Hole in my game...
I've had a bit of revelation recently, shifting gears is not my strong suit, or at least when I've noticed that the table or the regular players are adjusting against me, I'm too slow to hit the gas (in cash games).
I sat down on Sunday night to catch some hands at Harrahs because I met up with a friend downtown in on business. A healthy convention crowd was out with him, so I was happy with the turnout at Harrahs. Of course, I once again sit down at a table of mostly regulars, the ones that weren't regulars were tight and not the loose tourists we dream of, so again I felt like somebody else was making money.
I get into an early hand with the big stack who had been hitting everything. I bet out the limpers and he sticks, I'm holding 88. Flop is 10107. I bet, he calls. Turn is a 6. I check, he checks. River is a 6. I bet, he folds.
Now, maybe I should have bet the turn, but I was ready to play back at him because I thought he might take the lead given what was said around the table. Also, I thought a check might give me more info. If he checks, I'm right that I'm ahead and only a big card would warrant caution on the river. Say, he bets, I check-raise and he calls or pushes, then I reevaluate and my read was wrong and he's got a 10 or maybe Jacks or making a good bluff.
Anyway, that pot ended up being my profit for the evening. I won some pots in late position where I was trying to trim the field of limpers or small callers (idiot makes it 7 and everybody calls and I push to 40 or something) but, I didn't capitalize on the fact nobody was playing back at me. I didn't need hands at that point. Granted I didn't want to get caught in a big hand with zippo, but I certainly had some opportunity to push the passive players at my table and didn't. The good players and I weren't ever in pots together.
Here at this point, I need to start pushing a bit. Isolate a novice and outplay him after the flop. Put some money at risk, knowing I'm behind preflop, but I can win it postflop or get out if he strengthens. This is definitely an aspect of my game I need to improve on. It might be some expensive lessons but I gotta pay the tuition.
www.gulfcoastpoker.net
I sat down on Sunday night to catch some hands at Harrahs because I met up with a friend downtown in on business. A healthy convention crowd was out with him, so I was happy with the turnout at Harrahs. Of course, I once again sit down at a table of mostly regulars, the ones that weren't regulars were tight and not the loose tourists we dream of, so again I felt like somebody else was making money.
I get into an early hand with the big stack who had been hitting everything. I bet out the limpers and he sticks, I'm holding 88. Flop is 10107. I bet, he calls. Turn is a 6. I check, he checks. River is a 6. I bet, he folds.
Now, maybe I should have bet the turn, but I was ready to play back at him because I thought he might take the lead given what was said around the table. Also, I thought a check might give me more info. If he checks, I'm right that I'm ahead and only a big card would warrant caution on the river. Say, he bets, I check-raise and he calls or pushes, then I reevaluate and my read was wrong and he's got a 10 or maybe Jacks or making a good bluff.
Anyway, that pot ended up being my profit for the evening. I won some pots in late position where I was trying to trim the field of limpers or small callers (idiot makes it 7 and everybody calls and I push to 40 or something) but, I didn't capitalize on the fact nobody was playing back at me. I didn't need hands at that point. Granted I didn't want to get caught in a big hand with zippo, but I certainly had some opportunity to push the passive players at my table and didn't. The good players and I weren't ever in pots together.
Here at this point, I need to start pushing a bit. Isolate a novice and outplay him after the flop. Put some money at risk, knowing I'm behind preflop, but I can win it postflop or get out if he strengthens. This is definitely an aspect of my game I need to improve on. It might be some expensive lessons but I gotta pay the tuition.
www.gulfcoastpoker.net
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