Poker Perambulation

It is what we seek. Even more so when it comes to major purchases. Having just paid a whorehouse price for a washer-dryer combo, I may not be the one to listen to at the moment. At the tables though, value betting is paramount.

OK, we got the nuts. Oh happy day! Jesus washed my sins away…at least for this hand. Now, how do we get value. It is a frequent thing for Daniel Negreanu to blog about. When he’s on the topic, he is very adamant about getting full value out of the hand.

First, what is our position? If we have to lead out, we have a major decision. The problem is our tenancies often come up with the less than optimal bet. That ‘wrong’ bet may even be the optimal one under other circumstances.

Friend Fuel55 and I chatted about a hand of his. It exposed one of his tendencies and that may be a good one. If he’s married to it that wouldn’t be the case but he isn’t a rote personality at the tables. The hand in question brought his serious overbet from early position. He posits that this gets him the ‘doubting Thomas’ call often enough to be +EV. Is he right or to state it better, “How often is that right over other options?”? He believes it is and I believe him. Although, I think it may have failed on the hand we discussed. But, that is going to happen too.

For those of us not playing at his buyin or not having the same image, the answer isn’t the cookie cutter one I’ve implied for Fuel – knowing full well he’s fully capable of evaluating situations on the fly.

Image is the first thing. I don’t care who you are or how you play; how you are perceived will vary and sometimes –without intent – wildly. This can be even more apparent at NL. When you end up showing down, it can be an embarrassing win for any of us. This is even if our original idea for the betting was solid. My bet with the look of a loose cannon or as the rock of Gibraltar will be perceived with widely varied reads.

Position is important in the decision making process. Duh! It is also a given at the blind/flop games. No limit spices that up a bit. But, even in the limit games with roving position, we can often gamble/guess on the come. Such position isn’t guaranteed but what is?

The big issue is the other guy or guys. We know what we have; we know (hopefully) what we look like. Just how solid are his tendencies? What’s his attitude been toward us?

In the flop games, we know all the potential for getting pawned by the boards connectivity. In no limit we need to price that into our bet. In limit, we may not be able to price a good draw out of the hand and we’re back to considering what I wrote in the previous blog. Limit often pays off those calling the value better. Yet, it is still the vehicle of the better players.

Value betting is just a part of our betting scheme. The difference between player skill levels or our A or B game is frequently just the betting. Many look at that as our control factor over our opponent. It is that. It also extracts value in every respect. When we don’t consider our betting at a premium or marry a pattern, we have lost our game and we did it to ourself. It we’re in a variance period, we need to analyze our betting for negative changes. 

We need to review the basic along with our post oak brilliance. Basics tend to slip through cracks. Chips can start doing that too.

ADDENDUM:

 Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy…

 I’d actually forgot about it. It allure is no longer coupled to the chance for a new bicycle. I got a e-card from ING bank this morning that told me. That won’t get me returning to their anal retentive site any time soon. The lady across the street remembers. Her daughter and I share the day.

 Birthdays, of course, are a simple counter. These days it isn’t a count I overly appreciate. On the other hand…

 I’m a good 30 to 50 years younger than the birthday riddle hulk that stares back at me from the shaving mirror.

 Oh. BTW. 68 YUCKO!

One of the old saws we tend to use is the one about being as smart as we got and going back to the body of our youth.  I wouldn’t turn it down but it is a lie.  When you get to this point those smarts are as dated as all getout.  You younger folks — at least the 3 courteous ones left — are well aware of the difference but don’t throw it in our face.  I was similar.  That’s why history repeats itself.  We cycle relearning things that others would have happily warned us about or pushed us toward.  Politics and the stock market show us that feature in fast forward.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Poker Thoughts. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.