One of the purposes for this blog is to help me organize my thoughts about the tournaments I play and maybe, if I get lucky, get some followers who can help me become a better player.
Along those lines, I've been reading and listening to a lot of poker commentary and have been working hard to implement some more sophisticated poker thinking when I play.
Those include:
- Increasing my EV of hands
- Having a plan when I check/bet/raise
- Playing position better
- Managing my chip stack
For increasing my EV, I've stopped raising ridiculous amounts pre-flop with strong hands.
At the Vision, it's been a nifty realization to be able to pick up when someone has JJ or 10 10. Usually it's a huge preflop bet...like 10x BB. Whenever someone bets like that, you can be sure it's a hand like JJ or 10 10. Sometimes it's QQ. But generally one of the other two. What I've learned is that when you do that, you either when just the blinds, or get re-raised by AA/KK/QQ and even AK and are in trouble.
I've seen where someone UTG raises 10xBB and the Button calls. An Ace on the flop and the original raiser check, the button bets and takes it down...then they table the bluff. When you know what the other guy has, the game becomes easier.
So, when I do get hands like this, I make a raise somewhere around 3x. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. This is a bit of a feel bet for me, depending on level, position and chip stacks.
It does mean that sometimes I have to fold to a weak ace in later positions, but what it usually means is that I win a decent pot. I've got a fairly TAG image, which helps me put the other guys on ranges. So, I do (generally) fold when I think I'm beat. However, this is something that I still need to work on. If you've read some of my more recent blogs, you'll see what I mean, where there have been a few occasions where I KNEW I was beat but called anyway.
When it comes to having a plan, currently most of my thinking has to do with (in this order): cards, position and players. Mostly my plan is to win the hand, whichever way possible. If I have a strong starting hand, I try to get value on as many streets as possible. I don't always accomplish this, as I often don't consider the hands that the other guy can have. A good example is eluding me right now, but there are two or three times a session where I think about the hand after I've won it and realize that I was too aggressive, that I should have let another card come off so that I could let a weaker player hit something or let an aggressive player bluff off some chips. I guess at the end of the day, the important thing is to win the hand, but along with increasing my EV, thinking about future streets and having a plan going into a hand will help me win tournaments by giving me chips to protect me from bad beats taking me out, and having enough chips to cover and put pressure on other players.
I finally feel like I'm playing my position pretty well. I'm fairly TAG-y still and probably should flat the button a bit more often, but I'm working on never limping into a pot outside of the blinds and flatting a button isn't what I'm about now. Generally, if I feel like flatting, I'll instead raise small, so if there's two or thee people in already, and I've got 87s, I'll raise 3x...trying to get the absolute dregs to fold the blinds and usually bet an Ace on the flop. This goes along with having a plan. I think I'm doing ok when I play my button...it's the CU and HJ where I've got to work on a bit more of a plan. But, when it comes playing position, while I still have a ways to go with nuance, I'm improving.
Managing my chip stack is another tricky thing. As noted in my last post, I've been thinking about my Push/Fold stack. Of course I'm trying not to be in the position to where that's the case, but it's inevitable. The problem with this is that it takes a while to feel like what I'm doing is appropriate. In the first session I played after considering the Push/Fold hands (I've known about M for a while, but this is a bit different), I pushed with AJo and was looked up by 99. Lost the flip. I think this is a result I want (the call, not the loss) cause I was getting odds on the flip and usually no one has a calling hand there. But it'll take a while of playing these hands in this particular manner to see if it's having a positive result on my game. We'll see.
Anyways, not sure if anyones out there, but let me know what you think of my thoughts, and please feel free to comment and share your own thoughts.
When it comes to having a plan, currently most of my thinking has to do with (in this order): cards, position and players. Mostly my plan is to win the hand, whichever way possible. If I have a strong starting hand, I try to get value on as many streets as possible. I don't always accomplish this, as I often don't consider the hands that the other guy can have. A good example is eluding me right now, but there are two or three times a session where I think about the hand after I've won it and realize that I was too aggressive, that I should have let another card come off so that I could let a weaker player hit something or let an aggressive player bluff off some chips. I guess at the end of the day, the important thing is to win the hand, but along with increasing my EV, thinking about future streets and having a plan going into a hand will help me win tournaments by giving me chips to protect me from bad beats taking me out, and having enough chips to cover and put pressure on other players.
I finally feel like I'm playing my position pretty well. I'm fairly TAG-y still and probably should flat the button a bit more often, but I'm working on never limping into a pot outside of the blinds and flatting a button isn't what I'm about now. Generally, if I feel like flatting, I'll instead raise small, so if there's two or thee people in already, and I've got 87s, I'll raise 3x...trying to get the absolute dregs to fold the blinds and usually bet an Ace on the flop. This goes along with having a plan. I think I'm doing ok when I play my button...it's the CU and HJ where I've got to work on a bit more of a plan. But, when it comes playing position, while I still have a ways to go with nuance, I'm improving.
Managing my chip stack is another tricky thing. As noted in my last post, I've been thinking about my Push/Fold stack. Of course I'm trying not to be in the position to where that's the case, but it's inevitable. The problem with this is that it takes a while to feel like what I'm doing is appropriate. In the first session I played after considering the Push/Fold hands (I've known about M for a while, but this is a bit different), I pushed with AJo and was looked up by 99. Lost the flip. I think this is a result I want (the call, not the loss) cause I was getting odds on the flip and usually no one has a calling hand there. But it'll take a while of playing these hands in this particular manner to see if it's having a positive result on my game. We'll see.
Anyways, not sure if anyones out there, but let me know what you think of my thoughts, and please feel free to comment and share your own thoughts.
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