Sunday, May 15, 2011
Back on Track???
I've been playing break-even poker for a couple of months now. This weekend however, I won 4 out of 6 games. It's really difficult to win consistently when you play against the same group of guys every week. Familiarity necessitates frequent change-ups with these guys. A couple of them have really improved over the past few months, making winning much less than a foregone conclusion, but the enhanced level of competition is pretty fun. Anyways, I haven't blogged in quite a while. So, I figured I would commemorate today's 3 for 3 showing with a new post. Thanks to all of my buddies for playing at my poker room today.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Just Playing Math in Texas Hold'em
I love this subject because it's the math of poker. In my Friday Night Games, I started saying, "I'm just playing math." It's really maddening sometimes to know the math of poker, especially the odds of hitting draws (or really the odds of hitting any card). It's maddening because of how much fun it is to play and not fold, but smart poker relies on playing the odds.
Many of the guys I play with regularly REALLY like to have fun playing poker - I mean seriously, really like to have fun. And the trade off to fun is WINNING in the long-run because smart poker requires folding and not getting involved in many hands.
What? Folding! And then there's Friday Night Poker. I'm not risking all that much to play with my friends, so it's OK. But, like I said, this is a fun topic and I'm going to write about it anyways.
So, the odds of hitting draws on the river are really, really bad. It's the rule of 2 which says that you multiply your outs by 2 (with only the river card to go) and that gives you the percentage chance of success. So, the best possible draw you can have is an open-ended straight draw, along with a flush draw, and add that one of your hole cards is an Ace that if it hit could possibly win the hand. So, you have 4 cards to a flush already, leaving 9 other flush cards. Add to that 6 of the remaining non-flush cards that could make your straight, and the remaining 2 non-flush Aces and you've got yourself a solid 17 OUTS.
Now multiply those 17 outs by 2 and you get a whopping 34% chance of hitting a winning hand. That's basically a 1 in 3 chance of success, but a 2 in 3 chance of failure. But wait! What if you're up against another flush draw hand or another open-ended straight draw hand and that person hits too and has a higher flush or straight? Well, now you're just screwed all the way. You might think that a scenario like that is too unlikely to really happen and true, the odds of that aren't super high, but I've seen it.
Last week, I saw 2 guys hit a Jack High Straight by the turn and river, while a 3rd guy also hit his Jack High Straight on the River (seriously, this really happened). Guess what? Guy #3 actually made a Jack High Straight Flush and won the hand. The really sick thing about that, is that his odds of hitting that Jack of diamonds were about 49 to 1 against, but for some people, hitting that hand is all they need to chase cards for the rest of their poker lives.
But back to our 2 out of 3 chances of failure scenario. The only way you can make a call where 2 out of 3 times you will fail is if you get more than those same odds in the pot. So, you need to make 3 to 1 or more on your money to even consider calling river bets. And there you go playing math again.
At a game like I play on Friday nights, you have 4 to 6 guys that are generally willing to call down to the river - regardless of the odds. If you have 1 or 2 guys who do this, then you have a very profitable game in the long-run, but with 4 to 6 people doing it, you're very likely going to simply lose your mind.
Many of the guys I play with regularly REALLY like to have fun playing poker - I mean seriously, really like to have fun. And the trade off to fun is WINNING in the long-run because smart poker requires folding and not getting involved in many hands.
What? Folding! And then there's Friday Night Poker. I'm not risking all that much to play with my friends, so it's OK. But, like I said, this is a fun topic and I'm going to write about it anyways.
So, the odds of hitting draws on the river are really, really bad. It's the rule of 2 which says that you multiply your outs by 2 (with only the river card to go) and that gives you the percentage chance of success. So, the best possible draw you can have is an open-ended straight draw, along with a flush draw, and add that one of your hole cards is an Ace that if it hit could possibly win the hand. So, you have 4 cards to a flush already, leaving 9 other flush cards. Add to that 6 of the remaining non-flush cards that could make your straight, and the remaining 2 non-flush Aces and you've got yourself a solid 17 OUTS.
Now multiply those 17 outs by 2 and you get a whopping 34% chance of hitting a winning hand. That's basically a 1 in 3 chance of success, but a 2 in 3 chance of failure. But wait! What if you're up against another flush draw hand or another open-ended straight draw hand and that person hits too and has a higher flush or straight? Well, now you're just screwed all the way. You might think that a scenario like that is too unlikely to really happen and true, the odds of that aren't super high, but I've seen it.
Last week, I saw 2 guys hit a Jack High Straight by the turn and river, while a 3rd guy also hit his Jack High Straight on the River (seriously, this really happened). Guess what? Guy #3 actually made a Jack High Straight Flush and won the hand. The really sick thing about that, is that his odds of hitting that Jack of diamonds were about 49 to 1 against, but for some people, hitting that hand is all they need to chase cards for the rest of their poker lives.
But back to our 2 out of 3 chances of failure scenario. The only way you can make a call where 2 out of 3 times you will fail is if you get more than those same odds in the pot. So, you need to make 3 to 1 or more on your money to even consider calling river bets. And there you go playing math again.
At a game like I play on Friday nights, you have 4 to 6 guys that are generally willing to call down to the river - regardless of the odds. If you have 1 or 2 guys who do this, then you have a very profitable game in the long-run, but with 4 to 6 people doing it, you're very likely going to simply lose your mind.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Beating the Loose-Passive Texas Hold'em Game
I played very aggressively in Friday Night Poker. When I had a strong starting hand, I raised. When the action checked to me, I raised. I fired big bets pre-flop, at the turn, and at the river, sometimes even if I knew I had the worst hand. This aggressive play worked in the first game and I came from behind once it was down to the final 3 and won the game.
As I've mentioned before, except for a couple of very strong players, this Friday night game is primarily a loose-passive game. Of the 10 regulars, we have 3 that are mostly tight-aggressive, 1 that is mostly loose-aggressive, and 6 that are mostly loose-passive. This means that we have a lot of river card chasers and a lot of checking and calling.
The key to winning the loose-passive game is understanding what your opponents are likely to do. They are going to call most small to medium sized pre-flop bets with a very wide range of starting hand combinations, but they aren't likely to continue if they don't pair on the flop or have a draw of some kind. After the flop, they will likely check, but call many bets. If they don't fold, they have a pair, a draw, or in my game, an Ace. Bluffing them is not effective because they like to call and many of them either don't understand the odds of hitting their card or they may not care about the odds because they have more fun when they're in the hand.
Playing in a loose-passive game can frustrate a stronger player because they get drawn out on fairly often. If a game has just 2 loose-passives, drawing doesn't happen as often, but with 6 players, it can just be maddening. So, how do you play in a game with so many players that make you want to run in front of traffic?
1. Loosen up some yourself and play a wider range of starting hands. 2 face cards are not necessarily needed to win these games. With so many players usually hanging in to see the flop, smaller connecting cards like 7-8, 7-9, 6-8, and even 5-7 can be strong hands. If everyone else wants to play their face cards and many of them stay in the hand, it stands to reason that your smaller cards have a greater chance of hitting.
2. Don't bluff too often against the loose-passive player. They want to call because playing is more fun than folding.
3. Bet your medium to strong hands. If they don't pair or have a draw, they will fold. If they call, you'll have a pretty good idea what you're up against.
4. Check your weaker hands and they will usually check behind you to give you cheap or free turn and river cards to possibly win with.
5. If you bet and they raise, get out if you don't have a clear winner. The loose-passive only plays aggressively when they have a big hand.
6. If the loose-passive is in a position to act before you and they bet, use caution because they probably hit their card and you may be behind. Or they may be betting a draw with lots of outs. Be careful. You may not be able to bet them off of those hands.
7. Value bet more often, especially when draws clearly missed.
8. Try not to mix it up with more than 2 loose-passives at a time. It's better to isolate against a single player to reduce your odds of getting out-drawn.
9. Know when you're beaten and get out. This was my big mistake Friday night.
10. Keep a long-term perspective because the odds are going to be in your favor in the long-run. Drawing for a flush after the turn gives at best a 1:3 odds against hitting. Drawing for an open-ended straight gives at best a 1:6 odds against hitting. Hanging in for the chance to hit the 1 miracle card left in the deck that could give you the win gives an overwhelming 1:50 odds against hitting. Your tight-aggressive style will win most of the time in the long-run. So, hang in there.
As I've mentioned before, except for a couple of very strong players, this Friday night game is primarily a loose-passive game. Of the 10 regulars, we have 3 that are mostly tight-aggressive, 1 that is mostly loose-aggressive, and 6 that are mostly loose-passive. This means that we have a lot of river card chasers and a lot of checking and calling.
The key to winning the loose-passive game is understanding what your opponents are likely to do. They are going to call most small to medium sized pre-flop bets with a very wide range of starting hand combinations, but they aren't likely to continue if they don't pair on the flop or have a draw of some kind. After the flop, they will likely check, but call many bets. If they don't fold, they have a pair, a draw, or in my game, an Ace. Bluffing them is not effective because they like to call and many of them either don't understand the odds of hitting their card or they may not care about the odds because they have more fun when they're in the hand.
Playing in a loose-passive game can frustrate a stronger player because they get drawn out on fairly often. If a game has just 2 loose-passives, drawing doesn't happen as often, but with 6 players, it can just be maddening. So, how do you play in a game with so many players that make you want to run in front of traffic?
1. Loosen up some yourself and play a wider range of starting hands. 2 face cards are not necessarily needed to win these games. With so many players usually hanging in to see the flop, smaller connecting cards like 7-8, 7-9, 6-8, and even 5-7 can be strong hands. If everyone else wants to play their face cards and many of them stay in the hand, it stands to reason that your smaller cards have a greater chance of hitting.
2. Don't bluff too often against the loose-passive player. They want to call because playing is more fun than folding.
3. Bet your medium to strong hands. If they don't pair or have a draw, they will fold. If they call, you'll have a pretty good idea what you're up against.
4. Check your weaker hands and they will usually check behind you to give you cheap or free turn and river cards to possibly win with.
5. If you bet and they raise, get out if you don't have a clear winner. The loose-passive only plays aggressively when they have a big hand.
6. If the loose-passive is in a position to act before you and they bet, use caution because they probably hit their card and you may be behind. Or they may be betting a draw with lots of outs. Be careful. You may not be able to bet them off of those hands.
7. Value bet more often, especially when draws clearly missed.
8. Try not to mix it up with more than 2 loose-passives at a time. It's better to isolate against a single player to reduce your odds of getting out-drawn.
9. Know when you're beaten and get out. This was my big mistake Friday night.
10. Keep a long-term perspective because the odds are going to be in your favor in the long-run. Drawing for a flush after the turn gives at best a 1:3 odds against hitting. Drawing for an open-ended straight gives at best a 1:6 odds against hitting. Hanging in for the chance to hit the 1 miracle card left in the deck that could give you the win gives an overwhelming 1:50 odds against hitting. Your tight-aggressive style will win most of the time in the long-run. So, hang in there.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Statistical Improbabilities in Texas Hold'em
I played the $1-$2 last night at Winstar and lost my first $200 in my first 10 hands at the table. My first big loss was with the AK of hearts in the hole (the 5th best starting hand in poker). The flop was A Q 6 (2 clubs). I get heads up with a guy that I figure likely was holding KQ or maybe even a flush draw. He also could have AQ which seemed like the only hand that could beat me based on probabilities. So, he went all-in and I called. I had an Ace. The board had an Ace. He had Pocket Aces for a set on the flop. It was so improbable that he would have Pocket Aces that I never considered it as a threat.
5 hands later I got pocket cowboys and decided not to see a flop, so I pushed all in pre-flop with my remaining $55. I got called by another guy who was holding, of all things, pocket aces. I lost with very strong hands twice in 10 hands to pocket aces. That is a statistical improbability.
So, I re-loaded with another $100 and moved to center position at the table, directly across from the dealer. That $100 played for the next 3 hours and I was up and down throughout the night until at one point, I was sitting at just over $50 and ready for a double-up. I was dealt 9-10 and got to see a cheap flop that was 9-10-2, with 2 diamonds. So, with top 2 pair and a possible flush draw, I pushed all in. I didn't need to see the flush. Everyone folded except for one fish who liked his 2 small diamonds and didn't know about the "rule of 4". He called and the river was a diamond. He had the 6 and the 8 and the river was. . . wait for it. . . the 7 of diamonds - he hit the straight-flush on the river - the most statistically improbable hand in poker. And I was out again.
But I wasn't mad. I wasn't on tilt. Everyone suffers from bad luck from time to time. I played strong and solid all night and lost some very big hands to the most statistically unlikely hands imaginable. It was actually funny. So, what did I do? I found an ATM and a new table.
I played one more $100 stack and found the table with the largest stacks in the room. One guy had about $1,200 in front of him and a couple of others had more than $500. The table was loose and despite my bad beats, I felt like I was playing hot. So, I sat down.
Unbelievably, I mixed it up with Mr. $1,200 2 hands in a row very early on. The first time, I had AJ suited and pushed all in with a flush draw. He had pocket K's and I was in trouble until I hit my magic Ace on the river. So, I was back. THE VERY NEXT HAND, I had K 10 and a K came on the flop. The same guy had pocket K's again! Back-to-back pocket K's! Statistically improbable, and at that point, completely hilarious. He got half of my stack with that hand.
Within the next half an hour I was dealt pocket A's (about time) and the house had an "Aces Cracked" thing running where if you lose with pocket Aces, the house pays you $100. So, I slow played and ended up heads up with a guy who had KJ and a Jack on the flop. I was way ahead until the river card came and it was another Jack. I found out a few seconds later that another guy at the table folded a Jack. That means that he hit the only jack left in the deck. I lost the hand, but got the house's $100.
30 minutes later, I had $218 in front of me and had to quit (but didn't really want to). I was playing good all night long, but just taking some really bad, statistically-improbable beats. I doubled my last $100 inside of an hour and felt like I could have gone on doing that for the rest of the night against these guys. But, now I'll never know for sure.
2 weeks ago, I tripled up at these same tables. I'm still up $200 in my last 2 trips up there despite the crazy night I had last night. I guess these swings are going to happen, but if it's going to take the most statistically unlikely hands to beat me, I'll take them.
But like I said last time, "results not typical". True.
5 hands later I got pocket cowboys and decided not to see a flop, so I pushed all in pre-flop with my remaining $55. I got called by another guy who was holding, of all things, pocket aces. I lost with very strong hands twice in 10 hands to pocket aces. That is a statistical improbability.
So, I re-loaded with another $100 and moved to center position at the table, directly across from the dealer. That $100 played for the next 3 hours and I was up and down throughout the night until at one point, I was sitting at just over $50 and ready for a double-up. I was dealt 9-10 and got to see a cheap flop that was 9-10-2, with 2 diamonds. So, with top 2 pair and a possible flush draw, I pushed all in. I didn't need to see the flush. Everyone folded except for one fish who liked his 2 small diamonds and didn't know about the "rule of 4". He called and the river was a diamond. He had the 6 and the 8 and the river was. . . wait for it. . . the 7 of diamonds - he hit the straight-flush on the river - the most statistically improbable hand in poker. And I was out again.
But I wasn't mad. I wasn't on tilt. Everyone suffers from bad luck from time to time. I played strong and solid all night and lost some very big hands to the most statistically unlikely hands imaginable. It was actually funny. So, what did I do? I found an ATM and a new table.
I played one more $100 stack and found the table with the largest stacks in the room. One guy had about $1,200 in front of him and a couple of others had more than $500. The table was loose and despite my bad beats, I felt like I was playing hot. So, I sat down.
Unbelievably, I mixed it up with Mr. $1,200 2 hands in a row very early on. The first time, I had AJ suited and pushed all in with a flush draw. He had pocket K's and I was in trouble until I hit my magic Ace on the river. So, I was back. THE VERY NEXT HAND, I had K 10 and a K came on the flop. The same guy had pocket K's again! Back-to-back pocket K's! Statistically improbable, and at that point, completely hilarious. He got half of my stack with that hand.
Within the next half an hour I was dealt pocket A's (about time) and the house had an "Aces Cracked" thing running where if you lose with pocket Aces, the house pays you $100. So, I slow played and ended up heads up with a guy who had KJ and a Jack on the flop. I was way ahead until the river card came and it was another Jack. I found out a few seconds later that another guy at the table folded a Jack. That means that he hit the only jack left in the deck. I lost the hand, but got the house's $100.
30 minutes later, I had $218 in front of me and had to quit (but didn't really want to). I was playing good all night long, but just taking some really bad, statistically-improbable beats. I doubled my last $100 inside of an hour and felt like I could have gone on doing that for the rest of the night against these guys. But, now I'll never know for sure.
2 weeks ago, I tripled up at these same tables. I'm still up $200 in my last 2 trips up there despite the crazy night I had last night. I guess these swings are going to happen, but if it's going to take the most statistically unlikely hands to beat me, I'll take them.
But like I said last time, "results not typical". True.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Poker Psychology
Several years ago, I started reading books on Negotiating. In fact, my boss made me read "Secrets of Power Persuasion for Salespeople," by Roger Dawson. Since he read that book too, I figured I better read more books like it so I could have as much of an advantage as possible with him (he's a really smart guy). So, I read just about everything I could find.
I read over 100 professional journal articles about negotiating topics ranging from psychology to international negotiations in Japan and Korea. I also read just about every negotiating book written in the last 10 years. Since I loved this topic so much, I started digging deeper into influence psychology. I wanted to learn how negotiations worked from the inside of people. Then, I topped that off with books on body language (by far the most boring of everything I read).
All of this negotiation, psychology, and influence was very appealing to me. For me, the key to it all sort of boiled down to many of my key characteristics anyways: be nice to people, make people feel good, get them to like you, then get them to see things your way. I just never connected the dots between that and all of that new information I read about until I read the books and practiced some.
Then, a few years ago, a good friend of mine invited me to play Texas Hold'em. After a couple of months, I won my first tournament and had that big "holy cow" moment. "Holy cow! All of this stuff is related." I started learning this stuff so I could work better with my genius boss. Then, I realized how much more effective I could be professionally by using these principles and tactics. But then came poker, and believe me - poker takes this stuff to another level that many business people never thought about.
In a business negotiation, 2 sides are working "together" to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. At least that's Dawson's basic premise: win-win. Of course, other less successful (in the long-term) negotiators only want a win-lose scenario. That doesn't really work that well in business because you might get one deal done, but then that's it, and the word gets out that you're just an A-hole who's in it for yourself and the pool of people to negotiate future deals with gets small.
At a poker table, the negotiations are ongoing and, at times, cut throat. You want to win this pot? It's gonna cost you? I'm all in. I want those blinds. I raise (How bad do you want them?). I check. Oh, you're gonna bet? OK. Then, I raise.
And psychology and influence are a huge factor in these moves. Who do you want to lose to? The A-hole or the nice guy at the table? Well neither, but if you have to lose anyways, it may as well be to the nice guy. Who do you have the most influence over in your daily lives? That's easy. You have the most influence with people you know that like you. That doesn't at all mean that you abuse that influence ability. But face it, it's there and it's reality. So, at the poker table, being a nice guy can pay off over the long-run. And being an A-hole won't work out for you.
What was my point? I read that poker is a game of psychology played with cards. I missed that way back when I first started reading about psychology, negotiation, and influence. Otherwise, I probably would have started playing poker years earlier. I love this stuff and I love poker and it works for me.
Disclaimer: For all of you guys that I play with on Friday nights - I'm just kidding. Don't pay any attention to me.
I read over 100 professional journal articles about negotiating topics ranging from psychology to international negotiations in Japan and Korea. I also read just about every negotiating book written in the last 10 years. Since I loved this topic so much, I started digging deeper into influence psychology. I wanted to learn how negotiations worked from the inside of people. Then, I topped that off with books on body language (by far the most boring of everything I read).
All of this negotiation, psychology, and influence was very appealing to me. For me, the key to it all sort of boiled down to many of my key characteristics anyways: be nice to people, make people feel good, get them to like you, then get them to see things your way. I just never connected the dots between that and all of that new information I read about until I read the books and practiced some.
Then, a few years ago, a good friend of mine invited me to play Texas Hold'em. After a couple of months, I won my first tournament and had that big "holy cow" moment. "Holy cow! All of this stuff is related." I started learning this stuff so I could work better with my genius boss. Then, I realized how much more effective I could be professionally by using these principles and tactics. But then came poker, and believe me - poker takes this stuff to another level that many business people never thought about.
In a business negotiation, 2 sides are working "together" to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. At least that's Dawson's basic premise: win-win. Of course, other less successful (in the long-term) negotiators only want a win-lose scenario. That doesn't really work that well in business because you might get one deal done, but then that's it, and the word gets out that you're just an A-hole who's in it for yourself and the pool of people to negotiate future deals with gets small.
At a poker table, the negotiations are ongoing and, at times, cut throat. You want to win this pot? It's gonna cost you? I'm all in. I want those blinds. I raise (How bad do you want them?). I check. Oh, you're gonna bet? OK. Then, I raise.
And psychology and influence are a huge factor in these moves. Who do you want to lose to? The A-hole or the nice guy at the table? Well neither, but if you have to lose anyways, it may as well be to the nice guy. Who do you have the most influence over in your daily lives? That's easy. You have the most influence with people you know that like you. That doesn't at all mean that you abuse that influence ability. But face it, it's there and it's reality. So, at the poker table, being a nice guy can pay off over the long-run. And being an A-hole won't work out for you.
What was my point? I read that poker is a game of psychology played with cards. I missed that way back when I first started reading about psychology, negotiation, and influence. Otherwise, I probably would have started playing poker years earlier. I love this stuff and I love poker and it works for me.
Disclaimer: For all of you guys that I play with on Friday nights - I'm just kidding. Don't pay any attention to me.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Full Tilt Poker: 50 to 1 Odds Against
I had the day off of work due to ice on the roads. So, earlier today I jumped on Full Tilt Poker to play a 90-player free money no-limit Texas Hold'em tournament. I didn't just decide to play - I decided to sit down and win.
Just like usual, I hung around the top 10 for most of the entire tournament. I moved between 1st and 6th place for most of the time. The decisions all seemed so clear and easy. Odds were fairly easy to calculate and my mind-set was to make positive expected value moves 100% of the time, play the +EV odds, and win.
Let's skip ahead to the final table. When it was down to the final 3 (me and 2 others), I felt that I had pretty good control over the action. In spite of that, I found myself in 3rd place, with a queen high flush (clubs) on the turn, against 2nd place and his made flush at the flop, with 4-6 of clubs. The clubs on the board were K, 3, 7, and 10. The only card left in the deck that could beat me was the 5 of clubs which would give my opponent a straight-flush. And, what are the odds of that?
Well, it's good that you asked because the odds were 2% to hit the 5 of clubs and 98% to miss. In other words, he had a 50 to 1 odds against hitting his card. I had the best of it and I went all-in after the turn gave me a flush. It was kind of funny because before I saw his cards, I knew that I only needed to avoid one card (the Ace of clubs). It turned out that the Ace wouldn't have helped my opponent at all. He needed the 5.
He got the 5. The board was all clubs (and what are the odds of that too?). So anyways, I ended my winning session in 3rd place with a 50:1 miracle for my opponent. The math says that if that hand was played out 100 times, I would win 98 times. If that was a real money tournament, I'm pretty sure that knowledge wouldn't make me feel better.
As it is, that makes 26 final tables in the last 52 weeks. These are free-money practice tournaments, but that's 1 final table every other week against 90 other (relatively wreckless) people each time. Also, my average final table ending position was 3.7 over that time.
But 50 to 1 in my favor? That's one time I don't want to be #1.
Just like usual, I hung around the top 10 for most of the entire tournament. I moved between 1st and 6th place for most of the time. The decisions all seemed so clear and easy. Odds were fairly easy to calculate and my mind-set was to make positive expected value moves 100% of the time, play the +EV odds, and win.
Let's skip ahead to the final table. When it was down to the final 3 (me and 2 others), I felt that I had pretty good control over the action. In spite of that, I found myself in 3rd place, with a queen high flush (clubs) on the turn, against 2nd place and his made flush at the flop, with 4-6 of clubs. The clubs on the board were K, 3, 7, and 10. The only card left in the deck that could beat me was the 5 of clubs which would give my opponent a straight-flush. And, what are the odds of that?
Well, it's good that you asked because the odds were 2% to hit the 5 of clubs and 98% to miss. In other words, he had a 50 to 1 odds against hitting his card. I had the best of it and I went all-in after the turn gave me a flush. It was kind of funny because before I saw his cards, I knew that I only needed to avoid one card (the Ace of clubs). It turned out that the Ace wouldn't have helped my opponent at all. He needed the 5.
He got the 5. The board was all clubs (and what are the odds of that too?). So anyways, I ended my winning session in 3rd place with a 50:1 miracle for my opponent. The math says that if that hand was played out 100 times, I would win 98 times. If that was a real money tournament, I'm pretty sure that knowledge wouldn't make me feel better.
As it is, that makes 26 final tables in the last 52 weeks. These are free-money practice tournaments, but that's 1 final table every other week against 90 other (relatively wreckless) people each time. Also, my average final table ending position was 3.7 over that time.
But 50 to 1 in my favor? That's one time I don't want to be #1.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
$136 per Hour in Texas Hold'em
I played Texas Holdem at Winstar casino last night. In 3 hours, I profited $136 per hour. My starting chip stack was $200 and I ended at $609. This was by far the best night I've ever had playing poker. I had middle position, directly in front of the dealer, a spot I've come accustomed to from all of my nights at Friday Night Poker. It took me about 20 minutes to semi-"figure" the other players at the table out and the better part of the next 2 hours getting them all in tune with me.
In tune with me? My goal was to get my opponents to do things that I wanted them to do, but be glad to do it. Eventually, I had the table checking in front and behind me when I wanted cheap flops and calling me when I wanted some action. It was very surreal. I had action junkies settling for smooth calls and strong players folding to my bluffs. I slowed down the action with strategic smaller-sized bets giving me more flops to see. Unlike past nights in the poker rooms, instead of avoiding big pots with strong players, I was creating and taking them down.
As every good player knows, it certainly helps to catch cards. I got a very nice range of acceptable to strong starting hands, hung around cheap pots for winning (weak) river cards, and took full advantage of every situation with aggressive raises. And aggression was a great equalizer. Aggressive betting on the flop, turn, and river was the key to taking down big pots with absolute air.
All of this was possible because I made "friends" with nearly everyone at the table. That's actually not so hard for me since I generally like people. Anyways, it's better for people to feel OK to lose to you than to feel contempt, which will just make them play harder and take more chances against you. I've never seen so many people who were so at ease with losing their money. That's simply not a quality I will ever have.
I've learned a lot of new poker skills and philosophies lately and they paid off huge last night. I tripled by money in 3 hours. I just hope there's not a disclaimer somewhere that says, "results not typical".
In tune with me? My goal was to get my opponents to do things that I wanted them to do, but be glad to do it. Eventually, I had the table checking in front and behind me when I wanted cheap flops and calling me when I wanted some action. It was very surreal. I had action junkies settling for smooth calls and strong players folding to my bluffs. I slowed down the action with strategic smaller-sized bets giving me more flops to see. Unlike past nights in the poker rooms, instead of avoiding big pots with strong players, I was creating and taking them down.
As every good player knows, it certainly helps to catch cards. I got a very nice range of acceptable to strong starting hands, hung around cheap pots for winning (weak) river cards, and took full advantage of every situation with aggressive raises. And aggression was a great equalizer. Aggressive betting on the flop, turn, and river was the key to taking down big pots with absolute air.
All of this was possible because I made "friends" with nearly everyone at the table. That's actually not so hard for me since I generally like people. Anyways, it's better for people to feel OK to lose to you than to feel contempt, which will just make them play harder and take more chances against you. I've never seen so many people who were so at ease with losing their money. That's simply not a quality I will ever have.
I've learned a lot of new poker skills and philosophies lately and they paid off huge last night. I tripled by money in 3 hours. I just hope there's not a disclaimer somewhere that says, "results not typical".
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Dangerous Play in Texas Holdem
There's a particular style of play in Texas Hold'em that's very dangerous and erratic. It's dangerous to the rest of the table because it can cause opponents to suffer extreme losses. It's dangerous to the player using the style because it can result in extreme losses. It's erratic because it can also cause extreme swings from losses to wins. This style is called "Loose-Aggressive".
It's loose because the player will play a very wide range of starting hands and it's aggressive because bets are large and raises are frequent. Recently, I've had the opportunity to play against 2 or 3 new guys who could be categorized as loose-aggressive. Actually, they're the text book definition.
This kind of player can thrive against tight-passive players because these people tend to play scared, waiting for the perfect hand to bust their opponent with. They're thrown off by the loose-aggressor and find themselves checking to the player and folding to his large bets. In fact, they fold until the blinds have eaten them alive and they're forced to make one final all-in bet that usually loses, and when it wins, simply puts them in a position to have to do it again. This continues until they are quickly on the sidelines.
Everyone loves to beat the loose-aggressor, but many players don't have the guts to get it done. Sometimes, you just have to play that A-9 aggressively to beat the aggressor with the A-6. That hand doesn't seem so strong with a board showing K-J-10-8-3, but the loose aggressor is hoping that you will fold to his bluff. So, what should you do? Disappoint him. How many hands in a row could he have made anyways? 1 out of 5? Maybe. That would mean that 4 out of 5 times, he's got air. Push back.
"Aggression is the ultimate equalizer." The loose-aggressor is not equalizing. He's unbalancing the table with his aggression. So, you have to equalize with your own aggression. There's a good reason the tight-aggressive player is referred to as a "Stone-Cold Killer" in poker. You play tight until you get good cards and you play aggressively when you get your cards. Against the loose-aggressor, you just need to loosen up a little yourself and then let him have it with your perfectly timed aggression. How about this?
The check-raise is a killer to the loose-aggressor. But be ready for his all-in re-raise. He's a maniac. What else is he going to do? Beat him (at his own game) on this hand and if he's still in after that hand, he won't likely do it again (to you at least).
And sometimes you just have to stay out of this person's way and out-last the rest of the table. Get him head's up and you're style can break him down because a much looser range of hands will win head's up.
When you don't get good cards to check-raise with, then the key is to stay alive. Be aggressive against the rest of the table. Build your stack and get head's up. Maybe the loose-aggressor will even step off into one against someone else along the way. Then, you're in a great position to take it all down.
When you understand how to play against the loose-aggressor, that style of play is no longer dangerous to you. Instead, it's dangerous to him and to all of those who don't know how to handle him. Hang around, build a stack, and take it down.
It's loose because the player will play a very wide range of starting hands and it's aggressive because bets are large and raises are frequent. Recently, I've had the opportunity to play against 2 or 3 new guys who could be categorized as loose-aggressive. Actually, they're the text book definition.
This kind of player can thrive against tight-passive players because these people tend to play scared, waiting for the perfect hand to bust their opponent with. They're thrown off by the loose-aggressor and find themselves checking to the player and folding to his large bets. In fact, they fold until the blinds have eaten them alive and they're forced to make one final all-in bet that usually loses, and when it wins, simply puts them in a position to have to do it again. This continues until they are quickly on the sidelines.
Everyone loves to beat the loose-aggressor, but many players don't have the guts to get it done. Sometimes, you just have to play that A-9 aggressively to beat the aggressor with the A-6. That hand doesn't seem so strong with a board showing K-J-10-8-3, but the loose aggressor is hoping that you will fold to his bluff. So, what should you do? Disappoint him. How many hands in a row could he have made anyways? 1 out of 5? Maybe. That would mean that 4 out of 5 times, he's got air. Push back.
"Aggression is the ultimate equalizer." The loose-aggressor is not equalizing. He's unbalancing the table with his aggression. So, you have to equalize with your own aggression. There's a good reason the tight-aggressive player is referred to as a "Stone-Cold Killer" in poker. You play tight until you get good cards and you play aggressively when you get your cards. Against the loose-aggressor, you just need to loosen up a little yourself and then let him have it with your perfectly timed aggression. How about this?
Check . . . Bet . . . Raise
The check-raise is a killer to the loose-aggressor. But be ready for his all-in re-raise. He's a maniac. What else is he going to do? Beat him (at his own game) on this hand and if he's still in after that hand, he won't likely do it again (to you at least).
And sometimes you just have to stay out of this person's way and out-last the rest of the table. Get him head's up and you're style can break him down because a much looser range of hands will win head's up.
When you don't get good cards to check-raise with, then the key is to stay alive. Be aggressive against the rest of the table. Build your stack and get head's up. Maybe the loose-aggressor will even step off into one against someone else along the way. Then, you're in a great position to take it all down.
When you understand how to play against the loose-aggressor, that style of play is no longer dangerous to you. Instead, it's dangerous to him and to all of those who don't know how to handle him. Hang around, build a stack, and take it down.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Finally Broke the Losing Streak
If you keep up with my blogs, you know that I've been dealing with weeks of overall losing. I lost about 80% of my games over the last 2+ months during a time when I have been digging deep into a lot of poker books and working on my overall style of play. Last weekend, all of that losing finally came to an end.
On Friday night, we played just 2 games, but I got 2nd place in one of the games. I know that isn't a win, but considering that I was beaten only by Rob in that game, I viewed it as a success. My game was good. The next morning, I played in a 90-player full tilt poker tournament and got 2nd place there as well. That was fun because I was knocking out more players that the other 2 guys who were among the chip leaders throughout the tournament. I even eventually knocked out 1 of those guys at the final table. By the time it was down to heads up action, I was a 6 to 1 chip underdog and all I could really do was play super-aggressive and hope for the best. It was a good tournament though.
Finally, last night I was online playing Omaha Hi, while watching the NCAA national championship game, and ended up with 10 times more chips than I started with. Incidentally, I have more "play" chips now than ever before. So, that's cool.
Clearly, I'm looking for any little bit of positive that I can find leading up to my Vegas trip. I'll take what I can get. Whether it's for money or for fun, winning is way better than losing.
Stay tuned.
On Friday night, we played just 2 games, but I got 2nd place in one of the games. I know that isn't a win, but considering that I was beaten only by Rob in that game, I viewed it as a success. My game was good. The next morning, I played in a 90-player full tilt poker tournament and got 2nd place there as well. That was fun because I was knocking out more players that the other 2 guys who were among the chip leaders throughout the tournament. I even eventually knocked out 1 of those guys at the final table. By the time it was down to heads up action, I was a 6 to 1 chip underdog and all I could really do was play super-aggressive and hope for the best. It was a good tournament though.
Finally, last night I was online playing Omaha Hi, while watching the NCAA national championship game, and ended up with 10 times more chips than I started with. Incidentally, I have more "play" chips now than ever before. So, that's cool.
Clearly, I'm looking for any little bit of positive that I can find leading up to my Vegas trip. I'll take what I can get. Whether it's for money or for fun, winning is way better than losing.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
When to Take a Break (or Quit) in Poker
I'll play poker pretty much any time there's a game to be played. Recently however, I've come across several situations that should have caused me to take a break or quit for the day. Over the past week, I've played nearly 20 hours of poker. If I would have stopped in a couple of situations, I would have made a lot more money. So, this is a list of situations that should make you consider taking a break or quitting for the day.
1. When you're too tired.
2. When you're hungry.
3. When you've had too much to drink.
4. When you're angry.
5. When you've taken a bad beat and you're on tilt.
6. When you're sick.
7. When you're losing too much and feeling desperate.
8. When one or more other players at the table seem to "have your number".
9. When you're only still playing to get even with another player.
10. When everyone at the table seems to be begging you to stay.
1. When you're too tired.
2. When you're hungry.
3. When you've had too much to drink.
4. When you're angry.
5. When you've taken a bad beat and you're on tilt.
6. When you're sick.
7. When you're losing too much and feeling desperate.
8. When one or more other players at the table seem to "have your number".
9. When you're only still playing to get even with another player.
10. When everyone at the table seems to be begging you to stay.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Texas Holdem: Not Another Bad Beat Story
This is NOT another bad beat story. Nobody wants to hear about that anyways. Suck-outs on the river, a term I just came up with - "River Boats", chasers, miracle inside straights, and the list goes on. These bad beats are a fact of life in Texas Hold'em that serious players just have to be able to live with in exchange for long-term profits. I've taken some seriously bad beats in the last few months, but during that time I've also learned something very valuable about the reason for those so-called bad beats. The lesson? It's my own damn fault!
That's right. Nobody else is to blame for the bad beats I've taken. Not the old man who sucked out a flush on the river at Winstar. Not the all-camo guy who bluffed me off of pocket kings at Winstar (with pocket 4's). And not the kid who "River Boated" me on Sunday afternoon. It's not the guy at Friday Night Poker that loves chasing river cards either (actually the 3 or 4 guys - affectionately).
Most people don't actively calculate the odds of hitting that miracle card. Actually, lots of guys don't even know how to calculate the odds. We're supposed to love playing with chasers because the odds are so bad against them hitting and in favor of us making a profit. I can live with it because the odds are against hitting for chasers. The "rule of 2" says that to hit the river, you have to multiply your outs by 2. So, to hit a flush on the river, you have 9 possible outs. Times 2, that's 18% that your flush card will hit. Put another way, you have an 82% chance of failure.
What about an open-ended straight draw AND a flush draw on the river (and forget that someone else could have already hit their flush at the turn)? Well, here you have 9 flush cards and 8 other cards for the straight (at the most). Now you have 17 outs! Congratulations - you still have a 2 out of 3 chance to fail. That's almost as good as it gets. Don' get me wrong. That's the kind of river I'm probably going to chase too, especially if I have an A or K that I could also pair on the river which would give me 3 additional outs (which is very unlikely to begin with).
So, with those river odds, I guess I want to play with a few chasers. And now back to my main point. It's not their fault when they hit and I lose. It's mine. I think it was Alan Schoonmaker, PH.D. who said that "aggression is the ultimate equalizer" in poker. What an enlightening statement!
The guy who hit his river flush did so because I didn't bet him off of it after the flop. His stack was way bigger than mine. $35 wasn't getting that done. All in! The pocket 4 bluffer? Something inside of me said he didn't have it, but the devil on my shoulder got me to fold. That's because the devil on the other shoulder wasn't asshole enough to push All in! The "river boat" was absolutely my fault. I checked to maximize profit and the miracle river card hit. Checking is weakness in Texas Hold'em. I deserved it. I let the remaining 2 sixes in a 52-card deck become a factor and he hit one of them.
If aggression is the ultimate equalizer in poker, then I'll use it. I have to use it and I can't worry about it upsetting guys at the table (especially the loose-aggressive / loose-passive table I play at every week). Why would I worry about it upsetting someone at the table anyways? I don't know, but there's an interesting true story about it.
A few weeks ago, I came to play a very different game that I usually play. I raised all of my premium hands. Checks to me led to raises of 3 or 4 times the BB or 3 times the previous bet. My initial bets were 1/3 to 1/2 the pot. I took full advantage of my good hands and my good position. This style worked. My chip stack was nearly double the person in 2nd place. Aggression was the ultimate equalizer. I wasn't bluffing (at least not more than anyone else). I was just playing my hands, position, and my reads on the other guys.
So, here's the point. One of the guys was noticeably irritated with me and I happen to really like and respect him a lot. I got pocket 6's and checked them on the button with some callers ahead of me. The flop came Q, 6, and something else. After everyone else checked around to me, I bet my set with a healthy raise. The SB (whom I like and respect) angrily shoved all in. He was probably frustrated because I was raising him off of his hands most of the game. Everyone else folded back around to me and I did something that I will never do again. Want to guess what that was?
I "contemplated" my hand, appeard to "struggle" with my decision, and folded my set face down saying, "I can't beat your set." He showed me his bluff (of course I knew he didn't have anything) and I patted him on the back and told him what a great move he made on me.
That's right. Nobody else is to blame for the bad beats I've taken. Not the old man who sucked out a flush on the river at Winstar. Not the all-camo guy who bluffed me off of pocket kings at Winstar (with pocket 4's). And not the kid who "River Boated" me on Sunday afternoon. It's not the guy at Friday Night Poker that loves chasing river cards either (actually the 3 or 4 guys - affectionately).
Most people don't actively calculate the odds of hitting that miracle card. Actually, lots of guys don't even know how to calculate the odds. We're supposed to love playing with chasers because the odds are so bad against them hitting and in favor of us making a profit. I can live with it because the odds are against hitting for chasers. The "rule of 2" says that to hit the river, you have to multiply your outs by 2. So, to hit a flush on the river, you have 9 possible outs. Times 2, that's 18% that your flush card will hit. Put another way, you have an 82% chance of failure.
What about an open-ended straight draw AND a flush draw on the river (and forget that someone else could have already hit their flush at the turn)? Well, here you have 9 flush cards and 8 other cards for the straight (at the most). Now you have 17 outs! Congratulations - you still have a 2 out of 3 chance to fail. That's almost as good as it gets. Don' get me wrong. That's the kind of river I'm probably going to chase too, especially if I have an A or K that I could also pair on the river which would give me 3 additional outs (which is very unlikely to begin with).
So, with those river odds, I guess I want to play with a few chasers. And now back to my main point. It's not their fault when they hit and I lose. It's mine. I think it was Alan Schoonmaker, PH.D. who said that "aggression is the ultimate equalizer" in poker. What an enlightening statement!
AGGRESSION IS THE ULTIMATE EQUALIZER
The guy who hit his river flush did so because I didn't bet him off of it after the flop. His stack was way bigger than mine. $35 wasn't getting that done. All in! The pocket 4 bluffer? Something inside of me said he didn't have it, but the devil on my shoulder got me to fold. That's because the devil on the other shoulder wasn't asshole enough to push All in! The "river boat" was absolutely my fault. I checked to maximize profit and the miracle river card hit. Checking is weakness in Texas Hold'em. I deserved it. I let the remaining 2 sixes in a 52-card deck become a factor and he hit one of them.
If aggression is the ultimate equalizer in poker, then I'll use it. I have to use it and I can't worry about it upsetting guys at the table (especially the loose-aggressive / loose-passive table I play at every week). Why would I worry about it upsetting someone at the table anyways? I don't know, but there's an interesting true story about it.
A few weeks ago, I came to play a very different game that I usually play. I raised all of my premium hands. Checks to me led to raises of 3 or 4 times the BB or 3 times the previous bet. My initial bets were 1/3 to 1/2 the pot. I took full advantage of my good hands and my good position. This style worked. My chip stack was nearly double the person in 2nd place. Aggression was the ultimate equalizer. I wasn't bluffing (at least not more than anyone else). I was just playing my hands, position, and my reads on the other guys.
So, here's the point. One of the guys was noticeably irritated with me and I happen to really like and respect him a lot. I got pocket 6's and checked them on the button with some callers ahead of me. The flop came Q, 6, and something else. After everyone else checked around to me, I bet my set with a healthy raise. The SB (whom I like and respect) angrily shoved all in. He was probably frustrated because I was raising him off of his hands most of the game. Everyone else folded back around to me and I did something that I will never do again. Want to guess what that was?
I "contemplated" my hand, appeard to "struggle" with my decision, and folded my set face down saying, "I can't beat your set." He showed me his bluff (of course I knew he didn't have anything) and I patted him on the back and told him what a great move he made on me.
I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.
Since that night, I've won 2 out of 10 games. At various times in almost all of those games, I've had nice sized chip stacks too that I should have eventually won with. I'm going to Vegas in less than 3 weeks and this crap I'm throwing out is going to get me killed! Yesterday, I suffered 4 straight losses. I didn't sleep well last night, to say the least. Who loses sleep over low-stakes poker games? Me! Most of the guys I play with play for fun. I want the fun too, along with being able to hang out with a lot of really great men. But I play to win and I would play that way even if there was no money at stake. I just want to win.
I don't think I'm God's gift to poker and that I should win every game just by showing up. That's crazy. I'm still relatively new at this game. Rob and Chris are great players that make me want to be better. Prescott's maniac game can put an entire table badly off balance. I've seen Charlie make some seriously disciplined lay downs that I've learned from. Spain's loose-passive style can trap you and his big hands will shut you down. Cody's unpredictable and not scared to bluff and chase the river. Brandon's hard to push off of a hand. Keith is the most improved player at the table who's really starting to put a serious game together. Larry can push a big stack around as good as anyone (and plays Q 3 like champ) and George could literally have anything in any hand.
But this is not another bad beat story and I'm not whining about my recent losses. I'm grateful for them. They made me wake up and pull my head out. I'm not having fun when I lose 8 out of 10 games. Losing SUCKS! I'm going to start playing my big hands big - period. My style has to be Tight-Aggressive. I'll either wait for cards or position, and then I'll get the best of it. If I get "rivered", so be it. That river won't be free. I'll still get my butt handed to me from time to time, but it won't be because I didn't do my best to equalize.
That's it.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Texas Holdem: 10,000 Hours to Achieve Greatness
I'm listening to the book by Malcolm Gladwell, called "Outliers". In his book, Gladwell points out that throughout history, greatness has come from, among other things, 10,000 hours of practice. He names several important historical figures that became great after 10,000 hours of working on their trade. To this point, the most interesting 10,000 hour story that I've heard is Bill Gates of Microsoft, but plenty of others come to mind fairly easily: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Brett Favre . . . . Doyle Brunson.
I've only been playing poker for about 3 years. Gladwell says that it takes at least 10 years to hit 10,000 hours, but that's about 3 hours per day, 7 days per week. 3 hours per day isn't easy. Most of us have very busy lives. And 10 years? I don't know if I can stand to wait 10 years for greatness. Anyways, I haven't put in 3 hours per day. Gosh!
I've played live and online probably about 12 hours per week and I've watched poker on TV about 2 hours per week. That's just 2 hours per day. And, now I'm reading books on Texas Hold'em. For what it's worth, I think about poker probably about 16 hours per day, on and off. I even dream about it sometimes, but not about winning or losing. My dreams are usually about playing specific hands - kind of hard to explain.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure that thinking and dreaming about something doesn't count towards my 10,000 hours, so I probably have about 12 long years of consistent practice before I achieve greatness in poker. Bummer - 12 years of playing poker. : )
If anyone wants to put together a regular Texas Hold'em game, count me in. I need the practice.
I've only been playing poker for about 3 years. Gladwell says that it takes at least 10 years to hit 10,000 hours, but that's about 3 hours per day, 7 days per week. 3 hours per day isn't easy. Most of us have very busy lives. And 10 years? I don't know if I can stand to wait 10 years for greatness. Anyways, I haven't put in 3 hours per day. Gosh!
I've played live and online probably about 12 hours per week and I've watched poker on TV about 2 hours per week. That's just 2 hours per day. And, now I'm reading books on Texas Hold'em. For what it's worth, I think about poker probably about 16 hours per day, on and off. I even dream about it sometimes, but not about winning or losing. My dreams are usually about playing specific hands - kind of hard to explain.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure that thinking and dreaming about something doesn't count towards my 10,000 hours, so I probably have about 12 long years of consistent practice before I achieve greatness in poker. Bummer - 12 years of playing poker. : )
If anyone wants to put together a regular Texas Hold'em game, count me in. I need the practice.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Crazy Night on Full Tilt Poker
I've been playing around with $100 on Full Tilt Poker this week. For the most part, I would say I've been up and down and with some huge swings. Admittedly, I've been playing .10 / .25 tables, but my online cash game abilities need some work before I put in a lot of money.
I started the night being down 50% with just $50 of my original $100 remaining. So, I decided to play 2 tables simultaneously ($25 each). Everything was going along pretty well until I went all in with 2 pairs AQ on one table and lost to a sick set of 10's. Didn't see that coming!
So, I was down to 1 table and by this time, just about $14 or $15 remaining. 30 minutes later, all hell broke lose and I was up over $75. In 5 hands, I hit a full house and 2 Straight Flushes that were both 9 thru K.
As you can see, the 2nd was even on the flop and I only won .57 cents. The 1st was the best because my opponent hit a full house and he called my all-in bet.
When I hit the full house, I actually picked up a set of 4's on the flop and then the board paired. With that set, I had it all the way, but the guy I beat for quite a bit of money completely went on tilt. This is him:
He made such as special (although completely ineffective) effort to piss me off and get me off of my game for the next 10 minutes that I thought I should memorialize him here. At this point, half of the money I was playing with came from him anyways, so how could I be upset at him for being a total jerk afterwards. It's safe to say that HE didn't see THAT coming either.
Anyways, I finished with $74 for the night and now I'm only down $26 for the week. What a crazy night!
I started the night being down 50% with just $50 of my original $100 remaining. So, I decided to play 2 tables simultaneously ($25 each). Everything was going along pretty well until I went all in with 2 pairs AQ on one table and lost to a sick set of 10's. Didn't see that coming!
So, I was down to 1 table and by this time, just about $14 or $15 remaining. 30 minutes later, all hell broke lose and I was up over $75. In 5 hands, I hit a full house and 2 Straight Flushes that were both 9 thru K.
As you can see, the 2nd was even on the flop and I only won .57 cents. The 1st was the best because my opponent hit a full house and he called my all-in bet.
When I hit the full house, I actually picked up a set of 4's on the flop and then the board paired. With that set, I had it all the way, but the guy I beat for quite a bit of money completely went on tilt. This is him:
He made such as special (although completely ineffective) effort to piss me off and get me off of my game for the next 10 minutes that I thought I should memorialize him here. At this point, half of the money I was playing with came from him anyways, so how could I be upset at him for being a total jerk afterwards. It's safe to say that HE didn't see THAT coming either.
Anyways, I finished with $74 for the night and now I'm only down $26 for the week. What a crazy night!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Texas Hold'em Game Transformation
Over the past several weeks, I've been literally fighting against myself in Texas Hold'em. My game has evolved from very tight to super loose and then back to variations in between. For too long, my cards were see-thru. When multiple people could call my hand, there's a serious problem. That's what instigated my current situation.
I began changing up my game and that brought win after win after win for weeks. But then, winning wasn't even satisfying. My game started being about something more than just winning. I had nights where I was in the money in all 3 games and I would drive home picking my bad moves a part. I had one game where I ended up with every single chip on the table, but all I could think about after a while was the game I got 2nd place in. What if I would have bet big instead of check? How did I misplay pocket A's so bad? Did I get bluffed on that one hand? Why couldn't I see the bluff? Even with an over-whelming winning percentage, something was wrong. I still wasn't good enough (and I'm still not).
Then, a series of things recently happened that turned it all upside down. I played a cash game at Winstar and lost $300 in a rushed effort with my wife waiting. Then, I went to New Orleans and played 6 hours only to lose $300 more. And last weekend, I went to Shreveport and lost $100 over several hours. Lose, lose, lose!!! I lost $700 in about a month's time, not to mention just barely breaking even in Friday Night Poker. You would think this probably didn't help matters very much, but it actually changed me.
These cash poker games are very aggressive. Sitting down with under-sized chip stacks and losing $700 over the course of about 12 hours opened my eyes to the fact that not only could I sit in there with big players, but I'm just on the cusp of being a big player myself. I feel like I'm very close and I learned that the #1 thing I'm missing is the thing I love most about poker - poker psychology.
I'm missing most of the tells and giving off most of them back to my opponents. I'm still an open book and my cards are still see-thru, but not for long. I had a chance lunch meeting with at attorney who just played in the WSOP main event and he placed in the top 10%, getting him into the money. We hit it off instantly and he recommended that I read Caro's Book of Poker Tells. In fact, he had it delivered to my office a couple of days later and I read it for the first time that night. Yes - I read it cover-to-cover that first night. I couldn't believe how badly I was crippling my game by giving off and not recognizing obvious tells.
So, last night I was playing Friday Night Poker with the guys and I spent most of the evening watching for tells. I still didn't win either game last night, but I did pick up some tells that saved me a lot of chips. One guy was sizing up his chip stack after seeing the flop. He had a good hand and I folded. He had me beat. Good fold. Another guy saw the flop and immediately glanced down at his chips - huge tell. Then, to add to it, he appeared to be indecisive as to whether or not to bet. That made up my mind to fold - good fold. He had it. Then, my favorite one took a little friendly manipulation on my part. I had pocket J's and the flop was all cards lower than jack, so was the turn. I bet fairly big and was raised on the flop and the turn. So, I said to the other guy, "I have a pretty big pocket pair, so if you're raising me, you must have an even bigger pair." It took a few seconds before he couldn't hold in his smile. It took even less time for me to fold my Jacks and he had pocket Kings. I'll keep watching for tells and I'm going to read the book a couple of more times too.
Finally, tonight I sat down to play a Full Tilt Poker tournament (90 players) and for the 21st time this year, I made it to the final table and ended up in 4th place. I was pretty happy with that outcome. My game purpose was to get back to "basics". I tightened back up some and primarily played a range of about 15 to 20 starting hands. I raised about 30% of the time that I bet, made some good position bets, and put in some strategic bluffs that paid off. I even loosened up a couple of times to suck out on the river, which I guess you have to be able to do sometimes. Tonight, I just needed to be reminded that I could still get it done if I needed to back away from the game transformation. But then, what am I really thinking? Back away from the game transformation? Now, I have a "range" of acceptable starting hands, a calculated % of raises, strategic position bets and bluffs. My game is evolving to a mix of tight and loose, aggressive and calculated.
I have no idea where my game will go next, but I do know one thing: I'm very competitive and there is nothing that I hate worse than losing at poker. But poker energizes me, so I'll weather the losing until I start winning consistently again. Hopefully a winning streak is coming.
I began changing up my game and that brought win after win after win for weeks. But then, winning wasn't even satisfying. My game started being about something more than just winning. I had nights where I was in the money in all 3 games and I would drive home picking my bad moves a part. I had one game where I ended up with every single chip on the table, but all I could think about after a while was the game I got 2nd place in. What if I would have bet big instead of check? How did I misplay pocket A's so bad? Did I get bluffed on that one hand? Why couldn't I see the bluff? Even with an over-whelming winning percentage, something was wrong. I still wasn't good enough (and I'm still not).
Then, a series of things recently happened that turned it all upside down. I played a cash game at Winstar and lost $300 in a rushed effort with my wife waiting. Then, I went to New Orleans and played 6 hours only to lose $300 more. And last weekend, I went to Shreveport and lost $100 over several hours. Lose, lose, lose!!! I lost $700 in about a month's time, not to mention just barely breaking even in Friday Night Poker. You would think this probably didn't help matters very much, but it actually changed me.
These cash poker games are very aggressive. Sitting down with under-sized chip stacks and losing $700 over the course of about 12 hours opened my eyes to the fact that not only could I sit in there with big players, but I'm just on the cusp of being a big player myself. I feel like I'm very close and I learned that the #1 thing I'm missing is the thing I love most about poker - poker psychology.
I'm missing most of the tells and giving off most of them back to my opponents. I'm still an open book and my cards are still see-thru, but not for long. I had a chance lunch meeting with at attorney who just played in the WSOP main event and he placed in the top 10%, getting him into the money. We hit it off instantly and he recommended that I read Caro's Book of Poker Tells. In fact, he had it delivered to my office a couple of days later and I read it for the first time that night. Yes - I read it cover-to-cover that first night. I couldn't believe how badly I was crippling my game by giving off and not recognizing obvious tells.
So, last night I was playing Friday Night Poker with the guys and I spent most of the evening watching for tells. I still didn't win either game last night, but I did pick up some tells that saved me a lot of chips. One guy was sizing up his chip stack after seeing the flop. He had a good hand and I folded. He had me beat. Good fold. Another guy saw the flop and immediately glanced down at his chips - huge tell. Then, to add to it, he appeared to be indecisive as to whether or not to bet. That made up my mind to fold - good fold. He had it. Then, my favorite one took a little friendly manipulation on my part. I had pocket J's and the flop was all cards lower than jack, so was the turn. I bet fairly big and was raised on the flop and the turn. So, I said to the other guy, "I have a pretty big pocket pair, so if you're raising me, you must have an even bigger pair." It took a few seconds before he couldn't hold in his smile. It took even less time for me to fold my Jacks and he had pocket Kings. I'll keep watching for tells and I'm going to read the book a couple of more times too.
Finally, tonight I sat down to play a Full Tilt Poker tournament (90 players) and for the 21st time this year, I made it to the final table and ended up in 4th place. I was pretty happy with that outcome. My game purpose was to get back to "basics". I tightened back up some and primarily played a range of about 15 to 20 starting hands. I raised about 30% of the time that I bet, made some good position bets, and put in some strategic bluffs that paid off. I even loosened up a couple of times to suck out on the river, which I guess you have to be able to do sometimes. Tonight, I just needed to be reminded that I could still get it done if I needed to back away from the game transformation. But then, what am I really thinking? Back away from the game transformation? Now, I have a "range" of acceptable starting hands, a calculated % of raises, strategic position bets and bluffs. My game is evolving to a mix of tight and loose, aggressive and calculated.
I have no idea where my game will go next, but I do know one thing: I'm very competitive and there is nothing that I hate worse than losing at poker. But poker energizes me, so I'll weather the losing until I start winning consistently again. Hopefully a winning streak is coming.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Texas Hold'em at Harrah's New Orleans
Generally speaking, I don't enjoy cash poker as much as I do tournament poker. Tournament poker is essentially "knock-out" poker, but cash poker is just that - CASH poker. Getting knocked out in cash poker means something entirely different - specifically, it means that you're broke.
The psychology of poker changes from tournament to cash poker too. In cash poker, guys (and girls) can force you to make decisions with all of your money. Mis-played hands can lead to going broke very quickly. Two days ago, at the Harrah's Casino, in New Orleans, I played beside a young guy that was throwing $100's down like they were $1's. I wanted to try and keep track of the money he was losing, but I lost count at around $800, and he was still there after I left.
I've played poker and won at the Bellagio. I've been up an down at the Chumash in Santa Ynez, California. The Winstar, in Oklahoma, is still keeping a few hundred dollars of mine warm. But my time at Harrah's New Orleans is by far the most memorable poker I've ever played. The Bellagio is my favorite venue so far, but the experience in New Orleans was the most educational poker I've ever played.
I played $1 / $2 No Limit Hold'em starting in the late afternoon / early evening. All day leading up to that, I didn't drink any alcohol. I took a power nap before walking to the casino. While I was attending the educational sessions earlier in the day, all I could think about was poker. This day, I was finally going to really get to do what I went to do - play uninterrupted poker (see my previous blog about Poker in New Orleans if you want those details).
So, I sat down at the table. I had a great spot at the very end of the table, to the right of the dealer. I could see everyone. I could watch and observe everything. Lots of people like to sit directly in front of the dealer, but not me. I want to see my opponents without needing to turn my head and make it so obvious. Immediately, I found out that this was going to be an aggressive table. Bet, raise, re-raise, fold (me).
There was a very old guy at the table, probably about 85 years old, give or take. He was the clear big stack at the table. He appeared to have about $1,000 in front of him when I sat down. Some smaller chip stacks at the table, at that time, averaged about $400 and the larger stacks (other than the old man) averaged about $600 or $700. Me? I sat down with $300 and an immediate and very obvious disadvantage.
Throughout the evening, I played at this table with around 25 different guys. Nobody sat down with less money that me. Many of them were locals and knew each other. Those guys clearly played together regularly. I heard several of them talking about something that happened last week and saying they would see each other again in a few days. It felt like that scene in rounders when Matt Damon and Ed Norton went to the casino and sat at a table with some other guys they knew and took money all night long from lesser players. Was I the lesser player? Probably.
In New Orleans, I played with some of the best players I've ever played with. Aggression was the theme of the table. No free cards. No limp-ins. But still, lots and lots of draw chasing. I couldn't believe all of the guys betting $50 or more after the turn, hoping to hit their draws on the river. It was really maddening. Once, I flopped 2 pairs and made big bets at each stage with 2 callers. After the river, I didn't believe my final opponent, so I bet, he raised, and I called. He hit his INSIDE straight. So sick!
The old man was taking everyone's money all night long. He was either hitting everything or he was bluffing often. I figured him for bluffing often. So, in another hand, I flopped 2 pairs and made a large bet. He called. There was an Ace on the flop (not one of my pairs). So, I had him on an Ace with a big kicker. Turn was insignificant. I bet, he called. River was even less significant. I bet, he raised, I re-raised all in. I won and I was up for the first time all night. (By the way, he had AQ off).
After that, I lost fairly consistently. I made bets, but ultimately my hands weren't good enough to continue calling ridiculous raises and re-raises. So, I donated quite a bit until I finally got pocket A's. Thank God for that hand because it kept me in the game for a few more hours. I played the way I had played all night long - relatively weak and irritated. I was the small blind. By the time the betting got back around to me, it was at $30, and I very uncomfortably just called. (Just the be clear, the only think actually uncomfortable was the idea of other people folding.)
Flop: A 2 2. Unless someone was holding pocket 2's, this hand was mine. I'm first to act. So I checked with that look of discomfort. Another guy bet $30 more and the guy on the button raised it to $50. I thought about my options (again very uncomfortably) and finally just called after what seemed to me like minutes, when it was actually only about 15 seconds. The other guy folded and it was heads up for the turn and the river. I checked the turn and "button boy" bet $40. I hesitantly called. The river came and I bet $40. By this point, I had about $65 left and "button boy" raised me all in. I VERY uncomfortably (wink, wink) called and said, "I hope you don't have pocket 2's."
He threw down 2 3 suited and was certain he won with a set of 2's until I showed my pocket rockets. Full House! I was up BIG at that point and the other guys at the table who seemed to all know him and each other gave him hell for the next couple of hands to follow. I tried to hold in my excitement, but I'm sure it showed in my shaky hands as I folded the next hand.
Later, I played A K off really big and got folds all around to win about $75. Other than that, I won some small hands and lost some small and big hands. I won't lie to you. By the end of my night, I was busted out. I walked away from that table with zero (although I still had plenty of money to throw back down if I chose to).
Here's the thing though. Even though I lost, in my 3 days there, $265 total, I sat at that table Tuesday night for 6 hours and played with some of the best players I've ever faced. It took these guys 6 hours to take me out and you better believe that I told them all that very thing as I was standing up with a smile on my face after being finished off by a pair of queens over my 10's. "Well guys, you got me. It took 6 hours though. You better practice up for next time." It got a good laugh, but I'm still smiling today - 2 days later.
I could have quit half way into my evening and been up relatively big. Then, my story would be about going to New Orleans and winning. That would have been a good story, but this one is better. I never thought I would walk away a winner anyway. That's just me being honest. I wanted to sit back and play for hours and I got to do that. What I realized throughout the evening is that I just wanted to stay in the game and keep playing with these guys that were way better than me. I wanted to last as long as I could last. I stayed in the game for 6 hours. I didn't get up to go to the restroom. I didn't get up for drinks. The waitress brought me water and Sugar Free Red Bull throughout the night. The Chinese place delivered egg rolls to me at my table. I sat there and played undistracted poker for 6 hours. I got my good plays in and I made some stupid plays. It was a great education in aggressive poker and I'm still smiling.
The psychology of poker changes from tournament to cash poker too. In cash poker, guys (and girls) can force you to make decisions with all of your money. Mis-played hands can lead to going broke very quickly. Two days ago, at the Harrah's Casino, in New Orleans, I played beside a young guy that was throwing $100's down like they were $1's. I wanted to try and keep track of the money he was losing, but I lost count at around $800, and he was still there after I left.
I've played poker and won at the Bellagio. I've been up an down at the Chumash in Santa Ynez, California. The Winstar, in Oklahoma, is still keeping a few hundred dollars of mine warm. But my time at Harrah's New Orleans is by far the most memorable poker I've ever played. The Bellagio is my favorite venue so far, but the experience in New Orleans was the most educational poker I've ever played.
I played $1 / $2 No Limit Hold'em starting in the late afternoon / early evening. All day leading up to that, I didn't drink any alcohol. I took a power nap before walking to the casino. While I was attending the educational sessions earlier in the day, all I could think about was poker. This day, I was finally going to really get to do what I went to do - play uninterrupted poker (see my previous blog about Poker in New Orleans if you want those details).
So, I sat down at the table. I had a great spot at the very end of the table, to the right of the dealer. I could see everyone. I could watch and observe everything. Lots of people like to sit directly in front of the dealer, but not me. I want to see my opponents without needing to turn my head and make it so obvious. Immediately, I found out that this was going to be an aggressive table. Bet, raise, re-raise, fold (me).
There was a very old guy at the table, probably about 85 years old, give or take. He was the clear big stack at the table. He appeared to have about $1,000 in front of him when I sat down. Some smaller chip stacks at the table, at that time, averaged about $400 and the larger stacks (other than the old man) averaged about $600 or $700. Me? I sat down with $300 and an immediate and very obvious disadvantage.
Throughout the evening, I played at this table with around 25 different guys. Nobody sat down with less money that me. Many of them were locals and knew each other. Those guys clearly played together regularly. I heard several of them talking about something that happened last week and saying they would see each other again in a few days. It felt like that scene in rounders when Matt Damon and Ed Norton went to the casino and sat at a table with some other guys they knew and took money all night long from lesser players. Was I the lesser player? Probably.
In New Orleans, I played with some of the best players I've ever played with. Aggression was the theme of the table. No free cards. No limp-ins. But still, lots and lots of draw chasing. I couldn't believe all of the guys betting $50 or more after the turn, hoping to hit their draws on the river. It was really maddening. Once, I flopped 2 pairs and made big bets at each stage with 2 callers. After the river, I didn't believe my final opponent, so I bet, he raised, and I called. He hit his INSIDE straight. So sick!
The old man was taking everyone's money all night long. He was either hitting everything or he was bluffing often. I figured him for bluffing often. So, in another hand, I flopped 2 pairs and made a large bet. He called. There was an Ace on the flop (not one of my pairs). So, I had him on an Ace with a big kicker. Turn was insignificant. I bet, he called. River was even less significant. I bet, he raised, I re-raised all in. I won and I was up for the first time all night. (By the way, he had AQ off).
After that, I lost fairly consistently. I made bets, but ultimately my hands weren't good enough to continue calling ridiculous raises and re-raises. So, I donated quite a bit until I finally got pocket A's. Thank God for that hand because it kept me in the game for a few more hours. I played the way I had played all night long - relatively weak and irritated. I was the small blind. By the time the betting got back around to me, it was at $30, and I very uncomfortably just called. (Just the be clear, the only think actually uncomfortable was the idea of other people folding.)
Flop: A 2 2. Unless someone was holding pocket 2's, this hand was mine. I'm first to act. So I checked with that look of discomfort. Another guy bet $30 more and the guy on the button raised it to $50. I thought about my options (again very uncomfortably) and finally just called after what seemed to me like minutes, when it was actually only about 15 seconds. The other guy folded and it was heads up for the turn and the river. I checked the turn and "button boy" bet $40. I hesitantly called. The river came and I bet $40. By this point, I had about $65 left and "button boy" raised me all in. I VERY uncomfortably (wink, wink) called and said, "I hope you don't have pocket 2's."
He threw down 2 3 suited and was certain he won with a set of 2's until I showed my pocket rockets. Full House! I was up BIG at that point and the other guys at the table who seemed to all know him and each other gave him hell for the next couple of hands to follow. I tried to hold in my excitement, but I'm sure it showed in my shaky hands as I folded the next hand.
Later, I played A K off really big and got folds all around to win about $75. Other than that, I won some small hands and lost some small and big hands. I won't lie to you. By the end of my night, I was busted out. I walked away from that table with zero (although I still had plenty of money to throw back down if I chose to).
Here's the thing though. Even though I lost, in my 3 days there, $265 total, I sat at that table Tuesday night for 6 hours and played with some of the best players I've ever faced. It took these guys 6 hours to take me out and you better believe that I told them all that very thing as I was standing up with a smile on my face after being finished off by a pair of queens over my 10's. "Well guys, you got me. It took 6 hours though. You better practice up for next time." It got a good laugh, but I'm still smiling today - 2 days later.
I could have quit half way into my evening and been up relatively big. Then, my story would be about going to New Orleans and winning. That would have been a good story, but this one is better. I never thought I would walk away a winner anyway. That's just me being honest. I wanted to sit back and play for hours and I got to do that. What I realized throughout the evening is that I just wanted to stay in the game and keep playing with these guys that were way better than me. I wanted to last as long as I could last. I stayed in the game for 6 hours. I didn't get up to go to the restroom. I didn't get up for drinks. The waitress brought me water and Sugar Free Red Bull throughout the night. The Chinese place delivered egg rolls to me at my table. I sat there and played undistracted poker for 6 hours. I got my good plays in and I made some stupid plays. It was a great education in aggressive poker and I'm still smiling.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Poker in New Orleans
I'm so excited because I'm leaving tomorrow for a 4 day business conference in New Orleans. I should get to my hotel around 4pm, listen to a speaker, and then hit the casino. My hotel is 0.2 miles from Harrah's. My plan is simple and relaxing: put $200 on the table, kick back, and fold hand after hand until I get good starting hands. No mid-level hands. Sure as heck no low hands. Pocket pairs, suited face cards, AK, probably AQ, maybe even 10 J suited. I won't have to rush. I can play as long as I feel like playing. My co-workers won't need to wonder where I am if I'm not with them. Just find me at the poker room at the Harrah's. I hope there's plenty of coffee at the conference each morning and I'll need to find a place to buy sugar free Red Bull.
Where's Chris? He was just standing right here.
Where's Chris? He was just standing right here.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Texas Holdem Game Adjustments
I haven't written anything in 2 or 3 weeks. During that time, I have just broken even in Friday Night Poker, while having probably my 2nd worst game streak in over a year. My winning prior to that could best be described as total dominance, but I've been rattled by distractions that turned my poker brain upside-down. Lately, when I've won, it's been ugly and when I've lost, it's been a result of stupid play and an utter disregard for my own personal "rules". But, I've been lucky to break even.
I've used this down time as an opportunity to grow my game and I've made some mental adjustments that should be very helpful in the long-run. I have been playing a lot of online cash poker and I spent a few hours in the poker room at the Winstar Casino. I've also done my normal routine of watching every hand played on TV. A primary adjustment that I'm making is aggressive betting - raising and re-raising, but not only with predictably good hands like, KK, QQ, AA, or JJ. I've paid special attention to the game style of Tom Dwan. Now, I understand that his style alone probably is not going to have long-term benefits, but it does serve as a nice change-up. I might, for example, play 6-8 suited like it's a pair of Q's, especially in the right position. Unpredictability is another game adjustment that I need to make. This style of play should be particularly good for that change-up.
In the past, I've shown too many of my hands after winning hands and I've confirmed when other players called my hands correctly. That has to stop. From now on, I'll only show my hands if I feel that doing so has some strategic value. Otherwise, you have to pay to see.
Finally, I'm going to try to play fewer overall hands. I read once that Hellmuth said that you should only be in about 20% of flops. So, I'm going to fold a little more often, but I also read that when betting, roughly 50% of bets should be raises so that you're not playing against so many opponents in a hand. Both of these things will help me with unpredictability and aggressiveness.
Of course, we'll see how this ultimately plays out at the table. The distractions are mostly gone now. I'm acutely aware of my recent stupid game-play. And, I've run my losing hands thru my head over and over and over again. So, I think the winning should start back up again. We'll see.
Stay tuned.
I've used this down time as an opportunity to grow my game and I've made some mental adjustments that should be very helpful in the long-run. I have been playing a lot of online cash poker and I spent a few hours in the poker room at the Winstar Casino. I've also done my normal routine of watching every hand played on TV. A primary adjustment that I'm making is aggressive betting - raising and re-raising, but not only with predictably good hands like, KK, QQ, AA, or JJ. I've paid special attention to the game style of Tom Dwan. Now, I understand that his style alone probably is not going to have long-term benefits, but it does serve as a nice change-up. I might, for example, play 6-8 suited like it's a pair of Q's, especially in the right position. Unpredictability is another game adjustment that I need to make. This style of play should be particularly good for that change-up.
In the past, I've shown too many of my hands after winning hands and I've confirmed when other players called my hands correctly. That has to stop. From now on, I'll only show my hands if I feel that doing so has some strategic value. Otherwise, you have to pay to see.
Finally, I'm going to try to play fewer overall hands. I read once that Hellmuth said that you should only be in about 20% of flops. So, I'm going to fold a little more often, but I also read that when betting, roughly 50% of bets should be raises so that you're not playing against so many opponents in a hand. Both of these things will help me with unpredictability and aggressiveness.
Of course, we'll see how this ultimately plays out at the table. The distractions are mostly gone now. I'm acutely aware of my recent stupid game-play. And, I've run my losing hands thru my head over and over and over again. So, I think the winning should start back up again. We'll see.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Texas Hold'em: To Be Great - Learn
I'm the kind of guy who has to eventually be great at something if I'm ever going to pick it up to start with. I've always been this way. It's no fun to be bad at things, so I will only pick something up if I think I have a chance to be great. By "great," I mean being among the best (not necessarily THE best).
I started playing Texas Holdem about 3 years ago and at that time, I was just playing to hang out with the guys and have some fun. I didn't know how much I would love it though. In keeping with wanting to be among the best at things, I'm very competitive by nature. That's just part of wanting to be great at things.
Anyways - poker. I do want to be great at poker. I still remember the first No Limit Hold'em "tournament" that I won. There were 18 players at 2 tables. I made the final table and eventually won. I took a picture of all of the chips and I still have that picture. That was it for me. I beat some really good Holdem players that night and I wanted to win more.
Since that night, I've spent a lot of time playing poker and even more time studying poker (especially No Limit Texas Hold'em). I realized very early that if I ever wanted to be great, I needed to seriously LEARN to play like great players. To learn to be a really great poker player, I do all of the following things farely regularly.
1. I play 3 live poker games every week.
2. I watch poker almost every time it's on TV. If I can't see it "live," I always record it to watch later.
3. I search the internet for other poker blogs to learn about how others play and think about poker.
4. I search the internet for poker educational sites. There are lots of them out there that are really good.
5. I study the guys that I play with and I pay close attention to the way they create success at the table.
6. I spend time weekly reflecting on my own game. I tend to be brutally honest with my own game play.
7. I play online weekly at www.fulltiltpoker.com. Playing several hundred hands per week keeps me on my game and improves my Friday Night Poker games.
8. I even have a Texas Hold'em app on my Blackberry.
Texas Hold'em is like everything else when it comes to being great. You have to learn the trade (so to speak), and there is a lot to learn: The basic rules, winning hand hierarchy, basic and advanced strategies, statistical odds, and more. This will take a lot of time, but if you really love doing anything, it's worth it.
I started playing Texas Holdem about 3 years ago and at that time, I was just playing to hang out with the guys and have some fun. I didn't know how much I would love it though. In keeping with wanting to be among the best at things, I'm very competitive by nature. That's just part of wanting to be great at things.
Since that night, I've spent a lot of time playing poker and even more time studying poker (especially No Limit Texas Hold'em). I realized very early that if I ever wanted to be great, I needed to seriously LEARN to play like great players. To learn to be a really great poker player, I do all of the following things farely regularly.
1. I play 3 live poker games every week.
2. I watch poker almost every time it's on TV. If I can't see it "live," I always record it to watch later.
3. I search the internet for other poker blogs to learn about how others play and think about poker.
4. I search the internet for poker educational sites. There are lots of them out there that are really good.
5. I study the guys that I play with and I pay close attention to the way they create success at the table.
6. I spend time weekly reflecting on my own game. I tend to be brutally honest with my own game play.
7. I play online weekly at www.fulltiltpoker.com. Playing several hundred hands per week keeps me on my game and improves my Friday Night Poker games.
8. I even have a Texas Hold'em app on my Blackberry.
Texas Hold'em is like everything else when it comes to being great. You have to learn the trade (so to speak), and there is a lot to learn: The basic rules, winning hand hierarchy, basic and advanced strategies, statistical odds, and more. This will take a lot of time, but if you really love doing anything, it's worth it.
Texas Hold'em: It Helps to Hit Good Cards
OK, so I said I was going to leave stupid at home last night when I went to play poker, and I did. Looking back on the night, I can't remember one stupid move (on my part). I was back to making calculated plays, at times even reminding myself not to play stupid. There were 9 people there last night, whereas usually we have 8. So, the card "rotation" was changed slightly. We also used 2 new decks. I'm not necessarily saying that these 2 factors had anything significant to do with the outcome of the games because we had winners in all 3 games. I'm just pointing out that we had some (minor) changes last night.
What I am saying is that sometimes even if you avoid playing stupid, you still need to get good cards at least some of the time. You need good cards in your hand with matching good cards on the board (at least sometimes). Last night, I got junk hole cards in what seemed like 80% of my hands. In statistics there is a term called "mode". This is the thing that happens most frequently - not an average - just the thing that happens more often that anything else. Well unbelievably, my "mode" cards were 2-7 off. I got that ugly combination 4 times in the 2nd game and 3 times in the 1st game. I also got 2-7 suited twice. Ordinarily that wouldn't necessarily be such a big deal because that kind of stuff happens. However, on top of getting 2 7 nine times, I also got just about every junk card combination you can think of. 8-2, 9-2, 9-3, 8-3, 6-3, and on and on and on.
An undisciplined player might get tired of folding and just start playing those cards. Believe me, it was tempting, but then what? Those are the worst statistical starting hands in poker. You could get lucky from time to time, but more often than not, you're just going to lose. I played patiently, folding one hand after another. And, I played frustrated, which like I've said before, is part of the formula to losing. I would occasionally get some decent starting hands: Q-J off, J-J, 9-10 suited, A-7 suited. Those never worked out for me though. It just wasn't my night. In Texas Hold'em, even the best players (and I am not one of those guys yet) need to get cards to at least build some momentum.
So, I got off the short-lived losing streak in game 3 with a win, but it wasn't very significant to me. Only 5 of us stayed for the final game, so I only had to deal with 4 other players instead of 8. I started hitting cards with a smaller card rotation and 1 of the guys had more than a few beers in games 1 and 2, so getting his chips wasn't the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was a win, but it wasn't a good win.
What I am saying is that sometimes even if you avoid playing stupid, you still need to get good cards at least some of the time. You need good cards in your hand with matching good cards on the board (at least sometimes). Last night, I got junk hole cards in what seemed like 80% of my hands. In statistics there is a term called "mode". This is the thing that happens most frequently - not an average - just the thing that happens more often that anything else. Well unbelievably, my "mode" cards were 2-7 off. I got that ugly combination 4 times in the 2nd game and 3 times in the 1st game. I also got 2-7 suited twice. Ordinarily that wouldn't necessarily be such a big deal because that kind of stuff happens. However, on top of getting 2 7 nine times, I also got just about every junk card combination you can think of. 8-2, 9-2, 9-3, 8-3, 6-3, and on and on and on.
An undisciplined player might get tired of folding and just start playing those cards. Believe me, it was tempting, but then what? Those are the worst statistical starting hands in poker. You could get lucky from time to time, but more often than not, you're just going to lose. I played patiently, folding one hand after another. And, I played frustrated, which like I've said before, is part of the formula to losing. I would occasionally get some decent starting hands: Q-J off, J-J, 9-10 suited, A-7 suited. Those never worked out for me though. It just wasn't my night. In Texas Hold'em, even the best players (and I am not one of those guys yet) need to get cards to at least build some momentum.
So, I got off the short-lived losing streak in game 3 with a win, but it wasn't very significant to me. Only 5 of us stayed for the final game, so I only had to deal with 4 other players instead of 8. I started hitting cards with a smaller card rotation and 1 of the guys had more than a few beers in games 1 and 2, so getting his chips wasn't the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was a win, but it wasn't a good win.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Friday Night Poker: 2 of Me
In the last couple of weeks, I've been 2 players.
One of me has been patient, calculated, and in a zone. The other just plays stupid! Tomorrow, I plan on leaving stupid at home. The stupid player has been distracted and unable to recognize the habits of my opponents. The stupid me makes bets with reckless abandon and without regard to what I know my opponents will do as a result.
So, I plan on taking the patient, calculated version of me to Friday Night Poker. That person understands the other players at the table. I'm going to understand that one guy will make huge bets with absolutely nothing and another guy's going to bet his top pair every time. A couple of guys are going to "know" I have them beat, but call me anyways. One guy is going to play complete wild-ass poker. Nobody will be able to predict him and another guy is going to bet huge on huge hands and then warn you not to call. Another guy will play it fairly straight, but throw in a bluff here and there, but if you call and raise, he might just fold. And finally, one really good player is going to make you make decisions for lots of your chips. Build him up and then God help you because nobody else will be able to.
But me? I'm just going to recognize my opponents and play accordingly. I might play aggressive at times and tight at others. I might have a hand, but then again, maybe not. Maybe those are pocket Jacks, but you never really know - maybe it's Aces or maybe it's just KQ off. There's a couple of guys that I won't be losing to tomorrow and there's a couple of guys that will give me a run for my money. I show up to play with those guys.
I had all week to think about tomorrow. I've been extremely distracted lately, but tomorrow - I'm bring the one of me that doesn't play stupid. If I lose tomorrow, it's because the other guys brought their A games. I look forward to a table full of A games. Stay tuned.
One of me has been patient, calculated, and in a zone. The other just plays stupid! Tomorrow, I plan on leaving stupid at home. The stupid player has been distracted and unable to recognize the habits of my opponents. The stupid me makes bets with reckless abandon and without regard to what I know my opponents will do as a result.
So, I plan on taking the patient, calculated version of me to Friday Night Poker. That person understands the other players at the table. I'm going to understand that one guy will make huge bets with absolutely nothing and another guy's going to bet his top pair every time. A couple of guys are going to "know" I have them beat, but call me anyways. One guy is going to play complete wild-ass poker. Nobody will be able to predict him and another guy is going to bet huge on huge hands and then warn you not to call. Another guy will play it fairly straight, but throw in a bluff here and there, but if you call and raise, he might just fold. And finally, one really good player is going to make you make decisions for lots of your chips. Build him up and then God help you because nobody else will be able to.
But me? I'm just going to recognize my opponents and play accordingly. I might play aggressive at times and tight at others. I might have a hand, but then again, maybe not. Maybe those are pocket Jacks, but you never really know - maybe it's Aces or maybe it's just KQ off. There's a couple of guys that I won't be losing to tomorrow and there's a couple of guys that will give me a run for my money. I show up to play with those guys.
I had all week to think about tomorrow. I've been extremely distracted lately, but tomorrow - I'm bring the one of me that doesn't play stupid. If I lose tomorrow, it's because the other guys brought their A games. I look forward to a table full of A games. Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)