What's a donkey to do?

Has it really been three weeks since I posted here? Feels like longer. Occasionally I'll get an idea that seems like it might be worth posting, but that feeling usually passes quickly. But, if for no other reason than to pretend that I am still a poker blogger, I figure I'll throw something up here.

Let's get the trivial things like results out of the way first.

Cash games since last post = in the red
Tourneys since last post = in the black*

*The asterisk is because my "profit" has come from the tournament credits I won in the Bodog Blogger Game last Tuesday. I folded and luckboxed my way to fifth in that tourney, which got me $29.60 in real US money, but also $T109 in my Bodog account thanks to their generous bonus program for these tourneys. If not for that, I would still be well into the red for tournaments so far this calendar year. I plan to use the $T to play in the Tuesday night games as regularly as I can, and possibly to check out some of their other tournaments.

Because I am a consistent loser at tourneys these days, I am trying to play in more ring games to see if I can perform with some semblance of success. I stick to the micro-limits, to make my bankroll last as long as possible. I have no desire to jump through the hoops or pay the fees to fund my accounts at the poker sites, so I'd like to milk my meager stakes in the three sites where I am funded for as long as possible.

A problem with that is, playing for nickels and dimes means that any wins I bank don't amount to much, so my roll doesn't grow with any speed. That isn't to say that I am impatient; I can fold hand after hand with the tightest of them. In fact, I am doing that as I type this, in a $0.02 - 0.04 Limit O8 game on PokerStars. I have had a bunch 0f hands with middle cards, and very few Aces, so my Fold button is getting a real workout. What I need is a run of decent hands so I can win some pots from the any-four-cards playing fish in these games. Maybe I need to switch back to Stud 8, which I did OK at for a while last year.

I'm playing strictly Limit poker in the ring games, mostly because I feel more comfortable playing Limit outside of tournaments. I have not, however, played in any Limit tourneys yet, because they generally take way too long.

I'm in my usual quandary about what to do about poker. Am I enjoying it enough to tolerate the steady diminishing of my bankroll? Will it do me any good to read more poker books, or have I reached a saturation point with those? Should I find something better to do with the time that I spend on poker now?

Here's one I'm wondering about: Should I take a bigger risk, play at slightly higher levels where I can use what little I have learned about how to play correctly against other players who might actually fold their crap hands to my bets and raises? I have resisted this temptation for a long time, partly because I am a wuss and don't like to get in over my head, and partly because I know that variance could easily cripple me with a few losing rounds as well as give me a nice cushion if I were to have a few winning sessions.

I expect that I will just plod along as I have been. I'll play in the Bodog Tuesday night game as long as my credits and bankroll there hold out, and try to slowly build my roll on PokerStars and FullTilt as I get the chance.

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