Lazy Poker

The main point in this blog was to honestly analyse my own game and keep me focused on playing the best I can. Well I had a 2 hour session on $.50 $1 NL cash last night and played pretty bad for the first time in a couple of weeks. I tend to know within the first 5-10 mins if I’m going to play good poker. Last night I felt quite tired and I’ve found on these occasions my patience is much lower, my game loosens up and the poker I play generally slack. However I still haven’t mastered the discipline of walking away when I feel like this! Luckily I only lost about $90 as was playing two tables and managed to pick up a few hands on one table that played themselves and I was always going to win.

However on the second table, I definitely didn’t play my ‘A’ game. One hand in particular showed I was playing poor LAZY poker. I have KQ suited in position, a guy raises to $4 before the flop, I call this which may be questionable but I would make this call a lot of the time in NL cash as you can hit a nice flop with this sort of hand and judge where you are on the flop. I’m accepting that I’m most likely behind pre flop. Anyway flop comes K 6 2 (2 clubs). Decent flop for me but remember the guy had raised pre flop so could have a variety hands that has me beat, AK, AA, KK are all possible but I’m still feeling ok at this point. The guy bets $7 which looks to me like a continuation bet, however here I make my first big mistake and just call. Normally I would raise here, if he re-raises you then have more info and can decide to fold. Anyway turn comes 9. He now bets $20, again I just call. This is LAZY poker. I should have found out where I was on the flop, now at this point I have no idea and am calling like a blind fish hoping I am ahead rather than having any real knowledge to base this upon. The river pairs the board with a 2. This doesn’t worry me as he’s highly unlikely to be playing a 2. However I’m more worried about the real possibility of him holding AK, AA or QQ or maybe even trip 6’s. He bets $48 on river. Even though in my mind I’m 95% sure I am beat, I convince myself as I have just been calling, maybe he has me on a flush draw or a weak pair and he has a hand I can beat i.e. QQ, JJ, 10 10, AQ, KJ etc. I call and he shows the inevitable AA.

I know I played this bad, I even know this by the turn on the actual hand. I have found when I am tired my game sometimes develops this bad habit, LAZY poker, just calling all the way, not finding out where I was. When he bet $7 on flop I can put in a $10-$15 raise to find out if I’m beat. Rather than calling all the way to river. The way I played this hand is not my normal game and I need to cut these little lapses out. You can get lucky occasionally (like if a Q or K had hit on turn, river). You see that often with weak players but what you don’t realise is how much of their money they call away without hitting.

To Tilt or Not to Tilt?

As you saw from my previous posts I tend to make a consistent profit on NL cash. However the biggest weakness in my game is when the tilt monster kicks in. When I started I tried to convince myself I was always in control of my emotions. However through analysing my game there are definitely certain situations where I loose control and play awful poker. This is always a period after I loose a pot where I cant believe the guy was in the pot to make the beat. For example a few nights ago I have KK on the button, I get 3 limpers, I raise to $6. The small blind calls me. Flop 4 8 J. Pretty good flop for me but there is 2 hearts and I don’t want o muck about. He bets $1 (weak bet) so I make a pot size bet of $15 as his $1 looks like a stopper bet to make the flush, He calls, the turn is 10 spades. He now bets $1 again, I bet $26 and he raises the minimum, no I’m a bit worried by trips but I have played this guy a lot and he’s a bit of a fish, I still put him on a weak pair or a draw and this is his effort to take the pot (weak min raise) so I put him all in for another $67. He calls in an instant and turns over A 8!!!!! Sweet. The river brings the obvious A and im sucked out. This is when my blood boils and for the next 40 mins play so aggressive and loose that I steam away more money. If a guy makes move and gets lucky or has a good hand and gets lucky then I generally can accept it, when a numpty just plays bad and hits I loose the plot. What I should do (as stated in previous post) is accept these guys will hit occasionally and be thankful they keep playing bad as its how we make the easy money.

However this post was not meant as a rant, I have realised something in the last few weeks that part of my tilt play is actually quite good!!. When I go on tilt certain parts of my game improve. T he extra aggression I show especailly pre flop and on the flop often means I can at times dominate a table. The only problem being on tilt I do this from any position and also don’t back off if I meet resistance and my hand is weak. If I can add the discipline of position and laying down hands in my 'A' game to the the aggression part of tilting, my game definitely goes up a level. You can develop an image to get paid off when you have a hand and pick up lots of small pots when in position.

For example during my last ‘tilt’ I built up a aggressive image but was on a passive table and met little resistance. Slowly I came out of the tilt but kept my aggression up as I was dominating the table. A few new players came to the table and I kept the same aggression but without the recklessness of not folding as in my tilt play. Suddenly my game felt more complete, I was taking lots of pots in position and getting paid of when I had a hand. One example being me dealt QJ, my normal raise pre flop, flop comes JQQ, I bet again as I had been ($8). A guy re-raises me so I move all in, he calls me with 10 10! He typed in the chat box that he figured I had nothing and called me a maniac. I am generally a tight aggressive player but at times my normal game lacks some aggression especially pre flop, through looking at my game when tilting I have seen how I can move my game up a level and found I’m controlling more pots as a result

Tilting is definitely bad and I haven’t mastered the art of avoiding it yet, the main reason I loose when I tilt is the recklessness of not folding or playing out of position too often letting people trap me. On tilt I will call when I know I’m behind I the hop I bust someone and feel better, that’s just BAD poker. I will post next time I tilt in an effort to control this bad habit I need to eliminate

Yum Yums

I’ve had a very good start to Nov playing my normal $.50 $1 NL. I am playing on the new betfair software, originally it received a lot of bad press but I don’t think its that bad. I’ve also found a very high number of fish compared to the traditional Crypto network. This may be because Betfair is attracting new players or just that on the old network the better quality of players were from Willhill or Interpoker. In any case I’m about $900 up for the month already without playing that great. I heard daniel negreanu describe Phil Helmuth as a 'Yum Yum' in high stakes poker (AKA players he loves to see at the cash table) and so far I have found 2 main type of players in the cash stakes I play.

1- Non aggressive Calling stations, those who will call anything right down to river, can be dangerous but if you keep giving them the wrong price to pay you will end up in profit even if they do hit occasionally. Even if they have a hand they don’t raise and let you catch cards which they then pay you off on by calling big bets at the end ;)

2- Mr Maniac aggressors, you need a hand as they play so aggressive and wont put down their hand but you can pick them off if you have patience.

These are two weak type of players, they can be difficult as you often need hands versus both but patience is the key, just playing ABC poker, sticking to the basics and you can catch them. I often try to spot these types early as you will play each slightly different.

For example versus Mr Maniac I know he will be aggressive on flop so although I often wait for decent starting hands I don’t need to hit the nuts on flop to play with him (if i do hit nuts I want to slow play as the more you call the more aggressive he gets). Example recently I have KQ and call his pre flop bet, hit q 7 2 flop, here he bets his normal $12 flop bet, I’m not slow playing here, I’m sure I’m ahead but its not a premium hand by any means (versus him its ahead 90% of the time where as against a normal rock you could be worried about aq, kk, aa or even trips) I don’t want mr maniac hitting 2 pair so here I would raise and take him on but i know I may be committing a lot of chipss he rarely gives in and folds, if I think I'm ahead I'm accepting I may get all my chips in on this hand. I cant wait for the nuts versus him as it'll cost me too many chips to wait and call pre flop. Against this guy you will get into big pots and occasionally he'll have a big hand or get lucky, this you have to accept as if you play him enough you'll come out on top by picking your best moments (top pair is often best, even 2nd pair will often be good)


Mr Caller is great as you can control the size of pots, when your drawing keep the pot low by betting into him and if you hit bet big he calls you off. If you have hit the flop bet enough to give any draw bad odds and watch him call his money off. Again he'll get lucky occasionally but as you control the pot you'll win over time. Lets take an example I had last week. I have AK and raise to $4 pre flop, he calls, flop is AK7 with two hearts, a good flop but very draw heavy. There is now $8 in pot, I can bet the pot here knowing he'll call with any pair or a draw and making sure hes not getting odds to hit a flush or straight. Turn and there is $24 in pot and 3spades hits, again I bet pot, he calls. River 9clubs, I’m only loosing to trips and I can make a good bet on the end which he calls with k 4, second pair awful kicker YUM YUM

The real big bonus is when you catch the hand versus both of them at once.
This happened last night when I had one of each Yum Yum on my table. I had 6 8s, not a great starting hand but I was in decent profit for the night and when Mr maniac raised to his normal $5 and Mr Caller called I decided to gamble and call to sit if I could catch a flop, its important to note both players had decent stacks, maniac ($100) caller ($70), me $95. I know if I catch a flop I could win a big pot, if both were short or medium stacks I may prefer to wait for bigger starting hands versus this type of play, as mr maniac will bet any flop and you cant bluff with mr caller in there as he calls. Anyway flop comes 4 5 7 with 2 spades, giving me nuts straight and a flush draw. Mr maniac bets his normal $12 flop bet (could have anything), mr caller calls as expected, I would raise with this versus just the my caller as i know he will call and i want max value, however i want mr maniac in there as I know he will bet turn whatever comes and I have such a strong hand (where as he may fold to a flop raise). Turn was a non threatening q, mr maniac bets $26, mr caller calls, Now I decide to raise and hope mr maniac has a piece rather than wait to the river to make my move (I'm not worried about them drawing as I'm sure I know I have best hand and also flush draw as back up but I need to raise sometime and found turn often best as if they do have a draw like a gutshot straight with a queen they will call here), I get both all in, maniac with qj, caller with k7. Lovely hand YUM YUM

I love these players, unfortunately I am known to tilt in the times when either of them get lucky versus me in big pots, rather than listen to my self as above and know I need them to hit occasionally to keep them playing. I'll cover tilting in a separate time. If you identify either type of player at your cash table hopefully you'll be thinking YUM YUM

When it all started!

It was in May 2005 who my friend told me him and a few of the lads were playing poker reguarly and he thought I would love it. My first reaction was to mock him for being held up in his room for hours sat in front of his pc, gambling money based on a game of pure luck!! "Cards is a game for mugs, completely down to luck" I proudly said, happy with my non gambling lifestyle (apart from the occasional football bet). Well later that month he had convinced me to play a game on line one quiet Sunday afternoon....... here we are 17 months later, god knows how many hours of poker later and yes I’m just like the rest of you, completely in love with this game. I never really knew it existed apart from seeing the occasional scene in a movie with some gangster bluffing all his money (or Delboy cheating in Only Fools & Horses!!). Yes I've pretty much played non stop since that day in May!! I started off only playing on the internet, betfair poker on £5 STT, I had to much ego to start any lower as my friend (sheff1979) was playing that level. Luckily I picked the basics up pretty quickly, after a first month loss of £80 ive made a steady profit ever since (see monthly profit & loss below). I played this format for a few months along with the occasion £2 or £5 MTT (those £2 MTT with 500 runners were crazy maniac style playa lot alot of fun in the beginning to learn the format etc of MTT!). I progressed to £10STT by Aug 05. Then in September I found the game that would become my main source of profit, NL Cash. Starting on 25p 50p I couldn't loose and my profits suddenly rose dramatically (for new player playing I couldn’t believe I could make £400-£800 per month and have fun. I quickly progressed to 25p 50p where I stayed for a while, I also discovered it wasn’t all rosy and had the natural swings but usually ended up ahead or even at the end of the month. The best thing I ever did was start to keep records from didn't I didn’t want to lie to myself and in terms of on line ive been very good at tracking exact profit losses. I did progress to 50p £1 and even £1 £2 NL cash by 2006, however I think this was a mistake as I didn’t really have the bankroll and I suddenly found the swings stressful and it affected my game (loosing a £450 pot when I flopped the nuts with 9 7 on a 977 board, getting A7 all in and the A hitting on river still makes me shiver!) Luckily I still made money on these higher stakes but the swings definitely effected my game, also I still have a lot to learn and am no where near the standard I want to be so have dropped back to 25p 50p as I find I can try things I wouldn’t dare on higher stakes and develop my all-round game as a result.

Internet Monthly Profit/Loss 2005 Profit (bold)/Loss (red) (£)
2005
May £-75, Jun- £+55, Jul £+55, Aug £+94, Sep £+445, Oct £+816, Nov £+232, Dec £+10
2006
Jan £0, Feb £+160, Mar £+630, Apr £+302, May £+1!, Jun £+450, Jul- £+310, Aug £+554 Sep £+396, Oct £-135, Nov to date £+250

I have also played quite a lot live in local Casino's mainly on MTT's. I have to admit I haven’t kept as detailed of records in live events (I will do from now I promise), Ive had a couple of big wins but no where nearly as I should be aiming. MTT's are definitely not my strength, I spent a week in Vegas playing live last month and ended up £250 up which I was proud of (loosing £650 on casino games we wont talk about ;)). In general in live play do ok but nothing spectacular, I’m working hard to specifically improve this part of my game specifically MTT where most live action is and will talk about that more in a future blog.

Well in a very top line nutshell that’s a quick background to my game. As my title in my blog says I really believe the biggest risk to making a profit is yourself, I know I have a lot to improve, Ive been lucky enough to make a steady profit since starting but I see better players every time I play on my tables and I want to be the best I can be. Hopefully this blog will help me analyse my game and others even more as that’s the key to getting better. I hope I haven’t bored you enough never to visit again, I thought this would be a good starting point but I promise my entries wont always be this long winded!