- Nov 30, 2005
- 50,235
- 117
- 116
I imagine dNor sitting there with naked pictures of Megan Fox pasted all over his body.
Anyway, I was actually semi-serious about getting a game going, but if nobody is interested, then I will move along.
KT
I imagine dNor sitting there with naked pictures of Megan Fox pasted all over his body.
Anyway, I was actually semi-serious about getting a game going, but if nobody is interested, then I will move along.
KT
Which ones are good for a beginner? I just finished Texas Holdem for Dummies, but it didn't seem to really address many of the issues presented in my OP. For example, it doesn't really tell you how much to bet under what circumstances.
Which book would you recommend? I already read Texas Holdem for Dummies, and it didn't address some of the biggest issues I am having, such as how much to bet under different circumstances.
What book would you recommend? As I said, I already read Texas Holdem for Dummies, but it failed to address some of the points mentioned in my OP, such as how much to bet under different circumstances.
I think 50% of the game is inherent, i.e. a gambler feel. However, you can develop your game with experience, watching TV, and some literature.
Irony is that players like you are the hardest and most unpredictable to play with. Usually new players don't know what they are doing so you don't know if they have low pair or a set and a lot of times hard to bluff out.
Irony is that players like you are the hardest and most unpredictable to play with. Usually new players don't know what they are doing so you don't know if they have low pair or a set and a lot of times hard to bluff out.
Dead3ye
Platinum Member
- Sep 21, 2000
- 2,917
- 1
- 81
I can't believe I'm going to suggest this because the commentators are dorks, but if you watch the WSOP on ESPN, you can gleen some good information on there. Most of the time they will tell why a player has folded, gone over the top, etc.
BTW, don't watch High Stakes Poker on the Game Network. The players and the games are good, but Gabe Kaplan (Mr Kotter) doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.
BTW, over at the "other" forum, we play every once in awhile online.
BTW, don't watch High Stakes Poker on the Game Network. The players and the games are good, but Gabe Kaplan (Mr Kotter) doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.
BTW, over at the "other" forum, we play every once in awhile online.
A printed strategy would defeat the purpose of "mixing it up".
1. 2,7 is the weakest hand, always fold it. I always fold unsuited, unpaired <10's unless I have the tall stack, then I risk stealing the blinds.
2. Pocket pairs less than 10 I usually bid double big blind at least. So many post-flop hands can beat low pairs, so cashing on the blinds is fine enough for me. High pairs is tricky. If you are big blind and people bought in, raise. If you are the first person to bid, just limp in early game (depends on the strategy of your friends), raise mid-game and beyond. If you have pocket AA and someone raises you pre-flop, re-raise to weed out as many other players as possible so they don't get lucky on the flop. There are many techniques, and you have to chose the ones that work against your opponents. My technique works against my friends, may not work against yours. The point is to make your opponents think you have no strategy, keep them guessing and make them pay to see your cards. Also remember the hole cards that your friends had and their opening bids. Find patterns, because this is what they are doing to you. If you notice they limp-in on meh cards, that is valuable information.
3. As tall stack, I am almost always very aggressive preflop. As short stack, I am selectively all-in preflop. Medium stack, I play it safe and mix up my strategy every round. If people are all checking, bid. If they raise you immediately and you have shit, fold. If you are the first to bid, and you have excellent cards or shit cards, check. Perhaps everyone else will check and you get a free card, or perhaps someone will bid and you raise them (if you have a good hand). If you have medium good cards, you never want other players to get to see the next card for free. Remember, your opponents are always trying to mix it up as well. These are things to try within your mix of strategies.
4. Tells matter a whole lot. Learn to read body language. Pay to see their cards occasionally even if it means you losing. This is best if you have the tall stack.
5. If your friends are very math oriented, then this matters a lot. If they just play to have fun, it matters only somewhat. Learning to read your opponents helps when you have the OK hand. Be aware. Remember how they bid preflop, remember how they looked at the flop.
Finally, just take risks sometimes. I've played 2,7 off suit aggressively to mess with my opponents and its great when they all fold. Its also great when you force several of them into the pot (more than they would have normally) on decent hands, and you just fold on the flop and let them battle it out (since they all want the pot now).
If you want to play to win championships, get some books from the greats. If you want to play to have fun, all you need to do is "mix it up". Take risks. If you get called on your risks all the time, then you need to work on your game posture and face because they are reading you like a book.
Watch World poker on TV as the commentators often give reasons for why players do what they do. This will help you build your strategy in terms of trapping, playing low cards, playing medium cards, etc.
Whenever I play poker, every 15 minutes the binds double. This keeps the game dynamic and helps you take risks more often and test out your bluffs and your opponents bluffs.
Did someone call? 
KT, NS1 etc, if anyone wants to set up a game, I'm in.
OP, from your description, it sounds like you are what is known as "a rock". You play a nice tight game, not doing anything crazy. The problem is that your actions are predictable, so you can't get paid off when you do catch a good hand. When you have a bad hand, you fold. When you have a good hand, you bet, and everyone else folds, so you generally won't make anything in the long run.
I would suggest two books if you're serious about getting better. First, the poker bible, Poker Supersystem by Doyle Brunson. The next one (if you're interested in tournaments, large or small) is "Harrington on Hold'em", volume I and II. They are really excellent reads, and will give you a very solid foundation. There are really two aspects to the game. First, the mechanics -- pot odds, probabilities, implied odds etc. The second is game / situation analysis, and includes everything from reading your opponents, tells, position etc etc.
There are basically no "correct answers" on how to play a hand or a situation, there is just a "correct analysis", which leads you to your action. If there were a simple "correct action", everyone would play it that way.
People often make the mistake of going from "rock" to "loose aggresive" (reckless). They have little success playing tight, so they start taking lots of risks and chasing too many pots. The reality is that *any* strategy, employed at the right time can be the right one. The real masters can play all strategies well, they switch between them as needed ("switching gears").
KT, NS1 etc, if anyone wants to set up a game, I'm in.
OP, from your description, it sounds like you are what is known as "a rock". You play a nice tight game, not doing anything crazy. The problem is that your actions are predictable, so you can't get paid off when you do catch a good hand. When you have a bad hand, you fold. When you have a good hand, you bet, and everyone else folds, so you generally won't make anything in the long run.
I would suggest two books if you're serious about getting better. First, the poker bible, Poker Supersystem by Doyle Brunson. The next one (if you're interested in tournaments, large or small) is "Harrington on Hold'em", volume I and II. They are really excellent reads, and will give you a very solid foundation. There are really two aspects to the game. First, the mechanics -- pot odds, probabilities, implied odds etc. The second is game / situation analysis, and includes everything from reading your opponents, tells, position etc etc.
There are basically no "correct answers" on how to play a hand or a situation, there is just a "correct analysis", which leads you to your action. If there were a simple "correct action", everyone would play it that way.
People often make the mistake of going from "rock" to "loose aggresive" (reckless). They have little success playing tight, so they start taking lots of risks and chasing too many pots. The reality is that *any* strategy, employed at the right time can be the right one. The real masters can play all strategies well, they switch between them as needed ("switching gears").
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
Did someone call?
KT, NS1 etc, if anyone wants to set up a game, I'm in.
OP, from your description, it sounds like you are what is known as "a rock". You play a nice tight game, not doing anything crazy. The problem is that your actions are predictable, so you can't get paid off when you do catch a good hand. When you have a bad hand, you fold. When you have a good hand, you bet, and everyone else folds, so you generally won't make anything in the long run.
I would suggest two books if you're serious about getting better. First, the poker bible, Poker Supersystem by Doyle Brunson. The next one (if you're interested in tournaments, large or small) is "Harrington on Hold'em", volume I and II. They are really excellent reads, and will give you a very solid foundation. There are really two aspects to the game. First, the mechanics -- pot odds, probabilities, implied odds etc. The second is game / situation analysis, and includes everything from reading your opponents, tells, position etc etc.
There are basically no "correct answers" on how to play a hand or a situation, there is just a "correct analysis", which leads you to your action. If there were a simple "correct action", everyone would play it that way.
excellent post.
Canun
Senior member
- Apr 1, 2006
- 528
- 4
- 81
Play alot of flops if it is cheap. If people are limping in, at least way till the flop to fold.
Also keep in mind who you are playing. If someone is overly aggressive, it means they are usually bluffing a portion of the time. If someone is a solid player and doesn't play many hands, be ready to get out of the pot quick.
I played almost every hand I could with good to decent cards when I was learning. Figure out who you can bluff, and try to build a reputation. It is all about playing the guys on the table, and only a little about playing the cards.
Also keep in mind who you are playing. If someone is overly aggressive, it means they are usually bluffing a portion of the time. If someone is a solid player and doesn't play many hands, be ready to get out of the pot quick.
I played almost every hand I could with good to decent cards when I was learning. Figure out who you can bluff, and try to build a reputation. It is all about playing the guys on the table, and only a little about playing the cards.
There are lots of ways to go about playing no-limit hold'em, but they depend on the cards you're being dealt that night, the people you are up against, knowing your odds, staying sharp, and being able to use and adjust a strategy. That's a lot to do.
I'd start with learning how good hands are and what are the likely hood of them improving against a competitor. Getting a simple electronic game will help you get started. Play the game until you consistently break even. This will also teach you some of the basics of how to bet and over time will teach you the difference between good and great hands (you should make some effort to play both).
The next challenge is learning to understand the people you're playing against. It's not a big deal to not be winning off the bat. Take your time and slowly enter the game while waiting for good cards and while developing an understanding of how the people at your table are going about their games. Learn to spot the uncontrolled better, the baiter, and the weaker players. People you can't place as one of these three are your top threats.
As time goes on most good players loose their discipline and become uncontrolled betters. If you stay focused on the odds and your understanding of how well they go about paying their antes, you can beat them at this point while using good and/or better hands.
I didn't cover bluffing. I like to bluff, but do it at an absolute minimum. Simply put, as your average player becomes worn out they become uncontrolled betters who will challenge your bluffs on their way out of the game. Wait these players out with good fundamentals (playing somewhat conservative cards). Bluffs are for when you have broken the will of a player who is up against you while still having something to loose or when you are going up against a good player when you have a clear understanding of their mindset. If you want to bluff, take your time during the first half of the game learning what makes people tick and finding out how to get into their heads. But still, rarely are nights won by incredible hands or wild bluffs (like in the movies).
As far as tells go, I've found them to be rare. If you want to have fun make up an occasional tell for yourself, but if you want to work you'll have to hurt yourself occasionally or put on a good show, but be warned most people are bad actors (this includes you). I've found it's more important to know a persons play style and strengths rather than a potential tell (so be sure to focus on the right things).
As said before don't let your self loose discipline. This includes getting warn down and making stupid mistakes, but also letting people get the better of you. Confidence in a good hand and your understanding of the other players is key. You will get knocked around, but be sure to not loose your cool.
Okay, that's more than enough. Best of luck,
-Reader
PS. there are a few specific strategies for keeping people guessing as to how you play and shaking other players confidence, but I do not want to talk personal secrets when you'll develop them on your own.
Generally speaking you raise 3-5 the big blind.
Now given that your cash game has a 20 cent big blind, I might raise to $1.3-$1.5 because I find that people don't respect the raise if it is less than $1 no matter how many times bigger than the BB it is.
How do you know how much money to bet in any particular situation?
Also, how well will playing for free online help my cash games that I play face to face?
Doyle's chapter in Super System or SS2 is pretty good.
For tournaments, the Harrington on Hold'em series is essential. Just be careful not to play like a nit as I always do.
Pot odds calculations generally only apply to good draws, i.e. to a straight or flush. For example, when your AK misses the flop, you can't count 6 full outs. Depending on the situation, HoH suggests you can estimate about 4 out cards (on average) to top pair. Of course, if there's significant multi-way action on the flop, then you know you're pretty much drawing slim to dead.
So you don't really calculate the odds of someone hitting a better hand. You have to estimate how many full outs you think you have.
For tournaments, the Harrington on Hold'em series is essential. Just be careful not to play like a nit as I always do.
Pot odds calculations generally only apply to good draws, i.e. to a straight or flush. For example, when your AK misses the flop, you can't count 6 full outs. Depending on the situation, HoH suggests you can estimate about 4 out cards (on average) to top pair. Of course, if there's significant multi-way action on the flop, then you know you're pretty much drawing slim to dead.
So you don't really calculate the odds of someone hitting a better hand. You have to estimate how many full outs you think you have.
All of this is good advice. I have played about 1.5 million hands in various cash games online at Partypoker, Fulltilt, and Pokerstars.
The main issue being is that no matter how much advice you get here, you're going to suck ass and keep losing until you take some of the strategy you read about and put it to practice.
There is NOTHING better than experience when it comes to poker. Also, what you must learn is that your style may very from the next guy by a good bit so don't try and copy anyone as what works for him may not work for you.
Anyway, get off the forum, deposit into Pokerstars if you can afford it, play small stakes and learn.
The main issue being is that no matter how much advice you get here, you're going to suck ass and keep losing until you take some of the strategy you read about and put it to practice.
There is NOTHING better than experience when it comes to poker. Also, what you must learn is that your style may very from the next guy by a good bit so don't try and copy anyone as what works for him may not work for you.
Anyway, get off the forum, deposit into Pokerstars if you can afford it, play small stakes and learn.
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