Damn, I haven't been posting as often as I'd hoped to. And I haven't got comments installed on this site yet.

In any case, here's what's up. I jumped back into poker with some micro limit ($0.01/$0.02) on Poker Stars. Started with a bankroll of $40. The micro tables are interesting because the blinds are so small in relation to the stack you're allowed to bring to the table ($5). At a $25 table on Party, you can bring 50 times the big blind. On these micro tables, you can bring 250 times the big blind! I've played around 1,000 hands, and I'm up about $22. I can't give my exact stats, because the site appears to be finicky about hand histories, and I have been getting them several hours late. So I don't have the latest ones.

In any case, it's obviously going well. At first I was thinking I would only play pairs and big slick. With blinds that small, you don't need to play many hands. But after a few hundred hands, I noticed that the overall play is incredibly timid. What I mean is that the other players often price you into a hand that you would normally fold, and it becomes profitable to limp with suited aces and connectors, and to chase certain hands. Say you've got the second best pair and a decent kicker. The pot is $0.20, and there are two or three other players involved. I find myself in this situation a lot, and I always expect to fold. Except when someone leads into the pot with a $0.02 bet, and it's called to me. For $0.02, you've usually got pot odds, not to mention implied odds! The exceptions, of course, are when there is an obvious flush or straight on the board, and your hand won't improve enough to beat those hands.

I thought the players on Party were bad, but they look like geniuses compared to most of the folks at these micro tables. Okay, maybe not geniuses, but still. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people limp and slowplay AA, only to get drawn out. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people bet $0.02 with top pair, top kicker. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I will buy back into Party soon, after I've had my fill of micro. I'm hoping to use the micro tables to fund some tournaments on Stars.

Thinking about buying into Party Poker? Well, first read (or at least skim) "The Theory of Poker," by David Sklansky. Then use the code FOZ and you'll get $25 for free!