Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Why on Earth?

20 JUN 06

Yesterday was the reverse of normal for me. Did great at 10/20 but not so hot at 20/40. Certainly got lucky on several hands. Got beat by a two outer for a $400 pot only to turn around and suck out a $250 pot with a two outer.

The point of today’s post is advice. As noted previously, I have several HUGE tells. Ryan has been using them to great advantage, as evidenced by his play with 2 3 soooted where he KNEW he had the best hand with his bottom pair, 3-kicker. I know that sounds silly, but I believe him.

Anyway, I’ve been working on improving my image so I’m less readable. I guess it’s been working because I’ve been on a hot streak, but at what cost? Part of my game is talking people into making bad decisions. But, like any tool, it must be used judiciously. It’s very effective against good players. But, to be honest, it’s not so great against very good or great players, and it’s almost useless against calling stations.

After pressing Ryan, he finally agreed to point out these facts to me as well as confirming several of the tells that I already knew about. I’m sure there are one or two tells that he’s keeping to himself.

The question is, why on Earth would he give me this valuable information? He will continue to play against me, so why would he want to help me get better? I think it’s because he’s simply a nice guy. Well, if I cash big in this year’s WSOP (and that’s a mighty big “IF”), I’ll tip him well the next time I see him. He wouldn’t expect it, but sometimes good things happen to nice people.

1 comment:

Heather said...

That's a tricky question - it's negative EV to give anyone tips on how to play, yet we all do it.

There are people I play with a lot that I talk about my game with, because there's an expected give and take. If I help you get better, you help me get better, etc.

Also, If I tell you how to play, I know what moves you're making :)