SPECIALIZATION

Okay, it's official - I lose money in cash games; I win money in tournaments. You would think poker is poker is poker, but I just can't seem to turn the corner in my cash game. Last night, I bought into a $400 no limit hold'em game. As I was waiting for the blind to reach me, I actually witnessed a $5400 pot. Three big stacks went all in, one guy had aces of course (which held up), the other TWO guys had kings. If I raked that pot, I'd be good for the year. I was able to get a bit of that profit over to my stack when I called his raise with QJ suited, which is normally a profitable hand. He had pocket tens and called me all the way down on a queen-high board. I won another hand soon after, and within minutes I was up $800. Can I leave the table after a mere ten minutes of play? No, no, no. Of course, luck evened out, my true game came to the forefront, and soon I was even again. I finally lost even my buy in when three diamonds flopped to my overpair (with a queen of diamonds). I raised all in only to find that he had flopped a set of threes, which held up to drive me to bankruptcy.

So, after my auspicious beginning, I ended down $400 and irked. I discovered a fellow sitting in a heads-up $200 winner-take-all showdown and I sat down with him. I put up my $200 for a chance to double up and it took me all of four minutes to take him out. Wow, that was the easiest money I've ever made. I quickly signed up for another heads-up tourney, and this time found a tougher opponent - it took me five minutes to win. Okay, within ten minutes I was even. I played the cash game for hours and ended up a loser, but minutes worth of tournament play and I was even. Kind of sends a message.

This morning, I played a $20 Omaha Hi-Lo pot-limit tourney with 48 entrants and finished 2nd. I'm just learning that game. I love the pot limit structure. There is really an incentive to fold most hands and only get involved with really premium holdings. After the flop, I am no longer involved unless holding or drawing to the nuts. I played very tight and it was good for runner up and a few hundred dollars.

My first instinct was that my good showing proved that I am ready for the cash game. Not so. One more losing session at the ring tables convinced me that I am master of only one domain - the tournament. Cash games are just not profitable for me. Tonight, I played another $10 Hi-Lo pot-limit game with 78 entrants. I was playing tight and progressing. The tourney paid 10 spots, and I ran into a bit of trouble with 12 players remaining. I got down to $460 in chips and had to go all in with the first ace I came across, the blinds being $400-$800 at the time. I managed to triple up, which gave me still not enough to survive a round of blinds, so I went all in again with my next ace and tripled up again. The cards just kept falling and before long I was in the hunt. I made the money, then players started dropping like flies, often by my hand. I got heads up with a player who had long been the chip leader and I outplayed/outflopped/outdrew him time and again, and I won the tourney. It was only $235, but a fantastic moral victory.

So, there it is. I have found my niche. I will continue playing tournaments to try to find my paydays. I will hone my cash game at the lower limits, but I've contributed enough to the higher limits, and I want to steer myself to where the profits are. My game is playing the percentages and maybe that makes me too predictable at the cash games. I suppose my skilled opponents know where I am at any point in the hand and are able to exploit my betting patterns. In tournaments, betting what you have in Dan Harrington style is the correct way to play and so long as you don't make big mistakes, the chips just keep coming.

There is a good interview with Barry Greenstein in which he explains how cash games differ from tournaments and how a good player at one is not necessarily good at the other. Listening to this really drove home to me that it is okay if I am not good at all aspects of the game. After all, I am still young in my career and I have time to get better. As it stands, I seem to have a knack for tournament play, so that is where I will focus in the meanwhile.