Battling the Best in the World

The 25-50 games on Party are a substantial step up from their old 10-20 games. There have been times when I struggled at 10-20, even times when I played in those games with negative EV. When the 10-20 NL first arrived 15 months ago, it was pretty tough. In January the games had gotten so ugly that I was panicking about my future and considered bailing from my typical high limit cash game bread and butter for greener pastures. Eventually I got better AND the games got quite a bit softer. Most of the time when I played 10-20, I considered myself one of the top three players at the table. Sometimes I was pretty sure I was the best, and losing was hard to imagine.

Most of the time the 25-50 NL plays way, way harder than the 10-20. I've only felt really comfortable with the table once or twice I've played. Idiots are few and far between. Usually the tables are about 90% pros. Some of these pros are only solid, but some are truly excellent. In fact, some of the very best no limit hold em players in the world play on these tables. I'm talking about top fifty in the world.

Game selection has become critical. Game selection has never really been a strength of mine (it's a weakness for most young online pros, I think). I think it's often a bad idea for me to sit down at these tables. It's not a lack of confidence, it's a mark of respect for players like ReadMyAvatar and queenkris. It's pretty hard to beat the game with players like that to your left when none of the other seven at the table can really be considered weak. There are times when I definitely have significant +EV in the games, and there are times when I may not.

I have something like eight winning sessions at 25-50, and only two losing ones. But of course one of the losses was a gargantuan, and I have yet to record a real big win at 25-50. Overall I am now up just a little more than one buy-in in around 30 hours of play. I know some other excellent players with similar results. The games are hard.

There are some players who are beating the 25-50 pretty substantially. In June, I was sort of starting to think I was one of the very best online NL cash players. I no longer think that, having taken my lumps from players I admit are better than me.

It's an interesting dilemma. I really have an ego about it. I don't know if I can play my best at stakes lower than 25-50. When I feel like playing online poker, I get on Party and I don't take a look at lower games. I immediately go for the top bar that says 25/50 NL without even considering anything else. I've played almost exclusively in the highest NL cash games on Party for over two years now, and I don't feel like playing anything else. I like extracting money from buffoons, but I also have grown to enjoy getting into wars with good players.

I'm still not sure where my future lies in online poker. I do know that if I continue to play 25-50, I will continue to get better. I remember watching a Cardplayer video interview of Jason Strasser during his run in the WSOP ME where they asked him how the competition was compared to his usual online games. And he laughed. And said something like, "Um, the players in the games I usually play are much, [pause], much better. These guys are much easier to beat."

I've felt the same way playing shorthanded with the Kwickfish against the likes of Bld, lolo, and Tizerd. You get better just by playing with them. Playing three or four hours of 25-50 or tough shorthanded 10-20 is probably more beneficial (in terms of improving one's game) than three or four weeks grinding the low limits. You learn so much about parts of the game that aren't really even considered lower down. It's good to be with the best. It would be better to beat the best.
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The Fish figures to be on ESPN quite a bit tonight (Tuesday). I'm really excited to watch it (8 ET I believe). It's going to be so interesting (and important) to see how they portray him.
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I played the $1k NL the day after busting from the main event here. I played like crap and deserved to lose, which I did. Matt Viox got 5th for 20k. A long overdue result for a very talented player. If not for three lost races and really high blinds at the final table, he would have won it. Big things are in his future, as they are for myself and just about everyone I hang out with in the poker world.
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Borgata Main Event: -10,000
Borgata 1k: -1080

Saturday night (25-50): 3.5 hrs, +6,443
Monday night (25-50): 3 hrs, +2,032

Year to date: 152,393