resurfacing as a fish

There was a bummer 2+2 thread about heads up. meh I don't play HU myself so I have little stake in the matter. Still it got me thinking about things. I seldom play cards anyway but from time to time I feel I'd like to get playing again. There's one more barrier away from the tables I need to work through before I really can get back to playing.

The 2+2 thread combined with another thing. On a Saturday evening recently I passed through the local casino to spend $5 on slots to fill some time and get parking validated. Walking past the poker room there were 4 tables going on a Saturday night. Not very good considering when I arrived there in 2009 there were 6-8 tables on any Friday or Saturday. I hope the card room remains open.

It's a different world now it seems. Higher rake, fewer fish. And with that time to close the books and move forward.

Poker Era 1 2005-2014

I've been playing cards longer than I'd realized. I remember hearing some news reports about someone named Moneymaker and some game of poker with two cards. Started out in 2005 play money on Yahoo, then 2 and 3 table play money tournaments on PokerStars.net. Didn't have a clue. Finished 5th in the first 3 tabler I played for a mincash. What a rush. I remember the first of those play money tournaments I'd won, another rush.

Eventually switched to real money, had some success in the pre-UIGEA, pre-Black Friday days with lots of Americans and lots of bad players. Won a $2/90 tournament or two, got up to $0.25/$0.50 LHE and $25 NL, ran well at times over small sample sizes.

2009 appeared at the local casino to play $1/$2 live. Another exciting time playing for stakes that dwarfed anything I'd played online. I remember the first hand I won that night. Live poker is fun and I watched some others seem to be making steady profits. I had ups and downs, played way too tight for live, and like everyone enjoyed the occasional upswing and worked through the occasional downswing. I wanted to and was rolled for it at the time but never took a shot at $2/$5.

It was a good time and now it's run its course.

Poker Era II 2016-present

So when I return it will be as a "fish". Now I don't plan to donate buyin after buyin. What I mean by fish is someone with a losing expectation. A recreational player. With higher rake and tougher competition I have to expect that to play cards I have to put in money. And that's fine. I have a day job and I can still play for fun and the challenge. Even if I have to keep my bankroll up from the outside source. It's a hobby, something I can choose to spend my own money to participate in.

I'm still going to try to play well and improve and do as well as I can. Like the fish, I'm going to focus more on having a good time playing and less on results. Just play the levels I'm bankrolled for and enjoy the stakes. Don't hold back about "beating" some lower levels for however many hands or amount. It's ok if run well over a small sample (disregarding previous results) at a small game and take winnings and try the next level for fun and see if I can stick for a little while before dropping back to the baseline level.

Online play Zoom since I can get in the most volume per limited time available to play. Forget table selecting. That's from a past era. The tables are far worse than in the past so just sit and play Zoom and enjoy the challenge.

So I'm feeling positive about things and looking forward to getting back in the game.