The Slow Climb Upwards

Along with a couple unremarkable ventures into the world of Triple Draw 2-7 sit n gos, from which I've probably made all of a dollar of profit, I've taken part in two Limit Stud Hi/Lo tournaments, at the stakes of $1+.10. Not exactly the most thrilling stakes, but really, what more could I have done with a bankroll of $6?

Prior to this, I'd mainly done No Limit and Pot Limit for tournaments, so it was a bit of a change - and it taught me a few things about the limit stud MTTs:

-From the middle rounds and onward, you'd better be real careful.

Because, with five rounds of betting in each hand, all it takes is one hand to really set you back or take you out completely once the stakes start to escalate. Combine that with the fact that people were being very stubborn about not losing once we were down to around 150 people (from 310 and 360 respectively), and it was really easy to mess up that one draw that didn't connect and all of a sudden end up with 4000 chips at 500/1000 stakes. Considering that I might have been pretty comfortable with my chipstack prior to such a hand, it was a bit of a shock during the first tournament to realize how easy it was to lose those chips. I tightened up a bit on the draws and the 'I have a shot!' sort of lost hands that I need to fold regardless of the situation during the second tournament - and it made things a bit easier.

-It's annoying as hell to try to double up once you're at the desperate chipstack level in a hi/lo game.

Seriously, I'd get something like AKT with the ante eating me alive and push my money in as quickly as the stakes allowed me, only to end up against someone with a lovely A2458 low that would return my half of the pot right back - only a few hundred anted chips richer than before. I did that several times from short stack situations, and it was really getting annoying towards the end of my run.

-People can last forever despite the rising stakes.

I must've spent at least twenty minutes (in super fast internet poker hands) waiting for the last two people to lose that would push us into the money during my second tournament. Incidentally, I used that time to double up once or twice, which was nice, but it was a bit disheartening to continue to check how many people were still in and see that number refuse to budge at all. On the plus side, I was the one to knock out #42, and #41 quickly followed.

-I have some kind of knack for limit hi/lo stud.

In the first tournament of 360 people, I placed 11th for a $3.50ish profit. One day later (tonight), I placed 15th out of 311, netting a similar profit. That said, three hours of play does not end too happily when I lose so close to the final table and have only $3 to show for it, but it's still nice to place back to back in reasonably high positions. Plus, in my current attempt to climb my way up the bankroll ladder, any profit is a good profit.

Speaking of that bankroll, I've improved quite a bit since my last blog. Let's see if I can keep it growing.

Current Bankroll: $13.22.