07- 9-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Folding Winners

Question: I need help getting to that next level and when I mean "Next Level" I mean winning. I am a decent player who is learning how to play. I usually make to the payout level or the Final two people, but I just can't seal the deal. Like last night in my weekly game. I am in the final two again we started with 10 players. I am heads up against a buddy and I am getting decent card and I am trying to be aggressive. First bad hand is I have a straight on the river with 3 hearts and a spade. Now he did not bet on the flop he only called me and he keeps checking his card so I think he is only on a flush draw. So I put a huge bet out there about half of my chips ($2400.00), it would cost him a considerable amount of his chips as well. Of course he calls and he hits his flush. Later I hit a straight (10-9-8-7-6) again on the flop. This time I am all in ($3000) he calls with A8 and turn and river come 2-J, meaning we chop the pot, another opportunity wasted. Last hand, I have J7s(hearts) he has K2o Flop is J-7h-2h, I go all in. He calls with nothing. He hits one of two Kings on the river. Game Over.

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Now some of that was bad luck, but in other circumstances I have folded winners, because I tend to think everyone has the nuts against me. That I believe is my down fall. Like if I have two pair what are the chances someone has a set against me?

Do you have any Tips on how to get to the next level?

Answer: A couple years ago there was an article in Card Player Magazine titled something like 'Nit and Grit.' I think it was written by Roy Cooke but my memory is bad. In the article it talked about how many people go to Vegas trying to beat the larger games there and just get spanked. They have a lot of nit (conservativeness), but not grit. I was the same way for a while and I still am to a certain extent (which I'm trying to get better at).

Whenever you play poker it is a balancing act between playing too loosely and too tightly. For a long time I was terrified of being seen as a stupid player so I would only play my cards, afraid of losing even when my senses told me that something was off about someone's betting. My advice for you is to grow some balls man! LOL Just Kidding! No but seriously, losing is part of poker and to play well you need to mix it up and develop that gut instinct for when to push and when to back off.

If you can get some of that experience now when it is cheap, all the better. You can't always be afraid of losing a hand. Confidence is important in poker so don't second guess yourself or beat yourself up for going with your gut feeling; that really is what separates the great players from the good ones -- the great players have the grit to go all-in if they think they are right and not look back.

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