Poker Log Entry for Steveinho

I enjoy playing big stack poker even when I sometimes dont have the "big stack".
 
Here a couple of rules that I have kinda set myself to follow when playing big stack poker.
 
1.  Dont over play big stack poker.  Players eventually catch on to this, therefor making it much easiler to fall into traps.
 
2.  Play big stack poker if you find a weak player, that you can do this to consistantly, and make it pay off for you.  (This is also helpful when you have a small stack), but at the same time dont fall into the traps.
 
3.  Try to mix up your big stack poker plays, by sometimes limping with large hands, or even try setting the trap with monsters.  (This is hard to do.)
 
Another thing I love doing is when playing big stack poker, and you get up against the guy that has noticed you have been doing this, is extracting large amounts from their stack, by over betting monsters.  I was in a tournament one time where I had flopped top set, with a rainbow flop that was all over the place.  Had some donk that thought I was playing big stack poker and flopped a pretty big hand himself.  But not knowing how big his hand was a hoping for the play-back, that I was 90% he would make cause I could see the hard on he had for busting/crippling me.  I fired a pretty decent sized bet on the flop which he called.  Turn finally brings a draw to the board.  I fired another decent/large sized bet at him, looking like I want him to really go away now, and he moved all in on me drawing dead.
 
It is situations like that in NHL tournaments that make adjusting your play, player profiling, and other keys to being successful in tournys really special.  No Greater feeling in the world than to have some donk shove all his chips into you drawing dead.
 
I hope some of my comments are helpful to you, because I know your postings and comments are helpful to me, and even when I reiterate some of my thoughts, it refreshes my tournament play for when I do get a chance to play another tournament again.
 
I am going to play in a small event at the WSOP this year, and hopefully everything that I have gathered from your comments to other users on the site, and comments that you make on your own blog, will help me achieve a nice payday when Im down there.

you're definitely right... when i first started playing with a lot of my free time, i was ultra-aggressive... bluff everything, call with any ace, any suited, etc...
 
over time i learned more of the game and got into a habit of controlling it... sure, i'll bluff... you have to to be successful... but not at that insane degree
 
right there was me being way, way overly aggressive... trying to play big stack poker without a big enough stack and letting a mediocre player achieve the easiest trap of my life
 
big key for me is learning when to let it go... i've gotten better at it, but my pride gets the best of me sometimes

The key to success of aggression I feel, is knowing when to control it.  I have noticed that there are a lot of idiots online and offline, that have absolutely no control.  They place ridiculous bets from ridiculous positions.  My success from aggression in tournaments, it to make sure I dont get carried away from doing it too often, and making sure I can find the point of letting it go too.  This has been a severe weakness for me in the past.  Is over committing myself where I have officially crossed the point of no return. 
 
Another thing that I have found is asking myself, when I fuck this up and it sticks itself right in my own ass, Can I recover?
 
One pro gave me some of the greatest advise ever for tournament play (specifically offline).  That is try before you actually act, count to 5 in your head.  Do you still like the decision you were about to make.  Did you gain some other information that you didnt see, or wouldnt have seen by acting hastily.  This is a hard discipline to have, but I have felt by taking that couple seconds, you end up making far fewer mistakes in the long run.