A look inside Mikey's Mind Part II

The key to being a true professional poker player is to play mistake-total mistake free poker. Yes I know I've said this in my last post, but allow me to empty my mind and thoughts to you. Some bad plays I made include this....I raise UTG with QQ, flop comes T x x, instead of betting out, I checked intending for a checkraise at that point I was wrong, why should I give free cards to K or A, sure enough the Turn, River bring AA, and I bet the turn w/ QQ. Why did I do that if only a better hand would call me. Then I started playing trick poker, I tried going for checkraises on the turn and when they failed, I lost BB. I came home/"to the hotel room" and wrote notes down, I said to myself specifically do not play trick poker. The next day I headed over to the TAJ, and played 5-10. No trick poker-and that's what got the money!!! I'm up $17 for the trip. Yeah it's pathetic but is better than being down. $160. Bad beats happen and they happened to me again, but I will continue to play my A game because that's what gets the money. Again to all you pros out there I don't know how the hell you do it??? It's so hard!!!

See you at the Taj or Trop.


By the way I lose Big Bets on the turn and river when i don't bet because I like to checkraise......but not anymore, I'm not going to checkraise, unless I'm over 90% sure I can pull it off.


Good Luck!!!

I'm not going to checkraise, unless I'm over 90% sure I can pull it off.


You may be making the mistake of letting your past results influence your strategic decisions for the future.

Here is the thing, as far as check raising goes....this is what I would do.......i flop top set Kings I check man bets one caller, I raise, Turn, I check....man checks, man checks, River I bet, one caller. 2 BB down the drain.....


I try to pull check raises all the time.....I don't know why I do....it's one of my flaws, and I do it at the worst times.

I was (re)reading HPFAP last night and the last passage I completed addressed the formula for determining when you should check raise. I may be wrong but it is around page 123 or shortly after. It rang true to me as I enjoy check raising as well!!!


Jimbo

Checkraising top set is dubious. Better to checkraise top pair if you think a bet will come late. But real sin is checking top set on the turn after checkraising flop. You can't expect anybody to bet unless the turn card is just horrible for you. (Like 4 flush or something.) You are right you are doing it at the worst times. Often betting out is your best play. And the simple play is often deceptive. Why? Because sometimes after you raise preflop (you did raise here didn't you) and miss the flop you will bet. That is I hope you bet the flop after raising without having a king sometimes. So you better bet your top sets sometimes too. Still not as bad as the player who checkraised me on the river two different hands when I had him beat. Then when he bet the river, I caught a bluff. Why? He didn't checkraise. ;-)

"The key to being a true professional poker player is to play mistake-total mistake free poker"


i think there's a misconception here. there is no way to play total mistake free poker. too many factors involved for perfection to happen.

you wont ever collect every possible bet on every hand you win.


the idea is to minimize the mistakes as much as possible and making the right adjustments. along with maximizing your winnings the best you can, especially when compared to how others at the table would play the same hand.


just some thoughts...


b

Hi Mike,


It is obvious that we always love to get the most money in the pot when we flop the top set. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula but I just go the HEPFAP tenet to check-raise if there is a high probability that someone will bet after you. How do you do this? Try to learn the betting/calling tendencies of your opponents in the course of the game. I'm sure you're observant enough to categorize the players in a few orbits. The probability of starting with high pocket pair is very small - about 55 to 1 for JJ or better. Then, you have to consider it takes another 8 to 1 to flop your set. So the opportunity to get that dream pair/flop is really slim isn't it? What I'm alluding to is that you have the time to study your opponents and hopefully have a pre-planned action before that magical hand comes if ever. I wish I have a better suggestion but can't think of any.


I hope this helps.

being a long-term winner is to consistently make fewer mistakes than the rest of the field is making--on the average.


Those players who regularly play against U will adjust to your play.

Hence, U will have to re-adjust to their new adjustment(s).

Frequent observations of your opponents' playing styles and frequently critiquing your own plays will help U accomplish your winning objective.

Happy pokering,

Sitting Bull

I was wondering just yesterday why you haven't been posting lately. Glad to have you back, I enjoy reading your posts.


Jimbo

If you planned to check-raise on the Turn, you shouldn't have gone for a check-raise on the flop. Since a check-raise is a sign of aggression, they're probably going to "check to the raiser" on the turn.

Correction, since you were early position, they couldn't "check to the raiser." Instead, they'll fear another check raise and check it around. Also keep in mind that the better may have been trying to buy a free card when he bet on the flop, so he may have intended to check on the turn anyways.

busy with my other "life"! LOL!

About a month's worth of moving had to be done and it was very exhausting. Hence,I was taking a break from poker and posting for a while.


Happy pokering.

Sitting Bull

You raise UTG with QQ, flop comes T x x, instead of betting out, you checked intending for a checkraise.


This can be an effective play when used at the right time. That is, if you get four non-blind callers, you can check, and almost certainly one of them will bet. Everyone will think you have AK once you check the flop. If one of the non-blind callers has a T, he will bet, or if someone in late position has middle pair or a pocket pair, he might bet. If your opponents aren't extremely passive, you should be able to check-raise. You might be able to check-reraise. You can even fold without putting any bets in the pot if there's multiple raises and you're sure you're beat, although that would be rare.


Check-raising can work even more often against the right field if you raised with QQ out of the small blind.