Quote:
Originally Posted by WarPig6565
Realizing how little you control sometimes in this game. I lost 200 BB's in a 1-3 game recently with 99 on a 956 flop when the turn and river bricked. Sometimes the guy raised pre with 78s and flops the universe. Does losing that hand and in turn having a losing session mean I'm playing poorly and should make style changes? Probably not.
Was in Vegas a few weeks ago playing 2-5 with about a 1k stack, V just sat down and covers. I have A4ss, I get to the flop (A76ss) V checks, I bet and get called, turn is Js, V checks I bet, he raises, I 3-bet, he calls. River is a brick, V checks, I shove for the last 350, he calls, I win flush over flush. Does winning that hand and in turn having a winning session mean I'm playing well and don't need to change anything? Probably not.
It's one long session, focus on your game as a whole and on improving in tough spots. Don't worry about cooler situations, they even out in the long run, it's the tough spots that determine how well played your session really was.
Realizing that honest self evaluation of how you played in a session is more valuable in assessment than the actual dollar total for that session was my biggest aha moment.
+1, really good point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garick
My first aha moment was that it is OK to fold a made hand.
I think I'm on the verge of internalizing this one for long term success.
That seems obvious now to almost everybody (at least on this forum), but that made me a crusher in the dealer's choice low-stakes home games of the 90s. Back then, if you made a pair or better, you were usually in it to the river (these were generally limit or spread-limit games).
My second was the concept of EV. Another thing we all take for granted now, but the idea of long term averages was a huge breakthrough. It led to the corollary mentioned above, that winning a pot didn't mean you played it right and losing it didn't mean you played it wrong. It was amazing to me to see examples where both players actually played a hand correctly, even though only one could win. This quickly led to the idea of EV vs. ranges instead of vs. V's actual holding.
The only huge aha moment that might help people ITF is how much money many of us leave on the table by checking down medium-strength hands OTR. Value-betting rivers thinly, instead of being convinced that I'm rarely going to be called by worse and may be value-cutting myself, has hugely improved my winrate.
I think the 3 bolded points will be huge to add to anyone's game. I'll be happy to have 2 of them internalized this year and reap the benefits of phat value.
