Wednesday, September 27, 2006
WSOP Observations
So I had several 'ah ha' observations while watching this year's WSOP. The coverage concluded last night with the episode where Jamie Gold wins the main event and $12 million. Did I somehow miss the H.O.R.S.E. event coverage? I can't find any mention of this coverage on the ESPN web site. Please let me know. Anyway, my 2 observations were as follows. I know. I know...pretty basic stuff.
Throw it down big man, throw it down!
The main observation I had (which was also confirmed by watching a few episodes of High Stakes Poker on GSN), is how easily pros can lay down hands like top top (top pair with top kicker). I have this problem of not being able to lay down AJ when the board reads Jx7x8x and I get check raised for 1/2 of my stack. When I do lay this hand down, I feel like I should hang a sign around my neck that reads "I'm a weak passive player - please make plays at me". When I don't lay down this hand I usually find myself sliding a significant portion of my stack toward some "lucky ass" who played a stupid hand like 7s8s or 7x7x even in the face of my raise.
I'm also thoroughly amazed by how some of the players in the home games I play have difficulty releasing even 2nd or 3rd pair on the river. It's like being bluffed out of a pot is much worse than paying off a big value bet on the river. I think these players are the ones that keep an average player like me making a little money. Amazing!
Pay attention stupid!
Another thing I noticed was how remarkably reliable betting patterns are as tells. Sure, occasionally someone will really make a strange bet and throw you off. In my opinion, from playing a little poker and watching a little on TV, these betting patterns are much more reliable than things like eye movements, breathing, gibberish talk, etc...
