Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Hot Damn!

Howard Lederer says:

"Specialize at your own peril".

When he says that, he's talking about learning how to play more than one poker GAME. I see the logic of it, but I decided long ago that I was going to figure hold'em out before I started trying to learn any other game(s).

I've realized there's more to "Specialize at your own peril" than specializing in any single game, though. If you sit in a no-limit hold'em game for any length of time, you're bound to hear players discussing limit hold'em, and how much they hate it. "You can't bet the value of your hand", "It's no fold-em hold'em", etc. No-limit players storming off of limit games, cursing and muttering to themselves about how bad, stupid and evil limit players are is a frequent sight in any casino.

If you sit in a limit game, you'll often hear players discussing no-limit hold'em, and how much they hate it. "All they do is push all-in", "You can go broke in one hand", etc. You also regularly see limit players sitting in no-limit games and getting their clocks cleaned.

I used to agree with the no-limit players, limit drove me crazy! About a year and a half ago, however, I came to a realization: limit would be a lot more fun if I was the one drawing out on people, instead of the one being drawn out on. The more I looked at it, the more I realized that limit and no-limit hold'em are two completely different games; they shouldn't even have the same name. The closest comparison I can come to is chess and checkers. You play both on the same board, but that's where the similarities end.

Limit and no-limit may share the same basic game structure; two hole cards per player, a flop, a turn and a river, but from there on, it's a whole different ball game. The cards you'll open with, your reasons for raising, calling, and folding, etc. are all different. Bringing a no-limit strategy into a limit game, or vice versa, is like taking your aggressive dog to Seigfried and Roy for obedience training; ain't gonna work. Once I figured that out, I began doing well at both.

But wait, it goes even deeper. While I've always known there were big differences in strategy between tournament and cash game play, it's only recently that I've begun to see HOW big those differences are. I'm only scratching the surface of it, but already, I see where cash and tournament play are as different from each other as limit and no-limit are.

I've come to realize that you risk the peril of specialization even in playing one game; holdem. Cash, tournament, limit, no limit; I know many players who play only one. No limit tournaments, for example, or limit cash games, only. While I am absolutely concentrating on a single game, my goal is to do well at both limit and no-limit, tournament and ring; which leads us to the reason for this post.

Last year, I did much better at limit than I did at no-limit. For the year of 2005, I averaged a 23.00 per hour yield in 4-8 limit. Sure, there were losing sessions, but, there were a lot more winners than losers, and the winners tended to be big winners, while the losers were normally small losses. In no-limit, I did better in tournament play than in cash games, where I was a net loser for the year, despite a lot of BIG wins at 2-5 no-limit early in the year. Basically, from the time I switched to 1-2, I started losing (I prefer to think of it as an "educational investment").

This year has been totally different. By the end of April, I'd already won more playing 1-2 no-limit than I won in all of my poker playing in 2005, and it had flip-flopped. ALL of my winnings have come from 1-2 no-limit. I'm a net loser so far this year at 4-8 limit; I haven't had a single winning 4-8 session in almost two months, and I've sucked at tournaments, too.

Recently, PokerStars started running 20 table (180 player) SNGs (Sit and Go tournaments). I find these very attractive, as they're the closest thing in structure to the daily and weekly tournaments spread in the casinos here. There's just no correlation between a 1700 player online tournament and a 125 player weekly casino tourney; playing one doesn't do a lot to prepare you for the other.

I also like the payout structure in the 20 table SNGs. PokerStars is now paying 20% of the field in their low-buy in daily tournaments. Sure, it's easier to make it to the money, but there's no profit in just making the money. Paying 20% of the field, rather than 10%, waters down the 2nd-5th place payouts considerably, and that's where you make your profit. The 20 table SNGs only pay the top 18 players, 10% of the field.

There are three buy-in levels. 4.00 + .040, 20.00 + 2.00, and 50.00 + 5.00. I started at the lowest level and lost my ass. Employing the logic shared by many of my fellow poker players, I decided to move up to the 20 + 2 SNGs where "the players were better". I still lost my ass, but slightly less so, percentage wise. Based on this promising outcome, clearly, the logical move was to move up to the 50 + 5 SNGs, where the players would be even "better" (meaning they'd play "right"). This strategy proved successful, at least in part. While I still lost my ass, I did manage to cash in more of the 50 +5s than I had at either of the lower levels.

Moral victories are great, but I'd blown a huge chunk of my online bankroll. More importantly, I'd TOTALLY thrown away all of the mental and emotional discipline I'd developed. Frustration at the play of my opponents frequently left me RAGING at the computer screen as I was drawn out on ONCE AGAIN!!! Oddly enough, this only seemed to affect my online game. In live play, I still had all of the serenity and composure I'd had before, and my winning ways continued. It was time for a serious rethink.

I decided to specifically quantify; to actually write down all of the leaks in my game (with brutal honesty), think about them for a time, then address them point by point. Here's what I came up with:

Part 1: The Game

Leak: Not understanding the nature of the game I'm playing, and how my opponents approach it. Playing on the internet and playing live are two completely different animals; especially in the way the people you're playing against approach it:

* When you play live, you have to travel to the game; on the internet, the game is right there on your desktop. Since there's so much more effort put into getting to that live game or tourney, players tend to play a less risky game.

* In a live game, real human beings, many of whom you know, will see and critique your play; on the internet, your competitors are just avatars on your screen. This causes many people to make stupid plays they never would in a live game, because they don't have to face the players who would ridicule them, and they don't have to worry about word of their bad play getting out amongst their local poker community.

* On the internet, there's always another tournament starting soon; in a live tournament, when you bust out, that's usually it for the day. Yes, you can go play in cash games, but that's not the same. The lack of other tournament choices will cause most live players to think twice about risks they'd take in a second on the internet, knowing they can always sign up for another tourney.

* The above effect is dramically magnified in online Sit & Go tournaments. There's ALWAYS another one signing people up, so it's much easier for players to give in to their impulses to SEE if their draw will hit, or if their opponent is bluffing.

* People almost always play for lower stakes on the internet. When you have 50.00 or more tied up in a live tournament, that investment is going to remain in your mind as you make your decisions. The much lower investments in internet tournaments and SNGs can cause the exact opposite effect: "What the hell, it's just ten bucks", etc.

These factors; ease of access and convenience, anonymity, opportunity to "try again" in another tourney or SNG, and low investment cause a MAJOR difference in the way players approach internet play. People who are absolute rocks in a live game will call all-in on a draw in a second on the internet. Also, the less experienced the player, the more likely they are to play "fast and loose" on the internet.

Plug: Thinking about this has caused me to make some major changes in the way I play these online SNGs. Some might think the solution would be to loosen up and play more in the style of my competitors, but I went the other way; tightening up, ESPECIALLY from early position. As a matter of fact, I've essentially eliminated ALL play from the first three positions, folding everything except AA, KK, QQ and AKs, which I raise with, and any other pocket pair, which I will limp, but fold to any single raise that is not laying me at least 4:1, and ANY raise and re-raise. I've always had that philosophy, but now I'm RIGIDLY adhering to it.

While this is all sound, strategic play, the REAL problem wasn't my competitors, it was ME. That was a tough mirror to look into:

Part 2: Me

Leak: (by a LONG shot): PISS-POOR DISCIPLINE. Calling when I KNOW, more often than not, I'm beat. Calling because I KNOW I was ahead early in the hand, and that means I'm SUPPOSED to win. Calling because I bet the thing all the way down and only a FOOL would chase a hand for all that money. Calling because MAYBE this asshole is bluffing. Calling because God HAS to stop sticking it to me at SOME point, and maybe this is the time.

Plug: Pretty simple. Do what I know I should do, not what I want to do. So easy to say, SO DAMN HARD to do. The toughest thing about this game is NOT KNOWING. The hands I fold preflop COULD hit a miracle flop. The inside straight draw I flopped COULD be made on the turn or river. The player making that big bet COULD be bluffing. More than anything else, that desire for resolution, TO KNOW is what causes me to want to do things I know I shouldn't. The only solution to that is having the discipline to make what I KNOW are the smart plays. I've invested A LOT of time in effort in learning what those smart plays are, but all that knowledge is useless unless I have the DISCIPLINE to apply it.

Leak: Allowing frustration, anger, outrage and disgust to influence my decisions. Frustration: "I'm sick and tired of this asshole raising me." Anger: "How can EVERY freaking flop miss me completely?" Outrage: "How can THAT card fall on the turn (or river) and kill my freaking hand?" Disgust: "How can this idiot call pot-sized bets all the way to the river with (insert one) "an inside straight draw", "bottom pair", "a single overcard", etc.

Plug: Find SERENITY. Decisions made due to frustration are ALWAYS bad decisions, regardless of the outcome. More importantly, if I'm not playing for fun and love of the game, why am I playing? Find serenity, or find something else to do with my time that doesen't make me crazy.

Leak: I erroneously believe I deserve to win; I'm entitled to win; I'm SUPPOSED to win, for Christ's sake!. The more I don't win, the more I believe I'm DUE; I'm OWED! While I may intellectually resolve that bad thinking later, when I'm in a hand, that ridiculously stupid attitude affects my decisions in the worst possible way. This leads to frustration, anger, outrage and disgust.

Plug: LOSE the sense of entitlement. How am I letting myself become a more polite Phil Helmuth? I don't berate other players, but the emotions are the same. I'm playing "correctly" and these FUCKING MORONS won't FUCKING FOLD!!! Bullshit. The only way for me to win consistently is to outplay my opponents. To do that, I have to OUT-THINK them, and the only way I can do that is to make my decisions INTELLECTUALLY, not emotionally. This is a BRAIN GAME! If they're not folding to my mathmatically correct bets and raises, then it's MY job to HELP them fold by making the price to call high enough to LET them. Finding each players' individual price is MY job. If I don't, the fault is mine, not theirs.

Leak: Can't (WON'T) make the big laydown. The buy-in is low and they're always signing up for another one; what the hell? When other players do that, I call them "morons"; why is it ok for me to do it?

Plug: Regardless of how far ahead I think I was preflop, on the flop, or on the turn; regardless of how stupid an opponent would have been to chase the draw, if they're hammering it at the end, they've probably made it. LAY THE DAMN THING DOWN! Make the great call because I've put the pieces together and the story just doesn't add up, not because, for once, my stupid "frustration call" paid off.

Leak: Underbetting pots. In low-stakes internet tournaments, betting 60% of the pot isn't enough to get loose and/or inexperienced players to lay down draws, 2nd pair, etc. I'm allowing my knowledge of the math and odds to cause me to bet only enough to run someone out who shares my knowledge of those odds. More players than not don't. Even if they do have SOME inkling, the buy in is low and they're always signing people up for another SNG, so they'll gamble.

Plug: BET THE POT (or more). If they call the pot-sized bet on the flop, the turn comes a blank, and I've put them on a draw, MOVE ALL-IN. the 141st Rule of Aquisition says "IF THEY'RE CALLIN', THEY'RE DRAWIN'". Make them fold, or make them PAY.

Leak: Bluffing too much: I get frustrated when my premium starting hands flop nothing. I'm absolutely disgusted that I fold hand after hand preflop, only to have the flop miss me COMPLETELY when I finally get to play one. I believe that discipline is supposed to be rewarded, and I'm outraged when it's not. It's my old man, throwing his hands up to heaven and whining "When is it MY turn, God?" Bullshit.

Plug: Cut back on the bluffing; ESPECIALLY when out of position. Do so when the conditions are right and it makes strategic sense, otherwise, DON'T BLUFF!! If I AM going to bluff, I need to BLUFF BIG! If I have them covered, put them all-in, or don't bluff. There's always "Plan B" if they call.

And a few other thoughts:

* Don't call big bets! Fold, or raise.

* Avoid over-reliance on "Plan B".

* Only play trouble hands like KQ, KJ, AJ, AT, etc from the button or cutoff, and only when I'm the raiser, or I have the raiser covered by at least 3:1.

* DRAWS ARE DEATH! Only draw when on a BIG stack, or shove 'em in the middle with a good draw on a short-stack. Otherwise, FOLD.

It looks like the work is paying off. Over the two weeks or so that I've been working on this, I've seen a steady improvement in my performance. Two days ago, I finished 2nd in a 4 +.40, making 144.00. I busted out of the next one I played in 3oth place, then won the next, cashing for 216.00.

Now, this could be nothing but luck. The 71st Rule of Aquisition says "A STOPPED CLOCK IS RIGHT TWICE A DAY". If you spread cheese on a computer's keyboard, turn a hamster loose on it, and let him play enough SNGs, he'll eventually win one. Looking down I can see there's still a little cheese on my keyboard.

I feel MUCH better about my play, however. We'll see how my results are after a month or so.

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