He's a "24/12/3" is NOT a read on a player

[Frank Zappy]

After using PokerAce for several months and, not coincidentally, being down 350BB in the same period, I've come to the conclusion that the numbers don't tell the whole story and I've been misguided and foolish to rely so heavily upon them.

Prior to PA, I would pay more attention to how Villains operated; what did they show down when they raised or when they CC, did they CR, were they trappy and tricky or were they Totally Passive Jell-O Oatmeal Tapioca whose mere presence in a raised flop could only mean they had at least second nuts, would they fold to a scary board or did they like betting into scary boards?

That’s how I used to track people, but when I let PA run and “Think” for me I went badly askew. I stopped taking notes and paying attention and instead thought the numbers gave me some "Read" or insight on the players.

I run it now only on occasion, about twice an hour for only a few minutes just to refresh or confirm whatever suspicions I have, and NOT as my primary way to get a “Read” on a Villain.

I moved back down limits, started winning again, won a 27 SnG and cashed in a 180 SnG in the same day. Even my tournament results were sucking badly after relying so heavily on PA. How the Hell could I sit at the first table at a tournament and NOT pay attention to who’s playing what, and instead relying on some stupid numbers after 5 minutes and 11 hands or so? It was the Kiss of Death for me and now I’m proud to say I’ve been clean and sober from PA for the past 3 days (I think it’s 3 days, I’m not really keeping track anymore)

It’s only a tool, a helper and it does NOT give you READS on anyone.

More importantly, you can’t bring it with you to a casino! So if you ever plan on playing B&M what good will it do you?

My Old/New way takes more effort but its one I’m familiar with, rely upon and knowing that someone will raise EP with QTs means more to me than someone being a 24/12/3. In much that same way, water and hydrogen peroxide are molecularly similar: H2O vs. H2O2, its a little difference that sometimes makes all the difference.

[davelin]

Nice post, hope people are nicer to you than they were to me a few weeks ago about a very similar topic [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Aaron W.]

This reminds me of Entity's When a read is not a read. It's funny how we seem to go in cycles.

[SixT4]

You shouldn't stop taking notes just because you use a HUD program.

If notes give you information on a player, and their stats do too, then why not *shock* use them both together?! Having stats along with your notes can't possibly be a bad thing, unless you're lazy or something.

Obv. it's not a good thing to rely on stats completely, but when you're playing 4 tables you don't notice every single player and often don't have any notes on some for a while.

[bozlax]

Uh, good for you?

[shadow.]

U R WRONG

[Blowup Doll]

I couldn't disagree more. PA is an invaluable tool, and i wonder if you were just over-relying on it. You hint that you were using info from it after only 5-10 hands. That's a huge mistake. I get at least a couple hundred hands off a player before i take it seriously.

You can take notes AND use PA, you know. If i see someone with 12/3/.7 suddenly come in with a pf raise UTG and bet hard on the flop, it's safe to assume that he's probably got a monster. It's not proof, but the odds are increased.

Also, i don't see how PA could be hurting you so much that you're down 350BB. Something else is going on there.

[sharpie]

yada yada yada blah seen this before

[Frank Zappy]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply

[Frank Zappy]

Not possible. I won't bother asking what it is you think I'm wrong about.