Game preferences and edges
OK, so I was originally going to bump BBC's "What give you your edge?" post, but figured this was maybe worth a new topic.
Given the success of numerous forum members here in the WSOP (and in the online MTT scene in general), it's opened my eyes that the forum has a number of succesful players in various forms of poker.
The forum seems to have it's share of people that enjoy STT's, MTT's, NL cash games, limit cash games (although I'm probably in the minority here), as well as other types of games like PLO. A diverse range and with different games, different skill sets certainly apply. I'm a little curious as to why some people prefer different games, and accordingly why they feel they have an edge in that game.
For me, personally, I tend to enjoy LHE because I find the decisions are more marginal, and that there tends to be more action with people playing draws, etc. It's a game of repeatedly exploiting mistakes (big or small), whereas NL I find tends to be a game of either inducing or avoiding the BIG mistakes (which I know will be the reason many people love it).
And then there are the multitalented individuals like AllAces, SirWatts, etc. that can thrive in both cash and tournament settings. From my perspective, although I do enjoy both STT and MTT games I find that with limited windows of playing time that MTT's get to be too much of a time consumer for my liking. As such, I'm wondering how you guys deal with the normal variance of big tournaments, and how much a dry spell can drag you down. Oddly enough, I can approach a cash game and play for a few hours and thoroughly get my ass handed to me and somehow this doesn't (overly) bother me, but the thought of playing several hours in a MTT getting cold decked and bubbling out drives me insane...
So...forget where I was going with this...what drives you guys to play whatever is your preferred game, and why do you feel you have an edge in said game?
Given the success of numerous forum members here in the WSOP (and in the online MTT scene in general), it's opened my eyes that the forum has a number of succesful players in various forms of poker.
The forum seems to have it's share of people that enjoy STT's, MTT's, NL cash games, limit cash games (although I'm probably in the minority here), as well as other types of games like PLO. A diverse range and with different games, different skill sets certainly apply. I'm a little curious as to why some people prefer different games, and accordingly why they feel they have an edge in that game.
For me, personally, I tend to enjoy LHE because I find the decisions are more marginal, and that there tends to be more action with people playing draws, etc. It's a game of repeatedly exploiting mistakes (big or small), whereas NL I find tends to be a game of either inducing or avoiding the BIG mistakes (which I know will be the reason many people love it).
And then there are the multitalented individuals like AllAces, SirWatts, etc. that can thrive in both cash and tournament settings. From my perspective, although I do enjoy both STT and MTT games I find that with limited windows of playing time that MTT's get to be too much of a time consumer for my liking. As such, I'm wondering how you guys deal with the normal variance of big tournaments, and how much a dry spell can drag you down. Oddly enough, I can approach a cash game and play for a few hours and thoroughly get my ass handed to me and somehow this doesn't (overly) bother me, but the thought of playing several hours in a MTT getting cold decked and bubbling out drives me insane...
So...forget where I was going with this...what drives you guys to play whatever is your preferred game, and why do you feel you have an edge in said game?
Comments
I have a wife and 2 small children that consume a large portion of my time away from the office. A healthy, happy family is my No.1 priority so it is a rare occasion that I have time is to spend 4-5 hours and play an MTT.
For time related reasons I have almost always played in 1-2 hour windows. Cash games and STT's are really the only option here.
After starting with micro STT's and grinding up a roll I donked it off 3 times while trying to transition to cash games. Fortunately after reading and learning and reading some more I finally have found some firm footing and the bank roll has been growing in leaps and bounds.
I still play STT's once in a while to mix things up but I really have lost my gusto for them. For some reason I can drop 4-5 buyins in a cash game session with 0 tilt but a bad run of variance in STT's totally pisses me off!!
I think my edge in NL is a combination of my aggressive nature and a belief in the underlying math in poker. A career in sales has ingrained the latter into me.
eg. If I talked to 60 potential clients last month and made 10 sales my closing ratio is 16.66%. So if I talk to 80 clients this month I should theoretically make 13.32 sales for 33% growth.
This translates well into repeatedly making good decisions at the tables = more $$ for me.
I have played a lot of single player tournaments. But I tend to play them because they are popular with my friends and co-workers. I don't really like Tournamnets though compared to cash.
what is the beauty of poker vs real life? One of the best things about poker is that you are in complete control of decision making. You can go all in with a pair of 2's if you want. You can fold aces pre-flop if you just have a bad feeling. (not recommended). You are the captain of your ship and the pilot of your destiny. As opposed to the so called "real world". At work, I'm kind of a slave. Most of us have orders and even those of us lucky enough to have successful businesses of their own, must still "kiss some behind" to get ahead. With poker, especially no limit poker you can really exploit your devious side all within the framework of the rules.
The less control I have, the less i tend to enjoy the game. With tournament poker, there is still a great deal of decision making. But one thing I find very frustrating is the actions of other people affecting me. If I am at a table filled with donkeys.. then they quickly go all in, luck determines who's donkey hands hold up and I find myself on the bubble and low on chips through no fault of my own. Also, too many tournaments favour luck through rapidly increasing blinds vs few starting chips.
Limit gives you the least control. I can't make a large bet when I'm sure a player is trying for a lucky draw. I can't really slow play a massive hand in order to play on someone's aggressive psychology. It's too mechanical.
Here is what I believe happens when someone starts playing poker online:
1) They start with whatever form of poker is popular. In this case, it's NL HE
1a) If they win, they stay with NL and brag about easy money
2) If they lose at NL, they'll see these other forms limit, tourneys, sng etc and try them out
2a) Repeat step 1a. If they win, they're the next coming of negreanu.
3) If they continue to lose, they're gone and will call all of online poker rigged.
So, I think it's primarily results orientation that decides what our initial game format is. If you play great NL poker and drop $1K due to variance, chances are, you'll move on to something else.
I know my weaknesses and where they are the least exploitable, therefore, I play Limit holdem. I consider SnGs to be coin-flips and MTTs are far too time consuming.
As for the question of mixed games, I play in them (and believe I have in edge in most games) because I think I have deep skills in poker theory that get re-applied based on the restrictions of the game.