Re- How Do You Win? Part 2 (Long!)
Sgt. Rock
KENN...@webtv.net (CAMILLE Visconti) asks:
>
> {...how do you win?...]
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Some things you might do (or even just think about) to help
win at poker might be:
Part:
1. Find (or create) a Delta Factor.
2. Emulate Treebark.
3. Beware (but learn from) the OTBS.
4. Be both intellectually AND emotionally prepared for "Luck."
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Part 2. Treebark.
There's a player here in Seattle, been around forever, whom
everyone calls "Treebark." Got the name, they say, because
"getting chips off his stack is as hard as peeling the bark off
a tree." I barely know this guy, and have played with him only
briefly a couple times. My comments, therefore, are not about
this player, but rather about the concept, inspired by his
nickname, that I like to call "Treebarkism." This concept says
that you must never let chips leave your stack unless you:
-- Have a plan, and;
-- Are convinced that it's a valid plan.
Once again, this may sound silly, or too elementary. It's not.
Neither does it mean that you should be super-tight or
weak-tight. What it is does mean is that (as "P.T.," a seasoned
pro, once told me) "You don't just play your cards. You must
play THE SITUATION."
Here are two (admittedly extreme) examples, both from recent
Bellagio 30-60 Hold 'Em games:
A. One guy in the game appears to have never played before. He:
- Protects his hand very poorly.
- Pulls checks out of his rack one-at-a-time to bet.
- Looks back at his hand, and studies the board on every round.
- Plays and goes to the river with nearly every hand, hoping to
hit something.
Mr. Clueless open-limps from middle position, and everyone else
mucks. I'm on the button, thinking that I should probably raise
no matter what, and look down to see 10-3 offsuit. I raise.
BB calls. (Oops!) Clueless (of course) calls. I bet the flop
(BB releases- thank you!) Then I bet turn and river with
absolutely nothing. Mr. Clueless releases on the river, and
I-relieved- stack the chips. Now maybe some of you folks
routinely make "cutoff" raises like this, but for me it was a
big anomaly.
B. Next day, in a majorly-wild rammin' jammin' game, TWO guys
limp-in early, and I, right behind them in middle position,
muck K-Q offsuit. Pot gets capped 5-ways before-the-flop,
which comes King high. Capped 5-way on the flop;
bet/raised/called 4-way on the turn. Board is still King-high
on the river, and one of the cappers shows down pocket Kings. I
had escaped being very expensively trapped, but that's not
really the point.
What is the point is that these situations (more than my
holding) dictated the actions. Raising T3-off (with a plan)
and later mucking KQ-off (because any plan to play it seemed to
suck!) made sense.
Some examples of non-treebark play might include:
- Paying blinds, but then missing hands (called to phone, gone
to john, etc.)
- "Taking off a card" on the flop "just because." (Without
sufficient justification.)
- Calling without considering that player(s) behind you might
raise.
- "Reflex" calls when, for example, you bet top-pair/best-kicker
and get raised.
- Betting the river when an opponent will only call if he can
beat you.
--
Sergeant Rock, Easy Company
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