Quote Originally Posted by yeardley
Wait for a better hand on the flop than TPTK to go all-in unless you are up against the short-stacked desperate disbeliever. Once you get the hand where you really slay somebody at the table for a giant chunk of their stack, your new image will control some of those loose callers for the next hand you want to play. Until then, it's a part of the game that you sometimes have to fold some good hands (or at the very least, not go all-in with them) when they're not working out for you, or when the table isn't letting you play them properly. (Don't let the table force you to play a hand improperly...release it)

My advice is to not put all your money in with TPTK very often anyway, especially against two or more possible callers, but even against one. If these players will call PFR's with an Ace and any other card (often the case), it's hard to put them on a specific hand, and a flop that comes Ace+rags does not always mean you are ahead with AK. Assuming they are shortstacked (often the case), bet enough so it hurts them to call and see if they do. Lean on them if you think they are getting desperate and your TPTK is good. Otherwise, don't pay off their crap hand when it hits. Wait for your sets or monsters or whatever and let TPTK or worse pay you off instead.

Generally these same players don't have an idea of how to figure out when you might be on a draw or how to screw your pot odds (purposely) when you are. Even if they do and start betting or raising their hand, the other players don't understand when someone is trying to protect a made hand and it will often come back to you with the pot odds to justify a call. So I like to save pushing my stack, for the most part, on those pots where I've seen the river and the pot is already large, and I have my nuts. If you are patient, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to go all-in when your hand is much less vulnerable than TPTK, or not vulnerable at all.

but i would like to be able to pick up some quick money at cash games if i havent got time for an hour sit and go or a 3 hour MTT
I think this is the wrong idea. People joke about these limits all the time, and for good reason. But I really believe you have to respect the game you are going into until you have proven that you can beat it, or you will wind up getting fried. These games are not ATM's for you to just collect from as soon as you sit down, simply because you might be a better player than most of the opposition. You'll actually have to put forth a little bit of 'better play' first. Occasionally you'll sit down and money will come quickly. Sometimes it will take a while. Except for when you have the stone cold nuts, you will still need some time to observe and figure out the other players at the table just like you do in a tournament. If you rush to try to make a profitable session out of half an hour, you will only succeed sometimes, and the other times you will find yourself trying to manufacture wins that don't pan out. You will be lucky if you break-even doing this, so don't think of it this way.
Excellent advice, especially that first paragraph. That was hurting me too a while back, and while I still may push with TPTK, I only do it heads up now...

I have the same problems as you, but in reverse. I can't seem to do well in tournies, although I would really like to! I always seem to bubble out or get a bad beat and end up just out of the money - even when I think I am making the right moves. I think I'm just going to have to do more reading up on tournies and keep trying...