Psychological roadblock on playing big hands

darthdimsky

darthdimsky

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I play micros and freerolls mostly at the time and I think this has really warped the way I'm playing at the moment and am scared playing hands like AQ and AK like I used to.

This is from losing so many flips and getting backdoored on flushes and straights. Why its looks so proportionally high is that I play strict ABC poker so I'm on the losing end of a lot of suckouts as opposed to the ones I benefit from.

This is making me play nittier (Is this even a word :confused:). Any words of advice or reading material that I can use overcome this.

PS - I think if I can boost my bankroll enough to play at slightly higher stakes $1.10 buy-ins and more this should reduce the risk of playing crap shoots. But until I do I need something to reinforce correct decisions and avoid playing as badly as many others in the freerolls and micros.
 
vinnie

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You need to understand that losing with those hands is part of the game. It's not something to worry about. If you got the money in good and avoided making mistakes like paying off when clearly beat, then you have nothing to worry about. You might lose a few of them, but the long term results will be positive. Focus on the long term, play right every time, and you will get there. Results of any single hand are misleading.
 
D

Dan Lucas

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I agree with you Vinnie. You can't be afraid to play hands because you don't win all the time. Be prepared to live with post-flop play where you may get outdrawn, but where you may get a chance to hit a hand by controlling pot size. Just try to make good decisions and don't get seduced by "big" hands that are at the end, still drawing hands.
 
J

jokerTHEace

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One suggestion

I know what you're talking about but remember if someone else can win with ak or aq than you can too. Yes suck outs happen, but ak probability of winning hands are still stronger than A6 pre flop. Play the odds and leaving the feelings out of it.

I play micros and freerolls mostly at the time and I think this has really warped the way I'm playing at the moment and am scared playing hands like AQ and AK like I used to.

This is from losing so many flips and getting backdoored on flushes and straights. Why its looks so proportionally high is that I play strict ABC poker so I'm on the losing end of a lot of suckouts as opposed to the ones I benefit from.

This is making me play nittier (Is this even a word :confused:). Any words of advice or reading material that I can use overcome this.

PS - I think if I can boost my bankroll enough to play at slightly higher stakes $1.10 buy-ins and more this should reduce the risk of playing crap shoots. But until I do I need something to reinforce correct decisions and avoid playing as badly as many others in the freerolls and micros.
 
darthdimsky

darthdimsky

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Thank you guys. I'll keep all of this in mind.
 
P

pietpikel

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I play micros and freerolls mostly at the time and I think this has really warped the way I'm playing at the moment and am scared playing hands like AQ and AK like I used to.

This is from losing so many flips and getting backdoored on flushes and straights. Why its looks so proportionally high is that I play strict ABC poker so I'm on the losing end of a lot of suckouts as opposed to the ones I benefit from.

This is making me play nittier (Is this even a word :confused:). Any words of advice or reading material that I can use overcome this.

PS - I think if I can boost my bankroll enough to play at slightly higher stakes $1.10 buy-ins and more this should reduce the risk of playing crap shoots. But until I do I need something to reinforce correct decisions and avoid playing as badly as many others in the freerolls and micros.
If you play scared, with scared money, you are stuffed. It does not matter what the stake or the money is. It inhibits you, restricts your game, and reduces your edge.

You have to understand that winning and losing in poker go hand in hand. You just have to win more than you lose. But lose you will.

I'll quote you something from Jugen Klopp the Liverpool soccer team manager.

He said he would rather lose a game 1-0, and understand exactly what happened, than win a game 3-0 , and not have a clue why he won.

Poker is the same, but you learn more from losing than from winning.
 
fialhosm

fialhosm

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I do not know if I understood correctly what you wanted to say, but if I understand, I think I'm in the same situation as you.
I have come out with good hands, but by betting high, I have often lost.
Would it just be my luck, or am I playing the wrong way by betting without analyzing opponents and the chances of defeat before betting?
 
eberetta1

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Problem is even if you go to $1.10, $10, $100 games, there are always people out there who want to gamble with any two cards. So all you can do is play with money you don't mind losing cause I can assure you, a lot of guys at the $100 table will not blink to play their 6 4 on you, and their hand will probably win.
 
A

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I play micros and freerolls mostly at the time and I think this has really warped the way I'm playing at the moment and am scared playing hands like AQ and AK like I used to.

This is from losing so many flips and getting backdoored on flushes and straights. Why its looks so proportionally high is that I play strict ABC poker so I'm on the losing end of a lot of suckouts as opposed to the ones I benefit from.

This is making me play nittier (Is this even a word :confused:). Any words of advice or reading material that I can use overcome this.

PS - I think if I can boost my bankroll enough to play at slightly higher stakes $1.10 buy-ins and more this should reduce the risk of playing crap shoots. But until I do I need something to reinforce correct decisions and avoid playing as badly as many others in the freerolls and micros.

As far as I understand, you're getting too hooked up with the outcome, trying to discard the logical reasoning behind your play. You need to be in terms with the fact that many a times you're going to lose it even with the best of it. What you should instead be focusing on is what and why you made a certain play and was it correct to play that way. If you're correct, then you be okay with it, irrespective of the outcome. Easy to say, tough to do. I understand. Try working on your mental game. Search for articles, books, on how to do it. (Suggestion: Read The Mental Game of Poker, that helps a lot)

Hope it helps.
 
darthdimsky

darthdimsky

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Hey Avickter,

Thanks for the reply. Yes you are spot on. I was and to a minor extent still result oriented. It wasn't that easy when it appeared I was suffering from a string of bad flips in 60/40-70/30 situations. I'm learning.

I'm learning to be more analytical (a la Vinnie :D) and I've recently opened up a good beats thread to counteract the negativity of bad beats. I've gotten over this fear but I'm still making silly mistakes. Thanks for recommend. I will give it a read :)
 
thetick33

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try different betting ranges and patterns till you find what works best for you then use that most of the time

the one thing is if your not ready to go all in with ak aq dont commit self by raising too high to get out of hands
 
CullinanPoker

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Try not to over-value hands such as A-K, A-Q... especially in free rolls. Yes, they are good starting hands but anything is possible on the flop, and players will put money in with any pockets and sometimes anything suited. Be careful!!!
 
Alucard

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People at Micros are a big bunch of donks. Specially at stars. I try to avoid 0.55,1.10 games as much as possible. However still I seem to run really bad at tourneys. Need to educate myself on tourney play
 
darthdimsky

darthdimsky

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try different betting ranges and patterns till you find what works best for you then use that most of the time

the one thing is if your not ready to go all in with ak aq dont commit self by raising too high to get out of hands

Try not to over-value hands such as A-K, A-Q... especially in free rolls. Yes, they are good starting hands but anything is possible on the flop, and players will put money in with any pockets and sometimes anything suited. Be careful!!!

The issues I faced was being constantly called on 2/3rd pot bets with TPTK with folks that had middle or bottom pair on dry boards. On flush draw boards loose players tend to float to try and bluff a flush and I've been guilty of easing up on the turn and giving them good odds of hitting that second pair or that backdoor straight. I have adjusted my betting accordingly and appear to be enjoying better success now. I've gotten over the fear after the advice in this thread and some reading I've done.

People at Micros are a big bunch of donks. Specially at stars. I try to avoid 0.55,1.10 games as much as possible. However still I seem to run really bad at tourneys. Need to educate myself on tourney play

The 0.55 bounties especially. But the math should eventually work in our favour :)
 
thetick33

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good to hear you worked it out:) poker is constant learning experience i had about my worst month in probably close to 10 years and had flaws id check hands big ones each night etc.. to adjust and then yesterday said lets make it simple go to the basics and I won first tournament in a couple weeks. Usually i win one every couple days lol but i do play a lot 15 or so lol. Anyway kept it simple trusted the process and it worked out. I think back now and wish had done this two weeks before that lightbulb moment:)
 
TeUnit

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Maybe try raising larger against calling stations for value.
 
darthdimsky

darthdimsky

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As far as I understand, you're getting too hooked up with the outcome, trying to discard the logical reasoning behind your play. You need to be in terms with the fact that many a times you're going to lose it even with the best of it. What you should instead be focusing on is what and why you made a certain play and was it correct to play that way. If you're correct, then you be okay with it, irrespective of the outcome. Easy to say, tough to do. I understand. Try working on your mental game. Search for articles, books, on how to do it. (Suggestion: Read The Mental Game of Poker, that helps a lot)

Hope it helps.

I started reading Jared Tendler's book 2 days back. I am completely blown away by it. From the first time I joined I was honest about my tilt prone nature and how he's talked about resolution is completely different to what I've been trying to reinforce in my mental game. I'm only 3 chapters deep but wow, what an eye opener it's been so far.

good to hear you worked it out:) poker is constant learning experience i had about my worst month in probably close to 10 years and had flaws id check hands big ones each night etc.. to adjust and then yesterday said lets make it simple go to the basics and I won first tournament in a couple weeks. Usually i win one every couple days lol but i do play a lot 15 or so lol. Anyway kept it simple trusted the process and it worked out. I think back now and wish had done this two weeks before that lightbulb moment:)


Maybe try raising larger against calling stations for value.

So true. I'm guilty of making unnecessary adjustments to a sound betting strategy I had earlier after a string of bad beats. Then when they didn't work my self confidence eroded further and I was making more mistakes.

There was a recent article I read of Vinnie's that got me to thinking about bet sizing more consciously than just relying on the default buttons in play. This has helped me a lot.

What I've reinforced:

  • Fish will call down and re-pop with 2nd pair or worse irrespective of how strong my hand is. If they river that second pair or hit that third 3 well $hit happens but it happens less often than I really believe.
  • Good LAGs respect aggression and will know when they're beat. Unless they're offered good pot odds they won't necessarily chase down draws all the time.
Well, just hit a 3rd place in the CC freeroll last night and increased my meager PS bankroll by 50%. I'm happy cuz I started with a $0 in May.

Thanks for all the sound advice. It has helped more than you guys know :D
 
A

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I started reading Jared Tendler's book 2 days back. I am completely blown away by it. From the first time I joined I was honest about my tilt prone nature and how he's talked about resolution is completely different to what I've been trying to reinforce in my mental game. I'm only 3 chapters deep but wow, what an eye opener it's been so far.

Nice to hear that. To be honest, I too was a bit mesmerized by the book.
 
Alucard

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I'll give you a couple of advice considering the micro tourneys at stars. Ditch the 0.55 & 1.10 tourneys as I said before. Specially bounty builders, bigs & hots.
If you are going to play 1.10 & 0.55s play lower field ones which gets less attraction due to low pay outs. You could always play a satty to a BB or a Big then unregister & use it to register for those.

Start playing a decent enough cash game. At least to stabilize your roll. 2NL at stars is not that hard if you study a bit & get the hang of it. And a lot of idiots playing cash these days due to bolt promo.
The other option is playing Sit n Gos.

Try moving upto 3.30 & 4.40 ones. I used to hate and tell myself that I suck at Bigs & BBuilders while at 0.55 & 1.10s but now I enjoy them a lot and usually play the 4.40. Today I played it twice & a decent profit.
Plus I played the WCOOP twice and hoping to play another two in the upcoming days via sattys.

All this with just a $70 roll.
This is all thanks to my cash game. It has become super easy for me to cover all the losses & expenses for the tourneys by playing a 2NL session.
Of course I tend to move higher up but this is my advice to you to get rid of that fear of loosing your roll.
Check my thread and you'll see the details. :)
Ditch those low level tourneys & move up mate. It'd be the best thing for sure.
 
V

Vitor Barbosa

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I do not think you should be afraid to raise buyin, but you may be just bad luck. Do not stop playing micros tournaments much less freeroll.
 
M

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Try to expand your range of entry into the pot.
 
A

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Grind the felt

I'll give you a couple of advice considering the micro tourneys at stars. Ditch the 0.55 & 1.10 tourneys as I said before. Specially bounty builders, bigs & hots.
If you are going to play 1.10 & 0.55s play lower field ones which gets less attraction due to low pay outs. You could always play a satty to a BB or a Big then unregister & use it to register for those.

Start playing a decent enough cash game. At least to stabilize your roll. 2NL at stars is not that hard if you study a bit & get the hang of it. And a lot of idiots playing cash these days due to bolt promo.
The other option is playing Sit n Gos.

Try moving upto 3.30 & 4.40 ones. I used to hate and tell myself that I suck at Bigs & BBuilders while at 0.55 & 1.10s but now I enjoy them a lot and usually play the 4.40. Today I played it twice & a decent profit.
Plus I played the WCOOP twice and hoping to play another two in the upcoming days via sattys.

All this with just a $70 roll.
This is all thanks to my cash game. It has become super easy for me to cover all the losses & expenses for the tourneys by playing a 2NL session.
Of course I tend to move higher up but this is my advice to you to get rid of that fear of loosing your roll.
Check my thread and you'll see the details. :)
Ditch those low level tourneys & move up mate. It'd be the best thing for sure.

Alu,
I do follow your journal. Just that I don't have much to add on cash games and its strategy, not much of a cash game player.

But when it comes to MTTs, I can tell you this. Play the lower games first (not talking about BB), just the normal MTTs. Its a gold-mine, even if you understand only as much as equities. You don't need to go into EV calculations, just normal outs and odds calculation will you get far in these.

Attaching a snippet of how well you can do and how fast you can climb, starting only with $10, within a month or so, grinding a bit of SnGs and then taking some $0.11 shots on satellites.
 

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Alucard

Alucard

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Yes that's similar to what I meant. But on the other side, the 1.10s & 0.55s attract a lot of terrible players who'll eventually get a frustrating hand or two over you which will destroy your game. At least the players playing 3.30 & 4.40 at the micros have decent ranges overall.

IMO ditching 0.55 & 1.10 is the best to do anyhow. Specially the ones that attract a humongous number of players.
I'd choose a 1.10 6 max 1k gtd with 200 players over 1.10 full ring 5k bounty builder with close to 5k people anyday.
 
K

Klementus

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Freroll MTT 10$
Blinds 300/600
HERO QsQh 32000 chips
UTG
RAISE 5bb
1 fold
2 raise 5bb
3 fold
4 fold
5 fold
6 fold
7 BUTTON call 5BB (12000 chips)
8 fold
9 fold
FLOP Js2hTc
HERO BET 3BB
BUTTON MIN RAISE
HERO PUSH ALL IN
BUTTON CALL
Show down
BUTTON 8cTd
HERO QQ
TABLE Js2hTc8dTs
(J2T8T)

In this game I have mistake?
 
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