Small Stakes Poker: Intro

I wanted to bring some poker content to my new site and thought of the perfect opportunity last night when I was playing at a local bar. As many of you may know, Tennessee has 'no gambling' legislation in place. It stinks, to be quite honest, that you cannot sit down at a poker table and use the money you have earned to play a game you choose to play. I understand the risks of gambling and all the gambling addicts that are brought into the mix...but we have a lottery. Not to mention I can drive 15 minutes across the Virginia border and bet the horses.

The closest casino is in Cherokee, NC and does not have live poker tables. From the descriptions I have heard of the place, it is basically a very costly video arcade. I say no thanks. It's not that I don't trust the computers, but the thing I like about poker, and one of the major reasons I don't play online that much, is that I enjoy playing live with people around me. Maybe it's the mix of characters you may find or the dynamic of actually bluffing at a pot with more than a big raise and a prayer behind your mouse that you don't get called down.

So all of this limits the play in my humble corner of the world, which after many years of thinking I needed to leave I discovered I love, to home games and to playing at "freerolls". If you ever read ernpac.com you know about the freerolls in Knoxville. They were attrocious. Free poker equals bad play. It's a rule and there is little changing it. However, in the Tri-Cities, the going rate for free poker is $6 per game. Its pretty standard. There are a few truly free games in the area, but I have found that $6 DOES make a difference...somewhat. So it qualifies in what I am calling, for the sake of this series, small stakes poker.

I can unequivocally say that compared to most of the play I encountered in the Knoxville area with the SEPC and at Bailey's, the play I have seen in the last 4-5 months has been miles better. Because you are paying $6 of your money to compete for points towards a prize payout in a larger tournament, it matters. What place you finish at your table matters. If you have a bad run, it matters. You see less of the "Well, I have to be somewhere anyway, I am all in" players. There is a difference and I have appreciated that difference.

This series will go into the intricacies of playing in very small stakes poker places like the local $6 freeroll and even online in the freeroll's there or the cheap rooms that are available to the masses. The play varies from place to place, but I think there are some steadfast things to look at. I won't speak about online as much as live, only because I hate playing online most of the time. We will take a look at the setup and dealers, the players themselves, the play and some tips on how to handle the environment and not get too awful mad when King-Eight takes you out. I hope to bring Rich in for some insight as well, since this adventure in the Tri-Cities poker scene has been shared with him and he was a varitable rookie in live small stakes poker. I hope you enjoy as we look at this from time to time in the near future.

Anyone interested in a game at my place soon? :)