Piemaster Article - Little Things

[chillin411]

http://www.internettexasholdem.com/poker-columnists/ian-taylor-aka-piemaster/little-things/

At time of writing, England have just beaten Ecuador 1-0 in the soccer World Cup to progress to the quarterfinals. It was a scrappy game, in which England were the better side but were unable to really put the game away. The headlines in the English sports pages this morning were mostly negative. “A lacklustre team performance against an unconvincing Ecuador”, claimed one major website, with others carrying similar slants. (For those of you who aren’t soccer fans, bear with me, I am going somewhere with this).

[Leigh_Leigh]

Pie,
Great article! As a newbie to much of the strategy, this really helps to put into perspective all of the fleeting thoughts and struggles that one can experience during a session.

I almost always think the other person has some incredible hand. Here's to hopping I cap the betting when I have the best full house!

Tell me this, how do you fight the demon in your head when the villain does have quads?

[Georgeair]

Leigh - quads are such rarity that I don't think most really worry about them at a table with a 4-bet cap and the best full house. Even at a Crypto or other site where there is no cap, I think most would put in several more before resigning themselves to quads possibility. The time the demon should come out is when you 47 bet the river against this possibility.....

[Leigh_Leigh]

Just like Pie said - it is more than the result. Unfortunately, the sick mind looks at the result and is tricked by the win or the loss and so often forgets to look at how a hand should have been played. So, the question is really how do you make your mind focus on the play when the result is completely not what you want.

Perhaps that is where focus starts to come in.

[Piemaster]

It's all about changing the way you view money when playing poker. You need to have the mentality that saving a dollar is as good as making a dollar and that every session isn't going to end with a win. If you make a good laydown that saves you a bet, that is as good as a value bet on the river that makes you a bet.

We have a tendancy to look for mistakes in the hands we lose while completely ignoring those we win, but by doing this you are missing a vast part of the learning cycle. When you win a big pot, look back over the hand and think:

Did I win as much money as I should have done there?

Did I allow any opponents to draw cheaply that could easily have outdrawn me?

Did I try a fancy play when a simpler play might have been better or vice versa?

Did I suckout by hitting a hand I had no business chasing?


The thing is, by doing this in a pot that you have won, then you are being critical on yourself at a time when you will be in the best mood to receive that criticism. You've won the pot, nobody is going to take it away from you, but you can be disappointed with yourself for not playing the hand better. Give yourself a ticking off and resolve to do better next time.

I doubt many of us will ever be at the stage where we can totally distance ourselves from our results, I know I'm not. When we win a hand we will be pleased, when we lose we will be pissed. Just try to appendicise your joy/sorrow with critical analysis of your play.

Great, I won that hand, but I should have.....

Damn I lost that hand, but at least I.....

It's a cliche we have all heard a million times, but results of individual hands and sessions are just not important in the long term.

[taz115]

Awesome article Pie! One of your best yet.

One of my leaks is missing a few too many value bets on the river, and your right about how it doesnt bother you much becvause you are usually pulling in a big pot.

taz115

[mchilger]

If you like his articles, just wait until you read his book!

I'm hard at work on The Poker Mindset and am more excited about this book than when I released my first two books. We will soon be asking for edit volunteers so keep a look out for that post.

Matthew

[maddogmike]

I always like Pie's articles and look forward to the book.

Help me with the math on how to evaluate the value of folding versus calling down on hand 1.

I get 15% of time I'm ahead, and will win the 6BB already in the pot, plus two more : 0.15*8= 1.2BB

85% of the time I'm behind so I lose 2BB calling down: 0.85*(2)=(1.7BB)

So my EV is 1.2+(1.7)= (.5)

What am I doing wrong here?

[Piemaster]

Probably nothing. While I did make every effort to get the calculation right I am no maths guru. I'll have a look and see

[Piemaster]

Okay I found the discrepancy.

You say there is 6BB in the pot, but there is actually 9. There were 6BB in the pot, then you bet and are raised (6+1+2=9). Then it's not 2 more BBs you will win if you call down but 1 as this 9 already includes his turn bet.

So the first calculation should be 0.15 * 10 = 1.5BB. Take this away from the 1.7BB in the second part and you get the 0.2BB stated.

Yay I got it right!

[AlamedaMike]

Mr Pie - great article - it took me awhile to get around to it - worth the wait. I made a post about similar thought process - but no where near as articulate as you were - and someone pointed me to this article.

Just a few bets either way and things would be different. I need to play better.

Live I saw a player bet (HU) into a 3-suited River card and thenfold to a raise. I raised an eye-brow (reflex action) since I was sure his opponent had the flush and he said to me 'I should not be teaching you' The bet on the River was correct since most of the time the other player will not have the flush.

I might have checked in that spot and given a free card. This is a mistake unless you have a very good read on the other player.

Every time I check the River and win the hand I cringe - I do not value bet the River enough.

I need to play better.

What is this I read about a book?

[taz115]

Pie has collaborated with Matthew to write a book about the mental aspects of poker. We are all waiting for it in anticipation!

[AlamedaMike]

[taz115]

[AlamedaMike]

Me too but I think the point is that we help them by not controlling our emotions