poker thoughts of novice level
I got some fun going...live poker again any day of the week, more going out w/ or w/out friends...but the main thing I want to write about is poker. I've made some thoughts, and they have to do with conquering the increasingly difficult levels of poker. even at $100 buy in, which used to be exceptionally easy to win tons of money (at least compared to what I am used to making), it has become at least twice as hard, filling with sharks (good players) and the fish (bad player) are dying out. the key will be to make my growth outpace the growth of the sharks, so I can gobble the sharks. sounds just like a corporataion!
anyway, my first realization, now that I have become novice (only took 1 or so years of beginnerdom), is that poker requires a lot of adjustment. don't get me wrong, I THOUGHT about that before, but only lately is it really hitting me. some of it is simple stuff, like I keep raising, raising, raising...eventually someone else starts calling, callling, or raising back. at that point I need to adjust, otherwise my chips get gobbled up via lots of small bites. the adjustment is to play less hands and play them a little slower.
speaking of small bites, that's another realization, that big pots usually are just big hand vs slightly less big hand or good hand vs fish's terrible hand. I read about this on a poker website, but probably the majority of the chips people win are in small pots, especially when playing mediocre/good opponents. some ways to win small pots:
1- raise pre flop, bet flop. easy enough and I have pretty well mastered this, and so has every other novice.
2- reraise pre flop, bet flops selectively. I am just beginning to learn this, and it is a riskier business because it starts getting into medium/big pots but is mostly about small pots.
3- call pre flop, call flop, bet turn or river. this is basically "floating" where you wait for someone to "admit" they were trying #1 and really ahve nothing, at which point you bet and they (usually) fold. another thing I am just beginning to learn.
4- call pre flop, raise flop or turn. again, risky business but very very important to do against the novices.
5- play with next to nothing against predictable opponents until you narrow down your opponent' s hand enough to make a bluff. for example, raising at a point where the exact type of hand someone has will become clear.
for just one example, your opponent will call a turn raise only with a flush draw, push all in with a set, and fold everything else. then when the flush misses you bluff, or if you catch a pair then you induce them to bluff.
this is the mack daddy, where you play a big pot with nothing and against an opponent who knows you have either nothing or a hand that's miles ahead of their's.
these are all examples of outplaying aka exploiting opponents, rather than playing cards, because they are playing too predictably. in essense, at least what I've though recently, poker is about outplaying opponents, not making a hand and getting paid.
I'm gonna learn these and other tools that I am just starting to, so I can outpace the other novice's to the "advanced" stage of poker, where you are viewed as basically a humongous pain in the arse to play.
oh, and I almost forgot along this rant that I got out of my downswing and am just about where I was at the beginning of the month, so only about 4,800 to go!!! seriously though, I think there is a slight chance, especially via learning/mastering #2-5 and playing more...til then peace
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