they say poker is one long session

[yvesaint]

i dont think this is true

i play each session as what its called - a "session". i try to develop an ebb and a flow to my play, and use it to my advantage. usually when i sit down, it's not against the same people over and over, so my "image" is still a clean slate.

for example, for the first part of my sessions, i like to be very very aggressive/loose. i play 6-max, but for the first 4-6 orbits i will be re-raising with a lot more hands. i will re-raise a UTG raiser and an MP caller with 67s. i will do it 2 hands later with 44.

the benefit of this is that when people start adjusting and realizing i am raising at like 30% PFR, i gradually switch to a tighter game (but maintaining the same aggressiveness). if i've been re-raising A LOT, then once people start realizing i'm re-raising with crap, i can finally get some action with AA-QQ, AK when i re-raise that.

i mean, how many times have you been playing, and someone opens up 3xBB and you re-raise on the button with AA, and everyone folds? or its folded to you on the button with AA and you raise 3xBB and the blinds fold?

this is why i play sessions separately, not as one long session.

thoughts? i just like to play one session like a separate thing, and hopefully at the end have people calling me down with top pair weak kicker and paying me off big time.

basically i dont like to play the same game. my vpip/pfr is an average - not an indicator of how i'm playing this hand, this moment. this is more than just "adjusting" to the situation, like a maniac table, or a rock garden. this is creating a session, creating an image, and then using that image.

maybe a lot of you already do this, in fact, probably a lot of you do this

[sourbeaver]

The money I'd stand to lose by reraising w 78s and 44 would not make up for the action I'd get on my aces, kings and queens when I reraise those preflop.

Apparently, this is not your case and that's great. It appears to me that lagging it up this way would put one into a lot of very marginal situations, or flat out -EV situations. This is a zone where I have a lot left to learn.

[4_2_it]

I think your metagame works fine at NL $200 and above. I doubt the donks at NL $25 are paying that much attention.

[iceman5]

[ QUOTE ]
i dont think this is true

i play each session as what its called - a "session". i try to develop an ebb and a flow to my play, and use it to my advantage. usually when i sit down, it's not against the same people over and over, so my "image" is still a clean slate.

for example, for the first part of my sessions, i like to be very very aggressive/loose. i play 6-max, but for the first 4-6 orbits i will be re-raising with a lot more hands. i will re-raise a UTG raiser and an MP caller with 67s. i will do it 2 hands later with 44.

the benefit of this is that when people start adjusting and realizing i am raising at like 30% PFR, i gradually switch to a tighter game (but maintaining the same aggressiveness). if i've been re-raising A LOT, then once people start realizing i'm re-raising with crap, i can finally get some action with AA-QQ, AK when i re-raise that.

i mean, how many times have you been playing, and someone opens up 3xBB and you re-raise on the button with AA, and everyone folds? or its folded to you on the button with AA and you raise 3xBB and the blinds fold?

this is why i play sessions separately, not as one long session.

thoughts? i just like to play one session like a separate thing, and hopefully at the end have people calling me down with top pair weak kicker and paying me off big time.

basically i dont like to play the same game. my vpip/pfr is an average - not an indicator of how i'm playing this hand, this moment. this is more than just "adjusting" to the situation, like a maniac table, or a rock garden. this is creating a session, creating an image, and then using that image.

maybe a lot of you already do this, in fact, probably a lot of you do this

[/ QUOTE ]

They are only going to see you reraising with 76s and 44 if you get to showdown. Or are you showing after they fold to your flop bet?

I think you need to , if this is your plan.

[yvesaint]

[ QUOTE ]

They are only going to see you reraising with 76s and 44 if you get to showdown. Or are you showing after they fold to your flop bet?

I think you need to , if this is your plan.

[/ QUOTE ]

im re-raising far too often for it to be only AA-QQ, AK

people notice that "that guy" like to re-raise and steal pots alot

Playing as if it's one big session has more to do with staying patient, making optimal plays, and handling bad beats. If you look at your poker as one long session you'll be less likely to over-play hands when you're loosing (trying to recoup your losses) and under-play them when your winning (trying to protect your winnings).

[ajmargarine]

The one long session, to me, has to do with pot odds situations, probabilities, bad beats, etc. If I'm an 80/20 favorite and lose twice in a row in that spot....Well, it's one long session and those spots will turn out to be 80/20 in my favor in the long run, so I move on.

Image, style of play, profit/loss and anything else are all session by session for me.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
I think your metagame works fine at NL $200 and above. I doubt the donks at NL $25 are paying that much attention.

[/ QUOTE ]

At the 200nl games (and higher) everyone who is decent has long term stats on you and the donkeys aren't paying attention.

[DJ Sensei]

I certainly adapt my game to the situation, and sometimes change it over the course of a session.

For instance, after the party split happened, the empire NL ring tables became much tighter, so I loosened up my game and became more aggressive with some groups of hands (like suited connectors). I was able to continue a solid profit at the tables, despite the change in normal gameplay.

Also, as far as a single session goes, I also change my game on the fly. The style generally depends on the hands i get early. If i start off with many playable hands, I will start off looser and more aggressive, and tighten up over the course of the session (unless, of course, the deck is still hitting me hard with good hands). On the other hand, if i start off with a cold streak of cards, i'll loosen up later in the session.

The former strategy generally leads to a lot of big pots as i get more action, so i just have to win a few more than I lose to have a nicely profitable session. The latter leads to winning a lot of small pots, which can be equally profitable.

[Staycool]

long term stats won't easily tell you that a player likes to reraise preflop early in sessions and then loosen up. Personally, I rely mostly on table texture...but maybe i just don't use PT correctly.