my biggest weakness is winner tilt, Whenever I'm playing really well in a tournament and get close to the money i always get anxious, and nervous and start making really bad decisions.
I need to focus on sit and goes, and or micro cash!
Kertooie,
Perhaps a smaller buy-in could help you confront your "winners anxiety." You are experiencing a very common emotion of not wanting to lose when you are so close to the money. It's very hard to describe how you should be feeling, but it's essentially a balance between understanding which risks to take (and not take) because of the proximity of the bubble, but not completely compromising your game just to do anything to cash. I hope that makes sense, you'll figure it out with more experience. I think keeping the buy-ins small while you work through the nervousness, you will help keep that anxiety at a manageable level.
You'll get there!
My biggest weakness (no matter how paradoxical it sounds) This is a game against weak players! Playing against them, I believe that I should win every hand and when this does not happen (which is completely natural) I very quickly fall into tilt!
Vittopio,
You have a common weakness with others above.
This is good, because you can learn from others. Weak opponents are only an advantage, they don't guarantee anything. You are better when you are patient, pick your spots wisely, and keep the mindset of limiting your risk. If those players are really weak, you won't have to take 50/50 or even 60/40 flips against them. You can afford to give them all the thin spots, because you know you will completely hammer them once you have the right set up.
Probably thinking too much about my own hand and not enough about my opponents hand(s).
Wale (pronounced WAH-LAY),
This is a super common (mostly live instead of online) beginners weakness. You will progress through this with experience. Once you determine a standard for the types of
hands you play and how you choose to play them, you can introduce the dynamic of your opponents holdings. This topic of "reading your opponent" has evolved so much in the last 15 years, that we could discourse on it for hours. So for now, just be ok with the fact that you aren't thinking about your opponents possible holdings right now. You can actually get by quite well (in the micros) simply playing your own hands well.
You'll progress with experience.
My biggest weakness is post flop play.
I should play more cash games and study Harrington on Cash Game but I had no time so far.
At least I beat Zoom NL2 on Stars lol.
Daniel,
Post flop play is an art. It's constantly changing, and is very dependent on the table dynamic. If I could summarize it in a few words I would say: Predict what your opponent would do if she were strong, weak, marginally strong, etc. Come to a conclusion on what seems likely, given the pre-flop action and hand histories with the player. When multiple possibilities exist, but then would have the same action (i.e. my opponent either missed their draw or they have worse than top pair, either way they won't call a big bet so I'm going to either bet small or check to induce a
bluff/stab) you have a clear decision. My philosophy on post flop play is to get as much information regarding my players hand with the minimum amount of chips at risk. This can also be discussed at great length, but I think my summary is enough to spark your thoughts.
Reading some books is always a good idea, but what is more important is to think about what you read on your own time. I like the shower for such occasions. I philosophize daily in the shower.
"I think you would benefit from a larger scope, or a broader view of the tournament structure and develop a strategy that ensures you are lasting as long as possible in the majority of your games. For some, this could be risk management (i.e. avoiding large pots where you only perceive a small edge, pressuring mid stacks instead of short stacks and chip leaders, etc.), and for others it could be simply folding more hands preflop.
I challenge you to think this one through and see how you can get "deeper" in your games."
This is good advice. The best thread for a long time.
I suffer from loss of concentration at the mid-point usually when I have built a stack. Do you have any more ideas. What else was contained in your etc?
My other huge weakness is curiosity. I see I have a playable hand and in my excitement I forget to put my opponent on a range of hands, and only bet what I'm seeing in front of me.
Then even worse is that if I know I'm probably behind, I can't find the correct play and fold.
Folding correctly actually works two ways. It saves you chips to make the right play with later, and it denies your opponent chips.
I used to believe people bluff a lot. I'm trying to focus on this thought. Most times the big bets go in, the Villain(s) will have us beaten
I will try and apply those ideas you have given.
Okee,
Thank you! This thread has quickly turned into something I look forward to daily. I'm certainly not claiming to know it all, it's actually the opposite. All I know is what I don't know.
My etc. could also contain, "finding ways to steal differently/more cheaply such as limping in the SB when its B vs B, and just min betting the flop (you only risk 2BB to steal but this method is shockingly effective), attempting some super tiny steal attempts post flop in multi-way pots, stop trying to win every pot, knowing when to just simply give up on a hand, playing the math more." The math point is in line with the broader scope concept. Seriously, once I decided to stop trying to win every tournament, I started winning more tournaments.
Curiosity, yes this one has cost me plenty of chips/potential money. Are you referring to a thought that goes like this, "Well I'm pretty sure he just 1/2 potted the river because he has two pair or hit that straight. Meh, whatever, I'll call with second pair."
I've had to make this big adjustment to my game, because I had the paradox of thinking I was good and I would pay these people off. There is a weird thing our brain does during poker. Our brain will almost always jump to the "I'm being tricked" line of thinking, when you are facing a big bet. If you are not cognizant of this simple neurological fact, then you can almost always easily justify a reason to call. It's simple, we don't want to be bluffed or tricked.
Don't be too curious! Of course you are going to call here and there, but when it's an important spot make the right decision. Sure, you are opening up the door to being bluffed more often, but this doesn't really matter as much as you would think. You have now conserved more chips for a future spot where you can get it in better, or at least more confidently. I hate "guessing" if my opponent is
bluffing or not for my tournament life. That's a crappy spot.
The other concept to acknowledge and remember is that your big pair pre-flop is only best then. Post-flop is a different scenario where the number of players seeing the flop and the wetness of the board can changes everything. Again you must range your opponents and know their type of reaction.
An LAG may bluff a wet flop, but a tight player has nearly always connected if he is making serious bets
Okee,
I had a response further up this thread regarding premium hands. I'm not sure if you saw it, but you pretty much are in line with my way of thinking on this. Big pairs/premium hands are a slight advantage for one hand. Just play it well, and don't automatically assume it has to be a big pot.
I tend to over value my hand when multiple players are in the pot. I limp too often early in the tournament. I don't have the patience when the cards aren't coming, and I start trying to steal blinds with trash. I always open suited A rag, even UTG (knowing it isn't going to win). Too often I call oversized river bets when I know I am beat. I fold to min bets when I should stay one more street.
These might not be my biggest flaws, but they are the ones I'm working on this week.
Hang Dude,
Proper preflop hand selection is a solid foundation to build on. In art or music, one must know the rules before one can break the rules. Try applying this wisdom to poker.
My biggest weakness is that I am human and a bankroll nit that hates losing money,
If I have thousands available to play poker can happily leave it off the poker sites and play freerolls all week long which is very limiting.
Maybe in July will risk a serious wad for a biscuit or maybe not.
Hugh,
I have (and often still do) suffered from this same weakness. For me, I would always compare my current BR to the most recent high point. So, I became obsessed with always having my BR at the highest level it's ever been (talk about a recipe for disappointment!). My solution, to stop adding up my account balances on all three sites after every session! I know where I'm at right now, but I'm not so obsessed with keeping it above $1,600 or $1,500 or $1,000 or any other arbitrary number. This (like most other weaknesses) is simply a product of the mind placing importance on an abstract idea which truly has no meaning. So, you don't want to lose money playing poker? Good! Figure out a low variance style of play which provides constant feedback to ensure you playing correctly. I did this for myself with a unique style of MTT play. I mostly play buy-ins that I have well over a few hundred buy ins for, so the losses are insignificant. I do not believe that in poker you need to risk a lot to win a lot. It can be done differently than that.
Oh, I have similar too. I think problem is that after good positions of previous tournaments we think in area previous tournaments. But now there are new players with us. Think about it when you want raise bet without knowledges about players and their tactics.
Alex,
Ego is the enemy. Sometimes a good ole' fashioned beatdown is just what the consciousness needs to remain balanced.
