Don't Let Yourself Fall Into The Poker Trap

[roo27]

Don't Let Yourself Fall Into The Poker Trap


In a game like Texas hold'em. It's not just a one-type, one-style game. And every single one of its permutations requires its own particular set of skills: There are full ring games that will be either loose-aggressive, loose-passive, tight-aggressive, or tight-passive.

We all start out with perceptions of the correct way to play a particular type of game. And when you factor personal style into the mix, the upshot is that there's always one certain type of game that an individual player tends to gravitate to. This does not mean that the games that don't fit our own particular style are any less ski11-based or any 1ess interesting than the type of game another player specializes in. It just means that we've all got a game that for each of us seems to have the most comfortable fit. Nothing wrong with that, of course. That is, unless it leads to The Trap.

You know The Trap. Maybe you've even heard yourself uttering its chant: This strategy has worked for me in the past, I am not going to change it, the reason that I am doing poorly is just BAD LUCK.

It's too easy to get stuck in The Trap which leads to thoughts like "I like full ring games and if the game is shorthanded I am not going to play." There'll be an equally trapped group of players out there who will only want to play if the game IS shorthanded. Or wi11 only play if a game is in a tournament format.

This kind of thinking is fine if you like running in place. But if it is your desire to be a great player, you cannot afford to shy away from the types of games that do not fit your style. With enough thought you can develop strategies that will be successful in the other forms of hold-em -- or any other kind of poker, for that matter. The minute you quit studying the game you are doomed to failure. Why? Because some of your opponents are out there always thinking of ways to improve their games.

Let's put it in terms that matter: You are giving up a tremendous chipmaking opportunity if you only want to play one particular form of a game and ignore all the others.

Any game the "good one's" want to play, you have to be flexible enough to play. The "good one's" are the providers. I'v heard time and again that you need to be an idiot to be a great tournament player, that the people who are successful in tournaments could not handle a table full of "good ones" if the situation was a ring game, rather than a tournament format. And on and on.

Yet the good tournament players make a good deal more money than the ring action players do, In my opinion, when you start calling people idiots just because they have different sets of skills than those you possess -- rather than trying to figure out what it is they are doing right and where you are going wrong -- the idiot becomes very easy to find. Just look in the mirror.

The major difference between ring games and tournaments is that, in a tournament, your opponents can't go into their pocket when they run out of chips. If your opponents are going to play differently because they have to exit if they go broke, shouldn't you be playing differently also? The good tournament players do well in tournaments because their opponents play too timidly trying to keep in the game. Good tournament player's often do poorly in ring games because they get overly aggressive against the same opponents who now are not timid, causing the tournament specialist to bluff off his money.

Good shorthanded players fall into the same trap. The value of aggression goes up in shorthanded games and tournaments. It goes down when the games are full, because you have to have a strong hand a higher percentage of the time -- except of course when the game is tight.

Change is difficult. Flexibility isn't as simple as it sounds. And think how easy it is to fall into The Trap: This strategy has worked for me in the past, I am not going to change it, the reason that I am doing poorly is bad luck... bad luck...bad luck...The Trap's gotcha.

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[MRCOOL1]

excellent post and sound advice.
One of the reasons i love to play both tourneys and rings.. gotta keep ALL aspects of one's game in shape

[AtDawg]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhh

[M_80]

Very good Roo. It pays to think about poker like that from time to time. I find myself getting into a single method of play out of laziness sometimes and I have to force my self to play differently. When I do change my style I usually lose but I learn and get better. I think everyone should force themselves to be more aggressive than they normally are from time to time, or in your case Roo less aggressive (lol). My point is, I think it pays to force different styles from time to time. I often change styles in the middle of a game. Force myself to play tight, then loosen it up. Change the way I bet from passive to aggressive. It definitely improves my game over time.

[loveschips]

Great advice and a great read Roo. I dont play the rings much but I do enjoy playing them sometimes as well as sit and goes. I think it is also important to challenge yourself by playing other types of poker games you might not be that great at. I would consider omaha my third best poker game yet I played the omaha hi low freeroll today made top 100 and ended up finishing 30th lol not bad for it not being my game lol.

[knicker]

Great stuff roo hun, miss seeing posts like this one,great advise thankyou hunny xxxx

[DarthYoda]

too true m8 if u dont mix it up u lose oppurunities

[MrRoyal]

Good advice Roo and nice thread. I think the thing with tourneys is that they require a certain degree of adaptability due to the changing nature of the table situation. As the blinds increase and the number of players shortens the there is a need for a player to adapt their play. The truly great players are able to do this and also therefore are able to read and adjust to the style of play at any particular ring table.

Personally, I have had to adapt my game to deal with this. I've always had a game which does well on full tables with blinds low relative to my chip stack. However, I used to find that as a tourney progressed and I was ending up on shorter handed tables my play was too tight and so my stack wasn't increasing so I soon became overwhelmed by the rising blinds. Since then I have adjusted my play and, although occasionally I get caught out, in general I tend to progress to the final stages of a tournament far more often.

I think that once a player has consistently successful tourney play then they have the style available to them for a number of different situations. From then it's just a case of getting a read on a particular table and adjusting your play accordingly.

[stevo_58]

Nice post Roo, some good thinking material there mate.