The poker experiment will begin tomorrow. The bankroll has been set at $2000, and the goal will be to reach $6000, with anything over $5000 being at the lower limit of acceptability. The next three weeks will be very challenging as I need to juggle my papers which ultimately take precedence over my poker trials. I hope that my desire to do both will force me to be more efficient in my paper writing and more disciplined in my poker playing.

I'm actually happy that I didn't start today as it afford me some opportunity to reflect on more detailed strategy for playing. I sincerely believe that at the, 2-5 games which I will be playing, the optimal strategy will be the old "tight-is-right" approach - restricting myself to premium hands, draws in late position and rarely bluffing. I remember the last times I played here you had many players calling bets on flop-turn-river with A8-A10 without concern. The idea will be to play my big hands and play them hard.

Anyway, I stumbled across a decent article online at onlinefreepokerplayer.com entitled "How to Beat Bad Players in No Limit Hold 'em Cash Games" and I really find the advice to be sound. The article outlines all the poor choices made by "bad" poker players. Its all stuff I know but to provide a summary of the main points will help me to ensure that I do not play in this fashion - ever. I estimate that at least 4-5 out 10 players at a two five table meet this definition (as do I at moments of weakness) but this is where my profit will come from. So here are the mistakes to avoid:

1) DO NOT PLAY THAT MANY HANDS

There is no reason for my to play hands like JK 10Q K10. The blinds are so small compared to the pot sizes that there is no reason to risk complications by calling a raise with these types of hands. If I intend to enter a pot with these hands I should raise (not call) but there is no reason to venture into pots with troubling hands, when I can just wait for premium hands!

2) DO NOT INVEST MUCH MONEY WITH WEAK HOLDINGS

Following step 1) tends to avoid step 2. If you play J10 off, and hit either pair, you hand is vulnerable to a stronger holding. Since you don't play a hand to hit the flop and fold, you are likely to keep calling, potentially getting yourself even more invested. Conversely, if I am playing better hands, like AJ, I won't have that problem

3) DO NOT PAY TOO MUCH FOR A DRAW

I love draws, everyone does, but they are often just a way to gamble. There's no point paying too much for a draw (unless you are sure that you will reap the benefits in terms of implied odds on the turn of river) The other option is to big re-raise the draw as well. THis is usually one of the most appealing options but I find that players now are mindful of the flush draw - over card all in-bet and have become more likely to call with a medium holding. On the other hand a big re-reraise with a made hand (big top pair or two pair) might be seen as a flush draw bet and is more likely to get called - something to keep in mind.

4) BE MINDFUL OF POT SIZE, AND STACK SIZE WHEN MAKING A DECISION

This is really important for me. I am rarely deep stacked (at least I won't be until I run well or raise my bankroll) so I need to be mindful of pot size and stack size. I often find myself with 160 remaining and need to ensure that if eventually I am willing to get away from a hand, I leave myself the opportunity to effectively do so.

5) CONSIDER POSITION

I cannot stress this enough. I have always been aware of the importance of position in poker from a theoretical perspective but find that I often do not put it into practice sufficiently. I get excited at teh prospect of A10off but that's probably not a good hand if I'm in first-third position. This is really something to focus on. Position dictates hand selection and also facilitates play later on.

6) BEWARE THE RE-RAISE

Be mindful and require serious holdings to call. AK seems like the minimum to call a serious re-raise (unless of course the re-raiser to very active)

7) DO NOT BLUFF THAT MUCH

There is nothing more exciting for a player than toi pick off a bluff. Don't bluff. I'm not saying don't make continuation bets but don't make big- three barrel bluffs. They lose a lot of money and with players who love calling, they are going to be a losing propositions. The retired old man doesn't mind calling 200 on the river with his A8 after hitting top pair, better that, than be bluffed by the young gun.




ERGO: WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL STRATEGY?

1) BET/PLAY GOOD HANDS

2) BET THEM STRONGLY

3) DO NOT BLUFF, MUCH

That's all for now.
It begins tomorrow

AVP