There are several styles of play that never seem to work for me. As well as they seem to work against me, I never seem to be able to win with them.
The one that frustrates me the most is the pre-flop flush chase. I am not talking about suited connectors, suited Ace's or suited over cards. I'm talking about players that will see the flop with any two suited cards, even attack the pot pre-flop to build it. They figure if they do hit a flush, the odds are that no one else has one. These player's also tend to flop lots of un-readable hands, like: open end if not nut straights, trips, 2 pair. Those hands can become dangerous, but profitable: bottom ends of straights, under pairs, low kicker sets, weak full house. The best players bet their chases creatively, their catches deceptively. If you out-flopped them, make sure you force them to pay you off, as they rarely will fold their weak flushes, straights, etc..
The other flush chasers that frustrate me are the ones that bluff the flop 'all-in' with their flush draw. There you are with top-top (which is foldable), a set, maybe even a flopped straight, and you have to call their bet. It just takes a few of them to hit their draw to really hurt your chip stack. I have seen big chip leaders in tournaments bet their flush chases aggressively, late into the game. It is probably what got them there, so they just keep doing it. It may double you up, but when they crack your big pockets it is really frustrating. On cash tables, you can only fold so many hands against their pushes...
The flip side: I cannot make this work for me. I have tried, it just does not work consistently. That is, I cannot make it profitable. If I hit a flush, in most cases no one calls my bets or someone out kicks me. If I hit trips, I get out kicked or out drawn. Against me, I will hit the top end of a straight and their weak flush takes my money. When my weak flush hits, no one gets a hand good enough to pay me off, or they river me. I get my few pay-offs, but it is a net loss. Yet day after day I watch players leave tables with 2x to 3x the buy-in using these strategies.
Just insert the type of strategy that frustrates you: the player that sees the flop with any weak Ace offsuit; the one that thinks a low pair is unbeatable; and so on...
Now, what can be done to both avoid paying these players off and also take the most from them? How do you slow them down or just avoid them? When do you take them on, and how do you set them up to pay you off? There are no set answers here, it is all situational and takes daily adjustments. Hopefully a few of you can comment with your advice or examples.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Cash Play versus Tournament Play.
It appears to me that many online players cannot differentiate cash play versus tournament play. This is a problem both offensively, and defensively. The first of two major losing strategies I usually see are the tournament players that play very loose yet without the discipline to get away from a flop. The other major impact affects very tight cash players that cannot lay down hands when loose players take them on.
A selectively loose call on a cash table is nothing more than speculating. If the flop misses, a disciplined Loose Aggressive (LAG) player knows when to muck. Day after day I see very tight players lose huge pots on cash tables, just because they cannot adjust to LAG players. In general, LAG players enjoy taking on Tight Passive players. Tight Aggressive players are more of a challenge but still much more predictable than loose players. This style in tournament play is very risky for the LAG player, but has great advantages when they hit a few flops early on.
In tournament play, LAG players tend to be their own worst enemies. Their goal of course is to build up an early chip leads. The problem, if they do not catch a hand early, they are way behind in early. This forces them to just go for it and move on if they have to. You can spot these players on cash tables. They risk all their chips a lot; so tend to buy in short. They have no problem paying to see the river with any pair or any 2 high cards. This of course is frustrating for tight players, as it is sometimes hard to figure out if the LAG player is disciplined or not. That is, as they playing a chase or playing a made hand.
To add to this confusion, try reading any poker book or online article. Most players do not separate the different levels of advice. A guide on limit poker for example does not apply no-limit play, yet many people just take any strategy they read and try to make it work for them.
First and always, never be predictable. Short term you may find some success if you just play by the book. Long term, you just set yourself up this way. Mix your game up, the loose you play the more disciplined you have to be. If there is $2 in the pot and someone bets $8, just give him or her credit for having a better hand when you have any doubts. That same player, or someone that plays the same style, will eventually pay you off when you do have the best hand. In tournaments, you have to win a few races to make the money. Just try and not force things without premium hands, or without catching a great flop.
A selectively loose call on a cash table is nothing more than speculating. If the flop misses, a disciplined Loose Aggressive (LAG) player knows when to muck. Day after day I see very tight players lose huge pots on cash tables, just because they cannot adjust to LAG players. In general, LAG players enjoy taking on Tight Passive players. Tight Aggressive players are more of a challenge but still much more predictable than loose players. This style in tournament play is very risky for the LAG player, but has great advantages when they hit a few flops early on.
In tournament play, LAG players tend to be their own worst enemies. Their goal of course is to build up an early chip leads. The problem, if they do not catch a hand early, they are way behind in early. This forces them to just go for it and move on if they have to. You can spot these players on cash tables. They risk all their chips a lot; so tend to buy in short. They have no problem paying to see the river with any pair or any 2 high cards. This of course is frustrating for tight players, as it is sometimes hard to figure out if the LAG player is disciplined or not. That is, as they playing a chase or playing a made hand.
To add to this confusion, try reading any poker book or online article. Most players do not separate the different levels of advice. A guide on limit poker for example does not apply no-limit play, yet many people just take any strategy they read and try to make it work for them.
First and always, never be predictable. Short term you may find some success if you just play by the book. Long term, you just set yourself up this way. Mix your game up, the loose you play the more disciplined you have to be. If there is $2 in the pot and someone bets $8, just give him or her credit for having a better hand when you have any doubts. That same player, or someone that plays the same style, will eventually pay you off when you do have the best hand. In tournaments, you have to win a few races to make the money. Just try and not force things without premium hands, or without catching a great flop.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
What are you Chasing?
Most players know what chasing is, but many overlook the game outside the game. I am talking about chasing your bankroll. You are on a bad roll, so instead of just taking a break you try to get back even. The best way to get even is to just stay even, that is be patient and protect what you have.
Looking back over my history, I have very few long term winning streaks. For the most part, I only have a few good growth sessions each week. I also tend to lose almost as much back in little bits. Lately, I have been able to minimize my loses, thus protecting the increases as best as I can.
Many people move up in stakes too fast. I probably did that, yet did pretty good for a while. Eventually it caught up with me and forced me to slow down. It does not really make sense to risk 1/3 your bankroll everytime you sit down at a cash game. This is not a one time trip to AC or Vegas, where maybe you do bring a set amount and put it all down for your one sesion.
Beware of the online players that do not care about their money. I guarantee that someone, on a $1 or higher BB NL table, calling big bets with suited connectors is playing with a deep bankroll. The players with limited funds wait for a big hand before making a big raise, or calling one. Think about this: the standard player waits for big hands, the rich player knows that he is up against when he calls them. This either gives the standard player a small win, or a major loss. Like when my Kings were up against 9 2 suited!! I still have no idea why they called my huge pre-flop bet - but they did and they flopped a flush. If the missed the flop, I won a decent pot, but they hit a flush and I lost my buy-in.
This is the hand that slowed me down, a whole lot. I decided I am willing to lose $10 to that kind of player, but not $75. I was chasing my bankroll too fast.
So, what are you chasing?
Looking back over my history, I have very few long term winning streaks. For the most part, I only have a few good growth sessions each week. I also tend to lose almost as much back in little bits. Lately, I have been able to minimize my loses, thus protecting the increases as best as I can.
Many people move up in stakes too fast. I probably did that, yet did pretty good for a while. Eventually it caught up with me and forced me to slow down. It does not really make sense to risk 1/3 your bankroll everytime you sit down at a cash game. This is not a one time trip to AC or Vegas, where maybe you do bring a set amount and put it all down for your one sesion.
Beware of the online players that do not care about their money. I guarantee that someone, on a $1 or higher BB NL table, calling big bets with suited connectors is playing with a deep bankroll. The players with limited funds wait for a big hand before making a big raise, or calling one. Think about this: the standard player waits for big hands, the rich player knows that he is up against when he calls them. This either gives the standard player a small win, or a major loss. Like when my Kings were up against 9 2 suited!! I still have no idea why they called my huge pre-flop bet - but they did and they flopped a flush. If the missed the flop, I won a decent pot, but they hit a flush and I lost my buy-in.
This is the hand that slowed me down, a whole lot. I decided I am willing to lose $10 to that kind of player, but not $75. I was chasing my bankroll too fast.
So, what are you chasing?
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
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I have been playing on poker.com for many years, their new portal is carbonpoker.com, the sites are a shared network. This is the BEST site for freeroll players, specially for anyone that plays real money and want the potential to win lots of free money. They have great deposit bonuses. It is very easy to release deposit bonus money. For freerolls, all money won is yours. You can play with it right away, and/or after 7 days can cash it out. This means no play-through requirements like other sites put on you. So, if you never make a deposit, and win one of the general freerolls run every 3 hours, you can use that money all you want. Most sites make you deposit money then earn points to release freeroll winnings.
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Saturday, May 5, 2007
Donkeys - Feed Them or Break Them.
Most bad beat stories are the result of donkey play. Can be the teller was the donkey, or they ran into one. In most stories, the teller never considers themselves to be the donkey. On the other hand, the readers of these stories usually can see that the author's were the donkeys in most cases.
I just ran into a bad beat that I could have avoided. I could have bet more preflop to isolate better, but that was out of my control after the flop. First hand into a small MTT and I have pocket Aces. I bet 8x BB from early position and end up with 2 callers, one next to act after me and the SB. Flop is 775 rainbow: I bet, next to act calls, BB folds. The turn is a 9: I bet, opponent re-raises 2x my bet. My mind screams FOLD NOW - so I go over the top and he flips over 6 7 off. This was NOT a bad beat; it was a bad play by me after the flop.
I can appreciate a very good player setting me up. I can live with shark attacks, even watching a fish catch something. But I hate to feed donkeys. A small bite is fine, that is the best way to lure them in for the kill. But giving them a chunk of my money really irks me.
A good donkey is the player that is real happy, hits a few wins playing bad cards, so becomes full of them self. They are very easy to set up for a kill, as long as you are very patient with them. It does take a good hand to cripple them, thus the need to be patient. They just hate to fold TPTK, 2 pair, even a straight when it is obvious you may have a flush or better. A shark will only go so far, and if a fish misses you have to get them to bluff at the pot to milk them. But a donkey will typically call you down, even raise, holding nothing more than low pair or Ace high.
You want to have connected well before getting into a big pot with them. This way you minimize their chances to improve to a hand better than yours. Case in point: I just called a 5x Bb raise out of position with 9 10 suited. Flop is 10 10 8 with 2 clubs. I check, donkey bets small so I call. Turn is a small club, I bet 1/2 the pot, donkey pushes all in and I call. He flips over AK off, with Ace of clubs. So he is on a flush draw. He gets his flush, problem is it is the 8 of clubs and I hit a full house. Now this could have been a donkey play by me, but I was 99% sure that I was ahead. I never once thought that he turned a flush, and I was right. Unlike my earlier example with pocket rockets, where my mind told me the opponent had a 7 in hand.
My point here is I feed this player a few times and picked up on his style. I was able to isolate against him. I know calling with higher suited connectors is not a bad idea. What if they had player A 10, then I was not in good shape. But had they, they would have bet large on the flop to stop a flush chase. They would have had to call my raise on the turn in fear of the flush having hit. Yet they moved all in, against a player they have seen fold to pressure. They bet their chase; fortunately my hand remained better than theirs.
I just ran into a bad beat that I could have avoided. I could have bet more preflop to isolate better, but that was out of my control after the flop. First hand into a small MTT and I have pocket Aces. I bet 8x BB from early position and end up with 2 callers, one next to act after me and the SB. Flop is 775 rainbow: I bet, next to act calls, BB folds. The turn is a 9: I bet, opponent re-raises 2x my bet. My mind screams FOLD NOW - so I go over the top and he flips over 6 7 off. This was NOT a bad beat; it was a bad play by me after the flop.
I can appreciate a very good player setting me up. I can live with shark attacks, even watching a fish catch something. But I hate to feed donkeys. A small bite is fine, that is the best way to lure them in for the kill. But giving them a chunk of my money really irks me.
A good donkey is the player that is real happy, hits a few wins playing bad cards, so becomes full of them self. They are very easy to set up for a kill, as long as you are very patient with them. It does take a good hand to cripple them, thus the need to be patient. They just hate to fold TPTK, 2 pair, even a straight when it is obvious you may have a flush or better. A shark will only go so far, and if a fish misses you have to get them to bluff at the pot to milk them. But a donkey will typically call you down, even raise, holding nothing more than low pair or Ace high.
You want to have connected well before getting into a big pot with them. This way you minimize their chances to improve to a hand better than yours. Case in point: I just called a 5x Bb raise out of position with 9 10 suited. Flop is 10 10 8 with 2 clubs. I check, donkey bets small so I call. Turn is a small club, I bet 1/2 the pot, donkey pushes all in and I call. He flips over AK off, with Ace of clubs. So he is on a flush draw. He gets his flush, problem is it is the 8 of clubs and I hit a full house. Now this could have been a donkey play by me, but I was 99% sure that I was ahead. I never once thought that he turned a flush, and I was right. Unlike my earlier example with pocket rockets, where my mind told me the opponent had a 7 in hand.
My point here is I feed this player a few times and picked up on his style. I was able to isolate against him. I know calling with higher suited connectors is not a bad idea. What if they had player A 10, then I was not in good shape. But had they, they would have bet large on the flop to stop a flush chase. They would have had to call my raise on the turn in fear of the flush having hit. Yet they moved all in, against a player they have seen fold to pressure. They bet their chase; fortunately my hand remained better than theirs.
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