what i'm sure is a common question...

[Sean_ec 0]

I thought i'd give you guys who invested a little wisdom in me a heads up .I found myself sittin on pocket aces at a FCP MTT on FullTilt, bet very strong and pushed the player off a draw, taking down a nice little pot. But, my curse continues...Now I don't have one of your fancy programs, however I just got knocked out of a FCP $20+2 MTT. I was low stack (1300), average stack with 16 people left was 3500 , with AK against A9.... on the button I went all in pre-flop after everyone folded behind me, big blind (6700 or so) called thinking I was trying to steal, as I wanted........... flop comes x-x-9-A-9.mmmm good night.Got my money in when I had the best. But thats just poker. However, i'm building up quite a moutain of beats. :)Finished 16th out of 35 or so people I assume are pretty good players from here.Also i've never been able to look at my stats before...how are these for a NLHE MTT, besides the horrible beat above! :)Street Saw Saw/Total Flop 26 29%Turn 16 18%River 9 10%Showdown 4 4%Street Won Won/Saw Won/TotalPre-flop 8 9% 9%Flop 4 15% 4%Turn 2 13% 2%River 3 33% 3%Showdown 2 50% 2%

[Steppin Razor 0]

Aside from the blind structure, I'd hazard a guess that you may be playing too many hands that look good (but aren't that great) out of position. Things like KQ, KJ, AQ, or AJ UTG are all hands that could get you into trouble.Another thing that I think might help with not betting enough is to think about the pot odds you give your opponent, not just the odds you have of making your hand.About the AK hand, I think it was good you bet more PF, but I don't like the all-in w/AK. Giving yourself a follow up bet on the flop may have pushed him off his TPTK. It's probably minor though, since you'd have probably ended up all-in when the Ace hit anyway.

[JaysonWeber 0]

YSAPKY...

[wrto4556 0]

Things like KQ, KJ, AQ, or AJ UTG are all hands that could get you into trouble.

thats pretty bad advice

[LPY2005 0]

Now I don't have one of your fancy programs, however I just got knocked out of a FCP $20+2 MTT. I was low stack (1300), average stack with 16 people left was 3500 , with AK against A9.... on the button I went all in pre-flop after everyone folded behind me, big blind (6700 or so) called thinking I was trying to steal, as I wanted........... flop comes x-x-9-A-9.

The fancy program at www.cardplayer.com says you were a 74% favorite preflop...that is without knowing if you had any common suits. I'd like to get all my money in a 74% favorite everytime. 74% of the time you should win and double up.IMHO - AK is a great hand to go all in preflop when short stacked. A small bet would have been called and you wouldn't have enough chips left to push anyone off the hand if you miss your flop. I like this play...just unlucky.

[Steppin Razor 0]

Things like KQ, KJ, AQ, or AJ UTG are all hands that could get you into trouble.

thats pretty bad advice

You don't think KJo UTG can get into trouble? I didn't say don't play those hands, just that they can get you into a bad situation. Suited cards would be different, although I personally wouldn't play KJs very often UTG.

[lboarts 0]

I thought i'd give you guys who invested a little wisdom in me a heads up .I found myself sittin on pocket aces at a FCP MTT on FullTilt, bet very strong and pushed the player off a draw, taking down a nice little pot. But, my curse continues...Now I don't have one of your fancy programs, however I just got knocked out of a FCP $20+2 MTT. I was low stack (1300), average stack with 16 people left was 3500 , with AK against A9.... on the button I went all in pre-flop after everyone folded behind me, big blind (6700 or so) called thinking I was trying to steal, as I wanted........... flop comes x-x-9-A-9.mmmm good night.Got my money in when I had the best. But thats just poker. However, i'm building up quite a moutain of beats. :)Finished 16th out of 35 or so people I assume are pretty good players from here.Also i've never been able to look at my stats before...how are these for a NLHE MTT, besides the horrible beat above! Street      Saw   Saw/Total          Flop        26       29%Turn        16       18%River        9       10%Showdown     4        4%Street      Won    Won/Saw  Won/TotalPre-flop     8        9%        9%Flop         4       15%        4%Turn         2       13%        2%River        3       33%        3%Showdown     2       50%        2%

These stats don't appear too bad, but what they tell me is you may be playing a few too many hands. You might consider tightening up your starting hand requirements in EP.

[Sean_ec 0]

Which stats point to that?Not disagreeing, but i'd like to monitor myself.I already feel like I play too many, and have cut it down drastically. Hope to get that straightened out.Sean

[lboarts 0]

Which stats point to that?Not disagreeing, but i'd like to monitor myself.I already feel like I play too many, and have cut it down drastically. Hope to get that straightened out.Sean

You're seeing 26% of the flops, which is a little high. Generally 15 to 20% is ideal, but these stats are for only 1 trny, so being a little high may be due to a rush of good starting hands. Normally, when people are seeing too many flops its because their playing Q10 UTG and that sorta thing, but you may be playing too many weak hands in LP also, only you know this.

[Sean_ec 0]

Ok boys and girls.My weekly game is tonight and I feel like a new player after soaking up everything I can from these forums and reading books and from playing a lot of hands.Lets see if I can grind these fish down.Thanks for all the help.

[jkalib 0]

The one suggestion I would add is to start taking notes on the regular players in your game. Really concentrate on observing how they play certain hands - see if you can pick up any tells. You might not pick up physical tells, but you may be able to pick up betting patterns. Do they make small raises with big pocket pairs, but big raises with AK? Do they limp/raise with aces?After every game take a few minutes to jot down your observations and then read them right before you go to the game the next time. Not only will it help you remember the players - but it will force you to concentrate more during the game.Also, you should stop and think a little bit more during each hand. Ask yourself what does the other guy have? Why did he just call my raise? Why did he bet that amount? After a while you will be able to make an educated guess about whether the other player has a made hand or a draw. If you are playing with the same people you will see some that only bet out with draws and check raise big hands. Thinking about what the other players have during the hand allows you to control pot odds and to lay down hands that are likely second best.And the most important thing - after that guy calls your all in bet with a four outer - and hits it - you tell him nice hand, nice call and you quietly hope that he makes the same call for the rest of his life.

[wilkinru 0]

Pick up Harrington on Hold 'em.

that sums it up

[Sean_ec 0]

I finished Harrington Vol. 1 this week. Picking up Vol. 2 this weekend.I finished 1st and 4th tonight.2nd game, I was proud to make it that far. Got pretty nasty hole cards, hit no flops got called just about every time i tried to steal a pot. But I held out, and got knocked out with top pair vs. a guy slow playing pocket aces. I had some outs still but didnt hit them.I'm pretty happy with that kind of progress after 1 week.I owe a lot of it to these forums.Sean

[Sean_ec 0]

So this week I took 1st place in our weekly tourney. A dominating vicoty if i've ever seen one. Then I entered a live $65 buy in with 120 people on friday and took 7th place. I feel like I could have easily won it, but never got cards to play with. Or a flop to really bet with. Had to make a lot of moves preflop to stay afloat. Still very proud I hung on and outlasted and outplayed a lot of guys.Anyway, I owe it all the Harringtons books and reading these forums every day. Thanks guys.ps. was sitting at a table with two pair, aces and jacks. guy announces he has a full house when we show down.... unfortunately..misread his cards. talk about my heart stopping!

[Ebonwoulfe 0]

You will be doing yourself a huge favor if you pick upHarrington on Hold 'em, Vol 1: Strategic PlayandHarrington on Hold 'em, Vol 2: The Endgame(the books are the colors I used, to help you find them at Barnes and Noble).The $40-50 you spend on these books will pay for themselves quickly.You will read these books. Now I mean read them. Get a highlighter, a pen, a notebook, whatever you like to use and READ them. You won't understand them at first, and you will probably screw up a lot of what he says, but that's because you're still a novice player, who wants to get better. Your humility when approaching these books are what will be your biggest asset. You are not great yet, and neither are we. Nobody is as good as he wants to be. Harrington is better than you. He wrote to help you get better. As you study and learn, and gain experience and make mistakes, you will begin to triumph over your fishy friends, and when you take a bad beat you will see it for what it is: just part of poker. Oh and I can't stress enough the value of *playing* poker, *reading* about poker, and *thinking* about poker. Not necessarily how great it feels to get AA vs. KK on an AKx board, but situations like "If I had a flush draw, and two people are in, and the betting goes however..." sort of hands.Note that these are not cash game strategy books, although some concepts apply to cash games. If you move on to cash games, you must begin again with your quest for knowledge. Theory of Poker is a good start. As of yet, though, I don't believe there are any good No-limit Texas Hold 'em specific strategy books. Well, there might be, but most are limit. So use these forums to bounce around ideas, talk about hands, etc. Oh and www.cardplayer.com is full of articles, the odds calculator, etc. Use it too.That's the route that I suggest. You may leave it at any time with no hard feelings.

[Ebonwoulfe 0]

Man I wish I had read the whole page first, .Oh well. I like typing.

[DLizzle 0]

you just gotta play. There are things you don't understand because you just started that no one understands when they start playing. I can't explain them and I don't think anyone else can either. You will begin to understand more and more things as you play, so just play. But for more concrete help, dont min raise, which has been said. Also, in tourneys, you have to get control of the table to be really successful. You can't just sit and wait for big hands, you have to make some moves and get some chips. Ideally, the decisions that other players make on the table should evolve around what you are going to do. They should be scared of you. I find this to be the way to play tourneys, as it is more successful in the long run and you don't get as pissed off about bad beats.