Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

<font color="green"> Yes! Ive bumped this...if interested...go to the first new post dated July 07 for an update on my progression </font>



Cliff Notes: TY 2+2, after much effort, Aussie is playing better POSTFLOP - but still not perfecto - and also running better. BOOYAH. HOLLA. Shipit.

This post is a continuation of my 1k post. It is not a great strategy post as it is more like a post that contains things that have been relevant to me and may be relevant to some of you. There is nothing particularly new in it but maybe it will be a timely reminder or even inspire some ppl.

1k post, the short version
In it I said
1. "the biggest leaks we have are the ones that we can make frequently"
2. "if you find yourself playing marginal hands in 3-6BB pots when you feel you are beat...stop doing it. These medium sized pots a a great way to consistently and repetitively spew $. Paying 2BB to see SD when you know you are beat to win 6BB is really [censored]!"

I also pledged to myself to improve such that I get my Went2SD down and my W$SD up since this had been identified as my biggest leak.

What happened right after than 1k post....something not pretty
I made that 1k post in on August 9 2006 however I need to confess that it wasnt all plain sailing. Whilst I was playing better I wasnt playing the best all the time because I have (I am now optimistic and say had. lol) a minor tilt problem which is that when I start of dropping a [censored] load if BB early in a session I am sometimes prone to playing catchup. this results in more calldowns and more Showdowns/spewage. But lets be clear....Im not just talking about calling down a CR or TPWK but Im also talking about seemingly harmless loose flop and turn calls WHEN THE ODDS do NOT warrant it. I found this to be a function of playing too many tables and failing to be bothered doing odd calculations during the "play catchup" periods. Funnily enough there was a defining moment that occured when I did a self review that was posted as an example session review (I cant find the link dammit) that Str8fish also reviewed. The reviewed session was from a catchup session (see above) and was spewville.

As a result, I realised that I didnt like losing and I was quite possibly chasing monies FROM PREVIOUS sessions. I think I Was down like 100BB or so at 0.5/1 and that sucked. What did I do? I drew a mental line in the sand on SEPT 5 2006 It is noted on the graph below. The idea being that I dont (well I sometimes do but thats not the point) worry about any stats or data before that date. It was largely mental but considering all play prior to that to be educational has been good for me to do. I started "Afresh" on that day. If you are the sort of person who chases losses then you may want to clean house too.

Since this date my attitude has changed and so has my results. ZOMG Ive actually gone on a few heaters and my WonAtSD has gone above 50 for the first time in a LONG time. THis is inspite of My weakness is sleepy.

What happened next?
How I have I done since this time. Well the short answer is that I have taken big strides to my goals. MY W2SD is still &lt;32 but this is partly attributable to
a. running hot ... finally
b. big bonus whoring sessions (eg party poker xmas whoring) were my play was not so good but the bonus more than compensated for this.

The thing is though I simply know that Im playing better post flop. My stats indicate this and it whilst it can be hard to quatify, I just know I am. Seriously, I remember many hands where I played better even if that meant making the right fold and it paid off (sometimes I even got to see that I made the right play as some other schmuck called down getting me the SD info 4 free).

What ive worked on that helped me get better
1. Session Reviews.....and actually playing like Im supposed to
2. Listening to my reads
3. Getting Better at shorthanded and headsup. ty HULA
4. Remembering that IF a decision is close and the pot is small then tend to fold
5. Remembering that If a decision is close and the pot is big then tend to call/raise
6. Not trying to outlag the lags. Calling down in certain situations is actually ok. booyah.
7. C-Betting...love the micro wiki but check out this Awesome Post by jrz
8. Seat Selection...yes, I said SEAT selection as for me reasonable table selection was already in my skillset
9. HAve a good read and/or significant stats on villians to deviate from default lines.....
10. Doing Self reviews where you try identify mistakes per 100 hands and try and assign a $ value (this is hard but it iwll make you think...the thinking is what is important)

SO yeah, nice list but Aussie prefers tl;dr posts so.....heres a few things I want to write, even if they are just for my benefit

Getting you W2SD down....can be hard work
These may be obvious to some but
1. I continued analysis of areas where I was leaking (overcards, no odds to call, bet/raising where calldown is better)
2. If I use a bet/raise to get info..then i actually started to use it
3. Paying 2 Bets after being raised on the turn is so uncool in small/medium posts with mediocre hands
4. MUST have a reason to call a river bet with ace high
5. It takes a stronger hand to overcall the river. When overcalling consider my hand against villians ranges
6. It is ok to c/c with AK OOP in a multiway pot or take a freee card sometimes with AKUI
7. Dont bluff calling stations
8. got better and UNDERSTANDING the stats my HUD showed me and be able to analyse a villians stat together and somewhat profile them
9. 3 barrel bluffs rarely work...for some reason KQo was my 'favourite' hand to 3 barrel when OOP. Ive cut that one out mostly.

As a result of application of these ideas, for the first time in a year my W$SD is consistently above 50%. Holla.

Variance....downswings are rarely just variance

Negative variance....almost impossible to avoid. Positive variance...holla...that happens too. Seriously, I so believe that everyone is destined to run very bad at some point to the point where you just cant seem to win. If a newer player hasnt experienced this frustration then in realitity they probably havent played much poker. IMHO Downswings can be a education if you have the patience to work through them, plug leaks and come out the other side a better player. If you cant do this, then poker may not be a game for you if you like money.

WhatI also want to comment on is that downswings hurt because losing hurts. However IMHO downswings are rarely just bad luck (unless you run the perfecto bot) and it is quite probably true that lots of people play worse when getting bad luck or at least get punished badly by their bad play, thus increasing the losses. The better the player the less they may contribute to their downswing via bad play and visa versa.

Simply put as a poker player one of your goals should be to limit losses in bad situations and to maximise your winnings when things are going your way.. This applies to a single hand, a table, a session and any period of time you choose to choose.

Now, as far as variance goes, if you look at the graph below you see a reasonable 'downswing'. My reaction for quite a while was that this was mostly the pokergods hating me....now I realise that the reality is that ALOT of my losses were self induced. Sure I had bad luck and couldnt win big pots but I spewed in little pots. I would estimate that 50% of my downswing was caused by my bad play.....I am probably wrong...it was probably &gt;50%.

Therefore I challenge anyone on a downswing to do a totally honest assessment. Maybe your situation is different, may it is not....

Table selection is awesome....but get the best seat too
So you think you know table selection, huh? what ya do? If you are lucky to play at a site with decent lobby stats you might pick what you perceive to be a decent table and get on its waiting list or take a seat straight away. Well that is all fine and dandy but if you have the time to wait a few minutes, then I recommend going for the jugular and picking the best seat you can..or at least a decent one. Yes, even good tables have bad seats (stating the obvious for clarity). When Im not blatantly bonus whoring Ive been doing this and it is making a non-trivial contribution to my winrate. I cant quantify it but it is there.

A post on seat selection is a post unto itself and Im not going to write one here. I just wanted to explicitly mention it to say that it is important and if you dont know what to look for when choosing a seat then you probably need to work that skill.....so I havent got any decent links to post here so if anyone has some decent links to choosing seats then please post. tyvm.

Adjusting to the table...I got better at this too
One attitude adjustment Ive made is how I think about other players at the table. As I play more and more hands Im getting better and better at reading table conditions and player stats. Ive also found that when I play certain sites at certain limits then I can adjust my play. As I get better at this my results get better. For example, Party players during reload time are traditionally tight but not necessarily good, many are predictable. Also at Paradise however most fish are loose AND predictable and this makes playing there easy once you sort the fish from the maniacs. Basically I love predictable players because they dont put you in many tough spots and allow you to play closer to the fundamental theorem of poker. My point being, that making adjustments to the game you are in is important and for me doing so has shown quite stunning results. I personally find Full Tilt harder to beat because I struggle somewhat against semi-lags who bluff with reasonable frequency and try to push me off hands.

Secondly, and importantly I have also gotten better at recognising my own perceived image at the table. Whilst most villians simply arent paying attention over the long term it seems to me that even MrFishyMcFish aka TheGoldFish has a short term memory. Eg say you raise preflop 3 times in a row....that 3rd time you are so going to get called because one of TheGoldFish is going to figure you cant possibly have been dealt AA/KK/AK 3 times in a row. Also it seems to me that when you got on a hot streak or are on a real cold streak of wining/losing hands (regardless of whether your flopped monster got rivered) that people notice. Seems to me that when you are hot that bad players actually 'believe' you more so you can c-bet and bluff more cos they may fold....the reverse seems to apply, if I cant win a hand against a fish then wtf is the point of bluffing, as he will call down with some BS hand that beats AKUI. **yada yada...insert disclaimer here at this been a generalisation yada yada yada

Heads up and short handed play...you just gotta learn it d00d
Heads up. I really want to say a few things about Blind Stealing and to a lesser degree, blind defence. This is something I have gotten much better at in the last 6 months and the HULA comp was a bit part of it. Part of getting better is getting rid of the fear of raising light. If you cant get rid of this fear then you probably arent playing at a limit that is confortable with. Now, I dont have the expertise to do a post dedicate to this but if there is one general thing I ahve learnt about stealing blinds is that IT DEPENDS. What does it depend on, well for starters?
1. Who is the SB, who is the BB and the implicit combination of them
2. What do I perceive my image to be (to the blinds and LP players yet to act)
3. Im not going to reinvent the wheel so this is where the list stops in this post. sry.

Graph time, shipit1111ONEeleven
So, those a few things that Ive been able to focus on and that have helped me get better. But hey, everyone loves a graph so here you go. This basically covers all 2006/2007. It just so happens that I have had a sick upswing at the end that is clearly unsustainable but actually Ive gone through a few iterations of this post prior to that sweet sweet run so I shall blindly claim that I know my play is better and that this upswing is just coinciding with the time when I post this behemoth of a post

Thanks for reading this tl;dr post and thankyou to all the posters on the forum who contribute to this zomg awesome learning tool that is 2+2

Aussie

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9200/graph1bek7.jpg

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

great post oz. thanks

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

DAMN you aussies are writers! Don't you have a day job you should be doing??

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

I have a WTSD of 36, is that bad?

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Mad props, Aussie. Totally agree with you and keep it real.

P.S. Str8Fish sucks.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Great post Ozi

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Great post. I still don't like reading "bet/raise to get info," but I trust you mean that you're just getting incidental info after a bet/raise for value.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Great post. Clarifying question:

You say your goal is to get your WTSD down, but then you later say "My WTSD is still &lt;32%, but..." Spider's FAQ advises WTSD of 28-32. Is the "&lt;" a typo for "&gt;"?

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Nice post as usual Ozi, found myself in there a lot and your perspective is helpful as always.

You, and some other posters, have extolled the value of learning to play short handed and learning to play HU. I have bitten the bullet as far as short handed goes and feel like I am making progress at learning it by playing a few K hands of 6-max. I agree that it is helpful in some ways with playing FR. I haven't brought myself to HU yet (except in NL SnG's the more of that I get the better I like it of course) but as far as trying to learn HULHE what do you think is the value and how does it help a persons game overall. Perhaps you and other posters might expand on this.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Wow, a close on 300BB upswing over your last 3k hands. nice!!

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Nice post. Thanks. Just finished my first 10k hands and this is all good info to consider.

Cheers

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Great post. Clarifying question:

You say your goal is to get your WTSD down, but then you later say "My WTSD is still &lt;32%, but..." Spider's FAQ advises WTSD of 28-32. Is the "&lt;" a typo for "&gt;"?

[/ QUOTE ]

good spot. Yes, thats a typo.

[ QUOTE ]
Great post. I still don't like reading "bet/raise to get info," but I trust you mean that you're just getting incidental info after a bet/raise for value.

[/ QUOTE ]
you assume correctly. Im trying to think of a good example and what keeps popping into my head is situations where we raise on the flop when some relatively passive donk bets into us, get 3 bet and then same guy donks the scary turn.

I find that these spots I speak of usually come about when my bet/raise was also done to eliminate players, given bad odds for draws, isolate some predictable fish and/or protect marginal/ok hands

[ QUOTE ]
I have a WTSD of 36, is that bad?

[/ QUOTE ]
if your W$SD is like 42-48 with this W2SD then I dont think is great and taht you may be able to identify spots where you should have folded. If you W$SD is somethink like 55-58% then your are running hot.

in short for me my W2SD was around 36 and my W$SD was NEVER above 50. It was always in the 45-48 range over a decent sample. However now, My W2SD has decreased a point or so and it was (over a certan sample size) even &lt;32 at one point but then I hit that 300BB streak and both numbers have risen. When my streak ends, that will be a good test to see where the number goes.

Regarding btspiders FAQ, I follow that closely. For me and the games I play in I think 31-32 is reasonable. if I got my W2SD to like 28 I think I would be making too many incorrect big laydowns.

Now, if your W2SD isnt 32 then there may not be great cause for alarm IF you W$SD is reasonable and/or you have a nice win rate. Remember that it is just a stat....a stat which for me turned out to be a clear indicator of a leak. Plug the leak...fix the stat. word.

What I find is that on the better tables
1. pots can be bigger which means calling more bets on the river with marginal hands
2. you get more free showdowns (sometimes I think 'ty for the free SD but you sir are a [censored] for not value betting when I would have folded and my W2SD just got worse. lol)

[ QUOTE ]
You, and some other posters, have extolled the value of learning to play short handed and learning to play HU. I have bitten the bullet as far as short handed goes and feel like I am making progress at learning it by playing a few K hands of 6-max. I agree that it is helpful in some ways with playing FR. I haven't brought myself to HU yet (except in NL SnG's the more of that I get the better I like it of course) but as far as trying to learn HULHE what do you think is the value and how does it help a persons game overall. Perhaps you and other posters might expand on this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think playing HU for nano stakes is quite important and is sort of a crash course. Pure HU play isnt quite the same as when you get into blind defence spots in FR or 6max but they are similar.

regarding posts, all I can think of off the top of my head is some post str8fish made during/after the recent HULA or to visit the HeadsUp forum.

however, for practical purposes, I think you just HAVE to play some HU for real. If not HU then 5-6handed games. HULA was great for HU so be sure to play next time Wookie runs it. Stars used to have 2c/4c HU games but not anymore. doh.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Thanks for the reply ozi.

On closer inspection my WTSD is 34.6 with W$SD at 54.5, which seems to suggest im running a bit hot [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

My results after reading your post at hand 13k.

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/4071/coolmj5.jpg

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

snake, wow...you played 6k hands in less than a day? surely not...Im happy to claim credit for the upswing as long as youcut me in for 10% of the profits...holla. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Thanks for the great post.

Glad to hear I wasn't the only "ignorant fool playing ubersoft paradise games." I thought maybe it was all a figment of my pre-legislation imagination. Man I miss playing 40/5/1 and running 9BB/100.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Glad to hear I wasn't the only "ignorant fool playing ubersoft paradise games." I thought maybe it was all a figment of my pre-legislation imagination. Man I miss playing 40/5/1 and running 9BB/100.

[/ QUOTE ]

thx bro

FWIW It aint just pre-legislation....the site is still basically inhabited by bad players.....so take a guess as to where about half of that beautiful upswing on RHS of that graph is coming from. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

We hear by the grapevine here in the US that Senator Frist is retiring and moving to Australia. Going into politics there I think.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

[ QUOTE ]
We hear by the grapevine here in the US that Senator Frist is retiring and moving to Australia. Going into politics there I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

he doesnt have to do that...all he has to do is tell George Dubya to tell our Prime Minister to jump and he will say "How high?". Fortunately, the current PM should retire or get voted out b4 poker here gets popular enough to warrant a banning....of course he will be replaced probably by someone as eager to please the US as he is. holla.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

hey oz, great post.

I must admit that when i read it yesterday i skipped straight to your graph because i'm totally results orientated [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

having re read it today i can relate to a lot of your poker experiences; kids (well 1 kid) and work taking priority over poker, trying to cram hands in between demanding priorities, playing while tired, tilting etc.

i'm curious to your "drawing a line in the sand" analogy.
i have played 20k hands now and am down some 100BB so far.
now this in itself is not a problem as i too consider this a "poker educational expense" but i realise that i don’t play well enough. And i, like you before, chase losses and tilt when playing patient and disciplined poker only to be sucked out on time and time again by fish that chase cards to the bitter end and then hit them.

Anyway enough about me, I’m replying to your post with a question: how exactly did you "draw a line in the sand"? What did you do to "start afresh"?

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

LOL @ snake trying to find reasons to post that graph.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

tl;dr
Judging by the graph, you would have been better off if your copy of SSHE got lost by the USPS [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

[ QUOTE ]
hey oz, great post.

I must admit that when i read it yesterday i skipped straight to your graph because i'm totally results orientated [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

having re read it today i can relate to a lot of your poker experiences; kids (well 1 kid) and work taking priority over poker, trying to cram hands in between demanding priorities, playing while tired, tilting etc.

i'm curious to your "drawing a line in the sand" analogy.
i have played 20k hands now and am down some 100BB so far.
now this in itself is not a problem as i too consider this a "poker educational expense" but i realise that i don’t play well enough. And i, like you before, chase losses and tilt when playing patient and disciplined poker only to be sucked out on time and time again by fish that chase cards to the bitter end and then hit them.

Anyway enough about me, I’m replying to your post with a question: how exactly did you "draw a line in the sand"? What did you do to "start afresh"?

[/ QUOTE ]

The "line in the sand" is entirely mental. I havent deleted my data prior to that but I use that as a defining date when checking data in PT. I got sick of thinking "man, my winrate is crap" so the results oriented guy in me asks himself what his winrate is I just use that as my start date in pokertracker. I also use that same date when checking my stats etc.

Remy, I should point out that the downturn after getting SSHE also came when i first moved up to 0.5/1. I probably was due for a [censored] run and due to be crushed anyway...in $ value it wasnt as bad as it could be because i was whoring all the sweet signup bonuses (party etc) so my BR was actually going up despite my losses. hurrah for bonus whoring101

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Remy, I should point out that the downturn after getting SSHE also came when i first moved up to 0.5/1

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear you, brother! You should see my graph when I moved to $1-2. Looks like sliding down the Grand Canyon slope.

[ QUOTE ]
hurrah for bonus whoring101

[/ QUOTE ]
Second that! \~~~/ &lt;--- here's to bonus whoring

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Coming out party on an upswing, lemme guess... 2+2 player?

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Coming out party on an upswing, lemme guess... 2+2 player?

[/ QUOTE ]

lolol...but if you read my OP you see that I stated (which of course you could call BS on but you would be wrong) that I wrote up it over a period of time much of which was before the upswing.

holla to upswings and holla to playing better [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Par-Tay

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Subscribed.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5...acatpicuk0.jpg

NNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNJJJJJJJJJJAAAAAAAAAAA!

Yes, Im bumping my own thread

Why?

I think its timely and might inspire some of you who either didnt see it the first time or need a pick me up. Basically there have been alot of posts recently about how tough and possibly unbeatable the games are these days at limits around 0.5/1. <font color="red"> IM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THE GAMES ARE STILL VERY BEATABLE...YOU JUST GOT TO ADJUST AND PLAY BETTER AND MAYBE EVEN DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING ON THE ACTUAL GAME YOU ARE IN.</font>

BTW Yes! You get graphs! All graphs are fullring. Yes, I play fishmax but not alot. I wanted to prove to myself, and continue to do so, that I can beat FR consistently. Most of the hands are at 0.5/1. FWIW Yes, Im probably running good but Im playing much better too and part of the reason I want to make this post is to point out that for me, W2SD wasnt the be all and end all...Illl get to that in a moment!

Recap and Update
When posted this in late 2006 I professed to have actually gotten better at poker. 6+months on I want to give an update. My sample size isnt huge but most of this is 3-4 tabling playing what I consdier to be nice aggresive ABCD poker........first graph is my graph that basically follows on from the one already posted in the OP...the second it 2007 only.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2419/updatekh7.jpg

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/7246/update2qs4.jpg

As you can see, whilst not a big sample size (you can run good for many thousands of hands LDO) it shows Im doing something right. I know I still make lots of boneheaded mistakes but I do think Im winning the battle of mistakes against my opponents.

Random Comments about my adjustments
The really short answer is that I continued to get better at poker.....Ive still got work to do but Im getting there.

I talked about adjustments...well here is a quick summary, today, of what I feel I do differently
- Its not just about W2SD....
- I play in +EV spots where possible
- my basics are pretty solid (Some posters think they are solid but they arent and they demonstrate it in their posts....harsh but true. deal with it)
- understanding how pot size affects decisions
- trust my reads
- stop spewing...no really....stop spewing (yep, its okay to call down in good spots rather than always damn raising bros!)
- I got better at picking my spots to 'make plays'
- prudent table selection and even better seat selection and pick my targets (you just cant target fish anymore...you have to adjust bros, tight does not equal good it just means that you have to work a bit harder to get their money
- checkraise more in big pots with hands that need protection (tight players hate that and how the respond is usually telling)
- have specific reasons to many fancy plays...and know what you want to achieve and have a plan if it all goes pearshaped.

Its not just about my W2SD
My OP discussed me not being a showdown monkey but theres more to it than that. Often by the time you get to the river the pot is so big that you probably should call cos you cant be 90% certain you are beat. Part of my problem was that I used to make too many loose flop and turn calls and felt compelled to call a river bet (often correctly sometimes not)....a prudent fold early in a hand can save multiple bets. Dig it!
can

+EV play
I play when I have the best of it. Sounds simple but it has different aspects to it. I table select well and I seat select even better. I try to 1/2 when possible but I wont play it if the tables suck, Im tired or for some other reason Im just not feeling up to it.

One thing that I look for in a table is PREDICTABLE opponents...this is important. I have quite a few players who i have a simple comment on such as "Dont bluff, do value bet" and "Bet = HAND".

On the other hand, i try and avoid tough spots against LAGs. Yes thats right gentemen, if Ive got a marginal hand and LAG checks to me on the turn there are spots when you can check and snap off a bluff. You can also call down LAGs with made hands that could be beat....trust me, LAGs hate that! And further more you can avoid expensive 3 bets.

BTW Im just rattling off a few things here without being specific so Ill stop it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I know what those damn stats MAY mean (but I also understand read count too LDO)
This means that Im familiar enough with my stas, they way I play to get them (esp VPIP and PFR) and thus I can better relate to other players stats. Part of this comes form just getting a feel for how different player types play whilst also understanding that this is just a guideline and each player isnt the same. I understand which stats converge quickly and which dont. And most importantly, Im better at exploiting what I see on that there HUD.

Fancy Plays
I will mention that I dont fancy play preflop. I DO punish limpers and Im raising alot so let me be clear here...I might raise light but Im NEVER limping those AA, KK, AK damn monsters. See, I dont need to cos raising enough preflop to leave my opponents guessing and I get action most of the time (if Im not getting action then refer to my comment about table selection)......Shania Shania Shania! If you want Shania explained just ask and someone will give a much better explaination than I could.


Well thats enough....Ive done what I wanted to do. Maybe this is a partial brag post but I wanted to do it to show you that you can still beat the game but that it just takes more work these days. I know Ive still got leaks to deal with but as long as Im winning the battle of mistakes (got that from Ed's new NL book) then Im Im getting the best of it. And getting the best of it, my friends, feels damn freakin good!


And BTW my stats look like 17/10.3/2.4 with W2SD of 34 and W$SD 55....See you, dont have to play 25/12/2 to win at the micros.

Goodluck at the tables

OziBattler

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Sir. Would you expand as much as you are willing to on table selection and seat selection. What to look for? Is pot size more relevant than VPIP etc? Do you continue to shop for tables and move to better ones while you are playing? What are your minimum standards for playing at a table? What about seat selection? Do you wait for the right seat to open up? Or do you move when a better seat opens? It seems the moving option is often closedbecause of waiting lines and the same is true when you start a a table. What are your minimum standards for staying at a table? The fact that you multi table will probably make the mechanics of this a little different from those of us who 1 table but the fact that your win rate is 2+ times mine tells me I need to learn something here. The more detail on your seat and table selection criteria and processes the better.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

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Sir. Would you expand as much as you are willing to on table selection and seat selection. What to look for? Is pot size more relevant than VPIP etc? Do you continue to shop for tables and move to better ones while you are playing? What are your minimum standards for playing at a table? What about seat selection? Do you wait for the right seat to open up? Or do you move when a better seat opens? It seems the moving option is often closedbecause of waiting lines and the same is true when you start a a table. What are your minimum standards for staying at a table? The fact that you multi table will probably make the mechanics of this a little different from those of us who 1 table but the fact that your win rate is 2+ times mine tells me I need to learn something here. The more detail on your seat and table selection criteria and processes the better.

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Yes, please expand on the above.

Especially getting the right seats. With the waiting lines sometimes seen, how do you get the right seat? I hate when I end up with the TAGs to the right of me and LAGs to the left.

Do you constantly table shop while playing? Do you move down limits whenever needed to find good tables and seats?

Doc

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

My table selection is a bit of everything like stuff you guys mention. Its not the main reason Im winning but dont underestimate the significance it can have on the bottom line. Nothing I do is earth shattering but there are logistics that get in the way of it at times (Eg wait lists)

Rather than comment too much here...I can think about doing some sort of new post on table selection Ozi style. I'd also like to take some time to search for table selection threads....and if anyone wants to do this before I do then go right ahead and post them here.

ozi

edit: by the powers vested in me Im in ma thread posting tha link to the table/seat selection post now that ive actually written it. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Great time to bring this back to the surface Ozi. It had some nuggets I really needed to hear as I've been running + playing ugly for a couple months, worse than I can ever remember.

Hopefully, it will at least knock me to my senses and get me to fold my UI OCs a bit earlier than I have been lately.

I've been too much of a showdown monkey in HU pots I think. Players are not making plays at me as much as I think they are.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Bona, Ive given it some thought and I think there could be value in me writing a new post to discuss my thoughts on table and seat selection.... last night I had the brilliant idea of taking screenshots of actual tables and discussing what seats are good etc

Then I had what I think is an even better idea which is to make one or two videos with audio where I show open tables, PAHUD displaying stats and me talking about where i would want to sit and why. I would either do this on stars (because I have played there alot lately) or on full titlt (because I could datamine for an hour then have stats on everyone). I could do even do both. Is this a good idea? Im off to the shops to pickup a mic today.

Unfortunately doing all this will take quite some time to prepare and write up but I think Ill have a crack at it.

Im also going to try and find some good previous posts/articles on seat selection to link to but if anyone happens to have any then please post here or PM me. mkay thx.

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Do you constantly table shop while playing? Do you move down limits whenever needed to find good tables and seats?

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Ill briefly comment on this...Yes, I table shop. I get myself on lists of tables that look decent and if I get a 'we reserved u a seat' popup I check out the table if if it looks good Ill then see if any of my other tables suck....if they do Ill close a sucky one and sit at the new one.

FWIW I sort my stars lobby by Plrs/Pot and then look at potsizes. When I sit for a session I usually play one limit for the entire session unless the tables get really bad...like 18/10 bad and not a fish in sight.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Aussie,
Youve been on this forum longer and progressed farther, but it is not by chance, it is by becoming a true student of the game. Nice reply, it is not a brag, but mere facts. Keep it up. I hope you feel the need to make a few more posts like these.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

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One thing that I look for in a table is PREDICTABLE opponents...this is important. I have quite a few players who i have a simple comment on such as "Dont bluff, do value bet" and "Bet = HAND".

On the other hand, i try and avoid tough spots against LAGs. Yes thats right gentemen, if Ive got a marginal hand and LAG checks to me on the turn there are spots when you can check and snap off a bluff. You can also call down LAGs with made hands that could be beat....trust me, LAGs hate that! And further more you can avoid expensive 3 bets. OziBattler

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I love this post. Just what I've been thinking about recently at FTP. I'm trying to adjust to opponents now and not expect them to adjust to me. I'm working on solid reads and seat (OPPONENT) selection. Your comment about predictible opponents is key IMO.

Normally you want loose tables, but these loose players may react to the constant aggression by bluffing more. Not good. You could actually be better off in a tight predictable table at times.

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

Ozi,

I am bumping this specifically for you. Read this thread carefully THREE times, aight? It's worth it, trust me [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Then go and crush the [censored] villains like [censored] cockroaches, and your downswing will be over before you know it.

GL at the tables, bro.
/ Remy

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

anotsoninjabump!

Re: Plug small leaks and get better at poker (very tl;dr worthy)
 

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anotsoninjabump!

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