Re: [ba-poker] You've got to know when to fold 'em

[Ed Fernandez <edf(deleted the rest)>]

Really, the advice is not so much as not to play J5s (although if you 
did take that away from the discussion you wouldn't be much wrong), but 
the bigger truth that others tried to convey was to learn WHY or WHY 
NOT to play J5s. I would in fact wager that most of the people who 
slammed you for playing J5s have actually played it, and have probably 
jammed their whole stack with it at one point. Especially Bill Chen who 
chastised Ken's play. Now, the conditions upon which they jammed with 
it (or even worse hands) are very different than the conditions upon 
which you played the hand. But that is really the key to becoming a 
great poker player: understanding WHY you are making a play and having 
a solid basis for making the decision, not just a random decision to 
mix up your play.

BTW - I applaud your thinking about being creative and mixing up your 
play, but I think you are just ahead of your game right now.
Its a lot like golf. The first couple of years, you take lessons, you 
buy different clubs, and you practice your ass off. You try some tricky 
shots and quickly realize that you don't have enough understanding to 
really pull it off, even if you occasionally get lucky. So you settle 
down into a comfort zone and work on your swing and making small 
improvements to your game.

After a few years, your play suddenly jumps to a level where previously 
hard shots are now routine, and suddenly you find yourself "knowing" 
when you can try a trick shot and when it becomes a reasonable gamble. 
Poker is a lot like that. There are times when I've raised without even 
looking at my cards, and there are times when I mucked pocket kings 
before the flop. Unfortunately it took about ten years of playing 
before I could do either based on sound decision making.

Ed

On Dec 1, 2004, at 3:11 PM, Ajax Green wrote:

> Hey I really appreciate all the responses guys,
> thanks,  and it looks like the prevailing advice is
> "don't play J/5".
>
> I've read some 'starting hand' analysis, and yeah I
> knew it was none too good, but I have also heard that
> sometimes it is a good idea to mix up your play to
> confuse your opponents, to do something that they
> would not expect, thus catching them off-guard.
>
> But I guess with a hand like J/5, you'd be hoping more
> for J's and 5's than the flush, since as you point
> out, there are three higher flushes.
>
> -Ajax
>
> --- "David S. Heller" <david(deleted the rest)> wrote:
>
> > A basic question to ask yourself when you play a
> > hand is, "what am I hoping
> > to flop?".
>
>
>                 
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> All your favorites on one personal page ? Try My Yahoo!
> http://my.yahoo.com