When I sit in a game, I do a few things to keep myself interested and busy. I figure I can always get better at playing poker and the way to do that is right now when I am playing.
One of my favorite things to do is to watch how another player who I think plays better than I do plays and how they handle situations. I also like to watch players who I think I play just as good as to try to see if I can identify mistakes they are making in their game. Sometimes I just watch how another player acts, how they look when they bet or make a decision and I try to copy them if I like what they do.
With limit hold 'em, I rarely sit in a live game where I think anybody plays better than I do. That is mostly because I play at Foxwoods where the highest limit is 20/40 so the better players are better poker players in general and are playing high limit NL games or stud games or whatever. At Foxwoods I like to try to get better at other things, such as putting my chips in the pot or sitting still or paying attention every hand since I have problems with both of those things.
Online, it is a different story. Usually I am playing against at least one person who either plays better than I do or who I think plays very well. I try to see how they play and see if I can find a weakness in their game. If not then I try to see how things I like about their game could fit into my game to make it better.
I also have a rigid set of strategies in every game in which I play, especially in LHE where there really aren't a whole heck of a lot of different ways to play. But I have found that if you pay attention to the game and try to play your very best, even in a game where you have a set strategy, you can come up with a really nice play or pull off a great bluff or something at least once a session. I think about the rigid strategy as being like putting chips in the pot-- it is something that is so ingrained in me that I don't even really have to think about it. That allows me to deviate profitably from the strategy since the rest of the players are struggling to even reach the point of my rigid strategy.
I think if you branch out what you will find is you get much better at the other games quickly and then find yourself in the same spot, not really getting any better and sort of slumming around not crushing games you should be totally wiping up. I dunno what I'm saying but I think you can learn a lot in every game you are playing, even if it is not specifically strategy-related.
I posted a hand on 2+2 where I wound up raising KTs out of the BB in a 8 way pot, and then capping when it was 3 bet back to me in a LHE game. It was an unorthodox play but it wound up being entirely correct in the game I was in. If I had just been autopiloting, I would have missed that opportunity. I dunno that kind of stuff is where you grind out a little bit of an extra edge.
I still get totally pumped up when I play and I have played I don't know how many hands, it has to be like a million. I love when I make an awesome play I know most people wouldn't make. I think there are tons of ways to get better even if you think strategy wise you are pretty solid. One way is like reigning in your emotions or actually following through when you think a rebluff might work, that sort of stuff. Theres tons of things you can improve.
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Date: 2006-09-20 19:13 (UTC)One of my favorite things to do is to watch how another player who I think plays better than I do plays and how they handle situations. I also like to watch players who I think I play just as good as to try to see if I can identify mistakes they are making in their game. Sometimes I just watch how another player acts, how they look when they bet or make a decision and I try to copy them if I like what they do.
With limit hold 'em, I rarely sit in a live game where I think anybody plays better than I do. That is mostly because I play at Foxwoods where the highest limit is 20/40 so the better players are better poker players in general and are playing high limit NL games or stud games or whatever. At Foxwoods I like to try to get better at other things, such as putting my chips in the pot or sitting still or paying attention every hand since I have problems with both of those things.
Online, it is a different story. Usually I am playing against at least one person who either plays better than I do or who I think plays very well. I try to see how they play and see if I can find a weakness in their game. If not then I try to see how things I like about their game could fit into my game to make it better.
I also have a rigid set of strategies in every game in which I play, especially in LHE where there really aren't a whole heck of a lot of different ways to play. But I have found that if you pay attention to the game and try to play your very best, even in a game where you have a set strategy, you can come up with a really nice play or pull off a great bluff or something at least once a session. I think about the rigid strategy as being like putting chips in the pot-- it is something that is so ingrained in me that I don't even really have to think about it. That allows me to deviate profitably from the strategy since the rest of the players are struggling to even reach the point of my rigid strategy.
I think if you branch out what you will find is you get much better at the other games quickly and then find yourself in the same spot, not really getting any better and sort of slumming around not crushing games you should be totally wiping up. I dunno what I'm saying but I think you can learn a lot in every game you are playing, even if it is not specifically strategy-related.
I posted a hand on 2+2 where I wound up raising KTs out of the BB in a 8 way pot, and then capping when it was 3 bet back to me in a LHE game. It was an unorthodox play but it wound up being entirely correct in the game I was in. If I had just been autopiloting, I would have missed that opportunity. I dunno that kind of stuff is where you grind out a little bit of an extra edge.
I still get totally pumped up when I play and I have played I don't know how many hands, it has to be like a million. I love when I make an awesome play I know most people wouldn't make. I think there are tons of ways to get better even if you think strategy wise you are pretty solid. One way is like reigning in your emotions or actually following through when you think a rebluff might work, that sort of stuff. Theres tons of things you can improve.