Obviously I must drag myself away from the bwin.com poker tables for long enough to get an update to my readers or else be drowned by the deluge of emails asking for updates. Ok, so perhaps that is in my mind but if I am going to do a poker challenge I must keep it updated! There is nothing worse than reading an article about an interesting challenge someone set out in 2007 and unfortunately their progress is never updated. Obviously their attempts to scale the Texas Hold’em poker ladder to unbelievable riches failed, but I promise that in the event that I also fail, you will get to hear about it.
Very briefly, the challenge stipulated that I start with $20 on my favourite poker site bwin.com and the idea is to carefully build that into something more substantial. Surely my years of writing about poker stand me in good stead for this challenge I thought, but there were initial teething problems when I first sat down at the poker tables. Most of the problems were my own approach to the lower limits and until I had a semi-tilting chat session over Skype with a poker friend of mine I feared the challenge was going to end in failure. I would be pretty embarrassed to have to admit that.
My first sessions started with me being too liberal from early and middle position and it is vital for the lower limits and micro limits in particular that you are tight. There is no room for making fancy plays at this level, something I was woefully ignorant to in my early hands. When you have a good hand you bet and when you do not, you fold. It is really as simple as that and therefore your sessions are decided largely on your cards. Players are inclined to call with anything so checking the flop to barrel on the turn does not do you much good. I am just sorry it took 25% of my bankroll to confirm this concept I was already aware of in my mind!
$5 down with my bankroll begging me to re-evaluate I took a break and looked over a few hands. I was disgusted to see the sorts of hands I write articles about and criticise. Not good for an aspiring poker writer and player to admit so I gave myself a harsh verbal bashing and returned to the tables. My friend over Skype said “When you get something you bet, bet, bet like a madman”. What he meant was bet hard and do not be overly creative. A heavy dose of that strong poker pill immediately cured my fancy-play-itis and I returned to the bwin.com virtual felt a new man.
After much more simple poker that was a little boring I emerged a winner from those games and less than a dollar down overall. A 5% tuition fee was a small price to pay in order to learn that the fancy plays must be backed up with a solid foundation of ABC poker. I hope to carry on from where I left off and continue to improve my bankroll. Confidence is key in poker and I finished the session at the right time and am looking forward to my next one.
Stay tuned for more updates on my poker challenge and perhaps we will face off on the bwin.com poker tables in the near future.
By Malcolm Clarke
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