I play too many hands

[Indiana]

Why do I do this? I know that I have to play tight to win, but its like a force that I have trouble controlling...You guys have this problem?

Indiana

[2planka]

Perhaps you should elaborate a bit and/or cross post in the psych forum. It's more complex than just "playing too many hands."

What types of hands do you tend to overplay (e.g small pocket pairs out of position, calling raises with connectors, etc)? In other words, is hand selection / starting criteria your problem?

What situations lure you in? Are you a problem limper or are you in it for the action?

How much experience do you have?

What is your thought process? Are you just chasing or making too many plays or what?

KT

[SmileyEH]

Make a list of hands you will play in each situation. UTG, EP, MP, LP, blinds. With limpers, without limpers, with a raise in front of you etc. etc.

Eventually the list will become ingrained in your mind and you won't ever worry about playing too many hands. As your game develops your starting hands will also evolve, but you will never go back to playing JTo in MP if you stay disciplined.

Honestly, having the discipline to play only situationally correct starting hands is absolutely essential - whatever form of poker you play.

-SmileyEH

[Jedi Flopper]

Here is what I have come up with for myself. Pokertracker has me as LA-P according to Bison's rules so I came up with this to tighten up my play.

UTG and UTG+1 -- AA-QQ AK, AQs
Next 3 seats -- Add 77-JJ, suited broadway cards
Next 3 seats -- Add Ax suited and any pair
Small blind -- add Kx suited

Limping, raising or re-raising with these hands in these positions depends on the texture of the table.

This is much tighter than I usually play and has worked well for me in NL 25 and NL 50 ring games. Adjustments need to be made for tournaments obviously, but I thought I would get the discussion started with these hands for now. Let the flaming commence!

[Solitare]

Tracking what percentage of hands you play is an area where Pokertracker excels. If you are having trouble controlling the quality of hands that you play, I would strongly suggest getting PokerTracker. I find the feedback of hard statistics the best way to truely know what you are doing. It's all to easy to say to yourself "I feel like gambling it up and limping with KJo in an early position." These little leaks add up.

[SeesTheRiver]

If you are playing SNG..tell urself not to play the first 5 hands or so unles u have AA,KK,QQ,JJ. then from there on out only play the 13 premium hands until u get into the money like the final 3. There is nothing wrong with changing style throughout the game to keep them thinking.

[TheDrone]

It could be out of sheer boredom. It's not that unusual to fold 10 hands in a row, for example. It's boring, but it's a part of poker. Use that time to your advantage, like tracking your opponent's betting patterns.

[TheDrone]

This is poor strategy. Most of the time you will blind out waiting for the top 13 hands.

[KenProspero]

[ QUOTE ]
This is poor strategy. Most of the time you will blind out waiting for the top 13 hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

And if anyone's attentive, you won't get any action when you do play them.

[2planka]

Yeah. If the OP is looking for a guideline, read the FAQ post (top of this forum) and use Aleo's guide. Just remember it's a guide and not the Grail. IOW, it's a good place to start if you're new/trying to build confidence, etc. Also understand that Aleo's guide is suited for Party's SNG structure and doesn't directly carry over to other sites (Stars, in particular).

The OP should also look into pokertracker, as others have said, and take notes/be active when not involved in the hand.

Basically snoop around the FAQ thread. There are lots of nuggets in there.