Posted Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:23 am GMT by mooseontheloose
Not sure where to post this, but here is a problem I've run into.
My natural style is TAG, though lately I've tried to be more aggressive early on in tournaments. Anyway, here is my problem.
If I get into a flop for cheap or free in BB with weak cards, I have no problem reading the hand and knowing when my draw, MPTK, TKNK, etc. is good or not.
However, a huge whole in my game (the biggest lately) is refusing to believe I'm beat when I FINALLY get a good hand.
It's like the community cards and betting from the opponent tells me I am behind yet I refuse to believe it and make a dumb call. Now, I know this sounds STUPID to you guys, but I have this problem when I am short-stacked in a tournament. Both of the above I was below chip average.
When I get a decent stack, something between average and biggest stack, I play Very well and make very few bad decisions, regardless of my cards. However, when I'm below the average I seem to have this stubborn streak in that I refuse to accept that I'm beat when it's obvious.
This is likely a post that will get some laughs but I can't understand why I do this. Like I said, the rest of my play is decent and I don't make these dumb mistakes other than when I'm below average stack in a tourney. Has anyone else ever had this problem and overcome it? What did you do? Should I simply lecture myself more and become more conservative, folding if I'm unsure on where I stand rather than risking it? I know this will lose me money over time, but I need to fill this whole. It also only happens with nice starting hands, especially high non-PP hands like AK.
Anyway, this is probably more of a rant than asking for advice since I basically already bitched myself out, planned to devote tomorrow to re-reading some poker books, and force myself to think more clearly when I play. Looking for some possible suggestions from others who may have overcome a similar problem.
Thanks
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Posted Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:21 pm GMT by Sid Lambert
its tough letting go of a decent hand when yer shorter stacked....its a pretty vague situation, but try relying on position more....raise or fold, call less...this way yer less likely to be in a situation where yer out of position, required to bet in order to defend yourself, only to be called or raised and then be forced to playing a pot cuz yer already committed by that point when you know yer behind...when i find myself unable to let go, its cuz i'm in small blind or somewhere out of position, and i feel like i have a well disguised, decent hand and cant let it go, so i end up betting into the breach, only to get stuck in the hand....sometimes it works out, but if its happening too much, playing out of position could be the problem...if yer shorter stacked, and out of position, either fold or make the raise early to figure out where you stand...when you do raise, figure out how much you need to leave for yourself to get away from the hand if things go sour
Posted Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:33 pm GMT by mooseontheloose
Yeh, I'm not talking about weak hands from EP. I'm talking about AK, KK, QQ, etc. Now that you mention it, most times I make dumb plays like this I am often first to act after the flop. Perhaps I need to readjust my strategy with premium hands, out of position, when short-stacked. With a stack, bad position or not, I usually dont misplay big hands.
Thanks for the input.
Posted Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:05 pm GMT by MasterMike
Just want to ask some abbreviations.
Whats TAG
TPTK (top pair top kicker?)
TKNK
PP
once i figure that stuff, ill try to make a good response.
Posted Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:10 pm GMT by Cricket_Fire
| MasterMike wrote: | Just want to ask some abbreviations.
Whats TAG
Tight Aggressive
TPTK (top pair top kicker?)
You got it
TKNK
Top Pair No Kicker (I think)
PP
Pocket Pair
once i figure that stuff, ill try to make a good response. |
Posted Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:34 pm GMT by mooseontheloose
Thanks, think I figured it out. Was more the mental game, I was forcing stupid decisions thinking I had no choice. Slowed myself down and have seen much better results.
Posted Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:47 pm GMT by AHBrownell
If you are shortstacked and have a premium hand AND are out of position - I would be inclined to overbet all-in preflop. Generally speaking its tough to let these hands go once you've pot in half your chips. I would make my opponent have to make a tough decision instead of me. ALL-IN. If they are going to play against you, they are going to have to put in a lot of chips. 
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