blonde poker forum

Flipping through Cardplayer mag I notice a small piece by Mike Sexton disecting a hand between John Gale and John Hennigan.  At the end of his article he states that "putting your opponent on a hand" is the No.1 skill in poker.

Agree?

Yes.

Fair enough.  Who considers this to be their No.1 skill?  It's certainly not mine, and is something I need to improve a lot.

I would say discipline.

fearless

i would say the number 1 skill in poker is being able to pass a hand ... is that the same as putting your oppo on a hand ??

In theory you can only make a correct pass if you have (successfully) put someone on a hand.

How many times do we see people put other players on hands but STILL can't pass 'just in case'.
For me, I go for position as a key skill.

If your reads were always 100% accurate then you would never make a mistake, and playing would be quite trivial.

Of course even the best will never get 100% accuracy.

Consider the absolute scandal, the cheaters could see everyone's cards and absolutely murdered the games they were playing...

Or even close imo.

Well no, but if you could get to 100% you would absolutely crush the game.

I don't think you could say the same for any other skill?

Being a right lucky chuff is probably most important.

i would say there is no number one skill in poker, its about using an amalgamation of skills together.

This is why you should bet for information about your opponents holdings.

I agree - I long for the day of winning an all in being a 70% favourite!

apart from the guys playin at highh limits(or those that pretend to) i would say patience is the most important thing. though calling it a skill might be stretching things..

i long for the day i win an all in no matter how far ahead i am it doesnt seem to matter

Bankroll Management, no entry fee non of the others matter

Dewi, that assumes you are any good at poker in the first place though , no? It would not help someone who was totally useless at poker.
:)

I dont think there is one skill that is the best.

Being able to extract full value from good hands, knowing how much to bet to push people of hands, the list is endless.

The most important skill in poker (to me) is to know your own weakness, admit it to yourself and work on it!!

and i forgot some people play for buttons ;noflopshomer;

just seen what i wrote. that may be the gayest sounding thing i will ever write. apologies for using the word amalgamation

Lol, brilliant.

Many skills are required IMO...
Examples would be...
1. Folding AK and other large holdings preflop(for your tournament life)to an all in with action to follow behind.
2. Laying down trips when flush on board
3  Extracting as much money as possible when hitting the nuts
4  Ability to mix it up so you become unreadable yourself
5  Taking time over decisions that can critically effect your tournament life (good and bad)
6  Calculating pot odds and subsequent outs when drawing for a hand
7 Picking up reads when watching players eyes on the flop and general attention to detail


etc etc

Being able to shuffle?

I'm sure TK will be happy to hear it :)

Hmmm for this debate I wouldnt make the assumption that you can or will put someone on a hand every time you play a pot.

A "read" would be something way more specific and therefore less frequently occurring. More often than not you'll be putting someone on a range.

I'd guess very top players who make these more occasional reads for precise hole cards are pretty accurate.

IMO the best skill in poker is luck

discipline and this includes the ability to not tilt are the most important for most players imo.

My first big learning curve was to master patience and put a structure around my game. That was vital and still is. I wouldnt single one factor out as being more important than others. There are many variables and they are all important. Knowing your opponents is high on the list though because then you can identify a likely range of hands they hold, giving you advantage.

I always think that patience, discipline and good bankroll management are the three key foundations to becoming a profitable poker player rather than skills. If you don't have the three foundations you will find it harder to become successful. Hence why a lot of good players go broke because they have the skills but lack the foundations.

As for which the number one skill is i couldnt say - its an amalgamation of lots of things that make poker players successful, thats why there are so many players with different attributes at the top.

correct

no 1 

top of the heap

king of the hill

etc

Funny because I've always found this to be people's biggest failing...they see the flop/turn/river in relation to their own cards and think hmmm it's good/bad for my holding without actually sitting back for a second and thinking what their oppo could have called/raised with.

For me, making plays on the flop texture, be it leading out or raising, wins a lot of pots and is the mark of a decent player imo.

What happened to game selection?

Somewhere right now in cyberspace, there is a game you can't win at and another game where you couldn't lose.

Putting someone on an accurate hand range is next.  Top players have shown themselves able to crush mid limit games playing blind - by being more interested in what their opponent is holidng than their own holidng.  That has to be worth a bit more than some of the other "skills" put forward!

I always find it funny when someone says "he raised small from up front, so I put him on a pair of sevens!"  That's probably more dangerous than not even considering the strength of their hand.  And yes, there are plenty of players that will go into the tank ~ meaning essentially they will think and think until they can identify a hand they could actually be beating, put you on it and make the call...

The ability to remember to always have position or to work out how many outs you have can't be the toughest one out there?

Staying sober whilst playing at a Blonde bash......the biggest edge in poker

I was about to post  :goodpost: ;iagree; but then i remembered didnt Chubbs make our Final Table in Walsall? :D

Ah the exception to every rule

Yes I agree and if I had some good bankroll management skills, I'd have a lovely purse full of dosh:) As it happens I dont but that has improved. Whats money if you can't blow it?...lol. On another note, does anyone think that money feels less real when its sitting online? I can blow several hundred quid in one night and I'd never dream of doing it in 'real life' in poker. It just looks like points or numbers and not actual cash to me.

No that is just because you are female.... ;whistle;

don't forget blonde...female and blonde.


jesus Eck, even I'm not stupid enough to go there ! :)

LOL are you forgetting i've met you?

Ok so maybe I would go there..but wouldn't post it on the forum!... ;)

Not entirely true either, but we won't go there...again.   rotflmfao

shhh ;)

Dewi gets it spot on. Start with the basics, without which the rest is totally irrelevant.

This man I love. We shall have babies & things.

C'mon guys! Gender has nothing to do with bankroll management and I'm a blonde brunette:)