Your Quirk

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

Was talking to some of the players in the €50+ 1 re-buy in the Merrion last night and they were talking about some of the quirks in their play. One player always raises with J-9 preflop; another always folds QQ preflop no matter what the bet. Just got me thinking about the quirks in my own (far from perfect) game. I think Q-7 is the hand i am most irrationally attracted to. Its because i read in a book that early poker statisicians mistakenly thought it was the best hand in poker and i am quite fascinated as to how they could have thought that.

So, the question is; what are the hole cards that you are most likely to emotionally rather than rationally play?

Iago

64s or 72s or 85s

Samba

I have a softspot for J10s, while I will rarely call big raises with this, I so often call min raises and out of position with this hand, I also have a strange attraction to K10, not to hit top pair tho, I have lost count how many times I have very luckily flopped/turned the nuts with this hand

Culchie

J 2

which is a crap hand, but it always flops a 2 pair

I'm trying hard tp give this hand up, but it is sooo good to me,.... I've nearly managed to kick the habit

Hectorjelly

Roundtower2 wrote:

another always folds QQ preflop no matter what the bet.

what an idiot

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

Hectorjelly wrote:

what an idiot

he must have lost a huge amount of money on them in the past and doesn't feel psychologically comfortable playing them anymore. or maybe he's just an idiot!

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

hey, and hector, stop calling everyone idiots!

smurph

The hand that i really like, and seem to get quite alot is the infamous K 10 suited or off suit, doesn't really matter. I just really like the hand, forget the odds for and against and all that blah blah stuff, it has been good to me and also broke my heart but there you go...... I also know a player in the Fitz who if they have a 10 in the hand will stay for a bet, no matter what, so we all have favourite cards.

Dave

I tend assume my cowboys and aces won't hold up. My least favourite card is a 10, and my favourite mid pocket pair is 88. Strange I know.

Einstein

pocket 7's seem to be good for me, I'll always play a J10 aswell.
Thats only the experience i have in the few months I'm playing though

karlh

Roundtower2 wrote:

I think Q-7 is the hand i am most irrationally attracted to. Its because i read in a book that early poker statisicians mistakenly thought it was the best hand in poker and i am quite fascinated as to how they could have thought that.

not quite, they calculated that Q7 is the exact 'median hand', meaning exactly in between 72os and AA, aparently a lot more complicated to calculate than first thought.

my quirk is having a profitable online poker career, doing well in boards tourneys and completely underachieving in MTTs in the Fitz

Zulu

hole 8's. I've taken down lovely hands on the river with pocket 8's.

fade2black

I love anything suited and within 5 cards of one another.

growler

I have an irrational attraction to Q6, but I am slowly weaning myself off it.

Hectorjelly

Roundtower2 wrote:

he must have lost a huge amount of money on them in the past and doesn't feel psychologically comfortable playing them anymore. or maybe he's just an idiot!

If you are emotionally affected so much by past bad beats that you wont play the 3rd best hand in holdem then you should stop playing. A corrollary of this is that it would be idiotic to keep playing and as such you might be considered an idiot if you did.

I think its quite likely he was lying to you.

Hectorjelly

Roundtower2 wrote:

hey, and hector, stop calling everyone idiots!

Retard or idiot, its your choice.

AmarilloFats

With his apparently keen intellect and snappy responses HJ has an almost Sklansky-esque type aura on this forum..
soon he'll be saying, "I'll let someone else elaborate".

NickyOD

Hectorjelly wrote:

Retard or idiot, its your choice.

I prefer fuktard or faeces throwing monkey. idiot just isn't cutting enough for someone who does that.

lzhn

hi, this is my first post.

Do you think overplaying a "favourite hand" like J-9 is always a weakness or is it a nice way to introduce a bit of unpredictability into your play?

(the reason j-9 is my fav hand is that the first hand i ever played in the fitz i flopped two pair with it against A-A!)

TacT

I make QQ the fourth best hand in holdem after AA/KK/AKs?

J10s or not for me

Hectorjelly

TacT wrote:

I make QQ the fourth best hand in holdem after AA/KK/AKs?

J10s or not for me

Some people prefer QQ, some people prefer AKs

NickyOD

lzhn wrote:

hi, this is my first post.

Do you think overplaying a "favourite hand" like J-9 is always a weakness or is it a nice way to introduce a bit of unpredictability into your play?

(the reason j-9 is my fav hand is that the first hand i ever played in the fitz i flopped two pair with it against A-A!)

Most people have a simlar favourite hands. Usually its a big drawing hand like 9Ts. Mine is 79s. A lot of people like JTs 78s etc. Nothing wrong with raising with these kind of hands occasionally to mix up your play because you will often either take the blinds or catch good flop.

gerire

What, you guys mean there is other starting hands than AA? pffft!

Hectorjelly

gerire wrote:

What, you guys mean there is other starting hands than AA? pffft!

Now thats tight!

DeVore

and only when they are suited


There is a very sound Game Theory argument in favour of playing a "favourite" hand in a non-optimal (if there IS such a thing) way. It introduces unpredictability and even if you get caught on it you can show it and have people thinking weird things about you. the further anyone thinks of you from how you ACTUALLY play the better for you in the long run.

DeV.

Imposter

DeVore wrote:

There is a very sound Game Theory argument in favour of playing a "favourite" hand in a non-optimal (if there IS such a thing) way. It introduces unpredictability and even if you get caught on it you can show it and have people thinking weird things about you. the further anyone thinks of you from how you ACTUALLY play the better for you in the long run.

Speaking of Game Theory, does anyone have any links or book reccomendations for an easy to understand introduction to it (Moreso than just what is in the theory of poker)?

Hectorjelly

Imposter wrote:

Speaking of Game Theory, does anyone have any links or book reccomendations for an easy to understand introduction to it (Moreso than just what is in the theory of poker)?

Game Theory and Strategy by Philip Straffin is a good introduction. A solid understanding of elementary maths is probably required to follow it, and it never actually mentions poker, just the basics of game theory.

Imposter

Hectorjelly wrote:

Game Theory and Strategy by Philip Straffin is a good introduction. A solid understanding of elementary maths is probably required to follow it, and it never actually mentions poker, just the basics of game theory.

Thanks, will get around to it when I get through my current reading list. Sometime around 2010 by the looks of things.

careca

TacT wrote:

I make QQ the fourth best hand in holdem after AA/KK/AKs?

J10s or not for me

You'd be wrong

TacT

careca wrote:

You'd be wrong

that's great, care to elaborate? My personal preference would be AKs over QQ
Why wrong?

biteme

TacT wrote:

that's great, care to elaborate? My personal preference would be AKs over QQ
Why wrong?

I think he's getting at stats such as:

pokenum  -h qd qh  - as ks 
Holdem Hi: 1712304 enumerated boards
cards     win   %win    lose  %lose   tie  %tie     EV
Qd Qh  917606  53.59  787966  46.02  6732  0.39  0.538
As Ks  787966  46.02  917606  53.59  6732  0.39  0.462

NickyOD

I would take AK over QQ any time.

Fatboydim

Interestingly - According to Poker stove
Pocket 2s v AK is 52.65% fav /
Pocket 8s 55.16% /
Pocket Qs is 56.75% fav

So queens are only slightly better than 8s against AK - and most of us would fold a small or mid pair if we thought we were up against overcards. [Depending on game conditions of course]

My silly hand is 78 - Mainly because I was beaten twice by a pro player with this hand - on the second occasion cracking my aces. The reasoning seems to be that it's a good hand for connecting with middling flops ie: 4 5 6 - 9 10 J.

I also get very edgy with AK because I never seem to win with it.

Bigun

i rarely play any hand with a J in it but i will play any hand with a Q in it

Hitman Actual

One thing I find with QQ is that it's a lot harder to play than AK. Something like 40% of flops will have an Ace or King when you have QQ, if I remember correctly, so you often have a tough decision to make on the flop. With AK, if you dont flop anything, it's easy to get away from. I still prefer QQ, though, but not by a lot.

JuliusFranco

much prefer AK over QQ

76s and 75s i really like.. and for some reason QJs...not a big fan of JTs

roryc

I love playin suited connectors, especially J 10 and 9 10. Prefer Kings over Aces (honestly!). Always get beaten with aces or just take blinds. Can't remeber the last time I got paid with them. Incidently I cant remember the last time I lost on kings...

Also, i will call a min raise with ANYTHING if there is value in the pot and i dont think it will be re-raised.
- called a min raise last night with 2 6o. Flop comes A 2 2. turn 6............
emmm I won that hand. The look on your mans face when he turned over AK

My worst hand has got to be Jacks. I always aim to just rob blinds with them cos they are NOT as good as they look. Prefer tens or nines for some reason.

Lafortezza

QQ over AKs all the way. Those stats depend on seeing all five cards, if you get to see a flop with money left over sometimes the AKs will miss and fold to the QQ's bet on the flop. An A or K could have come on turn or river.

DeVore

stop it stop it you're hurting my head..... >.<

DeV.

Jaden

Depending on where in a tourney I am, I vary prefering QQ over AK. Early on, AK is more likely to be played in a way that gets paid. I prefer it then. Later on in a tourney, say, after freezeout, I prefer QQ, because you can push preflop with it. You will almost certainly be ahead, and a favourite to smaller PP and suited connectors. I'd hope to be called by AK every time. QQ is a great hand late on when small stacks are looking to push with A,x or small PP.

gerire

HectorJelly wrote:

Now thats tight

Im playing so tight at the moment I havnt touched a poker game in 2 months, Im suffering out here, I need my fix. Im trying to get a game going in the backpackers here, and all they want to play 4 is $5 with no re-buys . And Im seriously considering it as I need poker action....
::FRUSTRATION::

MrPillowTalk

Jaden just nailed that one i think, solid analysis