Outlaw: holdem' discussion

by sabastious 19 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sabastious

  Outlaw, I have noticed that I make most my money with deception and strategy, not percentages. I admire the enduring number crunchers, but I prefer to play from a psychological perspective as I hold a good understanding of people. I also play the numbers game, but I cannot help but see unique opportunities and also missed ones. "Calling stations", which are often new players, can spoil opportunity after opportunity. I cannot tell you how many nights they have ruined for me. My biggest pots I have ever won I have done so with the worst hand, I just didn't show it.

  Say I am playing one night and have ran a few sneaky bluffs which took a few large pots. When you don't show a bluff and take down large pots people will start "whispering" to themselves so to speak. They will see you as someone who needs to be cut down to size and this is when the opportunity for large pots can present themselves. When people's honor starts coming out the pots get progressively larger. However when you throw in a newbie, or a drunk fool, in the mix these opportunities are threatened by a wild card. You see, when these opportunities present themselves I am playing the other person's cards not my own. Within these scenarios I wouldn't even have to look at my own cards because I will only be moving forward with the right circumstance. This only works when seasoned poker players are in the hand. Newbie's are never overthinking, they are always underthinking. So they might call all the way down the line with the second best hand only beating a bluff which would be me. Then when the opportunity presents itself you have to worry about the newbie accidently exposing your ruse. It's a tricky thing about poker that I am still developing strategy against. One way is to go aggressive against the newbie to make sure they are only playing high percentage hands so that you can better account for them when the opportunities arise, but this is not a sure thing.

  Talesin, bluffing is the best part of poker. It's really what makes the game, imo.

  -Sab
• 

  OUTLAW

  I have noticed that I make most my money with deception and strategy, not percentages....Sab

  Like..

  What are the Chances/Percentages this guy will believe my bluff?..

  LOL!!..

  It`s all about probabilitys..

  Regardless of what stratagey your using at the moment..

  Lots of Newbies with more money than brains,raise,raise,raise..

  Then go all in..

  That works right up until they`re wiped out..

  You have to know when to the use different tools at your disposal..

  And..

  When to cut your loss`s..

  ....................... ... OUTLAW
• 

  sabastious

  What are the Chances/Percentages this guy will believe my bluff?..

  How do you measure the chances of your own designs?

  I see what you are saying, though. I have to play the numbers when the circumstances don't favor a different approach. The problem with probability is that there are these looooooonnggggggggg stretches of time where you don't get cards. And while you wait as those cards come and go are opportunties to win the pot, even though you didn't have the cards to win the hand. I will notice times when I will fold a suited connector out of position, but upon staying in with it and a sizable raise on the turn everyone would have given up. They built up the pot though pre-flop raises, all called on the flop. Then if I am there and raise on the turn, REAL BIG, they all fold simply because their flushes and straights didn't hit and they are on only 1 or 2 pair. From their perspective I could have landed a set and am trying to win big. However, a total bluff is hard to pull off consistantly, that's why you have to have a draw, even a little one like a gut shot would do for a semi-bluff to be worth it in the long run. I like to see a lot of cheap flops to make sure I am available for some unique opportunities.

  -Sab
• 

  Scott77

  marked
• 

  OUTLAW

  The problem with probability is that there are these looooooonnggggggggg stretches of time where you don't get cards.....Sab

  The Best players get dry spells..It`s a game of patience..

  Life will always put you on the other side of the boot..

  Sometimes your the Bug..Sometimes your the Windshield..

  Try to be the Bug as Little as Possible..
  

  ........................ ...OUTLAW
• 

  sabastious

  It was this game that served as an earthquake in my life as a JW. I played the game with no money involved and discovered it to be a game of skill. This became a precarious moral situation for me as a professed loyal Witness. To me, my religion seemed to be ignorant to a simple truth and this bothered me. I confided in a cousin over the internet about it and he said that he loved the game too. He told me that he would watch ESPN and even had a favorite pro poker player. But he said that because he was a Witness that he simply could never partake. And that it was totally wrong of any JW to do so. I completely disagreed with him and he regarded me as spiritually weak for it. From his perspective I was putting my own understanding above God and that it would get me no where. His reaction really made me rethink my postion on my own beliefs. To me playing the game, even professionally, was a matter of conscience. If a man, or woman, could support a family playing the game then that seemed like a prospect that was something left to the individual to decide. I could see how my religion was deeply entrenched into my life. It was not something that felt good, it felt oppressive. That's why I was so passionate about learning the game because I wanted to prove to my family that it would bring prosperity to my life. And it did, I was able to keep my family afloat for six months until a good tech job opportunity presented itself. I personally proved my religion false and it was both liberating and melancholy for me. I felt free, but I then looked back at my family and saw that their freedom was being held back by some myserious force within themselves.

  I was just speaking to a witness over the internet lately and I mentioned something about my poker playing. He seemed shocked that I admitted to it and thanked me for being open with him. He told me that not everyone discloses such information and he saw it as an act of trust on my part. When in reality it was no big deal to me, I was simply recounting events in my life. He was looking at it from the perspective of "coming out" of a closet of sorts. There could be many people within the JW ranks that would love to play and could be very sucesssful in the game, but hide their true feelings for fear of being exposed as spiritually weak. There are many that look down on this practice of playing poker and it's not just the ranks of the Watchtower. It saddens me that people cannot see this game for the legitimate competitive marketplace that it is.

  -Sab
• 

  OUTLAW

  Hey Sab..

  If poker was a simply a game of chance..

  The best players wouldn`t keep consistantly winning..

  ........................ ... OUTLAW
• 

  flipper

  As Kenny Rogers said years ago in the song, " you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run . " I have found this advice works well in other aspects of life also , not just playing cards. Peace out, mr. Flipper
• 

  MrFreeze

  I'm with Outlaw. Keep them in as long as you can. They will lose big. Keep waiting, be patient. Those televised poker events? Heavily edited to make it look like things are happening quicker than they do.
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  talesin

  Yup, have patience ... and probabilities are on your side.

  Sab,, my greatest pleasure is taking the bluffer's chips!