TIPS AND STRATEGIES INCLUDED!

It’s been a couple of weeks since my initial post on starting with nothing.  (If you haven’t yet read it, it can be found here.)  Assuming you have read the previous installment, I’ll pick up from there…

An Arduous Siege

It’s amazing how one good night can really set you up for a fall.  Riding high off my initial success, I continued to play in my comfort zone ($0.25-$0.50 sit n gos, $0.01/$0.02 cash, both Texas Hold ‘Em) with the errant assumption that that success was just the beginning.  Uh, well, not so much.  Fortunately, I didn’t get so frustrated and impatient (on tilt) that I went and blew it all on a tournament or a ring (cash) game that I couldn’t afford.  I kept my cool, took some breaks here and there, and let the cards come to me.

Well, What Happened?

To put it mildly, I happened.  I got into a place where I felt that all the moves I was making were right.  I got impatient and pushed too hard with hands that were suspect.  Not ones that I knew were the best.  I was playing while tired, had other things on my mind or was more interested in what was on the TV than my game.  A perfect storm of reasons not to play, yet I did anyway.  As I said before, keeping in my buy-in comfort zone kept me from blowing it all.  As well, having an absolute limit as to how much I was willing to give back before I stopped the session was invaluable.  For me, that limit was around $8.00.  If I dipped below that, the session was over.

TIP:  You Talked About Knowing You Had The Best Hand, How?

You don’t always know that your hand is the best.  But experience gives you instinct.  Those instincts will usually be right more often than not.  I consider that to be more applied knowledge than “going with your gut”.  But call it what you want.  You’ll never really know until you see all the cards, but if you’ve studied your opponents, you will feel it.  And that’s the instinctive “knowing”.

You’ll learn to pick up on how your opponents play quickly and use their tendencies against them. What tendencies?  For one, does an opponent raise just about every hand?  Well, you know from your hands that it’s unlikely he’s got a good one every time.  Try re-raising him pre-flop, see what happens.  I usually like to make a 1/2-pot to pot-sized bet in this instance, depending upon the pot-stack ratio (how big the pot is compared to all my chips).  Significant, but not so much that I can’t fold if I have to.  A good rule of thumb here would be no more than 1/3 of your stack.  Or, just call with your great cards and let him keep shoving his chips in the pot for you to take, assuming your hand holds up or improves.

Fold A LOT against this type of player; unless you’re getting a consistent string of playable hands.  You’re not going to know when he’s bluffing and when he’s got the nuts (the best possible hand).  My suggestion is to have at least two-pair or better when going up against this type of player, especially if they have more chips than you.  And pay attention to the board! Does your hand hold up against what’s out there?  Is there a possible flush, straight or full house that you can’t beat?

You’re not always going to be right, so do your best to keep all of your chips out of the middle.  Remember:  If you push too many chips at a pot that doesn’t warrant that kind of action, the only player that will call you is the one that has you beat.

Getting to $15.00

I was going to write this blog at $10.00, a significant way up from $0.00, but I decided that that might be too low a figure to have much impact.  There’s still a chance that if things don’t go the right way or I simply play poorly that it all might be gone very quickly.  But now that I have 1/3 more ($15.43 as of now), I feel that I can play relatively freely and still have $10.00 or more in my account if I have a bad run.

How did I get there?  Patience.  And a lot of it.  Recognizing that I wasn’t playing my best poker and taking breaks.  Waiting for cards to come to me.  Bluffing is part of the game.  But I use it when my opponents tell me that they don’t want the pot.  Not to try and bleed the table dry.  It may work in the short term, but having the better hand works on a more consistent basis; it’s less stressful.  And frankly, I enjoy it more when the cards are turned over and I’ve got the better hand.

I stuck with mostly $0.25 sit n gos, sprinkled in a few $0.80 trips to the $0.01/$0.02 cash tables and quit when I got frustrated or just lost too much.  [I prefer the six-seat tables as opposed to the nine player games, I can read the action better.  But everyone has their preference.]  Eventually, things turned around.  I got my head back in the game and stopped trying to force wins out of hands that I kind of knew weren’t the best.  And I remembered that folding the best hand is never as bad a calling all your chips with the worst.

Wanna Watch?

Look for player WOFFICE at UltimateBet.

SUMMARY

• Set a limit.  This is important for any gambler and/or poker player.  Analyze your bankroll and set a point in your mind that you won’t go below.  And stick to it!  I would suggest, unless your bankroll is very short, that you should commit no more than 10% of your bankroll in any one session (entire time playing for a certain period: hour, day, etc.).  This will allow you 9 more sessions if you have a bad one.
• If you find yourself going “on tilt” (getting frustrated and/or impatient), walk away.  Poker will still be there when you come back.  But no matter how good your cards are, if you’re on tilt, you’re probably going to lose.  Don’t ever think you can just play yourself out of it.  It doesn’t work.  Take a break, take a nap, get something to eat or drink, exercise (amazing what a good shot of endorphins can do) and go back when your mind is calm and you can concentrate on the game.
• Bluffing is NOT the essence of poker.  Use it sparingly.  Overuse will get you called more often than not and if you don’t have the cards, you will lose.  I prefer to bluff when the table (or opponent) tells me they’ve got nothing.  I use that opportunity to put out a “feeler” bet.  If I get called, chances are my opponent(s) are slow playing (have something) or are on a draw (need another card to make their hand).
• Let the cards come to you.  in essence, FOLD a lot.  I don’t care how many times your 7-4 off-suit (cards of differing suits e.g., heart and club) hit a straight or full house on the flop; unless you’re severely short-stacked (have very few chips) or are in the big blind and there’s no raise, wait for better cards.  I find the game much more enjoyable when I have the best hand.

Related posts:

1. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo — Starting with $0.00… A Journey
2. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Secrets to Beating a Low Limit Game
3. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Strategy: 3 Ways to Play Your Opponent Like a Puppet!
4. Sit Go Poker – Sitngo – Online Poker Strategy
5. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Playing on Tilt – What is it?