Home Game Results

Well the results from the home game we mixed financially, but I think I achieved what I wanted to do. I wanted to read players that I have played against a lot now. I wanted to use the knowledge I have gained by playing against these people to play them all individually. This is a skill that a poker player needs to learn to do by instinct.

First of all, the financial result:
I had a great start. I was playing tight aggressive. I have a really good read on one certain player who always likes to play very aggressively against me. He's a good friend of mine, but likes to put me on the spot when we play poker. This is a good thing because I can wait until I have a good hand before I choose to put my chips in with him. I know he will play me in big hands because he just likes to try to knock me out of tournaments. This is probably the most useful tool I had all night.

Another player that I play against a lot will play his draws strictly to the pot odds. I remember a particular hand early when I raised the blinds and when the flop came down we both missed it. I was out of position so I checked the flop and so did he. The turn came down to give two hearts on the board. I raised enough to make sure that the pot odds weren’t worth a call for the flush. He sat there, worked it out, and then folded. I could almost see the cogs turning in his brain.

The night started well with a few good results. I think with two payouts I just try to get to heads up. I have found out that I'm good at negotiating a chop if i want one. As the night went on I got tired. Some people can play tired, almost automatically. Then again, some people can play drunk. I can't. Not only did the results start going the other way but so did the way i was playing. I wish I stopped when I knew I was getting tired.

I think that the lessons that I tried to learn about reading players that I play regularly was over shadowed by another lesson. Don't play tired.