Deconstructing ..... 5starpool

Ste05

This one should be enjoyable. It's 5starpool up next according to this thread.

Same Rules:

There can be NO flaming, this isn't a chance for people to have a shot at who ever goes in. Entrants to the Deconstructing series will have their thick skins on but forum rule breaches will be dealt swiftly and harshly with by a 1 week ban, so you have all been warned.

Just to spell it out: NO PERSONAL ATTACKS, criticise and critique his game and NOTHING else!

Keep it constructive and good luck 5starpool.

ocallagh

at last someone i know! will defo reply to this one later

smurph

To be honost Dom,
I think that you have a very solid game and maybe your only downfall would be your self confidence.

I especially like your Omaha game, you are very patient when all around you are in gambol humour.

Your poker face is a scream.:D

ollyk1

I used to think you limped too much in the mid stage of tournies and that you didn't play the bubble aggressively enough at certain tables. Less so now.

You have tilt and tiredness issues like any working (well getting up and going into work) pleb...

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

ocallagh

I've only played a few times against you despite playing in dozens of tournaments with you. In the last few months I've only played in one tournament with you in the SE.

My comments are probably not up to date.

I think you need to step up the aggression slightly by doing a bit more raising and 3-betting pre-flop and also by increasing your post flop agression too by picking up any uncontested pot with your solid image and also making sure you cbet enough.

You have a great attitude to the game, joke a lot at the table and get on very well with everyone, but don't let it distract you. You should try to take in a bit more information at the table. Maybe you do it very discreetly!

That's all! As I said I haven't played an awful lot with you but those would be my only comments.

cardshark202

Its been so long since I played with you in a tournament, but I think what Niall says is about right. You are generally pretty solid and rarely make any big mistakes.

Gholimoli

i havent played that many games with you either ,but the few times that i have done i thought you had a solid game as has been said.

not making big mistakes is very important cuz it can finish your tourney in one hand and that is what you dont do so its a big plus.

i would agree that i think you may not have the confidence in your game that you really should .

i think your aggression is fine ,i think for people who pay attention you build a solid image and i think you are aware that you should take advantage of that and you do.
i dont think you are as good as me in Omaha but i can imagine your pretty handy.

i have not played any cash game with you that i can recall other wise i would be able to much better analyse.

Ace2007

Gholimoli wrote:

i dont think you are as good as me in Omaha but i can imagine your pretty handy.

Ooo sounds like a challenge....

ditpoker

ocallagh wrote:

I think you need to step up the aggression slightly by doing a bit more raising and 3-betting pre-flop and also by increasing your post flop agression too by picking up any uncontested pot with your solid image and also making sure you cbet enough.

the underlined bit was more or less what i was about to type until i scanned ocallagh's post. in my limited table time with you (and mainly from what i've read about ur tournaments results here) you seem to go deep very often... effectively patience of a saint and limping into the money, im basing this on the fact that from what i can see you have alot more 8th-5th's than you do 1st-4th's. maybe about 10-12 players out, dont be worried about getting to the final table or into the money... put urself in a position to win it or go home a bit earlier.

again, i have limited table time with you and am basing the above on bits ive read on boards...

5starpool

Cheers so far all. However, the secrets to unlock my hidden (to me) weaknesses are not contained above. A lot of the stuff above is, or was, indisputible. Most of the above posters are not those that I have played with recently or very frequently. There are a good few more posters here who I would be interested to hear from, but there may be a few reasons why not:

1. I am just 'not creative enough' and there is no specific feedback beyond that. This I would generally agree with, especially in the past.
2. People don't want to give away their secret tells about me. Fair enough, but it'd be nice to know if I had any
3. People can't be arsed. I understand this one well

There are people who have played Omaha cash with me as well here, so anything to add there too would be nice. I'm not that sensitive, honestly. I reckon I have played live with as many people on this site as anyone nearly, there has to be more willing contributors.

Ace2007

its been a long time since we've play on the same table - except for the EOM, which we were both card dead for...

kebabfest

One tell you have is when you have a big hand pre-flop you push all your chips in with both hands looking down at the chips.
This will be done in the space of 10 seconds after looking at your cards. (If somebody has raised before you or limped then and the touney is in the mid stages this is your reaction.)
( I am expecting you to PM with one of my tells after saying that. )
In terms of your play I cant say much else about what has been said :

That is you have a very solid game, but I dont think you play the player enough. I think you must increase your aggression, widen your starting hand range and frequency of bluffing.
You do bluff, but it is so infrequent you dont get paid off as much as you should on your big hands.
Now it has been a while since I played against you , but I cant imagine your game has changed that much.
Well thats my 10 nonsense.

DeVore

Having reported on you, and played against you occasionally I think you are a solid player who has patience in abundance. I would generally choose to avoid mixing it up with you on most tables.
I think you probably hit it on the head yourself when you said "not creative enough". I would peg you as a tight enough player so I would imagine that only bad players would pay off your big hands. Perhaps thats wrong, only you can tell...

Summary: good solid, ABC player, easier chips elsewhere.... could stick in a few big aggro moves occasionally.

DeV.

eoghan104

5starpool wrote:

Cheers so far all. However, the secrets to unlock my hidden (to me) weaknesses are not contained above. A lot of the stuff above is, or was, indisputible. Most of the above posters are not those that I have played with recently or very frequently. There are a good few more posters here who I would be interested to hear from, but there may be a few reasons why not:

1. I am just 'not creative enough' and there is no specific feedback beyond that. This I would generally agree with, especially in the past.
2. People don't want to give away their secret tells about me. Fair enough, but it'd be nice to know if I had any
3. People can't be arsed. I understand this one well

There are people who have played Omaha cash with me as well here, so anything to add there too would be nice. I'm not that sensitive, honestly. I reckon I have played live with as many people on this site as anyone nearly, there has to be more willing contributors.

Ive played alot of Omaha with you Dom but havent replied as I dont really have any criticisms I can make. I do think that you could open up your game a tiny bit but Im clutching at straws here.

Your a very solid Omaha player and can easily beat the 50 game if you stay confident, you seem to go through phases of expecting to lose and its like an extended Tilt.

Thats all I can add but as i say im clutching at straws!

Marq

I think you should bluff more at omaha tables.

5starpool

kebabfest wrote:

One tell you have is when you have a big hand pre-flop you push all your chips in with both hands looking down at the chips.
This will be done in the space of 10 seconds after looking at your cards. (If somebody has raised before you or limped then and the touney is in the mid stages this is your reaction.)

It must be a while since you have palyed with me if I had enough chips to use both hands

General rule of thumb is one stack of chips, one hand, more than one stack, both hands. I don't usually shove without a big hand anyways, but I'll try to be a bit conscious in this area, so cheers. I am usually careful not to have anything that obvious there.

kebabfest

5starpool wrote:

It must be a while since you have palyed with me if I had enough chips to use both hands

General rule of thumb is one stack of chips, one hand, more than one stack, both hands. I don't usually shove without a big hand anyways, but I'll try to be a bit conscious in this area, so cheers. I am usually careful not to have anything that obvious there.

That is a good point. However I would watch your time delay.

Bandara

Hi Dom

I've played a good bit with you at both tourney and cash over the past year or two, mostly tourneys I think.

Firstly your a very nice guy to play with, you enjoy yourself and we always a have a bit of banter at the table. To be honest as some others said you can be a bit too tight/one dimensionable sometimes and I would usually not get involved with you unless I had a strong holding. I'm always going to be cautious enough about goign to war with you and I think therefore your not getting paid off by me (and tohers) as much on the big hands as you should be.

I would rarely assume your bluffing when you do start firing chips in, I have noticed that you sometimes tend to just shove on some flops fairly light after you have raised preflop out of position. You don't seem to like checking (which is fair enough) but you can walk into some hands here. If I have chips I'd be much more inclined to call you in a situation like this than I normally ever would with something like with top pair, average kicker as I'd be good a fair bit of the time. thats the only leak I have noticed personally, I might be wrong though.

At cash as marq said you are a bit too tight I think especially Omaha where you nbut peddle a lot of the time, I see some of the stronger omaha players pick up on this and take pots away from you too easily sometimes. In gerenal I think at cash games you seem to credit the other players at the table as having the level of ability and discipline as yourself, which isn't the case a lot of the time as your a far better player than they are. Maybe sometimes you should look up these guys when the make a stab a pot that you have a decent enough peice off.

In saying this your a winning player imo and what works for you wotrks for you.

anyways, that my 2 cents worth.

p.s. Them red polo tops with the stars on are naff, its soooo not your colour

ocallagh

an interesting experiment might be to try and bust out of your next 10 tournaments on a bluff!

Doc Farrell

5starpool wrote:

Cheers so far all. However, the secrets to unlock my hidden (to me) weaknesses are not contained above. A lot of the stuff above is, or was, indisputible. Most of the above posters are not those that I have played with recently or very frequently. There are a good few more posters here who I would be interested to hear from, but there may be a few reasons why not:

1. I am just 'not creative enough' and there is no specific feedback beyond that. This I would generally agree with, especially in the past.
2. People don't want to give away their secret tells about me. Fair enough, but it'd be nice to know if I had any
3. People can't be arsed. I understand this one well

There are people who have played Omaha cash with me as well here, so anything to add there too would be nice. I'm not that sensitive, honestly. I reckon I have played live with as many people on this site as anyone nearly, there has to be more willing contributors.

I wasn't going to bother typing but this is an easy thread as your game is almost identical to mine. You have an image of being a rock but i know you are a bluffer on occassion boyo!

Do not play tired. It is actually worse than playing drunk. And i should know. in fact i'm drunk right now. so leave for home at 1am, 2am latest.

accept the fact that although you are better than 80% of those you play against you will get unlucky. do not chase loses. do not allow yourself to play while on full tilt.

keep the silly 3 bet fancy play for cash games. do not get fancy in tourneys. patience is your ally. apply heat but pull back when you know you are behind.

you play so much that it is important for your mental balance to get away from it. develop another interest outside of work and boards to balance it. may i recommend something like swimming or star watching. anything but booze or self destructive women (no personel experience).

you MAY be easier to read if you concentrate too much on the board. i've seen this in rounders123, lots of internet players, great online players but possibly too easy to read when they concentrate on the hand and not the player.

final point: and i may be further off on this than on the previous few: the only real question for any player: bankroll management: do not jump into big games because the game is soft or full of crazy chinamen/irishmen. i do not think that right now there is a game you cannot beat. providing you are not tired and steaming and concentrating too much and insulted by the play around you.

in short, i think i'm trying to say that i love you baby.

hugs, dessie.

see you in lukes new place in a few weeks. hopefully not at the omaha table.

one final point, take breaks fromplaying cards for weeks at a time and buy a cheap car from me and we'll go for a game of golf.

d

ditpoker

ocallagh wrote:

an interesting experiment might be to try and bust out of your next 10 tournaments on a bluff!

interesting... INTERESTING!!!!

i'm having a good at this of late. does it have to be a complete bluff, or can it be a bluff with outs?

ocallagh

ditpoker wrote:

interesting... INTERESTING!!!!

i'm having a good at this of late. does it have to be a complete bluff, or can it be a bluff with outs?

a regular bluff gets u 1 point

well if u have absolutely no outs whatsoever u get 5 bonus points. if there's an awkward silence at the table after you are called and bust, you get an extra bonus bonus point.

a ridiculous bluff with runner runner opportunities gets u 3 bonus points.

after 10 tournaments we add up our totals and the winner gets a trophy of some sorts

cardshark202

ocallagh wrote:

a regular bluff gets u 1 point

well if u have absolutely no outs whatsoever u get 5 bonus points. if there's an awkward silence at the table after you are called and bust, you get an extra bonus bonus point.

a ridiculous bluff with runner runner opportunities gets u 3 bonus points.

after 10 tournaments we add up our totals and the winner gets a trophy of some sorts

Great idea, now lets not derail the thread any further

ditpoker

hehehe, i think the jackpot €20 game just got more interesting!!
what if you stack of a large portion of your stack but because you have tried about 16 audacious bluffs in the previous orbit and now have more chips than the chief and you dont quite bust... what do u get!?

edit: sorry cardshark! BACK ON TOPIC!

5starpool

Some interesting things there all, cheers. It's easy to Niall doesn't play in the idiot fests around Dublin regularly enough, as there is usually a few calling stations more than willing to call bluffs, no matter how audacious. I'd win that points thing easily, but it might not be a good spend of money. However, I think pushing the boat out a bit more in mid stages is probably something I will have to try more of.

I do bluff a good bit more than people think, although it is usually on occasion in card dead spells etc, so it looks like bigger hands etc. My light-calling range in Omaha could definitely do with some expanding as well. I'd love to say that the above are new points to my attention, but I have been struggling with incorporating them for a while now.

A special word of thanks to Des for the karmic advice and unnecessary sugar........