Losing Big POTS

[evilbow]

This single poker strategy i'm about to write about is i think one of the best and most PROFITABLE.
When it come's to winning poker,most player's have
"TUNNEL VISION".
They focus on only HOW to WIN more pots and larger pots....whether it's through bluffing,calculating odds,or reading poker tells.
But what they DON'T FOCUS ON....(what i'm about to tell you)...is actually more important than 90% of all the other " stuff "....and can both INSTANTLY and
DRAMATICALLY increase your poker winnings over the long term.

HOW TO STOP LOSING BIG POTS

You see,there's alot of strategies out there for how to WIN hands...but very rarely does a player focus on strategies on how to NOT LOSE big hands.

WHY ?
Because they blame THAT PART of the game on luck and forces " out of their control ".
The reality is,you can win tons of great hands and gain chip lead,but it does'nt mean ANYTHING if you don't know how to keep it.

Can anyone of you think back to when GREG RAYMER won
the WSOP.....what was the key to his success at the final table ?.
They key was he had a huge chip lead and he knew how to keep it.
He did'nt lose big hands,which is what allowed him to keep his gigantic stack of chips and bully other player's around.

The concept is equally (if not MORE )important for players who ARE'NT in the chip lead.....because no matter how many pots you win,you won't win a game or tournament if you LOSE a lot of big hands.

Notice the " catch " here.....
I did'nt say " stop losing hands."
I said " stop losing BIG hands."
Because those two statements mean two TOTALLY different meanings.
You CANNOT stop losing ALL hands....it's just not realistic.But you can use strategies to stop losing BIG hands ....AND ....those are the more important
" turning points " of a game anyway.
So....what's this " hidden " strategy that most players overlook that will allow you to stop losing big pots.?

Preventing major losses is a very complicated and
" multi-layered " concept.However,one MAJOR components and "core" strategies behind it can be summed up in one 12 letter word:

ANTICIPATION

That's right ......you can literally cut down on the number of big hands you lose by simply ANTICIPATING better.
And i don't mean anticipating the CARDS.
I mean anticipating THE BETS,based on what cards COULD come out of the deck.

Here's an example that will make it clear...

Let's say you're on the button and dealt AJ of-suit.The blinds are $1-2 and BetFredManager(a very tight player)makes it $15 to play.Everyone at the table folds and the action is to you.
This is the best hand you've seen in awhile,so you call the bet without much hesitation.

That is where you made your FIRST MISTAKE.
You KNOW BetfredManager is a very tight player that only makes pre-flop raises with monster hands.
But you called the bet anyway.....because you dod'nt ANTICIPATE what YOU would do ,even if you hit your ace on the flop.

Ok,so the flop hits,and the cards are A,9,2.
BetFredManager comes out firing with a $30 bet right away...Now what do you do ?
You have to put him on AK,AQ,AA,KK or QQ.
These are pretty much the only hands BetFredManager will make a pre-flop raise with.
Of course he did'nt check to you,so he probably does'nt have the cowboys or queens.
So now you think about what he could be holding......
You put him on hands that beat yours,but instead of folding you decide to see another card for $30.

There is your SECOND MISTAKE.

You felt pot - committed and only thought about the $30 bet.
What you SHOULD of been doing though is ANTICIPATING
what BetFredManager was going to bet after the turn card.
Let's face it ....you have to figure he is going to fire again.Are you prepared to call ANOTHER large bet after the turn with your AJ.?
Of course not .....and what you've done here is simply dug yourself into a big hole because you played only to win.

You got dealt a good hand and flopped the top pair and then stuck it out in hopes of a better card,,when
what you SHOULD of done is ANTICIPATED BetFredManager's behavior and folded your card's before the flop.
Hands like these happen to even the best poker players,and you MUST develop the disipline to fold that AJ and fold that top pair when you've anticipated what's coming next.

Think about what your opponent is going to bet.
Think about what you'll be WILLING to bet.
Then think about what will happen after the next cards...and then the ones after that....and then the ones after THAT....and so on.
It's all about anticipation.If you anticipate the different scenarios BEFORE they happen,youwill prevent big losses.
And when you stop losing big hands,you'll get to KEEP
the chips to win.
And that will help you to finish in the money..virtually everytime....and lead you to a successful poker player.

[SWScuracao]

As i would say.. great players have to fold great hands sometimes.
good article

[greywind50]

good post....There are so many levels of understanding and so much to be aware of in a poker hand, how can any one say, "Poker doesn't have a skill element to it".

[eberetta1]

I agree with you evilbow. Too many times people are left wondering what the heck hit them, but it was their own mistakes into a Venus fly trap, and it was all due to their own behavior's. It is good not to fall into the trap in the first place, but I think many will always have "tunnel vision", as many do not see an accident approaching until it has already occurred. Nice article.