Be Flexible When You Play

C

Criplgamer

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*disclaimer*I am not a super frequent poster and when I do post I try to speak in a conversational tone. I feel if most poker coaches could break down the game to a conversation then we could make the game easier to understand.* I am not a professional but I do have 16years on the felt. *



Be flexible at the tables and Learn AWAY from the tables please God don't take other players advice unless they are winning players and you have proof of it.
If you can't change the fact that you fold to a small raise from the button when the blinds hit 500/1000 when the entire table folds to you then YOU are who I'm talking to.

An EXPLOITABLE AND INFLEXIBLE PLAYER!

You've played for years! It's not your fault you aren't cashing more! It's those damn kids and their aggression with 10/8suited !
It's always someone else!
Never you. Ever. The fact that you DO call those bets sometimes but that damn second queen hits the board and you just won't chance a weird 3 bet reraise because that's a losing strategy and you are beat anyways ! with no supporting evidence!

Stop.

You have to change it up.
You have to raise more.
Get information with your chips and out your damn phone down!

Flexibility :
At the tables is simple. If your Villain/table is loosening up, tighten up. If your table is tightening up loosen up! Tournament stage be damned. Stack sizes be damned. Your goal is to steal the damn chips(legally) from everyone at the table with or without a premium hand.

*Try this exercise your next small micro buy in NON REBUY Tourney or 1R1A or 2R1A tourney or freeroll. Or your local home game ~$40 BUY IN .

Commit to raising when it's folded around to you atleast 50% of all hands FROM THE HJ TO SMALL BLIND.

When the blinds hit the following levels start raising more from middle and early position.
500/1k
1k/2k
ECT. It's a mental thing for all players we tighten up at these levels and if you look at hand history of your own it's likely right there in front of you. You are all telling the same boring ass story. You are too scared to double or triple barrel bluff . Chicken shit at the tables and I am going to eat you alive.

Become HATED:
Your best and most profitable times are when you are HATED for not following the crowd!
Stop listening to people and their damn poker advice at the table! If there is one thing I learned in 16 years I WANT them to hate my game! If Alex Fitzgerald taught me anything is it is I don't want to be patted on the back and told I did X thing right as I'm headed to the rail , AGAIN.

Call me a donk, I don't care , because donk raising is needed at times. Call me a fish. I don't care. I'm out for blood . You are mad because I just took money or chips from you with a non socially acceptable hand or method and inside I'm laughing ..... HARD.

I'll cash, or likely win the whole thing while you bitch from the rail.

Education/Study and you are who you hang with:
You want to win? Stop taking advice from losers. Find someone who wants to get better and get better together.They are seriously hard to come by. Not everyone thinks listening to a 5 minute clip 15 times and picking it apart is their idea of fun.
You can get better LIVE or at a private online table. Great Apps out there(PPPoker, PokerBros, ECT) pick your poison, where can create your own digital poker club or even just use it as a study group.

I can give you advice all damn day on how you played a hand right or wrong. Yet many people here cannot understand how they reached that point! You must study with purpose.You have to STUDY. As much as you can and with purpose .

How did I blind down and miss the money by 20 people in a $400 rebuy tourney with a $300k gauranteed prize pool?
How did I always SEEM to fold the winner to some asshole who flips over 3/7 offsuit just to rub it in when you didn't DEFEND YOUR BB or decided your J7s isn't a hand you are suppose to 3 bet or 4 bet with!

When are you going to stop being one of the 95% of players who are losing players over time?

Today.

Your game is stagnant.
You stopped learning.
You don't play for the right reasons .
You arent playing in your element , i.e. you are a winning live player but a epic loser online but just can't stop feeding the machine! It's that damn RNG! It's bots!

No.

It's YOU.

You quit going to practice.
Your team is weak. -(weekly home game)
You are predictable .
You care about the embarrassment of getting busted bluffing. You would just die if you were caught.
Your game is stale. Dead almost.
Either walk away or get serious about it.

You CAN win at this game. It's not hard. Hell if I can do it, just a good ole boy steel mill worker from Alabama , then anyone can. Period.

No I'm not a millionaire, Im not a poker coach however I am a winning live player at the levels I play and I study DAILY.
I am serious about my hobby.


Get OBSESSED WITH POKER.

Heard that new song? NOPE. My radio is playing Alex Fitzgerald's the Myth of Poker Talent OR Exploitative Play in Live Hold em'.

Seen this show? Prob not, because I'm analyzing my mistakes from the local underground game I played in or the notes I made during or after the game on player tendencies. Generally after because I play with the same people mostly and have for 16 years now. 3 of them semi pros. 1 is a multiple circuit event winner/final table player whom I learn a ton from.


Yes. You can get better through just playing. I suggest playing as many hands as you can a month in any way you can using apps, home games, casinos ECT. Hell I still play on some free apps with the always crazy play.

You NEED to keep variance in the games you play. Even complete idiots who thinks all in is their only move.

It's a must. You need to have those idiots who push every hand in Zynga poker . Why? You can actively use it to examine your Push/Fold ranges.

I know this post was long and I hope it kept your attention. I just feel like with all of the math, ranges , charts, solvers, and jargon floated around we tend to lose the fact that this is a game. In the end. It's a game. Our purpose of playing is to Win more than we lose!

If you do or try all of the above and still don't get it, can't win, or you cannot break into the black.... it's time to step away from the game and go fishing. This ain't your game. Try Omaha , or go fish.

With PURPOSEFUL PRACTICE and study everyone can be winners here. This entire site. I am here to help if you want it.
I cannot help you get better if you can't help yourself .

I am not Alexander Fitzgerald.
I'm not a professional.
I'm just a guy who takes his hobby seriously and wish YOU would to.

The mother effing end.
PMs welcomed and any criticism is taken seriously.....



maybe.
 
dallam

dallam

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This was not a thread, this was like a beatufil novel about tight players. I love every single line of it, and you made it a sort of self-knowledge, which is outstanding for me. So well done! :)

I have some thoughts about it.
Being passionate for your hobby is an essential factor. Without it, the treat will be not powerful. It can help you to move on and continue as well, and even can be a helping-hand to your learnings.

I have experienced levels from freerolls to medium ones (like 11-109$ entry). Every level has there own flavour. It is worth to deposit, because you can experience whole new atmospheres. And can try new strategies as well.


I have to agree with you, a flexible player can surprise the table. These kind of guy's behaviour is between agressiors and tight ones. So it would know how to behave against them.

I can write a lot more feedback, but your 'article' was very nice, and made others think about are we stuck in just the same roles, or can we be flexible. :)
Happy new year for you!
 
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C

Criplgamer

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I used to be the guy I am talking about in the above post.

A NIT. period. Solid fundamentals but couldn't or wouldn't try new concepts.

I guess the post was more like a poorly worded article, but I hope it drives home my point.

You as a player. Have a 95% chance of being a losing player.
I have played live and online.

I sadly am a losing online player overall and I wrote this as a reminder to myself as well. It's time to fix what's wrong .

Live I'm a fu*****animal.
Online I'm a bug on a windshield.

Poker Tracker 4 has really been an eye opener for both venues.
Now go be the guy they hate to sit down at THEIR table.
 
C

Criplgamer

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Also thank you kindly for the support. I am just as guilty of all of the above or have been at one time . Good luck out there. Unless you are at my table!
 
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bellicoso

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I read your whole post! I agree with you on just about every point, just based on my own recent experience and study. I might've been a bit more diplomatic with the delivery had I tried to say something similar, but I enjoyed how you put everything down as if you were having a real conversation. It's refreshing.

The game is so dynamic... you have to be willing to take risks, and pros do it right. They're not maniacs. There's a method to the madness, if you will. And I think you've captured it all at a high level very well.

Looking forward to reading more from you! And good luck at the tables!
 
thetick33

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you need a full toolbox in poker and YOUR JOB IS SIMPLE make player's think thats all you need to do.... i mix up betting rangers bets streets position etc.. all the time cause play the same fields often and otherwise they crush me by waiting on cards situations pockets etc...

i use M THEORY by harrington mostly as to how im playing when to play etc...

free book pdf can find online it should help game other helps playing freerolls league here and working with a winning twitch player on hands or on teams going over hands etc...

also be aware of how you played after the game could you have done something differently


now not saying throw baby out with bathwater.... saying do slow implementations and be aware and make moves which make player X villian THINK that is all
 
blueskies

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There are no absolutes in poker as far as what to do when. Always adjust depending on opponent and situation
 
C

coolcukes

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Variation

I am so confused. On one hand your told to only play in position and the other hand be flexible. When you start out, shouldn't you play in position? My problem is I don't know what to do. I like to bet 10,8 suited especially if the cards are flowing to the flush after folding a few hands. But I don't if I am not in position and it always seems to happen I fold and I would have hit if I left that play in position out of it. I come from a poker family, old school, 5 card stud, 7 card stud etc, but holdem is so different, especially online. Its a new year and I want to become a solid holdem player, so I am starting from scratch. Throw out what I know and learn the holdem game. Where do I start - only play in position? HELP!
 
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bellicoso

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I am so confused. On one hand your told to only play in position and the other hand be flexible. When you start out, shouldn't you play in position? My problem is I don't know what to do. I like to bet 10,8 suited especially if the cards are flowing to the flush after folding a few hands. But I don't if I am not in position and it always seems to happen I fold and I would have hit if I left that play in position out of it. I come from a poker family, old school, 5 card stud, 7 card stud etc, but holdem is so different, especially online. Its a new year and I want to become a solid holdem player, so I am starting from scratch. Throw out what I know and learn the holdem game. Where do I start - only play in position? HELP!

You're going to have to decide what works best for you over time. Try different styles and see what works and what doesn't. There's no magic bullet; no one solution to win all the time. That's kind of what makes the game so great, in my opinion.

In my experience, it is best to play whatever feels natural. For me, I like controlled chaos. I'll open from early position aggressively with that T8s. If I go to the river and win with that hand, my opponents immediately label me a maniac, which I fully take advantage of. In fact, I'll do this several times and risk a lot to secure that image. I always use the same betting pattern no matter what. So, when it's time for a switch-a-roo and I've actually got a killer hand, by then it's too late for my opponents.

Of course, this is a general approach that works for me. I look like a donk plenty of times when the cards don't work in my favor. But more often than not I do really well quite early on and can do whatever I want after that. This is a point the OP made. Don't be afraid to look bad once in a while. Let people talk their trash. Who cares? It's just one game. If you're managing everything well, it won't matter. And when you win, it is oh so sweet! :D
 
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coolcukes

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Variation

It was so refreshing reading your reply - THANK YOU! I do like to mix it up and go with my gut. Actually I cashed Sunday at ACR (21st). I actually played by position only and wound up having to go all in with a small pocket pair or I would have blinded out. Looking back, if I played with more gut, I would have done better. Its like you said I have to do what works for me best, which sounds like a combination of both playing skills. Thanks again. See you at the tables
 
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