Identifying your inner self.

You know it is very funny how people see themselves is usually quite different from the way others see them.

I for one, see myself as a tight-aggressive NLHE player that has issues towards the bubble whereby I start becomming loose-aggressive and end up ruining my chip stack like a lumberjack would attack a redwood in the forest.

Then I try to pay attention to what others think of my play style and I get the vibe that some look at me as a Fish, very loose-passive/passive and I am there to just increase their chipstack and not do anything worthwhile.

There are tools out there that can track your hands and work out all the percentages and using some unknown but completely baffeling formula, figure out what you are. The only problem with these types of tools is that unless you have someone very experienced in reading the percentages and ratios, you have a hard time deciphering your potential to blow your whole bankroll.

Well, your probably thinking to yourself, "So, lets get to the point..". The point is, that whether your a newbie, sub-stable, stable or pro player at this stuff, most of the time you may think you play a certain way, but unknown to you, others might see you playing differently.

This is why you may tend to always get on a table with a bunch of bozos that go all-in everyhand or think that every tourney your in, why is it you end up with the luckiest people on earth that keep pulling miracle hands out of their butts when they hit that boat or flush on the river.

What kinds of things are you all doing to figure out your play style and to improve it? How do you track your accomplishments or downfalls?

Me, I follow a simple way to track my tourneys via an online calendar, then use an application to track my hand history to help me understand my play and try to improve it. I find that my pre-flop raise percentages may be low or taking a dive sometimes and start forcing myself to be more aggressive in the earlier parts of the hand, or I might find that my back end or closing playing ability is starting to weaken and I will try to bring it back under control.

Anyone else want to share their "secrets" or tips/tricks to tracking their own playing ability rather than others?

Thanks,
Net

hell i don't do anything
i've never really looked at the numbers behind my play but i probably should
usually i just adjust my hand selection or change gears if i feel i'm being too tight or loose or whatever

great post - rep+

In all honesty, I dont constantly look at my numbers, but I guess my point above would be that I tend to think I am being tight aggressive, yet others are seeing me as loose passive.

Why is my perception so far off, or am I just running into people that comment badly and really dont recognize my play?

Net

I think the ultimate poker player is the cameleon. You change as the table goes. You want to play the opposite of the table. You need to read the table and then play accordingly. Some are better at it than others. A poker tracker would not do you justice if you are passive one day and overly aggressive the next, a calling station at one table, a maniac the next, it will just give you averages.

You know what you hole cards are and how you play them. I play mostly live so I don't get to do the indepth analysis that online people do. I take notes on hands that I remember but mostly look at did I do well.

You can be tight/aggressive, loose/passive, maniac, fish, pro or whatever others call you and still do well. You need to look beyond image. Are you winning money? Do you make good decisions on when to fold or raise? Are you sniffing out slowplays or playing them to much yourself and missing potential money?

Image is just a part of the game, winning/losing/breaking even is a bigger part of it. I am know as a loose/aggressive player, does that make me a bad player?

To answer your question, I keep a log of hands that I think I played badly/great and ones that are odd or strange to me. I also keep track of where I finish in each tournament and the hand that busted me out or crippled me. Those are the hands that will help me to get better in the future.