The Fish Come Out At Night
Tonight on Party (well, Empire) was a good night. Up $20 over 3 hours at the 50/1 tables. I tried to really “play” tonight. I had the TV down to where I could just barely hear it (I should just turn it off and have some music on my laptop) and paid attention to the game. I started taking some notes on people, which is something new for me. I need to figure out what I should be tracking and such, but at least it’s a start. I also table hopped a bit. Maybe not as much as I should have because the one table I stayed at the most (my last one) is the one I broke even on. I came out ahead on the others. The last table was fun though. For a while, it was pretty tight, maybe only 4 people seeing the flop (this is 50/1 remember) and quite a hands not being played out, many of those were folded before the river. Then it got loose. I was at the table for 2 hours and saw at least 6 people bust out of their $25 buyin. One person bought back in 3 times in one hour. Three times!! There were a couple good people though and they mostly sucked up the fish’s money. The upside is they didn’t get any of my money (I was down $0.75 which is the the two blinds). The downside was that even with the big fish there I wasn’t able to cash in on them, at least at that table.
Keep in mind that I don’t consider myself much more than a fish right now, but at least I’m trying to play things correctly. I was counting bets and quickly trying to figure out some odds and such. I really, really need to work on this as I just can’t seem to do it quickly enough. Most of these games play so quickly that it’s hard to get enough time to do it. When 75% of the people call automatically it doesn’t take long for your turn to come up. Maybe I need to find one of those quick reference charts. I know I had found one somewhere but can’t remember where, anybody know where to find one?
I played more agressively tonight and it appears to have paid off. I play pretty tight, but I also am prone to just check or call instead of bet or raise. I was able to buy a number of pots tonight just by betting and not letting the other people get a free card. I also paid more attention to position and tried to use it to my advantage (and also to determine if I should keep marginal hands). Welcome to Hold ‘Em 101. Sorry for reiterating what everybody already knows, but this is the first time I actually tried to use this information in the way it was intended. The upside was that I was rewarded. It feels good.
Bad beat of the night? Might be part my fault though. I had pocket aces and just called instead of raising (I know, I know…). Flop came 2c9cJh. I bet can got three callers. Turn was a Jd. I bet, and we cap out the round. River was 8d. I bet and was called. I’ve got aces and jacks, and he’s got…yep, trip jacks. He had 6Js. Oh well.
I got
I also registered Poker Tracker. I had used it until I hit the 1000 hand limit. I have been keeping my hand histories while I’ve been playing lately, so I haven’t lost anything by not having them in Poker Tracker. I hope this will help me see trends and be able find some holes in my game, of which there are plenty right now. I love the playback function of the newer versions. It seems that people who have used this really like it. I like all the stats (I’m a stats nut, but have trouble quickly calculating them), but I hope that what really happens is that I’m able to improve my game. One interesting thing already is that my best position is seat 1. My worst is the SB with the BB being second worst. Weird.
I see Poker Odyssey has started a new challenge that he dubs Sophmore Poker. I read about his 5FBRC (or whatever) before, but then he quit updating it. Now he’s back. I plan on tracking this closely and I hope that he updates things often. It’s similar to the OIC, but on a grander scale. I just heard about the OIC a couple of weeks ago and it sounds intriquing too. I just don’t think I would have the time to do it. I wish Odyssey the best of luck!
December 28th, 2003 at 12:49 pm
Chris– sounds like your game is coming along! I wouldn’t worry about counting bets at first. Although it’s a good habit to get in, there are more important things to focus on at this point. Check out this webpage:
http://www.posev.com/poker/holdem/strategy/outs-abdul.html
Memorize these rules of thumb for now:
“Rules of thumb for calling on the turn: Usually, call one bet with open-ended straight draws and flush draws, and with a medium pot size you can call two cold. With a set you should usually be calling all bets (or raising, of course.) Two overcards are usually no good to draw with on the turn, except sometimes heads-up. When the pot is big, you can call with a gutshot straight draw to the nuts.
Rules of thumb for calling on the flop: Call with any draw that you would call with on the turn, often for two bets cold or more. Call with gutshots to the nuts if you can be pretty sure you will only have to pay one bet. Also for one bet, a pair with a backdoor flush draw is very worthwhile, and so is a backdoor flush draw with a backdoor straight draw, and similarly for other combinations of weak draws that together become worthwhile. Be reluctant to call with overcards, unless heads-up or the board does not have many draws and you are pretty sure you have the best overcards, like AQ in an unraised pot.”
December 28th, 2003 at 3:48 pm
amen to what hdouble said. abdul is the nuts. i keep meaning to reference him in every post i make, but i keep forgetting.
make sure you get the pokertracker help doc to explain everything the software can do. email pat or i can send you mine.
just remember, even the best players in the world are going to lose out of the blinds, long-term. focus on tightening up more in early and loosening up a tad in late. read and re-read carson’s sections on drawing hands. think about hand ‘potential’ in these loose, crazy games.
it’s great to see you moving forward in your poker thinking.