More so than ever, this year my poker play has been REALLY up and down. There are times when I think I'm truly not meant to play this game for any reason other than for fun. That may be true; some people have it, some people don't. However, just when I'm thinking that, I do something spectacular, like a great read, a good lay-down, or in a grander scheme, beating a high level game or winning a couple tourneys in a row.
I've got the skill set. There is no one poker situation out there that I haven't seen thanks to thousands upon thousands of hands player both online and live. And yet, I'm struggling to show progress. I know I'm better than I was at this point last year. It's not even close. I find myself constantly thinking about the game and ways I can improve.
What really opened my eyes to the fact that I can potentially be a very good player is the fact that I placed 73rd out of nearly 1500 players in Full Tilt's nightly "Midnight Madness", and while I don't want to over-analyze it (it was, after all, only one tournament), I played just about as well as I can play. I got very unlucky in three instances (including my knockout where Cowboys lost to Big Slick), and felt that I made all the plays I needed to make to win.
I'm finding that the key to surviving one of these large tournaments is to basically stay out of trouble, play as many small pots as possible, and in big pot situations get my chips in with the best of it. The main thing that would encompass all of those above qualities would be staying disciplined.
And, honestly that's probably my biggest problem regarding poker, whether it's bankroll management or deciding whether or not to play suited connectors. I've got to pick my spots better.
I'm planning on playing a couple of tourneys in Atlantic City this summer to see where my game is at. I'll keep you all informed.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Inspiration
Inspired by some of my online sessions today, I am going to define what exactly a bad beat is using my own words and a couple of audio/visual examples.
Here is my definition of a bad beat (some people's definitions differ a little bit): a bad beat is when, statistically, your hand, under normal conditions, would beat your opponent's hand, at the very least, three times out of four. In other words, when your hand is a 75% or 3-1 favorite. before the flop.
In sticking with the criteria, I consider this a bad beat statistically. To his credit, Gus Hansen played it beautifully, and Daniel Negreanu (in my opinion the best player in the world, period) remarkably almost mucked it, but Hansen had a 4% of catching the case five to take down the pot.
Now, a ton of people misuse the terminology "bad beat". For example, in Rounders (great movie) where Matt Damon turned the under full against KGB's big full, that's not neccesarily in bad beat in my mind. Pre-flop KGB is a HUGE favorite over A-9 of clubs with his aces. Now, if Damon won this hand, that would be a pretty bad beat. This hand is what's known as a "cooler", being beat by the only other hand that can possibly beat you.
I've had my share of both and I've also been on the other side. If you play any amount of poker I'm sure you'll experience them, too. But, the important thing to remember is to remain level-headed no matter what.
Here is my definition of a bad beat (some people's definitions differ a little bit): a bad beat is when, statistically, your hand, under normal conditions, would beat your opponent's hand, at the very least, three times out of four. In other words, when your hand is a 75% or 3-1 favorite. before the flop.
In sticking with the criteria, I consider this a bad beat statistically. To his credit, Gus Hansen played it beautifully, and Daniel Negreanu (in my opinion the best player in the world, period) remarkably almost mucked it, but Hansen had a 4% of catching the case five to take down the pot.
Now, a ton of people misuse the terminology "bad beat". For example, in Rounders (great movie) where Matt Damon turned the under full against KGB's big full, that's not neccesarily in bad beat in my mind. Pre-flop KGB is a HUGE favorite over A-9 of clubs with his aces. Now, if Damon won this hand, that would be a pretty bad beat. This hand is what's known as a "cooler", being beat by the only other hand that can possibly beat you.
I've had my share of both and I've also been on the other side. If you play any amount of poker I'm sure you'll experience them, too. But, the important thing to remember is to remain level-headed no matter what.
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