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Old 11-02-2005, 12:36 AM
NateDog NateDog is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Ventura County, CA
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Default My 1452 post contribution (dissertation was in college)

As many of my contemporaries have long since graduated to higher stakes (and post counts), it seems that I have yet to write my thrilling pooh-bah dissertation. I don't have the post count for that, but I've got this much cooler title. Anyway, I have nothing new or ground-breaking to report, but I can share an idea that has worked for me as my game evolves from the baby stakes (hopefully) upwards.

Do you remember when you first started out? I mean your first month or so? Do you remember the 'EUREKA!' moment when pot odds made sense? When you realized that you can pump a draw for value? These are milestones in your evolution as a player. As with any new undertaking, the learning curve in poker is very steep at first and levels off over time. There will always be more to learn in this game, but the leaks become harder to find, and the opposition becomes more complex and cunning.

Do you spend time reading your poker texts? Good. Do you spend time comprehending what you've read? Probably not as much. Don't rush to 'finish' SSHE or TOP, digest it slowly like a multi-course meal. Even better than a restaurant, you only have to pay for this feast once. Go back, find the concepts that you don't understand completely, or are mis-applying and try to develop a better understanding of them. This forum sometimes gets bogged in the posting of hands. There once was a time when Bison's converter was the only one out there. Occasionally he took it offline on purpose to clear the forums and to encourage the discussion of concepts and theory. Those were good days and sometimes weeks. These forums are here for our benefit. Ours, you, me, and everyone else who posts/lurks. I would like to encourage posters to ask theoretical questions as well as posting the 'what do I do when the fish c/r's the turn' questions.

More importantly I suggest you take some time from you busy multi-tabling/whoring/auto betting routine, and play at one single table and read hands and players. If only for an hour a week, I promise you will make great strides as a player. I don't mean to sit at the table, mindless, and play your multi-tabling/whoring/auto betting style, I mean take notes on players, play position, and try to understand why you are making the plays you are. Also try to understand why the villains are making the plays they are. Poor players will quite often not play a hand the way that you would. Don't shrug it off to him 'being a donk'. Try and understand why he did what he did. The scenario's are endless, and we are all somewhat guilty of the egoistic fallacy of thinking that everyone thinks like us. They don't, and that's why we can, and will, beat them.

I have recently taken up learning 6 Max. I am strictly single tabling. I normally average between 8K and 10K hands a month. This week I have played 156 hands of 1/2 6M. I am having 'eureka' moments as the curve is steep again, and the variance is crazy, but the lessons have been very valuable. Learn how to take notes. There are players you can value bet, there are players you can push off hands, there are players that you should rarely confront. The HUD's are great tools, and I use them, but there is so much more information out there for you to gleam.

I'm not a math guy. My degree is in communications. I can't break down equity instantly. I can disseminate patterns. I can't tell you how often a random hand is made up of suited cards without consulting texts. I can tell you that if a specific player check-raises the river I'm toast. I learn the math here, in these hallowed forums. What I can give back is a little of my own experience.

Best wishes and good luck (or shall I say run hot)

Nate
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  #2  
Old 11-02-2005, 12:50 AM
jaxUp jaxUp is offline
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Default Re: My 1452 post contribution (dissertation was in college)

a very good, honest dissertation. Also, keep the title...it even beats davidC's
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  #3  
Old 11-02-2005, 01:31 AM
numeri numeri is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: up with the big boys in 0.5/1
Posts: 212
Default Re: My 1452 post contribution (dissertation was in college)

Well done, Dog. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
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  #4  
Old 11-02-2005, 01:33 AM
NateDog NateDog is offline
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Default Re: My 1452 post contribution (dissertation was in college)

[ QUOTE ]
Well done, Dog. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Danny boy, you remember the epic battles at stars. MrsConcrete still pwns me.
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  #5  
Old 11-02-2005, 08:04 AM
Nilbud Nilbud is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 29
Default Re: My 1452 post contribution (dissertation was in college)

[ QUOTE ]

I have recently taken up learning 6 Max. I am strictly single tabling. I normally average between 8K and 10K hands a month. This week I have played 156 hands of 1/2 6M. I am having 'eureka' moments as the curve is steep again, and the variance is crazy, but the lessons have been very valuable. Learn how to take notes. There are players you can value bet, there are players you can push off hands, there are players that you should rarely confront. The HUD's are great tools, and I use them, but there is so much more information out there for you to gleam.

[/ QUOTE ]

The advice you give to single-table is excellent. I too have started playing 1/2 6-max and after floundering for a few thousand hands, I've started single-tabling and working on reads. I'm also playing on a site that doesn't support HUDs, which makes reads/note taking a necessity.

I have to say, this is the most fun I've had playing poker in a long long time, and I'm not even running well. I've always relied mostly, but not exclusively, on the HUD to give me reads, but now that I'm paying more attention, my hand-reading skills are improving dramatically. There is nothing quite as satisfying as knowing you have your opponent beat and value betting the hell out of him.

The number one thing I've learned is that you can't make money at 6-max with default reads. Not only that, but it's a hell of a lot more fun to play your opponents as individuals. I'm not a math guy either, and I play poker mostly for the competition and 6-max rules in that department!
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