Living and Learning
I've been playing poker online more and more these days due to work constraints and other things happening in my life (that would probably be the extent of the Living part of the title of this post - I need a life, and no one wants to lease theirs to me, damnitall!!). I play with my blogger buddies a couple nights a week and, lately, I have been playing alot in those free Moneymaker tourneys on PokerStars. Can you say Donkfest at its finest? Yeah, thought you could. If it's not all-in every hand, it's calls down to the river with bottom pair (and hitting half the time) or the typical suck out that happens.
That said, I have played in a few of them (more for boredom than anything else) and actually made it into the triple digits (considering they start at around 5000 people, making it to 200 something isn't bad. By the time you get to around 1700 people, most of the true donks are gone and the lucky bastards left usually keep doing what they do and lose eventually anyway. So all in all, I consider it a good thing when I make it that far. I doubt I would ever do anything in any of those tourneys and I see it as practice and pass-time time. :)
Couple of great hands for me: I had Q9C and the board comesTJK (with the JK being suited hearts). Hmmm...I checked (and immediately regreted it after I realized that there were two hearts out there] but thankfully, the guy behind me bet so I was able to check-raise. He called. Turn is a blank, so I fire about 1/2 his stack and he calls again. River is a heart and now I am concerned. I bet 5k and he goes all in for about 8k more. I had about 18K left so...hmmm, what to do? I thought about how he bet. Would he have called and bet on the flop/turn on a draw?? After a while I called and my straight held (to his K7...yes, he called with top pair and followed it all the way down with a shit kicker [ok, I will give him credit that he maybe was trying to bluff me to thinking he was on that draw...who knows, maybe he was trying to bluff me with that draw - doofy, but I have seen much worse!]) And that was a very difficult call to make, let me tell ya.
And the point of that story is all about learning (which would be the Learning part of the title of this post). As a poker player, I am always looking to improve my game. I think about all kinds of things, but mostly, what I am doing poorly and what i need to improve on. There is one area I seriously need to improve on, and that's board and betting analysis. I suck at putting my opponents on their hands. It's not that I can't, it's more that I don't give myself time to think.
I have been blessed (or cursed) with a very sharp, quick mind and I am used to being able to assess situations, and make decisions, quickly. So, what I find myself doing is, making my poker decisions based on the board and my hand, and occasionally the opponents themselves. That's not to say I don't bluff sometimes or play aggressively, but generally, I play hands based on what I have and what I think they may have...but that's not enough. I need to do things like analyze the board and note all the hands that COULD beat me, then obviously think about what my opponents have, their betting patterns, and all that.
So...I need help. How do I retrain myself to not act so quicky? How do I train myself to remember all the things I know I need to do? I know there are only two or three of my fav poker players who actually read the drivel I write here, but if anyone has any suggestions, I would seriously appreciate assistance. If anyone has any bright ideas, email is VERY, VERY welcome!!
Thanks in advance to all of you who read this...you guys make my days sometimes. :)
XOX one and all!
p.s. My friend is en route from Iraq as I type - so this is for him. Godspeed to you, m'friend!! Thankfully, you are coming home in one piece and all my prayers and positive thoughts were to some avail. Thank you for what you did (there and before you went there) and what you will do when you return. God bless, babe!
That said, I have played in a few of them (more for boredom than anything else) and actually made it into the triple digits (considering they start at around 5000 people, making it to 200 something isn't bad. By the time you get to around 1700 people, most of the true donks are gone and the lucky bastards left usually keep doing what they do and lose eventually anyway. So all in all, I consider it a good thing when I make it that far. I doubt I would ever do anything in any of those tourneys and I see it as practice and pass-time time. :)
Couple of great hands for me: I had Q9C and the board comesTJK (with the JK being suited hearts). Hmmm...I checked (and immediately regreted it after I realized that there were two hearts out there] but thankfully, the guy behind me bet so I was able to check-raise. He called. Turn is a blank, so I fire about 1/2 his stack and he calls again. River is a heart and now I am concerned. I bet 5k and he goes all in for about 8k more. I had about 18K left so...hmmm, what to do? I thought about how he bet. Would he have called and bet on the flop/turn on a draw?? After a while I called and my straight held (to his K7...yes, he called with top pair and followed it all the way down with a shit kicker [ok, I will give him credit that he maybe was trying to bluff me to thinking he was on that draw...who knows, maybe he was trying to bluff me with that draw - doofy, but I have seen much worse!]) And that was a very difficult call to make, let me tell ya.
And the point of that story is all about learning (which would be the Learning part of the title of this post). As a poker player, I am always looking to improve my game. I think about all kinds of things, but mostly, what I am doing poorly and what i need to improve on. There is one area I seriously need to improve on, and that's board and betting analysis. I suck at putting my opponents on their hands. It's not that I can't, it's more that I don't give myself time to think.
I have been blessed (or cursed) with a very sharp, quick mind and I am used to being able to assess situations, and make decisions, quickly. So, what I find myself doing is, making my poker decisions based on the board and my hand, and occasionally the opponents themselves. That's not to say I don't bluff sometimes or play aggressively, but generally, I play hands based on what I have and what I think they may have...but that's not enough. I need to do things like analyze the board and note all the hands that COULD beat me, then obviously think about what my opponents have, their betting patterns, and all that.
So...I need help. How do I retrain myself to not act so quicky? How do I train myself to remember all the things I know I need to do? I know there are only two or three of my fav poker players who actually read the drivel I write here, but if anyone has any suggestions, I would seriously appreciate assistance. If anyone has any bright ideas, email is VERY, VERY welcome!!
Thanks in advance to all of you who read this...you guys make my days sometimes. :)
XOX one and all!
p.s. My friend is en route from Iraq as I type - so this is for him. Godspeed to you, m'friend!! Thankfully, you are coming home in one piece and all my prayers and positive thoughts were to some avail. Thank you for what you did (there and before you went there) and what you will do when you return. God bless, babe!
posted by Joanne at 6:10 PM
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