Welcome to BTP, Bob!

You're right. Often that's exactly what happens. But, I think in the long run, you lose more chips than you could have gotten if you'd strung them out.

A perfect example is AA. Everyone says never slowplay AA. Do they know what this really means?

AA is 78% against one hand. 72% against 3 hands. Down to like 48% against 6, I think. Something like that. Even if you are up against one other player everytime, almost 1 out of 5 times you are going to lose. They aren't bulletproof. So, why be shoving all your chips in when you get AA? Because you're afraid of that 1 out of 5 times that they inevitably lose. So, use that to your advantage. Raise to the point where you only get one or two callers. Make 'em pay the admission price. The flop comes XXX rainbow. Most guys shove a lot of chips in, hoping to win the pot right there. Why? Afraid somebody will draw out on them! If the opponent gets a piece of the flop, he's 22:1 to catch trips. He might get runner-runner flush or straight. I'll take that action every time. I want all his chips, not just what's already out there. What you do NOT want to do is let a whole bunch of people draw against you.

Didn't we play a hand like this? I know one time today I mini-raised with AA and got cracked. It happens. One out of five times. But, if you stack up all the chips I've lost with AA versus chips I've won--even disregarding the chips I would have won by fast playing or raising them out and just winning the blinds--I'm pretty confident which is the bigger stack, by a bunch. I lost only chips I would have lost anyway. It happens. Maybe it wasn't you, but somebody said I shouldn't slow play AA. I didn't. I just tried to get more chips into the middle, knowing I'd be heads up against the BB and/or SB. 72% against both, knowing only one of them at most is going to be against me at the turn.

That's my point with this post. A good player is thinking, "how can I get the most chips?" An inexperienced player is thinking, "how can I win this right now?" A good player is thinking, "do I need to win this right now?" (A fish is thinking, "oh, boy, I have a pair!!!")

I could be wrong, but I don't think so much. At least somebody took me to task, and I appreciate that. I really assure you, this is the right way to play. Trust me.

CJ

When playing against not very experienced players I dont think it matters too much to make the big and complex strategies to extract most chips because they are highly unpredictable and often just play their hand without looking at position or your hand or what you did before.

When playing against the average player and I hit one of the monsters on the flop I try to represent something else, if I went to showdown a few times before I just try to play the hand as I did other hands before and I feel (I could be wrong) that this is how I maximise the chips. The average players are the best to play against because many of them have been beat many times and developped "solutions to situations" making them highly predictable.

Against the good players i believe it is just luck but then again I am not a good player so how would I know ?

CJ, About the idea of letting the ppl draw on you for a cheap fee and potentially getting more chips less often I would agree that chip wise it is a winning play but placing wise I am not sure because the risk of getting eliminated is also increased. I dont worry too much how many chips I get when I get ITM, to win you need to be ITM first, but that is a completely different topic

Hello all,

I have been reading BTP for some time now soaking up as much info as possible. Thanks to all those who offer their advice and expertise.

I have not really had a reason to post untill I read this thread and it kinda hit a nerve, yet brought me back down to earth.

I am a firm believer in what CJ is saying... getting the most out of large pockets. However between last night and this morning I have had AA cracked 4x in a row and KK 3x. 3 of these times with trips on the flop and 3 other times with rag/rainbow flops! (The other time I knew I was toast but was basically pot committed). I don't think I could have played these any better, yet as they say that is poker.

However, I was almost to the point of folding the damn things pre-flop as I was becoming afraid to play them (stupid I know, but WTF!!). I had just had AA cracked by 46s when I decided to come to BTF for some inspriation and I ran across this thread.

Thank you so much for this post. It has brought me back to earth. I had actually started to doubt the way I played big pockets and we all know how well we play with doubt in our game.

Anyway...sorry for rambling.

DA