Crushing the Microstakes by BlackRain79 study

Today has largely focused on studying Crushing the Microstakes by BlackRain79 an ebook I purchased from Nathan's website www.blackrain79.com in December 2011 and I'm now on my second reading.


I had one key takeaway thought whilst reading the book at a point where Nathan was listing the types of hands he would fold at various positions and certain circumstances, and the realization struck me that if I had of begun playing online before learning and studying this game I knew I would have played precisely the hands Nathan was advising not to play which would make me a fish!!


This strategy - identifying pitfalls and scout the territory of poker first is already paying dividends in terms of identifying potential future costs to my game, and it is these costs which if left unidentified for any length of time, can build into entrenched negative Equity Value behavior and strategic play, and poor game historical statistics.


I can measure the progress I'm making by comparing the percentage of understanding I'm gaining this second reading compared to the first reading of Crushing the Microstakes. My poker studies began in earnest the start of December of 2011, I created this blog end Jan 2012 and I purchased BlackRain79's book mid December 2011. A lot of the terms and concepts in my first reading one month ago were unknown to me, but now as I re-read through the book I can see how much I've learned since. I've been spending time on Two plus Two poker forum, and reading various other poker books which I will cover in a future blog as I re-read each of them in turn.


What I've taken away from Crushing the Microstakes in this second reading is I still think like a fish and I would have played like a fish - playing low to middle pair in early position, playing too loosely in all positions, I would have called a lot more than I am going to now. Now I'll begin my poker career playing tight and aggressive - opening up from a very tight range in early position to a wider range around to button, and I'll play the top of my range aggressively, pot bets at each street with sets, that sort of thing.