I’m Not a Grinder

Another tough session in Sit-N-Go Hell on Poker Stars tonight.

After all was said and done, I ended up down $66.15 for the night.

I took a few 3rds, and a 1st in the single table $6.50 Turbo Sit-N-Go’s,  and didn’t finish in the money in a few 3 and 5 table Sit-N-Gos.

It was the same old story,  I played well, and time and time again I was either sucked out on,  or would make moves and get called down by clueless players.  

The suckouts started fast and furious,  three times in a row I lost with KK,  twice to lower pairs,  and once to some bozo calling with K-10 off who hits a straight.   I also lost quite a few hands where the players were calling down boards they had no business being in,  situations where some guy is holding pocket 77’s, and with a flop of something like K-Q-9,  will call my big continuation bets,  totally oblivous to my what I might have, or even be representing.

As the evening wore on, my game got worse.  I started limping more,  bluffing more, etc. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not a grinder.   I already knew I wasn’t a cash game grinder.  You know, those guys who play at a $2-$4 table all night, hoping to squeeze out some kinda edge after an 18 hour session.   Sure its fun to play in cash games every once in awhile with your friends, or if you’re at the Bellagio in Vegas or something,  but night in, and night out,  no thanks.

And it turns out,  playing in these rinky dinky 9 player turbo Sit-N-Go’s,  that’s also grinding.  Just a different form of grinding,  you’re grinding away hoping for those top 3 finishes and a good ROI.

Not for me,  I just can’t take the statistically expected swarm of suckout after suckout that’s required to play like that,  sure others can,  (Congrats Beanmo)  but it’s not where I’ve had success, and it’s not my style of play.   I think my game actually gets WORSE grinding in these Sit-N-Gos, not better.   And the players, especially at the $6.50 level are terrible,  they are almost all gambling Donks.

I know I can do well in the larger fielded tournaments, with larger buy-ins,  larger starting chip stacks, slower blinds.  That’s where I’ve done well in the past,  and it’s where the heart of my game is, so that’s what I’m going back to.

It pretty much invalidates the entire idea of the $300 challenge though,  So I’m not sure what to do about that, I suppose I’ll keep the counter on there just so people can track my progress as I ease back into the real tournaments,  however it’s going to be more erratic,  and baring a lucky win the next time I play, I’ll have to reload pretty soon.

So back to the real tournaments,  with the non agressive blind schedules, better players,  less hectic play,  and lucrative payout structures.