Confession 009 — Take Shots or Die Slowly
I confess. I’m afraid of looking foolish at the table.
I believe one of the biggest weaknesses of new players who take the game seriously is the fear of looking foolish at the table. It’s a common condition, as poker players seem ever eager to offer critical opinions on the gameplay of others (far more so online where anonymity removes filters). In a live game this might mean a funny look, a murmur under the breath, or a pointed comment, but online it usually means getting blasted with both barrels in the chat window. I’m already fighting some insecurity about my gameplay (I haven’t yet memorized any odds tables for instance), so I am somewhat sensitive to these kind of verbal attacks. Sure, I can always just close the chat window, but that just masks my insecurity rather than removing it.
Often I find myself in a tournament at SwC Poker, in good position with a hand that I should be playing, but I end up folding out of fear of being called (or worse, mocked) for betting a weaker hand. The funny thing is that so much of the time, these so called “weak” hands end up better than anything else at the table and I missed a critical opportunity to double or even triple up. As a result of my hesitance, I keep looking for a “good” hand to play and end up dying slowly as blinds eat my stack and that “good” hand that I’m waiting for never manifests. If you want to consistently win tournaments, you can’t afford to miss these golden opportunities.
Anyone can win at poker with great cards, and most players can win with good cards, but only really great players can win consistently no matter what their cards are. How do poker pros win with weak cards? They pick their moments and shoot to kill. They also aren’t worried about what kind of player their opponents think they are or what names they might get called in chat. They are not at the table to have fun with buddies or to make new friends. They are only interested in one thing. Taking as many chips as they can from as many other players as possible. They are stone cold killers and they sleep like babies at night on their metaphoric piles of gold. How do they do this? Well, among other things, they know that sometimes you have to play weaker hands at the right moment if you want to win consistently.
Taking your shot and going all-in can be really stressful and going all-in with a “weak” hand is doubly so. The thing is… it’s absolutely necessary to be all-in at least half a dozen times if you want to win a tournament. Further, you should be the one pushing other players all-in at opportune moments. It’s really tough to call that kind of a bet with a weaker hand, but if you want to be a consistent winner, you have to be ready to make that decision at any time.
Your table position, the gameplay of your opponents and the flop can all conspire to give you that strong intuition that now is your moment to push and push hard even if your hand is weak. If you are still unsure of your poker intuition, then make notes when you would push and see if you would have won the hand. This won’t tell you if your opponents would have folded to your push, but it will tell you if your gut is generally accurate or too optimistic.
If you find yourself folding out of fear of what your opponents might think, then you have some work to do. Steel yourself to the opinions of others. There is no shame in poker but that which lives in your own head. The only one you ever have to answer to is yourself.
You have to shoot to kill and fear shouldn’t enter into it.
Be sure and tune into the Fish Fry Radio Show and look for me at the following tournament as there’ll be a 5 chip bounty on my head. See you there!
THE KING OF HEARTS
This weekly column serves as a guide for those who are interested in online bitcoin poker but haven’t yet taken the plunge and for those who are just dipping their toes in the water.
I talk about online bitcoin poker from a beginner’s perspective with the goal of demystifying the various poker game forms as well as all aspects of online play, table and lobby etiquette, and anything else related to this space. I’m enjoying spending time with you.
Please send all questions, comments and suggestions to confessionsofapokerhusband@gmail.com.
My opinions and observations are my own do not reflect the opinions of SwC management. I will respond to all messages and I welcome your feedback.
Originally published at swcpoker.eu.
