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Summary of Phil Galfond's Well part1 |
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Mariuslol Norway. Dec 31 2009 09:20. Posts 4742 | | |
I'm reading through his well, and found it to be a siiick read. So started collecting things/notes, quotes and stuff for myself.
(That means everything here except the questions is from Phil).
- There can be a thing as too much aggression, does something to your range, so you have to fold to raises a lot. Just have it in the back of your head. For balancing purposes too
- Forcing yourself to play is always a bad idea, both financially and emotionally.
- No monetary goals, and try to work out regularly and keep friends in ur life.
- Moving with peopel who play/study/love the game, watching them play, and discuss talk about diffrent lines is something that made me grow sooooo much
- (Quote from a discussion with Durrr on a hand) he had something like weak top pair and was facing a big river bet. He was like, 'I think a call is better than a fold' and I thought to myself, 'yeah I agree' and then he said 'but I would shove' and I exploded. I realized that you should think of every possible option you have in nlhe. You usually have a ton of them.
- If you are near someone who plays poker and is smart, spend as much time around them as you can if you want to improve your game.
- realize that you have more options than you think you do. Thinking outside the box, turning made hands that are good enough to call into bluffraises that turn out to be even more profitable, cbetting 1/3 pot in a rr pot, etc.
* Ephipanies (or how you spell it)
- how to use your style/image and balance your range accordingly. I started out being pretty nitty before realizing that I could use my image to bluff. Then I started to get called down. I got angry, like 'I'm so tight, how can they call!?!' before figuring out what my ranges really consisted of in certain spots.
- every time the action is to you, it's an opportunity for you to make the perfect play. Thinking about poker that way is great for your game.
- I've realized that working out regularly helps your game more than you might think. I highly recommend it.
- I think the three most important areas of intelligence in regards to poker are logic, probability, psychology. They actually are pretty close in order of importance, and change depending on game structure.
- one of my strengths is that I'm self aware.
- Smart to get a coach early on, for a slight boost in your horly win rate is really significant in the long run
- Tommy didn't teach me the things I wanted to learn, but he taught me the things I needed to learn.
- A lot of people don't get the most out of coaching because they ask the wrong questions.
In poker, every player has personal motivations.
* Through watching their play, you can get a general feel for what they want, what they fear or worry about, what they are comfortable/uncomfortable with. Most importantly, you get a feel for what they want, at their core.
* These are generalizations, but are true for most people who play these ways. You can find out more specific details about a player's personality by paying attention.
* a nit is afraid of losing a lot of money with the worst hand. They're uncomfortable in big pots with marginal hands. They often fear coin-flipping for a lot of money.
* The loose passive player usually plays for fun. He wants to see flops and wants to showdown his hand. He wants to see if the cards in his hand can match up with the cards on the board, or if they're good enough to rake in a pot. He wants to see your hand.
* The Bad LAG wants to win THIS POT. RIGHT NOW. Anytime he gives up on a pot it's because he's holding himself back. He likes to gamble, and usually doesn't mind getting his money in without proper odds.
(He often (but not always) has pride issues, meaning he wants to show you how big of a man he is. If he trash talks, you can be especially confident that he has pride issues. This means that he very badly doesn't want to be bluffed off of a pot or miss an opportunity to bluff himself. It also means that if you have any history with him, whether you won a big pot, showed a bluff, got bluffed by him, really anything, he's more likely to bluff you or call you down light.)
* So those are his main character traits. What else does he do differently?
Phil's old Stats:
21/16 preflop, 2.4 total AF
W$WSF 45.45%, Went to SD 28.88% , W$@SD 55.56%
Flop AF 2.6 Turn 2.0 Riv 2.5
Q: Everyone always asks this, but what do you think are the biggest differences between the really good nosebleed players and your average 25/50 regular? Is it just small details?
Phil's A: Intelligence, time (different point in career), Being able to play shorthanded and adjust to players.
A lot of it though is honestly variance and being in the right place at the right time. There are a top players who aren't any better than some 25/50 players. They just ran good at good times, and have the roll and the risk taking ability to play in great games. It's not that rare that a 200/400nl or plo game is softer than a 25/50 game going on at the same time.
Q: Do you agree with the idea that 1 or 2 tabling higher stakes will help your growth as a player better than multi-tabling medium/lower stakes?
Phil's A: Yes, less tables definitely. Especially with another smart player watching you and discussing concepts. And especially HU tables.
Higher stakes, not really. It might make you a bit more interested, and the competition will be a bit tougher, but you might not play your best. You can learn a lot about the game 2 tabling fish hu though.
Q: What dictates your decision to quit/go on with any given session?
Phil's A: The one thing I learned most from Tommy Angelo, is how awesome quitting is.
You should pride yourself in making a good quit. I really mean that. When I'm playing and make the decision to quit, I'm very happy with myself.
The two real reasons to quit are if playing is -EV financially or -EV emotionally. I know the latter isn't a real thing, but I use it all the time.
Basically, if for whatever reason I think I'm not a favorite (or a very small favorite), I'll quit (Ideally).
Or if I'm unhappy or stressed out by playing, or would be much happier doing something else, I quit (Ideally).
Reasons you become -$EV should be obvious, and you should realize when you are unhappy.
- Phil Quotes:
"Think of what your opponent wants you to do, and then do the opposite"
"Saying position is important in poker is like saying distance and direction are important in golf."
"It can never be that wrong to not play"
'Approach every decision as if it were tomorrow and you were looking back upon it'
Phil's thoughts on going through rough downswings; confidence issues, tilt, emotional effects, etc.
* It's easy to play when things are going well. How a player deals with a bad run is what defines him as a poker player.
* The most important thing is the be honest with yourself. Admit when you aren't focused or playing your best. Take breaks all the time. Get outdoors if you can. All the time means every 90 minutes or less.
* If you're afraid of losing your seats, take 3 minutes and walk into another room, do 20 pushups, go to the bathroom/grab some food, and come back.
* Taking time off when on a downswing is always a better idea than you want to admit. Getting away from poker for some reason usually helps you get your confidence back.
* Be willing to quit games when you find yourself tilting at all. Most people tilt by going on autopilot and don't realize they're tilting.
* I think it's probably possible to stop most of your tilting. It's very difficult though. Understanding that you tilt, and being able to identify it and quit is your best bet by far.
* Also don't play tired, unless there's a very big fish in the game.
Q: in playing the highest stakes, aside from the rare and egregrious fish, what are some subtle distinctions between winning/marginal/losing players?
Phil's A: think that a lot of medium-good but not great players probably undervalue betsize/timing tells. Especially against weaker opposition.
Q: Also, do you believe that some inherently winning players (that is, with the skills to win) end up losing longterm, and vice versa?
Phil's A: Some players are smart enough and work hard enough to win, but lose because of 'soft skill' leaks. Things like game selection, BR management and tilt control.
Q: Looking back what are some things you would change or stress for someone looking to get to your level to do or not to do? Any mistakes you made a lot that took you a few times to learn?
A: The best thing I ever did for my poker game was meet other people who played poker. My poker friends and coaches helped me move up 3x faster than I would've on my own.
I'd also recommend trying to eliminate autopiloting. Too many players can't make the jump into bigger games because they don't know how to think for themselves. They just play a TAG cookie cutter style and think it will continue working because they crushed the lower limits with it.
Some rant about goals: I think it is very important to identify your goals as a poker player so that you can act in a way to achieve them.
Do you just want to have fun playing? What’s fun for you? What would keep you from having fun? Do you want to make money? How much? When? In the next two weeks? For the next 10 years of your life? Can the big money wait? Do you want to keep getting better? At what game? Why?
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| | Last edit: 31/12/2009 09:24 |
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LemOn[5thF] Czech Republic. Dec 31 2009 10:04. Posts 15163 | | |
Thanks a lot, this can help a lot of people.
You can See Tommy Angelo's footprints all over the place. |
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LemOn[5thF] Czech Republic. Dec 31 2009 10:07. Posts 15163 | | |
And thank god nobody on LP will read the whole thing that you put down and think about it, the games would get too hard  |
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| 93% Sure! | Last edit: 31/12/2009 10:07 |
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Mariuslol Norway. Dec 31 2009 10:32. Posts 4742 | | |
I think most of the stuff is to "deep" / hard to just read and "get", many concepts, ideas and thoughts you need to explore, study and think about/practice for awhile to get down xD
Why can't I write proper sentences lol. |
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LemOn[5thF] Czech Republic. Dec 31 2009 10:37. Posts 15163 | | |
| | On December 31 2009 09:32 Mariuslol wrote:
I think most of the stuff is to "deep" / hard to just read and "get", many concepts, ideas and thoughts you need to explore, study and think about/practice for awhile to get down xD
Why can't I write proper sentences lol. |
I watched and rewatched 8 hours of Tommy Angelo's Guide to Poker Enlightenment, thought about it another 40 hours and apply it every single day.
I can understand how reading something from one of his students will be much harder to grasp for many people than for myself :o
And I think its hard to write it any better without using 5k++++ words Marius, you have so many valid stand alone statements there |
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| 93% Sure! | Last edit: 31/12/2009 10:42 |
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Mariuslol Norway. Dec 31 2009 10:42. Posts 4742 | | | |
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LemOn[5thF] Czech Republic. Dec 31 2009 10:51. Posts 15163 | | | |
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genjix China. Dec 31 2009 11:22. Posts 2677 | | |
Thank you for this. It was really really good. |
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| If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. | |
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hiems United States. Dec 31 2009 13:02. Posts 2979 | | | |
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| I beat Loco!!! [img]https://i.imgur.com/wkwWj2d.png[/img] | |
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