Hi everyone,I have been playing poker for around 6 months and feel i am gradually getting better, maybe one day i'll break even or god forbid be a winning player. Poker for me is just something i enjoy learning about and dont take too seriously, allthough i am keen to become a better player. More to the point, i am interested in the problem solving process players employ to make good decisions at the table. I am currently studying a design degree and often find that the journey is more interesting than the solution. I think Heads up is one of the most creative forms of poker and would be interested to hear about your thought processes and how these effect your decisions. This could range from a standard A>B>C format or maybe even post hands with explanations that you remember/feel proud of how you used the information and your brain to make a good decision.On a side note it might be nice to put this information into a flowchart or something to give new players a good understanding of HUSNG thought processes.Cheers, and good luck.Sledge
Hey Sledge,A lot of our beginner oriented videos found in the standard membership talk a lot about thought process and understanding.Personally, a few big things I recall feeling particularly satisfied about when they "clicked" were:- Value betting. This was early on and probably the first thing made me money in heads up sngs.- Bluffing. I didn't really know when and why to properly make a pure bluff until I reached the $115 level and had probably played a few hundred games. This one wasn't as "aha" as the others, since semi bluffs and the frequency of me making a correct bluff steadily increased over time rather than instantly black and white improvement, but this was an important thing.- Preflop adjustments. Again, not totally night and day "aha" moments with this, but I recall reaching a certain point and saying "ok, all these adjustments are very natural and make complete sense to me." It was really a point in time where I could clearly see the difference between playing say Q4s on the button against player type X and thinking something like "Ok, a fold is clearly bad, a limp is clearly good, but a 3x raise is clearly better. However, a minraise against this opponent at these stacks is definitely the best play." That was rewarding.- 3bet ranges. There's always work to be done here in fine tuning ranges against various opponents and frequencies at different stack depths. However, when you learn when and why to 3bet, with what types of hands and against various opponents, it can be a very positive experience.There's a zillion other things I could list just like the above. I roll my eyes when people tell me they are bored with the game and are tired of playing ABC and they want to "mix it up." ABC is probably a terrible term for what people are trying to say, "standard play" since standard, to me, is very adaptive against various opponents. What I mean to say is that standard play vs a guy that opens his first 5 buttons is vastly different from standard play vs a guy that open folds his first 5 buttons. Since so many opponents play so differently it's really difficult to get truly bored with the decision making process.
That might be the most incredibly dense information about how to be play poker that I have ever read. Please include some of the other zillion.