Improvement

G

Gidgeman

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Jun 2, 2020
Total posts
1
Chips
0
I started playing poker again after maybe 5-6 years. I was never serious about it just played for fun. This time around I decided to take it seriously and have played a lot during the past 8 week. I just don’t seem to be improving and I’m never trying to assess opponents hands or try and put them on something because I don’t understand how you do that. Like I see streamers say oh I’m blocking the ak combo because I have 1 k ? But there’s 3 others in a deck, i don’t know what steps to take to improve. Any help would be appreciated thanks
 
G

GSMTH

Enthusiast
Bronze Level
Joined
Jun 23, 2019
Total posts
34
Chips
5
I started playing poker again after maybe 5-6 years. I was never serious about it just played for fun. This time around I decided to take it seriously and have played a lot during the past 8 week. I just don’t seem to be improving and I’m never trying to assess opponents hands or try and put them on something because I don’t understand how you do that. Like I see streamers say oh I’m blocking the ak combo because I have 1 k ? But there’s 3 others in a deck, i don’t know what steps to take to improve. Any help would be appreciated thanks


Don't take the "blocking" too literally, they just mean that their hand reduces the possibility of the opponent having certain cards.
When I have AK and you go all in, I can be relatively certain you do not have AA or KK, because my AK reduces that possibility. it's never 100% sure.

putting your opponent on a certain range of cards is very difficult if you have never played with that person before, but you can make estimates by the way he bets, calls and raises. Then, when you get to see his cards, you can refine your assessment, make notes on that player to remember.
 
G

GSMTH

Enthusiast
Bronze Level
Joined
Jun 23, 2019
Total posts
34
Chips
5
1 simple step to improve:
make sure 85% or more of the hands you play are in the top 20% of strongest hands (you need to practice patience and be disciplined).
The more your hand is near the bottom of those 20%, the better your position should be before playing it.
In most situations, when you get a hand out of that range, YOU MUST RAISE, especially when it's from the upper halve of that range. Do not simply limp in or call the opening bet.
It's called "playing tight and aggressive, TAG"
Exception: player UTG or UTG+1 opens with a strong bet. here you should only raise with your strongest hands.
 
O

osvimanCC

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
May 31, 2014
Total posts
84
Awards
2
Chips
0
The first thing you have to master is the PreFlop play. In this matter, you should look for some opening ranges charts. The ones that I'm currently using are the ones that Zeros made (he is a Spanish cash game player and one of the best in the world).

In those charts you will learn what hands you should bet, 3bet, ROL, cold4bet, etc; but most importantly you will learn that hands you SHOULDN'T play.

:9h4: :9s4:
 
tauri103

tauri103

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 29, 2016
Total posts
2,144
Awards
1
Chips
24
to assess your opponents' range of hand. several factors must be taken into account. to start you need to analyze their styles and level of play as well as their bet frequencies.

three examples to simplify. A tight player raises before the flop first, what hands can he have? Well, it is very tight and it raises in the most perilous position. He has at least As-Valet or a very good pair, at least a pair of 10.

Large player raises before button flop.
Evaluating your hand is very complicated here. A wide player with the advantage of position can potentially raise any hand. While in the previous example we had a clear idea of ​​the opponent's hand panel, here we cannot be as confident. His hand range is at least any Ace, any swapped cards, any connectors, any pair, any king, and much more.

You raise and a tight, passive player raises you preflop.
It is tight, passive, fearful and yet it raises your raise before the flop. You announced a big hand but that didn't stop this shy player from raising you again. He certainly has a big pair on hand as a pair of checkers or better. He will sometimes have AK even if it is a hand more complicated to play and more dangerous than a big pair.

I hope I have been clear enough on the method to be used to define the range of hand of your adversaries. because in poker, you can't just play these cards. you must also play those of your opponent to assign him a range of probable hands in order to optimize the situation in which you find yourself.
 
Top