Position

By Tommy Angelo

Now let's talk about the position. What I mean is that, being in position is better than being out of position. For me, there is only position. When I position, I have a position.

"There are only two positions: Last but not last. "

In position or off position.

People often tend to mix things up here. For example, you are in a family pot and there are 4 people in the pot. If you are first or second talk on the flop, you can say that you are out of position. If you will be the third to speak, you can tell that you are in good position. No. There is only one correct position. Last. Because if you're not last, someone else will last and it will have a big advantage over you. I think many people do not understand the importance of the position.

I think that there is nothing to understand the position. Whether you understand it or not, it is important. This is basically beneficial to be last to speak rather than non-final.

I mentioned briefly in my book and it is on page 177. I'll read it, it's pretty short.

What does that mean? Well, you should adjust your betting patterns depending on your position and play more often when you're in position. In my terms it means: "The position is good." Not need to know why the position is good.

I do not like this kind of judgment, but I think the "dominant" hands are overvalued. I'll give you an example. Let's say the player on a KQ cutoff and the player on the button KJ. What we can say is: "The guy with KJ is dominated, it is in trouble. "

So, suppose the guy with KQ on the cutoff recovery. The guy on the button reraised. Who has the best chance to win the pot? Most of the time, both players will miss the flop and the player on the button will be more likely to win the hand. KQ or KJ he does not really matter. Here, the position is more important than having a dominant hand. You tell me, "and if a king fell on the flop, what is it?" Well, if he has to lose his hand to true, it will lose less money than he was out of position because he can make sure to keep the pot small and may check behind his opponent if he to check.
For cons, I ask you: what is the probability that the king fell on the flop?

Very low.

Yes, very low. So here things are really going to be different when a king is on the flop, but as we have said, this is something rare. The rest of the time, this is the position that will be important. That is why the position is so important, because it is dominated win the hand on the dominant hand. The dominant position of dominance.

Anticipation

What I mean about anticipation. If you bet and your opponent raises you and you're not ready for it, it's wrong. You must be ready, you should anticipate. When you bet, if your opponent folds, you have nothing to anticipate. If your opponent calls, you have nothing to anticipate before the next street. If your opponent raises, it is here that you need to anticipate things. This is the only action you need to anticipate since you need to take an immediate decision on this street in particular. Same thing if you check. The only thing you should anticipate is if your opponent bets.

In theory, if you're good to anticipate, you should never ever ever be surprised.

For example. Your opponent checks, you bet and raise. You should never have to make a decision, you should always have an idea of ​​what you will do. If before betting you already have an idea of ​​what you will do if your opponent check-raise, you anticipated and that is your goal. Even if your opponent has 2% chance to check-raise, you should already have an idea of ​​what you will do next. In addition, if you bet with the intention to fold if you are check-raised, you must make this game and do not change your mind. There must be a plan for the hand. In fact, it's more that you need a plan for the street.

My friend Matt Flin talks about anticipating his hand in his book. This is fine, but the anticipation of which I speak is that of a street at a time. Because sometimes, your opponent will boost more than you had planned on turning for example and you will be caught with their pants down. This is difficult to do because you anticipate your opponent check or call, but rarely as you check-raise! But there is nothing to anticipate the check-raise if you think street by street.

Obviously, it takes practice, but you can do even before the flop. But it will help a lot. Because of What is this series? Tilt and ways less tilter. And if you have a plan on your street and you follow it, you will never be surprised and you are less likely tilter. The fact anticipate will moderate your emotions and keep you from tilter. It should be like a scout and always be ready.

If the board is something like AKJxx AK and I, I know I'll bet if my opponent checks raiser and if my opponent bets. And if my opponent bet and I raise and reraise it, I know I'll folder. And I'll folder so quickly that my opponent will be surprised. I look forward to the future, I have a plan for every street. I must not deviate from my plan to keep me on tilt.

In a formula: = Anticipation best bets and less tilt.

The rakes

Now about the impact of rakes. The other day I was playing a $ 4 / $ 8 on a table with a friend and I had nothing good for a while just like him. And two stacks melted and nobody was money. And this is where I realized that all the money went to the casino and I also understood the importance of rake.

If we see the poker table like a bowl, one could say that in parts houses without rake, everyone puts his money in the bowl and everyone wants to get the money as quickly as possible into the bowl. Now, in casinos, there is a hole in the middle of bowl and we want to get the money even faster. Everything depends on the limit you play. If you play a limited high, the size of the rake will be minimal compared to the money you earn. By cons, if you play small limits, the% of the rake will be bigger and it will be much harder to win. Sometimes the rake is so high that it becomes almost impossible to win.

A player who plays $ 3 / $ 6 and makes 3BB per hour is break even when you think the rake and tips. However, the player is a winning player. It is important to separate the rake and see it as an expense of the company to have a more accurate picture of your skills in poker. If you look at the casino takes a rake in a casino LIVE is about $ 100 to $ 200 per hour plus tips. So if you think spending a player on average per hour on a table of $ 2 / $ 4 is about $ 15 an hour. The tight player will pay about $ 10 to $ 12 and the player looser pay $ 18-20. This is why you should see the rake as a rental price of your chair. It is an expense fee.

This is the correct way of thinking rake.

Rules

Let's talk about rules. The rules are as they are and that's all. What I'm saying is that if you play in a live casino AB or C or Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars or etc.., The rules are as they are and you have to accept. You do not need to have resistance to the laws. If you find a room laws are stupid, it will be a factor that prevents you from playing your A game. For example, you enter a tournament and you criticize the blind structure. Wrong approach. You have no control over this and you should accept it otherwise you will not play your A game.
Tell you one thing: "Resistance is futile. "

What do you think is the difference between a goal and a target.

A goal is something you want to accomplish. A target is something you want to hit again and again and again. Given that goals must be hard to reach my goal is to play perfect poker and a perfect poker is the fact of making the right decisions every time. I target is the act of taking the right decision this time in particular. Obviously, the goals are important to us and if we do not reach, we feel that we have failed. But if we put unattainable, we will not be too disappointed not reach.

My goal is to play my A game every month. My target is to play my A game now, today.

"The failure to reach your target does not mean that you have failed." It's like when you pull the bow. You see the target and your target is the target! And if you miss, it does not make you a loser. By cons, if you say that your goal for the day or month and hit the target this time in particular, where you can feel like a loser. Another difference I would like to make between the target and the goal is the notion of time. The goal has a notion of time. And you do not want to project into the future. You want to be in the present and have a target. Your target is to play your A game right now, today.

If I tell the difference between these two words is that I think the use of a word rather than another can help us to think positively and that is why I prefer to talk about that target goal . The target is in the present and the goal is in the future where we do not want to be.
Our C game is our top pain as a poker player. And what Buddha said about the fact of suffering? Avoid playing your C game.
Buddha teaches about suffering. This is the heart of his teaching.

In life in general, we have our suffering. Jealousy, envy, despair, etc.. Everything you can imagine. In poker, we have the same thing; it is called the C game. Buddha wanted to eliminate suffering and us, what we want to do is eliminate our C game.

There are some truths you need to know.

1. C game exists. All players have one and you have to accept this reality.
   
2. There are causes to your C game. The attachment, desire, and it is the same causes as the causes of suffering of life. And only when we have understood the causes of the C game, you can go to the third truth
   
3. Your C game can "cure." There way to improve your game and C is a job to do.
   
4. The fourth truth is the "path Eighfold" Buddha. And that's what we talked about in this series.