Galapogos's 2k (wat) Post

[Galapogos]

So I just noticed recently that I'm near 2k posts and figured since everyone likes to do something for their milestone posts that I want to be cool too. And for the record, I know 2k is fuck all, but I joined here in 2005 and have been a regular poster and it has still taken me this long to get to 2k. The reason it took so long is I seem to have degraded into a commune troll and spend the most time in the no-post-count forums. Not unlike all the freetrollers out there.

Since none of you know me, I'll start off by saying I'm no balla, but I am a winning small stakes poker player. I started by depositing $15 back in the day and run pretty hot. Got it up to 1k. Then down to $150. Then found FTR and realize how bad I was. Then I built a roll off a pretty poor tagfish style that was still good enough to win at the games back then. I've been playing for a living for the past 3 years and living comfortably doing so. I play 200nl 5-max at the Ongame network and looking to start 400nl next month. I'm a shot taking nit so I'm waiting for my bankroll to hit 20k first.

I'm not a huge essay guy, so I figure I'll just throw out some of the more important points that I can remember that made it easier to win at the game. A lot of it you probably have read already, but whatever, it's all I've got to offer.

For those that don't like reading long-winded intros, start here:

1. Table Select: Seriously. This is so insanely key. And it's not as cool of a tip as how to sniff out a bluff or get some guy to fold an overpair. This is so much more important. Your money comes from bad players. So why not find a table full of them? I realize at a lot of your smaller stakes most players are bad. But look for the worst ones? Not table selecting is like not taking the job that pays a higher wage.

2. Take Notes: Take excessive notes. How did he play that last big pot? How did he play his nut flush draw on that drawy flop? Did he open a rather weak hand UTG? If you do take notes, you'll be a lot less confused on what to do when some guy starts raising your TPTK.

3. It's Ok to get Bluffed: If an unknown fullstack starts playing hard at you in a particular hand, it's ok to lay it down. One of my biggest leaks was I would put some bluffs into my opponent's range and then justify a call because "he could be bluffing sometimes here." That's not what's important. What's important is is he bluffing often enough to make a call profitable? It's cool to be the hero and all, but make sure you have the proper read for it. You probably see a lot of people post A-high hero calls, but don't assume because they were right that time, that they made a profitable play.

Also, keep in mind what makes most fish bad. THEY CALL TOO MUCH. This means they put people on bluffs more often than they should.

4. Don't Play Tilted: Yeah yeah, easier said than done. But this particular leak belongs to every player out there. So think about how big of a fix that could be for you to minimize your tilty play. Either by leaving the table when you feel it, or mentally train yourself to handle the bad beats.

5. Use Pokerstove: Understanding equity is so key. Learn how hands in fair against certain ranges. Not something your can learn in a day. But use it often and eventually you'll get a better idea on how to calculate equity roughly on the spot.

6. Listen to the Better Players: If you post a hand and everyone says it's awful. They're probably right. Don't get defensive, learn from them. They're not saying it's a bad hand because they hate you. They're saying it's a bad hand because they've put a lot of time into studying this game and know better than you do.

I remember a few years ago I was still in that weak stage we all go through. I posted a hand where I flopped trips and tried arguing with Sauce123 (who was still at 200nl then I believe) why I thought it was a bad idea to stack off because I was pretty sure the other guy flopped a set. Look at which one of us is playing nosebleeds now.

7. Don't Assume Someone at the Table is Good Until They Prove it to You: Don't give them more credit than they deserve. By either playing scared, or by assuming they're capable of double barrel bluffing the flush that hit on the turn. The vast majority of players are playing their hands. So don't go looking for excuses to call a guy down with no history when the hand he is representing dominates yours.

8. Always Put Your Opponent on a Hand: Even if your flopped top set on the driest board. Try to figure out what he has and play accordingly. That was the most eye opening thing for me when I joined a video site. These players always cared about what the other guy had, not just when they were afraid they were beat. Not only will doing this help you learn to read hands, but it will make you more money. You will have a better idea of how much of a bet he will call instead of blowing 2nd pair hands out with too large of a bet and only getting called by better hands.

9. Don't Play Weak: Don't open TT then c/c down on a 954 board. Yeah sometimes you'll get a tag to spazz off a little more money than he would have called. But the vast majority of the time you're letting the other guy off too easy. The biggest leak of your opponents is they call too much. So exploit it by betting. Don't get tricky, just bet. It's funny how so many players are afraid of being raised off their hand. They would rather check/call the turn and river than just bet/fold the turn. Which of those lines do you think will earn you more money while ahead and lose less when behind?

10. Study Your Session an Hour Later: Look at those big/medium pots you "got coolered" in and try to see if you really did play it well. Look at the big ones too. Did you actually make the right choice? Or a bad one that you got lucky with?

Another thing I noticed about those video guys is they never let the results deter them. All they cared about was their decision they made before the money went in and if it was a profitable one.

11. You Can be a Winning(er) Player: If you actually take the time to digest what is said on these boards, you will be a winning player. And the best thing about this game is not a lot of people do that. Ask questions, mingle with those IRC guys, get some MSN buddies to talk about hands with. If you actively play this game and not just grind it, you will make a lot of money. And by actively I mean the stuff I mentioned earlier. Put players on hands every time, even if you're not in the pot. Read articles and don't just read them. Read them until you fully understand what they're about. Study the way you play. And don't hang out in the bad beats forum hoping to learn something there. Hang out where the actual advice is being handed out.

Also, just because you're a winning player doesn't mean you're the best player you can be. I still look back even as recently as 6 months ago and think about how much less I knew then. I honestly how I ever even made a living that first year because I truly think I was godawful back then. Winning at 3ptBB/100 is nice, but why not make it 5ptBB/100? Look at the spots you lose the most money and try doing something different. Don't just play the game to win money at it, play it to be better at it.





So I'm going to stop at 11. There's more stuff like don't be results oriented, but I'm sure Spenda drills that into you guys anyway. Sorry that a few of those got so long, my initial plan was just to throw out a few quick points. Like I said, nothing truly groundbreaking, but those are some of the most important concepts for me in my development towards being a better player.

Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

[Jack Sawyer]

first!

[sil693]

nh sir.

[xpaand]

Grats on 2000 posts. I was wondering if you could elaborate on:

Don't open TT then c/c down on a 954 board. Yeah sometimes you'll get a tag to spazz off a little more money than he would have called. But the vast majority of the time you're letting the other guy off too easy.

I think I'm only not able to understand it cause I don't know what c/c means. If it's something really obvious, I'm sorry for asking a stupid question. I don't know all the abbreviations yet .

[sil693]

check / call

[dev]

Awesome post, Galapagos.

[GatorJH]

what about cutoff steals? You don't say anything about cutoff steals.

[swiggidy]

what about cutoff steals? You don't say anything about cutoff steals.

That was supposed to be your 2.5k post.

[Micro2Macro]

I have a feeling alot of people are going to read this post once and forget about it. It has so much non-technical information though that looks crucial to being a successful player. I haven't been at this game long enough to give any technical advice, but please people, if you're reading this don't just skim it and don't let these thoughts go in one ear and out the other.

I'm not going to be the one who reads this post once and forgets its content, I'm bookmarking this motherfucker and possibly fixing it up into an image file so I can post it on my desktop.

Great work on the thread.

[bjsaust]

Lots of good info. Disappointing how much of this stuff I keep needing to be reminded of.

[S1x]

I find it funny that when people become experienced in something and learn more advanced things, they sometimes begin feeling overly proud and start to neglect the basics and screw up. Usually, although not always, they soon realize what they've been doing wrong and fix it.

This applies to a huge variety of competitive games if you think about it more generally. The biggest thing is that no matter how good you are, you can always learn from others.

I like it.

(And hey everybody and stuff like that)

[Galapogos]

what about cutoff steals? You don't say anything about cutoff steals.

My bad.

12. Cutoff Steals with any 2 are Optimal with GatorJH in the Blinds: Take advantage of that crusty old nit!

[Keith]

I guess I have an admission to make. I've seen a couple of your posts about and thought they were quite flippant (possibly because they were in the community section) and had mentally attached the "idiot" tag to your name. Your post has just proved that I had made a massive error and demonstrates that what someone wears or says doesn't mean much when you are sat on the table,what matters is how they play.Sure people on tilt may start mouthing off in chat, but that will be reflected in how they are playing at the table.
Anyway , fantastic post and I'll be eagerly reading any of your future strategy posts.

[littleogre]

what about cutoff steals? You don't say anything about cutoff steals.

My bad.

12. Cutoff Steals with any 2 are Optimal with GatorJH in the Blinds: Take advantage of that crusty old nit!

Been meaning to ask this for a while but who is that unnatural freak in your avatar? His legs are larger then a normal mans waist. Those trap muscles or at least i think thats what you call them stick up higher then his head.

PS.
No offense meant if it's like your dad or something.

[Galapogos]

Been meaning to ask this for a while but who is that unnatural freak in your avatar? His legs are larger then a normal mans waist. Those trap muscles or at least i think thats what you call them stick up higher then his head.

I normally tell people that it's jyms back in his training days. It's actually professional bodybuilder Markus Ruhl. Photoshopped somewhat to make him look even more ridiculous of course.

[GatorJH]

I guess I have an admission to make. I've seen a couple of your posts about and thought they were quite flippant (possibly because they were in the community section) and had mentally attached the "idiot" tag to your name. Your post has just proved that I had made a massive error and demonstrates that what someone wears or says doesn't mean much when you are sat on the table,what matters is how they play.Sure people on tilt may start mouthing off in chat, but that will be reflected in how they are playing at the table.
Anyway , fantastic post and I'll be eagerly reading any of your future strategy posts.

man crush?

[BooG690]

8. Always Put Your Opponent on a Hand: Even if your flopped top set on the driest board. Try to figure out what he has and play accordingly. That was the most eye opening thing for me when I joined a video site. These players always cared about what the other guy had, not just when they were afraid they were beat. Not only will doing this help you learn to read hands, but it will make you more money. You will have a better idea of how much of a bet he will call instead of blowing 2nd pair hands out with too large of a bet and only getting called by better hands.

This is definitely something I need to start doing. However, I'm only at 2NL right now. It's a little tough with everybody calling everything PF. When should I start worrying about putting players on hands?

[kmind]

Hi - we played a hand a long time ago and I had a big PP and you had a smaller PP. You didn't hit a set and I folded. You won.

I like your post.

[Galapogos]

8. Always Put Your Opponent on a Hand: Even if your flopped top set on the driest board. Try to figure out what he has and play accordingly. That was the most eye opening thing for me when I joined a video site. These players always cared about what the other guy had, not just when they were afraid they were beat. Not only will doing this help you learn to read hands, but it will make you more money. You will have a better idea of how much of a bet he will call instead of blowing 2nd pair hands out with too large of a bet and only getting called by better hands.

This is definitely something I need to start doing. However, I'm only at 2NL right now. It's a little tough with everybody calling everything PF. When should I start worrying about putting players on hands?

Well as you move up obviously more players begin following something that resembles strategy so that coupled with experience makes it easier to identify specific hands they may hold.

But at your level just start with identifying how much they like their hand. The best thing about your level is they make it so easy since no one thinks of balancing their lines whatsoever. Then you'll know if you should be pot controlling a certain hand or throwing the big bets in to get his stack. Or if he can be blown off his hand by a double barrel. Pay attention to what they consider a nut hand and how they played it.

So while you won't be able to nail a very tight range when reading their hands due to the fact that someone may be calling 80% of hands pre, you will be able to read their hand strength, which is essentially the whole point of hand reading anyway.