I learned a valuable lesson

I play mainly 25NL I used to play big hands AK AQ and so forth. betting 4-5xbb when I get em, and then betting strong if I hit. what I found is that I constantly lost money. It got so bad, I lost a few hundred dollars, and had to quit. I realised I was a fish, and had to quit playing poker.

Then I had a vacation recently and decided to put in another $25 for the hell of it. Just for fun, I knew I would loose. But what I did differently is I stoped playing big hands with big cards only, I mainly played suited connecters, 1 or 2 gapped suited conectors, and many connectors in position, and played almost all hands to the river. I also limp in or small raise AK, AQ and so on taking them to the river as well. I watch what everyone does, and play based on their cards. about 10 days later I am at about $200. I usually limit myself to a few played hands a sitting. cause whenever I don't do that I start off very well maybe 2-3x my buy in, and then I start to tilt with too much money and loose most of it.

What was my lesson:
1) just cause you have TPTK it does not mean shit against a table full of fish.
2) there is more money to be made on sets, straights and flushes then TPTK. value betting them and when someone makes a raise when you have them on less then you, you drop that hammer and take their stack

What I need to learn:
1) how to control my tilt with too many chips,
2) how to take advantage of being the big stack

any comments are very much appreciated

In ring, big stacks aren't that much of a deal. The only advantage is you can maximize your profit with aces by having everyone else covered.

Originally Posted by aleksandr

In ring, big stacks aren't that much of a deal. The only advantage is you can maximize your profit with aces by having everyone else covered.

Try again, next time with feeling.

Originally Posted by aleksandr

In ring, big stacks aren't that much of a deal. The only advantage is you can maximize your profit with aces by having everyone else covered.

I had to read that sentence 3 times to understand it.

Originally Posted by buttonAA

I had to read that sentence 3 times to understand it.

Pocket Aces is an over-rated hand because you will only win small pots and lose big pots with them.

Small cards work great in limit games too because everyone plays so many big cards. As the 3rd guy in you can come in with any 2 (semi)connected suited cards for any price.

Pocket duces go up in value as the stack size goes up, no matter how strong your opposition is.

If someone raises pre-flop, they probably have Ace King. However, if an Ace flops, then it's probably Queens or Jacks.

Maybe if you read those each 3 times you'll understand them?

Yes top pair is vulnerable but i still think making big peflop raises and playin HU is the way to go with AK/AQ
But set farming and playing suited connectors in position is also a good option provided there is enough dead money in the pot or opp has a big enough stack.
I dont quite agree on playing AK/AQ for small raises, but i do suggest at lower limits checking flops that miss you. Yeah you might loose a few preflop raises but noone will notice when you actually hit an ace as they did to!

Fnord I love you (in a platonic way, nevermind what they say about ancient Greeks) because:


-Pretty much everything thing you say is right.

-90% of your 8518 posts have helped me become a better player, the rest was at the community forum...

-You have a tendency to "lock" threads, just because after you make the first reply no one else wants to reply because...they cant! you have them all covered.If they come over the top you go all in by proving them wrong in a single (yet not simple) sentence (even using their own words as proof that they are wrong)

-You make serious replies to posts about a 0.01/0.02 HH and try to help people out.

I hate you because:

-Pretty much everything thing you say is right.

-I sometimes think for like an hour before posting something and think I got it all right, then you reply within 1 min and prove me wrong in one sentence.

I understand that you do not play poker profesionally anymore yet you take the time to hand around at the forums and help people out. I belive that if I can make the money I make with my limited knowledge of the game, you could be living in Vegas making millions. I understand that this is a personal choise though.

I want to thank you sincerely for everything you did for me and continue doing for me and many others.

PS. Mannerboy begs for any info on starcraft 2....

Originally Posted by aleksandr

In ring, big stacks aren't that much of a deal. The only advantage is you can maximize your profit with aces by having everyone else covered.

That's far from the truth. Having a big stack makes a lot of players less likely to play a big pot with you because you can destack them.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Small cards work great in limit games too because everyone plays so many big cards. As the 3rd guy in you can come in with any 2 (semi)connected suited cards for any price.

I find this to also be true in NL rock gardens, because they all have each other's draw cards.

-c

Originally Posted by Miffed22001

Yes top pair is vulnerable but i still think making big peflop raises and playin HU is the way to go with AK/AQ
But set farming and playing suited connectors in position is also a good option provided there is enough dead money in the pot or opp has a big enough stack.
I dont quite agree on playing AK/AQ for small raises, but i do suggest at lower limits checking flops that miss you. Yeah you might loose a few preflop raises but noone will notice when you actually hit an ace as they did to!

I have lost a good chunk of change when I hit my top pair, and they hit their set, or their straight or flush on the turn, or even 2 pair on the flop. It just seams that 4-5xBB raise gets no respect, too many people come in and someone gets something better then me, or I play that guy who knows how to set me up for a good chunk of my cash with a set. I find if I slow play those cards, I know more of what everyone else has, and am able to take the pots I am more sure I can win.

Fnord: I read that three times, and feel I am missing why deuces go up in value with large stacks. can you please elaborate. Is it because you can win more chips cause they have deeper pockets when you get your set?

Originally Posted by m3laNcholy

PS. Mannerboy begs for any info on starcraft 2....

Hey Mannorboy (if you are mannorboy from celeb poker) Havent seen you around the mid stakes NL tables lately...you finally move up stakes where you belong?

Originally Posted by underminedsk

Originally Posted by m3laNcholy

PS. Mannerboy begs for any info on starcraft 2....

Hey Mannorboy (if you are mannorboy from celeb poker) Havent seen you around the mid stakes NL tables lately...you finally move up stakes where you belong?

My nick is not MannorBoy.
I play 1/2$ - 2/4$ NL i dont know if u consider this stakes as mid stakes or high stakes.


ps. Dont take me wrong but i really dont know u
pm for more details friends ?

I wanna make new friends too...

Originally Posted by buttonAA

Fnord: I read that three times, and feel I am missing why deuces go up in value with large stacks. can you please elaborate. Is it because you can win more chips cause they have deeper pockets when you get your set?

Everything I wrote in that post was wrong. Tried to out-do aleksandr for bad advice.

BTW: with opponent(s) who won't pay-off like a slot machine, 22 becomes a reverse implied odds hand at some point (think really deep money) as you'll never be on the winning end of set over set or boat over boat.

TPTK is great against fish if you don't value bet it for them. Everytime I hit TPTK I bet the size of the pot and I never get more than a couple of callers. If someone raises my pot sized bet when I have TPTK, I know I'm beat and lay it down.

I know newbs hate reading this about poker but..
Mathematically, if you bet out draws, you will win in the longterm.

I laughed at that first one, Fnord.

Anyway, I was trying to let the new kid know that "using the big stack" (as he put it, and as seen on TV), was not so much as applicable in NL Ring as in NL tournaments, because making a play that involves being destacked in ring can still be profitable, for instance, calling an AI from a very aggressive preflop player with pocked jacks only to find out that he has AQs and wins the flip. This play is on the whole, profitable, if you're properly bankrolled.

"Using the big stack" in ring can more appropriately be termed "Using your table image." This requires having a stack that is very strong compared to the other players. For instance, a tight image can be used to make a strong fold-inducing raise with 74o, while a loose image can be used to intice calls with Tier 1 hands, however, a raise of all-in $14.00 against a $4.00 bet is not nearly as fold-inducing as a $35.00 all-in reraise, meanwhile, when you entice an all-in call with AA/KK for $35.00, you profit $35.00, as opposed to the weaker $14.00 profit with a smaller stack.

Mainly I enjoy it when the other guy thinks he has the winning hand and bets accordingly. I do whatever will make that happen more often.