Putting people on hands in NL Holdem is going to be a critical step in your development, its everything. Why would you call a bet if you had no idea where you were in a hand? How can appropriately bet the flop or latter streets if you don't have a clue to what they might have? How can you decide to go all in on someone when you don't know if you're against 36 or AK or a premium hand? I mean its literally how you play NL Holdem, its probably one of the most important skills.
It sounds like you're just playing your own cards and not aware of other factors that go into your decisions and that's fine since everyone was at that stage.
If you watch TV poker and watch your favorite poker player win a hand with a trash hand and think you can do it then be my guest but a lot of those players are professional players with a ton of knowledge and experience and have a ton of skill and the know how and discipline to get out of those hands with the least amount of damage to their stack and they're playing them for a reason other than to win a pot such as to sending a message or setting opponents up with false information as to how they play hands down the line. And when they call a hand with trash they know its against someone that if their opponent has AA KK JJ or some premium or an Ace x and hits the ace while they hit 2 pair with that trash will stack the premium hand opponent because they won't be able to get away from the hand.
If someone doesn't know where they are in a hand they will be a losing player FOREVER. Show me a person with a winning track record where they have to put up something whether its playchips or money and I definitely without a doubt would love to hear their explanation of how to set people up to get them to put their money into a pot without having a clue what their opponent has because going all in or betting big when you have a premium hand or something like the nuts/a board dominated and you have no idea what your opponent has is just THROWING AWAY OPPORTUNITIES.
I laugh when these folks go all in to show some monster on the flop heads up when they have the board DOMINATED THEN their opponent folds and they show the monster. That's playing holdem at the very lowest levels. THAT IS LOSING POKER because you have to see that yeah there are times where you lose/win chips but there are other times where you miss out on opportunities and don't get as much as you should. AND NL HOLDEM IS ALL ABOUT FINDING WAYS TO EXTRACT THE MOST CHIPS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!
Once in a blue moon in the Cardschat ACR
freerolls I will shove with a nonsensical hand like 27, 36 etc against a single raiser who is trying to steal my blind, then show the bluff and then type some silly nonsense like "You better not do that again" or some silly nonsense.
What is really happening is, I know they're a decent player before I even attempt that and I'm putting them on a hand like small pairs, KT+ probably KJ+ including those Ace x hands and I'm either messing around with them having fun or trying to figure out if they're good enough to fold that hand. And I don't do that with calling stations and uber bad players.
What I'm doing is actually complimenting them saying I have a clue what they have and I know that they recognize its not the best way to play for their tourn life in a 55/45% coin flip if I have over cards to theirs or they need to hit a three outer if I have their Ace dominated. And folding when you don't have an edge is what you're suppose to do. Most tourn players aren't trying to play big pots in bingo situations, that's not how good players go about business. They try to control the pot size and grind tourns looking for opportunities to increase their stacks trying to avoid all ins.
But whatever, back the the thief and the blind steal, I know they're sitting there thinking that I actually have something or I wouldn't even attempt such a move. It means that I respect their game enough to do that play because they're thinking about opponents hands and
not just considering the 2 cards in front of them.
Once I show that bluff, other folks at the table will call me the next time I shove which is actually what I want because the next time I do that, its usually won't be with 26, lol and they will be done. The original raiser might try to steal by calling and betting the flop and I have little "games" for them if they go that route but the other point that I'm trying to tell you is that
the game is so much better and so much more fun when ppl actually know how to play and can put ppl on hands!!!
Playing bad players is just simple solid, "don't bluff a bad player poker" bland poker. You put me at a table full of bad players and you're going to see me type and type and type in the chat or quoting songs or referencing tv shows that I'm watching because I will be so bored of the straightforward bland poker that I have to play. I will definitely be looking at other tables like the chip leaders tables to see if they have a clue or just a lucky clueless donks at that point since there little reason to pay attention to the table I'm at since I know who and what they are and what they're capable of.
Ranted enough, keep working on putting folks on hands and gaining experience and knowledge. Yes, it will be frustrating. Yes, it won't be fun when you put someone on a hand and they don't have anywhere what you think they have but you still gain info on their game and keeps you actively participating at what's going on at the table even when you're not in hands but let me type this again: the games will be way more fun when you can put folks on hands!!!!
Oh and when you say "they're unpredictable" lol no, they're VERY predictable in that they're playing bad trash hands or hands that get most folks in trouble, lolol.
