Giving up isn’t a phrase that is often associated with
poker, but winning players realize that sometimes a pot reaches
a point at which it is no longer worth fighting for. As much as
aggressive play is taught, especially today, there’s a lot to
be said about the ability to slow down. If you are facing a
player who you have pinned as tight and/or
passive, but cannot seem to get them to fold in a particular
hand, it will only make sense to give up and save yourself some
money.

The problem that many players have is that they just
don’t want to come to the realization that they are not going to
win a hand. You won’t win every hand, so you need to make the
most out of the ones that you can and lose the least when you
can’t.

The crucial thing to remember in all of this is that you
shouldn’t be giving up before you even get started. For
instance, a simple raise ahead of you doesn’t mean that you
should be running away in fear. It’s those spots where only
further aggression can win a pot, but is unlikely to actually
work, that need to be avoided at all costs. In other words,
proper aggression is a matter of picking your spots as
effectively as possible. For example, giving up calls for moving on
when the situation just isn’t right.

Hello YouTubers This is my very first video on YouTube. In the video I'm taking about why I am giving up my poker gambling addiction and I hope this will hel. I've been playing online poker for about 2 years now. For about the last 8 months I have been playing at Pokerstars. I mainly do it just for fun, and only usually play in $5-10 multi-table tournaments. I have a pretty good rate of cashing at about 30% but I have yet to win one yet. My problem is I always lose when I have all my chips in with the best hand. I know most people say this too, but. It was a post made by Doug 'WCGRider' Polk on May 5th, 2007 and the title of the thread is 'Reaching the end of my rope.' He was down to his last $30, again, had just about lost hope that he could ever be a winning poker player, and was contemplating giving up. This post was his desperate plea to the 2+2 community. Up until 2011 The DOJ’s interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act (first officially entered in 2002) effectively made online poker illegal in the US. That changed when, at the urging of Illinois and New York, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel reexamined the Wire Act, and concluded its scope is limited to sports betting. Giving up poker for now Results have continued to be poor, and my mental game performance is quite shocking. I haven't been able to fully regain my confidence and running bad affects me too much.

Giving Up Pre-Flop

Pre-flop is the easiest time to give up when you look at it
from a practicality standpoint. You’ll have the least money
invested, you won’t be forced to continue on, and you won’t be very attached to your hand. The problem that comes
along with pre-flop play is that there’s always the opportunity
of the unknown. One of the most interesting and intriguing
elements of poker is that even the worst starting hand can turn
into the absolute nuts by the time that the river is dealt.
These types of possibilities are what allows for weak players to
become way too involved with hands that really aren’t that
valuable.

Giving Up Online Poker Tournaments

There are many different spots where you should be looking to
dump your hand pre-flop, but they aren’t as clear cut as you
might hope. The ultimate goal of any move with any hand should
be to determine the actual risk and reward that’s involved. If
you are facing a 3-bet with AK and are out of position against a
tight player, you may be in a rare spot where AK should be folded.

Is it smart to fold AK to any 3-bet? No, of course not. Is it even
smart to fold AK against a tight player? Not really. The
difference lies in the fact that there’s both a raise, a
re-raise, you are out of position, and the tightest player at
the table is showing resistance. A weak player would look at
this and say that they need to call and see a flop, but a smart
player will have the discipline to simply give it up and move on
instead.

Post-Flop Turning Points

Post-flop is where you’ll find yourself in a lot more
trickier situations where you are more attached to your hand.
Once you have approached the post-flop stages of the game, you’ll have now invested a significant amount of time, money, and
effort into the hand-three things that most players aren’t
going to be all too keen on sacrificing. This is both where you’ll have a chance to make money and lose money. Weak players
call off a check raise on the river when they know they are
beat, but strong players have the discipline to throw their hand
away, even if it’s just $50 more into a $250 pot.

Many poker players are suckered in to what I like to call the
“bluff vortex.” The bluff vortex is created when a player
initially raises and plans on making a continuation bet and then
giving up, but instead ends up firing out again on the turn and
the river as well. Every player will find themselves in these
types of situations, and it’s more than understandable. At
first you feel like you won’t want to continue with the pot
if you face strong resistance and don’t have a strong hand, but
then you’ll start to realize how much money is at stake and
that you have a chance at taking down the pot. It’s the
temptation of the money in the middle that is enough to throw
just about anyone off of their game.

Continuing with the bluff vortex, it’s usually the turn or
increased flop action that lands the bulk of players in hot
water. Though it’s hardly always the case, big bets will most
often start to develop on the turn. Where the flop is largely a
ground used to figure out where opponents stand, it’s the turn
that is used as a mechanism to get all of the money in the
middle or to scare off the other player, depending on whether
you are strong or weak. Because of this, the turn needs to be
where you really place the most emphasis in just about every
hand. Regardless of whether you are looking to extract value or
contemplating if it makes sense to fold, the turn will often
times be the turning point.

Also keep in mind that just
about any decision made on the turn is going to have a direct
effect on what happens when the river is dealt. If you have a
huge hand and want to stack your opponent, you should be looking
to get as much money as possible in the middle while also
leaving room for a reasonable river bet. Likewise, a weak hand
should be looking to see the river as cheaply as possible. The
important thing to remember is that the turn is the point in
time where you need to make your decision. Instead of putting
yourself in a very difficult spot on the river, sometimes it
will be best to simply get out of the way while you still can.

Giving Up Online Poker Games

I had a great original idea this weekend. The idea to steal Leo Babuata's idea for an experiment which he calls 'A Year of Living Without'. The concept is simple - each month for the next twelve I will give up one thing in the pursuit of self betterment and to, as Leo puts it, 'test the boundaries of my needs'. I haven't decided what all 12 will be yet but when I figure that out I'll create a schedule for the year to come. Suffice to say some will be relatively easy (i.e. sugar, which will be September's sacrifice) and others more difficult (all forms of video entertainment, or coffee). I'm open to suggestions!

Why do this? Well basically it just seems like a really cool experiment. I'll be able to track my progress and see what affect, if any, eliminating certain parts of my routine has on my life. Will I play better poker? Will my focus improve or worsen without coffee for a month? Will my energy levels improve? Will I actually read more if I don't watch TV or will time be wasted some other way?

Giving Up Online Poker Deuces Wild

As I mentioned above the first month will be sugar (to clarify I'm talking mostly about eliminating consumption of sugar derived from processed foods, not from all sugar--i.e that which comes from fruits/veggies is acceptable). I consume far too much of it at the moment - I went through a whole pack of chewy caramel tim tams in a day last week.. eugh. Okay, it was fantastic...but unsustainable.

So no chocolate, no ice cream, no sugary drinks. No sweetened yoghurt, no muesli bars. If I want something sweet I'm restrainted to fruit and vegetables - a fact that became all too real after dinner last night. I had a carrot for dessert. Yes, a carrot. It made me feel like a cross between a guinea pig and Sarah Jessica Parker (a horse, for those unaware of the startling similarity between the two). Ah see, sugar deprivation is already making me mean. Just kidding I would have said that anyway.. but I feel sorry for those who have to be around me the month I give up coffee.

Giving Up Online Poker Real Money

I have high hopes for the experiment. I'll post a recap at the end of each month with my thoughts on how things went and whether or not I'll sustain life without what I gave up for longer than the month. Wish me luck, call me crazy, and enjoy my year-long blogathon journey on this matter!