SCARED MONEY

With my newfound bankroll, I have been spending time at the $5-10 NL ring games. I have been repeatedly getting my ass handed to me, and I finally figured out why. I have been buying in for the minimum $400, against opponents who have already run off half a dozen fish and are sitting on stacks over $1000. I am making $30 bets into $60 pots, and jokers are consistantly coming over the top of me for hundreds, forcing me to fold. I finally asked myself, is it possible that they hit EVERY time, or do they just KNOW that I am not strong? One guy even took me to task for "betting like a girl" as he went all in every time I made a half-pot bet. I was even losing to draws on the river, when opponents were taking the 3:1 odds to chase their 5:1 draws, figuring that they could always raise me off my hand even if they miss their draw. I was losing in astounding ways, and it seems I could never play a hand properly.

I dropped down to $3-6 NL and although it is still no-limit, I felt much more in command at the table and was able to win consistantly. I realized that the problem is that the money feels too real at the higher limit table and I am playing scared, which is recipe for disaster. At the lower buy-in table, I'm the guy with the thousand dollar stack and everybody else is under $400. I was even able to get one guy to muck his aces:

He raised from early position, and I called with 99, as I always seem to find a pair when I am up against aces. The flop came 243, two spades. I checked, he bet, and I put in a raise, hoping he could get off of AK or AQ. He called the raise, and I was fairly sure I was up against an overpair. The turn came 4 of spades, and I bet out $200. It was risky, but what a perfect card. I was already representing A4 or spades, and this was definitely the scariest card in the deck. He thought about it for some time, then folded. He begged me to tell him that I had a full house and confirmed that he had rockets. I did have a spade, which was my saving grace if he had called, but that play right there indicates that I am a much different player at the $3-6 table than at the $5-10.

I had another good day today at $3-6 NL. I am working to get back the losses I incurred at the higher limit game, then I may be able to go back into the lions den with renewed confidence.