Hopefully the odds played out properly and you figured out that you tend to finish higher when playing the majority of your hands from later positions, and you gave away fewer chips from the early positions when you only played the recommended hands. What should this tell you? Several things:
#1 Playing only big hands from early position gives you a better chance at winning the hand and preventing chip loss.
#2 Playing most of your hands from later position will give you a better chance at winning the individual hands.
#3 You are winning more chips and giving away fewer chips from all positions.
#4 You have more information and are in the power seat when playing from later positions.
If you have found these statements to be true for you, try to continue to play the way you have the last 10 games. It can be easy to fall back into bad habits, so break them! Stick with this.
Lesson:
Now that you are playing only huge hands in early positions, try this experiment.
In a 9 player cash game. You are on or near the button. Nobody has raised the pot pre-flop. No matter what your cards are, raise 4 times the blind. If you get called and there is no betting, bet the pot when it is your turn. If there is a 1/2 to full pot bet before it is your turn, be ready to fold! Do not chase a hand with poor odds, that is not the point of this exercise. Do not worry if you lost some chips along the way. Keep trying. The key to this is to be ready to fold as well. On any bluff that you continue betting, or on strong hand, bet the hand the same way. If you raise the pot, the table will want to see if you will continue to bet and usually they will fold. Bet half the pot on the turn and river. Do NOT show your hand afterward, wait to get caught, then act as if nothing unusual has happened. Just tell them, nice call. You want them calling your next hand because it will be a good one!
You will begin to notice that you will win chips with nothing in your hand! You will also notice when you have a big hand, players will pay you more often. Try this in 10 different hands, just don't do them all back to back. Make sure your good hands are mixed in there. They want to see you mean your bets and will follow through. Do not forget to keep the previous lesson in your arsenal. Hint: This is most effective when the table believes you to be a 'concervative' player. Therefore, make sure to establish your reputation by showing down big hands. Do not be afraid to show down a weak hand, just try to do that cheaply, then, as stated they will pay you off on your big hand. One final hint. Do not call all in with a single pair, only call all in with a big hand. You will find yourself making money...not giving it away. To prove this, keep track of how much you won and lost on each hand.
All that being said...if you keep a record of the hand and how it was bet and would like the hand evaluated for mistakes, reply to this post with it.
