ITH Poker Forum

[felt fishing]

I was just rereading a section of Jeff's first book (for the trillionth time! <img src="images/smiles/icon_surprised.gif" alt="Surprised" border="0" /> ) and I was reading about how against a bad player, he would take one action and against a strong player he would take a different action. As I read it, I understood clearly what he wrote and my mind assimilated it very easily as "that makes sense".
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Now, yesterday I was reading a review by another poker pro and he had made some comments about how how he thought that with so much info avaialble to players that the average player was getting better and better and that there seemed to be less fish in the pond since they were being gobbled up by all of the sharks. Yet, he realized that today, even these "better" players are relly not that good at all. (I realize that this is his opinion.)
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What got me thinking as i read Jeff's book, while it made sense, how did this help me when I am playing? If I am a poor player - which I am - how am i to recognize the difference between a good player and a poor player when their actions all look the same to me in any given hand?
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Sure, I can look at the guy - me - who is spewing chips and that is why people look to play with me, and I can look at their buyins and whatever stats I have accumulated to make an educated guess as to whether the player is winning or losing over a small sample of hands, but, If I am in a stituation where i should raise a weak player or smooth call a tough player (see pg. 90 of his book) I am more likely to be incorrect in my decision making 50% of the time.
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I also am aware that experience plays a part and maybe it is because I do not have the experience and I am letting my mind get in the way, but, as I see it, if I am making the incorrect decisions, I am more likely to make the same incorrect decisions in the future because I made them in the past. It is difficult to change a habit as we all know. SO, how do I go about making the correct decisions so that when my mind sees the same situation developing, its default is to make the correct decision again?
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I know that my posts on the various threads are becoming more incoherent - and I apologize for this. (see my Omaha posts) But, I am beginning to play mind games with myself and am determined to become a winning player.
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As an example, a pool player can always come out on top if he is always playing people who are worse than him. The same can be said for poker, except, in poker the cards are not know whereas the ball in pool either goes in the hole or it doesn't. There is no ability to bluff or take into connsideration what the other player would do because in pool you are the only one at the table. In poker, how can I judge the skill level of my opponnent and take the best action if I do nto hav ethe ability to quantify their play because my play is so poor? The obvious answer becomes, increase your own level of play. But, I have come back full circle to "How do I do that if I am making bad decisions?" and if I come across situtations where I would cahnge my decision - the result does not necessarily reflect my proper play which just adds fuel to the fire because i still do not know if I made the correct decision in other than ovbious circumstance.
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Again, please forgive the rantings and ravings of a searching mind.
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Jim

[Piemaster]

I guess this is not really a psychology question but a strategy one, but I'll throw in my 2c anyway.
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I think the quoted passage is right in that there are less bad players than there used to be and the bad players that remain are significantly 'less bad' than they were. Most noteably the typical fish in 2004 was loose/passive whereas the typical fish in 2009 is loose/aggressive and they are significantly more difficult to beat.
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It means you really have to pay more attention than before to spot the bad players. You can't just wait to see someone showdown 74o from early position or call a 100BB stack off pre-flop with KT any more. You have to look for more subtle signs of bad play. Common ones I often observe these days are slowplaying in terrible spots, getting stacked with top pair (NL) and bluffing the river too often and in the wrong spots (Limit).

[Jhay]

</span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>Piemaster wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">I guess this is not really a psychology question but a strategy one, but I'll throw in my 2c anyway.
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I think the quoted passage is right in that there are less bad players than there used to be and the bad players that remain are significantly 'less bad' than they were. Most noteably the typical fish in 2004 was loose/passive whereas the typical fish in 2009 is loose/aggressive and they are significantly more difficult to beat.
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It means you really have to pay more attention than before to spot the bad players. You can't just wait to see someone showdown 74o from early position or call a 100BB stack off pre-flop with KT any more. You have to look for more subtle signs of bad play. Common ones I often observe these days are slowplaying in terrible spots, getting stacked with top pair (NL) and bluffing the river too often and in the wrong spots (Limit).</td> </tr></table>
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Gotta agree with this it's more of a strategy imo