Help Me Laydown Cards!

[PinkSteel]

Looks like several good suggestions here already, but Step One toward all of them is: Verbalize your thinking before you make your play.

You're not tying your brain action to your bet. The way to do it is to require of yourself that you tell yourself, IN WORDS, the reason why you're about to do what you're about to do.

Once you start doing this, you will be amazed at how fast your true good judgement -- knowing that you really are beat -- takes over and lets you fold the hand.

Got this from "Psychology of Poker", can't remember the author (2+2 book). Single most important mental adjustment I have made to the game.

[LetYouDown]

I completely agree, although I never read the book. I came to that conclusion a couple months ago. I could feel that my mind/mouse were becoming disconnected, so I started verbalizing. I've also played with my girlfriend in the room and although she doesn't understand much about poker, she'll watch. When she watches, I ask her to make me explain every single move I make, with the exception of preflop obvious folds. I win a lot more (lose a lot less) when she's around.

[THATWACOKID]

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That is a ridiculous statement. If they were all correct you must be the best poker player in the world.

[/ QUOTE ]


I was shown aces twice in three times. Other time villian didn't show. I must be 1/3 away from the best poker player in the world.

[ QUOTE ]
How does folding KK 3 times imply PT is good?

[/ QUOTE ]

When I have KK in EP and I raise 6x the BB, villian, who has position on me, raises me to 34x the BB, and he has raised 2 times in 1,200 hands, isn't it kinda obvious??

[The_Bends]

This might be an overly personaly question, in which case feel free to ignore it but do you have a tendency to gamble a lot? Roulette, Craps, Horses that sort of thing. One of my friends is a good player with a gret grasp of the game however his love for gambling in general make it all to easy for him to get involved in big pots with the worst of it just for the thrill and it destroys his edge.

[THATWACOKID]

Here is the one where villian didn't show:

I've played a lot with villian in the past month. Villian respects me and his pre flop raise is 1.7 % in 1,700 hands.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) converter

MP2 ($158)
MP3 ($208.2)
CO ($319.03)
Button ($165.35)
SB ($200.25)
BB ($226.8)
Hero ($247.3)
UTG+1 ($203.55)
UTG+2 ($554)
MP1 ($94.05)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. SB posts a blind of $1.
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $8</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, MP1 calls $8, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">CO raises to $50</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, Hero folds, MP1 folds.

Final Pot: $69

[NiceCatch]

I'm not sure why people find folding KK every now and then ridiculous. If you're up against an ultra-rock who raises 1% of the time (or less!), and then re-raises your preflop raise big, you can be fairly sure you're up against AA.

NLDs, Waco.

[Rotating Rabbit]

Turn your mouse upsidedown after every action. That way you cant ever 'impulse call'

[NiceCatch]

Maybe you're just too curious to play NL. Remember, curiousity killed the cat and lost the no-limit player his bankroll.

[Leptyne]

A couple of suggestions. First learn to take emotion out of the game. Poker is a game of skill in which anger and other emotions only get in the way. Try Zen and the Art of Poker.

Second, forget about the money! Concentrate instead on playing each hand correctly. Have a plan (actually more of a flow chart) for playing your cards as soon as you look at them. If you don't have a starting hands chart of when you call or raise with certain cards then make one. Then use patience and discipline.

Learn to appreciate the art of folding. Take joy and pleasure in folding. Look at folding as a weapon. Nobody gets your money when you fold. Learn the weapons at your disposal and master each of them(stop and go, check raise, blocking bet, min raise, check to encourage your opponent to bluff on a later round, and many others). Since poker is a game of incomplete information learn to accept the fact you'll fold some big hands to a bluff, and you'll call some hands you shouldn't call. Practice the art of getting over a hand in ten seconds.

Although poker is a game of skill it is also an art form. Forget about the money and learn to enjoy practicing your skill and developing your artistic side- - on each and every hand. Learn to use your PT to evaluate your play not only of hands you lost, but hands you won. Could you have won more?

After reading all the posts take some of the ideas you like and write them down then put them to use. Make a promise to yourself to change.

I keep saying forget about the money because as you learn to develop good habits the money will take care of itself. And of course even on your best days you can still lose money when you get pounded with bad beats. Stick to your game plan and the money will come.

[emil3000]

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I think the issue often has to do with you expecting to win the pot at the outset of a hand (or on the flop).

[/ QUOTE ]

This is so true. I have gotten away from this myself, but I have a perfect example in a friend who plays the 100 6max. Every time he gets a big hand preflop, he gets excited and feels like he's gonna win a big pot every time. This is bad enough when you're playing limit, but it's absolute death in NL. You need to realize that you don't ahve a big hand until you're coordinated with the board.

LAGs (good or bad) have this effect as well. They take away a couple of pots when you have nothing, and then you feel like "man, I am so gonna get my money back and more once I get an overpair". Very often you lose your stack this way.

Always try to be zen about your playing. DOn't let emotion control you.

LAGs, good or bad have this effect on a l