Slowly But Surely

I apologize to my readers for lack of posts.  It has been pretty hectic at work this last week.  By the time my daughter goes to bed and I play for a couple hours, I am too tired to put anything together.  Hopefully next week will be easier. 

I have broken the $130 mark.  After failing to cash in a couple of multitable $2 tournaments, I tried my luck at some single table $5 SNG's.  According to Ferguson's rules, I can play a 1 table SNG for up to 5% of my bankroll.  I lost a couple and had a 1st and a 2nd place finich to push me up to $136. 

Today, on my lunch break,   I was reading the Full Tilt Strategy Guide.  In the chapter written by Chris Ferguson, he talked about having a purpose when you bet.  The reasons for betting are threefold:  to get a better hand to fold, to get a worse hand to call, and to protect your hand against draws.  He also talks about many reasons not to bet.   If the board is KQ936 and you have 88, the only hands that can call are hands that beat you.  Why would you bet in this spot?  On the other hand, if you check and your opponent bets, maybe you have him beaten.  He could have a hand like AJ or maybe he missed his straight for flush draw.  This is a good spot to check to induce a bluff.  If he bets and you have put him on a straight draw or flush draw, you can call and win a bet that you otherwise wouldn't have.  If you had bet and he had nothing, he would most likely fold and you win a smaller pot.  If you bet and he calls, he has you beaten.  I found this to be a very interesting approach and will try to incorporate it into my game.  This is just a small portion of what he talked about in his chapter.  I hope to be able to discuss more of Ferguson's poker theory in future posts as I find it very interesting. 

In the mean time, I will keep plugging away at my $10,000 goal.  Only $9,870 more to go!!