(LC) Not a pooh-bah post

[drzen]

I'm not bothering with a pooh-bah post. I didn't get there by knowing anything much about poker, but by being willing to post even though I don't know much.

I came to 2p2 because I love playing poker, simple as that, but I also love to win. I think I stumbled across it while searching for ways to win. Most people here won't know my name because I used to post a lot in the microlimit group. I learned how to play limit because I am fairly risk averse, and it seemed to me that technically proper play would beat low limits, and mostly beat higher ones too. That's true enough, but unfortunately UIGEA dried up all the limit games and they became harder to beat. (The stuff I learned there stands me in good stead across the board in poker though, and I'd still advise anyone learning poker to begin with limit and gain a foundation.)

SNGs are also hard to beat. Reading some of the really good players here, you'd think they weren't. But those players have worked hard to get good, and above all, have tons of experience. If I had any advice for an aspiring player, it would be that you will learn if you stick with it. But it's a mountain, not a hill, and it takes a lot of work to get up there. I don't have masses of experience because I play only about a hundred games a month. I try to study a bit, and play a bit, but family life doesn't always allow time (or energy) for serious poker. (So I play a lot of not serious poker, particularly donkaments and dollar HORSE.) I plan to work harder, because I think I can get there. But who doesn't?

Poker seems to me like a jigsaw puzzle, with a thousand pieces. You pick up a piece here, and a piece there, sometimes they go together, sometimes they don't; sometimes you stick them in the wrong way round. I don't know whether anyone ever makes the whole picture (there's a fantastic essay by Howard Lederer on that subject). But the challenge is enjoyable, and I still love the game.

I've gained some of those pieces here -- not just about SNGs, but about poker in general. I've learned from good players -- particularly from those who are just on another level -- but also from ordinary ones, who get it all wrong but you have to figure out what was wrong, or who get berated by the best. I'm going to name some names, just in case a noob wanders by this post: look for posts by curtains (seems to have an excellent theoretical knowledge of poker), gigabet (brilliant ways of thinking about the game), strassa (ultra-aggro and sharp), ShillX (technical and thoughtful), DevinLake (always makes sense to me), SlimPickens (excellent conceptual material, but doesn't post enough of it [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ), AMT (nail meets head a ton), blackize (always willing to explain his positions on hands), taipan168 (a personal favourite -- coherent and clear in his advice both here and on FTR). Obviously eastbay deserves a mention in any discussion of posters worth reading. I don't have a link for his posts on ICM, but they are must-read material for novices.

These are just the names that come to mind. Lots of others post a lot of high-quality content and I'm not dissing them by not mentioning them (they just didn't spring to mind just now). I want to thank them. They're making me a better player. It's a tough job, and they're getting nothing for it but our gratitude to them for sharing. So thanks to them, and thanks to everyone who makes this the world's best resource in this form of poker.

[IFoldPktOnes]

I think your passion for the game is impressive in its own right. Good luck putting the pieces together, with your attitude towards poker I'm sure you will go far.

Also, technically your 1600th post was this:
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I'd just like to suck less.

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