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Poker

*bangs head against wall*

Went out of my last two tournaments when I was an 80% favourite heads-up and a 77% favourite in a three-way hand (both when the money went in).

But I did make it to 3rd in a 90 man SnG, consciously trying to follow Ali's advice to play to win rather than play not to lose (started getting very aggressive when near the bubble, won some heads-ups and scared lots of people off their blinds. It was sweet to watch). Cheers for the advice :)
 
was it for real cash - you must have won a fair bit?

i'm glad to hear you had success. don't forget that playing to win is a longer term strategy. you'll lose a few and they'll hurt but, overall, i'm convinced your game will improve.

alasdair
 
Not a lot, it was a $1 buy-in. Made about $10. Should have finished first ($22), too - when it was down to the last 3 I had over half the chips, but the same thing happened, my good hands got cracked (QQ lost to A8 on board of xAQ-A-A).

Still, I'm getting better. Felt like I was average or above at each of those tourneys. Need to work on (a) aggression and (b) defending blinds a bit, and I'll be one of the top players there.

As an aside: I've noticed that almost always, when all the money goes in pre-flop, I'm the favourite (or in an AK v JJ kind of coin flip). Do you think that's a bad thing (e.g., I'm not taking enough risks)?
 
Never fault yourself for playing like that. You ALWAYS want to get your money in with the best of it.

Thats really my style too: play conservative, play the best hands, except for choice instances. When people think you are conservative, you can steal, and get agressive at the right time, and people believe you.
 
i played poker about 5 times in my life. i can say that im not good at it.

considering i wrote some simple software a few years ago that deals hands of poker and then tells you the odds of the hand, i doubt ill ever get into it.
 
I don't really like online poker. Most of poker is the head game of knowing your opponents and reading them. You can't do that effectively, if at all over the internet.

I play poker every thursday and while I win more often then not, random luck is a bitch at times and can be pretty frustrating.
 
my old roomate used to make a couple hundred bucks a month just playing online poker, i think thats pretty cool.
 
hey simon

there was $90 in the pot and first only payed $22 - where do you play?

i agree with huntmich. think about this too - you 're going to play some hand perfectly and still lose sometimes :)

alasdair
 
Thanks to both of you. That's pretty much what I thought.

I was playing on Full Tilt. They have 90 player SnGs where the top 18 get paid. 10-18 win less than $2, and it goes up from there. You need to finish top 3 for any reasonable return.
 
But at the same time, you can't always wait until you get the perfect hand to go all in with. During a tournie, any time that you get within around 10x of the big blind, you have one move, and that move is all in. Get your money in and hope you have the best of it. It's no use waiting for those pocket aces when you only have 2x the big blind. Even if you win with them at that point you are still fucked.
 
i agree with huntmich. think about this too - you 're going to play some hand perfectly and still lose sometimes
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Yep exactly. I played perfect last night but still lost 3 big hands that I couldnt have played any other way. Lost a considerable chip lead (was up 80 bucks atleast) and put me in a sour mood.

And as the person above said, you can't wait on the perfect hand. Even at small stakes tables you have to make moves with your gut instinct. Shit I've gone all in on a King high and walked away 100 dollars richer (and we arent playing a lot so thats a big hand). Fucking King high lol. So yea, you gotta have a good read, understanding of the cards, and the ability to make big ass plays based on sheer blind dumb luck. I'm also notorous for getting what I need on the river. My friends hate me for it. =)

Furthermore, atleast in my experience playing irl (not online), its alllll about having the chip lead. I start getting completely agressive and shutting people down. Remember that sometimes people will stay in with a 10 J and they could catch something on the turn or river to make that hand into something good. If you start pushing people out you destroy quality hands before they can threaten you. Thats one way to really start winning big.

Oh and pay to see the flop ffs. Too many people fold out "shit cards" not wanting to see the flop.. those 3 cards can turn your 3 9 off suit into a full house and you'll feel like a dipshit for not spending the money to see it realized. Also, sometimes your A Q aint gonna do shit if the flop is 3, 4, 5 so you just waited 10 hands for a pocket pair that isnt going anywhere.

But thats just how I play and I'm somewhat of a nub and make mistakes now and again but its all in fun.
 
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aanallein said:
Furthermore, atleast in my experience playing irl (not online), its alllll about having the chip lead. I start getting completely agressive and shutting people down.
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while i agree in part, you have to gauge the prevailing conditions at the table. i've seen friends double up in the first hand then watch it all dribble away as they try play aggressively to try to bully people and end up back where they started...

there are 1,000,000 poker aphorisms, here are mine:

1. make losing hands win
2. make winning hands pay
3. sometimes, to win, you need the cards, sometimes you don't. learn to tell the difference and you'll do well.

i think a lot of people have an idea of how to do #1. at my kitchen table games and in the $40 casino tournaments i play, few people are adept at #2.

what are your poker aphorisms?

alasdair
 
what are your poker aphorisms?
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-if someone puts me all in pre-flop on my AA, I call :D
-fear the full house when you've made a flush, this second best hand is a huge money loser
-play smallish pocket pairs aggressively, use them to represent hitting the flop
-don't play too consistently, alter tight with loose (I'm not talking 9 3 off suite here...never call with a hand like this), throw in some week play as well
-you should probably fold AT LEAST 50% of your hands, tight play is more like 9/10...they're bad hands, don't play them.
-drinking impairs judgement
 
just made 40 bucks at the .50-1 and 1-2 limit tables in about 2 hours (I have yet to turn an overall profit on this poker thing yet..). Yeah for me :)
 
yo aan, you should play in our game. do you poke online?
 
alasdairm said:
what are your poker aphorisms?
Click to expand...

My current thinking (not all aphorisms, I guess):

1. Position, position, position: limp with almost anything in late position: be prepared to lay down low pairs or two paint cards or A-3 in early position.
2. Low pocket pairs: limp into unopened pots, and fold unless you hit the set; OR jam all-in later in the tournament when the blinds are getting high, and hope that either everyone folds, or I get heads-up against someone with overcards and it's 50/50.
3. Know which hands I'm willing to go broke on (e.g. if I raise with tens in early position, and someone re-raises me all-in, I need to be prepared to fold, OTOH, in the same position with Kings, I call, and if my opponent has aces, or sucks out with a lower hand, so be it). [heh, I'm playing now, and as I type this, this exact situation came]
4. Top pair, top kicker: is really the best way to win pots (at least at my level - so nice to play AQ on a Q high board, and be called by someone with Q-10 or something).
5. Get some money in pre-flop, don't just limp. That way, even if I miss the flop, it's very hard for opponents to defend against a continuation bet.
6. Make your opponent make the decision - bet, don't check or limp.
7. If someone is acting as though they have you beat, they probably do - it's easier to fold and get the money back when you're more confident that you're ahead.

Thoughts?
 
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