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On the Bench
Did I mention that I was lousy at poker? I'm told it often enough by the pro's playing the 30p DYM's with me...
Salty Sea Dogs
I started playing poker late last year. I'm not a man of great means, so started off with the frrerolls and a few low tevel tournaments. Surely by now I'm a millionaire? Well, not just yet. I'm about £85 down (from freerolls? Go figure). That's okay, I enjoy playing poker and have managed to slow down my losses. But how am I going to turn that loss into a profit? I've read a lot of information. I still have a lot to digest.
At my level, a great deal of it doesn't really apply. Imagine Ronaldo playing football in the Sunday league. Silky skills and beating the offside trap just don't work. He'd just get a kicking. I think most people agree it's the same in poker. Not that Ronaldo would get a kicking (though, who can ever forgive his dust up with Rooney in the 2006 world cup), but clever moves with bluffs and bets don't work the same.
With that in mind, there has to be another strategy for playing against lesser skilled players. We all have our own idea of what that strategy is, so I won't expand on that here (hey, I still have 85 quid to pull back !!!)
Anyways, you're sat at a table. The usual mix of players are there. One idiot, two similar to yourself, one who wins a hand by default (all-in or or a 5BB bet) then uses that strategy until he is busted, and one who is a seasoned player, We'll call him Salt. Now Salt is clever. He hoovers up a lot of chips, steals blinds, and once he has a decent chip lead, he will bet big to scare people off hands. It's best not to get involved with the Salt, unless you are prepared to take him on. Also, doing some speculative betting before he plays will cost you chips. Have you heard of 'position'? Now you're getting there. Remember, too much salt isn't good for you.
As for the other players, avoid the idiot and the default player. They are dangerous. Have you heard of variance? Well they are the exponents of it. If there is a hand that's beating you, they may have it. They also may have a set, yet still only call bets. The only safe play with these agents of chaos is to play tight. Call an all-in, if your hand hits your range, and four-bet when holding a premium hand.
This leaves you to play 'proper' poker against the other two. And whatever you do, never let a hand get to showdown with noone betting. It embarasses us all.
Notes:
1. This blog is a continuation of 'The Devil's in the detail', whose title is a bit misleading.
2. When 'He' is used, it can also refer to 'She'
3. If you think I know nothing about poker, you may be right, but I am up £0.40 this week.
Salty Sea Dogs
I started playing poker late last year. I'm not a man of great means, so started off with the frrerolls and a few low tevel tournaments. Surely by now I'm a millionaire? Well, not just yet. I'm about £85 down (from freerolls? Go figure). That's okay, I enjoy playing poker and have managed to slow down my losses. But how am I going to turn that loss into a profit? I've read a lot of information. I still have a lot to digest.
At my level, a great deal of it doesn't really apply. Imagine Ronaldo playing football in the Sunday league. Silky skills and beating the offside trap just don't work. He'd just get a kicking. I think most people agree it's the same in poker. Not that Ronaldo would get a kicking (though, who can ever forgive his dust up with Rooney in the 2006 world cup), but clever moves with bluffs and bets don't work the same.
With that in mind, there has to be another strategy for playing against lesser skilled players. We all have our own idea of what that strategy is, so I won't expand on that here (hey, I still have 85 quid to pull back !!!)
Anyways, you're sat at a table. The usual mix of players are there. One idiot, two similar to yourself, one who wins a hand by default (all-in or or a 5BB bet) then uses that strategy until he is busted, and one who is a seasoned player, We'll call him Salt. Now Salt is clever. He hoovers up a lot of chips, steals blinds, and once he has a decent chip lead, he will bet big to scare people off hands. It's best not to get involved with the Salt, unless you are prepared to take him on. Also, doing some speculative betting before he plays will cost you chips. Have you heard of 'position'? Now you're getting there. Remember, too much salt isn't good for you.
As for the other players, avoid the idiot and the default player. They are dangerous. Have you heard of variance? Well they are the exponents of it. If there is a hand that's beating you, they may have it. They also may have a set, yet still only call bets. The only safe play with these agents of chaos is to play tight. Call an all-in, if your hand hits your range, and four-bet when holding a premium hand.
This leaves you to play 'proper' poker against the other two. And whatever you do, never let a hand get to showdown with noone betting. It embarasses us all.
Notes:
1. This blog is a continuation of 'The Devil's in the detail', whose title is a bit misleading.
2. When 'He' is used, it can also refer to 'She'
3. If you think I know nothing about poker, you may be right, but I am up £0.40 this week.
Comments
excellent again bench
All-in for a game of war
Anyone remember chanting that? Walking around the school yard, with arms linked shoulder over shoulder, until enough kids were assembled for a decent game of war, football, etc? No? Just me then.
During poker, there will come a time where you may have to risk all your chips just to stay in the game. Obviously, it's a bit different on the final table (Yes, it does exist. I recall the Loch Ness monster being heads-up versus E.T. in a particularly tense game. Unfortunately, no-one could find Nessie for the second session and E.T. had gone home). I'm talking about normal play where the table is full (i.e. 6 players).
After a few tourneys, you've realised that waiting to 'blind-out' is not a good strategy. Posting all your chips, which don't even cover the full blind, with a hand of 8-2 off suit (marginal for some) is never going to be a good move.
Before you get to this point, you need to make a plan. One plan is to win more chips, and then the tourney. A good plan, I may try it some time. However, for the rest of us mice and men, we need a plan 'B'.
Plan 'B' involves an all-in move in the best possible circumstances. Got it? Oh, now you want to know the circumstances. Do you want me to play the hand for you? No, of course not. You're not that stupid.
A few decisions need to be made. With what, when and who against?
The 'What' is very flexible. Depending how close you are to going out, this may be AT off down to any face card. Think Jack high is rubbish? Trust me, being forced all-in with 7 high is a lot worse.
The 'When' is linked to the 'What'. The closer you get to exiting stage right, the lower the cards you go for it on are likely to be. Don't make the mistake of waiting for a premium hand. This invites two problems. One, you never get it, or two, you get it and only manage to double up from 1BB to 2BB and are facing ruin again, almost straight away. Anyhow, I thought you wanted to win, not get 16p for 1245th position?
The 'Who Against' is also a tricky one. If you leave it too late, everyone is waiting for your shove, and know the smaller your stack, the more likely you are to have a rubbish hand. This is why you should forego the 16p and shove earlier. It's always worth shoving against someone who is in a worser (did we decide if that was a word?) position than you, as they will be shoving to similar rules to yourself. However, make sure you consider the number of callers. If you decide to go early and have some sort of stack, try to only go against one or two callers. If everyone is after a piece of the action, be aware that you may have to give up that window of opportunity and go for a poorer hand against fewer callers.
If any short stacks go in against a high number of callers, it's likely that they have got something. Try to avoid competing with them, unless it's just the pair of you.
When I first started playing poker, I wanted to see how far I could get in a tourney. Burning all my chips, sitting tight, and hanging on by my fingernails. My improvement was measured by my finishing position. What a dope. Imagine if Neil Armstrong's space flight was measured by how close he got to the moon, do you think anyone would still know his name?
When you play poker, you can play well and lose and you can play poor and win. Unless you understand the difference, you will plateau out and never make that million.
For beginners, you will learn more, and probably win more, by trying keep to the chip average. This will have the added benefit of not being chip dominated by every other player and getting used to making that all-in decision more often. Refining the decision criteria over time will make you better at it. Sure, you'll exit tournaments earlier than you'd like, but if you're not going to make it to the moon, it's time to give Houston a call.
Bench
Election Special
Well, they have one for almost every programme on the TV, so why not ?
A lot of leaflets through the door just lately. Our current MP is citing how many jobs have been created in the area, since his tenure. The truth of the matter is, we got lucky. There is a Bentley car plant here. Ten years ago, skilled men were drivng mini-buses to transport office staff, to keep them in work. However, now they are back on their uppers and employ around 9,000 people. A fine firm they are too. I went for an interview for a job there around 5 years ago. The interviews were held at an off-site hotel and lasted around 3 hours. I failed, of course. I think it was the issue with the coffee machine, pre interview, where I started the coffee pouring, only to find the cup wouldn't fit under the spout. Perhaps it was one of the tests?
In elections, you have to consider two things when voting. Are you voting for the person or the party. Sure, A N Other will campaign to put it extra lighting at the bus stop, but is unlikely to lobby to cap foreign aid.
Which matters most? I suppose it depends on whether you are waiting for the midnight bus, after watching 'The Enfield Haunting' on TV.
So, there are 'National' matters and 'Local' matters. This is the same as in poker. Your long term strategy could be seen as 'National', whilst the hand you are in could be seen as 'Local'.
The UKOP manifesto might promise no limping, large pre-flop betting on pocket pairs and a cut in the defense budget of 10%. Although the last one won't really help your poker that much.
Then you come to the hand you're in. You want to toe the party line, but a local resident's support group is pushing you to play JT suited, out of position. Surely this single faux pas won't cost you integrity?
It will.
You have your manifesto, stick to it. How will you ever know if it works, when you ride rough shod over it every time someone complains that another McDonald's is just one too many?
Poker takes time. The benefits (or not) of any strategy will take time to bleed through. I recall Neil Channing saying once 'Don't tell me it doesn't work, after one tournament. Come back and tell me after a thousand'. It was like that, or similar, I'm sure.
So the problem you have is the manifesto won't let you play how you want to at a local level.
Change the manifesto.
I've, in the past, used a strategy of burning 5BB (one on each hand) for the early part of a tournament. It costs me 100 chips.
Does it work?
The answer is 'I don't know'. I guess I could do the maths on it. Very difficult for me, or play a large number of tournaments using the strategy and THEN reviewing the data. It might not be a good strategy. It might even be downright stupid, but once I know, I can rewrite my manifesto and start again.
Do you know what's in your manifesto? (Do we know what is in any of the political ones?) or do you just play every game by gut instinct and never truly understand why you won (Yippee!!!) or lost (Boo!!!)?
Bench
Home on the Range
...where the deer and the antelope play. If it's at my table it's 'thisllcostyoudear1964' and 'ante-loper23'.
We've all read about range. Having one qualifies you as a poker player. speaking of which, that House MD TV show is so unreal. In the episode I watched yesterday, the team were at a charity poker night and Cuddy claimed 9 trips at showdown, when it was clearly a set. The research team really need to up their game. Let's hope the medical part is okay, as I've diagnosed my grandad with Wegeners Granulomatosis, on the strength of series one.
Anyways, so you've got your range. Say 55, ATs, AKo and some other trash (98s). Do you stick to it? Or do you get twitchy and play any raggy ace or suited connectors? I've even known someone who is happy to lose a couple of hundred chips on air, just so the other players know he's in the game... Some fish, naturally. Assuming it's a he. In fact I only heard that story off a friend. Well, not even a close friend really. As we all know that kind of play would just be stupid...
I have more than one range. I'm like a free-range poker player. It helps keep Animal rights from my door, that and not crushing fish (as if).
I have a range for when blinds are low and players are of limited experience. A range for normal play. A range for tight play and a range for going all-in.
Do they work? Now that's a good question. The answer is, I don't know. I need more data, which means I'll have to play some poker.
The only way I'll know if it works is by sticking to it and playing a few games. By 'stick to it', I don't mean overly rigid. Sometimes I may have to throw in a few lame ducks (Obviously not 'real' lame ducks - jeez, I just got Animal Rights off my back). As long as I know why, then I'll be okay.
Expecting to start some tourneys on Sky next week, to try and make it on the MMT boards. I still have some work to do. I'm considering some stack control and avoiding being blinded out. Will blog that bit later, once I've got MY head around it.
Bench
The Undiscovered Country (Heads Up)
There you are riding your bike, let's say 'to work' for this example. Suddenly, you come across a cyclist, about 20 yards (about 18m, for you young 'uns) in front of you. They may have entered from a side road, or just started their journey. The problem is, you're catching them up. You don't want to go any slower, or you'll be late for work. You will have to overtake them. Unfortunately, you can't pedal that much faster. Once you pass them, you think they are going to take it as a slight and will try to re-overtake you. Your solution to this is to pedal out of your comfort zone to overtake, or even change your route. You got it all figured, doncha?
And so to poker. In this case, 'heads up'
I played a very small tourney last night, and by some miracle, ended up heads-up, Stacks were around 20BB for me and 40BB for Salty. Either of us could win. Except, I'm back on my bike now. No longer 'in the pack', but under direct scrutiny. Needless to say, I botched it. Okay, I can blame watching 'Gogglebox', or my wife for going to bed, because I was 'still playing poker....', but in truth, I had no plan. I rarely play heads up. Like almost never. I think I've only ever played it once before.
It's strange, but (like on the bike) I was worried about how the other player might perceive me. Would he think I was a 'crazy fool' (more 'A team' than 'A game'), or so tight I was back-pedalling? TBH, I couldn't even tell you how I was playing. No range, no strategy. No idea. I should've had some kind of plan, some kind of range, and oh, that No.9 comedy thing looks scary...
I lasted for a while, even took a few chips, but in the end (against everything I've learned), I went all-in with 33, only to face 66. Not so much a fish, more of a plank(ton).
I've since read some material regarding heads up play and naturally need to change my strategy. More on that, when I devise my strategy.
Sooo... this week, for me, is the start of my tourney crusade. As we are now in May, I want to get on Aussie09's boards. I've no idea how I'll fair, as my poker has changed a lot since I last entered a tourney proper. When I say 'entered', I mean won a buy-in off C861 (RIP).
Bit early to set a 'proper' target, as I have nothing to improve upon, plus I've not got a real idea how they play. Anyways, it's looks like my first salvo will be the mini on Monday (£2,500 BH). I think this has around 600 entrants, with 75 places paid, or so. Top 200 wouldn't be disappointing. However, I will be playing to win....
Bench
Facebook Update – Sky Mini Progress - You are an idiot
It’s never a good idea to play poker in bed, whilst updating Facebook and watching ‘Hammer house of horror’. For one, your mind is taken off the game and two, you can’t see the flop from under the covers. (Cue Mel & Sue gag)
Watching the TV wasn’t too bad, although I won’t be doing that again. How can you be expected to get ‘reads’ on players? Music only from now on.
The Facebook thing tangibly cost me chips. I’d been updating my progress for a couple of interested friends from work, when it was my turn to play. I was holding 88. For some reason, I thought no-one had bet and raised to 450. Unfortunately, the guy before me had already raised and I was actually making a 3-bet. I might have got away with it, but the player (who you may have heard of) was scotty77. He went all-in. He had me covered at least 2 to 1. Maybe I should have gone all-in at this point, but I was playing to a system and 99 was my lowest all-in hand (for this table, for these players, at this point in the game). I could’ve called and lost (or won!!) but I’m trying to refine my play here. Based on my system, I would expect to lose. Plus it was Ry-Ry and he ain’t going all-in with no 7 high to a 3-bet (or is he…..?)
I was eventually down to around 1800 chips. BB’s were 300. Holding KJ suited, I went all-in. Called by a bigger stack, I lost out. No argument, no tears. It wasn’t THAT hand which lost me the game. Finished 115/479.
So where do I go from here, is it down to the lake I fear? (C’mon, you MUST remember Haircut 100?)
I had played 103 hands. I had bet and won in 16. I had bet and lost in 11. There are a few lessons for me to learn. I recall someone saying, ‘Don’t only look how you lost, but look how you won’.
I had my fair share of premium hands. I had my fair share of cack. But what about all the middle ground? Could I have won more chips by playing the grey area different?
I think this is where the battle is won and lost. Once you’ve defined the definite, you need to define the indefinite. That I did not do. I can’t recall being able to class any of the players by type. I can’t even remember putting a player on a hand. Just what was I doing? Oh, yeah. TV and Facebook. What a ‘nana.
As an aside, I was also having some trouble with my netbook. Tis a little slow, and really needs replacing. Hands were jumping a bit. Didn’t cost me anything, but was off-putting.
Where to next? Well, I’m reviewing all 103 hands. I’ve spotted a couple of problems that can be fixed immediately and then will need to work on my ‘mental game’
Will have another go next week. Should be easy to beat 115th, I hope…
Bench.
The anecdote about the cycling made me smile. Quite often you can be walking down the street, and some random ends up walking next to you going at a similar pace. We're reserved Brits, no way can we be strolling down the street next to a stranger, so it leaves you in a pickle; speed up to power ahead of them? Slow down a touch and allow them to take the lead, thus leaving a comfortable 5 yard gap? This indecision means you end up walking side by side with said stranger for what feels like an eternity, until one of you decides to make a stand and end the charade.
There are alternatives of course. Cross the road. Pull your phone out and pretend to make a call or send a text, thus legitimately slowing you down.
The only completely unviable option is to try and engage conversation with the mysterious walker. Let's not be silly.
Strictly NOT Come Dancing
Quick, slow, quick, quick, slow. I mean at the poker table, not on the dance floor. And anyway, those tango lessons were an anniversary gift which I didn't want to waste. I wouldn't actually PAY for lessons. I'm an engineer FFS. What would the lads at work say?
Been spending some time today looking at improving my gameplay. I also spent some time at the Freeport shopping centre at Talke, but the only thing I learned there was a Burger King quarter pounder isn't weighed in imperial units.
Rather than do a particular hand analysis, which I don't do (AND NEVER WILL DO AGAIN, SINCE QQ COST ME EVERYTHING !!!), I'll focus on a thought process instead.
I guess this kind of like bet sizing, but more of when to bet and what other player's betting means.
First thing to note is short stacks will go all in at what they consider is a last ditch opportunity. They may poor cards, they may have good cards. Avoid going all-in against your own playing strategy, unless the chip loss is minor. I've seen a healthy stack being knocked out, after four attempts at knocking out a short stack. Short stack doesn't necessarily mean a rubbish hand. Ever tried to knock out an 'Away' opponent, who ends up holding the nuts? It happens. Although, I do still regret losing that heads-up match...
Players tend to bet high when they have the best hand. Bet slow when they are unsure and then bet again when they think their hand is good.
I've seen this a number of times. A mid sized pocket pair. The flop has flush draw written all over it (as does the turn), but the second player fails to bet and ends up paying on the river to see he is beaten.
The guy with the pair loses potential chips through slow play, and the second player loses a chance to take the pot without having the best hand. This is poker.
If you can put your opponent on a hand, and the board lends itself to a better hand, it sometimes pays to rep (pretend to have) that hand. When four hearts hit the board, and you aren't holding one, would you go all-in against someone? Okay, maybe if you have quads.
This article is a forerunner of my next two, involving position and reading hands. They are a little more complex to write. Not the content. It's just the number keys on my keyboard won't work.
Bench
Look after then pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
I’m afraid not. You’re gonna need pounds.
As most people will be aware, or not, I’m quite new to poker and really shouldn’t be writing about it. I should win something first and then write about how I did it. As I discussed later, maybe time isn’t linear?
However, whilst I learn, I find nuggets of wisdom that become clearer the more I play. Firstly, let’s get one thing straight. I never win any money. You can stop reading now, I’m sure there’s an article somewhere which will tell you how to win big. This one isn’t that.
I find poker to be like a jigsaw puzzle. Or maybe not. It’s more like a maze. No, no, it’s more like a recipe. Yeah, I’ll stick with recipe. That analogy will fit all my ramblings. For me, it’s usually a recipe for disaster, but that doesn’t mean ALL the ingredients are bad. I find bits and pieces of poker that I think will work and just have to get them to come together in the right quantities. So far, no good. But nobody died.
I played a couple of tournaments recently, with a range of player numbers. Let’s say 90 to 300. I didn’t win, in the financial sense. What I did take away from the tournaments was a better way to play. When MTTs first start, the blinds are low. For most of us, so are the wins and losses. There will be the odd collision of big hands, but percentage wise, pots tend to be 10-12% of a starting stack (say, 200 to 250 chips). At this point, you might even consider 400 chips a ‘big win’. But is it?
Roll forward an hour or two. The blinds are now 1000/500. Four hundred chips won’t even keep you in the game. All of a sudden, you’re shoving with A7 off or 65 suited, hands you wouldn’t even consider to raise with an hour ago. What happened? How could your play have changed so much?
Time. Time is what happened. And unfortunately, time is linear. Least I thing it is. I’m sure I sure a movie, or an episode of Doctor Who in which it was explained that it wasn’t. But then, I also saw a movie where James Bond won a poker game after spending five minutes on a defibrillator, during a break. I just get cookies and a fruit shoot. Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong?
Let’s for one moment, consider time isn’t linear. Yep, you can fold that full house now that got beat by quad Jacks. So, you’re playing a tournament and all the hands happen at once. A bit like Lambert180 or The Don90 on Twitch, only all the tables are from the same tourney.
So, all the hands are happening at the same time. You can’t see the outcomes and then go back and replay them That would be ridiculous. You just get to decide how to play them all, whilst seeing all the pocket cards together. Oh, so now you decide to go all-in with QJ suited during the 200/100 blinds. You choose to fold K4 off at 75/50.
Unfortunately, on this occasion, QJ suited failed. You made it to 2 pair, but the guy with AK off, flopped a straight. I think that wins. I’m not too good with that sort of thing. The last hour of your hands disappear. You were busted and never got to play them. If only you’d have folded that damned (oops, swearing) QJ. If you’d have folded them, what? You’d be back here, shoving with A7? That’s a real shame, because I saw your pocket cards and three hands from now you were holding KK. If only you had 800 more chips…
When you have the hands to win, bet with them. When you don’t have the hands to win, don’t. (usual caveat about bluffing)
There, that wasn’t so hard was it? And now you’ve busted, you have got time to make a cup of tea. What, you made the final table and I’ve got to make my own??? Fine.
Bench.
Throwing it all away – Poker Genesis
Poker should be fun, else why play? Well, you could have the local loan shark coming round, with four of his heavies, and it ain't for no game of six-max.
The thing is, you shouldn't confuse 'fun' with enjoyment. If you want fun, you can always play in a clown suit and change your mouse click to the sound of a kazoo,
For a moment, let's also assume you want to win. I know, it's a crazy idea. You just folded AK to a 3-bet.
In this instance, imagine you are Alistair Brownlee, Olympic triathlete, and you are going to train like a triathlete. No, not ride your bike up and down the Yorkshire dales. This is an analogy, not real triathlon.
Currently, sometimes, of an evening, I will slip on my favourite smoking jacket, a comfortable pair of casual shoes and light up a cigar. I will then fire up my laptop. An hour later, after the Windows updates have failed to install, I'll play a game of poker. Not a big game. Just something to keep my hand in (Tim vine, eat your heart out).
This is where it starts to go Pete Tong. All of a sudden, Alistair (the guy in our analogy that represents me) is pulling wheelies on his bike, He's clipping cards between his spokes to make it sound like a motorbike. I wouldn't mind it that much, but it's AA, now everybody knows. WTF is going on. Oops, now he's fell off and his arm is busted. Just like me.
Later, at a press interview, Alistair is asked what he had learned from his exploits. He's too nice of a chap to say, but the upshot is 'to stop d*cking about'. But we already knew that. If he wasn't in a race, and just doing a training session, it should have a specific outcome. Maybe hills, bike control or cornering. No messing about. Look mum, no hands, Look mum, no feet. Look mum, no teeth.
What has this got to do with poker you may ask? I wish I could remember, but I'm sat here at A&E with my flush draw. No wait, I remember now...
Let's start with muscle memory.
Muscle memories are the memories stored in your brain (not your muscles) that are much like a cache of repeated tasks for your muscles. They can help you become very good at something through repetition, but in exactly the same way it can make you absolutely terrible at that same thing.
If you're practicing on the piano (not on your bike for the moment) over and over again, you'll continue to improve. As in 'practice makes perfect'. However, muscle memory doesn't judge whether you're doing good or bad. If you practice poorly for hours on end, you're going to be really good at playing badly. This is not only bad because you've wasted time learning to be bad, but your muscles will have forgotten how to be good.. When you repeat mistakes again and again, you build a muscle memory with those mistakes. That makes those mistakes even harder to overcome later. This is one reason why the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is often true.
That's why the key to building good muscle memories is to focus on the quality.
Okay, now back to poker. You don't use your muscles, per se, but you will be repeating actions over and over again (with me, it's usually wishing everyone good luck and shutting the table down).
With this in mind, the triathlete analogy pans out as follows..
Don't play trash games. If you are going to play, play properly. Don't throw money away playing wild cards. No matter how little is at stake. It will do no good. Always play like you want to play in your next big tourney. Get used to the hands you bet with. Watch how other people bet. Never throw your stack away with dodgy all-in calls or call every hand until you are busted, hoping for a miracle flop to make you feel good.
You might even say don't bother playing these 'trinket' games, save your time and money for games that matter. However, it's back to Alistair now, who has changed his training plan.
From now on, every training session he undergoes will either have a specific target or be done under race conditions to measure his performance level.
Back to poker. If you think of your cheap games as training sessions, they might do you some good. Why not pick a certain aspect of your game and see how it works out if you play a certain way. If you lose, at least you'll know it doesn't work (for you). If you win, maybe it will work next time in a big tournament.
An obvious typical example is heads-up. Why not try a 'heads-up' training session. These games can be entered very cheaply and you can practice the skill immediately, instead of bottling it the one time you make it in a game that matters. Or how about playing really tight for a few games and slowly loosening up, until you find your perfect range. If you play this way and lose, the information you will gain will be worth the small expenditure. Plus it's never been so beneficial to lose.
Bench.
Raising your game - Mitigating the Bad Beat
I've played two tournaments today, and busted out twice to all-in bets. These weren't last ditch efforts, but plays I chose to take on. How did I get it so wrong twice?
Both times, they felt like bad beats, so lets have a look at the hands..
Tourney 1
This turned out not to be a bad beat at all. Before I started to write this, I'd been racking my brains, trying to figure out how I'd been bad beat twice in one day. However, when I came to review the hand, I'd actually played cack. I went in with a hand far too small for a shove, which was already against a large opening bet. It was all me. My only saving grace is I was getting low on chips and may have seen it as an opportunity. I should've played better. Case closed.
Tourney 2
Moi: 8s 8d
Salty Sea Dog: Kd Jd
Le flop: 6d 5d 9h
Le turn: Qs
Le river: Tc
Salty wins with a straight to the King.
He was lucky, or rather the odds worked for him.
Although I felt pretty gutted at the time, the pre-flop odds were 51.1% to me and 48.4% to Salty. Quite close, actually.
After the flop, I was slightly behind, due to the flush draw
However, the Q on the turn pushed it back to me with odds of 61.4% to 38.6%.
Then I lost.
As we were all-in, there were no decisions to make. If played out street by street, I probably would've folded after the flop.
How could I have avoided this?
In this instance, I called an all-in bet from a player in mid position with 12 big blinds. He obviously had something. I was in SB.
Pocket 8's isn't that bad of a hand. Maybe it was one of the times you lose?
Looking at some of my paperwork, I have 88 winning 31% of the time (based on some figures I have customised). Also, for this particular scenario, my minimum hand for all-in should've been 99.
Not sure why I went with pocket 8's, but I did.
Looking at 99, as a hand, I would've still lost, but there are a few things for me to consider.
Reviewing my data, I'll be dropping pocket 8's down to 29%.
If I'd have stayed with 99, the following improvements to my chances will occur:
1. I'll win 2% more of the time, in these situations, based on my figures.
2. If my opponent has a straight draw, my minimum hand will either be trips or a decent chance at the same straight draw as my opponent. Only holding 8's misses all the cards in straights A to T and K to 9 (the most likely straights from someone who bets all in without a pair).
3. There's not much I can do about flush draws, but that will always be a risk with pairs. The odds on a flush draw with suited pocket cards is 6.5%, so you just have to ignore them.
As I say, if I had gone in the hand with 99, I'd still have lost, but my odds would've started slightly better, and there would have been a chance for a full house with the third 9 Salty needed for his straight. In fact my post turn and river odds would have been around 75%.
Some lessons for me there.
Bench.
Are you just going to sit there all night?
You may have heard, that I played in the DTD tourneys on Monday. I did average. I made a few mistakes, that I need to learn from. I also played some hands well and had some good fortune. In the cold light of day, some of my mistakes are now slapping me about the face. Probably with a wet fish, just to get the message home.
I ignored some of my own advice, especially concerning low and high pocket pairs. These play choices cost me. However, the worst errors were made by playing hands out of my range. Why would I do this? I know at one point, due to my lack of experience at playing multiple tables, I was pushing buttons in some of frenzy like Bobby Crush (ask your Dad). This wasn't the reason I made the errors. It was boredom. Boredom and ego.
During certain sections of the tournaments, I couldn't pick up a good hand to save my life. I'm not sure how many I had on the bounce, but it was a fair few. This isn't a gripe about that. I also had a good run of being dealt decent hands. The trouble was, with not being involved in any hands, I was becoming restless, and not only that, I was beginning to thing that other players might think I was a nit. So I played some poor hands, just to keep the cobwebs at bay.
The snag with playing poor hands, is one, they cost you the 'hand enttry fee' and two, if you hit the flop, you think your hand is much better than it really is. You start chasing flush and straight draws or even trips, with low cards and the 'Gods of the Odds' make you pay. You could've saved those chips for a better hand.
Bearing in mind those issues, I should now play better, and be ruling the world by a week on Tuesday. Maybe.
I also had a fair amount of trouble by playing high cards. The odds say 'play', but they never seemed to connect. I may need a different strategy there.
Probably skip the bank holiday tournament, as my wife wasn't overjoyed when I told her I'd 'be done by nine' and lasted out until 11.15. When I logged out, I found all the lights and the TV turned off. Guess she wouldn't want to hear my bad beat story just yet....
Bench.
Counting Crows
Prile.
Does anyone use that word anymore? My Dad used to use it when we played a card game called ‘Crash’. I think it’s more commonly known as 13 card brag, where a prile is 3 of a kind. I don’t play it anymore, now that my Dad is no longer here.
However, what I have played is Omaha. Last night, I played my first game ever of Omaha Hi/Lo PL08. I think that’s the correct title. It’s a game where the lowest hand and the highest can both win. I figured that might suit me. Naturally, it’s not that simple.
I played in the POSP game at 07:50. I figured I’d be done by 08:30, so not a big drain on my time. With never playing before, I scoured the internet at dinnertime, to get the gist of it. By game time, I’d worked out a strategy. Try not to look like a c*ck.
With only playing the one game, it’s a bit early for me to spout off playing techniques, but I did learn a lot. Never before have I been so disappointed when being dealt three kings. Or is that part of a good hand? That’s one of the difficulties / skills in Omaha. Knowing whether you have a good hand or not.
I made a couple of blaring mistakes, and got lucky a couple of times. At no time did I have pocket queens, which is always good news for me. They are my favourite 'busting' hand.
How did it go? It went well. Rather too well. I think it was beginners luck. Or maybe a bit like Manchester United playing Nantwich Town, where the naïve simple play managed to overcome a structured cohesive strategy. Either way, I cashed. Very unlike me. Will have another go next week, just to prove it was pure luck, and restore the balance in Omaha land.
Bench.
Don't forget it's only 2 cards from your 4 that counts, but i'm sure you already know that. I've been playing a few weeks and still struggle with it. But to me it's funa nd addictive. Good luck in the PLO8 tourney next time. Well done on your cash.
Deviant
Shhh. Don't tell anyone. I had a hand of 'normal' Omaha today. I hear the Hold 'em police will be after me soon for my transgressions. I thought that everyone having four cards each to pick from might mean that it would take good hands to win. A bit like playing 12 handed pokere, where two players can swap cards during every street. That's why I folde the set of queens early on, okay???? However, it seemed that two pair was the 'minimum' winning hand in a fair few cases. I never really got into my stride on this one. I was devising a 3 hand theory, that would help me win, unfortunately, I ran out of chips before I claimed the Nobel prize for that one. Will have to put it on hold with my newly devised 'Handout' hold 'em strategy.
Anyways, it was only a freeroll, so they won't be coming to cut off the gas just yet. I finished 20th out of, I dunno, 100 and 'summink'.
I enjoyed Thursday's Hi/Lo more. Or is it Lo/Hi? Wouldn't want to get it the wrong way round. Imagine if I did that with Ant and Dec. That would almost be considered decadant....
The Hi/Lo game (it's okay, I googled it) was like a rollercoaster. Every hand like Christmas, deciding which pressie to open first. Okay, some were socks off Grandma, but the odd one was a copy of Pre-release Halo 5.
Will try more Omaha, not only because I won some money, but because. No wait. It's the money.
Bench.
These posts are destined to make me a much better player,i think,as long as i can stop laughing,great fun.