08- 8-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Why There Are So Few Winners
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1. Downward spiral. One thing I've noticed a lot recently is how temperamental some of the players can be -- and these are pros. You would think that people who have played cards for decades wouldn't be rattled by a few bad beats, but they are. I've said many times that what makes you a great player is not what happens on your good days -- any monkey in your seat could win -- but how you deal with the runs of horrendous bad beats.
Just yesterday when I was playing there was a guy there who I thought was decent. After getting bad beated out of a few racks (and he was badbeated and unlucky), he completely lost it. Next thing you know he is in there calling every hand down just hoping to win a pot. The last hand that finally made him get up and leave was so obvious he was behind in anyone could have played it better. He had QQ, raised preflop, and hit a flop with the board paired: T-T-4. There were two other players capping it on the flop and there were multiple raises on the turn too. It was obvious he wasn't ahead, yet he still paid them off only to throw his cards at the dealer and leave. You play like this a few times out of the month and there goes a good percentage of your winnings.
Contrast this with how I played in a similar situation not even an hour ago. I had the QQ, raised and the flop came back 9-4-3. I bet, and two players called. The turn card was another 4. The first guy, a horrible calling station playing everyhand checked, I bet and the guy behind me called and now the calling station check raised. Instead of paying off the bad player who obviously had me beat, I folded. The other player paid him off and sure enough he had the trip 4's. I can understand how desperate you can feel when things aren't going your way and you finally see a real hand, but if you can't control your emotions and think past the current shorterm bad luck, you'll dig holes so big that your good days become irrelevant. It is always easier to lose a bunch than win a bunch, so protecting yourself against big losses is essential. If you have a day where you lose 4 or 5 racks at a big game, it may take you a week to get that back.
2. Underfunded. Everyone harps on having an adequate bankroll so I won't do that more here. What I will say though if that if you do have a good sized bankroll, you are the smallest minority. Most of the people who play, even larger limits, are never banked enough. Most days I play I see players returning loans to other players, money so small compared to the limits they are playing that it seems insignificant if they actually had what they should to playing that size game. Remember the key reason to have a decent bankroll is so that the natual variance of poker won't take you out of action for the limit you play. You don't want to take hits at the big limit and have to make it up at a smaller one.
3. Too aggressive. As you play in bigger and bigger games, there is something that makes you want to prove you are good and you think that betting and raising is the key. You'll see players who are raising with all kinds of garbage and sometimes it works leading you to assume they know something you don't. There is to temptation to turn into a loose aggressive player, thinking you can raise everyone off their blinds from any position. The bottom line though, is that tight solid poker will beat these guys just as easily as it will beat someone who is playing 3/6 holdem.
The only time that you need to start mixing up your game is if you aren't getting action on your good hands. It is very rare that I'm even in a game where this is an issue so there is no reason to start getting way out of line preflop and postflop. All of that kind of overly aggressive action is just a hole in your game. And many of these types of players are also the types that won't fold a hand too; this style equates to great implied odds for anyone who plays against them. Understand that it is very hard to beat someone who doesn't pay off your good hands but will beat their's strongly into you. Don't take the approach that just because your preflop hand was nice that you need to pay everyone off to the river.
Don't ever forget the fundamentals. Good poker really isn't that hard, you just have to have the discipline to be able to think objectively over a long period of time. And don't ever make the error of thinking someone else knows how to play better than you do just because they hit a few wacky hands, hands that go against what you know is correct.
4. Life style. I only play a few times a week. And I don't play at the same time each day. Sometimes I play on Friday nights, sometimes Monday mornings, etc. I see the same players there everytime though, with red eyes and the same clothes. I wonder how many hours these people put in each week. No wonder why they make so many small mistakes and get so pissed off easily. You need balance.
Also, I'm just learning recently that many of the players live in hotels. I've never had any interest in making friends in cardrooms. I just go in and take care of business and leave. I hear other people's conversations though. If you are a winning player putting in a good amount of time a week at these limits, you should easily be making over six figures a year. Why on earth would you be living in a hotel then? I can understand that if you live in Montana and have no action there, you need to make long visits to Vegas, Atlantic City and LA, but I don't get that from them. Many players talk about how they've been around the same area for years and years, yet in other conversations they refer to living in the hotel.
To each their own, but this is less than ideal for creating an environment where you play your A game. You need a break between play and work. And honestly, cards aren't worth living in hotels and not having a house or any security. If you were to just have a stable, well-balanced life you would have a big leg up on most of the players (to say nothing of excercise).
These are just a few items why you can always beat a big game with pros in it. Granted, the larger game you find yourself in the tougher the competition will be, but with so many glaring errors out there, you've got a shot if you are dedicated, disciplined, and studious.
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