In my second last post I spoke about my biggest poker leak. The leak in question was my nasty habit of stacking off on the river because I made a hasty decision.
I came up with a simple device called "The 8- Second Rule" to help me plug this leak and promised I would later give feedback on whether applying "The Rule" helped me plug this leak.
The Rule: Wait 8 seconds before acting no matter what.
I've been working hard putting it into practice, and so far so good. In the last six weeks or so I've been making a conscious effort to abide by The Rule and have no doubt it has really helped my play.
I've avoided stacking off with the second best hand (the big leak) but it has also been beneficial in general play. Using it is not quite automatic yet, as I still have to remind myself about it at times, but it's close. Where I think it has really benefitted me is in hand reading and analysis. I have slowed down, which allows me to think more clearly and consciously - now I sometimes hear myself internally verbalizing hand reads and decisions.
So I've been playing good poker and profits are about 370 ptbb for the six weeks in question. I'm running at a win rate of about 8 bb/100, playing 2-3 tables of 0.25/0.50 NL 6-Max which is double my normal win rate. I feel good about my game, am enjoying playing and the bankroll is growing steadily.
It's not just The Rule that has helped my game recently though. Recently my other half asked me what I would like for my birthday and I said, "To join a poker training site", so she kindly paid for a subscription. It's great to be with a woman who encourages me so much at poker. The thing is she understands that it's not gambling in the same way that playing slot machines is.
Anyway I joined the training site at the beginning of last month and straight away got stuck into their videos and articles. I have to say I was impressed with the site's content. There's hundreds of videos dealing with online games at all conceivable stakes, table sizes etc. The videos are the jewel in the crown but the written articles are also very professionally done and deal with topics as diverse as tilt control, playing small pairs in aggressive games, bankroll management, best times to play, manipulating pot size etc etc.
Based on what I've learnt from these videos and articles produced by online pros I've made a few changes to my basic strategy. Now I'm
- Open-limping far less than I used to.
- Opening a wider range in the cutoff, and especially on the button.
- Completing far less frequently in the small blind.
- Playing much more tightly from out of position.
- Attacking (three-betting) what I perceive as obvious steals.
I think this is the right "default" strategy for short-handed online no-limit games, but at the same time I don't think there is a catch-all strategy that can be applied willy nilly. When I sit down I'm looking closely at my opponents styles and tendencies and trying to make plays based on the player as much as my hand.
I can't remember what famous poker player said this, and excuse me if I misquote:
Poker isn't a game of cards played by people, it's a game of people played with cards.
I'm coming round to the idea that the above statement is the essence of what No Limit poker is all about. Take a recent winning session, which I analysed in Poker Tracker. The session was about 400 hands and the stats show I've played quite tight-passive, in fact far more so than is considered optimal or even proper. But this was at a table with a two maniacs who were betting and raising all kinds of junk if they perceived weakness. You know the type - they call them "agro donks" on twoplustwo. They were playing all kinds of rubbish and seemed to be taking little account of what their opponents were doing.....with the exception they were always betting if checked to and always raising if their opponents bet looked weak. Most hands were not being shown down and the one or two that were showed me that one of the maniacs was grossly overbetting medium strength hands on the flop.
So in this table situation nut peddling was a very viable option. These two maniacs were the biggest fish at the table and playing back aggressively at these guys was not the best way to get the money. So, against these fellas I created a weak image - best to look as if I could be easily moved off hands, I made a couple of weak limps and folds and gave up a few small pots here and there and let them slap me around a bit. But all the time I lie in waiting. Eventually I trap one of them for his stack with a set of threes. I raised preflop and maniac called me with position. I led out weak on the flop and got put all-in. He showed bottom two pair. To be honest I was surprised he had a hand as strong as two pair but it was still the 2nd best hand and that's what counts.
So the point is you make the most money by adjusting to the table dynamic. For more "average" tables you can default to a more aggressive and positionally aware strategy, but make sure you keep your eyes open and make adjustments as you go along.
Here's a simple example from yesterday of how some of the stuff I learned at the training site has helped me. I have been at this table for about 20 minutes. My image is tight, I've played very few hands and the hands I've been involved in I've won by betting and raising. I've only shown down one hand, wired aces.
Now, I've become aware that the aggressive button's been raising every time it is folded round to him, and if there are 1 or 2 limpers he's been blowing them off their hand with 6-7 bb sweep raises. He's been getting away with it as it's a limpy and weak table.
I take a look at his HUD stats. His blind steal stat is 30% and he calls a preflop raise less than 5% of the time. Obviously he's abusing his position.
I'm in the big blind with 55 and one weak player limps in from UTG, as has been his habit. It's folded to the aggressive player on the button who makes it 6bb. This looks like a good situation so I make it 17bb. The limper folds, the button runs the clock down and eventually folds.
Not sure if it qualifies as a resteal, seeing that I had a hand. It would probably have been an ok play even with junk. But looking at it, it seems that 55 is not a bad hand to make this move with as it's likely to be the best hand preflop but doesn't really want to see a flop. Given that the weak limp represents a hand that can hardly ever call here, the probablity the aggressive button's move is a steal, and my own tight table image, the move has a high chance of success. And if I do get called by the initial raiser, all is not lost: I could make a continuation bet on a favourable flop or I could hit a set and win a large pot.
More anon....
