Feeling like a genius.

[Ryan_21]

This is a repost of a question I asked Al in the True beleivers thread. I reposted it b/c I think these questions needed their own thread.

I completely agree that the thought of being able to control random events is bs. However here is a quote from the movie Bandits that always sticks out in my mind, b/c I feel the same way.

"The trouble with being smart, is that you pretty much already know whats going to happen before it happens."

I feel I can read people great and I find myself feeling this way in a lot of things not just poker. Last night I had my A game and I was playing and the people just seemed so predictable. I could just about tell you who would win the pot, who would bet next round if they would checkraise and all that. Now of course I wasnt always right but I was right on my reads the majority of the time.

So my question is, do you feel that there are people who can think a step or two ahead of everyone else, and kind of anticipate people's thoughts and actions with accuracy, and not just in the poker world?

Also another question. I have another saying that I feel relates to me.

It was made buy a sports anouncer about the St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz who has a reputation for being an offensive genius. The announcer beleives they are loosing b/c Martz doesnt stick to the basics and hand the ball off to Marshall Faulk enough.

The saying is this: "Whenever he sticks to the basics they win, whenever this guy starts to feel like a genius and start throwing the ball they start to lose."

I felt this way last night and I think it leads to my downfall. I will always stick to the basics to start a session and I will be doing good. But then I'll get reads on my opponents and I think I can outthink/outplay them, and as soon as I start to feel like a genius I start to lose. I open up my starting hand requirements and I start to make funky moves and I think I can find +ev situations and make my own + ev situations and everything just goes to heck. I know the best advice would be to just stick to basics, but it is deeper than that and more difficult so I need some advice.

Ryan_21

Have you won the world series of poker and played high stakes as a winner for over 50 years like Doyle Brunson? Have you made a living at mid limits and written dozens of excellent columns like Roy Cooke? Have you been a solid mid limit player, written the definitive books on poker strategy and run the best poker chat site in the world like Sklanksy, Malmuth and Zee? Have you coached a pro football team like Mike Martz? Have you succeeded in any field in a way that leaves a mark? If you're like most of us (including even the very successful individuals named above) you have plenty to be humble about. There are lots of smart people in the world -- results are what count. Here's a quote from Bill Parcells "You are what your record is".

[Jedi Poker]

I don't know how many times you play tournaments, but if there's a place in poker where the loose tricky plays that have resulted from your "thinking you're a genius" habit can be appropriate, it's when you've managed to accumulate a big stack in a tournament and have widened the "gap concept" to an extreme level in your favor. But in a limit ring game, you really can't stray away from the basics much because the shortstacks simply re-buy to even themselves up.

[Al Schoonmaker]

You asked: "Do you feel that there are people who can think a step or two ahead of everyone else, and kind of anticipate people's thoughts and actions with accuracy, and not just in the poker world?"
My answer is that there are such people, but it has nothing to do with ESP. They understand situations and people better than most of us and can predict what they will do and what will happen. ESP deals with what cards are going to come, and nobody can predict or control those cards.
You also wrote: "I will always stick to the basics to start a session and I will be doing good. But then I'll get reads on my opponents and I think I can outthink/outplay them, and as soon as I start to feel like a genius I start to lose. I open up my starting hand requirements and I start to make funky moves and I think I can find +ev situations and make my own + ev situations and everything just goes to heck. I know the best advice would be to just stick to basics, but it is deeper than that and more difficult so I need some advice."
Your problem here is arrogance and boredom. You think that your reads and skills allow you to give the other players a large head start, but catch up and pass them. The better you play compared to the competition, the more hands you can play, but you're overdoing it.
For example, just play a group five hand in situations in which you would normally play only a four or better. That is, give them only a LITTLE head start. And watch yourself to see if your arrogance (I play better than these Magoos)and your desire for action (folding is boring) are hurting you. If so, back to the basics.
I don't know wht limits you're playing, but the lower they are, the more closely you should stick to A,B, C poker. It's boring, but it works. At lower limits "funky moves" are just creative ways to lose money.
Regards,
Al