My Poker Journey

From Early Position

Big Pairs : A’s, K’s, Q’s, J’s, 10’s ……………………………raise

Large Unpaired : AK, AQ, AJ, KQ ……………………….raise

Low Pairs : 10’s, 9’s, 8’s, 7’s ………………………………….call

Medium Unpaired : KQ, KJ, QJ,  A10,  J10………..call

If raised the only cards you continue to play are: -

High pairs or AK : A’s, K’s, J’s, AK - re raise. 

High Aces and Pocket Pairs: AQ, AJ, 10’s 

From Middle Position

Low Pocket Pairs : if blinds arent defending 2’s, 3’s, 4’s otherwise 5’s - 8’s and up…………………………call

Middle Pocket Pairs : 9’s……………………………………….raise

Chapters five and six. Ace on the River. Barry Greenstein.

Up until this part of the book Barry has been very anecdotal, while entertaining and interesting there has been little that
directly maps into the game of poker. These two chapters however really see some nuts and bolts strategy and character
advice discussed.
Develop self control, things out of your control should not phase you in the slightest as a corollory to this kill your ego,
you have nothing to prove be quitely peaceful and confident in your own abilities.

Secondly in order to win at poker you need to focus your energy and thinking. Rest your brain before poker. Simplify your life.
Do not work your brain intensely before a game you need to draw on it while playing. Never waste energy at the table or develop
frustrations.

If you are losing analsye why, find an easier game or improve your play by taking time out and reading.
The Key to winning at poker. Find people that play worse than you. Do not be afraid of moving tables.

Do not place monetry value on your chips once seated. They are chips. Valuing money is negatively correlated to success in poker.

Never play tired. Sleep and rest then play. Do not drink alcohol it can too easily get out of hand when losing.

Qualities of successful poker players.
Play with a sense of humour. Be cold and calculating. Always be optimistic and persistent, good things are around the corner. Be a leader don’t just swallow advice, read it, reflect on it, and analayse it. Don’t submit to peer pressure for that is the way of the majority. Be manipulative. Be greedy. If a game is lucrative don’t quit but play longer. Be self centred you’re in this for the money. Play aggressively, this will knock opponents out that may otherwise have won the hand. Always remain competitive you have a right to win every chip on the table. Be a survivor, don’t expect life to be fair, anticipate obstacles and overcome them. Be Empathetic get inside your opponents heads, understand what they are thinking, and act on it.Be Fearless. Don’t be afraid of making the right play even if risky, BUT don’t be reckless. When losing you should
play the same as when winning, i.e. think well under pressure. Be good at spotting traits of your opponents, their idiosyncrasies, pay great attention to detail. Always remain motivated, convince yourself - you must win. Have a good memory to remember a basic strategy and also to remember traits of your opponents. CONTROL your emotions, especially when loosing. Be intelligent, forumlate strategies and alter them and refine them when they do not work, always stay one step in front of your opponents. Be honest with yourself, admit when it’s not working.
Be pyscologically tough - don’t give in no matter how bad the pyscological beating. Never blame outside factors, you can win anything and overcome any adversity.

Welcome to the new look blog. I’ve had a few false starts in my poker journey. I’ve decided to start again and this time do things properly. Following advice from others I have decided not to play anymore until I have educated myself on the game. To that effect I am listening to ‘Ace on the River’ at the moment and will read Harrington and Skalinsky over the coming week or two. Once I have the basics in place I will then start to play.

 I will start with a 300$ bankroll and approach the game professionally, by this I mean I will radically change the way I approach my game of poker. I will treat poker with the highest respect and strive in all things I do to better myself at the game. I realise that to rise to the top in any profession you have to perfect and enhance the qualities vital to success in that profession. More often than not those qualities are life, character based qualities - and not skills particular to the game. Of course skills are important, but they are not the determinants of poker success.

The false starts I’ve had were not wasted they have been valuable steps on the learning journey but I do not want to hark on them so that is the last you will hear of them on this blog.

From now on all posts will be to the point and efficient. The sole reason of this blog is to chart my progress and store my notes. For this reason it may not read as conversational as some of the more public orientated blogs out there. I am going to create page space for each major work I read so that I might maintain the notes in a coherant fashion throughout my blog.

All the best and thanks for visiting,

Gary.