Poker Things
Well, I do call this a poker blog and you have to be liberal to accept that. Of course that's about the only liberal thing associated with the blog.
I'm back to playing some tournaments. These cashout ones are right in my wheelhouse. I can play for as long as I'm enjoying it and then cashout with a small profit when the stakes start calling for the gamble. And, I avoid my boredom tilt. If I'm not firing on all cylinders, I can usually walk even earlier.
What is the worst thing that I've seen consistently? It is bet sizing. Second, would be mixing your play.
You need to play some form of low ball to last. But, I'm not talking about the push monkeys. They usually take care of each other. There's a large group of players that love to limp. Heck, I'm one. Then they think they hit something or just want to bluff and overbet. If you've a hand, you only overbet when you think you have a read. Good hands come only so often. You need to maximize your win and there are six ways from Sunday to do that depending on the table flavor. As to those bluffers, what they end up being is slow play candidates who'll do the betting for you. Is there anything more satisfying than being able to pop his last bet on the river?
If bet sizing were a school course, grading would be a bear. Even if it were pass-fail it'd still be that. We can do pass-fail on a single hand but, like variance, time is needed to understand things properly. The thing about it is that the same hand can be handled in almost any manner. And, assuming you win the hand, you are never sure you've maximized your profits. That disappointing but not as disappointing as going broke with it.
I'll relate a story here. It show my brilliance and no bushel baskets for this kid. I'm SB with 69H. There are limpers and the button pops it up 3x. Now the guy was grading out as decent and I put him on a decent pair. Actually was AA. He read the small ball article, I'm guessing and makes the 'proper' bet. Well, rules are for breaking. He should have potted to isolate more. All those folks behind me and I know the odds are right to call. He got the callers and the pot is now juicy. The flop nails my hand. I've the nut straight and a draw to the flush. Nobody in their right mind would be holding 69, right? Well, he priced in that hand.
Interesting bit of deja vu compliments of Daniel with this comment:
I later mention to Matusow that I lost a bunch of chips in a cooler, then I explain that I had the 6d 9d and he goes, "I love how he starts off telling me a cooler story by saying I have the 6d 9d LOL."
But, it gives some thinking that may or may not work in the tournaments I play. More often than not it is not.
Now, maintaining an attitude is the opposite of changing gears. Predictability is deadly and at the cheap tournaments I'm playing it is a constant. Players put big signs on their chest and are great candidates for a late play. They can have all the cheap blinds they want. It later that they are vulnerable for any number of plays against them. They are typically also married to min bets. I just can't understand what min betting accomplishes. They seem to think that picking up cheap pots makes them better than the rest when the opposite is true.
ADDENDUM:
Linda runs a little HORSE tournament and just moved it to Full Tilt. I use to play it when I still was on P*. She seems as unhappy with that site these days as I am. It is a fun little gathering with decent play. I registered. Stop by.
Our PokerWorks Family tourney is set for Full Tilt Poker, HORSE, password ‘donkeys’ tournament ID 145123245, this coming Sunday, March 14th at 22:30. More harping on that later.
It's almost past my bed time so I'll probably crash and then crash again. Come pick up my easy money.
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