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.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Flushtered!
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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In addition, you have a chance to participate in an exclusive $200 FREEROLL only for players that sign up using my link. If I have the most players that make their first deposit from now through the end of June we all get our own private $200 Freeroll.
Just use any link on my page for carbonpoker.com - or if you already joined using one of my links, but have never deposited, nows the time to make your first deposit.
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.
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