Sit on your hands.....

I hadn't posted in here in a while and thought of something that would have helped me early on, if I'd known it.

You are only going to get about 1-2 great starting hands per hour!

That means that you must be willing to gamble, or sit on your hands. I've done both and really think I do better when I sit on my hands, at least early on. Once I get a fairly tight image (barring being moved 3-4 times an hour) I'll start to ease up and play non prime starting hands.

GL (btw, if you see me at the tables.... I'm lying )

Thats the way i play too!
And it fits for me as well...

i try to sit n wait for only premium hands....but i find this to be very very ineffective....make sure your seeing flops with 78s and make the same raise as you would with AA or KK to help mix it up...otherwise you become predictable

Well, I don't think your only two choices are wait for hands or gamble. You can be selectively aggressive. Play position, make small bluffs, steal from weaktight players...so when you finally do get a hand it won't be obvious to everyone you're a nit.

Also, keep in mind everyone else is only getting 1-2 big hands/hour.

Don't Forget Position

Even when you are sitting on your hands, you want to be thinking about position. More hands are playable late that you would throw away without a second thought under the gun. If you are only playing 3 or 4 hands an hour, you need to get action and win them to stay ahead of the blinds. Anybody paying attention is not going to give you action with anything less than a premium hand. So sitting your hands you probably want to be playing an average of 1 or 2 hands a round. You still get a good tight image and you are more likely to build your stack.

"Also, keep in mind everyone else is only getting 1-2 big hands/hour. "

Great point D'!

Wolfe said:

Even when you are sitting on your hands, you want to be thinking about position. More hands are playable late that you would throw away without a second thought under the gun. If you are only playing 3 or 4 hands an hour, you need to get action and win them to stay ahead of the blinds. Anybody paying attention is not going to give you action with anything less than a premium hand. So sitting your hands you probably want to be playing an average of 1 or 2 hands a round. You still get a good tight image and you are more likely to build your stack.

Click to expand...

YES! True true. You need to play a few hands that you will fold after the flop 2/3 of the time FROM POSITION. This is how you get action, by giving it right?

Good additional comments guys! I agree totally.

Mainly I think I started out being way too likely to be involved in hands out of position because I wanted to PLAY. You have got to have some discipline, and have a plan on what you will be willing to play at different points in the game. But you must be willing to say to yourself "I don't have to play this hand... it isn't in my plan and I can enjoy the game by watching."

its how i played in the past with success too. i worked to create a tight image then capitalize on that image when the blinds go up. being thought of as tight is good when your trying to steal or bluff. but lately i've been trying a different approach. i've been raising lots of pots and taking a stab at them often winning small pot after small pot. i've been aggressively been attacking blinds in late position early on and often when there not even big. i'm finding as i continue to do this i will start seeing people starting to fight back. now here's the sweet part when i pick up a monster!! i'm very certain i will get paid off. so much more so than if i have i tight image. but this style is a lot harder to play. also i'm finding the beats harder to take. when i can get allin preflop w/AA vs KQo say and they hit a str8 ohh man it just hurts so much more. especially when you know the guy is normally a nit and was just playing in reponse to your style.

Nice thread.

I have the problem of waiting for premium hands too much, which often sees me get blinded away before the money.

I have worked alot on stealing some blinds recently and it seems to be working quite well for me.

I definitely need to start seeing more flops with suited connectors.

Thanks for the tips guys and gl to all.

what do you do in a freeroll type situation, where you're beyond mid point; you're playing the style being talked about...waiting for the fancy hands. and you're trying to get in on a few other hands here and there but you're still stuck at one of those tables where you can't get to see a flop without the pre getting raised almost every single hand? do you just hope your table gets collapsed soon or just bite the bullet and play a couple of those raised hands, even though you're getting shortstacked

I think it all depends on the table. If everyone is tight, I play looser when I have position. Likewise, if everyone is loose, I only play big starting hands - ones I'm willing to push all in on.

Of course it always make you feel good when you sit down and get some very nice hands to start with. However, we know that does not happen all the time. I agree with D-Willius...be patient and really work the table....Get the reads on your opponents, steal from those who will let you, bluff some and be patient....the cards will come to you. Good luck.