Yes, #Igrind

I took Sunday off and enjoyed some football and then the premiere of the new season of The Walking Dead, what a great show. I am still putting a bit of focus towards live play right now but plan on grinding some online too. I went to play live Monday and enjoyed a solid seven hour session clearing two buy-ins. That was my eighth live session in three weeks and I feel as if I am playing well and adapting my play to a style that is effective.

I am kind of amazed at the play live as so many players are likely to limp, then call after a raise and a re-raise. They sure like to see flops. To bad that everyone misses the flop the majority of the time and they end up check folding on the flop way to often. Another thing that happens way to often is poor stack management. I see so many players call off half their stack and fold. I also see players bet 70% to 90% of their stack and for some reason leave a pointless amount behind. I am sure all of y'all have seen these same plays and I bet you scratch your head as well.

Playing live is a lot slower than playing online but there is some things that help make the speed not bother us. The social aspect can be nice as its good to be social and not always in front of a monitor. Also the fact that when you win you get the money right then. Online poker in the US is not at its best moment and right now to cash out money its either a 4-6 week wait or you have to pay a vig and sell to another player. Some other things I enjoy are being able to get reads by being able to see your opponents, and the level of play is a bit softer than online.

Overall I think there are benefits to playing online and live and both have their advantages. I feel lucky as I am able to play both right now as there are two decent casino's with poker where I live and several others in driving distance, and we can still play online on a couple sites. Hopefully online poker will get  regulated and we will have better sites to play on soon. When that happens I imagine there will be another poker boom and all the players that have put the time in to improve will be ready to get that money.

Good luck to all the grinders out there, remember you get back out of poker what you put in, so get to work!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.