Let go of my Eggo…. wait Ego.

The past week or so I’ve been thinking of how a persons ego can affect their game. The thought crossed my mind as I played a Limit 2/4 Hold Em table. I watched two players who are normally fairly timid and selectively aggressive players suddenly become hyper-aggressive monkeys. However, they were only hyper-aggressive against each other. Then the trash talk started to occur in the chat box, “come get me buddy”, “good luck”, “you’re momma is …” You get the point.

It occurred to me that neither of these players was really gaining anything, money or brains wise. They were basically swapping money while creating rake for the site. And I’m sure we’ve all seen this occur numerous times AND I’ll admit (and I’m sure you do too) that I‘ve been affected by this same brain-dead syndrome. So, why do we decided to pull these sorts of antics? (more…)

The Pre-Flop Push: A Defense, Part 2

See Part 1

So, in my prior post on this subject I promised a discussion about using this strategy when you’re an underdog to your opponents. What I mean here is that there are situations where you recognize right away that you are playing against people whose skills are superior to your own.

What? You’ve never been that situation? You’re always the best player at the table? Every time? Really?

Oh. Guess it’s just me then. Anyway…

Most poker players I know refuse to admit they are in a game where they aren’t the best person at the table. It’s an ego thing, and it can be deadly for your bankroll. We never want to believe we’re the fish in the game, but the fact is all “fishiness” is relative. Sometimes, you’re the shark; other times you’re the guppy. Just depends on who you’re up against.

You can control your game selection in live games because you actually have to go someplace, usually with people you know, sometimes with some intelligence about the skill level of your opponents. But online, especially in the tournament and SNG world, you’re flying blind.

Is donkalicious99 a high-buy-in, solid player on a bad run and stepping down to $10 SNGs? Is HotMary69 a newbie?

There are some tools out there that can give you a little insight into your opponents – Sharkscope, PokerDB, etc -but they’re limited because they can’t track players using different screen names on different sites. They also typically cost a few bucks to subscribe to, so you’re limited in how many searches you can do.

So, long story short, you get in a game and find 2 players are listed in Sharkscope as “Sharks”, and 420Bong420 sitting on your left is chatting away but hasn’t played a hand since Jesus Christ was pitching pennies against the temple wall.

Hmmm.

As you suspected, you survive the $10 SNG down to the bubble in, oh, 30 minutes, because the rest of the field is that bad. Now, it’s you and 3 solid folks, and you’ve seen a couple of advanced moves from each already. You know you’re the fish among those who are left.

How does that feel? (I don’t know, I’m never the fish… )

I keed, I keed.

You’re intimidated. You’ve already put up the buy-in, so it’s not like you can cash out and leave. You know you’ll be outplayed in the long run.

And therein lies the answer: Don’t let there be a long run.

Reduce the number of decisions to be made. Force the other players to make big decisions as early as possible with the BARE MINIMUM of information.

DO NOT PLAY THEIR GAME!

This is NO-LIMIT poker – don’t fall into their traps of “oh, let’s just see a flop,” and “why so big a raise so early?” You MUST set the tone and control the table. You don’t want to be mindless about it – if you’re a middle-stack and there’s a short-stack you want to be very selective about the hands you play. But, you can’t give up either, or you’ll be broomcorned out of the game. Every other player needs to be aware that if you’re in a pot, you’re playing for all of your chips, and all, or most, of theirs. This will make THEM be more selective about getting into pots with you. Change gears, be unpredictable, and watch who seems to be content to fold into the money and push on that person with any reasonable hand.

Solid players understand the Gap Concept very well. This is what you’re exploiting. The hand they’ll call off all of their chips with is going to be a lot better than the hand they’ll bet all of their chips on, and those hands don’t come around often enough. When this is the only decision they get to make in the hand, you’re playing the game that gives YOU the best opportunity to beat the better player.

 Comments or discussion? Shoot them to me at Big Slick Nuts Poker Blog.

The Pre-Flop Push: A Defense

Part 1: The Short-Stack

  

One of the more controversial strategies in texas hold ‘em tournament poker these days is going all in pre-flop, otherwise known as the “Push”. Those who consider themselves better players want more decisions to make, believing that if they make more decisions correctly than their opponent, they will win most of the time. The other camp will point you to Independent Chip Models and show you mathematically that they are ‘right’ to push.

  

So, who’s right? (more…)

The effect of UIEGA on Canadians

As we all know the UIEGA caused major havoc to the world of online poker. However, since the legislation, what has happened to other countries with online poker? Specifically Online Poker in Canada

Since the pull out the major sites that continue to support US players have continued to flourish, gaining customers who were regulars on other sites.  Although this is an option for international players it can be argued that the bonuses and players are tougher at these sites.  Leaving us the option to search for different places to play.

The sites that have pulled out of the US have moved the concentration of their marketing dollars to other big markets, ie. Europe and to some degree Asia.

What can be seen at the poker sites that do not allow Americans is a dramatic shift in the peak hours of operation.  The peak hours (for any country) occur in the evening between 7-11pm.  Observing the graphs at the bottom of the page at pokersitescout shows this dramatic shift.

Prior to the UIGEA the peak hours of operation for Party Poker were from 3-10pm Pacific Standard Time.  Now the peak hours are 12-4pm  PST.
What does this all mean?  Well, a dramatic shift in the number of players at each site.  Thus creating a shift in the ‘optimal’ playing hours.

Now when we log-on after work to a smaller site that focus mainly European Customers (eg: Cryptologic Sites, SunPoker, Interpoker, etc.).  The number of ring-games running is significantly lower.  However, logging on to the same site at Noon, 5-10 times as many tables are running per limit.

It’s still a good time to play poker online from Canada. And having access to all the poker sites is definitely an advantage. The optimal hours of playing have changed and adapting accordingly is important.

Patient Poker is Winning Poker

Be Patient: Rome wasn�t built in a day. Everyone wants to build up a huge stack of chips and to win tons of money, but don�t get impatient and try to do it in one hand. Winning poker players are successfully because they identify small, tiny advantages and they get the most out of them, over time. Don�t try to rush things. Wait for good cards and good situations to come to you.

Be a Poker Snob

Be Selective: Winning players are very selective about the poker hands they play, immediately folding the majority of hands they�re dealt. Losing players, on the other hand, are often losing players because they play far too many hands.