After a 15-year break to get married, have kids, and plop my behind on the couch, I’ve started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu again. It’s been an exhilarating first few weeks, having a goal and a reason to get on the mat and work up a sweat. I feel like I’ve pushed the “reset” button on a part of my life.That reset, however, is not without its perils and drawbacks. I’m woefully out-of-shape compared to the last time I did this. Not only am I carrying a spare tire around my belly, but the rest of my muscles and joints don’t respond like I expect. When I fall, it hurts more, and I can’t pop back up to my feet right away. The amount of time I can move quickly is very short; my recovery after a training session is long.
My trainer has been very supportive, telling me “Do what you can do.” I can’t try to keep up with the rest of the class, most of which are in their teens or early 20s. They’re where I used to be. I can only be what I am now, and work hard to learn more and be in better shape than I was the day before.
I’m finding a lot of similarities to the resumption of my exercise program to full-time dedication to cash games over the last four months. It’s very obvious there are some solid, winning players in my regular online game. Even at .25/.50 stakes, you could make a comfortable living multi-tabling Rush Poker on Full Tilt for several hours a day, and I’ve identified some opponents who are clearly doing just that.
Some of these guys are simply better than me. For me to refuse to accept this fact is suicidal…and I suffered for my hubris for about a month after my initial string of winning sessions. I gave away a lot more buy-ins in January than I ever should have, regardless of any sort of bad beats, downswing or variance I was also on. I feel more comfortable in the game now, getting involved with players I can handle, and trying not to do too much against people I can’t.
The “do what you can do” lesson applies across all forms of poker, to everyone’s individual station in the game. We’ve seen dozens of stories about people who hit one big score and jump right from $5 and $10 MTTs into $100 rebuys, or the guy who takes a good run at $1/2 NLHE into the $10/20 PLO cash games. Sometimes, the “hero” in the story isn’t skilled enough and gets dominated. Sometimes, they’re more prone to tilt because they aren’t used to playing with so much money. And most of the time, they’re woefully under-bankrolled, so a couple of beats completely break them.
The only commonality to every story is that they were trying to do more than they could feasibly do. And as long as you’re aware that you’re doing it and willing to live with the consequences… then there are worse things you can do. Taking a shot and learning from it is better than remaining the biggest fish in a tiny pond, playing against people way under your skill level and playing way under your bankroll. Jennifer Harman has said she never would have learned how to make her way up to Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio without spending years taking shots and suffering the defeats.
Most of us, however, don’t want to put ourselves in a painful position at the poker table, just like I don’t want to wake up in the morning with cramped muscles and injured joints after a Jiu Jitsu session. If you want to move up…if you want to change your play…if you want to experiment with table image or new strategies…then your changes have to be gradual.
If you feel comfortable being a nit, you can’t just jump right into 5-betting light just because you read a discussion in the HSMTT Forum. First, get used to make re-steals with a wider range than your normal 3-bet. Once you get a feel for when to make this play, when it works, and what hand ranges to try it, then you can move on and look for more advanced plays.
Look for your leaks and acknowledge your mistakes, even if they’re easily hidden by a bunch of bad beats or cold decks. Don’t think of everyone else as “donkeys,” especially once they’ve proven they’re not. Match the read on your opponent’s style or range to something based in the reality of that hand, rather than assuming they’re bluffing (or incapable of a bluff) because they’re, well, “donkeys.”
It all boils down to you being honest about yourself, your game, and where you stand. Do what you can do…plus a little bit more, every day.
-Paul grapsfan Herzog
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