best possible poker strategy

Nate,


"If someone asked you 'what is your strategy at the hold'em table?,' I imagine you could talk for an hour without ever mentioning a single card rank."


I've got a kooky idea in the works. A whole book on winning at poker that never mentions a card. That's the feature that makes Zen and the Art of Poker my favorite poker book.


"Most starting hand strategy boils down to situational tactics. Your overall approach to the game is your strategy. So, when you say an improved poker theory will devalue strategy, I believe you meant just the opposite. Devalue tactics, and elevate strategy."


You are so right. By common usage, I used "strategy" exactly backwards. The distinction between "strategy" and "tactic" is still fuzzy in my mind. Let's say my strategy is to attack the blinds from the button with any ace, any king, and any two cards above a seven. Then, when the situation comes up, I raise. If I follow you right, the raise itself is a tactic, but really it's just the predetermined manifestation of a strategy, right?


That's probably why I don't use the word "tactic."


"I know you like this kind of word-stuff..."


:-)


Tommy

"One cannot make music without them [notes], ..."


I strongly disagree.


"So perhaps our disagreement here is semantic."


I suppose it is a disagreement on what defines music. If music is defined as including notes, then your claim stands up. But in my view, haphazard notes scattered about without rhythm do not make music, whereas the drum circles in Golden Gate park are most definitely music.


Looking at music as "art" in the sense that art is a mode of expressing feeling, the random notes will give me no buzz, whether I'm playing them or listening to them, but a solid groove, even if pounded out on a steering wheel by a teenager, will.


Tommy

It's nice to have such a resonant drum so conveniently located.

From thread above…


"We win the information war through behavior. And we max out our efforts through consistency. If I had a son and I was teaching him how to win at hold'em, I'd drill him on those two things LONG before he ever posted a blind. In the real world, what happens is players develop bad habits, then they learn about starting hands and such, and think that knowing good strategy will overcome the flaws in behavior and consistenty.

Ironically, learning winning strategy causes some players to lose more. Their expectations increase while their fundamental flaws remain unchanged. This leads to increased frustration, which leads to more inconsistency. And the urge to show how smart they are leads to more lost battles in the information war. A nasty catch 22."


Tommy, what do you csee as the fundamental flaws/ bad habits that are causing players such as myself to lose. What do you mean by consistancy? I do see a lot in myself from the above posts. I know I cop a real attitude when sucked out on. I know it is wrong to feel that way, but I haven’t found a way to just let it go…

maybe it will happen for me as I gain more time at the table.

"Tommy, what do you see as the fundamental flaws/ bad habits that are causing players such as myself to lose."


I don't use the word "behavior" in it's usual moral content, as in, good behavior and bad behavior. What I mean by behavior is everything we do at the table. It includes, say, getting caught bluffing and showing dismay that the opponent looked us up with ace-high. The focus here should be, how did he know I was bluffing? But the common focus is to assume that he made a bad call and think less of him for it, as a player, and more dangerously, as a person.


"What do you mean by consistancy?"


Do we play the same when when we're up three racks as when we're stuck three racks? Do we play just as clear-headed after one round as we do after ten hours? Do we play just as good after five straight losing sessions as we do after five straight winners?


My answers are usually no. But sometimes I do play my best game when severely stuck, and sometimes I play great after many hours, and sometimes I lose five times in a row and follow up with a perfect session. That would all be impossible if I didn't keep consistency as the top priority.


"I know I cop a real attitude when sucked out on."


Bingo. For a player with some experience, I don't think any amount of book-study will overcome what 'copping a real attitude' costs.


"I haven’t found a way to just let it go…"


Think of it like quitting an addiction, one that cannot be done cold-turkey. The first step is to "let it go" just once. If you can take a beat, and just once not care, not care even a little bit, then it's just a matter of figuring out how that mindset was reached, and repeat it again and again as often as possible until ideally it becomes as second nature as mucking 7-2.


"maybe it will happen for me as I gain more time at the table."


True, but it won't happen just by showing up. Remember that practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice does.


Tommy

Hell RAISE IT!


since position is so important is raiseing it on the button ok?....please?

I'm not saying that haphazard notes constitute music. I am saying that one cannot have music without notes. There's a difference. I can throw four bases onto my couch; that does not constitute a baseball game. But one cannot have a baseball game without bases.


My point is that while behavior and consistency might well be just as important as basic strategy or tactics, they are useless without a sound grounding in the basics. There is no art without technique.

Quit talking about me that way!

Dear Player,

If you're so readable, you have to raise a few times UTG with garbage to confuse your opponents. Consider an early loss an investment for future wins.


Sitting Bull