Playing Live Poker Continues!
Posted on March 21, 2008
Filed Under Personal, Tips and Advice
I’ve been playing a few $0.50/$1 games the past few nights. Mostly young adults and college students that play at these games, but I enjoy playing with that type of crowd. Here are a few reasons why I prefer such a playing environment:
1.) I believe I can outsmart and outplay these type of players. I know this sounds a little arrogant, but I think it’s very important when deciding who to enter a hand with. I feel that a lot of these guys have read poker books and etc.., though I’ve never read any book, I’ve read articles online and talked to people about hands, so I’m not entirely uneducated. Nonetheless, I think I have a good, general idea of what this guy is trying to do in particular situations. Most of the guys I play with are college students looking to make some money. With that overall goal in mind, sometimes I can break down and analyze their logic in each hand. If I think he’s out to make money, I can expect a betting manner to lure me into calling or bigger bets when he’s trying to steal a pot from me. If I believe I know what he’s feeling and thinking about a hand, I’ll act accordingly. It’s true when they say poker is about playing the player.
2.) You have a lot of the extremes at these type of games. What I mean by this is that, on one extreme, there are the overly tight players who are afraid to lose money. They typically try to play pretty “abc” book poker. Sometimes I get a good idea of when they’re trying to use their tight image to make a move or when they really have it. On the other extreme, you have the gamblers, you have the guys who love to try to draw out, who will call any pre-flop raise hoping to get lucky on the flop. Obviously you’ll make most of your money off these players. Rarely at these games, will there be players that can successfully mix it up at these games (or at least I haven’t ran into many).
3.) It’s entertaining. Time goes by faster as you’re waiting for a hand if you’re being entertained. Poker is much funner if you’re laughing and smiling. Most of these games have a lot of guys that are there to have a good time, and I find it more relaxing and easier to have patience and play. Although most of the time I’m rather quiet at the table, I am well aware of the conversations people are having. Often you’ll see me crack a smile because some of the things these kids say are hilarious, lol.
Anyhow, continuing on, I’m starting to get back into the groove of playing. I feel like I’m more mature in my gameplay, and feeling really confident about how I’ve been playing. Past two nights have been positive cashes, so hopefully I can keep it up. I think the key to winning cash games is timing. Your timing must be as best as possible. Be well aware of who at the table can pay you, and who it’ll be difficult to acquire money from. Home games are usually just a bunch of gamblers and a few super tight guys (at least from my experience).
I might deposit some money on UltimateBet and play online a few hours a week as well. We’ll see how my live playing goes. So far, I’m a little under break even for 4 nights of play. So we’ll see how this upcoming week goes!
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