Is your goal when you play to double up?

[1C5]

Or is it to chip away and win many small uncontested pots?

[MLerra]

Assume, for example, stacks of $50 with you and opponent. You both go all-in in a hand in which you're a 60% favorite. The house rake is 10%, which makes the pot to be won $90 in reality. You win 60% of the time, which comes out to $54 on average. So, if you did this a million times, you would put in $50 each time and average a return of $54.

The real problem is, it's hard to truly predict what kind of a favorite you are. I try to get all my money in with situations in which I'm an 80% or better favorite. I know it's still good to do at 70% or even, as I showed, 60%. Problem is, if I think I'm a a 60% favorite and I'm off by just a little, I've turned it into a losing proposition. If my goal is to try to find spots where I'm 80% or better, and it turns out I was off by 20% and I'm really only a 60% favorite... well, I'm still making a correct play. If I get all my money in when I think I'm a 60% favorite and I'm off by 20%, well now I'm at 40% and I'm making a losing play. And that sucks.

[Tony.T]

Its always to bust big stacks. Winning many small pots makes that easier as I see it, especially at a 6max table

[sawseech]

get deep and destroy the table

[zaxx19]

This is actually a great ?? for SSNLH.

Id say I play to treadwater and then double through.

One thing though I WILL make huge bluffs if I sense alot of weakness like a blocking bet on the river or 2 consecutive checks on the turn and river..it isnt automatic but a TAG like myself MUST have this in his arsenal in order to be a great NLH player IMHO.

[soLit]

i usually play about 3 hour sessions, and i plan to at least double up yes

[edge]

I win a lot more small pots than big ones. I know that I'll be behind a lot of the time in a big pot, since my game apparently depends on taking pots preflop or on the flop.

Anyway, when I hit a big hand, I haven't been getting paid off recently, so I guess my goal is just to make more money than I started with, although I like to target players and wait until I can bust them.

[Jeff W]

I don't see why this goal is relevant. You should be trying to double up AND win small pots uncontested. If you forego either you will leave profit on the table.

[xorbie]

I play to pick up enough small pots with TPGK or just position to cover my losses on the bigger hands and then to double up through my large made hands (nut straight, nut flush, set).

[tek]

I like to trap weaker players. That enables me to double up and triple. Or is it triple up and then double? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Tilt]

To answer the original posters quetion (and to stay out of the other garbage that has become a part of this thread)....

My goal is to make every play so correct and justifiable that I could post the whole session here and not get flamed. Regardless of actual results.

[MikeL]

My first goal is to minimize my mistakes by :

1) successfully getting away from good, but not great
hands, like TPTK or TPGK when the betting indicates I
am beat.

2) laying down pretty good hands, like 2 pair that are
not top 2 pair, when betting indicates I am beat.

3) not being Sheriff; i.e. not calling big bets on
flush/straight boards just to "keep them honest."

All 3 of these are, of course, effected by who I am
playing against. But, in most cases, these can be
HUGE cash drains when not followed correctly.
Conversely, laying down a TPTK hand that would
have otherwise been the best hand does not lose
as much money as playing TPTK too long/hard when
it ends up being 2nd/3rd best. The reason that these
are such huge drains of your money is the frequency
that they come up. Losing set over set, while very
dissappointing, just doesn't happen nearly as often
as pushing the TPTK too hard and getting thumped for it.

My second goal is to try to get my chips in the
middle when I perceive I am best by quite a bit.
I accomplish this by:

1) Aggressive pre-flop betting, raising and re-raising
with power hands.

2) Allowing poorer players overplay their TPTK into
my better hand (notice that this is playing on one of
the major cash drains I am trying to eliminate, but
now I am capitalizing on other's making this mistake).
I follow players with UltimateBuddy who continually
make this mistake. It is usually worth about 1 stack
every other session (sometimes many more!).

3) Slowplaying my monsters (duh).

4) Taking down pots, when in late position, where
weakness is shown (e.g. min-bets, checks). This is
a skill I am still working to improve.

There are more, but these are the ones I am working on,
Mike L.

[george w of poker]

you'll learn way more about poker by sitting down and reading Theory of Poker than by asking questions like this (not because it's a stupid question but because you are getting stupid responses).

[tomdemaine]

just double up then triple it

[jkkkk]

[ QUOTE ]
get deep and destroy the table

[/ QUOTE ]

i like this strategy /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Jazza]

whatever maximizes EV is always my goal