Universal Elements Flashcards
What is the difference between A, B, and C-game?
A-game is when you’re playing your best and feeling your best. B-game is everything between A and C-game, it’s not your best and it’s not your worse. C- game is anytime you know you have played badly.
Explain the idea of lopping off your C-game.
Lopping off your C-game is when you continuously improve your A-game so that over time, your C-game (worse game) is not as bad as it once was. As well as thinking of situations that may be more conducive to C-game play such as tilt or fatigue, and how you would/should play in those situations, if at all.
When you are winning, and you reach a point in the session when the happiness you will gain by winning more money will be much less than the pain you will endure if you lose, what should you do?
QUIT
How do you build up the skill of quitting-well when you are stuck?
Take a lot of breaks. If you take a lot of breaks, and you do it the same whether you’re ahead or behind, whether you feel steady and stable or tilted and toppling, then you will build up quitting strength much more quickly than if you think of quitting as something that happens only once per session. There is money to be made when you quit well and your opponents don’t.
What is the difference between sets, sessions, and breaks?
Sets are the amount of time between sitting down and standing up and is typically an hour long. Give or take a little is fine but a set longer than two hours is never fine.
A session is a group of sets in time. Long sessions are fine as long as you are fine and are done in sets.
Breaks are the time in between sets. Use breaks to remove yourself both physically AND mentally from the game. Practice taking many breaks.
What is reciprocality?
Any difference between you and your opponents that affects your bottom line. From food selection to hand selection.
Why is it that you can make money by managing your bankroll better than your opponents?
Because players usually don’t play well when they are low on money; most play best when they have no financial worries. Reciprocality.
How big should your bankroll be?
About 10 times your normal big loss.
How does your level of play when you are stuck, affect the amount of money you should take to the poker room?
if you play well when you are stuck, you should take way more money than you think you will need. If you play really bad after you get stuck beyond a certain amount, then you should only take that amount.
When you need some advice about a poker decision, who should you ask?
“The Professional.”
The Professional is immortal, unless he goes broke, in which case, he dies. If he takes a job, he dies. If he takes a loan, he dies. If he takes a gift, he dies. If he in any way acquires money that did not pass through a poker pot, he dies. These conditions cause The Professional to see every decision as a poker decision. The Professional is all meta-game, all the time.
When calculating your poker earnings, what must you be sure to include?
Your expenses, i.e. tips and rake in order to figure out your true earnings.
Imagine that a line extends from each live hand to the pot. A line also extends from you to whoever you are talking to. How do you decide whether it is ok to continue talking?
If your talking line intersects any of the live hand lines, stop talking immediately. Also, never talk to someone who has a live hand.
Explain the concept of giving protection to other players.
You give protection to other players by not acting out of turn in any way; movements, speech, action.
What is the definition of tilt?
Any deviation from your A-game or A-mindset, however slight or fleeting.
What are the three dimensions of tilt and what questions do they pose?
Frequency - How often do you deviate from your A-game?
Duration - How long does it last?
Depth - How far below your A-game do you go?
What are the three big causes of soft tilt (tilt not caused by an emotional reaction to the cards or players)?
Fatigue, running low on money, and distraction.
What is Betting Reciprocality?
Betting reciprocality is the difference between your betting decisions – raise, bet, call, check, and fold – and theirs.
How do you create a Position Reciprocality advantage?
By acting last more often than your opponents, i.e. folding more when OOP.
What is the worst position at the table?
The Small Blind, even with the discounted price because you are paying to act before everybody else.
What are the negatives to playing suited/connected hands OOP?
It costs more to draw to hands OOP and when the draw does get there, you earn less on average.
What does it mean to be gobsmacked in a poker hand?
It’s when something happens to you that you weren’t ready for, and you needed to be.
What does it mean to make an anticipation mistake?
Whenever your opponent(s) takes an action that catches you by surprise, you made an anticipation mistake. Aim to be ready for everything.
What is the worst anticipation mistake you can make?
In a headsup pot, when you bet or raise, your opponent can only fold, call, or raise. If he folds, your next betting decision is not until the next hand. If he calls, your next betting decision is not until the next street. If he raises – and only if he raises – you must act now. That is why, when you bet or raise, there is strategically nothing to anticipate except a raise, and therefore, if you have not anticipated a raise, you not only made a mistake, you made the only mistake possible.
A good ___________ foresees all pertinent paths without attaching to any of them.
Anticipator
