More fun Google gadgets

I've added another Google spreadsheet gadget to show progress on The Quest. This is a gauge showing progress to my next immediate goal -- the required bankroll to safely move up to the next level. I'm assuming, at least at these lower levels, that 50 normal buy-ins of 100 times the big blind is the "safe" bankroll level. I will probably increase that to 100 buy-ins before reaching the goal.

Starting with only a $5 bankroll I was, and still am, seriously underfunded even for playing $0.01/$0.02, so the gauge shows me still well into the red. I set the "caution" yellow level at 30 buy-ins. Once I hit 50 buy-ins of $2 I'll be in the green (properly funded) for $0.01/$0.02 and will be building toward moving to the next level.

As for The Quest itself, I played for about an hour last night. I've written before about having trouble reading the players at this level. Maybe I've spent too much time playing against poker bloggers or in tournaments with people who take the game rather seriously. You certainly see a variety of styles in those situations, but the skill levels of the players don't seem to vary quite as much as with the players in the very shallow end of the NL ring pool.

It's unusual to find tournament players still at level one -- only concerned with what's in their hand -- or who appear to be completely incapable of reading the board. In nano-stakes holdem you bump into players at this level quite often. It's certainly expected given the stakes.

The problem is you also see a lot of people more like me; people who have a good understanding of the game but are seriously short of funds or simply enjoy the game and don't care about the money. Assuming another player is decent and knows how to read the board (or how to bluff effectively given what's on the board) can cause you to leave a lot of money on the table. Assuming the opposite can cost you even more.

Last night I was at a couple tables with quite a few players who apparently were still at level one. It took me a while to figure that out, though I was able to take advantage of it a few times once I did. I recall one hand where faced with a board showing two overcards, a couple possible straights and a flush, one guy called down every one of my bets with his pocket tens (that he grossly underbet pre-flop).

I finished the night up $1.61. I can't help but feel I should be doing far better at this level, but I'll still take the profit and feel good about it.