How to resist the temptation of calling

Hey tommygecko,

First you need to make sure you are distinguishing correctly between spots where you should fold and spots where you just get coolered.

I doubt you should fold T-high flush on non-paired board very often. Overpair vs a check-raise on the other hand, usually an ok spot to find a fold depending on villain/action.

Also if you use tracking program you may take a look at your river call efficiency to see how much you win for every dollar you call on the river.

Originally posted by w34z3l
Hey tommygecko,

First you need to make sure you are distinguishing correctly between spots where you should fold and spots where you just get coolered.

I doubt you should fold T-high flush on non-paired board very often. Overpair vs a check-raise on the other hand, usually an ok spot to find a fold depending on villain/action.

True about the T high flush but I had a strong gut feeling villain had the nut flush

And I believe things like 'It's a cooler' or "I ran bad" are too commonly used as excuses for poor results.

Or maybe that's why I feel so bad now, perhaps it's the truth I ran bad, but there's no way to prove it. All in EV graphs only consider all-ins...

I've been having the same problem.

What a good friend of mine suggested was this:

Check each hand in an equity-calculator. Work out what their range is and see the odds yourself. Then plug in what the pot odds are offering.

By doing this often, either before a session or after a session, you'll start to see not just that you are playing wrong, but why you are playing wrong (going against the facts you just discovered).

It won't make you suddenly stop, but it will retrain you to think clearly about more situations and to know in your head what you know in your gut but can't control at the emotional level.

Before doing this I often found it a battle of 'I know I'm beat but I feel like there is a chance I'm being bluffed' or 'I just want to see what they have' or even some other random click when I just know it's wrong. But I'm slowly now thinking about their ranges and the odds and it puts the power in my thinking and away from emotions.

Good luck!

Originally posted by awesomeo
Also if you use tracking program you may take a look at your river call efficiency to see how much you win for every dollar you call on the river.

How do you do that with HEM2?

Originally posted by tommygecko
True about the T high flush but I had a strong gut feeling villain had the nut flush

And I believe things like 'It's a cooler' or "I ran bad" are too commonly used as excuses for poor results.

Or maybe that's why I feel so bad now, perhaps it's the truth I ran bad, but there's no way to prove it. All in EV graphs only consider all-ins...

lol, had a strong gut feeling ♦

You have pot odds when deciding if you want to call.
Now put villain on range(this is hardest part), and calculate equity vs his range using pokerstove or equilab.

If equity > pot odds than call if not than fold.

Originally posted by daun666

Originally posted by tommygecko
True about the T high flush but I had a strong gut feeling villain had the nut flush

And I believe things like 'It's a cooler' or "I ran bad" are too commonly used as excuses for poor results.

Or maybe that's why I feel so bad now, perhaps it's the truth I ran bad, but there's no way to prove it. All in EV graphs only consider all-ins...

lol, had a strong gut feeling ♦

You have pot odds when deciding if you want to call.
Now put villain on range(this is hardest part), and calculate equity vs his range using pokerstove or equilab.

If equity > pot odds than call if not than fold.

Yea I guess I should think more about pot odds then, rather than gut feel. Haha.

But for me everytime a fish raises all of a sudden it's like they have the near nuts

Originally posted by tommygecko
But for me everytime a fish raises all of a sudden it's like they have the near nuts

This is usually true. When you have a hand as strong as a flush though, opponents could be raising worse flushes, sets, 2-pair etc.

Well my RCE is 1.02 over 5.3k hands at NL10. What is a good value for RCE? 1.02 looks quite low I'm probably calling at spots where I should just fold.

Anyway do you guys run equilab/pokerstove while playing a session and use it in difficult spots?

I 've read somewhere (don't remember where) that if you are between a call and a fold you better fold ♠_rolleyes:

Good you found the RCE. 1.02 is obviously very low - that's 2 cents profit for every 1 dollar you call. So basicaly you are only increasing variance by calling rivers with your current frequencies. I'm not sure what a good stat should be like. I'm having around 1.6 now and it was 2 before but I have no idea to be honest. Important thing is that 1.02 is almost negative profit - If I'm getting the stat right it means that you would get the same result if you fold any river where you face a bet, including when you have the nuts! That should tell you something.

However my advice would be not to focus too much on spots where you have second best and villain have the nuts because that is not where the leak is. Chances are that villain would call when the situation is reversed so this is not what really changes the score. Filter out you river calls, apply them to all reports and go to the showdown report. I'm pretty sure you lose ton of money with A high, 1 pair and 2 pair when calling rivers. I would also guess that your WTSD is well above 25, right?

hello,

Although I am a tournament player, I think I can answer your question.

I make calls sometimes knowing I am behind but I don't do it often.

maybe here is a list of questions you can ask yourself before you make the call.

1. am I behind? be honest and answer if the answer is yes then fold.
2. how often do I have to be right to make profit making this call in this situation based on my pot odds? 2 out of 3? does it feel like this is 1 of those 2 times? yes? call. no? fold.
3. do I gain anything by making this call even if i am behind that will make them check next time and not try to bluff me (on the river lets say) yes? then maybe you can call and even if you turned out to be behind, it might profit you in future games against them (or future hands)

but usually when you feel behind you are behind so just let your hand go

good luck at the tables