One Liners (TWO)

I have done this post before. I was new here, and wanted to get some of the valuable information from the regs. I also thought it would be the quickest way to share my new knowledge with the other posters.

Now, even though it turned out to be a very good thread the first time around, I think we can go one better. I'm going to throw out some guidelines for the posting so that we keep it helpful.

1) Serious posts. This thread loses all value if the posts are ridiculous.
2) One liners in bold please.
3) Please feel free to elaborate on your own one liner, or someone elses. There is no idea in poker that can be completely discussed in one line.
4) Everyone post. Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert players all have things to share. No advice is too basic. If it hasn't been said, say it yourself.
[edit]
5) If you make any type of helpful post, AWESOME. Try to stick at least one good one liner on the end.

Above all, remember that one liners are guidelines. Not live or die rules. This is meant to provoke good thinking habits in players of all skill levels.

Beginners: What have you learned so far that has drastically improved your game?

Intermediates: What things have you discovered recently about your play through your study and experience?

Experts: What timeless lessons can you share?

I'll start:

Fold more

--If you find yourself in too many tough situations, play tighter. Once you start to get more experience, loosen up. You'll find that those same situations are much easier to deal with now.--

Beginner:
Money isn't worth the chip it's printed on

Two messages in one one-liner:
- Don't play poorly because you're just playing for peanuts. All evaluations of bets, success etc need to be made based on the BB. The denomination on the chip has no absolute value - only one that is relative to the blinds you're playing.

- Do proper bankroll management. Do not get emotionally attached to the monetary value of the bets you make, it will bring you down (via tilt). If you dispassionately consider a situation and decide one approach is positive EV you must be able to take that path and when you get sucked out you must still think you did the right choice and will gain EV over your poker career by continuing to make that right move every time. (check if you're right, obviously - but don't let a suck-out convince you it was wrong because it lost you a full buy-in or a lucky hit on a set-hunt make you think you did a right move when you didn't have implied odds to justify the call despite doubling up on a hand)

Beginner
Put the villain on a range of hands and narrow that range as the hand progresses

When you do this properly you will understand how to play postflop very well. Remember your cards aren't the only ones that matter

You don't have to identify yourself as a specific level of player. Just give the advice you feel necessary, and let others decide whether or not to use it at whatever level they are at.

Don't discredit your instinct. Follow it.

--As you learn more, you'll find that your instinct is based on more than a guess. You'll start to use the maths, and the psychology of the game naturally. Always trust yourself, because you're the only one who can't lie to you. (Especially in a poker game.)

Don't drink Evan Williams while you play and justify it 'cause it's cheaper than Jack.

No, I'm serious on this sh!t. I don't do anything better when I drink... no, not even that... And sitting at home, playing poker online, where it's my booze, no tab and no tip it's easy for the hour to get late and the glass get long. Check your sh!t. Good poker takes focus and the drunk joker goes brokus. (Hey... I just made that up! ) It don't matter whether it's $2NL or $200NL you got to have your mind straight and sh!t wired tight. Always.

discipline is key

I race yachts to a professional level, and I've noticed that I start thinking in poker terms when I'm on the race course. I've also noticed that my sailing has helped my poker playing. So here are a series of one liners. You may not understand yacht racing to any degree, but it should make sense anyway... and perhaps you'll learn something about sailing... Apols for the long post.

80% of yacht races are won on the start line
In high-level racing, if you don't hit the start line at full speed and in the best position for the conditions, you're always going to be behind. Think starting hands, think position.

Yacht racing is not about being the fastest, it's about beating the competition
You can have a slower boat, but by protecting your position when you're ahead after a good start, or attacking the lead boats when you're behind, you can force them to make mistakes. Tactics and knowing your opponents are key.

Look at the course and the fleet, not just at your own boat
A key to winning races is looking at what your opps are doing, looking for the wind shifts, and looking ahead to the next mark of the course. Make sure you focus on the table conditions, your opponents' moves, and your plan for the following streets, not just on the hand in front of you. Otherwise, your opps may hit a shift and you won't spot it till they're already ahead.

When two boats are equally matched, it's constant fine-tuning of sail trim and changing gears at the right moment that make the difference
Squeezing an extra 10th of a knot out of a boat can win you the race. Learn, practice and keep experimenting till you find that thinnest of edges - it makes all the difference in the long run.

Anyone can sail in a straight line - it's turning the corners that separates the good racers from the bad
It would be nice if every race was an out-and-out speed contest from one point to another. But someone decided it would be more fun to throw corners in. If you can't get round a mark cleanly, and get away from the transition point fast, you're going to be dead in the water every time. Some hands play themselves, but if we can't manoeuvre successfully on the trickier ones, we're going to be in trouble. It takes constant practice, and then more practice, to be able to pull off the harder moves.

Anticipating your opponents' tactical moves is key
If you know what your opponent will do on the race course, and can spot the tells when they're about to try a move, you can cover them or get away from them. Tells and knowledge of your opponent are critical at the table.

It seems as though it's always the same boats at the front of the fleet
Practice, experience and making consistently solid calls means that the good yachts don't rely on luck.

If you sail carelessly, the rocks are gong to sink you
Watch for the breakers, and steer clear.

Nature sucks
Sometimes you can have made all the right moves, but suddenly the wind shifts mahooosively and the shitter at the back of the fleet, which has missed the start line, made bad tactical calls, and is sailing slowly, ends up out in front. It happens. You still sailed a good race, and made the right moves. Don't change tactics because the cowboy got lucky.

The winning race teams sit down after every race and discuss the day over a beer
Review your stats, plays and tactics after every session. Communicate with the Gods to understand your mortal mistakes (FTR, natch).

You ain't gonna beat the pros if you don't know how to sail
Buy a dinghy for a fraction of your bank balance and mix it up with the cheap fleet before you spend every last penny on a big boy's boat that you don't know how to handle. The pros will eat you for breakfast. Nuff said.

Grow some balls

if you think that they'll fold to a pot sized bet - bet it
If you think they're full of shit - raise them, call them, whatever, just have the balls to do it.
Don't be a station and check, call, blah blah blah. get your frigging tackle out and see what bites.
before every session get your balls in your hand and repeat after me "I have balls, I will display my ball to the table"

position matters

And I am not talking about sex here (although it matters there also).

I can't tell you how many times I have either a) laid down a hand that could have been best because I was out of position or b) won a pot with what I know was the worst hand when I was in position.

There is nothing better than to have someone with a second or third best hand having to bet in front of you and not knowing how you are going to react to his move.

Know why the fuck you are doing anything.

If you don't know WHY you are doing something then it usually means you shouldn't be doing it.

I can't think of anything off the top of my head, so I'll leave it to Tommy Angelo:

http://tommyangelo.com/tommyisms.html

Love the variance - even when it f**ks you over.

Remember, it's the variance that keeps the fish swimming to the casino.

If you get it all-in with the best hand everytime, you aren't getting it in enough

You don't win by playing perfectly, that's impossible. You win when you can force your opponents to make mistakes that are more expensive than your own.

The concept of ICM.
It's akin to Neo's über paradigm shift when he discovers what he thought was real, wasn't.

Please elaborate for us non tourney players thunder.

The more big decisions you have to make, the more mistakes you will make. This is the same for your opponent.

fold

Originally Posted by Unibomber14

Please elaborate for us non tourney players thunder.

Ok, briefly:

ICM is short for Independent Chip Modeling and as the name suggests, it refers to the value of each individual chip in a tourney. The more you accumulate, the less each chip is actually worth as the payouts don't alter. The shorter stacked you get, the more valuable those chips become. ICM calculates your quity of the prize pool in your current situation. As a result, the correct course of action can be identified.

I only use ICM for endgame play from the bubble onwards. Up to then, it's solid poker. And it's not used on the fly, only in retrospect after the tourney to see what the recommended play was and then you do your best to remember until you can implement in a live setting (this is the hard bit). This is when it throws up some very eyebrow raising advice, such as calling an all in with 79 os.

One of the most beneficial aspects is learning and understanding that hanging on for 2nd, is bad play.

Results are irrelevant

Poker is a game of decisions


Pretty easy, dont look at the results, look at the thought process that brought about the decision

Originally Posted by Thunder

Originally Posted by Unibomber14

Please elaborate for us non tourney players thunder.

Ok, briefly:

ICM is short for Independent Chip Modeling and as the name suggests, it refers to the value of each individual chip in a tourney. The more you accumulate, the less each chip is actually worth as the payouts don't alter. The shorter stacked you get, the more valuable those chips become. ICM calculates your equity of the prize pool in your current situation. As a result, the correct course of action can be identified.

I only use ICM for endgame play from the bubble onwards. Up to then, it's solid poker. And it's not used on the fly, only in retrospect after the tourney to see what the recommended play was and then you do your best to remember until you can implement in a live setting (this is the hard bit). This is when it throws up some very eyebrow raising advice, such as calling an all in with 79 os.

One of the most beneficial aspects is learning and understanding that hanging on for 2nd, is bad play.

is there an echo in here?

I'm so evil, I scare myself.....No, you don't! Yes,heh heh I do. Etcetera etcetera
etcetera........Heh heh heh
Hitler, didn't approve of smoking either. Now, we won't give him one.

Showboat, this is not the place to post whore. If you have nothing constructive to add, then please don't post. Refer to guideline 1 in OP.

Recognize a losing situation, and be prepared to walk away if necessary.

You can get away from any pot, game, player, table, hand, etc. You only need to have the will to do it.

I have taken the liberty to go and check my work. I was wrong. Beginners circle/One liners (two)/ Experts.... So, I have withdrawn my post. Keep up the good work, Unibomber. Please let us know when you move up in limits. There's always a better table! Edit: Check your work UNI-. "Humans have no instincts"_Dr. Loretta Wolfe, PHD She should know. Do you? I do.

Originally Posted by salsa4ever

You don't win by playing perfectly, that's impossible. You win when you can force your opponents to make mistakes that are more expensive than your own.

Some time ago we had a discussion about this with a couple of friends, and some of them shared your view. My view was (and is), that it's easier to control your own mistakes, far harder to induce bad decisions on your opp's part. Let's say we have two possible moves in a hand, one low risk low profit move where we are not making a mistake, and a high risk high profit one where our small mistake might induce opp to make a bigger mistake, we should opt for the latter? So you're saying we should gamb000l more?

Originally Posted by CoccoBill

Originally Posted by salsa4ever

You don't win by playing perfectly, that's impossible. You win when you can force your opponents to make mistakes that are more expensive than your own.

Some time ago we had a discussion about this with a couple of friends, and some of them shared your view. My view was (and is), that it's easier to control your own mistakes, far harder to induce bad decisions on your opp's part. Let's say we have two possible moves in a hand, one low risk low profit move where we are not making a mistake, and a high risk high profit one where our small mistake might induce opp to make a bigger mistake, we should opt for the latter? So you're saying we should gamb000l more?

I think that this goes along with miffed's post about poker being a game of decisions. If your opponents decisions are consistently harder than yours, then he will have the greater chance to make mistakes.

Also, it may be my basic understanding of the game, but could you be more specific on your situation? A low risk low profit move may be to call a 1/3 PSB on the river cause you see weakness, and a high risk high profit one being to push over the top with complete air. I am pretty sure that if we think we are more +EV in the long run with the high risk move, we make that move every time don't we?

If you are paying attention to the game, then there is a good chance that you already have an edge on your opponent

Originally Posted by Unibomber14

I think that this goes along with miffed's post about poker being a game of decisions. If your opponents decisions are consistently harder than yours, then he will have the greater chance to make mistakes.

Also, it may be my basic understanding of the game, but could you be more specific on your situation? A low risk low profit move may be to call a 1/3 PSB on the river cause you see weakness, and a high risk high profit one being to push over the top with complete air. I am pretty sure that if we think we are more +EV in the long run with the high risk move, we make that move every time don't we?

If one or the other of the options is clearly more +EV, then that'd be the obvious choice, and that's exactly my point. Salsa's comment, at least to me, sounds like there are situations where you should make mistakes, if they induce your opponent to do an even greater one. I'm just interested to hear what type of situations he means by this.

This just because to me, intuitively, it'll be far easier to control your own decisions and make sure they are correct (based on the information available), than to try force your opponents to make them. Unless of course he means specific situations, such as betting enough to make calling for an opponent chasing a draw a mistake.

thanks for the discussion CB

I actually meant it in a context where sometimes it's okay to fold in a reverse implied odds situation where if you fold it could be a small mistake, but you could be making a big mistake if you don't.

Also, if you raise where that could be a small mistake at worst, if you can force your opponent into a big one, that must be good for you.

Sometimes, betting could be a mistake if your opponent has the best hand, but if that makes him fold then he's making a mistake that's more expensive than yours.

But my main point is that it's unrealistic to try to attain perfection, you just have to have your mistakes be less expensive than your opponent's

The winner is the player who makes the second to last mistake. --some russian chessmaster--

--Refer to above posts

Originally Posted by salsa4ever

thanks for the discussion CB

I actually meant it in a context where sometimes it's okay to fold in a reverse implied odds situation where if you fold it could be a small mistake, but you could be making a big mistake if you don't.

Also, if you raise where that could be a small mistake at worst, if you can force your opponent into a big one, that must be good for you.

Sometimes, betting could be a mistake if your opponent has the best hand, but if that makes him fold then he's making a mistake that's more expensive than yours.

This would be great if you guys could provide examples.

Seriously tho, If you bet when your opponent has the best hand, but you know he's likely to fold better hands a certain percentage of the time, you're not actually making a mistake. Also, if your reverse implied odds situation is such that half of your opponent's range destroys you and the other half you beat by a small margin, a fold is easily the best play and thus, not a mistake.

Originally Posted by salsa4ever

All I wanted was a white wedding themed party, and now they all think I'm gay.

You wanted a coke party?

You can't bluff someone who only thinks about their own hand. Calling stations can't go to sleep at night if, they think they would be bluffed (cheated, if you will). So, they neither know what they are doing or, you. As if, honesty was supposed to be a prerequisite to being a poker player. Whereas, honesty is a prerequisite to being a GOOD poker player. Lay the nuts on them. They'll figure it out..

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. - Napoleon

Plan your hand.

Don't bluff a calling station.


Don't bluff someone who doesn't know what he's doing.

Originally Posted by showboatlou

Boris Spassky, is generally regarded as the greatest Russian chessplayer. Serious.

he's not top 3 in most player's regard

and he did not originate the quote, that was savielly tartakower, russian chessmaster

I stand corrected. Good research, on the quote. It's hard to whip out your A - Game when you're, a thousand years old...History books are never written by the vanquished.......You learn to play poker whether you like it or not, eventually.

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

Originally Posted by kmind

If you get it all-in with the best hand everytime, you aren't getting it in enough

Care to explain just exactly what you mean by this?

Liam, I think you were the last person to post in the first One Liners thread.

Also, I think what Kmind's line is saying is that if you only wait until your positive that you have the best hand to push, then you aren't being aggressive enough. All in is a tool to be used. You don't need the best hand for a push to be the correct move. If there is more to this then explain to me as well please.

Playing hands and gaining experience are two completely different things.

Check here http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...90.html#665038 for an explaination

I am not sure. I wonder if he is referring to ICM at all.

Originally Posted by Unibomber14

Liam, I think you were the last person to post in the first One Liners thread.

I didn't say the same thing did I? ;p

fold

Originally Posted by Thunder

Originally Posted by kmind

If you get it all-in with the best hand everytime, you aren't getting it in enough

Care to explain just exactly what you mean by this?

Youre not bluffing/semibluffing enough.

"You don't have to quote great men to prove that you are one."

Originally Posted by DaNutsInYoEye

"You don't have to quote great men to prove that you are one."

QFT

Oh God, I don't know what's funnier. The quote itself, or the fact that someone quoted it.

Don't plug someone else's leak.

Don't be the good Samaritan trying to help the fish that is giving us his money. I see it at least twice a day at micro stakes.

Help people on the forums or something not the guy that keeps getting stacked and rebuying at your table.

I don't know if it happens at higher stakes, but I see it a ton.

I also see people gloat when they take someone's money. Many times the guy who lost ends up leaving because of this. My wife is happy to give away money at 1 cent 2 cent. She is playing for entertainment which many people do. If you are an ass to her she will most likely take her money and give it to a different table. This goes for when someone sucks out on you as well. She may get a bad beat on someone but if everyone would just stfu she would gladly donk it all right back to the table.

read ftr beginner's digest. read it again. learn what you've read. apply what you've learned.

In low stakes:

bet/fold god damnit!

-ISF

Your approach to poker should be that everyone sucks and you are going to exploit their suckiness.

Originally Posted by Unibomber14

The winner is the player who makes the second to last mistake. --some russian chessmaster--

--Refer to above posts

This is an awesome quote and really applies to game theory.

Originally Posted by euphoricism

Originally Posted by Thunder

Originally Posted by kmind

If you get it all-in with the best hand everytime, you aren't getting it in enough

Care to explain just exactly what you mean by this?

Youre not bluffing/semibluffing enough.

didn't see this earlier but Euph got it, ty.

fold

Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results

Poker is the definition of insanity.

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.

fold

If your playing at a table where Bluffing works, your at the wrong table.

Originally Posted by Andrew

Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results

Poker is the definition of insanity.

I missed this gem, Awesome...

Liam^'s QFT wins the internet.

Originally Posted by ChrisBCritter

Originally Posted by Andrew

Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results

Poker is the definition of insanity.

I missed this gem, Awesome...

Liam^'s QFT wins the internet.

Poker's one of the few things where it's entirely logical to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results Of course you're never doing the *same* thing because every hand is unique.


My advice: Get good and comfortable at one gametype (FR cash, SnG, MTT, 6-max, HU) starting tight. Loosen up as you get comfortable. Then try a new one as you get bored. Start tight again. In fact whenever you're in waters at all unfamiliar to you, default to tight.

Microstakes are a time investment.

Originally Posted by mrhappy333

If your playing at a table where Bluffing works, your at the wrong table.

I beg to differ. People who fold too much are almost as yummy as people who give too much action.