Pocketfives.com

If you are reading this blog, you probably either play poker or have some interest in it. When it comes down to great resources, I believe that pocketfives.com should be near the top of everyone’s list. Though their forum is fantastic, their archives are where the real wealth of information can be found.

On pocketfives.com I have found many articles, in their archives, that helped improve my developing style of play. I believe a key to being better, is also being different.

The worse thing anyone can do is play using a known pattern. For example, not too long ago a pocketfives article was posted which gave advice on going all in on the river when you have the best hand in cash games. This opposes what I consider more productive, which would be making a bet you are sure will be called. The idea is any donkey player will call. Well, what if there are no donkeys? Worse, what if you did not really have the absolute nuts?

Oh, my point here. I saw a huge change on my site, poker.com, with players going all in when they felt they had the nutz. Not just on the river, could have been the turn. This is different than going all in to stop a chase or as a bluff in position. This worked for a short period of time, but the better players just adjusted to this new pattern. Sometimes it is hard to fold to this type of bet, especially with the limited amount of time you have to make a decision when playing online. But overall, this play is just a money loser over time. The few calls one gets will not replace the amount of money that could have been extracted with well-placed value bets. Add in the few split pots and the few bad reads on top of this.

So, as a regular on pocketfives.com I immediately picked up on what was going on. I also learned a lot from the forum and archives to turn from a constant loser (long term) to a decent winner (long term). From reading books and other online articles I recognize a number of styles and am able to adjust properly. I also try to make sure to adjust my game, from hand to hand, hour to hour, day to day.