How good are shows like high stakes poker for micro play?

I see all these crazy reads and 3 barrel bluffs. These dont really work at micros, so what can be learnt from the pros?

Nothing. Its a TV show for entertainment, as such the pros are putting on a show. They do crazy stuff so that they'll secure more TV time, and improve their celebrity status. You can't really learn anything useful other than how to become a compulsive gambler.

Yeah I also think those crazy ideas teach new players (who play the micro stakes) 'this is how you play'. Maybe all of the TV everyone watches makes them do the stupid things they do, or maybe its just because there are some dumb players out there... especially at micro stakes haha.

I don't necessarily agree with the above statements. Yeah, it's a television show and the poker professionals are getting face time, but you have to understand many of them are endorsed by poker sites that require them to get there face out in the public and play in these types of games. As for making crazy plays, these players are risking their own money, but more importantly their pride when they play in games like these. Do you think they want to be beat by their peers? No way! Just like you compete with your friends, they are playing in order to win more money and be perceived as the best. With regards to how useful their styles of playing is for micro stakes, there is no correlation between the two. Professional poker players are on a whole different level in terms of strategies and knowledge of the game. Their types of playing styles are not meant to be used in a micro game, and they shouldn't be. Enjoy these shows for what they are, the best in the world battling it out!

Tv poker shows won't help you that much to improve your game, just for the sole fact that none of us are playing at those levels yet.

Its like trying to learn how to play football by watching match of the day.

Thomas Dwan thought me how to 3 bet on HSP.

u can learn from the pros...read their books n shit..dont do what they do on tv.

In this case it is best to do what they say, not what they do.

They should put a disclaimer before the show starts like they do with shows like Jackass:



Actually, I would like to retract what I just said. I rather enjoy having people hero call against my nuts.

Your better off watching Macgyver.

I did really well in a tourney right after I watched Eric Siedel and Annie Duke play heads up. So you might get something out of it, but it certainly won't translate well to micros. Nor against people who have no idea what they're doing much less paying attention to what you're doing.

I used to watch the big game and other cash games while playin 2nl. Horrible move because you think you can just outsmart the guy but they'll go to the river with 2nd pair and beat your bluff. maybe use it for like 100nl and above idk?

This

And... You're not seeing all the hands on TV, it's edited. There's a lot of history and information the players have the viewing audience doesn't. Not to mention the huge meta game I'm sure the pros play because they are on tv. The tv games are not where they make their money, other than getting paid to endorse products.

Might as well watch 5 Bruce Lee movies and enter that local Karate tournament. (But if ur lucky, the other guy only watched 4....)

Sorry, but c9 had it right the first time. Most of the players in televised games understand that the EV of playing an entertaining game and the sponsorships / return invites that come with it outweigh the EV of playing their normal boring but slightly profitable style. Most do change their style for TV to be more entertaining - Scotty Nguyen and Daniel Negranu are just two players who have said in interviews that they do exactly that.

If you listen closely you hear players commenting on how Durrr plays a lot nittier in many non-televised games.

I would have to say, do not do what they do..... They play with eachother often, and know the playing styles of one another, thus alowing them to **** with eachother how they so choose to. In micro stakes, u will hardly ever come across the same donk all too often, (unless ur stalking) and will not know any new donks playing style. So 3 barreling with air, is 98% never good to do in micro stakes, bc u will get called down with pottom pair more times than not, at least in my xperience with 3 barrels, then again, i do bluff more often than is adviced in micro stakes :P and get away with it most of the time

Probably alot of what has been said ITT but I can't really tell since I never watch those shows (maybe along the line that I can do other stuff to improve my game in the meantime).

Whatever you do dont watch it on telly while youre playing, unbeknownst to you it will coerce you into making bad plays.

Like how your foul mouthed father subliminally makes you write pottymouth remarks into your essays.

It must be said that I surmise this to be so for I rarely did my essays any where other than the bus.

Does anyone know how many hands they actually play versus how many that show? I know when I play live there's hardly any action compared to watching it on T.V. I've always wondered how many hands are folded before they play those 68o hands, maybe they're just getting restless haha

useless. A lot of the people playing micro-stakes have no idea what their doing and its impossible to read them.

well put it this way most poker shows are filmed in 12 hour sessions and we only get to see an hour of it so u can imagine how many hands that they are not showing....there might be 10-15 hands or so without even seeing a flop...that wouldnt make for good t.v., if u only seen 3 or 4 hands that actually had action throughout the whole show i dont think many of us would care to watch

Its been mentioned already, but television is show business, and they need to show some business, so you can be sure that the cutters in the editing studio are throwing a lot of (virtual) tape away....

Phil Ivey made the FT WSOP playing his TV style.

I stopped playing ring cash micro long time a go it is more like play chips.

SNGs Tournaments and some early limit levels are the place to learn poker, my particular limit poison is razz where you can quickly assess if you are ahead or not.

Some of the poker shows show all the hands (ie PokerAfterDark).
For sure they can be useful imo. (even if it's just to understand that alot of micro donks will be emulating the play they see in these shows, regardless of how it translates to the table/game they're on/in).

I watch as many of the poker tv shows as I can. I find them entertaining.

Poker is a game of information and you can get a lot of information by watching these shows.

Getting to see the cards and seeing how the pros play is a real education. Not saying you or I could/should try to make the same moves, but it's interesting to see how they handle a hand differently than you would. Likewise, you can pick up tells even on pros, and in seeing the hole cards, you know if they're bluffing or strong and you can spot these same tells in your local $1/$2 game.

Some of the pros, like Tom Dwan, will sometimes talk about their thought process in a hand and that is VERY useful IMO.

Despite the huge gap in skill set, I still think the high stakes poker can help any player have at least a general idea of some standard plays like 3x pre but at the end day I think experience is the best teacher.

I might be a little naive on this one, but I kind of believe Durrrr when he says, "he plays the way he thinks he'll win the most money."

I mean, if other people are changing their game to be more entertaining, maybe he believes the way he is playing on these shows is the profitable way to counter them.

I think the Pros are flexible in their styles, as we should be even though we aren't on tv yet, well most of us aren't on tv, i think i saw a few of you on "TO CATCH A PREDATOR " ROFL

I got into poker because I started watching it on TV. I quickly found out that how they played there, was about as far as you could get from micro stakes. Watch it for entertainment....not for improving your game, there are much better ways to spend your time if that is your goal.

Another great answer here ^ (as usual).
Real glad you're on the forum here bud - - it's refreshing hearing your input.

Phil Ivey, the master of the stone face, had huge tells in a hand against Phil Hellmuth last year.

Surest sign that someone has a big hand: They stop their routine. If someone who has been sitting quietly at a table for two hours suddenly perks up, they have a huge hand. Ivey was being uncharacteristically chatty and jovial in the game and when he saw a raise to him, looked at his cards and got deadly quiet and serious.
Look around 10:13 mark here


Also note that Tom Dwan knew exactly where Ivey was and offers him $2k to show Jacks or better.

This season has been noteworthy for several tells:
Ruffin acts out of turn in 3-betting the flop with a set.
Vanessa Selbst looked like she wanted to cry when trying to bluff Viffer.
Viffer miscut then corrected his chips when trying a huge bluff against Ruffin.