Part of a continuing series documenting my successes and failures at my weekly poker game.
Coming off a disappointing showing last week, I spent this week trying to figure out where my game went wrong. I couldn't exactly nail down what I was doing wrong, so I decided that at the next game I would play very tight. Fold the first 5 hands, no three, I decided.
Game night that all changed. I felt like playing, and I made people pay if they were on the draw. I played one of the most aggressive games yet. I played marginal hands, pulled some miracles on the river that paid off and had a 3 to 1 chip lead in no time.
This is where the leak happened. I should have slowed down, let the rest of the table play and hang back until I had the nuts. Instead I put every one on a marginal hand or a bluff. If some one came in with a bet I came over the top. I was contributing to big pots and not getting paid.
Soon I was short stack. I was dealt pocket 10s, and pushed it all in with enough to play three more hands. Everyone got out of the way except for the point leader for the year. He called, showed A K off suit, and I felt pretty confident that my pair would hold. The flop gave him 2 pair and the only thing that could help me was another 10. It didn't fall, and I was first out again.
It was a disappointing game, but I finally found my leak. When I get a big chip lead, change gears, slow it down. Play premium hands only, and if people try to trap me, give it up. Don't contribute to big pots unless I have a monster.
The table may still see me as a mark, but in the next few weeks I'm sure that my image is going to change.
4 comments:
Maybe you should not try and force a strategy. Play loose and get into the flow of the game and your given cards. I would assume that bluffing and other gambits would be more successful if it were done sparingly. Don't be a Riker, I'm sure the players at your table are better poker players that Data ad Worf.
Good advice, T. I rarely bluff out of the gate. What I like to do if I have played a marginal hand and haven't connected with the flop is, depending on position, represent that I've connected. This should force other players to get out of the way if they thought they were going to see another card for free.
Right now the only way I think you can really win is to be aggressive when no one else is. It's amazing how many pots you can take. The trick is to not get trapped or slow played.
I'm sure that if I was at a table with Data and Worf they would pay me.
I don't know anything about poker. But you make them pay. (I came here from Sweetie's.)
Considering the way that I've been playing lately I'm not sure that I know too much about poker either. :)
Thanks for the support, Nettie. Sweetie rules!
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