poker, poker, poker
to be good a poker and especially, no limit hold-em poker you not only have to know the right way to play the cards but you also must know the right way to play other people. the most important thing though, is know the right way to play yourself.
i can teach anyone of average or above average intelligence how to play the cards. i can also teach someone most of the common "tells" that players exhibit that will show the strength or weakness of their hands. what i cannot teach is how to control yourself. you can learn what cards to come in with at different positions in the betting cycle. i can show you the values of hands based on various factors; i can teach you how to get the maximum win out of your good hands and how to minimize the losses when you are beat. doing these things is then up to you.
once, back when rhonda was still learning the game, she and i were at another poker player's house and we were discussing the game and strategys for play when jake asked rhonda, "if you had to put it into two words what would you say is the secret to winning at hold-em?" rhonda answered, "big cards!" jake agreed and then asked, "when we are at boulder station playing how many of the players at any given table know that same thing?" rhonda answered correctly again, "well, almost all of them." then jake said, " right. they know that, then why don't they do it? why do they play king 7 suited in early position if they know that is wrong?"
and the anwer to that question is the crux of the matter. why do they do it? because they get bored; "i haven't had any good hands for over an hour so ..." or "i saw numnuts over there win a big pot with this hand" or "k-7 is my lucky hand" (they say that because ONCE they won a huge pot with it and so now it is their "lucky hand" and they conviently forget that since that one hand, they have lost and lost and lost with k-7.) they don't have the self disclipine, the self control to do what they KNOW IS RIGHT. the succumb to weakness, they get so desperate in their desire to WIN that they then do things that will guarentee, in the long run, they will LOSE.
another thing that can effect your game is the belief that one hand or one session somehow or another effects the next hand or session. you get drawn out on a couple of times by people who hit that miracle card to take your stack. the fool called your trips all in bet with an inside straight draw and hits it. your straight is beat by runner runner spades for a flush. then, (and i have done this very thing) you get gun shy and don't bet your hands big enough, make bad calls hoping to return the favor...but miracle cards are MIRACLE cards and thusly, don't come. one losing session leads to another and then you play even worse and, of course, the losses pile up.
this past week i made every possible mistake and it cost me hundreds of dollars. my wife, however, played the way i taught her to do and she won over 600 dollars in two sessions and baled my sorry ass out.
poker can be very humbling; just when i think i have no limit figured out, i go and play like a real fish and make mistake after mistake and my attitude goes in the shitter. rhonda, though, is a very good coach and gave me the pep talk that i needed and got me back on track so i had a nice win yesterday at the mgm.
so, i can teach you how to play the game but i can't teach you how to control yourself...i am still learning that one. the thing about no limit is that the swings can be very drastic (daniel N. lost more that 800,000 dollars in one week here just recently and even he said that it rattled him...as you can well imagine) and can and does cause people to give up the game and go back to limit hold-em.
i am a big winner at poker and still i have my moments of stupidity. rhonda is going to be just a great player and as the teacher i am very impressed with my student.
for any of you who would like to start a poker dialogue please write and we will start one. i am thinking of giving lessons here in vegas for fans who are coming into town. let me know what you think.
may all your flops be good.
ron
i can teach anyone of average or above average intelligence how to play the cards. i can also teach someone most of the common "tells" that players exhibit that will show the strength or weakness of their hands. what i cannot teach is how to control yourself. you can learn what cards to come in with at different positions in the betting cycle. i can show you the values of hands based on various factors; i can teach you how to get the maximum win out of your good hands and how to minimize the losses when you are beat. doing these things is then up to you.
once, back when rhonda was still learning the game, she and i were at another poker player's house and we were discussing the game and strategys for play when jake asked rhonda, "if you had to put it into two words what would you say is the secret to winning at hold-em?" rhonda answered, "big cards!" jake agreed and then asked, "when we are at boulder station playing how many of the players at any given table know that same thing?" rhonda answered correctly again, "well, almost all of them." then jake said, " right. they know that, then why don't they do it? why do they play king 7 suited in early position if they know that is wrong?"
and the anwer to that question is the crux of the matter. why do they do it? because they get bored; "i haven't had any good hands for over an hour so ..." or "i saw numnuts over there win a big pot with this hand" or "k-7 is my lucky hand" (they say that because ONCE they won a huge pot with it and so now it is their "lucky hand" and they conviently forget that since that one hand, they have lost and lost and lost with k-7.) they don't have the self disclipine, the self control to do what they KNOW IS RIGHT. the succumb to weakness, they get so desperate in their desire to WIN that they then do things that will guarentee, in the long run, they will LOSE.
another thing that can effect your game is the belief that one hand or one session somehow or another effects the next hand or session. you get drawn out on a couple of times by people who hit that miracle card to take your stack. the fool called your trips all in bet with an inside straight draw and hits it. your straight is beat by runner runner spades for a flush. then, (and i have done this very thing) you get gun shy and don't bet your hands big enough, make bad calls hoping to return the favor...but miracle cards are MIRACLE cards and thusly, don't come. one losing session leads to another and then you play even worse and, of course, the losses pile up.
this past week i made every possible mistake and it cost me hundreds of dollars. my wife, however, played the way i taught her to do and she won over 600 dollars in two sessions and baled my sorry ass out.
poker can be very humbling; just when i think i have no limit figured out, i go and play like a real fish and make mistake after mistake and my attitude goes in the shitter. rhonda, though, is a very good coach and gave me the pep talk that i needed and got me back on track so i had a nice win yesterday at the mgm.
so, i can teach you how to play the game but i can't teach you how to control yourself...i am still learning that one. the thing about no limit is that the swings can be very drastic (daniel N. lost more that 800,000 dollars in one week here just recently and even he said that it rattled him...as you can well imagine) and can and does cause people to give up the game and go back to limit hold-em.
i am a big winner at poker and still i have my moments of stupidity. rhonda is going to be just a great player and as the teacher i am very impressed with my student.
for any of you who would like to start a poker dialogue please write and we will start one. i am thinking of giving lessons here in vegas for fans who are coming into town. let me know what you think.
may all your flops be good.
ron
posted by Ron Shock | 7:47 AM
4 Comments:
Had this exact scenario play out for me last night at a 1-2 game at Harrahs in Kansas City.
I have pocked 9s on the button and I (who in this cash game is ONLY playing big hands) raise to $15 and am called by the big blind -- who I have watched for three hours and know him to chase and to call raises with literally anything.
The flop comes 3-8-9 rainbow and he bets $20 -- and I won't go through why I know this, but it was obvious -- he's as open-ended as the sky is blue.
So I'm thinking back to the discussion here the other day. I do the only thing I really think I can do -- make the largest raise I can in hopes of betting him off this pot. I put him all in ($80) and he calls. He shows his 10-J offsuit.
Granted, this is slightly different than your scenario from last week because this guy is a different player and he's got two over cards after the flop.
The turn was an Ace ... But his queen hit on the river and left me jaw-dropped and basically on tilt for the rest of the night and I ended up throwing my last $40 away a few hands later when I had A-Q of spades -- a move I only made because of tilt and not because I thought in any way, shape or form that it was the correct play.
Which is to say, right on dude. Knowing the cards is important. Knowing your opponents and yourself is imperative.
he had only 8 outs so you did exactly the right thing. going on tilt was exactly the wrong thing. you see, you WANT him to make that call every time. (you just don't want him to hit it..but he won't hit 4 out of 5 times.
people who play
for straights and flushes
soon leave this town
on greyhound busses
rock and roll, brother
ron
If you’re planning to offer first-hand lessons on how to totally misplay poker hands, you are most certainly qualified!
dear anonymous,
i certainly am. however, since i am a WINNING poker player i can also give lessons on how to play hands correctly. do i play them all wrong? do i play them all right? no to both. since, however, score is kept by money won minus money lost i am ahead; which is, incidently, more than most players can honestly say.
i think we learn more by mistakes than we do by proper play. the trick is not to make the same mistakes over and over.
ron
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