My re entry into poker!

This game is suppose to be easy. I don't know why I have such a hard time beating it at my local casinos. I feel like I clearly have an advantage over almost anyone. There are times when I get put into a tough position and am not sure what to do but I feel like the game is supposed to be easier than this. The game formula to beat 1/2 seems simple enough:

1.) Value bet, value bet, value bet. This seems to be the key fundamental to the game. Most individuals who play do not know how to let go of sub par hands. They will call down with any draw and bet their whole stack on top pair top kicker. Seems easy enough, at 1/2, when you have the strong hands, value bet. You will get paid off.

2.) Don't bluff too often. Reason is simple, people at the table don't know when to let go of sub par hands making it very hard to bluff someone who doesn't know how to fold. If you against someone you think is capable of a fold in a certain position, then go ahead but more often then not, it's abc poker.

3.) Be in position! This is almost more important than value betting. In most cases at 1/2 you have extreme implied odds. People will stack off with marginal hands and will chase any bet amount to hit their gut shot, flush, or open ended straight. Best thing, be in position to these situations. When you have a nice hand, it's the perfect spot for a nice re-raise. Weaker players will give off a lot of information by basically, not doing anything. A lot of 1/2'ers like to check an awful lot leaving a lot of dead money in the pot. The game is just so much easier to make decisions in when you are in position.

4.) Don't slow play. You usually are not up against someone who can diagnose a hand properly and understand what a strong check-raise means. It's a pretty basic concept with 1/2. When you flop the nuts, or a strong hand. Value bet it. you will get called more often then not. (villain depending)

5.) Play ABC poker. There is no point in trying anything fancy or sneaky because the average villain won't even recognize it, making it feel a little pointless. Just be patient, wait for position and play to the villain. People at this game do not generally change their play style according to the type of table so just understand the type of villains and play accordingly.

These basic 5 ideas are very generic and don't hold a lot of substance but ask anyone on how they beat 1/2 and this will be in the ball park for what they say. I have been looking over forums here and there trying to see anyone else has brought a different concept to beating 1/2 and haven't found much. In fact, I have found more sources indicating the same beliefs as me. This was a comment by someone that hit home for me.

"there is a lot of good info in this thread and if u stick to most of the tips you ll be in good shape. imo there a couple of tips that have worked really well for me, get use to 2-5 hours of dead cards, don t lower ur playing style to match the other players. don t fall in love w/ tp tk when the bets and calls SCREAM flush/str8 draws, or 2 pair etc... play pos when the situation is +EV, don t let the reg s see u make the same 3xbb raise on the btn etc..... most importantly do not play the way the table is playing (loose, gambiling) just TAG it up and it will fattin up ur BR. but trust me when i say do not lower ur open/calling range because the 3 villians have been winning huge pots w/ weak holdings all night long. fwiw" -BlueBoy44 (pocketfives.com)

This statement was something that I have encountered an awful lot. There are times when I feel like opening up my range just to be able to play with the loose players post flop where I feel I could instill a bit of better play vs them. But I am often wrong in making this choice and haven't found it pay off as a right decision. Play tight, understand your going to be card dead for some time.

I would say the most frustrating this is finding a strong hand and having to let it go after being card dead for hours. Here is an example from the other day.

Hero (275$) Button with two red Kings.

2 limps in early position, 2 limps in late position from villains 1 and 2. Villain 1 new loose player at the table with about 600$ and Villain 2 with about 100$ on a downswing from losing most of his buy in to villain 1.

I do not allow limps and with villain 1 being quite the limp caller playing almost every hand I decided to raise a bit more than normal. My image if it even mattered, was fairly tight. I haven't gotten out of hand playing pretty safe folding a couple hands to villain one when I felt I was beat and with villain 1 showing to confirm my correct decision, I am playing so-so.

I bet 25$. A bit much but I was sure villain 1 would call. However, all four players call.. wtf.

Flop: 2,7,7 rainbow. Two checks from early position and villain 1 leads for 25$. Villain 2 instantly shoves his remaining stack. I wasn't sure what to make of this. Villain 1 has been leading into the initial raiser when he has strong hands and with a shove from the small stack the decision was to shove or call. I didn't feel like folding here. I have went a couple hours without even seeing a marginal hand and I am a newby and didn't want to let this one go. I should have flatted but I decided to min re-raise villain 2's shove. Two player in early position fold and villain 1 flats. Turn is Jc. Making the board a complete rainbow and villain 1 leads out with my remaining stack. I call to see villain show 6,7. Villain 2 had 10,10. River was blank and I lose.

Story of my life.

All in all I just wanted to share this and show some frustration. I need a higher level of discipline and really need to start playing by the examples I see the villains show me.

Anyways, this was my rant. I hope everyone is having a great day and since I don't feel like typing anymore and want to watch MLG Dallas. Have a good night! :DD

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If anyone is interested, I am looking for a coach with Live tournament experience.

To make this a bit more friendly, here is some information about myself. My name is Tony. I am 26, a full time Fire Fighter with a large love for Poker. When I am not playing in tournaments I am reading through the handful of tournament poker books I have,highlighting important topics and trying to make my game better with every chance I get. My knowledge of the game is through the books I have read, reading forums (liquid poker/ 2plus2) and grinding 1/2 (live) games.

I was hoping there was someone out there with knowledge to offer and willing to help me get better as a tournament player and increase my knowledge of the game. I typically play at my local casinos entering 100$-300$ tournaments, between 5-10k stacks, blinds start 25/50 and between 25-35 minute blind levels. It isn't the best format but it's all I have. I have found some success making the final table abut 50% of the tournaments I play in. There are a lot of errors I know I make and a lot of areas in tournament play I know could be greatly improved upon.

If anyone decides to contact me we can go over pricing and any additional coaching information.

I realize majority of players today are online but I thought I would give this a shot. It couldn't hurt to ask. :D

Thank you for taking the time to read this and reply if you chose to do so.

Respectfully,

Ynot :D

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So, I haven't written a blog in awhile but I have been fairly active at my local casinos. For a little while playing 1/2, 1/3 I felt on top of the world wrecking every table i played at have consistent days of 600$ profits. Some days good, some bad. Overall I felt great. My problems began when my regular 5-6 hour days turned into a 12-14 hour days and i would always feel tired and lazy toward the end of my sessions. For some reason I just bean playing every day trying to win back any loses from the last day and usually playing pretty well in the early hours only the make mistake after mistake and miss reading my opponents constantly. So yeah, pretty much the worst 2 months after being up around 4.5k. I would get mad at the way the cards fell without realizing that the problem was post flop and i was aggressive against a tight player. It was just a snowball of bad poker by me. I consider myself a good player when I am thinking clearly and understand my limits but i got greedy and tried to exceed what i was capable of.

From my loses I took the last 1k or so and spent it on things i needed before i would take a small break. I decided to take a break when my girlfriend moved in with me and i took a little vacation. I decided that I would switch from cash games to tournament play. Prior to playing cash games as my primary focus, I played the local casino tournaments and although i wasn't too good at the time, after winning a few for around 1k each, I was hooked.

Lately I have been playing in a lot of tournaments and doing exceptionally well. Like cash games, I want to build up a little larger of a bankroll before enrolling myself in tournaments that are above 300$. The unfortunate thing where I am is that the tournaments are usually 25 min blinds, 5k ish stacks, and start at either 10/20 or 25/50. I wish they were a little more deep with longer blind levels but that 150-200$, I probably won't get my wish. The 5 tournaments I played in I have made the money in 4 of them, usually chopping the winnings with the remaining 3 or 4 at the table depending on the take. So, as things are looking up i am sad at my previous performances lead me back to tournaments. Not because of my choice to play.

On any note, things have been going well and as time allows (girl friend) I will continue to compete. I played in a wsop satellite a little ways back without being rolled for the type of re-buy that it was so I hope to build my stack to be able to compete on that level again. I am not a good player but i think I know a lot more than the competition that I am up against which bodes well for me.

I have learned that my weakest point in any tournament is usually when I have about 20 bb's and blinds are 200/400 with 50 ante. I just can't seem to get a good fix on stealing correctly and picking my spots. right around this time is when the tight players begin a steal attempt or two and i find myself being the victim of their first "steal" attempt and forced to fold due to having the only information on them as a Tight player. Obviously they may not be bluffing but they will show their cards trying to tilt me or feel like a bad ass, I can't tell.

So, I will try to start submitting spots that I wasn't sure about keep you guys updated on my tournament play. I have a few casinos to choose from with all sorts of different ranges for tournaments so once i build my stack up higher I will join the larger tournaments with prizes for first coming around 10k.

I hope you all are doing well!!!

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