HOW PLAY POKER
Had a great past weekend with a trip with da boys to Montreal for muchos drunken debauchery. I have to say that it is probably my favorite party town that I've been to. And staying at hostels as oppose to hotels is definitely +EV. The weekend was capped off with another beautiful blowout by New England on Monday night. I had a $100 on them and it was the easiest bet I ever made. When is Vegas going to learn how fucking dominant the Pats are?
Anways, during one of the many conversations that took place this weekend, my friend mentioned to me that he just wants to make $500 / month playing poker. Its definitely a modest and achievable goal for anyone who has passed 11th grade. However, I mentioned to him that even with a decent amount of poker knowledge, there are many other factors that will determine if you are a winning or losing player. The problem is, all the intangible factors that go into ones winrate are almost impossible to teach. Things like tilt control, discipline at the tables and so on are only really realized after you have done a lot of damage to your bankroll.
I mean, everyone knows not to tilt. Its like saying don't fall when trying to win a footrace. But the problem with tilt is, not every player is able to even identify when they are tilting, so avoiding it becomes difficult. And tilt isn't the only thing to avoid. Playing when tired, angry, sad, etc, these things will effect your game in ways that are very difficult to identify let alone quantify.
The best advice I can give to anyone struggling to put together a bankroll is to start analyzing your state of mind when playing. Be conscious of every move you are doing. Do not go on autopilot (until you are a confirmed winner at least). For every significant move you make, ask yourself, would I always do this play? Do I know better than to do this play?
At the low levels poker is an exceedingly easy game to beat. I could easily beat 50NL for a significantly high winrate by never bluffing. I'm not even joking either. I've done many long experimental sessions at lower limits trying out my "no bluffing" strategy and it always shows a good profit. What hurts most lowstakes would-be grinders is not the strategy - thats easy - its the discipline. Its the discipline not to check-raise all in on a draw just because your opponent is "always betting". Its the discipline to just fold to the fish who keeps min raising you. Its the discipline not to instantly try to win your money back after getting sucked out on.
Winning poker is folding poker. I know, it sucks folding. Its not fun and you can't win if you fold. Trust me, I know what its like not to want to fold. But the truth of the matter is, no matter what game your are playing in, poker is still at best 50% skill and 50% luck. And against most decent opponents, your edge is not that significant. Your main winnings will come from fish with terrible stats. Just wait for a hand, bet and they will call you. You know why? Because fish hate folding even more than you do. It only takes a few terribly played, tilt induced hands by you to ruin your winrate and send your bankroll back to zero.
Sometimes you just won't be getting the cards, and sometimes the fish will keep getting better ones. Thats called variance. Do not in any circumstance justify your play because of the lack of cards you are getting (or the glut of cards your opponents are getting). Keep in mind that there will be days that you will have the nuts every hand and they will pay you off. Your edge comes in when you can fold to their nut hands.
$500/month is possible and a very nice bonus for most non poker players working 9-5 jobs. With most people's current poker knowledge it is almost trivial assuming tilt and discipline are not issues. However, 90% of poker players are long time losers for a reason, and that reason is basically lack of experience with dealing with tilt. Don't ignore it, just learn to recognize it and you will win.
Anways, during one of the many conversations that took place this weekend, my friend mentioned to me that he just wants to make $500 / month playing poker. Its definitely a modest and achievable goal for anyone who has passed 11th grade. However, I mentioned to him that even with a decent amount of poker knowledge, there are many other factors that will determine if you are a winning or losing player. The problem is, all the intangible factors that go into ones winrate are almost impossible to teach. Things like tilt control, discipline at the tables and so on are only really realized after you have done a lot of damage to your bankroll.
I mean, everyone knows not to tilt. Its like saying don't fall when trying to win a footrace. But the problem with tilt is, not every player is able to even identify when they are tilting, so avoiding it becomes difficult. And tilt isn't the only thing to avoid. Playing when tired, angry, sad, etc, these things will effect your game in ways that are very difficult to identify let alone quantify.
The best advice I can give to anyone struggling to put together a bankroll is to start analyzing your state of mind when playing. Be conscious of every move you are doing. Do not go on autopilot (until you are a confirmed winner at least). For every significant move you make, ask yourself, would I always do this play? Do I know better than to do this play?
At the low levels poker is an exceedingly easy game to beat. I could easily beat 50NL for a significantly high winrate by never bluffing. I'm not even joking either. I've done many long experimental sessions at lower limits trying out my "no bluffing" strategy and it always shows a good profit. What hurts most lowstakes would-be grinders is not the strategy - thats easy - its the discipline. Its the discipline not to check-raise all in on a draw just because your opponent is "always betting". Its the discipline to just fold to the fish who keeps min raising you. Its the discipline not to instantly try to win your money back after getting sucked out on.
Winning poker is folding poker. I know, it sucks folding. Its not fun and you can't win if you fold. Trust me, I know what its like not to want to fold. But the truth of the matter is, no matter what game your are playing in, poker is still at best 50% skill and 50% luck. And against most decent opponents, your edge is not that significant. Your main winnings will come from fish with terrible stats. Just wait for a hand, bet and they will call you. You know why? Because fish hate folding even more than you do. It only takes a few terribly played, tilt induced hands by you to ruin your winrate and send your bankroll back to zero.
Sometimes you just won't be getting the cards, and sometimes the fish will keep getting better ones. Thats called variance. Do not in any circumstance justify your play because of the lack of cards you are getting (or the glut of cards your opponents are getting). Keep in mind that there will be days that you will have the nuts every hand and they will pay you off. Your edge comes in when you can fold to their nut hands.
$500/month is possible and a very nice bonus for most non poker players working 9-5 jobs. With most people's current poker knowledge it is almost trivial assuming tilt and discipline are not issues. However, 90% of poker players are long time losers for a reason, and that reason is basically lack of experience with dealing with tilt. Don't ignore it, just learn to recognize it and you will win.
posted by RikkiDee at 12:03 AM
2 Comments:
tanks smithers...!Jose
Thanks for posting this. I have always sucked at poker and this is probably why.
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