In a live at the bike episode barry greinstein mentions that he believes about 80-90% of all money won or lost at the poker table is due to player's tilt. Whether they are winning or losing - suffering bad beats, getting cold decked, etc. I found this statement very insightful because nearly all of my "huge" loss days are the days where I just couldn't quit even though I was down. Or if not that, I was at least allowing my emotions to alter my play.
I was talking on gtalk earlier tonight with a fellow multitable poker player who PokerTracker highlighted as one of the top "mouse" players in my $1 no-limit games (these are what I have been playing for the past 3 weeks on the Poker Network affiliates). He asked the exact question - how do you handle tilt - if you have a bunch of bad beats in a row (he had suffered 15 during his current session).
What I have always done if I am losing is:
1) focus on playing my game. Tight, tight, tight!
2) leave all of my tables, get a drink, and resume in a few minutes - approaching the games as a brand new session.
3) pay closer attention to table selection.
My style is all about patience - I fold most hands preflop, and nearly all the rest on the flop. Its the occasional double up that makes me a winner, and it only takes a few in a session to be very profitable. Keeping this in focus helps me maintain my consistent play level. I think when it comes down to it, poker is more about not makng mistakes then making great plays...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Preflop aggression vs Post Flop aggression
Poker Tracker makes a distinction between both of these. And according to its auto-ranking I am still passive/passive. :(
What is interesting is that I adopted my new "passive" style after hearing something Mike Matasow said on "The Circuit." He said that poker isn't about aggression, its about trapping. This is how I feel. If you can get paid off more when you have the goods than losing a little in other spots is not a huge deal. Super aggressive players gain a similar type of advantage - they play so many hands aggressively that you get forced to pay them off when they have the nuts because you don't give them as much credit. I play super passive in some situations where I am not very strong, but I play exactly the same in these spots when I have nothing. In one of the poker DVDs I have Mike Caro mentions that one of his goals is to make checking on the flop "okay." I completely agree. It seems the new breed of player is completely aware that people make continuation bets. I've seen a pair of deuces call me down when I fire three bluffs to the river! What is not mentioned in as many books, is that good players tend to show the true strength of their hands on the turn. An astute player could notice that from me - but then I make the majority of my bluffs on the turn too.
Take a situation where you bet preflop in position with As Kc and one of the blinds calls. The board comes three rags, three different suits- 9s, 5h, 2d. He checks. Now, a lot of players would bet here. You have a relatively disconnected flop, unlikely to have hit anyone. Right? Well, I think checking is the correct play here. First, you allow yourself to hit a king or ace on the turn. Always a nice plus. But what is better is that if your opponent has a pocket pair, its very possible he was going for a check raise - or check call - and he may call you down with a pair of 66s (thinking that the flop probably missed you). Another benefit of checking here is that it allows scare cards to hit the turn. If any card ten or higher hits the board (or the board pairs) on the turn, you can make a pot sized bet and usually pick up the pot right there. What is useful also, is that if your opponent bets on the turn, you can make a decision based on additional information. If he bets a weak amount into a now flushing board, you can raise - if he bets a pot sized bet though and you did not improve you can fold. If he checks - you can be sure that he doesn't want the pot and you can bluff him out.
Lets say you play this hand exactly the same when you have pocket aces. Now what does your opponent do? Every time he sees you check the flop, he is terrified. You can now bluff the turn more easily - basically the check on the flop makes your ability to be aggressive better. And if people are not paying attention, your check when you are strong, looks weak. Some players will figure that you are bluffing on the turn and will pay you off. By trapping with a weak hand like aces, players will call with absolute garbage when they are drawing almost dead the whole hand.
After making a post last week, Bruno mentioned that because I played the hand SO passively I could not value bet the river - something I don't like doing with the medium strength hands anyway. He was absolutely right however. If you don't find out where you are in the hand sooner, than you cannot know if you should bet the river or not. By playing the turn more aggressively - I have found that about 50% of the time I can bet the river and about 1/3 of the time on a bluff. With this style I pick up nearly 100% of my bluffs - I think mainly because I play my strong hands exactly the same way (and I am looking like I am trapping).
Now that I feel that this is the optimal style in a good percentage of hands I am going to look more closely at the preflop reraise. I have nearly stopped doing it because the value of smooth calling with a strong hand often seems to outweigh the benefits of reraising and telegraphing that you have AA, KK, QQ, or AK. I think reraising with QQ is a bad idea most of the time. The only hands I like to reraise with are AA and KK, generally because if you do so you win the pot right away or on the flop (which is great if you are out of position). I have thought about reraising with a lot weaker hands occassionally possibly in the blinds to attempt to end the hand immediately. I guy reraised me in his small blind with AQ yesterday. That is a play I would generally be scared to make, but I may experiment with it.
What is interesting is that I adopted my new "passive" style after hearing something Mike Matasow said on "The Circuit." He said that poker isn't about aggression, its about trapping. This is how I feel. If you can get paid off more when you have the goods than losing a little in other spots is not a huge deal. Super aggressive players gain a similar type of advantage - they play so many hands aggressively that you get forced to pay them off when they have the nuts because you don't give them as much credit. I play super passive in some situations where I am not very strong, but I play exactly the same in these spots when I have nothing. In one of the poker DVDs I have Mike Caro mentions that one of his goals is to make checking on the flop "okay." I completely agree. It seems the new breed of player is completely aware that people make continuation bets. I've seen a pair of deuces call me down when I fire three bluffs to the river! What is not mentioned in as many books, is that good players tend to show the true strength of their hands on the turn. An astute player could notice that from me - but then I make the majority of my bluffs on the turn too.
Take a situation where you bet preflop in position with As Kc and one of the blinds calls. The board comes three rags, three different suits- 9s, 5h, 2d. He checks. Now, a lot of players would bet here. You have a relatively disconnected flop, unlikely to have hit anyone. Right? Well, I think checking is the correct play here. First, you allow yourself to hit a king or ace on the turn. Always a nice plus. But what is better is that if your opponent has a pocket pair, its very possible he was going for a check raise - or check call - and he may call you down with a pair of 66s (thinking that the flop probably missed you). Another benefit of checking here is that it allows scare cards to hit the turn. If any card ten or higher hits the board (or the board pairs) on the turn, you can make a pot sized bet and usually pick up the pot right there. What is useful also, is that if your opponent bets on the turn, you can make a decision based on additional information. If he bets a weak amount into a now flushing board, you can raise - if he bets a pot sized bet though and you did not improve you can fold. If he checks - you can be sure that he doesn't want the pot and you can bluff him out.
Lets say you play this hand exactly the same when you have pocket aces. Now what does your opponent do? Every time he sees you check the flop, he is terrified. You can now bluff the turn more easily - basically the check on the flop makes your ability to be aggressive better. And if people are not paying attention, your check when you are strong, looks weak. Some players will figure that you are bluffing on the turn and will pay you off. By trapping with a weak hand like aces, players will call with absolute garbage when they are drawing almost dead the whole hand.
After making a post last week, Bruno mentioned that because I played the hand SO passively I could not value bet the river - something I don't like doing with the medium strength hands anyway. He was absolutely right however. If you don't find out where you are in the hand sooner, than you cannot know if you should bet the river or not. By playing the turn more aggressively - I have found that about 50% of the time I can bet the river and about 1/3 of the time on a bluff. With this style I pick up nearly 100% of my bluffs - I think mainly because I play my strong hands exactly the same way (and I am looking like I am trapping).
Now that I feel that this is the optimal style in a good percentage of hands I am going to look more closely at the preflop reraise. I have nearly stopped doing it because the value of smooth calling with a strong hand often seems to outweigh the benefits of reraising and telegraphing that you have AA, KK, QQ, or AK. I think reraising with QQ is a bad idea most of the time. The only hands I like to reraise with are AA and KK, generally because if you do so you win the pot right away or on the flop (which is great if you are out of position). I have thought about reraising with a lot weaker hands occassionally possibly in the blinds to attempt to end the hand immediately. I guy reraised me in his small blind with AQ yesterday. That is a play I would generally be scared to make, but I may experiment with it.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Played Great and Lost Badly
Went to friends house to play a 10 person $20 deepstack freeze out. I'm getting pretty good cards but not hitting the flop, I raised with Queens in middle position only to get called by 4 players - flop comes A/7/4. It gets checked to me and I decide to take a stab at it, I get raised and instantly muck my hand. He shows A/4 for two pair.
I raise it up again pre-flop, this time from early position with A/K. I get the standard 3 callers, flop comes 10/8/3. I bet on the flop, and get one caller. I fire another bullet and take down a nice pot.
Nothing eventfull until we come to this hand. I'm dealth Kc/Qh in middle position, I raise it to 4xBB and get min re-raised by the button, I call. Flop comes Ac/Ah/Qc. I check knowing that he very well could have an ace. Turn is 5c. I check, he bets 1/4 of the pot. I call. River is Jc. So now I have the nut flush. I bet the pot. He instantly moves all-in. I think for about a minute and muck my hand. I figured that the only reasonable hands I can beat in this spot are A/K,K/K or the Tc, none of which he would push all in with, unless hes suicidal. I put him on A/Q, Q/Q or maybe even J/J. I fold my hand face up, and he shows A/A for flopped quads.
After than hand my stack is down to about 45% of our starting chips and two players have been eliminated which makes me very short, but the blinds arent too big so i'm not worried yet. I get Kd/10d on the button, I raise 5xxBB hopping to get the blinds and the two limpers but instead I get two callers. The flop comes Ad/10c/7d. It gets checked to me and I decide to take a free card. The turn is the Kc, giving me 2nd pair and the nut flush draw. Checked to me again and I again decide to take a look at a free card, the river is a beauty, the 9d. I have the stone cold nuts. They check it to me and I push all-in for about the size of the pot. They think and fold, probably should have tried a value bet. Oh well, I'm happy to pick up some chips.
I'm back on the button and this time I have K/Q. There is one limper so I try and take the pot with a 5xBB raise, blinds fold and the limper min raises me. I fold because I'm not ready to play for my entire stack on K/Q. The next hand I'm dealt A/K, I raise 5xBB and the blinds fold again and the same limper min-reraises me, I instantly push all-in and he instantly calls. Normally I would be scared by someone calling me so quickly but this player is a maniac so I still feel like I could have him dominated or in the worst case, be racing with him. He turns over A/J. Bingo.
Flop comes Q/9/7/J/4. I'm eliminated.
I think i'm playing fairly well so I decide to go down to the poker club even though it's pretty late. I get in the game right away, I go thru two orbits without playing a single hand except my BB, I just have had nothing of quality. I'm seeing alot of ace/rag and the ace is always the first card I look at, pretty frustrating. I get dealt A/10 in middle position and decide that my image is pretty good, so let's play a hand. I raise 6xBB(standard in this game) and get two callers, the flop comes Q/Q/7. It gets checked around. The turn is a 5. I check and one of the players bets 2/3 of the pot. I go into the tank and intentionally take a long time, trying to make it look like i'm acting. I flat call, river is some blank and I bet $50, the pot. He thinks for a bit then says, "I'll pay you off and flat calls me with Q/8". I muck.
The mistake in this hand is not putting him on the Q. I was positive that he either had a 7 of a middle pocket pair, bad read. If he didnt have the Q, it would have been an easy fold because I think I represented the Q perfectly, everyone though I had it.
Once again, I'm dealth A/10. I call a a 4xx raise on the button. 2 other players in the hand. The flop comes 4h/7h/10h. First player checks, 2nd players bets out $25 - I instantly push all my chips in for a raise of just under the size of the pot. I put him on a weak draw of maybe a low pair, I could just tell that he was unconfortable and din't really want to be playing the hand. He went into the tank for what seemed like forever and eventually called. Not what I was hoping for, he turned over 8h/8c for 2nd pair and a week flush draw. At this point, I'm not sure if my ace is a heart or not. I know its red but I didn't want to check because if I check my cards he can immidiatly rule out the possibility of a made flush. Unfortunetly, I was holding the Ad. Turn comes Qd, river comes Jh.
I decide to call it a night, sometimes you just aren't running well. I think for the most part I played very well but I guess those are the breaks. Like someone at the table said, Variance is a bitch.
I raise it up again pre-flop, this time from early position with A/K. I get the standard 3 callers, flop comes 10/8/3. I bet on the flop, and get one caller. I fire another bullet and take down a nice pot.
Nothing eventfull until we come to this hand. I'm dealth Kc/Qh in middle position, I raise it to 4xBB and get min re-raised by the button, I call. Flop comes Ac/Ah/Qc. I check knowing that he very well could have an ace. Turn is 5c. I check, he bets 1/4 of the pot. I call. River is Jc. So now I have the nut flush. I bet the pot. He instantly moves all-in. I think for about a minute and muck my hand. I figured that the only reasonable hands I can beat in this spot are A/K,K/K or the Tc, none of which he would push all in with, unless hes suicidal. I put him on A/Q, Q/Q or maybe even J/J. I fold my hand face up, and he shows A/A for flopped quads.
After than hand my stack is down to about 45% of our starting chips and two players have been eliminated which makes me very short, but the blinds arent too big so i'm not worried yet. I get Kd/10d on the button, I raise 5xxBB hopping to get the blinds and the two limpers but instead I get two callers. The flop comes Ad/10c/7d. It gets checked to me and I decide to take a free card. The turn is the Kc, giving me 2nd pair and the nut flush draw. Checked to me again and I again decide to take a look at a free card, the river is a beauty, the 9d. I have the stone cold nuts. They check it to me and I push all-in for about the size of the pot. They think and fold, probably should have tried a value bet. Oh well, I'm happy to pick up some chips.
I'm back on the button and this time I have K/Q. There is one limper so I try and take the pot with a 5xBB raise, blinds fold and the limper min raises me. I fold because I'm not ready to play for my entire stack on K/Q. The next hand I'm dealt A/K, I raise 5xBB and the blinds fold again and the same limper min-reraises me, I instantly push all-in and he instantly calls. Normally I would be scared by someone calling me so quickly but this player is a maniac so I still feel like I could have him dominated or in the worst case, be racing with him. He turns over A/J. Bingo.
Flop comes Q/9/7/J/4. I'm eliminated.
I think i'm playing fairly well so I decide to go down to the poker club even though it's pretty late. I get in the game right away, I go thru two orbits without playing a single hand except my BB, I just have had nothing of quality. I'm seeing alot of ace/rag and the ace is always the first card I look at, pretty frustrating. I get dealt A/10 in middle position and decide that my image is pretty good, so let's play a hand. I raise 6xBB(standard in this game) and get two callers, the flop comes Q/Q/7. It gets checked around. The turn is a 5. I check and one of the players bets 2/3 of the pot. I go into the tank and intentionally take a long time, trying to make it look like i'm acting. I flat call, river is some blank and I bet $50, the pot. He thinks for a bit then says, "I'll pay you off and flat calls me with Q/8". I muck.
The mistake in this hand is not putting him on the Q. I was positive that he either had a 7 of a middle pocket pair, bad read. If he didnt have the Q, it would have been an easy fold because I think I represented the Q perfectly, everyone though I had it.
Once again, I'm dealth A/10. I call a a 4xx raise on the button. 2 other players in the hand. The flop comes 4h/7h/10h. First player checks, 2nd players bets out $25 - I instantly push all my chips in for a raise of just under the size of the pot. I put him on a weak draw of maybe a low pair, I could just tell that he was unconfortable and din't really want to be playing the hand. He went into the tank for what seemed like forever and eventually called. Not what I was hoping for, he turned over 8h/8c for 2nd pair and a week flush draw. At this point, I'm not sure if my ace is a heart or not. I know its red but I didn't want to check because if I check my cards he can immidiatly rule out the possibility of a made flush. Unfortunetly, I was holding the Ad. Turn comes Qd, river comes Jh.
I decide to call it a night, sometimes you just aren't running well. I think for the most part I played very well but I guess those are the breaks. Like someone at the table said, Variance is a bitch.
Deciphering Poker Tracker Data
After looking at my Poker Tracker data I am having a hard time assessing what improvements I should make. Its auto-rating pegs me as a mouse, which is not all that shocking because I am still experimenting with the correct % to be betting on flops after raising preflop in various situations.
Apparently I play only 5% of my non-blind hands, which is extremely tight. So I will start to experiment raising with more hands on the button and cutoff in un-opened pots to try to raise that a bit.
I also see that the majority of my losses come from the blinds. I will need to focus on reducing such drastic losses in those positions. For example, on the button my wins are about 950.00 and on the BB my losses are about 830.00. I am wondering what other players' stats look like here.
I used to lose a lot of money with AKs, AK, AQs, and AQ - now that I check more flops, all of these hands are big winners - which I see as the main reason I have been so profitable lately.
My best hands are QQ and JJ, which is interesting because these hands are typically pegged as "difficult to play."
I would be curious what players think Poker Tracker points out. So I can focus on taking advantage of these features!
Apparently I play only 5% of my non-blind hands, which is extremely tight. So I will start to experiment raising with more hands on the button and cutoff in un-opened pots to try to raise that a bit.
I also see that the majority of my losses come from the blinds. I will need to focus on reducing such drastic losses in those positions. For example, on the button my wins are about 950.00 and on the BB my losses are about 830.00. I am wondering what other players' stats look like here.
I used to lose a lot of money with AKs, AK, AQs, and AQ - now that I check more flops, all of these hands are big winners - which I see as the main reason I have been so profitable lately.
My best hands are QQ and JJ, which is interesting because these hands are typically pegged as "difficult to play."
I would be curious what players think Poker Tracker points out. So I can focus on taking advantage of these features!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
The worst play in tournament poker...
If the short stack or any stack for that matter pushes all in and two or more players call, you do not bet into a dry pot... ever. There is absolutly no value in doing so - the only time it is acceptable is if you have the absolute nuts. There is no value in better your marginal hand when the other players hand may improve and be the hand that knocks the player out.
This is common sense, I dont understand why people don't understand this simple concept. For example, I played in a Sit-n-Go with 6 friends yesterday, the buy-in was $20 and we started with huge stacks.
I play very tight knowning that when I do get hands, I will be payed off. We get down to the final three, my stack is about 10% smaller than the chip leader - the small stack pushes all in on the button, I call for about 20% of my stack with As/7s - the big stack pushes all in... such a ridiculous play, I have no choice but to fold. The big stack turns over 10d/9d and the short stack shows Ks/10c. The short stack triples up.
The worst play in poker. I finished in 2nd place. I'm still upset.
This is common sense, I dont understand why people don't understand this simple concept. For example, I played in a Sit-n-Go with 6 friends yesterday, the buy-in was $20 and we started with huge stacks.
I play very tight knowning that when I do get hands, I will be payed off. We get down to the final three, my stack is about 10% smaller than the chip leader - the small stack pushes all in on the button, I call for about 20% of my stack with As/7s - the big stack pushes all in... such a ridiculous play, I have no choice but to fold. The big stack turns over 10d/9d and the short stack shows Ks/10c. The short stack triples up.
The worst play in poker. I finished in 2nd place. I'm still upset.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
I Love Data Mining.
I started data mining party poker a few days ago and I now realize how much more money I could have been making all this time. I have quite the system running right now, when I'm at work or sleeping I have 12 $25 NL tables open on party poker with the help of a program called iWitness. iWitness makes sure that none of the tables ever have less than 8 players, if they ever drop bellow, it will close that table and open a new one with a full 10 players. I have another program running which observes the tables and creates hand histories. I then import all these hand histories into Pokertracker, run SixthSense which tells me which tables are the weakest based on my database and I begin to play.
I usually have statistics on 30% of the players at the $25 NL level at any givin time, which is not bad considering I have only been doing this for a week, with the help of www.hand-histories.com I will soon be able to sit at any $25 NL and never have to guess as to how some of the players play, in other words, $$$.
Last night, I only played one table because my registration code for Ace Hud has not come in yet and I didnt want to play tables unless the statistics were overlayed. It's ok tho because I had 11 other tables going for data mining purposes. Anyway, SixthSense picked out this really weak table and I completly crushed it. Its truely amazing how easy it is to beat players when you have a database on how they play - I know who will defend this blinds, who will try and steal blinds, how often people raise pre-flop, how often people cold call, how many hands they play, how often they go to showdown... how can I lose? Anyway, after about 1 hour I tripled my buy in to $75 at which point I left because the players were starting change, but not before I added a few of the worst from that table to my buddy list, give a little help to sixth sense.
I'll keep giving you guys updates, my little experiment is almost over, when I have all the kinks worked out I'll probably more back up to $50 NL.
p.s. My worst hand in terms of BB/100 is AKo - I'm gonna have to work on that, clearly a leak in my game.
I usually have statistics on 30% of the players at the $25 NL level at any givin time, which is not bad considering I have only been doing this for a week, with the help of www.hand-histories.com I will soon be able to sit at any $25 NL and never have to guess as to how some of the players play, in other words, $$$.
Last night, I only played one table because my registration code for Ace Hud has not come in yet and I didnt want to play tables unless the statistics were overlayed. It's ok tho because I had 11 other tables going for data mining purposes. Anyway, SixthSense picked out this really weak table and I completly crushed it. Its truely amazing how easy it is to beat players when you have a database on how they play - I know who will defend this blinds, who will try and steal blinds, how often people raise pre-flop, how often people cold call, how many hands they play, how often they go to showdown... how can I lose? Anyway, after about 1 hour I tripled my buy in to $75 at which point I left because the players were starting change, but not before I added a few of the worst from that table to my buddy list, give a little help to sixth sense.
I'll keep giving you guys updates, my little experiment is almost over, when I have all the kinks worked out I'll probably more back up to $50 NL.
p.s. My worst hand in terms of BB/100 is AKo - I'm gonna have to work on that, clearly a leak in my game.
Passive poker...
So everyone is always talking about aggression, but a lot can be gained from playing passive in certain situations.
If you have a pair - top pair, overpair, middle pair, etc. it doesn't make sense to create a big pot. My favorite play over the past few days is the "offensive check" - simply checking flops no matter what if all I have is a pair. Players who are relatively decent will call or raise you when you bet on the flop a certain percentage of the time. My experience is that players understand the basics of the game - folding hands that do not have a good chance to win on the flop. So the hands that call you are big draws, or hands that have you beat (two pairs, sets, etc.). If you knew that your opponent had AJ and you have AK with a Ace flop then you would bet - but the rest of the time you are just creating a big pot with a mediocre hand.
By checking flops players will often bluff the turn with second pair or worse. I cannot explain the value of turning over pocket aces on the river after having check/called to the river against a poor sap who was bluffing to the river with AQos or some pathetic offering. The benefit of playing these hands timidly is that when you are behind the pots remain small - if you bet and are reraised on the flop, a good portion of the time you will be drawing nearly dead. Its just not worth playing for your whole stack with a single pair.
I tend to bet textured flops when I have a strong hand like a set or a big draw to the nuts or near nuts (12 outs or more) . This can get players with top pair into big trouble - they may reraise you with AK into your set - and now you have done exactly what the "offensive check" lets you escape from - creating a big pot. But now the tables are turned and you are looking to create the largest pot possible (at least most of the time).
By skipping the betting on one or more streets pots can stay small when you want them to and get big when you want them to. The value of the offensive check can not be overstated. This seems to be the most important play for playing successful tight/aggressive poker.
If you have a pair - top pair, overpair, middle pair, etc. it doesn't make sense to create a big pot. My favorite play over the past few days is the "offensive check" - simply checking flops no matter what if all I have is a pair. Players who are relatively decent will call or raise you when you bet on the flop a certain percentage of the time. My experience is that players understand the basics of the game - folding hands that do not have a good chance to win on the flop. So the hands that call you are big draws, or hands that have you beat (two pairs, sets, etc.). If you knew that your opponent had AJ and you have AK with a Ace flop then you would bet - but the rest of the time you are just creating a big pot with a mediocre hand.
By checking flops players will often bluff the turn with second pair or worse. I cannot explain the value of turning over pocket aces on the river after having check/called to the river against a poor sap who was bluffing to the river with AQos or some pathetic offering. The benefit of playing these hands timidly is that when you are behind the pots remain small - if you bet and are reraised on the flop, a good portion of the time you will be drawing nearly dead. Its just not worth playing for your whole stack with a single pair.
I tend to bet textured flops when I have a strong hand like a set or a big draw to the nuts or near nuts (12 outs or more) . This can get players with top pair into big trouble - they may reraise you with AK into your set - and now you have done exactly what the "offensive check" lets you escape from - creating a big pot. But now the tables are turned and you are looking to create the largest pot possible (at least most of the time).
By skipping the betting on one or more streets pots can stay small when you want them to and get big when you want them to. The value of the offensive check can not be overstated. This seems to be the most important play for playing successful tight/aggressive poker.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Long Time No Blog
It has been awhile since i've blogged. There's no one specific reason, I just havent felt like doing it - mostly because until a week ago I wasent really playing that much poker, this has changed. Football ended for me last weekend so I have found myself with alot of free time.
The biggest news I guess I have is that I'm not only playing No Limit Hold'em anymore, I've started playing 7 card stud, 7 card stud 8 or better, Razz, Omaha, Omaha 8 or better and limit hold'em. I'm playing limit for all the games except Omaha which is Pot Limit. I think it keeps me sharp, I don't get bored during long sessions if I mix in a game I usually play, it also dosent hurt that i've very profitable in these games. I think that Omaha is actally more profitable than no limit hold'em but I'm not gonna start multi-tabling it because I dont think I have the bankroll right now to handle the kind of variance that comes with playing Omaha.
I'm making a concisous effort to find the holes in my game and fix them, I know there are alot, I can just feel it. I think one of my biggest problems is not winning the maximum, when i'm holding the nuts I'm not often enough able to get players to commit alot of their chips which is going to be a problem in the long run. I spent over 2 hours yesterday looking threw my pokertracker info, I think I have enough hands now to get accurate information on how i'm misplaying some of my hands is certain positions - for example, A/J has been a very bad hand for me, I've been folding in early position, raising in late position and completing or checking in the blinds. I'm not sure if i'm going to change this, but I'm definatly going to have to pay more attention to my auto-rate when I do this.
Thats another thing I did yesterday, I redefined my Auto-Rate rules - I used to have it rate after 50 hands but now I've tried to break it down to 20 so that I can get a faster reads when i'm multitabling.
I think I'm going to order a few books to help me learn to play Omaha and 7 card stud better - expect updates more frequently.
Bruno
The biggest news I guess I have is that I'm not only playing No Limit Hold'em anymore, I've started playing 7 card stud, 7 card stud 8 or better, Razz, Omaha, Omaha 8 or better and limit hold'em. I'm playing limit for all the games except Omaha which is Pot Limit. I think it keeps me sharp, I don't get bored during long sessions if I mix in a game I usually play, it also dosent hurt that i've very profitable in these games. I think that Omaha is actally more profitable than no limit hold'em but I'm not gonna start multi-tabling it because I dont think I have the bankroll right now to handle the kind of variance that comes with playing Omaha.
I'm making a concisous effort to find the holes in my game and fix them, I know there are alot, I can just feel it. I think one of my biggest problems is not winning the maximum, when i'm holding the nuts I'm not often enough able to get players to commit alot of their chips which is going to be a problem in the long run. I spent over 2 hours yesterday looking threw my pokertracker info, I think I have enough hands now to get accurate information on how i'm misplaying some of my hands is certain positions - for example, A/J has been a very bad hand for me, I've been folding in early position, raising in late position and completing or checking in the blinds. I'm not sure if i'm going to change this, but I'm definatly going to have to pay more attention to my auto-rate when I do this.
Thats another thing I did yesterday, I redefined my Auto-Rate rules - I used to have it rate after 50 hands but now I've tried to break it down to 20 so that I can get a faster reads when i'm multitabling.
I think I'm going to order a few books to help me learn to play Omaha and 7 card stud better - expect updates more frequently.
Bruno
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Experimentation and Implied Odds...
Now that I'm up to playing 12 tables at a time, the smallest component of my play can have drastic implications on my net earnings. About a week ago I experienced the best weekend I have ever had; I made about $1600 over three days. I really was playing well and getting cards in the right spots. This past weekend I had expected to have a similar result, having moved permanently to PartyPoker (home of the easiest games). Yet this did not happen.
I have noticed that my play has changed a little bit from at least a few weeks ago. For some reason I decided that when I value bet it should be the Howard Lederer amount of 60% of the pot. The problem with this bet is that you get called much less of the time (but of course you do make your play harder to read). Unfortunately, the players I am playing against rarely are paying enough attention to keep track of my betting patterns. Moreover if I was to bet a small "call me" bet of 15-20% of the pot, like I used to, I will be called about 90% of the time.
Additionally, I have started to play pocket pairs differently. I read a bit online and some players claimed to play pocket pairs to any raise less than 5% of their stack in any position. This seemed illogical to me at the time, but after trying it for the past week or so it clearly is not a smart long term play. Basically here is why:
When you call with a pocket pair you will hit a set about 11% of the time. Now sometimes you will win a pot without a set, but I think that the amount of times you do so probably equals the amount you lose when you get raised or have to fold to a big flop. That means that whatever you call preflop, you need to make at least 10X that amount to make the call profitable in the long run. So, if you call 4BBs you need to be able to make 40BBs or more when you hit a set. Now if you are in late position, or in multiway pots this is easily achieved, but if you are in early position or in a heads up pot its rare that you will ever get enough money from these hands.
I have dropped the Lederer value bet and the overplaying pocket pairs and have returned to my nice $200 per day earnings. I'm hoping to increase that once I move back up to the $.50/$1 limits again. We shalt see.
I have noticed that my play has changed a little bit from at least a few weeks ago. For some reason I decided that when I value bet it should be the Howard Lederer amount of 60% of the pot. The problem with this bet is that you get called much less of the time (but of course you do make your play harder to read). Unfortunately, the players I am playing against rarely are paying enough attention to keep track of my betting patterns. Moreover if I was to bet a small "call me" bet of 15-20% of the pot, like I used to, I will be called about 90% of the time.
Additionally, I have started to play pocket pairs differently. I read a bit online and some players claimed to play pocket pairs to any raise less than 5% of their stack in any position. This seemed illogical to me at the time, but after trying it for the past week or so it clearly is not a smart long term play. Basically here is why:
When you call with a pocket pair you will hit a set about 11% of the time. Now sometimes you will win a pot without a set, but I think that the amount of times you do so probably equals the amount you lose when you get raised or have to fold to a big flop. That means that whatever you call preflop, you need to make at least 10X that amount to make the call profitable in the long run. So, if you call 4BBs you need to be able to make 40BBs or more when you hit a set. Now if you are in late position, or in multiway pots this is easily achieved, but if you are in early position or in a heads up pot its rare that you will ever get enough money from these hands.
I have dropped the Lederer value bet and the overplaying pocket pairs and have returned to my nice $200 per day earnings. I'm hoping to increase that once I move back up to the $.50/$1 limits again. We shalt see.
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