Char's tip o' the whatever (month, week, day)

TIP = Wait to make your decisions.

Ok - we all know I am a little long winded, so there's the tip plain and simple. If you don't like my babble you can stop now.

If you've read my list of leaks, you know that one of suggestions is to take your hand off the mouse and use your time. Probably the first hurdle for most beginner poker players is to learn how to tighten up and play better cards. The only problem with learning this first step is that it places such an emphasis on your cards. And this is where taking your hand off the mouse and waiting to make your decisions comes in to play.

The biggest obvious mistake I am seeing lately is mid to late in tourneys where players get a hand like 55 when they have about a 7xBB chip stack and it becomes clear that they only look at their cards and think "well this is it - it's either double up or out time this hand no matter what." They then fail to realize that there is an EP raise and a reraise in front of them and still put all their chips in when they are clearly behind and curse their luck when they bust out against AK and QQ.

I think one huge step for a poker player to make is to learn that you should never get emotionally or psychologically attached to a hand. For me, taking my hand off the mouse and actually thinking about how the hand just developed helps me to break whatever emotional or hopeful ties I have to the hand.

And here's an example of me not listening to my own advice.

Paradise Poker Game #1522371873 - Tournament Palmtree R&A - $20k Guaranteed
(NLH) - 2,000/4,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em - 2006/06/09-00:03:07.0 (CST)
Table "Palmtree $20K 4" (MTT) -- Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: Lonewolf1156 (32,963 in chips)
Seat 2: StevenByrd (154,629 in chips)
Seat 3: Emile53 (28,082 in chips)
Seat 4: Gigantor216 (37,276 in chips)
Seat 5: FCUK01 (49,381 in chips)
Seat 6: K_Poke_Her (49,840 in chips)
Seat 7: chardrian (117,226 in chips)
Seat 8: The Venetian (40,898 in chips)
Seat 9: BIGGROSS (49,085 in chips)
Seat 10: flidler (26,844 in chips)
StevenByrd: Ante (200)
Emile53 : Ante (200)
Gigantor216: Ante (200)
FCUK01 : Ante (200)
K_Poke_Her: Ante (200)
chardrian: Ante (200)
The Venetian: Ante (200)
BIGGROSS: Ante (200)
flidler : Ante (200)
Lonewolf1156: Ante (200)
K_Poke_Her: Post Small Blind (2,000)
chardrian: Post Big Blind (4,000)
Dealing...
Dealt to chardrian [ Ks ]
Dealt to chardrian [ Qd ]
The Venetian: Fold
BIGGROSS: Fold
flidler : Call (4,000)
Lonewolf1156: Fold
FCUK01 said, "i need chipies"
StevenByrd: Call (4,000)
Emile53 : Fold
Gigantor216: Fold
FCUK01 : Fold
K_Poke_Her: Fold
chardrian: Check
*** FLOP *** : [ Kc Jc Qc ]
chardrian: Bet (10,000)
flidler : Fold
StevenByrd: Raise (20,000)
chardrian: Raise (103,026)
StevenByrd: Call (93,026)
*** TURN *** : [ Kc Jc Qc ] [ 4h ]
*** RIVER *** : [ Kc Jc Qc 4h ] [ Js ]
FCUK01 said, "GG"
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: 242,052 | Board: [ Kc Jc Qc 4h Js ]
Lonewolf1156 lost 200 (folded)
StevenByrd bet 117,226, collected 242,052, net +124,826 (showed hand) [ Ac Td ]
(a straight, ten to ace)
Emile53 lost 200 (folded)
Gigantor216 lost 200 (folded)
FCUK01 lost 200 (folded)
K_Poke_Her lost 2,200 (folded)
chardrian lost 117,226 (showed hand) [ Ks Qd ] (two pair, kings and queens)
The Venetian lost 200 (folded)
BIGGROSS lost 200 (folded)
flidler lost 4,200 (folded)

When he minraised me I knew he had the Ac. But I didn't take any time to think that he might actually have Acxc or to think he had the T kicker.

Instead I focused on the top two pair and the possibility of getting a ginormous stack and didn't bother to take my hand of the mouse and got too attached to my hand.

Meh - there's another possible FT that I just gave to someone else.

Good post.

Can we count on your tips to not stop at certain times of the month since you rarely get PMS?