Now before you go and get all excited thinking this post is about how to bluff, think again. We're going to take the time to talk about why, at the lower level games, you SHOULDN'T bluff. This begs the question, what do we consider a low level game? Without having stats we guess that 80% of the players at any given site play below the $20 buy-in so we'll use buy-ins below $20 to define what we consider low level games. You might think that $10 or $50 games are low level and we don't disagree, but for the sake of this blog post we're going with $20.
First off, we understand that bluffing is part of the game. It can be an effective weapon in a poker player's arsenal and besides, it's a great feeling when you can pull it off and take down a large pot, or any pot for that matter.
The main problem with bluffing at the low level games is that the skill level to fully understand and appreciate a bluff is just not there.
The other problem with low level bluffing is that most players at that level are inexperienced players (not all, but most) and they get into the mind set that "Nobody is going to take my $ by bluffing me off a pot." These players go on tilt way too easily and way too often - especially when they see some donkey pull off a bluff. This only fuels the donkey/bluffer more and when they do pick up a legit hand, they get paid off by the guy on tilt trying to play sheriff. It can be a vicious cycle!
Another thing to consider is that most players at this level have no problem chasing flushes and straights down to the river. Some will even chase 2nd, 3rd pr or A-rag. Consider this, who's bluffing between the guy who is hoping to hit the miracle card on the turn/river or the guy who holds nothing? Technically both hands are useless, which then leaves one of them (or more depending on how many were in the pot) with fewer chips than they started. Had they played a little smarter and got out of the pot when the odds were against them, they would be better off.
Now consider this, if you added up the winnings from all the times you bluffed successfully, then subtracted all the times you bluffed and lost, where would you be? We guess most low level players would be in the negative. So why do so many players do it? Our guess is probably because it's fun and exciting and money isn't always the most important issue at the low level games. Besides, to the uninitiated, poker is about all-ins and outrageous bluffs and luck.
The other side is that if you played only decent/premium hands and never bluffed where would you be? That is hard to tell, as odds play a huge factor, but we think most beginners would be better off taking this approach. Now you say "if I don't bluff at the lower levels, where do I learn to do it before playing in the higher levels?" Good point, here's what we think. Bluffing is not so much as taking 2 random cards and playing them to the end. Bluffing is more like taking 2 random cards and making your opponents believe you have a monster. It's all about table image and knowing when you get resistance from your bluff, you need to get out. If you spend anytime watching pros play on TV (more than live or online as you can't see the hole cards), pay attention to how they act when they are 'bluffing' and compare it to when they are not 'bluffing'. Can you tell the difference? Most people can't, and that is the key to bluffing successfully. Think about this, how many times in a low level game do you think someone bluffs? Now compare those results from a high level game. We would be willing to bet (not bluffing here) that the numbers are far greater in the low level games. So even though it is fun and exciting, top level players don't bluff often and that should tell you something.
So if you want to play better poker and move into the higher level games where bluffing is much more appreciated, then learn to play solid and consistent fundamental poker first. Learn your outs and your odds then play accordingly. Over time, you will see, you will be able to take advantage of the bluffers/donkeys and become profitable at this game.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sweat Session #1
Last week, my buddy, his girlfriend and I sat down for a quick sweat session.
Here's a little breakdown on us.
My buddy and I are about the same skill level with his girlfriend, having only been playing for about a year now, just a little lower than us. We all have a huge passion for the game and really want to learn and become better poker players, not so that we someday may become 'pros,' more so that when we play, we play with confidence and stand by our decisions. Oh, and yes, we would like to make some money at it.
Now onto the sweat...
Being that it was our first, we mostly watched the other person play, while adding a few comments. I'm sure as time goes on and our game improves, our sweat sessions will follow. But for now we take it one step at at time.
Tonight we each played in a $2 6p turbo tourney. Unfortunately none of us made the money, but we did see some interesting hands. I also ended off playing in a $5NL 6p game just to show my buddy's gf how it can be a little different. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the turbo games as they force you to play too many hands which leaves more to chance and less to skill. Not that I'm saying I'm a skilled player, but I would like to work on my game instead of just playing, and turbo games don't let you do that.
This first hand was played by my buddy's gf. 3-way action in the BB with everybody limping. Not a great starting hand, but we paid our blinds and nobody was agg PF.
Titan Poker "TURBO" Copenhagen 50/100, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
saw flop | saw showdown
Button Button (4790)
SB (2200)
BB Hero (2010)
Preflop: Hero is in the BB with 6c Td
Button calls 100, 1 fold, Hero checks.
Flop (250) Th 5c 7d
Hero bets 300, Button calls 300.
Flop gives her tpwk and she decides to bet to see if her hand is strong or not. BTN only calls and we're thinking Ace rag and probably figures his hand is good.
Turn (850) 3c
Hero bets 500, Button calls 500.
This now gives her a gut shot plus tp (which might already be winning). She bets hoping to take the pot down now, but knows that she still has a decent drawing hand.
River (1850) 7h
Hero bets 500, Button raises to 1100, Hero moves all-in for 610, Button calls 10
Hero shows 6c Td
Button shows Ks Ad
Hero wins 4070 with Two pair, Tens and Sevens with a Six for a kicker
The river pairs the board and we bet out hoping that the BTN wasn't calling with A7. Probably a bad idea as the only hand that should call here is one that has us beat. BTN decides to put her all in and being that she was pot committed, makes the call and takes down a nice pot. Because of odds, she played well on her part, but the BTN played it poorly. At any point he probably could have pushed her off the pot (especially PF) but decided to slow play it and took a hit for it.
Now here's a hand where emotions got the best of my buddy (hero). SB had been playing a lot of pots and showing some bluffs. He had just bluff hero off the pot a few hands before (and showed the bluff), so hero wanted to get back at him by playing sheriff. Hero starts off by putting in a raise hoping to steal the blinds. SB decides to push it up and hero calls. Personally I would have dropped the hand even though SB had been bluffing a lot. You take your shot, it doesn't work, drop it and live to play another hand.
Titan Poker "TURBO" Lisbon 20/40, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
saw flop | saw showdown
Button (870)
SB SB (1090)
BB (2590)
UTG (1750)
UTG+1 (1840)
CO Hero (860)
Preflop: Hero is in the CO with Kc Td
UTG calls 40, 1 fold, Hero raises to 80, 1 fold, SB raises to 320, 2 folds, Hero calls 240.
Flop (720) 4s 3d Jc
SB bets 280, Hero calls 280.
Complete whiff on our part and SB bets out. Again I would fold, but hero now getting a little frustrated with SB decides that this is the hand he takes a stand and calls.
Turn (1280) 3s
SB bets 120, Hero calls 120.
SB decides to bet out small, which makes me think he doesn't feel good about his hand. Hero only calls but should have raised to see if we can get SB off the hand. The reason I'm saying raise now after saying fold the previous 2 times is that since we are committed we should show some strength and try and push SB off the pot. I think it might have work knowing now what SB was holding.
River (1520) 9h
SB bets 120, Hero calls 120
SB shows 4c Ad
Hero shows Kc Td
SB wins 1760 with Two pair, Fours and Threes with a Ace for a kicker
Since hero called SB each time there was really no reason for him to not call the small bet on the river. Again a raise here by hero and I think that SB folds, but hero was frustrated and not thinking it through. Oh well, lesson learned.
Here's a cash game hand that had me thinking.
http://weaktight.com/288737
I'm UTG and decide to try and see a cheap flop. BTN limps then BB decides to raise and I call along with BTN. BB had been playing a lot of hands and I felt he was just trying to steal the pot. Flop gives me tptk and I think that this board totally missed BB. I really didn't put him on a PP, so I decide to raise the pot to see if my hand is any good. To my surprise/scare, BTN calls my raise. BB decides to put the rest of his money in and now I'm getting pot odds even though I'm worried about BTN. Flop is nothing and I feel I should check and hope that BTN will check it down hoping just to take BB $. River is also nothing and I decide to value bet it as I feel my hand is probably the best. To my surprise BTN is holding the exact same hand and we split the pot. I'm not sure if I should have bet the Turn, but being that I mostly play tournaments, I was thinking more about knocking BB out (taking his $ in this case) then trying to get paid off. Over time that will change I know.
Now I have a question for who ever reads this post.
Is it the right thing to call someone's all in if you are pot committed but feel like you are behind in the hand?
Here's a little breakdown on us.
My buddy and I are about the same skill level with his girlfriend, having only been playing for about a year now, just a little lower than us. We all have a huge passion for the game and really want to learn and become better poker players, not so that we someday may become 'pros,' more so that when we play, we play with confidence and stand by our decisions. Oh, and yes, we would like to make some money at it.
Now onto the sweat...
Being that it was our first, we mostly watched the other person play, while adding a few comments. I'm sure as time goes on and our game improves, our sweat sessions will follow. But for now we take it one step at at time.
Tonight we each played in a $2 6p turbo tourney. Unfortunately none of us made the money, but we did see some interesting hands. I also ended off playing in a $5NL 6p game just to show my buddy's gf how it can be a little different. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the turbo games as they force you to play too many hands which leaves more to chance and less to skill. Not that I'm saying I'm a skilled player, but I would like to work on my game instead of just playing, and turbo games don't let you do that.
This first hand was played by my buddy's gf. 3-way action in the BB with everybody limping. Not a great starting hand, but we paid our blinds and nobody was agg PF.
Titan Poker "TURBO" Copenhagen 50/100, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
saw flop | saw showdown
Button Button (4790)
SB (2200)
BB Hero (2010)
Preflop: Hero is in the BB with 6c Td
Button calls 100, 1 fold, Hero checks.
Flop (250) Th 5c 7d
Hero bets 300, Button calls 300.
Flop gives her tpwk and she decides to bet to see if her hand is strong or not. BTN only calls and we're thinking Ace rag and probably figures his hand is good.
Turn (850) 3c
Hero bets 500, Button calls 500.
This now gives her a gut shot plus tp (which might already be winning). She bets hoping to take the pot down now, but knows that she still has a decent drawing hand.
River (1850) 7h
Hero bets 500, Button raises to 1100, Hero moves all-in for 610, Button calls 10
Hero shows 6c Td
Button shows Ks Ad
Hero wins 4070 with Two pair, Tens and Sevens with a Six for a kicker
The river pairs the board and we bet out hoping that the BTN wasn't calling with A7. Probably a bad idea as the only hand that should call here is one that has us beat. BTN decides to put her all in and being that she was pot committed, makes the call and takes down a nice pot. Because of odds, she played well on her part, but the BTN played it poorly. At any point he probably could have pushed her off the pot (especially PF) but decided to slow play it and took a hit for it.
Now here's a hand where emotions got the best of my buddy (hero). SB had been playing a lot of pots and showing some bluffs. He had just bluff hero off the pot a few hands before (and showed the bluff), so hero wanted to get back at him by playing sheriff. Hero starts off by putting in a raise hoping to steal the blinds. SB decides to push it up and hero calls. Personally I would have dropped the hand even though SB had been bluffing a lot. You take your shot, it doesn't work, drop it and live to play another hand.
Titan Poker "TURBO" Lisbon 20/40, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
saw flop | saw showdown
Button (870)
SB SB (1090)
BB (2590)
UTG (1750)
UTG+1 (1840)
CO Hero (860)
Preflop: Hero is in the CO with Kc Td
UTG calls 40, 1 fold, Hero raises to 80, 1 fold, SB raises to 320, 2 folds, Hero calls 240.
Flop (720) 4s 3d Jc
SB bets 280, Hero calls 280.
Complete whiff on our part and SB bets out. Again I would fold, but hero now getting a little frustrated with SB decides that this is the hand he takes a stand and calls.
Turn (1280) 3s
SB bets 120, Hero calls 120.
SB decides to bet out small, which makes me think he doesn't feel good about his hand. Hero only calls but should have raised to see if we can get SB off the hand. The reason I'm saying raise now after saying fold the previous 2 times is that since we are committed we should show some strength and try and push SB off the pot. I think it might have work knowing now what SB was holding.
River (1520) 9h
SB bets 120, Hero calls 120
SB shows 4c Ad
Hero shows Kc Td
SB wins 1760 with Two pair, Fours and Threes with a Ace for a kicker
Since hero called SB each time there was really no reason for him to not call the small bet on the river. Again a raise here by hero and I think that SB folds, but hero was frustrated and not thinking it through. Oh well, lesson learned.
Here's a cash game hand that had me thinking.
http://weaktight.com/288737
I'm UTG and decide to try and see a cheap flop. BTN limps then BB decides to raise and I call along with BTN. BB had been playing a lot of hands and I felt he was just trying to steal the pot. Flop gives me tptk and I think that this board totally missed BB. I really didn't put him on a PP, so I decide to raise the pot to see if my hand is any good. To my surprise/scare, BTN calls my raise. BB decides to put the rest of his money in and now I'm getting pot odds even though I'm worried about BTN. Flop is nothing and I feel I should check and hope that BTN will check it down hoping just to take BB $. River is also nothing and I decide to value bet it as I feel my hand is probably the best. To my surprise BTN is holding the exact same hand and we split the pot. I'm not sure if I should have bet the Turn, but being that I mostly play tournaments, I was thinking more about knocking BB out (taking his $ in this case) then trying to get paid off. Over time that will change I know.
Now I have a question for who ever reads this post.
Is it the right thing to call someone's all in if you are pot committed but feel like you are behind in the hand?
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