Who should I believe?

[pokerplayer5009]

I am trying to learn and get better at Hold-em. I've read a few books and I thought I could learn from reading this forum. Problem is, I get conflicting answers to every situation I read. What am I to believe is the best answer?

[Perseus]

Nobody, everyone is a losing player in the long run.

Except me, of course. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

Just read as much as you can and adapt different strategies to your own, personal style. Good luck.

Jon

[adamstewart]

A great deal of the time, your "answers" will be situation dependent.

Unfortunately, your current post is too vague to answer.

I suggest you refer to specific questions/scenarios.

Adam

[JinX11]

You should believe Ed Miller. Done.

[Mike]

Find an author or poster you are comfortable with and follow what they say. Then as you gain more experience you may be able to understand the different ways of playing the same hand and why one method is better or why one method is you.

If you pick a little of this style and a little of that style, you usually end up with a losing style until you comprehend the why's of making certain plays.

[Grisgra]

Just remember, you can't win a pot by folding!

/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[onegymrat]

Hi pokerplayer,

You question is important. Because the situations that will arise in holdem in your lifetime will number in the thousands (maybe more?), there is no one correct answer. What will work best for you is to keep an open mind to ALL advice and decipher which you feel is best to use in different situations.

As a beginner, there should be a few books that will help with sculpting your poker mind such as The Theory of Poker and Jones' WLLH. Combine that with the most important item, playing experience, you will start to plug leaks that you may or may not have. One response was to "believe Miller, period". Although I think his book is terrific, it is absurd to believe only one person and not be open to understand that there are other correct advice also. SSHE is terrific but you'll need a bit more experience to understand his theories on postflop play.

The purpose of this forum is to post questions and hands which are not specifically covered in literature, and seek advice from players that also face these situations frequently. Some players will give better advice, and some will give worse advice. The key is to see how others think and then decide for yourself (through experience and book knowledge), what is best and why. To excel in this game, it is important to discuss and debate the proper play of certain hands/situations with fellow players. Without such interaction, you may never know what works for other players and why.

Roy Cooke maintains that education is also an edge that you can have over your opponents, so keep studying and keep an open mind. Once you have enough experience and education, you will automatically start realizing what advice works best for the opponents that YOU face and the type of games that YOU play in. Good luck.

[BusterStacks]

it depends what sub-forum you are posting in.