Back to playing poker

On my return to the Pokerstars micro stakes tables, 0.02c/0.05c $5 max buy in cash games, I have so far benefited from good hands, good luck and mistakes made by (possibly) inexperienced players, or just benefiting from the loose play of poker players wanting to have fun at some gambling during the holidays.

I had taken some time off due to being over worked and lack of time that I could dedicate to playing.  Now my schedule is freer again (for a few days at least) I’ve begun with a bankroll of $100 which I’d like to see build up in the next few days.  As the ideal bankroll for this level is $150, it does leave me slightly short and under balanced.  Still, it doesn’t seem to have affected my game so far as I’ve found some success already with holdings such as pocket aces, pocket jacks and pocket tens.

While it SHOULD in theory be easier playing at this level, I would say in one way it is, and in another way it isn’t.  You’ve got to know how to play against these opponents at this level as their playing styles differ from the higher levels.  I would say you get a lot more weak tight players on one hand, and/or players who play loose and wildly with all kinds of holdings on the other end.  These players generally lack balance until you (rarely) come up against a good player.  It seems to me, that a lot of players clearly don’t have a clear pre flop strategy and call far too often cold (beware of calling bets cold pre flop is a topic I will discuss in my next blog post.). They let hands go too easily on the later streets and are easier to read when they have a strong holding.

Here are some of the hands I’ve won so far on my return;

AA held up against a flush draw.  I knew my opponent had this sort of weak holding and I decided to raise big pre flop to increase my holding’s expectation as well as eliminate some other limpers...

Aces hold up in similar fashion, but this time against two opponents.  My play was similar as I raised big pre flop and then put both short stacks all in on the flop.  Aces win a lot of the time!

In November, I had my 1010 challenge and barely picked up this holding.  In one day I’ve had this hand three times already and I love pocket tens...especially when I hit a set on the flop against a big over pair...

And finally...a strange call from a player holding 99 on THAT deck!  There were so many holdings the opponent could have had; that was just a terrible call man!

To finish, I made a couple of crazy football bets today as well.  Let’s see how it goes.

Enjoy your day 👌 Maroonfish.