what can you do when CARD DEAD

dwolfg

dwolfg

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Depending on the type of players are sat your table, follow silver's advise. I would also include suited gappers down to 86. hands like these have excellent stack odds.
 
cardplayer52

cardplayer52

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i usually play very tight in the beginning of tourneys. so i often go long stretches with no playable cards. i just hope my opponants realize this when i got to make a move. if i get down to 12BB's then theres only one move i do thats all in. well i guess sometimes i may complete the small blind if there's a couple of limpers. other than that if stacks are deep i will try to play small ball. raising and cbetting or calling the flop then betting the turn etc. hope this helps gl.
 
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DonkeyKong

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This has pretty much been said in other ways above but....

They way I look at it, you have three major weapons at the table: Your Cards, Your Chips and Your Position. When your card dead, you have to rely on your other weapons a little more.


DonkeyKong
 
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-Phil Ivey27

-Phil Ivey27

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When blinds get to a good level, you can steal some pots. Thats how you would build your stack. The players at your table have to have noticed you folding all those hands, they dont know your card dead. You raise, they say aces, you pick blinds and antes. Good deal.
 
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cloudyeyes

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There's a little something called the art of working for your chips. You bluff.
 
ryodejaneiro

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I'm not sure if I can add too much to what others have said but one thing I occasionally do when I'm card dead is when the action is folded around to me and I'm in decent position (e.g., cutoff or late-middle), I make my standard raise and see what happens. This is assuming I have enough chips to make some moves. Even if an opponent or two calls, at this point, I've gotten fairly confident in my game that I can make the correct decision post-flop to get away from my initial raise if my read is that I'm beat.

I think we also have to consider how we appear to others. Other people may not know that you're card dead when you keep on folding hand after hand. So the few times you enter a pot with a raise, your opponents will have to give you some sort of credit for potentially having a strong starting hand.
 
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BluffYou123

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Try to wait it out, but if the cards don't improve, just start playing them.

You might as well try rather than get blinded out and your opponents won't hit every time.

While you are constantly folding your cards, try to build up a read on the other players so you may find weaknesses and find a way to bluff some pots.

The cards will turn around eventually, they always do.
 
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bbc008

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card dead for like an hour?????
this is REALLY what i do.....
since EVERYONE seems to be making moves EVERY phreaking hand.....
and ur hand is just garbage......and all u can do is watch
this is what i do
since i'm gonna get blinded out anyways.......
find 2 players going heads up ALL-IN
most likely they got AK against AQ or something like
this is what i do....i jump in there with there ALL-IN
when they're trying to win with Ace High
you might just hit you pair!! and tripple up!!
HEY....you're gonna get blinded out anyways!!!!
take a chance and jump between 2 all in with WHATEVER you have!
.....but do make sure it's suited!!!!
cause it does give u better odds!!!
haha
 
-Phil Ivey27

-Phil Ivey27

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haha, no offense, but i really hope your joking.
This is just gambling when your not getting cards, whatever happened to skill! You have no cards, use your skill, not your suited 7-4 to win.
 
P

pokermatch

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First of all i would stop playing how you are playing!! What are you thinking of even playing hands like j 2 and q 7??? No wonder you are losing so much money. If your card dead, you dont go playing those bad hands trying to get back... you keep waiting for the good cards, and if nothing comes, then when low in chips, you do some allin moves. Everyone here will be card dead various times in our lifetimes, so you have to be able to keep it together, otherwise youll lose your bankroll.
 
T

turby

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I'm just gonna repeat what everyone said and rephrase it all:
Identify the fishes/dead money at the table and target them. Get some chips with your fish.
Like others have said, position is key and playing them, and not the cards.

Take a specific example:
Let's say you were in late position and you see a middle stacked(around the same stack as you) raise 3bb and you've deemed him a decent player (who listens to his instincts and folds when he should). You call him with any 2 cards. Flop comes.. say 2 8 J (with a flush on the table). He raises you half the pot and you call. A flush hits on the turn. He checks. You check. River comes. He bets 5BB What do you do?

Clearly a stopper bet. You shove all in. He folds. Ta-Daa. You made something out of nothing. Sun Tzu Art of War Strategem!

Then again, other factors do come into play. Ie: Your image, the villian's discipline.

So like the others have said, it LITERALLY pays to watch the table. Poker's a game of information/misinformation. Know yourself, know your enemy and the war's half won (yet another Sun Tzu strategem!)

Hope this helps.
 
K

khicks26

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i think this is a good time to watch the players at your table. write lots of notes on everyone. you may see something in their play that helps you pick up some chips. if you get below 4 M look for a spot to get all your chips in. at that point its double up or go home time.
 
A

antizzle23

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patience absolutely!
stick around so when the blinds get bigger u pick ur spots good and use ur tight table image to ur advantage
once blinds are bigger its worth it to make a raise and try and steal them with ur crap hands
 
motyennif

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Consider yourself lucky that you were card dead early in the tourney when the blinds are low. That way you are not losing too much and should be observing the table for opponents who you might like to go up against in the later stages.
You probably will develop an image of being a tight player, which will allow you to steal some blinds later on when they are higher.
Being card dead later on (say after the 1st break) the problem multiplies since the blinds are higher. You might have to loosen up your starting hands in order to keep pace but you also have to be more aware.
 
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bbc008

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me i keep playing tight....can't afford to gamble without enough ammunition
....watch a movie or soomething
 
dj11

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Sometimes nothing will help. You/I seem so Card Dead even the undertaker will reject us.

Part of the continuing process of dealing with this, that I try to answer, is why is it I think I'm card dead? Am I really? There are certainly sessions where my 2 pockets can't be connected by anything other than they come from the same deck and thus the backs match. Those are 'those' days.

Other times I find myself just itching to get into the fray. This is my impatience at play, not my rational self. For me, when I know my impatience is high, I will open up a solitare game (Freecell is my fave). This diverts my attention away from that 'want' or 'need' to get into action, and at a glance I can determine whether or not I am interested in the current situation at the table.

Things to evaluate at the table are -1st, cards ( I could probably do without actually seeing the cards, but they are the first thing I see when glancing at an online table. -2nd, what is the bet, to me? - 3rd, what is my position? -4th, am I opening, or calling? -5th What does my HUD suggest about the players who are still to act, or who may have acted before me?

If you don't have a HUD, you might have watched harder than I like to. You can still answer those questions.

When opening in later and later positions, you can widen you criteria quite a bit. Stop calling unless you hold something with actual potential. Search calling lite here. Be sure that when you come into hands with less than optimal holdings you can give it up before it gets expensive.

Bottom line tho is that you need to determine whether or not you are really card dead, or if you are just not in the right frame of mind to 'Play'.

Edit add. Recently I have come to understand a bit better the concept of scared money. Scared money playing above reasonable BR mgmt will create a mindset easy to think card dead, when really it is being afraid to play.
 
silverslugger33

silverslugger33

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me i keep playing tight....can't afford to gamble without enough ammunition
....watch a movie or soomething

Actually, you can't afford not to gamble. If you don't gamble at least a little and you just keep folding, you'll be blinded out and be done. Man up and play a little.
 
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