Poker
The weekly poker game started up again a couple of months ago with Joe coming into town. Now that Mel is here we can play pretty regularly again. I've been doing pretty well so far. For the last five games I have come away ahead, often with twice the buy-in or more. Last night was amazing. At one point I had quadruple the buy in, but I started to fade around ten o'clock and lost a buy in, so I was only tripled up by the end. Aww...
Take this for what you will, my strategy, what little there is of it, has four parts.
- Don't play every hand - It's draining on your money and you want to be able to get as much money into the pot as possible when you have a good hand. Blinds and antes will eventually exact a toll and leave you short stacked if you pay for every piece of junk.
- Slow play top hands - Know what the nut hand is from the cards on the flop, and if you have it, bet it very slowly.
- Play weak hands strong - If you have mid or low pair try to knock everyone who hasn't made anything out of the hand early so that you don't get beat on fourth or fifth street.
- Lose your ego - Losing in poker isn't losing in life. Don't let your ego rule over your strategic sense. Brave players who throw themselves into every pot regardless of the odds are easy prey for those who wait for a good hand and take all their money.
Knowing what the nut hand is, and what the basic odds are is critical. Always check for straights, check for flushes, and beware of quads, sets or full houses when there is a pair on the table. If you find yourself saying; "I didn't think he
could have that" when you are beaten, you need to watch more poker on TV and take note of the little percentage numbers next to each hand. Far better to say to yourself; "I knew he could have that, but I didn't think he had it, and I was wrong."
Posted by jherr at April 3, 2007 11:24 AM