Keeping an even keel (PB style post)

[Gelford]

I have been asked a few times, how I can keep such and even keel (at least for the most part). To be honest, I have done my fair share of tilting like a cow, but I usually tilt in other ways, than I find are common here in uNL. What I will address here are two forms of tilt, ‘The Suck out Tilt’ and ‘The That Retarded MF Donkey Tilt’. The first kind of tilt I do not have much to add on to what is common knowledge and I wrote this post primarily with the intention of sharing my thoughts on ‘The That Retarded MF Donkey Tilt’ with you.

The following is my view on things and it works for me, I’m sure a few of you will find it as a bit of ‘blah blah meh’, but hopefully some of you will like it too. In fact there is nothing new here under the sun about the game of poker, except that while most of you ‘know’ this already, hopefully some of you might still find something in the approach/mental department.


The issue here is the question, what is poker?


Poker is a game of incomplete information presenting the players with a random distribution (the cards dealt) and enabling them to propose and/or accept wagers.
In other words, you have two pieces of information, the cards dealt (hole cards and board) and the wagers presented (betting patterns).

Sometimes poker is easy, if you hold the nut SF, you are unbeatable and are hoping for villain to hold the nut flush and you profit, but this is usually not reality. So what is reality? All there is in poker is for the most part your ability to read.

At the lowest limit reading is simply this: Errrr ... they will play any two cards, I have TPTK, I’m way ahead of their range, I’m value betting this.

Then while you get higher things get more complicated, you start to expand on your reads and assumptions. This is a learning by doing process, slowly you build a database of player types and betting patterns and you act on those. Every time you play your database gets better.

Note: There are two kinds of reads:
1. The average player for this limit read. Unknowns you have no reads as such on, so you assume that they act like most at this particular limit. This is where your database really comes into play.
2. Player dependent reads. These are the bread and butter of a really nice win rate.

Lets take two examples.
The Macho Harley Davidson owner, that bet every time you check to him or the not uncommon weak tight 2+2’er that sees sets, flushes and monsters under bed all the time.



So what’s my point?

For me poker is like a videogame, like Space Invaders or something. I sit with my mouse all day long and aim for a High Score.

And the only thing I have to help me here are my reads. I make decisions based on reads and the cards out. If I get the money in good and he sucks out, then there really wasn’t anything else I could do. Lets face it, poker is random, live with it. Suck outs will occur, even those of the type where villain is drawing to two cards that have to hit turn and river runner runner style, like flopped quads vs. AA. It has happened to me a few times, it will happen to you (Most memorably I was second in chips nearing the final table in a MTT, where I flopped top set with KK and lost to chipleaders QQ as he hit his two queens on turn and river). [censored] happens, nothing you can do about it. Actually as Chen and Ankenmann point out in their excellent book. If you play on a fixed roll like 20BI (or whatever it is, as long as you don’t let it grow), then eventually over time you will go broke (theoretically, assuming an infinite timeline).


This is common knowledge and is just something to learn, nothing much new here and we all know this. So why did I write this post, well mainly I wanted to address ‘The MF Retarded Donkey Tilt’.


I see a lot of “WTF ??! .... how could that retarded monkey call there” ... followed by tilt. Ego is to blame, I guess .. the sense of being a better player and being annoyed by donks not bowing to your superiority or something ... I dunno.


But the truth of the matter is this:
If you try to bluff a MF retarded donkey on a scary board say JT985 with four of a suit holding AK (no flush) and he calls you with his 33 (no flush) or A5o (no flush) and takes down a huge pot.

Is he is a retarded monkey? – NO! ... If anyone is, then you are! You made a wrong read, so deal with it instead of berating, tilting and feeling pissed off. All there is to do is to make a little note (Calling Station, DNB, value bet mercilessly) and get on with it.

This in turn leads to another thing, don’t think of players as fish, donks, retards, monkeys, idiots or nits. Well at least if there is an emotional sentiment in those labels. You opponents are ranges and tendencies. Fish are loose passive players, that take marginal hands too far. Donks might be overly aggressive players, that never believe that you have a hand, and thus will call any flop bet and fire if you check turn to them ... etc etc.

A preflop range for the position in question and tendencies on how they play different holdings post flop, that is what villains are, nothing more and nothing less. They are not retards that are supposed to bow to your or my greatness.


This last part is the true message of this post and why I’ve written it. I hope it helped some of you [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Bowlboy]

nh sir. I've been working at keeping myself in this frame of mind and just remind myself that [censored] like that is where the money comes from after al anyway.

[kaz2107]

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] gelford [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Supwithbates]

+EV, gelford, +EV

Anyways, I think more of what annoys me are people that play in ways that frustrate me, because I generally am good about only bluffing the type of player that I know can fold.
Instead, what puts me on tilt are players that are donkishly aggressive in the wrong places, they are hyperaggressive, but I'm completely cold-decked and can't hit a flop. I have QQ and the flop has an ace and a king, or I have AK and whiff the flop entirely.
They respond to my cbet by doing something stupid like check/minraising or just overbet shoving. But if it's a 3bet pot, then I have to fold and I've blown 1/3 of a buyin. The 3rd time it happens in a row I get pissed off and go on your "crazy MF monkey tilt" or whatever you call it

[catfish_01]

Nice post, and I agree that the last part is the best [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Gelford]

That is life, sometimes things don't go your way .... Allthough if players truly are loose and aggressive for the sake of aggressiveness with out concern to anything else, I usually don't wait for premiums and just loosen up my self and GAMBOOL on thinner values.

[Sweir]

Nice post gelford. I agree with bates' e.g, as that is one thing that really pisses me off.

[Supwithbates]

[ QUOTE ]
That is life, sometimes things don't go your way .... Allthough if players truly are loose and aggressive for the sake of aggressiveness with out concern to anything else, I usually don't wait for premiums and just loosen up my self and GAMBOOL on thinner values.

[/ QUOTE ]
No, I agree, but even top pair can take 20 missed tries to show up, and if they just check/raise you 15 times and leave, that can really tilt you

[bozzer]

BUMP

[kaz2107]

why didnt this get more love?!?!!? a bunch of haters