Great Job Lee Markholt, and Some Random Thoughts on General Stuff

I was very happy to see Lee Markholt pull out the victory last night for his first WPT title. It is well deserved. I have a feeling we will be seeing him at more final tables. I was also pulling for Zach Hyman, who started as one of the short stacks and survived to finish in third, great job Zach.

I am going to continue with the weeks theme of some cash game strategy, although much of what I'm saying could be applied to tournaments as well.

Bet bet bet; I like to bet and apply pressure. Often times a player will check either hoping for the other player to bluff into them or because they are not sure where they stand. Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of aggressive players I will check to and let them fire three shells or empty the clip, and I only have to say call. Unfortunately most of the time I'm not sitting there super strong while my opponent bets like crazy. I really like Layne Flack's quote for this situation, "why do the pushing when you got the donkey doing the pulling." Keep in mind when you are 50% to win a hand based on actual percentages, when you are the one applying the pressure many times they will fold bringing your win percentage up substantially. If your opponent folds 40% of the time you bet in to them when your odds are even money you have just increased your win percentage to 70%. Now that's a huge edge. So by and large, I like to be the one applying pressure. Also, when I am ahead I want to build a pot, I do that by betting.

Follow the math, long term the best and most consistent results will be obtained from putting your money in as a favorite, be it a made hand or a draw. Playing crazy hands in a low percentage situation is great when it hits, but by and large you will lose more money than you will win with it. There is no substitute for good play.

I'd rather be a raiser than a caller; unless you have a monster draw or are slow playing a big hand calling is often the wrong play. Many times it takes a stronger hand to call than to raise with. I have often times won a pot and showed my hand and some smart ass at the table says "you raised with that?" You can raise with any two cards, hell sometimes one card is enough, but to call it takes a hand. Sometimes in late position in an unopened pot someone in front of me will raise, and I will say "I was going to do that." The truth is calling would not be a good option for several reasons. First off, is the realization that I am probably behind and have lost the ability to be the aggressor and take the lead. Re-raising is always an option, however if the initial raiser was pretty strong, I could be facing a re-raise which would mean a decision for a lot of chips. I have now put myself in a bad position and made the first of perhaps many mistakes in the hand.

A bad call is always worse than a bad fold. When in doubt, especially when that little voice says fold fold fold, listen to it. Even when you get upset after seeing you were ahead, it's never as bad as making a big call and losing. When in doubt fold your hand, ask yourself is this a good place to get my money in, or not?

Critical error theory: In aviation accidents it is very rare that one mistake brings down an aircraft. Usually it takes three or more. Poker is somewhat the same. It is usually several mistakes which bring you the big loss in a hand. The first mistake is often deciding to play the hand. Then comes the mistakes within such as betting when you should check, checking when you should bet, calling when you should probably fold. Lastly, being able to get away from a hand when you are beat, is one of the most important fundamentals in poker, and is hard to do in many situations for some of us.

Learn from your losses and your wins. When you win is it because you played well, ran well, or got lucky? Try and be honest about your play and what worked, and what didn't. If you have a friend in the game you can talk to who will be honest with you and critique your play. When you loose, again you must be brutally honest about why.

Learn from other players. Often times many players have things to teach, even if it's what not to do. So pay attention to everyone and what they do, both good and bad.

Quit a game when you think you should. Often times I'll be about ready to leave and I say to myself one or two more times around, or one more good pot and I'm gone. That almost always becomes a mistake. Just like in golf, when you are standing over the ball and something distracts you, a noise, a bug, or even a bad thought, you never hit a good shot. We all know to step away and start over, but most of the time we continue anyway. When you feel like leaving, leave, simple as that.

Don't get upset if bluffed or out played. It happens to everyone, all the time. Learn from it, try to find a tell that gives the bluffer away. There was a player who frequented The Commerce and Bellagio, who loved to show bluffs. He bluffed often and sometimes with very little gain but substantial risk. It looked great when it worked, but pretty lame when most often, he left broke. Bluffing and getting bluffed is part of the game. Never get upset by it, because that's how you let the bluffer really win.

Don't try crazy stunts you've seen work on TV. Some of the stunts and plays you see on some of the poker shows on TV are often times situational specific and pulled off by experts. Like the disclaimers say on the car commercials, don't try this at home.

Never get mad at the dealer. I have seen time and time again, where the player blames the dealer for a bad beat, or worse, their own bad play. The dealer is not to blame, unless of course they did in fact cheat you. Fortunately in today's world of auto-shufflers, cameras, and somewhat educated floor people it would be hard for a dealer to bring the killer river card on demand.

Behave and act responsibly while playing. Sure I get upset when I get unlucky in a hand and lose a big pot, but I try to never let it show. Two players that I play with regularly at the Commerce just received lifetime bans for let's just say unsportsman like conduct. Even worse than being a bad loser are those who are bad winners. At least I understand when someone is upset by a big loss, but what kind of a loser behaves badly after a big win, especially when they get lucky.

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Roy-Winston/36778

The Oracle