Why winning players really win.

[craftyandsly]

JTR, I was playing the $3-$6 table, and I found that I was trying much too hard to pick up tells (just read Caro's book) instead of watching my loose play. I really have to work on that aspect of my game. <g> However, being from Vermont, there aren't any casinos within a reasonable driving distance. That's why I practice my play, on-line.

I don't know ... for the first hour I held my own playing a very conservative style. However, I lost a great deal of chips from several, bad beats (I held a full house and was beaten by four of a kind ... on the river -- I held a flush on the flop, only to be beaten by a full house three other times -- and, last but not least, I held a str8 on the flop ... no, on the turn, only to lose on the river with a flush draw).

I *DID* receive a compliment from the guy, named John, to my right. He told me that he knew I was new at the game, but that he was impressed that I did not exhibit any outward emotions whenever I suffered a bad beat.

Frankly, that comment scared me. If figured that if I was that easy to figure out, I needed to immediately change my playing style. Thus, for the remainder of my time I played loose-aggressive. Changing my betting style, playing the worst cards on a couple of showdowns, and then changing back to a more conservative style.

I learned that *whenever* the guy to my immediate right raises my initial raise, I need to fold my hand. PERIOD. But, I cannot tell you how many times I still paid the six dollars to see the four of a kind, the full-boats, the flush draws .... and I paid them each and every time because I really thought he had to be bluffing. Sheesh. I have a lot to learn ... <g>

Stupid mistakes (like the above example) made me lose the $168 over that three hour period. Reflecting back on the hands, afterwards, I really don't know *why* I just *had* to see the four of a kind hand ... whatever ... at all? A whim, maybe? Frankly, I think that if I had just folded my hand and *not* shown my full house, then the other playe(s) would probably have shown the four of a kind, the flushes, the full boats, etc ... anyway.

That was just a dumb, rookie mistake on my part. But, I learned my lesson.

Additionally, I tried a couple of bluffs on the $3-$6 table, and I quickly learned that one can just forget about bluffing when the stakes are so low. On that table, many people (oftentimes) continue their play ... right down to the river. So, I changed my playing style to meet that odd occurence.

Additionally, once I also figured out that I was giving my opposition WAAAAY too much credit for THEIR own level of play (I had mistakenly thought I was playing against professionals), my luck began to turn around. Almost immediately, my play significantly improved. But, I was down several hundred at that point, and battled back to a loss of only $168 (final result for the three hour session).

I had gained a wealth of experience playing live ... much more so than playing on-line.

Thanks for your assistance, JTR. I really appreciate your candor.

Craftyandsly (Name's_Tom)