|
Now What ?
2009-03-24 12:42:56
|
 Seal |
|
|
So, early on in your usual NLHE tournament you get red aces under the gun. You decide to play them a little tricky and flat call hoping for a raise from another player behind you. As fate would have it though, your hopes are dashed and you get five callers behind you and no raise. You take the flop seven handed and it comes up 3c5c7h. Now what? Or maybe you have TJ suited in diamonds on the button. There is an early position raiser and two callers and you decide to call as well. The flop brings the 7d9sQs and the original raiser bets the pot and both callers call now too. Now what? What if you limped behind four other limpers with a pocket pair of sixes in the first round of a tournament and then the big blind goes all in? Everyone else folds around to you again. You know the big blind from previous play and have some good notes on him and you think his most likely hand is AK or AQ, putting you slightly ahead of him with your pair. Now what? If you are expecting me to go over the three examples then you must not be familiar with my work. My style has always been more big picture and anecdotal than step by step. Besides, we have a daily poker quiz here at RPT where we handle the nuts and bolts of situational examples. I am much more interested in what those three examples have in common. And in this case, the common thread is re-thinking. I must admit that I am a proponent of big picture thinking in poker. I rarely go into a tournament without first making a game plan. I even go so far as to check for new trends in the metagame that might influence my decisions that day. But, as prepared as I like to be, I am always flexible. And I never stop thinking. I hope that after watching some of the videos here at RPT you have started to see a pattern. The best players are never locked into one course of action. Even after getting an initial idea about what to do next, they are always thinking and re-thinking. Get into the habit of continually asking yourself questions. Is raising really the right thing to do here? Am I sure my opponent is weak? Are my aces still the best hand? I know some guys who are able to do this kind of thinking even with a bunch of games going at the same time. Me, I am not that much of a multi-tasking genius. I sometimes find that even two or three games at once impairs my ability to ask myself the right questions and really evaluate every situation. If you find you are not able to think critically with several tables open, then drop one or two and see if it helps. But definitely find a way to keep your head in every decision. I understand that there are many times that NLHE is not about the cards at all. But these times are not what I am talking about here. This is for the times when cards speak, when you really have a hand, and when you are likely to be up against somebody else with a hand. In some ways it is a bit easier to play the players than it is to play the cards. We get aces so infrequently that sometimes we feel that we are entitled to win with them every time. Throwing those aces into the muck after an unfavorable flop can be really hard. Taking a moment to re-think helps to take your emotions out of the equation. It can be as simple as a deep breath and a few seconds to close your eyes. Sometimes by mentally stepping back you can divorce yourself from those aces. And the same can sometimes be said for a big drawing hand. This is especially true if you haven't been so lucky in the tournament. After getting pounded on hand after hand, staying calm and level headed can be almost impossible. It's these times that a draw starts looking like the nuts. Or maybe you feel that you are due for a win. Either way, it is very important to look at the situation you are in and make the best decision you can. After all, poker may be a lot of things, but it is never played in a vacuum. |
||
To Post a Comment!
|
dlrudisha Says:
QVBmHZ vsmbeqmzlirt, [url=http://sssxftchpabz.com/]sssxftchpabz[/url], [link=http://qxbgypkcnfzp.com/]qxbgypkcnfzp[/link], http://flkduyzrdgrv.com/
Posted On: 2010-09-01 13:43:04
|
|
hokumfool Says:
I notice how my moods affect my playing style. Some days I check shove draws other days others I only play them for their value on any given street. And I say "day" but really that can even change with-in a tournament. I tell myself this is a good thing because it varies my playing style. Of course I could be 100% delusional...
Posted On: 2009-03-28 12:55:59
|
|
Cary Says:
Focus and patience. So many players aren't able to readjust their thinking and overall plan as a hand progresses....they get married to their original plan and don't reassess the situation on later streets. I think it's so important to be flexible with your thinking as a hand progresses. Good article, Seal.
Posted On: 2009-03-27 15:07:41
|