Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Strengths and weaknesses...

I think it's important to conduct an honest evaluation of your game now and then and look at what you believe you do well and what you don't do well. This can lead to improvement and a better self-realization of where you're at as a poker player and what games you should be playing.

My weaknesses at cash games:

1) I play somewhat weak/tight when I'm at levels higher than what I'm used to playing.
2) My patterns are somewhat predictable at times and good players could probably read me quite easily. (Luckily this isn't a problem on Bodog, lol)
3) I spew chips sometimes when I c-bet too much into dangerously textured flops.
4) Too often I c-bet flop, get called, and shut down on the turn, allowing people to bet me off hands on the river.
5) Going along with #4, if I c-bet flop and check turn, I probably don't have much. If I fire strong on turn I generally have the goods. Therefore I need to fire more barrels with nothing so that it's not that easy to put me on a hand (and sometimes check turn with a big hand)
6) If I start a session off losing I am constantly aware of how much I am down and I want to get that money back.
7) I tilt when I take beats and when a lot of things go wrong in a short period of time.

My strengths:

1) I have a great knowledge of positional poker and this gives me an edge over almost all my opponents.
2) I am aggressive and rarely limp.
3) I rarely slowplay, so my sets very often stack people without it ever looking like a big hand (a big check/raise or something).
4) I take down many, many pots with absolutely nothing in my hand just by being aggressive and playing position.
5) I have learned that I don't need to win every pot and to stay out of marginal spots.
6) I am vastly improved in not spewing money with marginal hands by calling and hoping to hit a flop.
7) I think I am a very good heads up player and that I could beat Full Tilt's .5/1 HU tables when I build enough of a bankroll there.

Tourney weaknesses:

1) My "middle game" is weak. (Explained more below)
2) I don't know how to resteal very well, and have a hard time accumulating a big stack.
3) I am more likely to last a while in a tourney and then bust out of the money never having had a stack instead of going by the "get chips or go home" philosophy.
4) I don't play the bubble aggressively enough.

Tourney strengths:

1) I think I'm very good once it gets to push/fold mode...this makes SNGs easier for me than tourneys because that middle stage of being semi-short but not into push/fold mode yet is shorter.
2) My early game is good, as I play a lot of cash and understand deep stacked poker better than most players on play against in tourneys.
3) Most of my cash game strengths translate at least somewhat here.

Try and do this for your own game...you may find that some honest self-reflection can be quite eye opening, and from there you can work to improve.

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