Poker

[wsam29]

Gonna be playing some poker with some friends this friday.

Should be fun since I have not played in ages.

Gonna apply some of my trading skills in the game, I know for sure they are not mentally tough at all in terms of handling bad beats.

Soul, since you also play cards, how do you use your trading skills for poker?

what I had in mind was just being able to mentally keep track of their bets in a given hand, ie raise, preflop, check on the flop, etc. That way I can sorta read what potential hands they may or may not have.

[Soultrader]

Sounds like fun wsam29. Actually its the opposite way for me. I apply my poker skills into my trading.

I'll give you a few tricks for poker. Nothing is free... so if you are not sure what youre opponent has, place a small bet. This is what I call an information bet. This way, if he calls or raises you have an idea what he's holding. Other than that, if you are a discplined trader you should have no trouble at all cleaning up . Poker is a game of manipulation, discipline, patience, and psychology. The part you mentioned about mentally keeping track is a must. Each player has a distinct human behavior. The typical amatuer has too may tells...why did he take longer to bet? Why is he so quite all of a sudden? Why is he playing like he just wants to take down the pot on the flop.. weakness? etc... In a typical house game with a few players, I can pretty much recall 90% of the hands that were played at the end of the night. Figure out what hands your opponent likes and dislikes. It will increase your probability in your decision making.

The best skill in poker though... is intuition. Now that takes years to develop. Have fun and good luck

[wsam29]

I never really thought about it that way.

"Why is he taking so long to bet?"

"Why is he betting so quick?"

I find a cold call is hard to tell because they could be trapping or just fishing for cards to improve their hand.

I am sure each one of those actions has a reasoning psychologically. Now I see why professional players take their time each hand other than when they know they have the other player beat!

Thanks for the info.

[wsam29]

It feels so nice that I won 2 of 3 buy-ins.

Then again, they beat themselves.

Oh how amateurs think.

Played tight all night, protected my chips when I didn't have a hand and folded hands I could not win.

They beat themselves by over betting a hand when the pot was not worth betting for.

[Soultrader]

Yea... the best thing about amatuers is that I rarely have to do anything. They self destruct on their own. But here's a tip.. you cant bluff an amateur but you can bluff a pro. Amatuers play so loose that they will call anything. Also like you mentioned they never understand the risk:reward element in life. They dont play to win... they only play to prove who has the bigger balls. 99% of the time they go home broke.

[wsam29]

I felt bad for taking them so seriously, but yeah, that is all they are about, who has the bigger balls to play marginal hands.

At the end of the night, one girl asked me how much I won from them? I was gonna be a smart ass and say "they basically gave it away." But I said "I don't play for money." She replied "well I do." Boy do they have lots to learn.

The losers will always say they are playing for entertainment.

I had to take myself out of the 3rd buy-in just to make it look like I was not there for the money. Then again it was a good hand and the flop gave me a lot of outs and I was heads up against my friend who has an idea how to play so I semi bluffed him hoping he would fold and if not I had outs.

Just to go over the hand the best I can and you be the judge if I played it right.

first to act, I raise with a Q,10 suited hearts, everyone folds other than my friend. He raises to 3 bets and I call. I didn't think of the possible hands I just thought he was representing strength.

Flop comes out J, A, hearts and some other card that did not help my hand.

I stopped to think, if I check I show weakness, but I had many possible outs I had and the size of the pot and the amount of chips I had. 4 hearts on the board and many possible hands to improve my hand. I just bet all in and put the pressure back on him. He stopped to think and called my bet.

Even though I lost, I thought I played that hand pretty well considering I had many outs and the size of the pot justified taking that risk.

But thanks for another tip, I did not try to bluff them out of hands because they are just that, amateur's.

[Blu-Ray]

You can't leave us hanging! What did he win with?

Personally I would have put a bet in but not all in then you could see his reaction and possibly see the turn.

Good play though

[wsam29]

all he had were aces and no other possible hands other trip Aces or 2 pair to improve hand, well you could include the full house, but long shot.

we had about the same amount of chips but knowing him, he would have gone all in to put the pressure back onto me. I also factored in that was my 3rd buy-in so I was mentally tired as well.

his kicker was not very strong either, I don' recall what kicker.

I just knew I had many cards that would have helped my hand.

any heart
any K
and long shot of runner, runner of Q, 10 on either the turn or river.

He knew the moment he saw my hand that I had many outs, so he must have been somewhat worried or even thinking his call was a wrong bet. But it all worked out for him. That was the only hand I took a chance on.

After I lost I just said "Man how do people play in tournaments" because I was somewhat mentally drained even playing against those "fish"