Jump to content

Recommended Posts

First of all, as usual, I must first say that I am a true amateur, but I feel I have a good grasp on the small stakes games. The reason for my post is because I just want to put out in the open some of my thought processes as I'm sitting through a small stakes live limit game and that I wish I read something about what Im gonna attempt to point out in my post. For the last 1/2 year, I've just been playing online for income, just because it pays better than any job I can get right now, and because I'm lazy and like the game of poker too much. By the way, you can grind out whatever living you want with whatever poker bankroll you have, there is no set rule, except keeping in mind poker is a lot about money management and not playing above your bankrolll, but if you have the time to push in a ton of hands at a micro limit to make more than you would wherever else, then so be it.Anyway, with that long intro aside, here's some of my thought processes during a live game.I like to get a feel for the table. There is never any reason to openly generalize your whole table just because of the limit. I only play 3/6 live, but at my local casino it can be anywhere from really super tight, to really crazy loose. This should affect your style at the table. Akishore had a good response in a post I read the other day, on how you should adjust your play to loose tables and tight tables. The common mistake I always hear is that you play loose at a tight table and tight at a loose table. This is not the case, you will get crushed at a tight table by playing loose. You play more aggressive in a tight table, and more passive in a loose table. In the loose table, there's no reason for the semi bluffs, its all value betting. This doesn't mean you don't bet a really big draw, in terms of your pot equity, thats really a value bet. Value bet the hell out of loose tables.To get a feel for the game, I keep track in my mind how many flops each person is seeing, but not an exact number. It helps after several rounds to assign a number to each player, I read about this in Schoonmaker's (that's somewhat his last name, im too lazy to grab my book) "Psychology of Poker". Find the loosest player, assign him a 10, then work your way down with the next loosest and so on. Dont' bother with everyong though, because then you find the tightest player assign him like a 1 and work your way up. The others will just fall in the middle. And trust me, not everyone is a donkey, getting past overgeneralizing everyone and actually understanding the motives of their games will make your decisions much easier.Then I like to get a feel for each opponent. Who at the table bluffs the most, more so, who is betting the most. Which opponents usually raise on the come, which ones only call with two pair. Since I don't play most hands, I like to take the time to follow the action down and get treated to seeing a showdown and putting the puzzle together. This has really helped my game. I used to be under the impression everyone was just chasing and calling and acting stupid, but in reality, most players have their own style, and adjusting to each yields incredible results, even in the short run.I guess I've been too verbose with this post, and maybe not specifc enough. All in all, I just mean to say, figure out what each of your opponents are up to, its hard to know what to look for, but concentrating 100%, even if not looking for something specific, some things will just jump out. Having your mind play in active role in as many scenarios as possible also helps prevent tilt and frustration. I would also like some responses dealing with what other people specifically look for in live games and methods of tracking opponents styles. Flame away if you wish at my observations at a measly 3/6 limit, but the truth is, even if all horrible players, their styles can be vastly different. Oh yeah, an easy tell to use. If you are contemplating a value bet, but not sure if your opponent has you beat or is worried. Take a second to act, watch them, if they start stacking their chips into a call, or hold our their chips, value bet away ;-) . Im trying to work on picking up on more subconcious things they do, but Ive run across some cool scenarios where I know for sure they are acting, in that case, respond accordingly.Sorry again for the length of this post, but I would enjoy reading a lengthy post by someone who is trying to figure things out and I look forward to any decent replies.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...