INSIDE THE MIND, HEART, & SOUL OF A POKER PRO
By: Will Everly
It is commonly thought that poker pro's play tightly and aggressively.
Although they don’t play many hands, when they do play them, they play as if they had all the nuts. This is a nicely cooked-up saying and all, but it is for those who really don't know how to play and who just want to sound smart, like they've been there and done that. Case in point: It doesn't necessarily apply to no-limit games where a good, loose yet aggressive player can throw you off your game in a heartbeat. Therefore I ought to shed some light on what it really means to be a tight and aggressive poker player.
* Think Like A Pro: Do The Math
Generally speaking, you will have about a 1 in 8 chance of holding a set in your pocket pair while you will have roughly a 1 in 3 chance of attaining a flopped flush draw by the river.
Likewise know your "outs" that give a percentage shot at hitting. (Count the outs, multiply them by two, and add one to give you an idea the likelihood of hitting.)
However, knowing your "outs" to calculate hitting percentages are useless unless you match them with the pot odds; your percentage chances of hitting should be no less than the amount you have bet in proportion to the total pot at the river. (Simply divide the size of what you speculate will be the pot at the river flop by the amount you have put in.) Having come up with a 25% chance of hitting/winning by counting your outs, and the bet to you is 25, make sure that the pot at the river will be greater than 100 to call. If it isn't, cut your (potential and likely) losses and fold.
* Feel Like A Pro: Psychological Skills
The latter part of the saying "keep your friends close, hold your enemies closer" is true of any competition. A poker pro is always on the hunt to get a good feel on what his opponent is trying to do.
- What does my opponent have?
- What does my opponent think I have?
- What does my opponent think I think he has? And so on.
Contrary to what you may think, the mindset of poker pro's is not about obliterating their enemies into utter and complete destruction. Often, it is a battle to use your opponents simply to discover your own strengths and weaknesses on equal footing with keeping your ego in check. Developing an understanding that you must empathize with your opponents helps you to answer the previous questions and empowers you to manipulate those answers, putting you at a superior level of game play.
If you have KK and your opponent has AA, and you both know what each other have, why play the game of poker? You have other tools such as bluffing, slow playing, or fast playing. Use your acting skills to complement your math skills and tip your opponents off balance.
* Be a Pro: Discipline, Discipline, Discipline
Good poker players are consistent in their demand to seek advantages. A fish looks to get lucky, whereas a poker pro expects to win.
However, discipline is not to be confused with stubbornness. If a particular strategy is no longer working a poker pro will know how and when to change. A high level of alertness will clue him in as to whether he's on tilt or just being too cocky. If a mistake has been made, he will learn from it and move on.
Fundamentally, these three skills can be encapsulated into one word: awareness. Like in school you should be able to learn how to read by knowing your mathematical odds, write by manipulating your opponent's mindset, and finally to think for yourself when new or otherwise unknown situations arise. Once you grasp this triple-threat concept, success should be knocking at your doorstep.
For most of us, this is a constant work in process.
NEWS FLASH!!
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Scientists at the
The result of this cross breeding has created your typical online poker player.
My 1st Cash in the WSOP!
It's not that 283rd place is an accomplishment that I am normally proud of; but now with so many entrants and the fields are so huge, it is very difficult to make it in the money. There were 2,849 entrants in Event #17 the JULY 10, 2006 $1000 no limit hold'em event, so you see how many people had to lose just to get where I finished. There are a lot of people who go a whole WSOP without cashing, so it is also a small confidence booster. The stats aren't too bad: 1st cash (so far) in my first year of play at the WSOP. Anyway, the $1517 I cashed is hardly enough to brag about (or to break even with, having played 3 events); but I thought everyone might like to know. Event # 17 was the largest single day event in the history of the World Series of Poker.
I had a great coaching session with Poker Specialist Barry Tannenbaum the day before the event and I am certain it helped with my results. I also took some the advice I got from my good friend and tournament poker genius Alex Outhred.
Event 31, the $2,000 no limit hold’em event beginning on July 21, is in my sites now and I am focusing on what I need to do make a good finish in that event.
The Main event of the 2006 World Series of Poker is now only two weeks away. I am hopeful I will be in group A, which means my start date will be the 28th and that I can focus on playing favorable situations which will allow me to build my chip stack and put me in good shape for my second day of play. This will give me the opportunity to relax and get some rest before my second day. Of course, this means I have play smart in order to make it through to the end of the first day of play. Each of the four groups of 2000 will continue play on the starting day until 800 players remain. This could easily mean that day one will be twelve to 14 hours of play with limited breaks.
"Confession of a Poker Player”
“Poker will get you through times of no money, better than money will get through times of no poker.”
OVERCOMING LUCK AND BEATING THE ODDS
By: Will Everly, Jr.
Luck is a huge factor in poker. Just to win a major event these days you must get lucky more times than you can count. You are going to have to win every race that you find yourself in. Skill is important, but you must be sure to overcome the luck and beat the odds.
With a lot of the new internet players hitting the felt, hand expectations have dropped. There are many players playing hands with marginal consequences. Because of this the luck factor in poker has increased. Even if you are going into an all in situation with the best of it, worse players are calling and sucking out. Even though it is impossible to avoid this, there are ways to keep the skill high and the reliance on luck lower.
Make sure you are playing the right hands. You shouldn't be getting involved with a marginal hand against an aggressive player. If you know you are going to get called, you shouldn't be wasting your chips to try and bluff. Now, if you know your opponent is weaker you can mix up your game more and play different types of hands. It is all about reading your opponent to decide where you stand in a hand.
Try not to go into any situation with the worst of it. Try to stay away from drawing situations, and don't get all your chips in the pot if you don't think you are ahead in the hand. If you are going into hands with the better percentage of winning then you don't have to rely on luck as much to help you win. You do, though, hope to avoid bad luck where the person sucks out on you! You shouldn't necessarily hope for good luck in a tournament, but hope that bad luck stays away. If you always play with the best of it then you won't need good luck.
If someone does suck out on you and you are still in the tournament you must make sure you avoid letting it get to you. You have to realize that this hand is done and you have to move on to the next one. If you are mad about something that happened at the table, you should never let your opponents know, because they will try to take advantage of that. You should act as if whatever happened didn't bother you a bit, and know that if they sucked out on you they may not be as good as you and you will be able to get your chips back from them later.
There is so much poker advice out there, but in general you should be playing tight but aggressive. You should have an idea of everyone's playing style at your table. Play the looser players tighter and the tighter players looser. Mix up your game and be sure never to get all of your chips involved when you have the worst of it. If you do this then you won't have to rely on luck, and you will find yourself beating the odds and hopefully becoming the next World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.
