So you wanna play bigger eh?? A poker post

If I had a dollar for everytime I heard, "I'm gonna play the bigger limits, I just can't beat the idiots at these low limit games"....I would be rich.

Let me get this straight, you can't beat a table full of idiots at low limit games, so you want to find some really good players and play for bigger stakes?????? The logic escapes me.

Variance is a part of poker life, DEAL WITH IT or get a new hobby. Yes, you will lose to 92o, yes you will lose to K10o when they call 3 bets cold and yes suited aces look like pure gold to a low limit player. If you cannot beat this, you need to work on your own game, but don't go looking for one where you won't get 4 way action for your kings. Instead, you will get two way action and one will be aces four-betting your sorry butt into bankruptcy. In most 3-6 games it is common to see 7 or 8 way unraised action. Makes for pretty good draw odds if you ask me.
Also, once you begin to think that you are the best player in the game, you have probably just become the worst player in the game. Respect for the players, respect for the game and respect for the cards in front of you are necessary elements for success at poker. Learn this respect or you will be asking, "who CAN I beat?" a year from now.
Your results are the product of your own efforts and your own skills in taking advantage of the mistakes that others make. If you are the one making all the mistakes, then your results will surely reflect it.

Best o' luck.

Larry

[-TAURUS-]

VERY GOOD POST............ONLY THE TRUE [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

[Uglyowl]

Someone does win calling raises with something they usually don't win with and then the berating starts... "you idiot"... "what the hell are you doing" etc. and either causing the lousy player to play tighter or leave. It drives me nuts. Just say "good hand" and take your money back later.

[bernie]

nice to see this topic make the rounds again...

i posted long ago about this...i think the title was
"tired of suckouts? hmm...maybe it's your game"

its in the archives under either small stakes or general ..it was by no means the original post of this topic, but it was a nice thread...check it out if you have time...i think it may have been about a year ago...not sure...

anyways....many times its an ABC player that only knows one way to play. so when the table texture changes, they dont know how to adjust. what i like is when the comments start flying, you know how that player plays and his level of understanding of the game...

id like to tell em, "keep complaining moron...while we stack your chips...but hey! you ARE the best on the table.... "hahaha

very nice post... [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

b

[bernie]

how about this one..
'yeah, youre a great player, but an even better teacher...tell me more!'

meaning, ill let him 'teach' me how 'he' plays...sure....so what else 'should' we do? heh heh

oh well....

b

[roGER]

Of course you are right Larry, but...

Here are some downsides to playing "no fold'em hold'em":

1) No bluffing allowed
2) Hand reading is futile
3) You've got to have the best hand to win
4) The game is BORING
5) The game is BORING
6) The game is BORING
...
100) The game is BORING

So I have some sympathy with those who complain about it, and I can see where they are coming from. Once you remove bluffing and hand reading from poker, two of the most fascinating aspects of the game are gone. All you are left with is playing more drawing hands and attempting to punish the limpers with your AA.

Furthermore, because no fold 'em tends to played at lower limits, the rewards for coping with the rat-bastard tedium of winning the game tend to be low.

Just a devil's advocate viewpoint,

- roGER

[Tom D]

Good post.

Since no-fold’em games provide very few opportunities to use skill, the edge a skilled player might have is diminished to near zero. Take away bluffs, semi-bluffs and hand reading, what are you left with? After years and years, hand selection and odds calculations might allow for a small profit, but they might not.

Tom D

[pufferfish]

I've been playing micro-limits since the summer and I think I'm just now coming out of this phase. I used to complain to friends/family about all the "bad beats" and sympathize with the "how can they play that way" posts.

Then an interesting thing happened, the games at Paradise (where I mostly play) started to seem tighter and tighter. I was in a couple games this weekend where people stopped betting big pairs before the flop. Nothing like betting top pair only to get clobbered by a big overpair.

Decided to play micro at another site and thought I'd gone to heaven when I saw 7/8 to the flop. Easy, easy money.

Perhaps this is a phase that many of us need to go through. Those that are beyond this may want to treat those/me players the same way you would treat your favorite fish. Just say "ni complaint, I feel your pain". [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

My 2 cents.

I am one of the players online that just seems to get killed by bad beats. What adjustments should I make? Play almost all suited connectors and Ace-rag suited as well. Thanks for any help.

[lorinda]

The low stakes forum will provide good examples of playing differences, however the main adjustment you will need to make is the acceptance that you will lose more pots (but not neccessarily more money) in these loose games.

Set your mental attitude to not "expect" to win every pot, record your results, and as long as you are still winning, use the results to boost your confidence when yet another river gives someone two low pairs to your Aces.

Take your frustrations out by kicking the cat, but dont take it out by tilting on the table.

Remember, each time you make a bet and get five callers, you are getting a five to one shot for that bet!!

Id expect more of these to win than betting on a horse at 5-1 [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Lori