Second table

This table was very different. There were very weak players on this table. Bad players:

1.) A caller who played a lot of hands down the river and lost almost all of his pots.
2.) A few generally weak players who either didn't know what to call/catch with.

These guys supplied the most of the money at our table.

The good players were:

1.) An older lady who showed me her tournament paper showing that she was in first place. Good tight/aggressive player but not aggressive enough in certain hands.
2.) People who liked to bluff at the pot once and a while. I was hoping to catch these guys in a bind once and a while since I would slow play these players for lots of money.

Overall I think I played conservatively and well. I bluffed at pots a couple times, and won with nice monster hands. Once in a while I would get bluffed out for $25 when a lot is in the pot, but sometimes its not worth going for it.

New strategy...

Now that I've had a couple of days to review what went wrong that first table I'll point out a few mistakes I made/noticed.

1.) The person directly left of me was very loose/aggressive. So anything I played was in danger of being stolen or bluffed at often. Any attempts to defend or bluff back at is risky at such high stakes.

2.) I should have played much slower in the beginning to realize that the person directly left of me was very loose/aggressive. If I had gotten a better feel for the table first I could've geared myself up for a change in style/tactics.

3.) After an hour I should've started to play incredibly tight/passive. This lets me lose fewer hands/less money while at the same time gives me a better table reputation of being tight. Let them try and bully me but if I had anything really good going for me I could've easily have slow played some of them.

4.) A lot of people were getting in th flop cheap and trying to catch anything. If I were to play good hands(Pockets, suited face cards) I should've raised pre-flop to make them pay and also if I felt like they were trying to catch anything I should've made it expensive for them to see it.


The second table I did very well at. Next post to review the second table I played at.

Things I have learned this trip

I want to just point out that I've been awake for almost 20 hours now, so bare with me if my writing is a little wacky.

Today has been a big milestone in my poker life. I feel like my skills have improved slightly. I distinctly say slightly because I have learned 2 very important things today.

Firstly, old people should not be categorized as "soft". Up until today I thought they were all tight and passive players. The first table I sat at, I was being outplayed by loose aggressive players. Were they young? No. They were at least 4 times my age and were chasing things down the river, re-raising my 40 dollar raises with 150 dollars.... I got so frustrated I couldn't readjust my strategy in time and got busted out. I need to recognize a table that I am able to play at before getting myself into that situation and that old people deserve more respect. I am officially humbled.

Second, once you get busted out and are frustrated its much better to walk around, play craps, or whatever for an hour until you feel like you've lost that universal sting known as being on tilt. I played craps for about an hour. I didn't play aggresively, and walked away about even and felt fine. I went back to the poker room and won back what I lost plus some. Luckily this table was soft enough for me to play well. I need more tables like that ;)

Position

The importance of position can't be understated. Remember that if you're first to act everyone knows how to respond to you. Conversely if you act last you can react to everyone else. This is a huge HUGE advantage. The difference is that you can play K8 as the dealer to better efficiency than if you were to play A8 if you were left of the dealer. The difference is huge. Whenever you play A8 you'd play blind and not really know if someone has you outkicked. But if you were last as K8 you can see how people bet first to know if you should fold, or re-raise. You can even try to steal the blind. You just have more options when you act last. So remember these things:

1.) The earlier you are to act the tighter you should play
2.) If you're last to act take advantage of your situation and observe what is going on in the hand.

Want to know how to make money in poker?

This is a secret to my success to making money at poker. I feel like I shouldn't tell you guys as this will make me seem less good at poker. But I trust you not to spread this around too much on the internet (I'm talking to you 5 people who read my blog... yes 5... all 5 from the whole internet). Anyway the secret to winning any amount of money is to play is....


Play people worse than you. Thats right, there isn't anything easier to do than to play against people who are not as keen on the draws or can't read as well or bet heavily enough. This is the true secret to always winning. This does not mean leave the table if you're having a few bad beats, but if people are outplaying you and forcing you to fold most of the time, you are probably at the wrong table. If you are any bit decent at poker and want to play for money, just play against people who know enough as to know about small and big blind, and in general what a pair, two pair, trips, straight, flush, or full house are. These are the minimum requirements, otherwise the play style of someone who has no idea how to play might accidentally trap you without knowing it OR they will play like a true random maniac which can be dangerous.

I remember one time an old gentlemen at a poker table had literally no idea how to play, and someone I considered a shark at the table tried to bully him out. The old man kept calling and asking around what should I do? This prompted the shark to keep firing until he put the old man all in at which point the old man still called. The shark had top pair, but the old man held the pocket queens. So beware of the truly unaware but if you want to make money look for players worse than you. Thats my secret. Don't tell anyone...

Gut instinct

Ever have this situation where you have 10 9 offsuit, and you know its not a good move but at the same time there's something deep inside that screams this hand is a winner? And someone raises on top of your limp and you hesitate before folding, still thinking to yourself that it is going to be the winning hand this time... And low and behold there is Jc7s6d on the flop?

Don't feel too bad, because if you called every 10 9 offsuit on a raise chances are you will lose 29 times out of 30. Mathematically speaking you played it right to fold on 10 9 offsuit. One thing to know, is that sometimes when you get these gut instincts, most of the time it is okay to call when there are a few conditions that are satisfied:

1.) You are huge stacked and the raise means nothing to you
2.) There is huge potential pay off (in the case of pockets hitting trips, or a Ax suited for a nut flush possibility)

Its great if you get these gut instincts. Sometimes its worth going on them. But beware, there's a difference between playing because you just want your 10 9 to win and knowing deep inside that its going to hit. Its the difference between compulsively gambling and knowing when its your night. So if you're just starting or low on chips, its not worth calling.

Learning about people

I've been wondering for a while what has poker done for me? And the weird thing is that a long time ago it has taught me the value of outward and hidden motives.

It might sound strange and maybe a little cynical, but it has taught me to consider why people do one thing outwardly when secretly they're hoping to benefit from it. This is not always the case as I do believe there are more actions more altruistic in nature than selfish but in some ways I tend to think a little more as to why people do things.

I used to be bluffed all the time. And I probably still have my pots stolen from me all the time, but at least now I don't think a raise is always a show of actual strong hands. Sometimes a strong raise might just be a bluff. The outward appearance of a VERY big raise for a very small pot might cause concern for the amateur poker player, but to become an experienced poker player every raise should be considered and evaluated in this way:

"Why is he/she raising"
"What does he/she want me to do"
"How does that benefit him/her"

As always, consider the actual opponent when asking this about poker. A more experienced player might know you know this, and will over raise a pot in the hopes you think he's bluffing. And now that you know, you can watch out for that. But now that he knows that you know he knows......... Anyway, the point is not to stick to this algorithm, but to always evaluate who your opponent is, why he/she is doing it, and what they want you to do.

This skill that I've acquired from poker is nice in that it not only benefits my game, but also makes me one heck of a cynic sometimes.