Home Poker Tournament that I cannot beat...

[Munga30]

[ QUOTE ]
Now, considering the players I play with suck, wouldn't know a pot odd if it bit them in the @$$, chase everything, almost always call(when its six players almost every flop has four or five people in it) with virtually no pre-flop raising. Some don't even realize that they have the best hand once the cards are turned over.

Lemme ask everyone. What actions or decisions do you make that make you the favorite over people like this.

Is it being able to read players to know if your middle pair or tpnk is good when the others bet, is it to wait for the nuts or near nuts and to have them pay you off. Is it just playing tighter when they are loose. I ask this because I just feel like despite all I know on poker, having read book after book and doing great online and playing all the time, I still don't feel like a favorite... Yet I do against decent players...

[/ QUOTE ]

Value betting your decent to good hands because you know they'll call.

Limiting your bluffing and semi-bluffing because you know they'll call.

Entering hands in better situations than they do (e.g., widening your limping standards everywhere because the table's passive and you get great implied odds and you play better than they do postflop).

Having better grasp of tourney theory than they do (e.g., when to be conservative, when to open up your game, playing well with big and small stacks).

[The Legend]

An update on my stuff. I won. I freakin won this week. Same tournament format except winner takes all this week. It was the highest pot we had yet, $380 bucks. I put in my original $20 and did not have to re-buy in at all. It started with 8 people. Cards weren't coming early, eventually I hit some nice ones with 5 people left. The thing is I didn't even get paid off on my monsters. I hit a n inside straight draw at one point and put in a small bet, someone raised me and , like a dope, i throw all my chips in super crazily. He thought for a long long time, but finally folded. Had I slowed down I would have taken his whole stack.

I eventually did later. When down to heads-up me and the guy with me had exactly even chips, 900 to 900. I offered him a split of the pot and he refused. Biggest mistake he ever made.

Now I was getting slowly blinded out. At one point I was down to 600 vs. 1200. But my signature hand came when I was dealt 77 on the big blind. He completed his small blind and I checked.(blinds were 100 - 50) Flop came 264 offsuit I think. So I fired a 150 bet, he called. Turn came blank,. I pushed all in. Now, he knew the whole tournament that I had seemed tight and seemed to only bet with a monster(my going all in with the straight for one example). I thought I had the best hand, so I wanted him to call. He could probably read that on me(though he is a poor poor player), so he folded. Turns out he folded pocket queens... After that I just raised most flops and some preflop, he kept folding. Eventually he got blinded to about 200 chips, he pushed, I called with 87 offsuit(now my favorite hand of all time). He had A 4 suited, making him a 60 to 40 favorite or something. Flop came 9T4. Turn was blank, river was 6. I get the straight, win the pot , and win the whole thing. $380 bucks minus my $20 is $360. Not bad at all. Since you guys gave me advice, I have finished second and then first. Thanks a ton. Next on my list, WSOP main event...

[smoore]

Good job. Just another example of modifying your game to fit the opponents.

[stevea]

The Legend,

How's your game doing?