One of the most difficult parts of playing poker is to play fair to good poker consistently. Some casual players all the way to the die hard players who should be dialing Gamblers Anonymous suffer the same malady at the tables. Players arrive at their favorite card-room with the best of intentions. They are going to only play good hands. They are only going to bet the flop with the best hands. They are only going to the show down with pat hands. In other words they are not going to chase to the river hoping to catch a miracle card.
If these Players did not exist, poker games would be very boring. Everyone would be playing correctly, the average pot would be small. Rarely would more than two players face off at the river. One hours observation of an average Low Limit Holdem game dispels the relationship between what players should be doing and what players are really doing.
Of course if it is you or I we are discussing, we always play perfectly for table conditions. We never get ruffled, and we love it deep down when someone chases to the river for that one in forty-something miracle card and gets it – even it happens way too often.
You on the other hand think you are watching your chips drain away. Throwing away hands you see the rest of the table winning with s the round crawls on. An hour or so passes, and we start playing those hands because they are looking better than an hour ago, and ‘everyone’ is winning huge pots with those same bad hands
Almost everyone at the table is playing poorly except us and that old man who has no life outside of the card room. Everyone is laughing and having fun. The problem is that old man has forty years of patience and a limited bankroll. You and I only share one of those attributes with him. My bet is it is not patience we three share.
Before you realize it, your ‘just this once’ bad play has evolved into playing as bad as everyone else at the table. Any edge you had from your skill set is now reduced to luck of the cards, and they are not feeling so lucky at the moment. But it has rewards attached, you won a big pot on your second bad hand.
One of the hardest to rules to adhere to, and one of the most expensive rules in any form of poker is: “A bad starting hand does not improve by throwing more money into the pot, and one outers rarely arrive by the river.”
Whether you think you are changing your game up, playing in late position with many callers, or the big blind with six players and one raise, a bad starting hand remains a bad starting hand. The only variable that changes over the play of a few bad hands is another players stack.
One idea that may help you improve, and only if you are not addicted to action is changing games. Some poker games are slow and boring by default. Mid level Holdem according to many players is pretty much abc poker. Learning an entirely different game may help with the boredom of throwing away hand after hand, watching some Turkey win more pots than seems humanly possible.
Ever thought about learning Omaha Hi-Low, Stud Low, Pineapple, or another poker game that may be offered? The one you never really looked at, but you see chips flying around faster than players can stack them?
Any game offered other than the game you normally play offers new challenges. You learn to think differently, value cards differently, and see card combinations in new ways. New strategy means new thinking, and new ways of thinking are good for your old game.
Two outcomes from learning a new game are possible. You may find you really enjoy playing the new game. It may be more fun, more competition, lets you think more or less, and use different strategies. You see other players in a new light, and perhaps come to appreciate the talent they bring to the game that you do not quite have, yet.
A second less obvious non-monetary win from playing a different game arrives in a round about way. Learning a new game will make you a better player in your main game. You become a better player because by learning and playing other games opens you up to knew ways of playing.
It may be easier to understand why certain plays you make are mistakes and other plays are high level plays in a different game. In the long term, with enough experience at other games, you may find you have become that Turkey others at the table are mad at and at and envious of, both at the same time. Your skill level improves as will your play.
Because we tend to do what ever our group does, it is easy to slip into the poor playing habits shared by many players in your usual game. Bad playing habits at the poker tables, are offered, learned, and reinforced every time you sit down to play in your normal game. Because it seems they all play poorly, bad play starts to become good play for you, and it is fun, when you win. Unless the penalty for bad play is somehow sternly reinforced, there is a strong tendency to play at the same level others are playing at.
Learning different types of poker games may not be the cure all, end all of unlearning reinforced bad playing habits, but they certainly help. All poker skill is built on previous skill. Poker skills are learned in a variety of ways. The basics are the ground floor to becoming an exceptional player.
Depending on the other players in your game to help you improve your game, is rarely going to happen. You may see a good player play well, but unless you can get into their mind it is hard to understand what makes them a good player. No one is going to give you your chips back after you throw them away via poor play, and take the time to teach you what you are doing wrong.
Some players are consistent winners over time, most are consistent in they know how to play better but play poorly instead. Playing in different games can help you become your own coach. Watching yourself learn to play in the light of a different game can help you improve faster than playing more of the same game with the same bad habits.
