would like your opinion

[Tsosumi 0]

One thing I do to get myself focused at the table at the beginning of a tourament is to start a mantra in my head.Play great pokerplay great pokerplay great pokerwhat does playing great poker mean?I have some things that I list off that i feel playing great poker is but i am wondering if you all would mind sharing with me what you think playing great poker is?

[shedrackle 0]

Play great poker  play great poker  play great poker

Isn't the the same line he used interview for the heads up thing on NBC? Maybe you should join his forum...

[Tsosumi 0]

I knew that was coming. :wink: Yes, that is where I got it, but it is a very calming thing and a very focusing thing. 8) I have come to respect DN more. I see him at more final tables than anyone else and enjoy his blogs. If one closes themself off from learning something from someone who has been doing what you are trying to improve at then one loses a way to improve themselves. Do I like Phil's bitch fits? No. I think they are trite and staged. Even Daniel says in his impersonation of Phil "You know I have eight bracelets right?" Hellmuth knows how to play poker and like him or not you can still learn things from him.From what I have seen, on this forum and one other, no one is either willing to share what they think great poker is or they do not know.One thing I have found out is that one is able to better percieve soemthing when they share it. So there is no fear from me sharing things. What I follow that mantra with is:Only go into a hand if I post 3 to 4 times the blind.I will only play top hands. I will read my opponents.I will not represent hands I do not have. I can win this.I will change gears as the situation dictates. I read a while ago that poker is about making money. Any player that doesn't think so is the one that will give their money to the players who are there to make money.

[CardKillah 0]

Playing great poker in a nutshell is this:Make fewer mistakes on then your opponents.Take advantage of the mistakes your opponents make.Play within your means.That's my 2BB

[NarSARSsist 0]

I dunno, it seems to me that playing great poker means your opponents do what you want them to do.I've caught great cards and have taken down many a pot before, but probably for a lot less than I should have, maybe because I got scared.Take for instance this one time that I raised to 5x BB preflop, and got 4 callers (whoa?...). Flop came 9 8 4 rainbow, and I had the top set. (Total: 25BB in the pot). Small blind bets 6x BB, big blind raises to 12x. I really don't have anything to worry about here except if someone was crazy enough to call the raise preflop with J 10, 10 7, or 7 6. However, I got scared and went all in. I got a call from the big blind with J 8 (lol?...). In retrospect, however, I didn't play good poker, I just got a good hand and a sucker.Or how about all the times when you think that they'd call you (or fold against you) and they don't? Like this one time when i thought that the guy had a 5, and my bet was enough to push him out, but he called with a 5 (it was like, fourth pair or something). If you can get your table to do your bidding (doesn't have to be exact of course :-)), then IMO you're playing good poker. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, playing good poker is having good timing so that your moves fall your way. A bluff might work on a guy when he's clearheaded and will overthink, but it might not work when a guy is steaming. Impeccable timing, mixed with of course, discipline, is good poker (playing good hands or representing phantom hands successfully is part timing IMO).(On a side note to CardKillah, if you're only putting your 2BB out there, Tsosumi will not have any trouble calling you, after all, he will only call 3-4BB, right?)That's my 5BB (can you call this one Tsosumi? )

[LeeStillman 0]

Play great poker= make the right decisions.

[Tsosumi 0]

More recently I have had a mantra of "Patience, Discipline, Position." I have made tough laydowns and stuck other things through. I have been finished in the top 10% of fields of 2000 more and more frequently. The best I have done is in 30th in a field of 5000, on UltimateBet. That was the first time I encountered blinds of that level. 20,000/40,000/4,000 ante then 30,000/60,000/6,000 ante the 40,000/80,000/8,000 ante. That is a differant game entirely. I mean everyone started the tourney with 1500 in chips and the ante was 4 times what you started with. I was trying to win one pot every other round just to keep even with the ante's. I feel good that I finishing in the top 10% more and more frequently. Couldn't ask for much more. Still a lot to learn. Getting quicker at calculating odds and percents and putting my opponents on certain hands and have been somewhat accurate. Still a lot to learn though.