I recently found my comfort zone in small tournaments and sit-n-go's. At first I kept grinding at my cash game, limiting the number of small tournaments I played. I was not playing into my strength, at the time. I made the adjustment and comiited more time to small tournaments, while still working on my cash game. Over 3 days I won over $300 playing small tournaments and about $50 on the cash tables.
Do not force yourself to play good, instead recognize your current strengths and work with them. Chase your game, do not chase cards.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Leaving Money on the Table
Prefessional poker players know how to make the most money possible every hand. They bet based on their opponent, not their cards. This is why with strong hands you will see them value bet against the best players to induce calls, while they may overbet the pot against bad players that can't help calling.
Online, I often see bad players assume everyone else is a bad player and bet accordingly. They overbet regardless of the other players in the hand when they flop/turn/river a great hand. They rely on the few callng stations paying them off. They can not read other players, so they mix it up some and maybe show a few bluffs early, otherwise they only overbet when they consider themselves to have the best hand at the time.
Our objective should be to take as much money as we can from our opponents, while also protecting our money as well as possible. Overbetting is a skill. For example lets say you flopped a FH and know a calling station at the table just showed a pattern that thay have a draw they like. If you know they will call anything to chase their draw, then bet away. If you know they will only call small bets, bet small. Do not bet big and hope they call, bet what you have determined they are likely to call and nothing more.
Do not confuse this with protecting your hand. This is also an art. Again, if a calling station will call any bet you make then you mave have to bet small amounts, then based on the river extract a little more or admit they hit their draw. I chase a lot sometimes, which in a case like this makes it worse for someone betting small amounts - because when the flush hits on the river I act like I hit it even when I was not chasing a flush. That is I represented a flush chase versus really having one. So bet based on your hand strength and the read you have on your opponent(s).
Online, I often see bad players assume everyone else is a bad player and bet accordingly. They overbet regardless of the other players in the hand when they flop/turn/river a great hand. They rely on the few callng stations paying them off. They can not read other players, so they mix it up some and maybe show a few bluffs early, otherwise they only overbet when they consider themselves to have the best hand at the time.
Our objective should be to take as much money as we can from our opponents, while also protecting our money as well as possible. Overbetting is a skill. For example lets say you flopped a FH and know a calling station at the table just showed a pattern that thay have a draw they like. If you know they will call anything to chase their draw, then bet away. If you know they will only call small bets, bet small. Do not bet big and hope they call, bet what you have determined they are likely to call and nothing more.
Do not confuse this with protecting your hand. This is also an art. Again, if a calling station will call any bet you make then you mave have to bet small amounts, then based on the river extract a little more or admit they hit their draw. I chase a lot sometimes, which in a case like this makes it worse for someone betting small amounts - because when the flush hits on the river I act like I hit it even when I was not chasing a flush. That is I represented a flush chase versus really having one. So bet based on your hand strength and the read you have on your opponent(s).
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