Fireside chat about AT/ATo

Buccaneer · #1 10-27-2005, 11:02 AM

Looking over my stats AT/ATo seems to jump out at me. I have gotten it the normal amount of time but have done abnormally well with it. I really like this hand. When I look at my cards I would rather see AT than see some of the premo hands.

I am not saying that I get a warm squishie feeling when I am dealt them but I do welcome them with open arms. I am wondering if I play this hand well because I like it or if I like it because I play it well. I find I can release it easily when it is beat and hang on to it while I have the best of it and that I don't seem to underbet it or overbet it.

My personal oppinion is that somehow I have an unconcious knowledge of how the hand stacks up and how to play it in most situations. I have won pots and lost pots with it but I just seem to like to see it come along.

My point is how to learn to play other hands like this. When I play other hands I am tight and concerned, when I play AT it is relaxing almost. I trust my play with this hand and wish that I was as comfortable with other hands.

milesdyson · #2 10-27-2005, 11:07 AM

none of the above.

you like it because variance has, so far, been on your side with the hand. throw in a guy with a dominating ace 1 out of 10 times and you would hate the hand dearly.

#3 10-27-2005, 12:37 PM

whats the sample size? plez.....

car ramrod · #4 10-27-2005, 12:48 PM

maybe this should be posted in teh pyscology forum.

VoraciousReader · #5 10-27-2005, 01:43 PM

[ QUOTE ]
My point is how to learn to play other hands like this. When I play other hands I am tight and concerned, when I play AT it is relaxing almost. I trust my play with this hand and wish that I was as comfortable with other hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

There was a thread a while back about hands we irrationally like. For me it's TT. I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] that hand. When I look down and see it I hear flute music and a gentle breeze blows in, and the scent of vanilla orchids fills the room.

But at the end of the day it's all still basically irrational.

I think one of the appealing things about the marginally less premium hands is that they win frequently but it is not so disappointing to lose with them (or have everybody fold to your preflop raise.) It's very easy to feel entitled to the pot when you are holding AA/KK/QQ, AK. (This is especially true for me if I have had a long run of bad cards.) But thinking that way is a trap.

I find that the more I play, the more I feel relaxed playing any kind of hand. For all I know you've logged 75K more hands than I have, but I would guess that the answer to your question is to play more.

Buccaneer · #6 10-27-2005, 06:52 PM

Well for me the sent of orange blossoms fills the room, that is if my dog is not at my feet passing gas.

But seriously, I am winning 53% of the time with AT and 60% with ATo. Sample size is about 50 hands. I am sure that variance will beat the crap out of AT soon enough but I would expect that.

ArturiusX · #7 10-27-2005, 06:53 PM

AT is a strong hand and is a good winner for me.

detruncate · #8 10-27-2005, 08:20 PM

Hands like KJo and ATo often benefit from being played more passively than a hand like KQo when we're prone to overplaying post flop after raising pf. And being confident and comfortable playing a particular hand is good except insofar as it might have a tendency to make you question your play less frequently than you should (especially when you're getting good results).

But whatever. Even if you ignore everything else, additional reasons to be relaxed and groovy at the table are always welcome.