There’s a saying out there about poker that I thought was fitting for this weekend’s session. I’m not sure what it was word for word but in a nutshell it says something about how poker reveals your true nature. Poker is never personal. Playing poker is.
I found out about this quickly this weekend. On Saturday, I was invited to a BBQ/Poker game. The food was great. That was about the only thing that was great. It certainly wasn’t my poker game.
We play a 12 noon tournament. I finish 3rd in this tournament. I lose when my A/9 clubs loses to 55.
The weird thing is that this same player folded 88 against the 2nd place finisher. I asked him why he did this and he said that he didn’t believe that I had such a strong hand. When I mentioned him folding 88 to John, he said that he’s conservative and he wouldn’t bluff at the pot.
This was an interesting conversation. I find out that a lot of players seem to think that I am very loose and agressive. Which is only half the truth. I do take my chances and I can raise with a wide range of hands at times but I’m not as loose as I seem. They also think that I bluff a lot. I don’t bluff as much as they think, I’m just value betting my hands more than they are.
So I have a reputation that I play a lot of rags, aggressively in the poker league. This is both good and bad. The good thing is that I’ll get called more often and when I have a great hand I can take advantage of it. The bad thing is that I’ll get sucked out more because when I bet people may not believe that I have a strong hand to begin with.
rep” is that I play a lot of garbage hands aggressively. This is both good and bad. The good thing is that I can steal more pots and win bigger pots when I can crack a big pocket pair. The bad thing is that when I do have a monster hand I’m more likely to get called with marginal hands that can crack my big hand.
So my raises aren’t getting the proper respect anymore. The adjustment that I must make then is to play my good hands more aggressively. I have to be more selective and when I have a good hand then I have to raise aggressively. I pull this off when I have AA in the BB. The blinds are 400-800 and 3 players limp. The SB completes. I have about 11k in chips and I push. One shortie calls me and I take him down.
Then I have QQ and I shove again. This time a person calls me with K/Q diamonds. He thought I was bluffing. And spikes his K on the flop.
I guess the lesson I’ve learned is that I should take advantage of my “rep” and make the proper adjustment in my game to counter this belief of me being loose and aggressive, even though I’m not really that loose. I just value bet my hands more.
So I’m getting called more often than average and It’s getting frustrating. So I tighten up and I still can’t get the proper respect. I get my KK cracked by J/3 suited. He hit trips treys on the flop. He says he didn’t believe me preflop based on my “rep”.
I don’t deserve this ”rep”. I don’t feel that I’m playing any looser or more aggressively than the other players. The only thing that I see myself doing differently than the other players is that I bet with spec hands like 5/6 suited instead of calling (which most players will do).
So I wind up cashing in one tournament and out first in the second tournament.
The cash game was juicy but I was a little unlucky.
We’re playing Omaha and I go all-in on the turn with my made nut straight and my nut flush draw. The other player calls with two pair!. He says he didn’t see the straight on the board. He spikes his fullhouse on the river. I lose a $40 pot right there.
That’s how my night goes and I’m stuck $100 on the night.
Again, I’m happy with my game. I went in with the best hand and got called by two pair in Omaha because he didn’t see the straight on board. These are the players I’m playing with.
And they think I play badly?
Posted by brooklyn bum 
