Can I Do This in the Home Game?

Results: 2 hours played; up $56

I played a couple SNG's and a little limit poker during the down time this evening and had a pretty good session.

During one of the tournaments, one of the players started berating one of the others for sucking out on him. It got so bad that the others at the table were telling him to cool it. Usually I get a little ticked off when someone does this and I tilt a bit when playing against them. This time, I was chip leader, so I tightened up more than normal and watched the rest of the table go on tilt. A few minutes later, there were only two of us left and I eventually won.

There's definitely a lesson here. If you get steamed when someone starts talking trash at the table, rest assured that you aren't the only one. The best way to handle it is to tighten up and let the others battle it out. If you pick your spot, you can win some nice pots.

I'm playing in the home game tomorrow night, and I'm a little apprehensive. I'm sure I'll do well if I play my game, but I've been talking so much trash about it this week that some of the others will be gunning for me. I've become much more observant lately (especially in the tournaments), so I should be able to avoid most of the trouble.

Along those lines, I've noticed something recently. Everything I've read says that you really should watch and remember what the other players do on each hand. I guess I never knew what I was looking for until recently. Over the last several games, I've noticed that I have started picking up on the other players' betting patterns. Usually, I can use this to my advantage, but occasionally, they change play style on a hand and I get burned. I'm sure that my play is better because of this.

Also, I've stopped trying to be so exact when counting outs and calculating pot odds and implied odds when playing in the tournaments. I still estimate both (and have the standard outs memorized), but I think that's close enough. If I have to work too hard, it's not fun anymore, and I want to have fun while I'm winning money. Maybe after I've played another 10,000 hands I'll adjust, but this seems to be working for now.

posted by Kent @ 7:45 PM