blonde poker forum

I have been playing online for a few years now, I was lucky that at a very nice chap took me under his wing and taught me the ins and outs of the game. As time has gone on i have i think got better and although i used to go by gut instinct I now know that it gets me into deep trouble. I have read about the stats etc and playing by them seems to work i guess, so im thinking I need lessons. So im looking for a teacher, im assuming it will cost me so im asking advise. I'm not looking to break into the internatioal poker scene...I just want to stop having to deposit. So any poker coaches out there pleez get in touch but be sure i will post ur name in the lobby and would hope for a recommendation first. Night all xx

Suzane, judging by your eforts in the blonde-Titan tourney, you are doing just fine.

Pay for coaching? No way. There is heaps of good stuff, available free.

Have a look here.....

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.html

Or here.....

http://www.blondepoker.com/advanced/006000.html

Or here.....

http://www.blondepoker.com/ask/018000.html

If that lot does not help you - all of it by Dave El Blondie Colclough, & all of it free, then let us know, & we will find you some more. If things get really bad, I'll direct you to MY Pro-Tips, but they are only for the extemely advanced players......

But seriously, PLEASE don't be paying for poker advice. There is just no need.

Feel free to ask open questions about any part of your game on here, suzanne.

Blondites are always keen to help each other.

 :)up

Post a pic Suzanne, then you will be inundated with offers of home tuition ;)

Thanks for your reply tikey and i will deffo study those threads you have posted. I just feel sometimes that i am missing that vital thread...dont know how to explain it. I am not keen on the coach training bit as I think that i need to build my own game as an individual which will one day give me an edge as apposed to playing by the book but im fed up of making the wrong moves.

Hahaha Kev...so u want to see my piccy? Go to pokerpants.com and thats me advertising my bordello ;-)

My advice would be to read as much as possible, but study what you read critically.

You can play well by mimicking what the books preach, but to fully evolve as a player I really believe that you need to challenge some of the tips the writers come up with in order to better your own play.

Now i glad u posted that snoopy coz i used to play and win more often than not. I bought Doyles SS1 which i took when i went on holiday during the summer and read it and tried to apply some of the tips i picked up even though at the back of my mind i thought ..what!! Obviously his methods work as hes got a few bob more than me but I think what has put me off my play is that i dont believe in the cards i play now. My eyes have been opened to raise reraise on total rubbish and i have tried and succedded i might add but still havent quite got the knack on when to do it

Thats why i think i need a coach

Bloody hell Suzanne, a red blooded man like me could go blind looking at all those pics ;)  Nice bordello by the way :)

Suzanne. Read Doyle & co alll day, but INTERPRET what they say, don't follow their advice necessarily.

If you are the sort of person that can play the "raise with rubbish" game, then fine, do it. It takes a very special "feel" for the game to do it that way, & few can. At-It Bradley & Camel can, but they are both rare animals. But you cannot be what you are not. Play your own game.

Suzanne i would certainly echo what others say, there is no need to start paying someone to coach you. As many have advised read a few books, articles on the net and so on and so forth. Make your own mind up on whether you want to employ these tactics and what suits your game. I would also suggest asking questions (never be afraid to ask) on here about hands/ situations you find yourself in and you were unsure what was the best move. We have quite a few excellent players on here at various limits and games who will give you their view on the subject.
As regarding books like SS1 i would take their strategies with a pinch of salt. Doyle is and was a very agressive high stakes player who bullied his opponents off hands with power poker. Unfortunately some of us mere mortals(certainly inc myself) play at stakes where people won't put down 2nd pair to a re re re raise and therefore the power of a bluff becomes alot less. Doyle relied on his opponents knowing how to a lay a hand down (normally a part of a good players make up), therefore he could pick up money with the 2nd best hand. Having been a low stakes player for quite a while (slowly moving up the limits) my best piece of advice is to play your made hands strong and let people pay you off with inferior holdings.
Yet most importantly of all enjoy your poker, hey thats why we all started playing for, the enjoyment of the game. Tho i understand it is alot more enjoyable when you are financially rewarded for your play.

Bruce Lee used to talk about the middle part of learning being the toughest. If you throw a punch at an absolute beginner, chances are the arms will go up and successfuly block it. same with a master who's training has been fully assimilated into the unconscious. the intermediate student, with their heads ever filling with new and diverse information will be slower to react because they'll be trying to apply their knowledge to an action that needs to be instinctive to work. It's them that get the bruises

I've found poker is very similar in this regard. a brand new player will often instictively negotiate the game. Big hands are easy to spot and they'll often limp into the pot with junk a top pro might bluff with and hit. they'll often make perfectly timed moves by accident and catch 'better players' out by hitting slim draws or or not spotting the better players beautifuly crafted bluff. In this middle stage that most of us are in we're constantly trying to apply book learned knowledge, combined with past experience and it leads to wrong steps. Driving home from the casino used to be 40 minutes thinking over the half dozen or more serious mistakes I'd made in the night. More often these days I'm driving home feeling generally good about my game but analysing one vital error. I think you have to learn at the tables and try to avoid making the same mistakes too often.

theoretically the mistakes you make will become fewer and less serious but in practice I heard Phil Ivey say recently that he never plays a tournament where he doesn't make serious mis-steps that he kicks himself for.

Suzanne


the first poker book I read when I was starting was Brunson's SS2, I devoured it and thought it would be easy


A month later I was doing my cobblers and people were actually being rang up when I turned up at my local casino cash game to tell them to get there quick!!!

An old head took me to one side and I realised that there were other styles, that unless you are naturally suited to that game the "win small pots so you can afford to lump it all in from behind and win a big one later" approach wasn't my game

I went away and read widely...books, forums (way before Blonde arrived on the scene), tv programmes etc and experimented and gradually found a natural style

I got a few results in tournaments, began to beat my local casino cash game regularly and still try to learn.

I'm not a great player but I'm not terrible either and at times I still do stupid things.....in my opinion if you chuck a thread up here asking for advice, or posting a hand etc, the advice you will receive matches anything you'll see elsewhere

When I read SS1 I began to do my bankroll at an alarming rate, I don't have the bankroll or character to play that type of poker well. Since then I have read a lot more books and achieved a rounder perspective of the game. There are pieces of SS1 in my game but there are bits from a lot of others and some of my own ideas and tactics too. Try not to get down on yourself there are plenty of resources for advice out there Blonde being one of the best I have come accross. I wouldn't pay for lessons, post some hands that you think you played well or badly on here and you will get a lot of insightful well explained thoughts.

Don't listen to Snoopy tho he calls off his stack with j2 o/s  :D >:?

Good luck

PMSL @ 'people were actually being rang up when I turned up at my local casino cash game'  :D
I think like you said Adam I am at that middle stage where I have some knowledge of the game but not enough, then I suppose that will only come with experience and learning by my mistakes.
The reason for originally asking this question is because I have a friend who did a poker course and his bankrole has increased considerable by playing very aggresively which he considers to be the best way to play. I have tried but dont feel comfortable bullying the table but it does seem to produce results. Other people have also commented that i dont play aggresively enough. So im thinking I need to 'learn' to play differently or stay a mediocre player.
I will do as advised and read up as much as I can. I like reading the 'how would you have played this hand' threads and think I have learnt a few tricks from them and yes the next time I feel I have played a hand badly I shall be asking for your advise  ;)

Be sure to ask for advice, i've been playing for a long time but still make plenty of mistakes. I posted a thread about whether an opponents semi bluff was good or not today and have found several things to think about in my game raised by the blondites. You cannot get better advice anywhere else. Up the forum.

Quite. Up you too Ace2Mouth.

playing styles are largely speaking defined by your natural character. If you try and force yourself to be loose aggressive when you're actually a patient quiet person you'll fail. if you try and play tight but you're actually a loud, extroverted type, again, you'll fail. develop your own style and learn to play in a number of gears within your style. I personally approach the game from a tight perspective and become more aggressive when either blinds are biting, my stack is large or my stack is getting too small. I might also up the gears if I feel I have a significant edge over my table of we're short handed.
aggressive players will say 'tight' or 'rock' like it's a bad thing but the opposite of 'maniac' isn't 'rock', the opposite of 'maniac' is 'skillful'  8)

Spot on Adam. as I said to suzanne, "play your own game". You simply cannot be what you are not. Read a book by someone who has a different psyche to you, & you are all sizes & sevens.

Be yourself.

Here's another analogy.

Me? In life, I'm cautious by nature, look for the dangers all the time, measure the downside, look before I leap. (Yeah, boring old fart). In the main, THATS how I play my poker. I don't have much of a game, but it's the game that suits ME, & I do the best I can with it.

Now take, say, Jac Arama. He plunges in where others would fear to tread, looks at the upside, not the downside, & has no fear of failure. THATS the game he plays. Because thats the person he is.

Suzanne - be yourself.

If when your moving over the top of some one with your 72o and you are absolutely quaking and shouting fold fold fold fold at the screen. It is probably best to tighten up a little.

if you are quaking and shouting "fold fold fold" and it's a live game, definitely tighten up a little

Hahaha ok i will keep that in mind. Taking Adams advise I would say my normal play is much like yours tikey (does that make me a boring old fart too...mmm) so what book would you advise to read??

Dunno. But keep away from hand-specific stuff, go for "tells", "psychology" type of thing. IMO.

Try "The Psychology of Poker" by Alan Schoenmaker Phd

Thanks Tightend I will give that a try

PM me your address, I'll send it to you

 recommend that book too. I've heard it slated elsewhere but I personaly found it had a huge impact on my game and player reading skills

I found it helped me recognise what my natural game was and how I could deal with my natural weaknesses, and player reading skills

Yeah I agree, got it last xmas good read, helped me a lot. When you know the general theory, hand % ect.. it really comes down to situations and psychology rather than, " oh AK so i raise x amount. " Corny I know but the hand you hold becomes less and less of an issue.

Now we are getting somewhere. Forget hand specifics.

Suzanne, I think you have the answers I hoped you would.

Good post.

I'm in love with about 5 people from pokerpants. :)

Only 5 ?   my god man you must have high standards ;)

pokerpants?
am I missing something ???

you are happily married, so you are missing a bit less than the rest of us. Do a google!

Dammit Kev! You got me! That was a typo! 55 fine ladies! ;)

right

Yes Tikey and thank you all for your words of advise.

Does anyone like my pic on Poker Pants??

Adam has given some very sound adivce in this thread. It is the best way i have ever seen this point put accross.

However he is still a ROCK!! That game last night was funny, Malc vs Adam in a pot, there would be a raise and a re-raise pre flop then the flop would come....check check....check check....check check!!!

Nah only joking really, i respect the way everyone plays and you do have to find your own style, the trick comes through experience (and i know i have only been playing for under 3 years, however i reckon i have played a lot more poker in that time than those who have played for 15 years) to be able to vary your style. I can play like a rock and i can play like an at-it merchant, whichever i play depends on the table i am on. However i always want people to think i am at-it, it's much easier when people only have 1 move against you.

i thought someone gave you a lesson the other day Suzanne ::) ::) ::)

just one point anout ss1 and ss2 doyle states against weaker players your going to have to show a hand.i read doyle and tj cloutiers books and ended up somewhere in the middle    pokerram (steve)

HAHAHA @ ifm...you got lucky mate and revenge will be sweet

Shall we talk about the last hand you played that night suzanne  8)

Suzanne

One thing you should consider is that the long run in tournaments is very very long and what seem like wrong moves might actually turn out to be the right moves over the long run. 

I played in the ladbrokes $300 on Tuesday, I reraised someone with 99 to be called by 88,  I twice called shortish stacks (about 1/3 of my stack)with A9, to be shown T9 and 89.  Over the last year I went out of 6 major tournaments with JJ running into a bigger pair, but I won 2 big hands in Baden EPT with JJ.

There are often situations in the late middle stages of tournaments that can't be avoided if you are playing aggressively and correctly.   

Actually Robert thats not a bad idea, i have looked on titan but i cant find a hand id but as I recall... correct me if im wrong...UTG short stacked 900? chips, i raised preflop with JJ to be called by El Blondie who went allin with a similar amount of chips on the SB with Ax which hit. On reflection i probably should have went allin first but I was hoping to see the flop. Was the A on the flop or the turn I dont remember?? So do you think I should have laid the hand down??

hmmmm

A long time ago I put exactly this question to a certain Greg Raymer on 2+2 forum

To miss a chance to get all your chips in as a favorite when short-stacked is about as bad a mistake as you can make, the only worst mistake would be to put in a third of your short stack and then fold a hand that was winning on the flop.

It was a manic night, I seemed to remember I took you out and felt bad about it.

I do remember you getting hurt with AQv my AK.

I think you are right, like you said a manic night but a total buzz. I got unlucky with a couple of hands at the end. Never mind I will get you next time :-)