O-Poker

I was bored a couple of weeks ago and didn't feel like playing a tourney or NL cash games. I fired up 3 different tables for a change of pace - a 2-7 triple draw table, a 5 card draw table, and a limit holdem table. It got a little hectic playing 3 different game types at the same time, but it was a good change. I wound up finishing up about $50 in the 5 card draw, down about $50 in the 2-7 triple draw, and up around $700 in the limit game. I think playing 3 different game types at the same time helped challenge me and kept me from going on auto-pilot (which happens way too often).

One thing that stood out when playing limit holdem was how incredibly loose the game had become. I used to play a decent amount of LHE on UB about 5 years ago. I have jumped in a limit game here and there over the years, but hadn't really played any LHE in about 3 years. The games were getting very very nitty back then. Most casual players had moved to NL cash games and tourneys. Most of the remaining LHE players were grinders or at least had a clue how to play. Table selection was difficult and the mid-stakes full ring LHE games almost dried up completely.

I decided to give LHE a chance again a couple of days later. The games were just as loose and exploitable as they had been a couple of nights earlier. I was putting a ton of thought into every hand and had to take a lot more breaks than usual because I was getting mentally exhausted. I suprised myself at how much concentration I was having to put into a game where you can only bet the minimum. I started off running very good. My big hands were holding and I was getting a lot of action. I found myself liking LHE again. I used to think it was the most boring form of poker, but my opinion has changed dramitically. Position is huge. Meta-game is huge. Playing off your image is huge. Etc. Etc.

I've put in around 10k hands of LHE and things are going better than I could have imagined. I'm going to keep playing and hopefully the run will continue. Maybe Limit Holdem isn't a dead form of poker after all.