It has been a few weeks since I’ve added a post here and there are a couple of reasons for it. The first is that I didn’t want to be one of those bad beat whiners who fill their blogs with endless complaining about the rotten patch of bad luck they’ve been going through. At first I decided I would suffer in silence, take my hits and fight back. But the beats just kept coming so I decided my plan B would involve taking a brief break from poker and come back more refreshed and full of focus.
It was going to be back to basics, take my winnings and move on. Last night I played for the first time in over a week on the $10 NLHE tables at Party Poker. I wiped out courtesy of a guy who far, far outstripped any reasonable stretch of good fortune.
I closed down Party Poker in absolute disgust at the way this guy kept winning with the absolute worst of hands. However, in the cold light of day I realise that this guy could be the best thing to happen to me this year. He played virtually every hand, went completely cavalier with small pairs on multiple occasions and got away with it. This guy was flouting the odds time and again and still managed to win.
At some point the odds are going to rebalance themselves and I need to make sure I’m there when it happens.
So this month I’m going to make SmokingNow my special project. I’m going to hunt this guy down and make sure I play at whatever table he sits at. He took my money and he didn’t deserve it so I’m going to take it back, plus a commission for damages.
I’ll let you know if solid poker beats loose-aggressive donk.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Solid Poker v Loose Aggressive Donk
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4 comments:
Nice to see you writing again but Why do you target anyone in particular? I play differently depending on my stack and table aggression and who's calling. Raising every hand on passive table is also a play I have done before.
I am on the brink of moving to 50NL because I blame myself for loosing, not others for calling. I study my HH to see what I do wrong and what others do in certain situations so I can capitalise in future. I have folded pocket K, Q, J and T, AQ, AJ, AT & lower before the flop. I have learnt to fold to be able to win. No.1 rule is why risk your whole stack holding one or two pairs, or even low set. Eventually, your cards will come. Play small ball and not be overtly aggressive unless the nuts. Play more hands in position cheaply for draws. All this is ABC but it is hard to do and easy to say. I make the most money from other's mistake (eg calling an all in with quads) If they are calling, they have something to call with so why push unless you have the nuts.
You continue to lose because you are not admitting to your flaws. Until you do, you will continue to lose. I have myself grinded 100+ hands to see it fall with one mistake. Study your HH for your plays and opponents.
epoh,
You are, of course, 100% correct in your assessment and your advice is possibly the most valuable, level-headed thinking that could possibly be handed to me.
Thank you for taking the time to give me the much needed kick in the pants. I was overdue a reality check and that was a good'un.
Tonight, I have passed the BR I set to move up to 50NL from tomorrow. (Hope I can stay there and not get shot down).
I feel we have a similar goal to enjoy the game as well as benefit from it financially. I try to learn as much as I can so what I wrote is more a reflection of what happened to myself as it applies to you. Hopefully it helped you because it was only when I realised it myself then I started winning consistently.
From your posts, you appeared to have started to lose it a bit. Everyone goes through a rut where it seems it is impossible to win. Your premium hands are shot, your plays are played back. After a few losing days, your starting hands loosen up and you start playing fxxx poker. Before you know it, the BR is on a continual slide.
You will not win every table but the main thing is to go back to basics and start the winning feeling again. When your confidence is back, then think about other plays.
You nailed it in one, mate. You've basically broken down exactly what I have been doing for the last month or so.
I'll definitely go back to basics and try to resume the patient play that served me so well.
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