Posted Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:43 pm GMT by efram
I have a big hole in my game. I can play solid poker and do well when I do, normally. Its when I slowly slide away from solid poker that I get into trouble and this happens without me knowing it until its too late.
One way I fall out, I get a big chip lead, either tourney or cash game, and feel like I can loosen up somewhat now that I have some chips to play with. This logically seems true, but within this I chase when I shouldn't, limp when I shouldn't, complete when I shouldn't, and bluff when its not a good time to bluff. My loosening up is really a gash in my artery from which I bleed chips profusely.
I think its ok to loosen up some when one has more than average chips, but how to do this the right way and still stay on top of my game is the problem I'm having.
If I could get myself to always, EVERY TIME, analyze every hand as its played out, to think about why bets are made and act accordingly instead of just playing my cards sometimes, I would do better. But I get to points when I'm playing that I stop "playing" and get played and its really just lack of staying focused.
I learn from my mistakes, but I need to learn how to be more consistent without having to tie a string around my finger. Maybe that is what I need to do.
*shrug*
I tend to be the impulsive type, somewhat ADD and this is a disadvantage in poker. I'm working on that, but right now, a big hole for me is staying consistent with good, smart, thoughtful poker, EVERY SINGLE HAND.
Do any of you seasoned pro's have methodologies, techniques or whatever to keep yourself oriented toward playing "perfect" poker, to stay focused on the decision making/reading others process instead of letting your cards dictate what you do entirely?
Maybe I'm looking for something thats not there and I need more time, experience, and losses to fix it. Not sure, thats why I'm asking.
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Posted Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:29 pm GMT by ToyMachine22122
I really wish I had the answer to this. This almost describes me perfectly in a lot of games. People joke about how if you graphed my game, I would start out average, get really high in the middle, then plummet at the end.
I hate to admit this, but I once was holding about $40 in chips and the other guy left had $1 left, which was just enough to pay a blind for one hand. He came back and won the pot. While you have to attribute a good amount of his comeback to luck (I did have 7-2 offsuit twice in a row; on the hand where he was left with $1 and the one after that), it's pretty damn embarassing still. Not only would it be great for my game to learn how to keep focused, but it would have also saved me the cost of repairing the hole I punched in the wall 
Posted Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:51 pm GMT by Raisor
Same here.
Me = $10 in chips
Him = 40c
Me = Lose
Posted Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:13 am GMT by shorn7
Let me first qualify by saying that I am not a seasoned pro, just a serious recreational player, so there are probably others on here who can give you the qualified "pro" answer.
Unfortunately, there is no perfect answer to this as it depends upon the individual and your temperament and makeup. Since I only play NLHE, I try to remind myself that each and every decision I make could be for all my chips, so that tends to keep me focused. I do also follow on of Roy's rules of poker: every couple of hours of a session, I get up and do a mental evaluation of where I am in terms of focus. Even if it is just after the first two hours, this helps me make sure that I am still playing the best I can and focused on the right things.
If I determine that I am no longer "there" in terms of my focus, I get up and leave the game (or shut of the PC). That is the beauty of this game...it will always be there when you come back, so you don't have to play for hours and hours at a time. Play when you feel your best and want to play. That way, you will keep your focus for a larger % of the time that you are at the table.
A couple of other ways you can save yourself would be to allow yourself a certain number of mental errors each session and after you hit your number, you quit. This may lead to several short sessions if you are careless, but may save you $$ in the long run. Barry Tanenbaum of CP fame is big on this (he allows himself two, and gets up after the second).
One other thing I might caution you on is that you should always play the same no matter how you are doing in a particular session. Don't splash chips around because you are ahead...do that only when the game conditions, your opponents, and your position make it correct to do so. If you just do it "because I am up", well that is like taking a certain amount of your paycheck each two weeks, withdrawing it from the ATM, and lighting it on fire "just because you just got paid". Not good. Every chip has the same value (in cash games), so treat each as such.
Anyway, I guess the bottom line (as with a lot of things in this great game we play) is that it all comes down to mental discipline. Poker is fun yes, but great poker is hard work. If you find that you can't treat it like that, then maybe it should just become a social thing. And that is OK too. Not everyone wants to spend their leisure time thinkng and focusing, so decide what you want out of the game and then go do it.
Hope this helped a bit even though I rambled a lot. :D
Posted Wed Jul 26, 2006 10:03 am GMT by UrAteUp
Long story short....find you weak areas and stop playing donkey poker. Play good solid ABC poker. Raise when you should. Bluff when you should. Lay down a hand when you should and just stop doing dumb things that cost you $$ by losing.
I am like shorn, just a serious recreational player. I don't have a big bankroll nor do I do a lot of tricks to win pots. What I do is study the game and learn how to play the best poker I can. If I sustain some beats I look at hand histories to figure out why. If there is something I don't understand then I do research to find out, either in books on online. Either way works. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them. If you can't do that then you have little chance of becoming a winning player.
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