I could have collected my graph but now I’m at a different computer so it’s not available to me right now. If I graph in big blinds I’ve got an opening dip, climb for about 4x as many hands, then dip, and climb again since then. Unfortunately the dips mostly took place when I was playing 25nl and 50nl and not from playing poorly but from hitting some of the worst EV swings that I have had, meaning the downward slopes are much bigger when graphed in dollars, and the upward ones are much smaller. I could go back to 25nl again but I’m basically playing mindlessly at 10nl. It’s kind of like smoking a cigarette while out for a walk, or listening to MP3s while riding on the bus; something that requires little attention while you’re doing something else. 10nl Rush Poker is the cigarette or MP3s, the something that requires little attention and just fills out the experience of time.

Not very attentive or Zen-like I know, but even with the speed of RP not every hand is exciting and neither is the video constantly interesting, so between the two of them I’m enjoying myself.

It does give me opportunities to experiment a bit. I’m still open raising all pocket pairs from anywhere, still not opening AQo or worse from UTG or UTG+1. Now opening all hands from the button but now minraising garbage hands and 3x decent hands; no one will ever be able to track the difference. Using 3x elsewhere except where I have a premium and I want the pot to be bigger; again even with a HUD no one will be able to track my bet sizing. Still, these aspects are all pretty automatic.

Where I’m trying to be a little more thoughtful are situations like

1. opportunities to 3 bet preflop and the sizing and the stats (does my hand have value against a LAG? Is the nit nitty enough that he will fold everything?),
2. the decisions to c-bet or not given the board/position/stack size/stats
3. the opportunities to take away hands postflop with nothing, by raising/check-raising/floating dry boards

The last one I got a little carried away with for a while so I’m trying to be a little more judicious with it. I’m also pleased that I seem to have gotten some of my postflop spew under control, but where I think that I can push a little harder is with iso-raising limpers. I’ve been a little hesitant because they don’t fold as easily as the blinds (probably because they have voluntarily put their money in) and don’t quite as easily fold to flop bets but I think there’s money to be made there by not waiting for the top 10% hands to do so since the hands almost never get to showdown. But opening my iso-raising range means being confident that I have my postflop spew under control or it’s going to cost me far more than I earn from it.

This is still Rush Poker, $10nl, played while watching more Inuyasha that I’ve been hooked on lately.

87s, a little loose from this far out but I like this range of non-gapped suited connectors. I open, get called.

Flop is not great; I have a gutter but there’s a flush draw and all kinds of cards that anyone will call with. In retrospect I suppose check/calling is better than betting out, but I bet out small. Opponent has a flush draw and OESD for 9 + 6 = 15 outs or so, plus overcards if I have a smaller pair. Stove says he’s ahead 85-15. Even if I have J9 he’s ahead 65-35, and if I have JT for two pair we’re even, so he’s likely way ahead of me, but he min-raises. I have a hard time folding to min-raises anyway and there’s a lot of cards that can help my hand so I call.

Turn is one of those cards that help my hand a lot, giving me a flush draw and a double gutshot draw, so like 9 + 6 = 15 outs to beat some pair or overpair. He’s still ahead 65-35, though I’m also behind just a paired J 65-35 as well. I guess in a way we have the same number of outs, except that if neither of us hit any outs, he wins with his K high.

Now he decides to pot it. I tank for a while. I think I’m up against anywhere from a J, two pair, or a set. Possibly even an overpair as I’ve seen QQ in particular played pretty passively preflop. Because I’ve picked up so many outs on the turn, I opt to shove over the bet, and he calls.

The thing that I liked best about this hand is that I won with such a weak hand, by pairing my 8 which I didn’t think was an out. But I also like the fact that he raised my flop bet (though too small) and then bet the turn hard; mind you I probably raise the flop larger and bet the turn smaller, working out the same. Anyway, much better play than I expect from 10nl.

It’s just so convenient for someone like me that has a hard time clearing time to play, and I’ve been running bad at 25nl for long enough that it’s easier to play 10nl.

One interesting hand the other night.

Player raises, and I recognize him as an instructor at Deuces Cracked. I don’t know what he’s doing at the 10nl Rush Poker tables; maybe doing a video, or trying it out, or trying it out before doing a video. Anyway, I 3 bet him, the blind flats my 3 bet, a short stack shoves, I try to isolate by effectively 5 betting preflop, and the guy flats again. What a weird play, though maybe it’s worthwhile as deep as we are if he has only AA?

Too bad I don’t have a membership at DC anymore; I’d like to see if he happened to be making a video at the time.