Hi Sky, I decided to give your idea of focus sessions a try, and I have bleeding money paying off better hands in marginal situations-so I decided to do a focus session where I would fold to most turn bets and almost all river bets of a third pot or greater unless I was certain there was a good chance they were bluffing (greater than the pot odds are offering) OR I was certain I had the best hand. To keep myself honest, I set a goal of playing 20-30 raised pots that saw the flop and making five good turn or river folds. I kept track of all the raised pots I played and actually looked for opportunities to fold! It was my best session to date. Obviously, a lot of that was due to variance-I got some really massive hands. But I DIDN’T lose my stack in any uncertain situations, which often tilts me in addition to hitting my winrate directly. So while I need more data to make a conclusion, I’m so encouraged by the results that I want to keep working on this skill. I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to Ed Miller’s book and for giving me a way to actively practice the skills I need to acquire. Keep up the good work!
+LTUMaximus Yes, I used to have this leak as well, but now I think I've swung too far the other way and I'm really quick to fold and I might be allowing too many bluffs get through. Tough to study this one as when they bluff you, you don't see hole cards so you never really know. But I guess normal studying with a HH review and narrowing their range as the hand progresses is the way to go.
Great advice. Especially on lower stakes. And final advise to abuse this in your favor to trick opponent is also gold. Some journalist asked fedor holz how he makes his decisions. His answer was whatever feels right at the time. Ofcourse his is a great player and maybe this was just a polite excuse to not reveal his strategy. Maybe he also spoke within his unconscious competency.
Yeah, I like the unconscious competency angle for his answer. He's studied and played so much that the right play comes to him via intuition which he's developed over time.
Hi Sky,
I decided to give your idea of focus sessions a try, and I have bleeding money paying off better hands in marginal situations-so I decided to do a focus session where I would fold to most turn bets and almost all river bets of a third pot or greater unless I was certain there was a good chance they were bluffing (greater than the pot odds are offering) OR I was certain I had the best hand.
To keep myself honest, I set a goal of playing 20-30 raised pots that saw the flop and making five good turn or river folds. I kept track of all the raised pots I played and actually looked for opportunities to fold!
It was my best session to date. Obviously, a lot of that was due to variance-I got some really massive hands. But I DIDN’T lose my stack in any uncertain situations, which often tilts me in addition to hitting my winrate directly. So while I need more data to make a conclusion, I’m so encouraged by the results that I want to keep working on this skill. I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to Ed Miller’s book and for giving me a way to actively practice the skills I need to acquire.
Keep up the good work!
That's awesome, Peter! I like seeing your methodical approach to working on this specific leak. Keep it up.
That's exactly where I have to improve!!!
+LTUMaximus Yes, I used to have this leak as well, but now I think I've swung too far the other way and I'm really quick to fold and I might be allowing too many bluffs get through. Tough to study this one as when they bluff you, you don't see hole cards so you never really know. But I guess normal studying with a HH review and narrowing their range as the hand progresses is the way to go.
Great advice. Especially on lower stakes. And final advise to abuse this in your favor to trick opponent is also gold.
Some journalist asked fedor holz how he makes his decisions. His answer was whatever feels right at the time. Ofcourse his is a great player and maybe this was just a polite excuse to not reveal his strategy. Maybe he also spoke within his unconscious competency.
Yeah, I like the unconscious competency angle for his answer. He's studied and played so much that the right play comes to him via intuition which he's developed over time.