Curtis Mayfield III's blog

Three ways to Kill Your Bankroll

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:16:38 +0000

Most cash game poker players have a fixed bankroll. Whether it's a couple of thousand or a couple of million or a few hundred. The fact of the matter is that none of us wants to purposely lose money at the table. However, it happens each and every day. Some of those losses are due to bad beats. Others are due to poor play and inexperience. The one thing that we need to be aware of is that when you lose your allotted amount for that session you need to get up from the table. It's time to re-assess where your game is and the circumstances that surround the loss.
Here are a few things that will certainly kill your bankroll if you're not careful.

Take Advantage of Weak Players

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:09:54 +0000

If poker had one mantra it would be that the biggest, baddest, and strongest survive. This means that you have to take advantage of weaker players consistently. Weak players have a couple of traits that prevent them from doing well on a consistent basis. First, they will fold to any signs of aggression if they miss the flop. Second, they will only get involved if they believe they have some kid of hand which prevents them from taking advantage of their position as the button orbits the table.

Strong players play well on all streets. Weak players tend to play pre-flop and post flop but become weak on fourth and fifth streets due to a lack of aggression after having missed the flop and not knowing how to bet in order to obtain the information needed to make good decisions. Also, the weaker player is hyper-focused on winning each pot he is involved in which can be extremely detrimental. Contrary to popular belief a good poker player is not always involved in a pot with the intent if winning it. Therein lies the key. Several times during a tournament or cash game savvy players will be involved in smaller pots simply to gain information and to setup the big payoff play later in the tournament or cash game. This is how you play and earn maximum profit. Each pot that is played is used to gather information and convey misinformation to your opponent.

2008 WSOP No-Limit Final Table

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:15:27 +0000

Tomorrow is the day that will make or break the final nine players in the 2008 WSOP No Limit Championship. For the past three months each of these players has enjoyed a free ride courtesy of the various sponsors from poker sites around the world. For the amateur players this has to be a dream come true. Playing poker for free for three months straight? Are you kidding me? Who wouldn’t enjoy that kind of vacation?

I am sure the amateurs have very little to lose at this point with each of the final table players having pocketed a cool million already. I dare say the tournament is much more significant to the professional players who rely on their bankrolls to make a living. For them, this will be a do or die final table. Tomorrow’s event marks the beginning of the final table and the end of the poorly conceived idea of delaying it for suspense sake. I mentioned previously that this was an extremely bad idea and I really believe I am correct. If nothing else the WSOP could have hyped this event significantly more than they did.

Winning Poker Tournaments

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:11:22 +0000

Recently I pulled up my online poker stats to see just how well the year has gone. I must say that I am very pleased overall but not too happy about only having won 4 MTT's tournaments with over 180 players. It's not that this is bad or anything. I am cashing at over 23% in the 370+ MTT's I have played this year but it's all about the wins. How many times can you cross the finish line first?

It's funny how poker mirrors the game of golf in some ways. No matter how well you do you only remember the shots you missed. I can recall shooting an 83 one afternoon and all I could think of is the one hole I played poorly. The same goes for poker. Each time I look at those 4 wins I see all of the second and third place finishes and can recall the bad beat or misplayed hand as if it happened yesterday. I suppose that is a good trait to have in some ways but it does emphasize the fact that poker tournaments are extremely difficult to win even ones with small fields of less than 200 players.

WSOP Circuit Tournament Tomorrrow

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:33:08 +0000

Tomorrow afternoon I will begin my journey into my first official WSOP Circuit event. I am playing the $350 buy-in No Limit event #13 at Hammond, Indiana Binions. This is a tournament I have been waiting for quite some time and I am definitely looking forward to the live action. More importantly it is an opportunity to prove myself even further in a larger field of above average players. No, the big names will likely have moved on as the $5000 event was played yesterday and will finish up today. However, it is an opportunity to get some much needed action against some really tough opponents. I expect the field to be anywhere from 400 to 500 players and the tournament to take around 18 hours to complete. I figure we will be playing for around $30,000. Not a bad pay day at all.

Defending the Blinds

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:19:29 +0000

Defending the blinds is one of the most challenging and necessary aspects of ring game or tournament poker. Obviously each format of play has its own pitfalls and advantages. How you go about defending your blinds is more a matter of style and feel than straight poker strategy. In order to determine how you are going to defend your blinds you must first know what kind of player your opponent is. This is why you pay attention to the action even when you are not involved in the hand. That way you can determine just what kind of players you are up against. Most players are either loose aggressive, tight aggressive, passive, or solid. By narrowing down the styles of play we can make it much simpler to determine our options.

The Effective Check-Raise

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:53:28 +0100

The check-raise has to be one of the most over used moves in tournament poker. In most situations it screams out “I HAVE A BIG HAND” to your opponent when used out of context. On the other hand when it is used sparingly it can place doubt in the mind of your opponent giving you an opportunity to win a larger pot and value bet the river.

The problem with the check-raise when it is used too often is that it looses the element of surprise. If you are constantly check-raising after the flop, as so many like to do, a savvy opponent is simply going to go over the top realizing that you likely have missed the flop as well. One of the ways to effectively use this move is after you have shown down a hand for a pot. At this point your opponent realizes that you did have a hand and it plants the seed for the move in later hands.

State of Online Poker

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:01:51 +0100

With everything that is going on with the economy right now it really makes me wonder where this thing is going. Everything is being affected and online poker rooms are no different. However, I still believe the convenience of online poker still allows it to be a better alternative to brick and mortar poker rooms. Ultimately, the casinos are the ones that are going to take the biggest hit.

However, online poker rooms are not getting the revenue from new players they used to simply because people are out of jobs. That being said this could put an end to the poker boom we have seen over the past three years. That is not to say that things cannot bounce back with a stronger economy but people have to cut back on things all around the globe and for most casual players poker is a luxury and not a necessity.

Thinking Beyond the First and Second Level

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:21:00 +0100

Playing poker in mid-limit and higher cash games requires a live of thinking far beyond what we normally employ at the lower limits. Many times I will see players that are fundamentally unprepared to play at higher level cash games lose their bankrolls or complain about various plays made by their opponents. While you may do very well playing lower limit cash games there is definitely a big jump in tactics and strategy when it comes to the mid-level and higher poker player.

Most players at the lower limit only employ the two rudimentary levels of thinking as that is typically all that is necessary in a fast blind structure. That means you know what two cards you have in your hand and you have an idea of what two cards you opponent has. If this is the only way you can analyze where you are at in the hand then you are not prepared to move up to mid-level cash games as they require a much more in-depth thought process. In my opinion there are 5 levels of thinking through a hand:

Poker and the Economy

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:10:25 +0100

Before the poker boom in 2003 tournament fields for $5000 and higher buy-ins could be as small as eighty players in some venues. Since then the fields have grown each year much to the chagrin of professional poker players as it decreases the skill factor and increases the element of luck in the game. Today, we may be seeing the beginning of a decline in live tournament play as the global effects of the economy hit pocket books around the world. Honestly I believe that online poker will not be as affected simply because of its convenience. People can deposit relatively small amounts of money at their discretion and they also do not have to travel anywhere to play which makes it a good deal compared to going out to a casino.