I am sometimes accused of "practicing" too much poker. The low limit play tournaments provide me countless hours of fun, and I sometimes learn something while playing them although they are sometimes not practical lessons, more like how to be a donk and win type. But, as I was thinking today about how to best improve my game I had some ideas that seemed like they would be fun to try. Here they are:
1. Play a game of RF (Raise Fold). You are not allowed to ever limp. You must either raise or fold from every position with every hand. Many years ago I used to play a limit game online that had that rule. I think it taught me to be more aggressive. Incidentally did very well in the game.
2. Only min-raise, and always on the button. This is probably a very donkey play as it allows many hands that would fold to a larger bet to call. The positive side of this is that it teaches you to play aggressively but excercise more "pot control". You can evaluate the flop and go from there.
3. Trap. Basically never raise pre-flop. Limp in with those aces, ace/king, etc. and see what happens. Flop a set but there are draws? Trap and let them have their free cards. Most of the time they are calling and hit surprisingly often. You can save some money here.
4. Play every unraised hand. Yes, play "limpede". Some folks seem to play this way naturally, we call them "calling stations". If you are running good you will nail some flops with unexpected hands.
5. Suited card game: This has several components. First, call with any suited cards or raise with big suited connectors. You can vary this by allowing yourself to call raises or not. Another variation is to only play suited cards. Tough.
6. Shove with any pair.
7. Raise with any ace, including weak ones.
8. Play only face cards and pairs.
9. Play "all in or fold". Those are your only two options. It will probably be a short tournament for you but it really is fun. They had a game of this at the Crazy Moose casino a few years ago and it played pretty well, better than you would think. It teaches you aggression and making good hand decisions.
So, trying one these this morning I had mixed results. My choice was only playing suited cards. This did not work out well as I quickly lost my discipline when dealt AA. Decided to modify my strategy and incorporate the fold shove pocket pairs. This worked out well as doubled up through the AA and later QQ. Lost a good chunk of chips by calling two shoves (separate hands) with KJ suited. Also lost a good bit with KQ suited despite turning the royal flush draw. Some tables it seems like the flushes just roll in regularly but not this time. It is worth another try.
Guess in summary these sessions teach you that your game must be varied as sometimes all of the strategies work but sometimes they are inappropriate. This is just a fun way to play around and see what happens.
1. Play a game of RF (Raise Fold). You are not allowed to ever limp. You must either raise or fold from every position with every hand. Many years ago I used to play a limit game online that had that rule. I think it taught me to be more aggressive. Incidentally did very well in the game.
2. Only min-raise, and always on the button. This is probably a very donkey play as it allows many hands that would fold to a larger bet to call. The positive side of this is that it teaches you to play aggressively but excercise more "pot control". You can evaluate the flop and go from there.
3. Trap. Basically never raise pre-flop. Limp in with those aces, ace/king, etc. and see what happens. Flop a set but there are draws? Trap and let them have their free cards. Most of the time they are calling and hit surprisingly often. You can save some money here.
4. Play every unraised hand. Yes, play "limpede". Some folks seem to play this way naturally, we call them "calling stations". If you are running good you will nail some flops with unexpected hands.
5. Suited card game: This has several components. First, call with any suited cards or raise with big suited connectors. You can vary this by allowing yourself to call raises or not. Another variation is to only play suited cards. Tough.
6. Shove with any pair.
7. Raise with any ace, including weak ones.
8. Play only face cards and pairs.
9. Play "all in or fold". Those are your only two options. It will probably be a short tournament for you but it really is fun. They had a game of this at the Crazy Moose casino a few years ago and it played pretty well, better than you would think. It teaches you aggression and making good hand decisions.
So, trying one these this morning I had mixed results. My choice was only playing suited cards. This did not work out well as I quickly lost my discipline when dealt AA. Decided to modify my strategy and incorporate the fold shove pocket pairs. This worked out well as doubled up through the AA and later QQ. Lost a good chunk of chips by calling two shoves (separate hands) with KJ suited. Also lost a good bit with KQ suited despite turning the royal flush draw. Some tables it seems like the flushes just roll in regularly but not this time. It is worth another try.
Guess in summary these sessions teach you that your game must be varied as sometimes all of the strategies work but sometimes they are inappropriate. This is just a fun way to play around and see what happens.
3 comments:
Ooh, these all sound like fun and would be interesting to try. I like the raise-fold idea and I actually try to use this most of the time. Perhaps I will try suited cards only. My granddaughter and I played 3-6 at Jokers last Saturday and it was so much fun. I miss that game a lot. We both made a little money too. It would be a good game in which to try a lot of these practice ideas. Can't wait!
Jokers also has an interesting high hand promotion during the Saturday 3-6 game. Not sure if they do it any other time. It starts with $25 paid for AAAKK or better. Every 20 minutes the amount goes UP $50 and the hand goes down. So the next high hand paid would be AAAQQ or better for $50, then AAAJJ or better for $75, etc. Kayla hit one for $100 and I got $25. It's kinda fun.
I love the practice ideas, do you only do them online I wonder?
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