Poker and strategy question:?
March 19, 2010 by poker pete
Filed under Poker FAQ
In a poker (or other) game, who presents the greatest challenge?
> the person(s) who know a lot about strategy and are experienced at playing the game, or
>the "wild-card" person who either doesn’t know much about it (or is "unable" to think clearly at the moment) ?
>> Can you ever rule out "luck" in any game?
I think that the wild card is the most challenging. They bet when they shouldn’t and stay in hands they have no business being in. By doing this, they may end up getting cards that beat you.
Just look at the world series of poker main tournament winners for the last few years. They have all been unknowns.
But, if the wild card is too reckless and play too many hands that they lose, they will usually lose in the long run to a more experienced player.
I think that the wild card is the most challenging. They bet when they shouldn’t and stay in hands they have no business being in. By doing this, they may end up getting cards that beat you.
Just look at the world series of poker main tournament winners for the last few years. They have all been unknowns.
But, if the wild card is too reckless and play too many hands that they lose, they will usually lose in the long run to a more experienced player.
References :
The individuals that have strategy are at a much greater advantage. These people will play wildly also, but when they play, they will play with cards that actually have about a 15-20% chance to win. They also understand what are called "pot odds." The "wild card" player will bet 50% of their money when they only have a 10% chance to win because they do not realize they only have a 10% chance to win. The smart player will only bet 10% of their money becuase they understand they only have a 10% chance to win. That is an example of pot odds. This is often really the only thing that seperates most card players. A wild card player is just as likely to get good cards as a smart player, but the smart player knows how to get the most out of his money by minimizing his losses with pot odds. No, you can never rule luck out of anything. No one can control the cards they get unless they are cheating. Hope this helps.
References :
The wild card is probaly a loose agressive player that bluffs at almost every hand (but is representing nothing) and will call with ace high. That is usually the most inexpierence type of player. These kind of players can be very intimidating at first, but easily played against. First you need to play a really tight style and play cards that you are willing to go allin with. Let me give u an example/ Lets say you were patient and you picked up AA on the button. The maniac (wildcard) raises 4xbb every hand and he doesnt fail this time. The blinds are 1/2 so he raises to 8. Effective stacks are 200.Now you want to isolate him and play heads up. A good raise should be around 24-32. Lets say you raise it to 27 He of course calls because he is a loose player. Flop comes out 26K rainbow. Even you though you have shown strength this whole time he bets into you. He bets 50 into 57 (the pot). You call and the pot is now 157. Turn card is 10c. He bets 100 now on the turn and you call. He goes allin on the river when a Q comes out. You call and he shows 69. The key was to be patient and get a good hand, then isolate him, then trap him by check calling all the way down until he bluffed his whole stack. Simple right?
The experienced and strategic player is a whole other deal. There is no set strategy against a good player as you have to change and adapt to his strategy. For example thats say your oppenent is a tricky LAG player that knows when to slowplay, bluff, give up and lay down hands, knows his pot odds, and most of all knows how to play not the cards but the player. Your image is also important this time because the good player will pay attention to it and alter his style to beat yours unlike the other where the maniac just kept firing when you were playing tight as hell. Anyways you are known as a TAG player. You have AA again on the button. Your oppenent (we’ll call him LAG) raises to 7 utg. This is a strong hand because a LAG knows that position is important and that utg is the worst position. Now everyone folds to us and we 3 bet him to 21. This screams immense strength, but he calls. Now we need to tread carefully. Yes hes tricky and loose but is he that reckless? He bets utg and then calls a 3bet from a tight player. Anyways flop comes k62 rainbow. This is one of those flops where you want to keep the pot small as you are either way ahead or way behind. He checks to you. Pot is 45 and you bet 40. Now he c/r to 120. Now we have to ask ourselves… what is he representing? AK could be a possibilty, but he knows we could easily have AA. The other possibilites are 66 and 22. Thats it. He knows he is commited when he does this because he will be getting a great price if we shove. He also knows that we have a big hand and we ourselves could easily have AK, AA, and KK. Therefore, he is either bluffing because he knows we know that he has a strong hand and that we should fold or that he has a stronger hand than us (set) and wants to use his LAG image. As you can see poker is a very complex affair when playing against a good player and very easy against a maniac. Hope this helps ALOT!
Edit: Forgot about the luck part… There is always a chance that you beaten by a oneouter. However, this doesnt happen very much. In the end your skill balances out your luck and if keep making plus ev decisions and get drawn out once in a while, you will be a winning player. Against decent player i think the skill to luck ratio is 85-15%.
References :
I treat both of these kind of players different, its not so much should i be more fearful of one or the other, the question is how do i play each one. With players who are good and know the game very well, i can make more plays on them. These players understand that i am representing a hand, so they will lay down big hands to me, even though i may have the best hand. Now with loose players i have to have a hand to beat them, they won’t know that the only hand they can beat is a bluff, they will not fold top pair with weak kicker no matter how much you bet into them, so i make sure i just value bet my big hands and let them hang themselves. Now i will bet into a loose player, but very rare will i ever just stone cold bluff them, because to often they call. Now luck is part of the game and bad beats do happen, but poker players do it for the long haul and never the short run. In a week i may be down, but over 6 months i am up, so that’s how you have to look at it, i never loss 300 bucks at a cash game table, and come back the next day thinking i have to win at least 300 for the day. This kind of thinking can kill you, over the long run ill make up 100 here and 200 there, and 400 here, then next thing you know your up1000k for the month.
References :