"Do as I say ..." [Chapter 7]: Game Selection

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written one of these. That's mostly because I’ve wised up a little bit and started doing the things I tell other people to do. But even I am not immune to relapses, and last night turned out to be just what I needed – a big fat hunking slice of humble pie.

Today, I’m going to talk about game selection. This is a concept I haven’t really worried too much about since I started to consistently play at Level 3 and above. I’m at the point now where I can pretty much play any style of poker. If the game is loose, I’ll be tight and aggressive – wait for the good hands and let the donkeys pay me off. If the game is fairly rocky, then I can LAG it up and make money that way. I’ve grown fairly adept at finding the correct gear in which to play in order to make the most money at a given table. So game selection hasn’t really been at the forefront of my poker mind.

My last session was an example of why game selection is a key concept of which to be mindful, even for the advanced player. I drove down to Hollywood Park (HP) after bubbling out of a Sit n Go, feeling pretty good about my game and the way I’ve been playing lately. I know that generally, HP has a reputation for housing the loosest, craziest players in town. But since I’ve mostly only played limit there, I figured the no limit game would be loose, but beatable if I played tight enough.

Once I arrived, I sat down in the $100 buy-in game and soon discovered that loose did not begin to describe this table. It was a full blown all-in festival – no exaggeration. Seven hands went by before I found anything playable, and at least one player got all his money in on each of those seven hands. I realized quickly that my only hope of winning here was playing ridiculously tight preflop and hoping that the odds held up. I strapped myself in.

My playable hand turned out to be AA in the big blind. The guy under the gun immediately pushed all in for his remaining $50. The second big stack at the table (who should have been a huge donator but was getting insanely lucky time after time) called him cold from middle position. In my head, I started doing a little victory dance. It was folded to me, and I pushed for my stack of $95. Donator called. Time to see if the bullets could work their magic.

Didn’t work out well at all. The flop was nice, but a runner-runner gave Donator the nut straight with his QJ offsuit. I rebought, steamed for another ten hands, then stacked off again when A-2 called my Queens all in preflop and spiked an Ace. At that point I realized that this wasn’t a game I could beat with my bankroll. Goodbye, Hollywood Park!

So okay, you could say that I just got severely unlucky last night. You could say that I should have made a quick $500 or $600 easily at that table. You could say it just wasn’t my night, Sklansky dollars, it wasn’t my fault what happened, whatever. You win some, you lose some, right?

I see it differently. It’s possible that I was just destined to lose my money last night, wherever I went. But still, I must take some responsibility for dropping $200 so quickly. This is supposed to be an instructional post, not just a glorified bad beat story. :-) I should have realized early on that this was not a game that I could beat, not with the big stacks at the table willing to see every hand down to the river. While I still believe that I am able to hang tough in any style of poker game by adapting my own style of play, I should have realized that this ability did not apply to the table at HP last night because we weren’t playing poker. We were simply putting all of our money in and seeing how the cards fell.

These types of games are out there, and at times can be very profitable. But this was not the type of game that I want to be playing in. Just putting it in before the flop takes away the advantages good players have over weak ones, similar to the “Kill Phil” strategies that amateurs often use in tournaments to make up for their lack of experience. Moving in preflop doesn’t allow me to bring my poker skill set to bear. I just have to hope my good hands hold up.

So as you can see, game selection is a relevant poker principle across all skill levels and poker formats. Learn to recognize when you’re in a situation or game that is not advantageous to your particular skills, and get out as early as possible. It’ll probably save you a bunch of money.

Remember, this is just advice – you can take it or leave it. But if I had taken my own advice last night, I would have saved myself a couple hundred and probably could have even made some money down the road at the Hustler.

So like always, Do as I say, not as I do …