Why aren't you better?

What I am working on, and what I believe is keeping me from being a better player...is my wandering mind. I am working on eliminating distractions and staying better focused. I tend to want to multitask, even with multiple tables open. Have a great night! [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

[pergesu]

Poker is a craft, and like any craft, the craftsmen have a set of tools they use to achieve goals they want. How they use these tools is what separates the masters from the journeymen.

A woodworker will use a couple saws, a hammer, a level, etc when creating his works. There are certain basic skills that he must master in order to effectively use these tools. As the years go by, the tools begin to wear to his personal usage, and eventually they're no longer standard tools of the trade - they're his tools, and his tools alone. If he uses a different set of tools, he won't be able to create pieces as elegant as he can with his own tools. Likewise, another craftsmen could not start using these tools and create as well as he could with his own.

In poker, the vast majority of our toolset is concepts - pot odds analysis, ICM, psychological concepts, etc. You must master the basic concepts if you want to become a top player. There's no way around that. Beyond that, you must integrate them effectively and use them in your own fashion such that they become your own. Poker textbooks refer to this as style - LAG, TAG, weak-tight. This is true to a degree, but only as much as you can say that a master craftsman has a different style than his apprentice. Of course this is true, but I would say that describing "style" doesn't encompass the enormous differences between craftsmen.

I believe there are three major elements in mastering this game. First, you must have a faultless command of the basic tools of the trade. Too many players acquire a superficial understanding of the most important concepts. A game based on superficial knowledge is a hollow game. An obvious example is the abundance of "ICM questions," in which someone will basically say "ICM told me to do this" and eastbay begins to convulse. If these players do not have a thorough understanding of the basis of ICM, they will be unable to draw upon their knowledge in many situations, and be forever relegated to asking stupid questions post mortem.

Once you have total knowledge of the basic skills, you must allow them to develop into customized tools - let the handle mold to your hand, so to speak. I would be incredibly surprised to find that Irie, Unarmed, eastbay, curtains, adanthar, Newt, Raptor or any of the other guys use ICM in the exact same fashion - and this concept is based heavily on math. If such a math-oriented tool can be used in varying ways among top players, consider how differently they would utilize more psychological, people-oriented tools.

Lastly, I think you need to continually add to your toolkit. Other players are always submitting new ideas for peer review. The top players actively seek out those ideas, and develop their own, getting feedback from other top players.

Incorporate into your skill-set.
Master the new skill.
Personalize the skill.

Finally, I would say that to become a true master, you must have a genuine love for the game. In all forms of art, the masters' dedication and love show through. At the most basic level, poker is a science, but at the highest levels it is very much an art.

[microbet]

[img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

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As for Raptor saying anyone can play perfect SNG poker, it is impossible for a human being to pull off. This includes Phil Ivey or whatever "poker god" you want to select. I guarantee even Raptor will either misclick, time out or make a poor decision in the next 200 SNG's he plays, let alone playing them perfect over the next billion he plays.

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its not impossible to make ONLY +EV pushes on the bubble. over my next 200, i guarantee i wont make any -ev pushes. i didnt mean it in a way that oh you have to never make a mistake never lose a pot kinda way, never run KK into AA, never lose ah nad, and win every tournament. yer right. thats impossible. its however, not impossible, to think for 2 seconds before clicking so you dont misclick, and to understand bubble concepts so well that you dont make mistakes. holla

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Raptor, you say you can *always* say what are +EV pushes and what are not. Even when it's close, I presume. How did you get to this point? Did you use SNG PT until you knew everything, or did you make the calculations yourself, or... And how long did it take you?

Also, do you ever not push a +EV push when you expect there will be +EV'er situations later? Some people are talking about it, but if you don't, I'd feel safe not doing it either. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] EDIT: I just read that you do just that sometimes. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

BTW, I just called party to validate my new account. I hate talking on the phone, and English is not my native language... horrible. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[microbet]

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As for Raptor saying anyone can play perfect SNG poker, it is impossible for a human being to pull off. This includes Phil Ivey or whatever "poker god" you want to select. I guarantee even Raptor will either misclick, time out or make a poor decision in the next 200 SNG's he plays, let alone playing them perfect over the next billion he plays.

[/ QUOTE ]

its not impossible to make ONLY +EV pushes on the bubble. over my next 200, i guarantee i wont make any -ev pushes. i didnt mean it in a way that oh you have to never make a mistake never lose a pot kinda way, never run KK into AA, never lose ah nad, and win every tournament. yer right. thats impossible. its however, not impossible, to think for 2 seconds before clicking so you dont misclick, and to understand bubble concepts so well that you dont make mistakes. holla

[/ QUOTE ]

Raptor, you say you can *always* say what are +EV pushes and what are not. Even when it's close, I presume. How did you get to this point? Did you use SNG PT until you knew everything, or did you make the calculations yourself, or... And how long did it take you?

Also, do you ever not push a +EV push when you expect there will be +EV'er situations later? Some people are talking about it, but if you don't, I'd feel safe not doing it either. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] EDIT: I just read that you do just that sometimes. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

BTW, I just called party to validate my new account. I hate talking on the phone, and English is not my native language... horrible. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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My sarcasm meter isn't very good. Are you making fun of Raptor?

Nope sorry. It's early in the morning here. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] I'd just like to know how he got to where he is now...

[raptor517]

trial and error. play enough you know what they call with. who pushes what. who calls with what. situations. when you can push 23o as a pure steal. when you need to call with AJs on the bubble. when you need to fold it. mess with sngpt to confirm what you have learned. i havent used that proggy in a while. i will occasionally run 15 tournaments through it to make sure im still up to par. i will pass on some +ev situatoins. in fact ill pass on a lot of them if i think i can find a more +ev spot later. thats all. im tired. jokes on me if everyones being sarcastic, im not. holla

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no one in the world plays perfect poker. no one.

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I have ALL the titles, glory, and ALL the mobney.

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Shame you don't have a spellchecker....
[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[bones]

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Shame you don't have a spellchecker....

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The great thing about Hellmuth/Fillmaff humor is that it's completely lost on most, yet incredibly funny to a few.

[HesseJam]

Excellent thread, bones!

I still enjoy getting better every month.

- I know that I have to 100%ify my bubble play which I estimate to be at 80% only. I'm saying for weeks that I have to study more with SnGAnalyzer (or at all) but my time is limited and when I have time for poker I want to play!

- I estimate my substandard move %age at about 10%. Should be easy to get this down to 3%. But I am not actively doing something to achieve this.

- I estimate my donk move %age at 3% and it should be easy to get it down to .5% (1 donk move per any 200 hands). But I am not actively doing something to achieve this.

- I need to focus more on the tables to get reads. I am maybe more observant than most of my foes (no music, no tv while playing) but when I start 4 tables I am not watching closely the first two levels. Too many players on the screen for me. I start watching when the first 1.5 to 2 players dropped out per table.

- My biggest progress in the last 2 weeks is this: When I feel the urge to gambool on a big hand but at the same time have some lingering doubt about it - being it a read or a voice in my head - that I stop, think and try to make the best decision that I can. Before, when in doubt I just pushed or called. I feel that alone has given me a 10% ROI boost.

- The biggest distraction I have is to watch when I'm racing. It's good to note my opponents cards to see whether I made the right decision but I still tend to watch the flop, turn and river to tally my luck ratio (opponent calls my pair with a weak Ace and I watch if he gets it). That has got to stop!

So much to do, so little time...