Getting the Balance Right

A few people have approached me recently to ask about the importance of aggression in poker and how crucial is it. Well it is very important and I am not going to contradict the messages that are in the books and everywhere else.

But blind aggression can be a terrible weakness and especially against good players and it has to be said that the players are getting better online week by week. You simply need to get your ratio of folding to raising correct.

This really only comes with experience but if you raise too much against decent players then you are going to get played back at and as for bluffing in those circumstances then forget it. I get away with an awful lot of bluffs both in limit and NL simply because my play creates the belief in my opponents minds that I have a hand more often than I actually do.

It is a fine line because a total nit will get respect whenever they raise but they are playing too tight and will slowly starve to death in many games. Being aggressive is easy, any fool can be aggressive. It is knowing when to be aggressive and how often that are the key issues here.

There are no easy answers to this question except that you will know when the time is right when you can “feel” what is the correct thing to do.

I have been playing well below the 25-50NL this week although I must point out that I do not always play at that level….far from it. There are some very good players in those games that I will not tangle with unless there are one or two easy targets on that table.

I spend more time watching that game these days than actually playing in it and I only dip my beak when it is really juicy. Been active on the 3-6 NL this week and done OK and also had a couple of good sessions in 30-60 limit although one of the games was very tough and I should have left but I got on a rush of hands.

Looking forward to the weekend, might just do something normal for a change.

See you soon

The Dean

These Online Guys Can Really Play

Since the explosion of online poker, there have been many “old” pro’s who have made snide remarks at us online players. Many talk about how it “aint real poker” or “they would get their ass kicked in a real game with top players”.

Maybe some would…..but many prove their metal and I also would like to add that many of these so called big named live players have done bundles in online (no names). They are two totally different environments but it is more than possible for a top online player to make it big playing live and vice versa of course.

But I would just like to say a big congratulations to Thomas Bihl who has recently won the WSOPE HORSE event beating an all star field in the process. The guy is better known as “Buzzer” on Betfair and has been a top player for some time, so good that Betfair sponsored him.

I was surprised to see him win the HORSE event because his big thing is SNG’s but it just goes to show the strength in depth of many online players and their abilities. Believe you me, Buzzer is far from being on his own.

There are many online pro’s who I refuse to tangle with at limit hold’em simply because I cannot ascertain any meaningful flaws in their games. The poker world are not aware of who they are but their games are something else.

Players like Brian Townsend and Prahlad Friedman amongst others have become very well known in their own right. In fact Townsend regularly plays in the biggest NL and PLO games on FT against the very best in the world.

But making $100,000 a year online is still no big deal if you have the correct clubs in your bag and the top players earn seven figures. It is the players further down the food chain who are struggling as was mentioned in a previous post.

But the biggest winners on average are online players, they may not be the most known, they may not have big deals with online sites that subsidise their tournament play but they do have one thing going for them…..tons of ability and they are dangerous as hell because the world at large dont know who the hell they are.

see ya soon

The Dean

Its getting tougher

You bet your life that online poker is getting tougher, I recently viewed a statistic that said that only 9% were making it pay over the long term whatever “long term” means.

But I have spoken to a few people recently who even doubt the validity of that figure and think that it is nearer 5% and several people on The Hendon Mob forum seem to agree. To be honest I was not aware of the latest figures but  certainly felt that the figure was less than 10% for sure.

This goes to show that it is more important than ever before to make “quality” far more important than “quantity” and is a reason why I do not multi-table very often. Back in 2002 and 2003, I used to play 50/60 hours a week but I feel that this is no longer possible as game selection becomes critical the higher up that you go.

With the explosion of interest in poker came an explosion of poker tutorial material and even the sites themselves are educating players because at the end of the day, they do not like players getting blown out by Sharks or through ignorance and want a levelling of the playing field.

Cannot fault them for that, just good business practice but it does highlight the point that todays online poker player needs to be better than they have ever been in order to be successful.

Get educated or get broke….its tough either way.

take care

The Dean

Forum fondness

I must take this opportunity to comment on the overall effectiveness of joining a very good poker forum when it comes to improving your game. I joined the Hendon Mob forum in early Feb this year and it has improved my game quite a bit.

There are some very knowledgable people on that site and it is always good to see informed views and opinions of other people. I have learnt stuff about certain poker sites especially, that I did not know beforehand.

2+2 is another great forum for technical content but I like the English feel of the Hendon Mobs.

So anyway, back to the poker, followed on from the weekend with two more decent sessions at limit hold’em. Won 22BB in a $30-$60 game and another 17BB in a $15-$30 game on Monday.

Lost about $500 on Tuesday and went back to play early this morning and crushed a $10-$20 for over 80BB in under four hours. But what was pleasant about those games was the fact that my mind was in the right place and the bad beats (of which there are many in limit and especially at 10-20) did not even get to me even when I was tired although I should have stopped at that point.

Just also like to say good luck to all of the English and European players competing in the WSOPE and a special well done to Joe Beevers who made the final table in the H.O.R.S.E event.

Catch up soon

The Dean

The Books did the business….for once!

Don’t get me wrong here because you can get an awful lot of knowledge from any book and poker is no different. But in order to reach the top in any field then simply reading from books is not going to cut it.

But…..those two books that are mentioned in a previous blog have really got me back on track mentally. Could not get a suitable game in the 25-50 but played in a very good 10-20 NL and won just over $5000 over the space of the weekend.

In fact I put quite a few hours in on Saturday and Sunday, stopping only to eat, sleep, watch the England vs Israel game and the Grand Prix. So life is good today.

Became a regular writer for The Hendon Mob last week and will be appearing on their home page every week (Thursday) from now on talking about strategy for limit and NL hold’em hold’em. You can see them at www.thehendonmob.com

Talking of strategy, we touched on bluffing last time I think. Well as a continuation of that, flop texture is a vital part of bluffing as well. For instance if you open raise from the seat to the left of UTG in a 6-MAX with 9-9 and get two callers after you plus the big blind then you need to slowdown with most flops.

Three opponents, bad position and a bad flop makes it even worse. Look at the difference here with a K-7-2 rainbow board. If no one has a king (or even if they do), a flop bet could take this as you represented a hand like AK before the flop.

But contrast that to a flop like K-Q-J with two of a suit…..oh dear. You can try and represent AK now but dont hold your breath that a flop bet is going to take this down with that kind of flop.

So you really need to pay attention to flop textures and how they specifically fit in with other factors such as number of opponents, your pre-flop action, their pre-flop action, stack sizes, position etc etc. When it all comes together, you will get a very good indication of not just when to bluff but when to continuation bet as well.

 Take care

The Dean

The Art of Bluffing

Getting ready for some serious poker this weekend, dont care if it is limit or NL but my head is right (I think) and it is time to put the peddle to the metal by way of number of playing hours…..watch this space.

 Onto bluffing then, so what makes a good bluff? Well I see too many people simply try to blast too many people out of pots. This happens some of the time when your opponents are either timid or weak and simply fold. But it is disasterous when you try to play this way against either bad or very good players because one does not know when to fold and the other is smart enough to play back.

Whenever I play poker, I am usually aggressive whenever I enter a pot but the frequency of how often I enter the pot is a lot less than most players. This means that I can get away with more than the average player because of my image.

This is very important because while you are busy watching the other players, they are busy watching you as well. When a bad bluffer starts out bluffing and continues and gets called or raised then he loses far bigger chunks of money than he gets by bluffing successfully.

Good players and bad players will lower your bluffing success rate significantly and you have to learn to pick your spots and picking your spots properly means an awful lot of things.

How are your opponents playing? What type of player are they? What is your table image? What type of board is showing? What are your opponents stack sizes?….the list goes on.

Blasting players out works…..sometimes…..but the method is too crude to be really effective as a full time tactic with no deviation to it. So the next time that you decide to bluff, don’t just do it but mentally prepare for it by gathering data beforehand and you might just find that your bluffing success will go through the roof.

see ya soon

The Dean

Back to basics

Well it is never too late to go over old ground and I am certainly no egotist when it comes to admitting that I have made a right hash of things. Lately my discipline has been an absolute crock of dung and I have been busting a gut over the last 96 hours trying to find out why.

I dont think that simply taking a break will do the trick but I tell you what, I am in a far better frame of mind on Wednesday evening than I was on Saturday afternoon I can tell you. I always feel that talking about things helps you to not only come to terms with whatever is wrong but to also find the answers as well.

I have long thought that you can easily find great examples of how to proceed and act in poker from non poker related fields and this subject of game theory fascinates me and has done for some time. But I tell you what, I have read two books on the stock market and trading over the past 4 days and all I can say is this.

If I had read those books last month or even last week instead of this then I would be a few grand richer today I can tell you. Those books were “Come into my Trading Room” by Dr Alexander Elder and “The Way to Trade” by John Piper.

Those two books, both written by market professionals clearly underline the meaning of the word “professionalism”……a term that I have been struggling with over these past few weeks. I cannot believe that I have been mentally snapped back into place in such a short space of time…..it was quite flukey really that I read them this quickly.

But they highlighted certain mental techniques that I have taken on board that I am confident will drag me back into playing in a far more professional way than I have been of late.

My poker world is not falling into ruins after all….The Dean is back…..lock up your bankrolls.

Seriously, the world feels good today. The money lost…..well that was just a lesson that I learned the hard way but it sure as hell will not be repeated because if it ever does then I am packing the game in and you have not heard me wrong….I mean it.

The Dean

A time to reflect

Well after Saturdays debacle, it was time to have a real good think about where I stand with my poker. Years ago when I first turned full-time, I played limit hold’em at a rate of between 50-60 hours a week online. This really starts to get to you after a while and was a major reason why I went into coaching and writing, simply because I was craving variety.

To break the monotony and seclusion of playing poker at home in my own study, I undertook to learn new forms of the game, anything to break it up. The lack of sensory input with online poker is often underestimated and it is far from being in a proper B&M card room with all of the extra avenues of entertainment to grab your attention.

But I have tilted badly now twice in the space of about two weeks and to me this indicates something is wrong with my mental state. This is crucial to winning poker and with less than 10% of players making it pay online in the long term then you really cannot afford to play emotional poker.

Isnt it funny how we all know this but yet indiscipline and tilt is always just around the corner. I thought that after my enforced absence that I would come back fresh and raring to go and for a while I thought that I was. But I cannot afford for my head to not be right in the 25-50 NL because I will get eaten alive in that game.

But poker is a mental game and knowing the theory is only a small part of it. Maybe I am changing as I get older, maybe too much ring game action is getting to me, maybe I need to get out more and do more non poker related activities. Maybe I am slowly losing discipline, maybe I need to play tournament poker instead.

All these questions and more are flying around my head and I dont have the answers as yet. I do not have the appetite for playing infront of a computer screen for 40 hours a week anymore that is for sure. So I am taking a week off not just away from poker but to reflect on where I am at.

OK, so things are going well results wise, but there is something that is not quite right with my mental state and I am going to find out what the hell it is.

Speak soon

The Dean

CRUSHING ONLINE SINGLE TABLE TOURNAMENTS

With the advent of the internet, certain types of poker have become ever more popular. No Limit and Limit poker has increased in popularity and also tournament poker as it is this form of the game that is so heavily marketed. But one of the most popular forms of tournament poker at this present time and especially online are single table tournaments or SNG’s for short.

Over in no more than an hour, they can be played by anyone that does not have the time or inclination to play cash games or longer and bigger tournaments. It is obvious to see why they are so popular and they can be played for various amounts of money and can be played for serious profit if you can master the correct way of playing them.

Professional poker player, coach and author Carl “The Dean” Sampson shows you how in his new explosive e-book…CRUSHING ONLINE SINGLE TABLE TOURNAMENTS! In this easily downloadable e-book, “The Dean” shows you how to approach these quick fire games and turn them into a serious revenue stream by presenting the reader with clearly defined strategies and objectives that shows you just how to play at every single stage of the tournament.

For those of you who are unaware of the credentials of “The Dean”, feel free to read up a bit more about him in the “Meet the Dean” section of the site. But at this present time, Carl is one of the most profitable online players in Europe and an expert on single table tournament play. In fact “The Deans” style of play is so powerful and so effective that the e-book is endorsed by non other than former WORLD POKER CHAMPION AND FOUR TIME WORLD SERIES WINNER TOM MCEVOY.

We have teamed up with Tony G Poker for a fantastic special offer! Simply deposit $40 or more into Tony G Poker Room, and receive Crushing Online Single Table Tournaments, several free gifts + 100% matching bonus from Tony G! –  the reader will rapidly catapult themselves into the category of player that your opponents will dread and fear in these types of games. As if that is not enough, you will also get access to several FREE gifts as well as direct access to a personal poker forum where you can chat and talk poker with other members as well as “The Dean” himself…..an absolutely invaluable golden extra. So do yourself what could turn out to be one of the biggest favours in your poker career to date and get yourself armed to the teeth with CRUSHING ONLINE SINGLE TABLE TOURNAMENTS.

Is it ever really under control

Well, I just feel that I have to tell all what happened today and it aint good. I have lost big chunks before and I have tilted before but I have never started a session on tilt and tilted all the way through it.

Without going into finer details, I have been having a few family problems of late but that is certainly no excuse when it comes to poker. I had about $1800 which had been lying dormant in a site for a few weeks and this afternoon I tilted the lot off in a crazy series of limit hold’em short handed games at 10-20 and 30-60 just for the sheer hell of it.

The amount was no big deal but I pride myself in being professional and I honestly dont know what happened today. Maybe this was the big blowout that I had been badly in need of as ring games can get very monotonous even online or at least they seem that way to me.

I dont know, maybe I need a break from the game, winning money no longer has appeal but I have always thought that I had myself under control but this is twice now in the space of a few days that I have tilted money off.

 I am going to assess things for a few days and see what kind of mental shape I am in. Luckily it was only $1800, if this had been the 25-50 then it could have been a lot worse. It just goes to show that the tilt monster is never really very far away at all.

See you soon

The Dean