I am learning to appreciate the term "play the players, not the cards." Most of my big loses come from playing the cards. My biggest wins have come from playing the players.
For me, playing over my head seems to come down to reading the players at the table badly. If you know a bad player will call your bluffs, don't bluff them. Use that knowledge to your advantage, make them pay you off when you do have them dominated. Wait to get good reads on the players before making any moves. Start with tests, like will someone fold one pair even if the board shows an obvious possible flush.
Another area to be careful, about playing over your head, is the stakes. If you are protecting your money, other players will read that in your play. I am not talking about smart poker, I am talking about fearful poker. Afraid to call a big bet just in case you were wrong, the bets you would normally call or attack. Afraid to protect your hand, hands you would normally protect.
If you are uncomfortable at a table, go find another one.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Walking a Mile in Their Shoes.
Sometimes you sit there with a great hand and wonder why other players are so connected to their hands. For example, you flop a set and someone with AK off has TPTK (top pair top kicker). They wont fold and 8 out of 10 times you take them for a big pot. Insert your example.
The there are those days that there you sit with TPTK and totally read the hand incorrectly. You feel connected, and pay them off. Usually you know to just fold, you understand they are betting to protect their big flop. But sometimes you convince yourself they are betting a chase, or a weak connection, and pay them off.
It is hard to consistently be the one on the winning side of these situation's. The more risks you take, the tighter you play, the easier it is sometimes to fall into your own trap.
When you are in for 8x the BB post flop, it doesn't actually hurt to fold to a big post flop bet if all you have is top pair. An agressive bluffer just gains confidence when they get you to lay your hand down. With patience they will pay you off, a lot more than they took from you. On the other hand, a good tight player will bet the same way to protect their lead against dangerous flops.
Playing quality cards helps you to make better decisions though. Like flopping a weak flush, this can leave you just calling big bets and you end up allowing someone to hit a FH. Where if you have the nut flush you can battle back post flop, maybe stop them from chasing - if nothing else, get your money in before they crack you and not end up making a bad call after the river.
The there are those days that there you sit with TPTK and totally read the hand incorrectly. You feel connected, and pay them off. Usually you know to just fold, you understand they are betting to protect their big flop. But sometimes you convince yourself they are betting a chase, or a weak connection, and pay them off.
It is hard to consistently be the one on the winning side of these situation's. The more risks you take, the tighter you play, the easier it is sometimes to fall into your own trap.
When you are in for 8x the BB post flop, it doesn't actually hurt to fold to a big post flop bet if all you have is top pair. An agressive bluffer just gains confidence when they get you to lay your hand down. With patience they will pay you off, a lot more than they took from you. On the other hand, a good tight player will bet the same way to protect their lead against dangerous flops.
Playing quality cards helps you to make better decisions though. Like flopping a weak flush, this can leave you just calling big bets and you end up allowing someone to hit a FH. Where if you have the nut flush you can battle back post flop, maybe stop them from chasing - if nothing else, get your money in before they crack you and not end up making a bad call after the river.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
It's all about the money.
Poker is all about the money. I can guarantee you that Phil Hellmuth would not be playing if it was just for a title. All the articles about how the 11th bracelet was more important that the winnings seem to be a little over the top. Money is what makes the game what it is. The titles are very nice, of course an added benefit that is worth playing for. If the money was not so important, then the prize structure would not be as agressive. First place would pay closer to second place, and so on.
The best of the best in each sport are eventually judged by the titles they won. The driving factor though behind their playing is the pay off, the mula, the money. There are many successfull players based on the money they won. Coming in first is the big payoff in a tournament. Winning the big pot is the payoff in cash games. Having the best hand does not mean much if you cannot cash it in. That is why there is an art to getting the most out of made hands.
Bottom line though, our objective is to make money playing poker. This is a combination of limiting your loses while maximizing your wins. I have yet to see someone win a major tournament while at the same time be known as an overall losing player. Winning money and winning titles are a marriage.
The best of the best in each sport are eventually judged by the titles they won. The driving factor though behind their playing is the pay off, the mula, the money. There are many successfull players based on the money they won. Coming in first is the big payoff in a tournament. Winning the big pot is the payoff in cash games. Having the best hand does not mean much if you cannot cash it in. That is why there is an art to getting the most out of made hands.
Bottom line though, our objective is to make money playing poker. This is a combination of limiting your loses while maximizing your wins. I have yet to see someone win a major tournament while at the same time be known as an overall losing player. Winning money and winning titles are a marriage.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Isolation - expanding your mindset!
Recently I decided to try and be more aware of my hidden bad habits. It is hard to read over hand histories, pretty boring matter of fact. It is much easier to for me to learn from current activity.
One thing that I picked up on is most of the time I just am donating to the pot. On top of that, very few big hands result in big wins. On some days, on cash tables, I can win about 20% of the hands I am dealt. The winnings though are not consistent. Long term I had a few good runs, but over all I was not consistently profitable.
I decided to apply some of what I have been learning. Stop calling blinds from early position with speculative pocket cards. Stop calling big post flop bets just because I have top pair. Do not chase straights into flush chases, weak flushes into trong ones, or even flushes into paired boards. I am winning about 10% of the hands dealt. At the same time I am seeing less flops, limiting my small and larger loses, and getting the most out of my wins. If you think about it, on a 10-player table, the odds are you should win 10% of the hands. The problem is only a few of those wins are big enough to make your session profitable.
By isolating my game, I have trippled up my bank roll over the past week. My SNG and MTT play has been stagnant, my cash game is where I have vastly improved. My SNG game is where I fell apart at the beginning of the year. Looking over sharkscope, I went from over $250 positive to over $200 negative in a short period of time. I was playing over my head obviously. When I first moved up in stakes I was winning big, for the stakes I play. The better players just figured me out and took shots at me as I would go all-in a lot.
Another way I have isolated my game is to be much more aware of what others think of me. I am on a table right now where one player figure's if I raise, or call any raise, I have a top 25 hand. Another thinks I will raise or call with anything from suited connectors to two overcards. Table presence is great when playing for larger stakes but can hurt you at lower stakes. Having everyone fold to your pre-flop raises is not very profitable on a 10 cent ante table. Sometimes I isolate my game by taking risks slow playing a big hand. I have enough discipline now to muck even pocket Aces when it appears someone caught a better hand. For the most part though, I play big pocket cards from 5x to 8s the BB, whatever the magic number is that session to isolate or get everyone to just fold.
Take some time and look over where your game is weak and where it is strong. Avoid the weak areas and maximize the strong ones.
One thing that I picked up on is most of the time I just am donating to the pot. On top of that, very few big hands result in big wins. On some days, on cash tables, I can win about 20% of the hands I am dealt. The winnings though are not consistent. Long term I had a few good runs, but over all I was not consistently profitable.
I decided to apply some of what I have been learning. Stop calling blinds from early position with speculative pocket cards. Stop calling big post flop bets just because I have top pair. Do not chase straights into flush chases, weak flushes into trong ones, or even flushes into paired boards. I am winning about 10% of the hands dealt. At the same time I am seeing less flops, limiting my small and larger loses, and getting the most out of my wins. If you think about it, on a 10-player table, the odds are you should win 10% of the hands. The problem is only a few of those wins are big enough to make your session profitable.
By isolating my game, I have trippled up my bank roll over the past week. My SNG and MTT play has been stagnant, my cash game is where I have vastly improved. My SNG game is where I fell apart at the beginning of the year. Looking over sharkscope, I went from over $250 positive to over $200 negative in a short period of time. I was playing over my head obviously. When I first moved up in stakes I was winning big, for the stakes I play. The better players just figured me out and took shots at me as I would go all-in a lot.
Another way I have isolated my game is to be much more aware of what others think of me. I am on a table right now where one player figure's if I raise, or call any raise, I have a top 25 hand. Another thinks I will raise or call with anything from suited connectors to two overcards. Table presence is great when playing for larger stakes but can hurt you at lower stakes. Having everyone fold to your pre-flop raises is not very profitable on a 10 cent ante table. Sometimes I isolate my game by taking risks slow playing a big hand. I have enough discipline now to muck even pocket Aces when it appears someone caught a better hand. For the most part though, I play big pocket cards from 5x to 8s the BB, whatever the magic number is that session to isolate or get everyone to just fold.
Take some time and look over where your game is weak and where it is strong. Avoid the weak areas and maximize the strong ones.
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