What areas do you struggle with?

[totalise]

Hi all,

what we intend to do in the new year is to have a thread each week or so, targetting areas that you struggle with, it will either be in the form of an "essay", where one of us will write an essay, and then the subsequent thread will debate all Q's you have about the essay, or it will be in the form of an essay mixed with questions, where a small essay will be composed, and you will answer the questions, and then the thread will be the basis of a discussion about that particular topic.

What we need to know is what areas of poker, be it cash or tournament, do you find yourself struggling with?  what situations give you headaches? what parts of poker cause your brain to hurt? post in here, and each week we will take one of those topics and form it into a sort of "study group" concept as outlined above.

[kinboshi]

Not sure if this is the right sort of thing, but I have a question about playing AK in cash games (I usually play 6-max tables), and what to do when facing a re-raise, or acting after there has already been a raise and a re-raise in front of me.

Should I be happy to get my chips in pre-flop, or should I play them more circumspectly?  I know a lot depends on the other players at the table, stack sizes, etc., but in general what would a 'good' cash player be looking to do with their AK?

[AlexMartin]

Not sure if this is the right sort of thing, but I have a question about playing AK in cash games (I usually play 6-max tables), and what to do when facing a re-raise, or acting after there has already been a raise and a re-raise in front of me.

Should I be happy to get my chips in pre-flop, or should I play them more circumspectly?  I know a lot depends on the other players at the table, stack sizes, etc., but in general what would a 'good' cash player be looking to do with their AK?

6max or full-ring? Full buyin or half?

[kinboshi]

Not sure if this is the right sort of thing, but I have a question about playing AK in cash games (I usually play 6-max tables), and what to do when facing a re-raise, or acting after there has already been a raise and a re-raise in front of me.

Should I be happy to get my chips in pre-flop, or should I play them more circumspectly?  I know a lot depends on the other players at the table, stack sizes, etc., but in general what would a 'good' cash player be looking to do with their AK?

6max or full-ring? Full buyin or half?

6-max, full buy-in.

[AlexMartin]

Ill give you my thoughts Daniel. AK is incredibly positionally dependant, more so than the other premium. Generally (and it depends on the looseness of the table) i will always raise and generally always re-raise. Yes deffo always re-raise pre. If im 4-bet pre then obv it depends on other guys stack/activity level but mostly i fold or jam. I call if the stacks are deep but really i want all 5 cards, AK misses  (flops) 65% of the time. Once you have taken the intiative you pretty well always c-bet, and a big bet too. You are afterall playing it exactly as you would if you have AA/KK. Only exception is if the board is very wet, like QJ9 or Q108. These flops are shitty. But generally if you rep uber strength pre then you do the same post.

If there has been a raise and a re-raise infront of you, i generally fold. I have nothing invested and i generally want a big hand unless there is some intricacy, eg CO is LAG and opens, button recognises and 3-bets accordingly, then you squeeze from SB.

You adjust this basic strategy depending on villain. If he is a huge calling station (cs) then you dont cbet.

[tikay]

Hi all,

what we intend to do in the new year is to have a thread each week or so, targetting areas that you struggle with, it will either be in the form of an "essay", where one of us will write an essay, and then the subsequent thread will debate all Q's you have about the essay, or it will be in the form of an essay mixed with questions, where a small essay will be composed, and you will answer the questions, and then the thread will be the basis of a discussion about that particular topic.

What we need to know is what areas of poker, be it cash or tournament, do you find yourself struggling with?  what situations give you headaches? what parts of poker cause your brain to hurt? post in here, and each week we will take one of those topics and form it into a sort of "study group" concept as outlined above.

Hi,

I would welcome your views & comments on my "straddle" thread.

Thanks.

[GlasgowBandit]

Chip accumulation early doors in tournaments is an ara I struggle with, would welcome opinions on how people accumulate chips consistently.  Once I have a stack I feel I play a reasonably strong game.  I often find that in tournaments its often boom or bust for me if I dont accumulate chips early.

[Dingdell]

I find I manage to get chips early on then don't change my game (perhaps) to keep them. Do I need to change my game? I'm not sure if locking up is the right way to go, but I would have thought keeping the pressure on is a better strategy - but whenever I do that I end up giving them all away.

So I suppose my question might be - should you change your play as the blind structure goes up?

[Laxie]

I'm in the same spot of bother.  Get a decent amount of chips early on.  Then sit on em until it's too late to make moves or make the moves and donk em off.  Timing.  Have HUGE issues with it.   

[GlasgowBandit]

So how do you two accumulate chips early?  Does it vary from freezeout to rebuy events?