Poker is a game of luck?
Do you go to Wall Street and tell all the day traders that the stock market is a game of luck? Poker and the stock market are very similar: luck is a part of it, there are swings, but a smart player in the game wins money over the long haul. The fact that sometimes bad players win, is in itself an admittance that there are good players and bad players, therefore it is a game of skill.
If I were to offer you coin flips at $100 a pop with a coin weighted to land heads 55% of the time (for the sake of the argument lets say you can confirm the validity of this), for as many flips as you want and you can have heads, you would take this wager right? Even though you MIGHT be down after 100 flips, 500 flips, heck even 1000 flips. Well, being a knowledgeable poker player is much like this. Sometimes you lose those flips, but the weighted coin affords you a positive expectation in the long run -- which, through patience and discipline, eventually becomes realized.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
From HERE
Hi all, I've moved this from the "online players mistakes" thread as I guess it goes better here.
A while ago I decided to make a list of leaks I found in my game. It's saved me a lot of money in the long run and I'd seriously recommend it to everyone, I haven't reviewed it as often as I should have, so hopefully posting it here will fix that and encourage others to contribute theirs.
The list is below and is pretty much unedited so please forgive the shorthand. I've also included several from one of Mike Caro's articles. Most are for cash games but there are some for tournaments as well.
Tilt
Alcohol
Boredom
Rebuying in unfavourable situations
Playing tight games
Staying in tight games to get money back
Going up in limits to get money back
Playing too fast
Not using all the time available on tough decisions
Chair glue
Getting caught up in chat
Giving information in chat
Showing hands (sometimes good, sometimes bad..need a good reason)
Underestimating the opposition
Going after revenge
Not taking breaks when losing
Timing out
Playing too loose when joining table
Looking to call instead of looking to fold
Loosening up too much to match a loose table
Getting careless with a big stack
a) Calling raise in BB with trash
b) Calling in SB with trash
c) Not calling in SB with trash with good implied odds
a) Folding to a small bet on the river with a large pot
b) Paying off on the river too often
Bluffing too often
Bluffing calling stations
Bluffing too many opponents (3 or more)
Bluffing out of position (see above)
Betting too much when you want a call
Not raising with stone cold nuts when convinced split pot v unknown players
Betting the turn to set up a bluff then not following through on it
Betting on the end with a mediocre hand
Raising on the end with beatable hands (esp trips)
Betting into fish & maniacs on the end where you would usually check
Not respecting raises enough
Calling allin with flush draws
Overrating low flushes
Calling without right pot odds
Playing marginal hands in early position
Not calling loose players with decent non-nut hands
Making desperation bluffs on end
Playing bad razz hands
Trying to gamble a quick win heads up in SNG's
Losing patience at end of SNG's
Going all in with easily dominatable hands (esp Ax Kx)
Raising for information then not acting on it
NL Holdem
Raising too much trying to catch bluffs etc - use minimum decent size amount
Not laying down a good hand vs a big reraise
Overbluffing
Stealing at the wrong time
Bluffing when checked to when several people left to act
Driving people out on the flop with a great hand
Overbetting the pot
Overdoing the aggression
Bluffing into more than 3 or 4 players
Missing bets by trying to slowplay
Getting outdrawn trying to slowplay
Not betting enough on flop & turn with very good hands
Not respecting preflop reraises enough
Mike Caro's Article:
(a) Trying to impress weaker opponents
(b) Playing more aggressively when you're losing
(c) Raising too aggressively when you have to act first next round
(d) Folding too frequently on late rounds
(e) Reluctance to settle for a small loss
(f) Playing a bigger-limit game when a smaller game is more profitable
(g) Making marginal raises against deceptive foes
(h) Bluffing with hands that can only chase away weaker hands
(i) Complaining about bad luck while at the table
(j) Making others self-conscious about bad plays
(k) Bringing a serious winning image to the poker table
(l) Betting marginal hands after bluffers check
Hi all, I've moved this from the "online players mistakes" thread as I guess it goes better here.
A while ago I decided to make a list of leaks I found in my game. It's saved me a lot of money in the long run and I'd seriously recommend it to everyone, I haven't reviewed it as often as I should have, so hopefully posting it here will fix that and encourage others to contribute theirs.
The list is below and is pretty much unedited so please forgive the shorthand. I've also included several from one of Mike Caro's articles. Most are for cash games but there are some for tournaments as well.
Tilt
Alcohol
Boredom
Rebuying in unfavourable situations
Playing tight games
Staying in tight games to get money back
Going up in limits to get money back
Playing too fast
Not using all the time available on tough decisions
Chair glue
Getting caught up in chat
Giving information in chat
Showing hands (sometimes good, sometimes bad..need a good reason)
Underestimating the opposition
Going after revenge
Not taking breaks when losing
Timing out
Playing too loose when joining table
Looking to call instead of looking to fold
Loosening up too much to match a loose table
Getting careless with a big stack
a) Calling raise in BB with trash
b) Calling in SB with trash
c) Not calling in SB with trash with good implied odds
a) Folding to a small bet on the river with a large pot
b) Paying off on the river too often
Bluffing too often
Bluffing calling stations
Bluffing too many opponents (3 or more)
Bluffing out of position (see above)
Betting too much when you want a call
Not raising with stone cold nuts when convinced split pot v unknown players
Betting the turn to set up a bluff then not following through on it
Betting on the end with a mediocre hand
Raising on the end with beatable hands (esp trips)
Betting into fish & maniacs on the end where you would usually check
Not respecting raises enough
Calling allin with flush draws
Overrating low flushes
Calling without right pot odds
Playing marginal hands in early position
Not calling loose players with decent non-nut hands
Making desperation bluffs on end
Playing bad razz hands
Trying to gamble a quick win heads up in SNG's
Losing patience at end of SNG's
Going all in with easily dominatable hands (esp Ax Kx)
Raising for information then not acting on it
NL Holdem
Raising too much trying to catch bluffs etc - use minimum decent size amount
Not laying down a good hand vs a big reraise
Overbluffing
Stealing at the wrong time
Bluffing when checked to when several people left to act
Driving people out on the flop with a great hand
Overbetting the pot
Overdoing the aggression
Bluffing into more than 3 or 4 players
Missing bets by trying to slowplay
Getting outdrawn trying to slowplay
Not betting enough on flop & turn with very good hands
Not respecting preflop reraises enough
Mike Caro's Article:
(a) Trying to impress weaker opponents
(b) Playing more aggressively when you're losing
(c) Raising too aggressively when you have to act first next round
(d) Folding too frequently on late rounds
(e) Reluctance to settle for a small loss
(f) Playing a bigger-limit game when a smaller game is more profitable
(g) Making marginal raises against deceptive foes
(h) Bluffing with hands that can only chase away weaker hands
(i) Complaining about bad luck while at the table
(j) Making others self-conscious about bad plays
(k) Bringing a serious winning image to the poker table
(l) Betting marginal hands after bluffers check
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