows maybe someday.
But I always remind myself, this game will laugh at you
when you think you have the nuts and things can go
horribly south in a heartbeat. Just ask Olaf
Thorson, or Phil Ivey or Howard Lederer or T.J
Cloutier or any one of the top players in the world.
They'll all tell you the same thing, that this is a
cruel, unforgiving, CUT-THROAT game that will break
your heart in an instant when you least expect it.
But I think they would also tell you that it's the
best competitive stage in the world beyond a shadow of
a doubt...which will always give you more thrill for
the buck than you ever bargained for. Kinda makes it
all worth while when you think about it
WARNING: Flopturnriver.com does not intend for any of the information contained on this website to be used for illegal purposes. You must ensure you meet all age and other regulatory requirements before entering a casino or placing a wager. Online gambling is illegal in many jurisdictions and users should consult legal counsel regarding the legal status of online gambling and gaming in their jurisdictions. The information in this site is for news and entertainment purposes only. Flopturnriver.com is an independent directory and information service not affiliated with any casino. Links to third party websites on Flopturnriver.com are provided solely for informative/educational purposes. If you use these links, you leave this Website.
