Confessions of a Mediocre Poker Player

[Barry]

I beat the Party 15/30 game and have for over a year. I haven’t played in a 20/40 game for quite that I didn’t think that I was a pretty big favorite. (Well I guess you could exclude the time that both Tommy and Clarkmeister were at the same table.) I beat the Bellagio 30/60 game and while I don’t have enough time in 40/80, I am up and I haven’t felt as though I’m in over my head. Nonetheless, I am a mediocre poker player

Why?

Emotionally - For one, being a very competitive person results in the short-term still effect me. When I’m running good, life is good, when I’m not, its not. A few bad beats, a few monsters getting beat by even bigger monsters, or even making a good fold post-flop where I would have wound up winning the hand is enough to set me off of my game. I can stop, go for a walk, but sometimes I don’t and that’s bad. More than once after a session some respected posters here have made mention of my emotions surfacing more than they should. I have gotten better over time, but I still have a ways to go.

Technically - I make errors far too often, calling when I should raise and calling when I should fold are the most frequent, but I also make the other ones too. Looking at my PT stats and comparing them to good players, I find one striking difference between my stats and theirs. It is the post-flop aggression factor. Mine is about 1.5 where others are over 2.0 and in many cases well over 2.0. I have tried to figure out why. Here is at least part of the problem: when facing aggression on the turn when I have a decent, but not great hand, I don’t seem to have a good handle on whether I’m ahead and should raise or so far behind that I should fold, so far too many times I go into call down mode. When I should fold, it costs me 2 BB’s and I give up perhaps 1 BB when I should raise. I certainly need to get a better handle on this and narrow down the “call down” corridor.

Every now and again, I read Ray Zee’s essay on the stages of a poker player. Every time I start exploring the 3rd stage, I seem to get my head handed to me, so I tend to regress back to the early 2nd stage, and sometimes even back to the end of the 1st stage.

So anyway, I guess that I am going to start posting some of these turn decision hands and let you folks see where I am falling short. Also if any others of you have had similar issues getting into and through the 3rd stage, I‘d sure be glad to hear them.

[slickpoppa]

Recognizing your own weaknesses is definitely necessary to become a great poker player. But to call yourself mediocre after consistently beating Party 15/30 and B&M 30/60 is not fair to yourself. It is possible to give yourself credit without being too cocky.

[MaxPower]

Yeah, but you make up for it in excellent game selection [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I have logged a good number of hands with you at different limits online and live. I have always noticed that your post-flop aggression numbers were lower than most 2+2ers, but you are not passive by any means.

Its good to evaluate yourself like that. I've been doing it and I think it has helped a lot. I'm realizing that one reason my win rate is not as high as I would like is that I often fail to get maximum value out of my good hands. I'm so used to playing against calling stations, that I don't know how to get any value out of better players, but they know how to get value out of me.

I look forward to your hand posts.

[mike l.]

"Every time I start exploring the 3rd stage,"

trust me it's not all that, you dont want to get there. when i read that essay now i think zee's certainly an out of touch choker. his levels are all backasswards.

i couldnt beat the 15-30 at party if my life depended on it. how's that for mediocre?

[WillMagic]

[ QUOTE ]

i couldnt beat the 15-30 at party if my life depended on it. how's that for mediocre?

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on, you have to know that this is just not true, Mike. You are much better player than me, and I beat the party 15...I could maybe understand this comment if it were "I cannot beat the party 15 while playing four tables," but in the current context you can't actually believe that it is true.

Will

[Mike Gallo]

Barry,

Finding the problem usually proves more difficult than solving the problem.

I think you find your way. Remember success is a journey, not a destination.

On a side note,does anyone else think Barry resembles Ted Forrest less the mullet [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]?

[scrub]

FWIW, I think you play much better online than you do live.

scrub

[FeliciaLee]

Barry, I'm in the same boat as you.

So I can't say anything right now except that you are awesome, and I'm glad I got to meet you at Foxwoods.

Oh, and come play Stud with me, then you'll feel like a star!

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[FeliciaLee]

Ted cut his hair. Sorry that you'll have to pick on someone else now, lol.

[Dave Mac]

Bottom line is your goal, and i think this has been touched on a bit recently, but do you want to make a bunch of money or become a great player. One does not necessarly exclude the other but i think they lead you down different paths. If you want to make money, lots - easy play the party 15 till your hand falls off, play a little 30-60 b+m to mix it up but mainly play party till your hand falls off. But if you want to be a great player i think you need to try to move away from the party game, play high limit b+m and the higher, harder online games, the games on stars and to some extent ub. I think those games are prolly better training grounds for great high limit player, but perhapse i am worng. ANyways i obviously you are not a mediocre player, but if you want to be a great player it may be less lucerative and much harder...ok enough rambling
dave