Advice Wanted..

Krusty_Clown

I love playing poker... I love watching poker...
But I suck at poker...

I win about half of the games I play with my friends, but they all suck at poker too..
We'd all typically play our hands, and never the odds etc..

I reckon my biggest problems are:
1) Impatience
2) Playing my hand, and not playing the odds.


I'd like to improve my poker.. What's the next step?
Doyle Brunson's super system?

Hyzepher

OK - I am assuming you play Hold'em but this advice is good for othe variants as well.

Generally beginners play too many hands, and will follow the hand right down to the river regardless of what the other players do. You must understand the concept that there are very few hands per round that are unbeatable - the nuts - that you can afford to bet like a madman. The trick is to pay attention to the other players, how they act and ask yourself 'Why did they act like that'. In the long run you will see that moderate level poker players do things logically and this can be their biggest downfall.

If you are playing a game where most people play their hand to the river then even a good hand can be drawn out and you can lose to someone who should have folded ages ago. For example you hold AA pre flop and place a moderate bet - everyone calls. The flop is 6h 9h 5s - you bet again, everyone follows. The turn card is 4s. At this point alarm bells should be going off in your head. With a 6+ handed game the chances are that your AA are dead to either a flush or straight draw. Your opponents holding something like 2h 4h, or 3 7 are now way, way out in front and your AA may look like a winner but will just end up costing you money.

In a game with a higher level of poker player the chances are that your AA is safe - better players do not chase down flush or staight draws with 2h 4h or 3 7.

The best advice to to be aware of your opponents level of play and dont play too many hands.

HyZepher

Davey Devil

Or else your just crap.

Krusty_Clown

Hyzepher: Thanks for your very helpful feedback.

Davey Devil: That should read: Or else you're just crap.

Obscure

It can be difficult to be patient at the start. There's always a voice in your head telling you that this could be the hand where your EXTREMELY lucky and flop something massive!

Should go to http://games.yahoo.com/ or some similiar site and try to play Holdem conservatively! Its more difficult than it sounds. Everyone in those sites bet all the time too (like your friends) cos its not for money. Keep track of your money and hopefully you'll be up at the end of sessions.

ob

Krusty_Clown

Yes, I have to agree, impatience is my greatest problem. It seems to be a big problem for the professionals too though..

Watching some of the World Poker Tournament games recently I've seen a few of them lose a big hand, and then subsequently go out, after calling 'all-in' on what can only be described as a meagre hand.

Lafortezza

What I do is try to figure out what other players could have, especially when the flop goes down.
You can sometimes judge by their reactions and by the way the check or bet if they might have a pair in their hand, a potential flush or straight draw or whatever. Then I compare this info with what is in my hand and potentially what *could* come up for me on the turn and river cards.

Alot of this is kind of based on instinct but it works occasionally.

Hyzepher

The way we play and the way pros play is miles apart - even if it looks like they have make the same mistakes that we do. The reason for this is that pros think like pros and most of the time they act correctly based on hand & position - they might alter this to bluff or be less consistant and be harder to get a tell on.

When we play against our friends or other people of the same level, there is less thought going into each hand. Therefore even if you do the correct thing that a pro would do there is still agood chance that you will be drawn out by someone holding a 63o - in the pro world that hand would be folded 90% of the time.

Best advice would be to learn how to be patient and play the better hands - in the long run this will pay dividend. Once you start winning and others see you as a better player you can then introduce a lot more vaience to your game - bluff more, use the semi-bluff and pressure your opponent etc.

The thing not to do is to go on tilt - that is to convince yourself that every hand can win 'If the right cards come up'! This will only lead to loosing in teh long run.

Hyzepher

Hyzepher

Originally posted by lafortezza
What I do is try to figure out what other players could have, especially when the flop goes down.

Actually this reminds me of another important piece of advice.

Don't put your opponents on a hand - put them on every hand! This will help you to focus on the real value of your own hand. For example, if you have 77 in the pocket and the flop is 99J - you may have 2 pair but you are in deep trouble. The likelihood of someone having a 9 or J is much higher than the odds on another 7 coming up on the turn/river. Of course this doesn't mean that you can't bet it out. It simply means that you must be aware of the 'outs' that you have and the 'outs' that they have.

Hyzepher