I'm making my way through The PokerMindset, and what would any book on the mindset of poker be without a section devoted to tilt. FWIW, the book is solid, but at about 2/3 of the way through, I don't think I've really learned anything...most of the ideas it contains I've read many times on the forums or on blogs. It's not really causing me to approach anything in a different way, but had I not spent so much damn time reading about poker on the Internet, I think it would be a really good book for me. Definitely a kind of tactical approach to the mental side of poker, and I can't think of anything in there I don't agree with.
But they did coin a nice term: FPS Tilt (if you don't know, FPS stands for Fancy Play Syndrome). The idea behind it is that if you're playing too cute (especially if you don't need to), you are on a subtle type of tilt. I definitely agree with it, and find myself doing it pretty frequently. Usually, it's slow playing a big hand, or just trying too much to induce bluffs. The thing that makes it bad for me is simply that I should know that my game conditions don't warrant doing a lot of this.
For instance, inducing a bluff with a good hand is correct when someone will bet with a loser more often than they will call with it. But at the low stakes, people call way too much, so why not let them do it? That's not to say never induce a bluff, but you should only want to do that if you're pretty sure that they won't call a bet, not if they just might not call.
I used to think that a classic bluff induction spot is with a showdownable hand OOP on the river after draws on the flop don't get there. Like let's say you raise TT in the CO, the button calls, you're HU, and the flop comes Qs 4s 2c. You bet, he calls. Turn blanks. You bet, he calls. River blanks. Against a lot of guys, I suppose check/calling the river is best because if their draw missed, they'll fold if you bet, but they might bluff. And if they had you, the pot stays small. But what I'm starting to see more, or at least being aware of it more, is that the guys who don't like to semibluff their draws on the flop with a raise don't necessarily bet the river on the end as a bluff to take it down. And on the other hand, guys are happily picking off my river bets with 55 here, whether I'm bluffing or not.
My point is that although each situation kind of stands on it's own, I feel that I particularly am looking too much at times for the clever play, and one that actually requires my opponents to be thinking on maybe a little higher level than they actually do (maybe than I actually do :P). Without a clear read that the fancy play is actually the +EV play, I don't think I should be looking to do it as much. I don't think at 100NL I need to worry too much about being too readable, or anything like that. Anyone that's good enough to really read me probably is too good to stay at 100NL for very long, anyway. And if I see them when I move up to 200NL, then maybe I can worry about getting read :).
OK, here's an actual hand...maybe it's FPS tilt, maybe it's a decent play, and maybe it's a decent play until the river, and then I missed value. Villain is pretty unknown (only 25 hands), running 24/0/5 -- small sample, yeah yeah.
http://weaktight.com/129958
I was discussing this hand with Aaron, and while he was cool with the flop call, he thought I should bet the turn. I argued that similar to the flop, I didn't really want to blow him off a hand that was not drawing well. Yeah, he could have picked up some draws with that turn, but I thought more that he either had a made hand on the flop or was just stabbing. If he did pick up a draw on the turn, I thought that a lot of my raises push him off, and that he may still be encouraged to bluff the river if I just call again, and also if a lot of money goes in, it's probably not going to be good for me.
But what if that was just FPS tilt? Here's a guy who by early stats is not that good, he's open completing in SB vs. BB, and he's weak-leading a pretty dry flop. Weak ace anyone? How do I know that he's going to fold it? Maybe I should be making the straightforward play and raise the flop or turn.
Also, what do you think about my river call, given the way I played the hand? Time for a raise at that point, or do I only get looked up by better?
I feel like writing
7 years ago
3 comments:
I think the hand is fine its a good hand but not that strong so you played it safe. Decent. About the books i get what you say ive heared almost all this before theres a few thing in TAs book. What i would like is K you have the peices heres how to do it. Iam thinking that part cant be thought.
Marc, I agree with you about the book. I noted I definitely have elements of FPS and aggressive tilt in my game. Being able to recognize this is the first step in eliminating it. While I also agree that there isn't much in the book that I didn't already know, it's always good to be refreshed.
Stack size is important here and I am looking to play for his half buy in stack every single time.
Because of donk lead I think air is a big part of his range so don't mind the call on flop but I would raise turn for sure. Board is a bit scarier but more importantly by calling we make it difficult to get his stack in if he checks river to us.
Not sure on river as played but I would probably raise here too, if he has flush then let that be a lesson in raising turn!
Notwithstanding the above please bear in mind that I am currently on medication for 'aggressive tilt syndrome' ;-)
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