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I'm Getting Good


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Just sharing my thoughts and patting myself on the back. 352nd in the Sunday 1/4 Million and 201st out of 10,000+ in a $3.30+R yesterday. Not even close to a final table, but it's really starting to feel like I'm going to get there at some point.I've been playing Sunday MTT's now and then for the last couple months. Honestly, I haven't been playing a lot of poker. But when I have been, I have been doing very well.Do I have anything to show for it? Pretty much no. I think I've cashed in the Sunday 1/4 Million 4 out of the last 5 times, but it's certainly not anything to brag about. Yet.But, something recently changed in my play. I've changed my style. And it's weird. I don't feel like I'm "not playing like me", I actually feel like I'm playing like Me+. It's me, but more of me. I'm more aggressive, and I'm also willing to call people down a lot more. If it looks bluffy, I'm prepared to call that river bet much more often than I used to. In fact, I almost never used to. I absolutely look like an idiot some times, and the other players aren't afraid to tell me. So be it. Every time I call and win, I learn. Every time I call and lose, I learn even more. Honestly, I was surprised at how often players bluff on the river. I recently called a guy down with A high. His bet just didn't make sense. Even so, I would not have done that 2 months ago. And do you know what that one hand did to my confidence? A lot.Something I have been noticing for a long time, is that occasionally I'd play a tournament against a guy with a huge stack, and quickly realized that the guy was a call station. Often these guys would FT, but then go out somewhere around 5/6 place as the other players finally realized what was going on and stopped bluffing off their chips. There was a lesson to be learned there. The ability to make loose calls seems like the difference between an average stack and a huge stack. Plus, it changes your table image (to anyone paying attention). All those years of playing TAG have helped me get a feel for the game, but that only goes so far, especially in today's poker. 5 years ago, TAG might have been a good enough way to FT occasionally. But even in the lower $10 stakes, I don't think it's good enough anymore. Granted a monkey could possibly FT under the right circumstances, but that's not a point worth discussing here.In addition to that, I've been getting more creative in late position. I know I've been bluffing players off of better hands by telling a good story. Yes, occasionally I look like a bluffoon (hey, I like that term), but overall, it's working.Confidence high, but time to play poker low. Wish me luck. I hope that I'll post a big MTT score here in the next few months.

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Wait, so you are saying being TAG is bad and making loose calls is good?ok.
Something like that, yes.EDIT: Hmmm... Perhaps I used the term "loose call" improperly, now that I think about it. I'm really talking about making calls on river bets that seem bluffy. In general, I probably "call" less than I used to. If someone raises, I prefer to re-raise. Opening pots and re-raising preflop is way better than calling preflop. As blinds get bigger, and my stack gets bigger (hopefully), I may open with a huge range of hands, esp from a late position (although button raises are so cliche that I'm more inclined to raise from CO or HJ, or even middle position, if I'm feelin' it).
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fwiw i get what you are saying. I'm like 3-4 months removed from this realization of sorts. Granted mine was a mix of calling light when my gut + brain come up with a line making no sense....but also folding those strong holdings when i get the same feeling inversely.Keep it up man. Best of luck!

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I get what he's saying. Before, he lacked the confidence to make plays that could look bad and it manifested itself in the leak of being overly straightforward. As he's getting better results, he's gaining confidence and playing better. I think the thread's fine and I think most players would do better to work on self-analysis and self-awareness.

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I get what he's saying. Before, he lacked the confidence to make plays that could look bad and it manifested itself in the leak of being overly straightforward. As he's getting better results, he's gaining confidence and playing better. I think the thread's fine and I think most players would do better to work on self-analysis and self-awareness.
I hope you write a poker book and get morgan freeman to narrate the eventual movie adaption. I would watch that movie.
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