37th Lecture - Things To Practice Beyond A Basic Winning Strategy

Things To Practice Beyond A Basic Winning Strategy
The following lecture was the 37th Tuesday Session, held June 22, 1999, and later appeared
in Card Player magazine.

Classroom Lectures: Some Exercises You Can Do to Improve Your Poker

Yes, they call me "The Mad Genius of Poker," and I'm not offended. I like it. The more you
get to know me, the more you realize that I really am certifiably nuts. All this stuff you hear
about it being a clever act is just public relations babble. It's not an act. It's never been an act.
Just between you and me, I wake up every single morning wishing I could be normal - but it's
hopeless.

Nothing irritates me more than to hear someone try to compliment me by explaining, "Yeah,
he's crazy - crazy like a fox." These are people who have assumed that I know how to control
my insanity. I categorically deny this. Anyway, you may have heard of the "Mad Genius
Method." It's something I attach to courses and products: Learn How to Win Half the Wealth
in America at Poker in 10 Minutes Using the Mad Genius Method. So, you're wondering,
what exactly is this MGM? I'll tell you. My MGM is simple. You learn about any one thing
by neglecting all other things.

You dedicate a period of time - from a few minutes to maybe a day or a whole poker session -
to focusing on one important thing. Each of these exercises is called a mission. That's the
basis of my 12 Days to Hold'em Success and my 11 Days to 7-Stud Success reports - one
thing per poker session. Oddly, the things you think you're neglecting don't cause you to
suffer as much as you'd suppose. The things you're not concentrating on tend to take care of
themselves. It's the fear of neglecting some things that causes people to focus on everything at
once and become bewildered. Little is ever learned by focusing on too much at once. The
biggest proving ground for that is the poker table, where if you concentrate on just one big
thing at a time, you master poker quickly. And if you concentrate on too many things at the
same time, you never master it at all.

Even more specifically, this is true of tells. Players who look for tells everywhere are
overwhelmed and seldom see any. Those who begin by focusing on just one player or just one
action often succeed in mastering tells. So, that's the Mad Genius Method - ignore almost
everything. Today we're going to look at some poker exercises that you can perform by using
this powerful method.

The following is taken from the 37th in my series of Tuesday Session classroom lectures at
Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy. The lecture was held on June 22,
1999. The title of the lecture was ...

Things to Practice Beyond a Basic Winning Strategy

1. Before you add anything ... Many players believe their fundamental game plan is more

profitable than it really is. I'm urging you to think about that, and if you see any
possibility that the previous sentence applies to you, work on your basic strategy

before mastering new skills. Before you add anything to a basic winning strategy,
make sure you actually have one. Here are three of the main elements of a basic
winning strategy: (1) In most full-handed limit poker games, play tighter than your
typical (too loose) opponents; (2) raise aggressively with small edges; and (3) find
loose and timid opponents. (And I'm just going to assume that you will try to play
your best game all the time, because that's the key to success for all levels of serious
players.) Two not-quite-so-important things that should be incorporated into your
basic winning strategy are: Sit to the left of loose players and tough-aggressive players
so that you maximize profit with positional advantage, and quit if the game isn't
excellent. When you're at the early stages of becoming a pro, you need excellent
opportunities for profit, and you should tend to decline other games. Top pros can play
more hands and more games, because they don't need quite as big an initial edge to
turn a profit. But while you're still advancing, keep you basic strategy mostly targeted
at playing stronger hands in weaker games.

2. Just one thing. Usually - in accordance with the Mad Genius Method o learning - try to

practice just one new technique or make one new observation at a time. Don't worry
about anything else; just do that one thing. And here are the six things (A through F)
I've chosen for you to practice beyond your basic winning game.

3. Thing A. Make all bets and raises crisp, certain, and slightly exaggerated. This tends

to keep opponents in line and makes them reluctant to raise with marginal advantages,
thereby surrendering back to you some of the profit that could have been theirs. This
also helps promote an active image and helps you become a force to be reckoned with.
However, there are many other ways to wager, and reasons for them. But when you're
just adding to your basic game, practice this crisp-and-certain method of acting first.
Do it for one full poker session, then forget about it.

4. Thing B. Routinely raise with any moderately strong hand in late position when a

middle- or late-position player is the only one to have voluntarily entered the pot. This
helps your aggressive image and maximizes your positional advantage. Of course, you
won't end up doing this all the time once you have the game mastered - just now while
you're practicing. Do it every chance you get for one full poker session, then forget
about it.

5. Thing C. Study just one player (preferably across the table from you) and see how this

player acts differently when bluffing or not, and when weak or strong. The trick to
mastering tells is to focus on just one player at a time. And while you're learning, it's
much easier (although not as rewarding) to observe a player across the table than one
to your left or your right. Don't look studious. It's a mistake to let opponents know that
you're scrutinizing them. If this happens, players often will act unnaturally (which can
be good strategy sometimes, but isn't good in studying overall tells). Watch the
opponent discreetly, and try to appear as if you're thinking about something else.
Practice this for one full poker session, then forget about it.

6. Thing D. Go through an entire session without ever raising - except when

last to act with a strong hand on the last betting round. Sure, this isn't the most
profitable way to play poker, but it is one of the most profitable ways to learn poker.
Practice this for one full poker session, make notes about your experience after you
cash out, then forget about it.

7. Thing E. Then, go through an entire poker session always raising with any borderline

hand with which you otherwise might just call. Take notes on how the table reacted

and how you fared. Repeating - do this for an entire poker session, then forget about it.
Keep your notes for both D and E - and later compare.

8. Thing F (Final). Whenever you're not in a hand, watch the action. Then when you see

who won the showdown, reconstruct the action from that player's point of view and
visualize how that player arrived at the showdown. Nothing will help you understand
what hands opponents actually play more than this. What this lesson teaches you is
that you shouldn't always expect opponents to make logical decisions. Strategies based
on the assumption that your opponents are quite rational can be very costly. So,
practice reconstructing the action sequences for the winning hands. Do it for an entire
poker session. When you're done, think back over all of these missions and try to
incorporate them in your future play. You'll be glad you did.