feeling low...

after running into a big bad luck streak playing mostly HE on FTP recently, i've eased back my pace and focused on lowball games like razz and triple draw 2-7.

for most of the last 2 months (january, february) i was focused on clearing a bonus with FTP while at the same time fulfilling their iron man requirements playing a few hours a night at $1/2 NLHE tables. i was doing well there for a while, but towards the end of february, got into a slump and lost a lot of the winnings i had made. meanwhile, i had spent part of my time playing HORSE (mostly at andy bloch's $1/2 table - he plays there often at night and is usually pretty talkative and helpful. and yes, he kills there - i think i've only seen him have one losing session of about -$20 and several +$100 sessions), and found myself favoring the razz rounds, often looking forward to them and feeling disappointed that we moved on after 10 hands (especially after 10 starting hands with paint in a row).

so i started playing razz only tables and now i'm hooked. it's a bit of a roller coaster sometimes, but steady tight-aggressive play usually works very well. there are plenty of idiots out there that will chase you down the whole way when they're obviously way behind, and although they catch up every now and then, you usually benefit greatly from their bad play.

when i finished my bonuses, i moved over to stars (i had a small bonus to clear there too) and with more time to finish this bonus i played lower limit triple draw (2-7) for a while and was killing it at first. i was mainly in the bottom fixed limits and when i did particularly well, i'd try to parlay it up into higher limits a little. once, when i couldn't find any fixed limit games, i tried NL TD27, and that didn't go too well. all of the strategy i learned was geared towards limit, and NL triple-draw just doesn't seem to make much sense. no wonder poker stars only has NL at very low limits and not at the higher limits better players play at.

after a bad run in TD27, i decided to try the razz tables there and wow - they are way loose/passive. i mean i found some fish at FTP, but the lower-limit razz tables at stars are very weak. i can't count how many times i brought-in with paint and then looked away at another table (or the tv) and looked back in surprise to find a 4th card in my hand! how do i not get raised out of this hand?!?! i've even had a few walks!

anyway, if you're looking for a nice change of pace or want to turn your cold deck upside down, give some lowball games a try - just try not to get too addicted. i don't know how many times i've typed "it's way past my bedtime" (often a few times in the same session).

here's where you can find more info on razz and triple-draw:
razz:
- doyle's super system 1 has a couple pages in the lowball section
- i hear sklansky on poker is a great resource - next on my list for my poker library

triple-draw:
- doyle's super system 2 has a whole chapter by daniel negreanu
- not much else out there, but if you don't have SS2, you can get a little help from here: http://www.modernpolymath.com/journal/2006/11/17/2-7-triple-draw-strategy.html (although it differs from daniel's advice on 2-card draws)

you can usually find good info at 2+2 forums, and i saw several hand discussions here too:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=26&sid=e775ea1f11baedd0d679a0bd0402495b

if anyone knows of more good resources, let me know!