Confessions of a Mediocre Poker Player

[Barry]

I beat the Party 15/30 game and have for over a year. I haven’t played in a 20/40 game for quite that I didn’t think that I was a pretty big favorite. (Well I guess you could exclude the time that both Tommy and Clarkmeister were at the same table.) I beat the Bellagio 30/60 game and while I don’t have enough time in 40/80, I am up and I haven’t felt as though I’m in over my head. Nonetheless, I am a mediocre poker player

Why?

Emotionally - For one, being a very competitive person results in the short-term still effect me. When I’m running good, life is good, when I’m not, its not. A few bad beats, a few monsters getting beat by even bigger monsters, or even making a good fold post-flop where I would have wound up winning the hand is enough to set me off of my game. I can stop, go for a walk, but sometimes I don’t and that’s bad. More than once after a session some respected posters here have made mention of my emotions surfacing more than they should. I have gotten better over time, but I still have a ways to go.

Technically - I make errors far too often, calling when I should raise and calling when I should fold are the most frequent, but I also make the other ones too. Looking at my PT stats and comparing them to good players, I find one striking difference between my stats and theirs. It is the post-flop aggression factor. Mine is about 1.5 where others are over 2.0 and in many cases well over 2.0. I have tried to figure out why. Here is at least part of the problem: when facing aggression on the turn when I have a decent, but not great hand, I don’t seem to have a good handle on whether I’m ahead and should raise or so far behind that I should fold, so far too many times I go into call down mode. When I should fold, it costs me 2 BB’s and I give up perhaps 1 BB when I should raise. I certainly need to get a better handle on this and narrow down the “call down” corridor.

Every now and again, I read Ray Zee’s essay on the stages of a poker player. Every time I start exploring the 3rd stage, I seem to get my head handed to me, so I tend to regress back to the early 2nd stage, and sometimes even back to the end of the 1st stage.

So anyway, I guess that I am going to start posting some of these turn decision hands and let you folks see where I am falling short. Also if any others of you have had similar issues getting into and through the 3rd stage, I‘d sure be glad to hear them.

[slickpoppa]

Recognizing your own weaknesses is definitely necessary to become a great poker player. But to call yourself mediocre after consistently beating Party 15/30 and B&M 30/60 is not fair to yourself. It is possible to give yourself credit without being too cocky.

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
Recognizing your own weaknesses is definitely necessary to become a great poker player. But to call yourself mediocre after consistently beating Party 15/30 and B&M 30/60 is not fair to yourself. It is possible to give yourself credit without being too cocky.

[/ QUOTE ]

barry didn't correctly explain himself...

he is good(great) at many things in life, but exemplory in none, according to him...

so for him...he places himself in the 85% catagory of those who are "serious about poker" or at least play poker seriously...

so he wants to be significantly better, approaching expert, in a game very few excel at, and only the best master...

-Barron

[MaxPower]

Yeah, but you make up for it in excellent game selection [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I have logged a good number of hands with you at different limits online and live. I have always noticed that your post-flop aggression numbers were lower than most 2+2ers, but you are not passive by any means.

Its good to evaluate yourself like that. I've been doing it and I think it has helped a lot. I'm realizing that one reason my win rate is not as high as I would like is that I often fail to get maximum value out of my good hands. I'm so used to playing against calling stations, that I don't know how to get any value out of better players, but they know how to get value out of me.

I look forward to your hand posts.

[mike l.]

"Every time I start exploring the 3rd stage,"

trust me it's not all that, you dont want to get there. when i read that essay now i think zee's certainly an out of touch choker. his levels are all backasswards.

i couldnt beat the 15-30 at party if my life depended on it. how's that for mediocre?

[WillMagic]

[ QUOTE ]

i couldnt beat the 15-30 at party if my life depended on it. how's that for mediocre?

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on, you have to know that this is just not true, Mike. You are much better player than me, and I beat the party 15...I could maybe understand this comment if it were "I cannot beat the party 15 while playing four tables," but in the current context you can't actually believe that it is true.

Will

[Rushmore]

My honest opinion is that any regular here at 2+2 should be able to beat the Party 15/30 pretty easily, two tables minimum.

I find it impossible to accept that mike l. might not be able to do so. I think he is being falsely modest.

[SinCityGuy]

[ QUOTE ]
I find it impossible to accept that mike l. might not be able to do so. I think he is being falsely modest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike L. would destroy the Party 15/30 players if he was playing in a live game against them. However, he doesn't use any tracking software when he plays online, which is a huge disadvantage.

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
However, he doesn't use any tracking software when he plays online, which is a huge disadvantage.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am no longer a huge believer that Pokertracker et al are absolute necessities. In fact, i no longer use any tracking software myself.

I was starting to pick the proverbial flysh*t out of the proverbial pepper.

It's liberating, just playing poker.

[Mike Gallo]

Barry,

Finding the problem usually proves more difficult than solving the problem.

I think you find your way. Remember success is a journey, not a destination.

On a side note,does anyone else think Barry resembles Ted Forrest less the mullet [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]?