Well I had some time off from poker while I was in Monterey, CA for my brother's wedding. Cruel irony was that I went into my brother's hotel the first day and saw a guy playing poker online in the lobby on his laptop.
I thought it was interesting that Noah and Tyler are both online players at Party Poker. Noah says his screen name is Feenom. He actually entered a $30 no limit tournament with about 1,000 players and came in third. He says he won over $1,800. Wow.
My play has pretty much sucked recently. The last live tournament I entered, I got absolutely no cards and busted out again before the first break. I have noticed the games before the tournament are extremely tight at the 4-8 level. It seems like this is the favorite game of the tournament players to kill time. I wish they would go somewhere else and let the fish back into these games.
Full Tilt Poker finally started a deposit bonus of 100%. That's huge! I deposited $100 and have quickly lost $87 of it at 1-2, 2-4, and 3-6. I have never seen so many bad beats all at once. It's flushes losing to full houses, my aces losing to a second pair on the river, etc. Plus again it seems like the players are much better and there is horrible game selection. You're lucky to get one game in each level. Hopefully I can hold on and play enough hands to get my $100 bonus. Plus I have yet to see any of the advertised players on the website. As soon as I get my bonus, I am cashing out.
Tonight is our fantasy football draft and a poker night. It will be interesting to see what stakes I can talk these guys into. Usually it's ridiculously small like 50 cent - $1. I don't understand how these guys can play $10 hands of blackjack or 3-6 poker at the casino and then pucker up when it comes to a home game. You would think that after I explain that there is no rake and no tip and their odds are so much better that they would be willing to risk a little more.
I have been reading Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller. It is definitely a good book and it addresses a lot of play after the flop which is where I need the most work. The thing I wonder about is his theory about pot size and calling bets on the river. He seems to be very mathematical in his sense that if the pot is laying you 10-1, there is almost no reason not to call. His reasoning is that if you are wrong and in 2nd place it only costs you 1 bet, but if you're right you win 10 or more bets. I tend to fold a lot when I am behind. I definitely need to work on figuring all my hidden outs and whether I should call even when I am behind in the hopes of catching up.
I have found that in my limit games that I am usually correct in my reads and that for the most part I have folded correctly. The question is, am I right enough to over come the pot odds I give up? I think part of the flaw in Miller's reasoning is that some of the outs that improve my hand still may not give me the winning hand, because how can you know for sure what he has? Plus I have posted on 2+2 before that I think it's important to make a lay down once in a while and praise yourself for making the right decision. Otherwise losing 9 pots in a row with calls on the river is likely to put you on tilt and cause you to play worse.
That's it for now.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
+cropped.jpg)
1 comment:
I guess his point is you already made it down to the river. You have made your bad calls, and have only one more bet to put in to see what the other guy has. Why not with that much money on the line?
One example of this working for me was last night. I had AK, and the flop was AK. The only think that beat me was trips. I did not know if the guy had them. The pot had been raised to $15 by the flop (.50/1) with only three people left. At the river there was just me and one other guy. The pot had risen to $20+. I figure he probably has me beat, but I am going to see it. I based this on how he raised the pre-flop bet all the way up. He ends up turning over Q2 of spades. Tbere were three diamonds on the board too. I asked him if he thought they were spades. Point is, If I fold a buck then I lose for sure. Instead I raked in a pot that made my night. I ended doubled up and feeling good about my game. It is only one example but I think it demonstrates why to call large pots at the river.
Post a Comment