Lesson #1

I've finished reading quite a few books now. I just finished reading Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein and have started reading the Poker Mindset by Matthew Hilger. I've been taking notes and orgainizing a great basic strategy. I've been playing a few sit 'n go's from time to time, to try out new ideas and to get comfortable playing my particular style. Right now, I'm playing in the lower stakes, so that any losses won't be detrimental to either my bankroll or to my confidence. So far I've cashed in almost all of them. The results so far are quite encouraging.

One big lesson I have learned so far, is that small ball is the way to go. A lot of players try to hit the home run on almost every hand. They constantly bet the size of the pot, or want to push all their chips in the pot before the flop. Remember that poker is a game in which the best five card hand wins. I keep seeing players overplay their small pairs and a big ace, then get frustrated because players keep sucking out on them. Small ball is the style of play you will see most of the pros use. It consists of making small raises before the flop and getting maximum value from your hand. If you are not comfortable playing your hand after the flop, then I would recommend that you play the home run style. The small ball style relies heavily on being able to play well after the flop. I'll discuss the small ball versus long ball theory later on. That brings me to my first lesson for you.

There are two things you need to do before you begin playing serious poker. The first thing you need to do is devise a starting standard for yourself. Devising a starting standard is more than just play tight in early position, and loose in late position. You have to understand your playing style. If you are a conservative player, you will more than likely play the "standard" hands from each position. If you are a loose player, you will tend to be more creative and deceptive. Whichever style you play, you have to understand yourself and which style you are most comfortable playing. Think about what kinds of hands you play well and which ones you don't play very well. If you play suited connectors well, move them up in your starting standards. If you don't play small pairs very well or don't feel comfortable playing them, move them down in your starting standards. Your starting standards are just that, YOUR starting standards. Nobody can tell you that you should or should not play a hand from any position. If you find that you are losing a lot with certain hands, you will learn that you should probably not play that hand the way you have been playing it. Stay observant on yourself and keep track of what you do well, and what you need to work on. The biggest key to starting standards is position. You want to be playing your hands IN POSITION. Position is the key to No-Limit Hold'em.

The second thing you want to focus on is understanding your opponents. You want to find out if they are tight/loose and aggressive/passive. You will often find that certain opponents can not be bluffed out of a pot, no matter how much you bet. They are willing to call any bet when they have a weak or drawing hand. When you find these players, you will make a lot of money; and they will frustrate you because they are the ones that are more likely to draw out on you. However, as long as you are making the best possible decision, you will win in the long run. Once you know how your opponents are playing, you need to adjust your standards accordingly. If you are against a loose, aggressive player you want to tighten up a little bit and wait to trap them. A lot of people believe that you should play more pots against them. However, I believe that you should look to trap these players more often with stronger hands because they are likely to push against you with marginal hands. You don't want to take a knife to a gun fight. Against passive players, either loose or tight, you want to make smaller value bets to find out where you are at in the hand. Passive players will tend to check and fold to bets, unless they hit the flop. Against calling stations, don't even think about bluffing them. They will call any bet with any kind of a hand. You want to wait for a quality hand and make value bets throughout the hand against them.

Well, that should give you a little something to think about. Good luck at the tables. As always, if you want to discuss anything I might have a little knowledge on, drop me a line. You can e-mail me through my profile.

On a Different Note

I went and saw the play Spamalot this weekend. If you are a fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you have to see this show. It was one of the funniest plays I have ever seen. It has a lot of scenes adapted from the movie, but it is not a direct rip off. I am a huge fan of Monty Python, and if you are as well, you will find yourself quoting the show on the way out, and several days later. The first time I saw this show was in Las Vegas at the Wynn casino. The theater at the Wynn is incredible. There is not a bad seat in the house at the Wynn casino. On a final note, if you are looking for a funny movie, try to find Air Guitar Nation. It is incredibly funny.

Time to get to work. Hope you are finding the leaks in your game and staying aggressive. Well, selectively aggressive, not overly aggressive. I'll get into that topic in a future post. Good luck at the tables.

Testing the Waters

I played a few token tournaments tonight, to test out different tournament strategies. Some of the concepts I was trying to emphasize were starting standards and playing position. I played in 5 FTP token tournaments, and won 3 $26 tournament tokens. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. The first two were pretty easy. The last one had some pretty good players.

I have to give major props to Chrisfrost04. He was a good player, and tested me the whole way. I had him outchipped by almost 3:1 in heads up play. He limped on the button, and I woke up with 99. In a full ring game, this is a marginal hand. However, in a heads up game, almost any pair can be considered a great starting hand. The blinds were 300-600 and he only had about 2900. So, I raised enough to put him all in, and he quickly called with JJ. The flop came out all rags, 7 high. The turn brought a 9, and a brick on the river. If it wasn't for a lucky break on my part, we would probably still be playing. He was a great competitor and from his table presence and etiquette, I gained a lot of respect for his play.

That brings me to my rant for the evening. One thing I could not stand playing in these tournaments, was the sheer amount of complaining, bitching, and just outright rude behavior. Every poker player has taken and delivered a bad beat. There were a couple of times tonight, when I was short stacked, that I was trying to just steal the blinds and got called by a better hand and sucked out. That is a part of the game. But when a player loses their mind and starts complaining and calling the other players donkeys and idiots, that's when it becomes laughable. It's laughable because they usually are not as big a favorite as they thought. In fact, there was one hand in particular where the complainer was about a 2:1 dog, on the flop, even though the other player didn't even have a pair yet. But even when they are a big favorite, those are the situations every player wants to be in. Would you rather put all your money on the line on a coin flip proposition, or as a 80% favorite to win? I know that's a tough one, but you would be retarded if you said you would rather put your money on the line with only a 50% chance to win. Remember, all you can do is put your money in with the best of it. In the long run, if you keep making the right decisions, you should be a winning player.

I'll leave you with that for the night. If there is anything I can help you out with, drop me a line.

*UPDATE*
I played two more token tournaments, and won another token. Going into four handed, I was sitting in third place. The chip leader had over 8000 and was playing solid, but was chasing draws when he wasn't getting the right price. When I got to heads up play with him, he had me out chipped about 2:1. I caught a couple of hands and ended up doubling through. After the successes for the day, I am feeling quite encouraged by my results so far.

Encouraging

I've finished reading Super System 1 & 2, as well as Hold'em Wisdom for All Players. I have gained a lot of insight and have felt amazingly encouraged and refreshed. By relearning a basic strategy and some fundamental concepts, I feel that I am shaking the stagnant and frustrated feelings I was experiencing. So now it is time to build upon that and add more advanced concepts. The next books I am planning on reading are Barry Greenstein's Ace on the River and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. I consider both of these books for experienced to advanced players.

I have read Phil Gordon's Little Green Book a while ago. I feel that it is a great book for poker players that have an understanding for the game. It lays out the content in a manner that is both concise and does not pander to beginning players. I would not recomennd the book to new players. The best part about the Little Green Book is that it gets right to the point. He does not write for ten pages to describe a single subject. He gives you only the information you need.

My plan is to continue to add concepts that do not go against my basic strategy. A lot of people would say that you should add as much to your strategy as possible. However, I feel that you should keep your basic strategy as simple as possible. Remember, this is your "normal" game. You want to be comfortable with your normal style and not have to overthink or get confused by five different strategies and concepts. You can add whichever strategy you like to your game. Just remember that you want to make sure that it is additive. Do not add overly complicated tools to your arsenal if you are not prepared to use them or do not understand when and where to use them.

A lot of players watch the WSOP or the WPT and see a player like Gus Hansen make a play that wins him a large pot. They see him raise with a junk hand, and they think that is the way they are supposed to play. What they don't understand, is that Gus Hansen has been setting up that play, or has a read on his opponents' that new players do not have. That is why you should keep your strategy simple when you are a less experienced player. Eventually, you will get to the point, where you will be able to make great plays on opponents, by knowing what they have and what the best play would be.

One last concept to think about. There are many levels to poker. Remember, poker is a game of people played with cards. In the first level, you simply think about what hand you have. All new and weak players are at this level. They only think about what cards they hold, and will only play their hand according to this. In the second level of poker, you think about what your opponent might have. In this level, you put your opponent on a hand, in relation to yours, and decide what the best strategy to use would be. In this level, you are putting your opponent on a hand, and if you feel they are weak, will play their hand against them. Many times, it doesn't even matter what cards you have, because you know that they cannot play back at you. In the third level of poker, you think what your opponent thinks you have. In this level, you have to think about what kind of hand your opponent thinks that you have. This is the part of the game that I love.

If poker was a game in which only the best hand won every time, it would be a boring game. Remember that poker is a game of people. You have to know your opponent and what their playing style and tendencies are. Well, time to get ready for our weekly game. Good luck to you at the tables. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Day One

I have been playing poker, both online and live, for a few years now. I have played all over; including the Commerce Casino in California, Bellagio in Las Vegas, local casinos, but play mostly on Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars. My results have been decent, but I know there is a lot of improvement that could be made. So I decided to start this blog as an intorspective way to see what I am doing right, and what needs improvement.

One of the first things I noticed, is that I have about 15 different poker books that I have read. I started thinking, "Am I approaching the game the way I should? Do I have the skills necessary to succeed?" I have won several tournaments, both online and live; and am a regular winner at our weekly home game. However, it made me stop and think for a second. I found that all of the information I have learned over the years, has become stagnant or cluttered. So I am going to start over from the beginning. Take a little refresher course, if you will.

One thing you have to remember, is that if you don't have a good grasp of the fundamentals and basic strategy, you can't build upon that. It's just like math. If you don't know how to add and subtract, would you be able to understand the concepts behind geometry? I feel that this is the biggest leak in most players games. They will delude themselves or feel that most of the beginner books are not geared for them. Remember that most poker players have an extremely large ego. They feel that they know everything they need to know. This is where you can get a huge advantage on your opponents.

So, this is what my blog is going to be about. Hopefully I can teach you a little something about the game that I love. As with any game, there will be ups and downs. I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible, and give insights into what progress is being made. If you have any suggestions or comments, don't hesitate to drop me a line. Let's get to it...

Learning All Over Again

Where to begin? That is the question. In today's market, there are a plethera of sources. There are literally hundreds of different books and online sites that offer strategies and advice. One of the best places to start, in my opinion, is by reading Super System 1 & 2. This series is considered the Old and New Testament of poker. And I would consider it required reading for any serious poker player. So this is where I will begin my journey, again.

I decided to use this strategy as my foundation. From there, I will add information and strategies, but not try to over complicate anything. I believe this is where a lot of players make a major mistake. They read and study a lot of different material, and some of that material is counter productive to each other. One strategy is great for one situation; whereas, another strategy may not work in the same situation. I believe that you should have a solid foundation of both basic strategy and starting standards. From there, you can add more advanced strategies and reads. But you should try to understand one basic strategy and build from there. You also want to take your own playing style into account. You will have your "A" game and your normal playing style. These styles will vary from each other. At the beginning of a tournament, everybody is trying to play their "A" game. However, once they get comfortable and start to settle down, they will begin playing their normal game. You need to understand your normal playing style. Are you normally tight or loose? Do you crave action? Or can you be patient and wait for the positive expected value situations? This is why you need to understand yourself and your motivations.

A lot of players will consider Super System outdated and archaic. To some extent, I would agree. However, Super System is still a great source for learning a basic strategy for almost every popular poker game. The only reason why I would partially agree with the previous statement, is because so many people have read Super System. Super System 2 has some great information on other forms of poker, especially Omaha and Limit Hold'em. However, the No-Limit Hold'em section is a review of the original Super System.

Once I have finished reading the Super System series, the next book I will be reading is Daniel Negreanu's Hold'em Wisdom for All Players. I have been taking notes and devising my strategy as I go. I am doing this, so that I have a solid grasp of both basic strategies and starting standards. I have a lot of experience playing the game, so my strategy is not based solely on theoretical situations. I have taken just about every bad beat possible, and have had to suck out from time to time. So I have an understanding of how the game works and operates.

Well, time to get back to work. It will be a long and hard road. But I feel that once I am done, I will be a solid player that will continue to improve over time.