The Curse of Free-dom

I'm still playing a bit of MSN Texas Hold 'Em, and it's fun. I got my ranking up to 1996... basically one 4th place finish from hitting 2k, after about 140 games. A 2000 rating in an Elo system is around top 2% I think. I hit a bit of a bad patch and dropped a bit.

It can be rough early in the game when you've nailed a straight, but there's 3 cards suited on the table. That leaves open the chance that somebody has a flush, but the odds are pretty low. You bet your straight and get waxed by the flush. That's simply the nature of the game. The problem is the higher in the Elo system you get, when you're one of the first out, you can take a 50 point hit in rating.

I really wanted to hit 2k.. I suppose because I tried really hard and never hit a 2k rating in wow.

The issue now is that the game is free, and when you get a little frustrated, you'll call all-in's when you shouldn't, and you'll play hands with a low percentage just because you hit them every so often and can get a big pot.

To get a high rating, you have to play it as if it's a real money game, and you have to be consistent. I'm just playing it stupidly now. I think I'll try and get back to concentrating again and make another run at 2k.