Getting psyched up for live poker

Hey all,

I'm going to Vegas tomorrow (my 5th time playing $1/$2 live), and I'm trying to get myself ready psychologically. I'm asking for "generic advice" for a beginner, i.e. what to think about while playing the game in order to improve most quickly. I've played enough to have some idea of what ranges people are likely to play from what positions, thinking about pot odds when drawing, however I feel these are all very basic concepts. I want to know what sorts of things will bring my game to "the next level".

For example, should I be more focused on defining pre-flop ranges of players as opposed to finding "exploitable" post-flop betting/calling patterns? Should I be thinking about who is Cbetting most after the flop, and which spots they do so? Should I focus the most on thinking about which players are the biggest fish (aside from myself). When I play live it is tough for me to focus on everything at once, (all the different players, all the different actions going on) and I think some direction is always good for beginners.

I'm hoping that people can tell me which aspects of the game they think are best for a beginner with a limited attention span to focus on, as well as why.

Cheers!

You should look to your left and figure how how aggressive/passive preflop those people are, then figure out if you think they will be calling you down lite or will be floating lite and folding later too much.

Then you should look to your right and figure out how aggressive/passive those people are.

All the while, each time someone has the action you should say, "What would he do with x, then y, then z", followed by the next person who the action is on. Each result you observe, then you lump it into which ever it x/y/z it correlated to in your preconceived idea.

Now, because you are actually actively thinking about each and every action, you will remember things clearer for the future and feel less bored. It's a game of information collection when you first sit down. As you collect your data, hopefully they will showdown cards and talk about their hands.

Now because you already created a mental file of x = x1 y=y1 z=z1, when you see a x =/= x1, x=z1 a spark in your brain will pop, You will now a) remember this person for a longer period of time b) remember how their play differed from your previous hypothesis of them.

While, obviously as you do this memory file system, you should be playing your Hands as +EV as possible, not folding to find a better spot or whatever. Unless you aren't there to maximize money and instead file away data that is useless away from poker.

You will see that naturally as you file away x/y/z that your own ranges v each person will apparent without much guess work.

Example, he folds too much preflop. Your range is now infinite towards 100% until he starts calling too much. yadda yadda.

That's all poker is

The farther away someone is to your left/right the less important it is to know every intricate detail.

In the end you can just close your eyes and project the actions of each player as they come. You are now just visualizing them as the bytes of information they are, directly from your mind.

You are now in the matrix.

Don't know who you are highcard, but Ty for taking time to write meaningful posts

Best post i ever read at LP Highcard, well done

My advice: "If you don't know who the fish is, is because the fish is you"
Most of the $$$ comes from the fish anyway, wont even bother to play other decent players; time is better spent playing as many hands as you can vs fish.

1: Value bet.

2: Value bet.

3: Value bet.

This gets you to 100nl online and will have you completely slaughtering 1/2 live. Play like Hellmuth says he does - play tight, wait for top pair+ and then shamelessly shovel big piles of chips into the middle. Someone will think you are bluffing. Don't trap, don't trick, don't make big bluffs, that all comes later; you will make very good money just value betting. This one thing will turn you from a fish to being a very profitable player in this game if you have the discipline to stick to it.

Highcard's post is awesome, but you need to learn to value bet before doing anything complicated.

Love this thread until now. I'm about to start playing 2/5 live in Germany for a living and those advices meant a lot to me. Keep on going guys

Oly has it down to a tee. You have to learn to value bet it seems simple enough, but believe me it can get very tedious. Just stay focused on the task in hand abd dont try to get fancy.

On July 25 2012 02:38 patti wrote: Don't know who you are highcard, but Ty for taking time to write meaningful posts

Thanks man, appreciate it

On July 25 2012 03:11 Rapoza wrote: Best post i ever read at LP Highcard, well done

Thanks man too, appreciate it

On July 25 2012 04:08 Oly wrote: Highcard's post is awesome, but you need to learn to value bet before doing anything complicated.

Thanks bro, too

Hey all, thanks for the advice!! Will matrix value bet all day. Off to the tables now!

On July 25 2012 02:11 Highcard wrote: .... You are now in the matrix.

Holy crap that was the best post I have ever read on any site. Ever!

Seriously.

On July 25 2012 04:08 Oly wrote: 1: Value bet. 2: Value bet. 3: Value bet. This gets you to 100nl online and will have you completely slaughtering 1/2 live. Play like Hellmuth says he does - play tight, wait for top pair+ and then shamelessly shovel big piles of chips into the middle. Someone will think you are bluffing. Don't trap, don't trick, don't make big bluffs, that all comes later; you will make very good money just value betting. This one thing will turn you from a fish to being a very profitable player in this game if you have the discipline to stick to it. Highcard's post is awesome, but you need to learn to value bet before doing anything complicated.

Total noob here.

What exactly is a value bet?

absorb the most information & use it properly - thats it really