So instead of posting hands like I did for many months, I am going to instead post on general concepts/ideas in hopes of getting a little discussion going. I'm sure that I will throw in some hand histories as well to prove my point. Plus, if you want hand histories, you can always go over to Poker Meister as he posts good stuff daily.
So first. Why do I play Rush? There is really only one main reason for me. Time. With two little ones, I am somewhat limited to the time that I can play poker. The ability to play so many more hands makes it an ideal situation for me. Or does it? I'm not winning. I am more or less break even in all months except for April 2010 where it just all went bad. With Rakeback and Bonus, I am at even; but that certainly isn't the goal now is it?
So why the difference? What are the differences between Rush and Normal Full Ring Poker?
I'll name a few and hopefully hear back from others on what they think the differences are.
- Overall Tightness. I think overall, players are tighter. It is not uncommon to see people playing at 8/5/2.0 level. That is not to say that there aren't LAGtards playing because their are. Over about 162K hands of Rush Poker, I am playing at a 14.5/11.0/2.69 clip. that is a little bit tighter than I was playing. This year playing non-Rush Poker, I was playing at 16/12/2.8.
- Button Steals. I think you see more of these and consequently because of this I think you are seeing more 3 bets out of the blinds. So the question here is to try to steal more or less playing Rush Poker? Let's say 30% is a good median. My first thought is to play more; but with the in flux of greater 3 betting from blinds, maybe that is not the best. Of course, with enough stats on a guy, you are able to 4 bet lighter; although the first time I did this with T8o was a little worrisome. He folded so it was all ok; but probably not a good habit to get into.
- 3 Betting. It seems to me that with Rush, you definitely see a lot of late position raising so similar to point #2 above, I think you can 3 bet lighter. I will be looking into this in more detail in future posts so I won't spend too much time here.
- Continuation betting. My general thought here is that you can probably C-Bet less here. You are playing more hands and there is really no real need to go crazy with CBetting every flop. I'm right around the 57% spot (I was at 67% at non Rush Poker for this year) and I'm ok with that; but truthfully, I am trying to get that number a bit to the low to mid 60% range.
Hmmm. That should do it for now. More thoughts on Rush Poker coming in the upcoming weeks.
Have a nice day!!!
7 comments:
Assuming you are profitable at regular FR, why are you not profitable at Rush? That is the real question we have to answer.
The only thing that made sense to me in this entire article is the fact that you are willing to make a trade-off in poker to spend time with your family. And I agree with you.
However, as I read through your discussion points, I find few tidbits or lessons learned to understand how normal full ring and Rush poker are different. You suggested that players have tightened up, while the only adjustment you have made between the two is to cut out 2% of your range [VPIP]. Your 3-bet% has remain the same. Why is this? Are you incapapble of raising someone out of the SB/BB from a steal position [CO/BUT] with a less than premium hand?
You also discussed 4-betting light and even mustered up the courage to successfully do it once. If you see a players 3bet% at 8-10%, is it not correct to 4-bet them light with almost all of your range?
You never discussed what your Attempt to Steal is from BUT/CO, but you did make it known that you're afraid to go for a steal and be 3-betted and have to fold. So because of light 3-betting are you suggesting that stealing is not profitable and you should tighten up to your normal VPIP from the BUT/CO?
Perhaps the only time you presented meaningful stats was in regard to c-betting, but you never discussed the reason of why you want to lower your c-bet %? Are you getting check-raised a lot? Are you checking back turns to frequently or not double-barreling?
While I applaud your efforts to discuss the differences of Rush vs. Standard FR, I think you should:
1) Apply your observations to tangible conclusions. If you make the statement that people are 3-betting light, then you need to follow that up with action. For instance, I'm going to start 4-betting the light 3-bettors when I think I find a good spot. Or I'm going to start 3-betting out of the blinds a late position open-raiser whos ATS = 40%+. What's the point of making observations if you never act on them?
2) Play where you think you can win and not break-even. If you're breaking even than go spend time with your children. Heck, teach them what you know about poker so they can beat you in time.
@Anonymous. That is the true question I hope to answer in the upcoming weeks.
@Josh. Wow, great comment!!! Of course, I have a few things to add. ;-)
tightning. I juast said that seemed to be the trend. That doesn't mean I necessarily agree with it. yes, I have tightened up a couple of notches. Whether that is good or bad, I hope to answer in upcoming posts. 3betting? never said anything about that. I guess you are referring to the 3rd stat. If so, I apologize for the confusion. The third number is total aggression factor. I wouldn't expect that to be much different; but should it? Again, I hope to look at this. Having said that, my 3betting has been similar Rush and nonRush at a little over 6%; however, it has gone way up from the blinds during Rush play. Again, I'll discuss this in later posts.
Afraid to button steal? Nope, I didn't say that. I only mentioned that people are playing back more. Whether I should adjust upwards or downwards was never really said what I thought was correct. For the record, for now, I have been 3betting 4 betting lightly based on reads/stats.
Cbetting. At this point, just pointing out stats. I hope to expound on things later.
As a matter of fact, this whole post was purposely left open without conclusions. I'm hoping to open up discussion. Going forward, I do plan on putting more into the posts. This was just a starting point.
Again thanks for your thoughts and I certainly hope to incorporate those thoughts in future posts. Hopefully, we can build good discussions as I/we try to figure out the difference between Rush and Non Rush Full Ring Poker.
For the record, I hope I didn't come across as rude or condescending. I think your post could certainly make way for some interesting discussions, which I am happy to contribute to.
I too was a $50 NL and $100 NL winning reg. When Rush was first introduced I was killing the game, like many, going on several week long sprees of multiple buy-in wins a day. Then all of sudden the games got tough. Real tough. Everything was cooler vs cooler or mega-cooler vs. mega-cooler. I realized that deep stack poker wasn't necessarily ideal under these conditions. I made some adjustments, but still found resistance I hadn't seen in my 5+ years of experience. Then I quit. Yup, I'm a recovering rush addict. Used to play 3,000+ hands a day of it.
I lucked out now though, because I got casinos within 2 hours of my house in Delaware and West Virginia so I've mainly been playing 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL...a game that any 50 NL reg [pre-rush] can beat.
As far as online goes, I'm back to grinding SNG's which is how I learned to become a winning player. It's going really well now and I've been focusing on 6-max; a game I have little to no experience in other than a home game amongst friends. Well that's my deal. I can still put together a good post or two for 50/100 NL though. Cheers!
rude or condescending?? Not at all. I enjoy and applaud any kind of commenting/criticism. Believe me, I can take it.
I've seen enough comments from you elsewhere to know where you are coming from and certainly appreciate any thing you throw back my way.
nice post and look forward to following your blog
Jeff
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