Poker is a thinking game & Bluff Poker Tour Update

Poker & Thinking

I have still continued playing well in Sit n' Go's, I haven't had much time to play tourneys recently so SNG's and a few cash games are all I can muster at the moment. There are so many ways to play poker, and so many theories on the best strategy that I think some people get caught up in a system or a certain style. When I first started playing I tried to emulate a particular player, but that doesn't really work because you can't see every hand they play, or know what they are thinking at that time.

I read Harrington on Hold 'em to get a grasp on the thought process of a top poker pro, and it was interesting to see what was said in that book. One of the things I took away from it is, poker is a thinking mans game, you have to think about things that your oppnent may not have thought about. I hear players say all the time, "My cards ran cold, and I couldn't do anything." that is basically saying your skills as a poker player are linked to the cards you draw. That is only thinking at the first level, the cards are only part of the story. Here is an example of how my thought process has evolved recently.

Hand of Note:

Game: NL Hold 'em $5 Sit n' Go
Blinds: $30/$60
Position: Cut off Seat

I was dealt K 10 off suit, there were 3 others in the hand including the Dealer and Big Blind, I was hoping the Dealer would fold, but I decided not to raise because the Dealer had been making oversized raises pre-flop, so I wanted to see what he would do and he just called. The flop came 5 A 10, now since there was not pre-flop raise I assumed no one had the A based off of the history of the people at this table. It was checked to me, I checked and the Dealer also checked. The next card was a 7, it was checked to me and I checked again hoping to induce a bet, so the Dealer throws out a minimum bet of $60 everyone else folds, I call. The next card is an Ace, I check to the Dealer who pauses and comes out with a bet of $300, he had $1800 stack pre-flop and I had about $1300. I think about his history and I remembered that on a previous hand he had made 2-pair on the flop and over bet it, then anytime he had a pair pre-flop he would raise, so I thought about his previos bets and he normally bets large amounts when his hand is weak because he doesn't want to show his cards. I called the $300 after considering a re-raise and he turned over 5 8 off suit, and I took the pot down.

That's an example of thinking, even though he put out a big bet I felt my hand was best, a long time ago I would have been scared off by the sheer size of the bet, but this time I took a nice sized pot because I paid attention to details and put the information together.


Bluff Poker Tour

I wish I would have played more events on the BPT last year because, the final few events had less than 100 people in them, and this would have been a good opportunity for me to take home some points. I finished the BPT in 99th place, after only play in 6 of the 30+ events. I can't wait until next year, but they are offering a freeroll to the top 252 ranked players. I am going to play in it, they haven't announced a date, I am starting with 1280 chips, the top ranked player is starting with 4563 chips. It's a freeroll, so I am looking forward to it.