Low Limit Problems

[Doctavian]

Good, Better, Best decisions!

Dear Pei,

You raise one of the most important questions in Poker.
Is the potential profit from raising in pre flop situations (lots of old pros still call stud’s fourth street the flop) worth the risk, since you don’t know if the fourth street will hit one or more of your opponents hard? (A good example is when you big pair advantage is killed by having two tight opponents pair their door cards)

The answer is that yes! It is very much in your favor to get your bets in early.

If you didn’t would you decision have been wrong. The answer is no. Starting with suited live Aces and Kings carries so much potential pot equity, that if that had been your decision you still would have positive expectations. And would be a correct one.

But AND THIS IS IMPORTANT: Your potential profits from pushing your big live pairs are so great that you just have to maximize your profits from them when you have the opportunity.

Several years ago three studies were done on American and British Casino poker players. Several hundred randomly selected players in each study were monitored as to their profits and losses each time they visited the casino.(One study was done at the University of Nevada and another at Oxford) What they found was that in the US study only 3% of the participants were making money over a year’s time. I think that the English study showed that in their group only 2% were making money over a years time.

Now the winners seemed to be divided into two groups those who were making a little money and those who were making a lot.

Tight and aggressive is the key to success in our game. We avoid week hand and situation over and over again. But then the moment we have the advantage we hit them hard again and again. That’s the difference between the players who make a little money and those who make a lot.

Should you ever slow play your big starting hands? Yes, if you feel that raising will kill all of your action.

One of the weaknesses of my game is that I am sooo tight and aggressive, that about 80% of the time I raise early, all of the players at the table will drop their hands. So in my case I need to telling myself to lower my raising requirements until I can train the players at the casino to give me more action. The reason I haven‘t more training id because I loose action pre-flop I like the fact that my reputation usually allows me to thin the players on the later rounds.

Our game: a lifetime of little adjustments.

That you for raising this important topic.

Most sincerely,

Doc AZ