Just started my new Pokerisms blog this weekend. The concept is just to write poker-related aphorisms and one-liners, which is about right for the attention span I have for authoring anything anymore. I came up with eleven so far and will hopefully update frequently.
A couple of samples:
Fixed-limit games do not favor the foldy.
The guy who cries, "Donkey!" is usually an ass himself.
I hope you enjoy them. Have fun at the tables!
When discussing poker with our friends or on the forums, we often focus solely on strategy. Even more precisely than that, we are usually discussing our default or general strategy -- what we would do in a given spot if we didn't have any additional information to go on. This sometimes leads to worry about how much strategy we are revealing. We are afraid of our secrets getting out! Or that people will use knowledge of our playing style against us.
And obviously you have to have some sense of which lines tend to be most profitable given a generic situation, such as your first hand at a full ring table against unknown opponents.
But in my experience, understanding basic strategic concepts is actually just a small part of playing poker successfully.Â
The ability to adapt is of course huge but really that's still strategy.Â
What I'm talking about is stuff like how you handle losses, whether or not you play at limits you're comfortable with, what if any game selection you practice. Staying level-headed and being able to execute a good strategy is really even more important than knowing how to play. I mean, what good is it if you know exactly what you should do but you do something else instead? It sounds ridiculous but I'm convinced this is the biggest problem a lot of players face. You hear this stuff all the time: "I just knew he had it," "I felt like I had to pay it off," "I should have known better than to bluff into a player who never folds," "There was probably value in a bet but the board was just so scary," etc. The list goes on and on. And these are examples of things you might hear from a clear-headed, sober opponent. What about the guy who is drunk or jazzed up on drugs? Or the guy who can play solid all night but let him get coolered one time and he donks off his entire roll within minutes?
I think sometimes we worry too much about whether or not someone is going to publish a strategy book for our favorite game or whatever. If you can stay level-headed and make intelligent decisions about bankroll management and game selection, you have an edge that many who read that strategy book will never be able to overcome.
In a bold and unprecedented move, I’m going to link my poker forum identities together for anyone who finds this post.
The other forums I post on are:
PR, where I am monkeytilt, and 2p2, where I am themuppets and (previously) 2$rlp.
I’ve had other 2p2 accounts but I don’t even remember the usernames anymore.
See you on the forums!
I’m working on a Web page advocating limit structure games and trying to provide rebuttals to points often brought up by proponents of no-limit or pot-limit games.
I’d be interested in any feedback on the points already covered, additional points you think I need to address, and any other comments you might have.
Feel free to respond even if you disagree with me.
TIA,
JJ
I’ve started work on a site to promote HUHU LHE. What’s up right now is pretty skeletal, and I know there’s a need for some multimedia content.
My main reason for posting about it here is to see if anyone has any suggestions for content.
Also, if anyone has videos or screenshots they would like to contribute, please PM me. Ideal content would be that which promotes HUHU LHE as an exciting and fast-paced game rather than instructional material or lengthy play-alongs.
And if you’re not currently playing HUHU LHE, give it a try! You just might like it. ;-)
