You're a Bunch of Factors

Ok just something that is on my mind of late and would like your feed back or advice

In my poker I always try and sit at a variety of tables. I try to avoid tables where I feel I have a big edge on the other players or who's play is extremely predictable. Instead I try to go to table with either new players, extremely strong players who dominate me or players who are highly unpredictable. My reasoning in short is that I need to be able to cope with this variety of play if I am ever to become a good player as lets face it in most tournaments you do not get to choose which table you sit at. My question is strategically is this the best move? I am really starting to loose confidence ( not that i had much in the first place ) and really don't think I am learning as much as I would like. 2 games last season I sat at the beginning of the game on a table where I felt very comfortable and made final table both times. While this was great for the confidence not sure great for learning.

What does everyone else think? Do you usually start on a table with the same people each game? For those of you who don't do you think mixing it up has helped your game? I am noticing that those who start on the same table at my venue usually do well in venue ( but nothing more than in venue).

*side note: there is an exception to this rule I NEVER sit on a table with my son if at all possible as he has god on his side and I can't beat that And also my husband as he really intimidates me.

This post scared me until I worked out you weren't talking about cash games.

madali wrote:I am really starting to loose confidence ( not that i had much in the first place ) and really don't think I am learning as much as I would like.

Focus on improving one area of the game at a time. Be specific in your goals. You will learn skills at a greater depth and comprehensively improve your knowledge and understanding of the game.

first thing i would do is ask yourself what your goals are when you are playing pub poker

for most of us, it means playing for fun

for the regulars on this forum, including yourself, i dont see that there is much to gain in terms of skill by playing these sort of tourneys.

sure, you might pick up things here and there, but everyone on the forum knows the basics, and thats pretty much all you need to be competitive due to the short stacked nature of the tourneys.

so i guess if you are after variety, then sit with lots of different people.

or if you after playing a "home" game with the same people every week (as i like to when i go to poker) then sit with the same people every week.


in terms of getting better, i would say that the best way to do this is to play online, and try to get lots of hands in at low stakes.

keep a 100-200 buyin rule for your bankroll and just try to get in as much as you can. experience is the key to improving your game

At in venue 888 games, I sit with basically the same 7 people - who happen to be very good players, with a variety of style nuances that I am still learning about.

I use 888 games to practice things and see how they work in reality compared to a book, and it costs me nothing.

I may decide to raise every unopened pot regardless of cards, raise every button regardless of hand, run bluffs, check raise OOP etc. It keeps it interesting plus adds some variety to my game that may help me when i play 'standard' down the track.

As benny the cunt said 888 tourneys degenerate into shove fests that are not condusive to post flop trickiness.

Oh, and if you sit on a table that breaks first (or early) you get the best of both worlds IMO.

gmatical wrote:
Oh, and if you sit on a table that breaks first (or early) you get the best of both worlds IMO.

Pretty excellent and simple solution

Thanks for the advice really appreciated. I get along just about everyone at poker and perhaps part of me likes having a laugh with a variety of players new and old. My husband can always find me because of my laugh because I do like to have fun with everything in life and always have great fun at in venue games . My aim with mixing it up is to learn to deal with loose aggressive players. I struggle against the loose aggressive players in a live setting and to me the only way to learn is to keep playing against them. If a player scares me due to his great play/reads or is a loose aggressive player who manages to own me every game I will try and sit at there table. With the great player it is to learn and with the overly aggressive player it is to overcome them gain back my confidence and own them every time we sit down. Thinking it may be bad strategy and I should just get on with having a laugh while trying to rack up enough points to make the semi's.

Would like to add to this what do some of you do to improve your live game? I know some of you are really good live with consistently good results. Not really into casino tournaments yet even small ones I really am eaten alive at these ( have only played a few qualifiers). Slowly getting better at semis and grand finals but still find myself outclassed a lot of the time. I would really like to get better and would like advice.

you obviously like to challenge yourself and thats great, but dont forget that winning is a great solution to problems, as it grants its recieiver confidence.

Maybe alow yourself to sit at a donkeys table once in every 4 games or so, or at least table where you belive you have an egde to give your self a good chance of a deep run, never forget that the ability to read and play player of less than a good standard is a good skill to have as there are always these types of players in any standard of tourney, and we can not afford to have blinkers on and only play player of a good standard as you will get blindsided by play you dont understand.

I think you'd benefit more from discussing poker face to face with the players you consider "good aggressive" rather than just playing them. I actually think it'd do more harm than good starting on the tougher pub tables because if they are regulars it's going to play differently than a casino tournament with a wider range of players and styles and I think you might pick up a few bad habits sticking doggedly to these tables.

Use the pub league as a stepping stone while discussing things with like-minded and maybe not as like-minded players to get different perspectives and styles and incorporate it into your own game.