I am generally a pretty honest person. Primarily this is because I try to have good morals, but I also find dishonesty to be really hard work. When you tell a lie you have to remember the lie and who you told it to so that you don’t trip yourself up and get caught out. It’s just too much effort for me and I try to live a simple life being comfortable in my own skin. Which is why when I started playing Poker seriously recently I had a lot of difficulty with Bluffing properly and Bluffing is a BIG part of the game of Poker. This flaw in my game was seriously holding me back for a while...
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To me it initially felt like Bluffing was being dishonest so I wasn’t really comfortable with it. At first I tried to manage my own physical behaviour by stonewalling with a Poker Face when I bet big so that I didn’t give off any obvious Tells when I was trying to Bluff, but I still couldn’t land my Bluffs successfully. My opponents would regularly call me down and I was convinced that I was giving off a Tell somewhere in my behaviour or mannerisms. It was tough going and so I stayed Tight, but that led to me also getting Bluffed myself out of a lot of Pots.
As I got more experience I learnt that one of the areas I needed to improve was Hand Reading and I gradually came around to realizing that it wasn’t my behavior or mannerisms that was giving me away, but I was Bluffing in the wrong places by telling a story that didn’t make sense to my opponents. It was last weekend that I had a bit of an epiphany and a few elements of my game came together all at once and it sort of Clicked into place.
It started with another element of Poker which I had understood the basics of, which is Bet Sizing – in terms of placing bets in proportion to the Pot and the Equity that you might have on the Pot. When I put my knowledge of Bet Sizing together with my attempts at Hand Reading alongside my understanding of Player Types and Ranges, the penny dropped and I realized that Bet Sizing is an important part of the conversation between players that helps significantly with good Hand Reading. Then with some better Hand Reading I could find those spots where I could Bluff an opponent with a convincing story AND I could more effectively spot my opponents Bluffs at the same time!
Another big realization was that successful Bluffing is not even about what cards I might be holding, but what my opponent is holding in combination with what THEY think that I am holding and so my improved Hand Reading has helped a LOT with that. I've known for a while that managing my own Table Image is important overall, but in a specific hand you can tell a story with your Bets that can make a convincing Bluff very hard to call. So, armed with this newly developed Poker skill I am now Bluffing more and landing them more often than not. Last night I won another tournament at a new venue that I am playing – which is now the 3rd week in a row that I’ve won that particular tournament. It’s now no longer a question of IF I am going to get to Vegas but WHEN. Wish me luck!
Congratulations on the third win in a row! I've heard Singapore and Macau are pretty good for poker too.
Yes, Macau is closer and I have a family member moving there for work soon. A short stop there could definitely be on the cards ;)
Isn't Macau like the center of high stakes poker? It would be great to see you in one of those games, although there are more focus on the more widespread tournaments like EPT, WPT, WSOP etc.
Great going with the new skillset! Put it to good use 😄
Do you play only live poker?
I had a look at Macau recently and it appeared as though there were some big cash games, but not so many tournaments. I am improving but my stakes are still pretty low.
I do prefer live poker but I play a bit online at CoinPoker too.
Ah yes, coinpoker - that could also be a good place to spread this community.
Thank you for using this community. And if you don't mind (I noticed you are a developer), do you have any ideas to the latest post in the community? https://peakd.com/hive-144726/@hive-144726/prevent-cheating-on-chain
It's very tough to prevent collusion between players online. There are behavioral things you can look for but I don't think you can technically prevent it.
In keeping with the way HIVE works I'd go with a reputational system and the higher stakes games require higher reputation and more proven track record of fair play.
This is a good idea. Simply just not allow people under x reputation to participate, right?
Perhaps that could be something the host of the tournament decide, or am I being unrealistic now?
Hope it’s 2024 cause I am really hoping we meetup in a different spot in 2025. 🤣😂😂
#vegas’dout
Aren't you over there now?? If you get Vegas'd out then you've only got yourself to blame!
Maybe the 2025 one can be on the South Coast NSW, Australia. Then we can see how many of the Americans will make that trip and I can give THEM some shit about it :)
Love the Aussie idea.
I just got home from Vegas last night. Well… this morning. 😄 Flight got delayed because of mechanical nonsense so didn’t get back home until 1:30am. 😭😭
I agree with you that when we tell a lie than we've to remember this, although poker is played by mostly man but i play with my sister's too sometimes without bet 😹
Wish you good luck dear 😀
Learning the people at the tables style is the best way to make bluffs. I’m not a huge bluffer, but I do pick and choose times.
Whereas I recognize that poker is both a skill and an art, I have generally stayed away from the game, mostly for the reason that I am not good at deadpanning, masking my tells and generally — also — bluffing. But I do admire those who are really good at it!
Wow, diving deep into the poker psyche there! Bluffing isn't just cards, it's storytelling – you nailed it. Bet sizing and hand reading sure sound like game-changers. Congrats on your tournament streak!
Following you from now on @buggedout
Third week in a row, obviously I wish you luck, and I congratulate you.
!DHEDGE
Wao
Some people don't always remember the lie that they told and that's the best way to catch them that they lied, lol
I think you are becoming more interested in poker these days
I like that!
You are saying right. I think its very difficult to live a life as an honest person because it do not digest by some Peoples. Peoples around us are sometimes hurts alot and I think such peoples deserve person like themselves.
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