not another bad beat story

i am pokermax

My name is Vic de Guzman. I am an amatuer poker player from the Philippines. Though I play a lot of poker, both tournament and cash games, I still do not consider myself as a professional player. However, I consider myself a student of the game, eagerly learning and appreciating this mind-blowing card game. I am known in the Philippine Poker scene as POKERMAX. Why POKERMAX? A lot of people say that I bring so much action at the tables. I've had some Poker Tournament success in my 5+ years playing poker, namely, Champion of the 2nd season of the POKER BAR TOUR (2006), 2009 Filipino Poker Tour Champion wherein I bested a field of 667 (the biggest field in Asia) with a prize pool of 6 Million pesos, Champion of the 1st Rotary Charity poker event, 48th place in the 2009 Asia Pacific Poker Tour in Cebu, and several other tournaments wherein I placed in the money. I am currently a regular player at the Manila Bay Poker Club at the Mall of Asia and The Big Ace Poker Club in Mandaluyong.

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POKER....... As I know it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
5:36 PM

I played at a 20/40 table last night. It was an action table. A lot of raises and 3-bets. That made me look back to the time when I started playing the game. The game, as I know it, have already evolved to a level that the playing style of old is no longer deemed profitable. When I started playing poker, re-raises and 3-betting were considered “bold” moves. Back in the day, a raise of pot size or more was enough to take down a pot, and if you encounter a re-raise, you are most likely up against AA, KK, or QQ. The aggression of most players comes from the quality of their hand, first and foremost, rather than making a “play” to win. Bluffs were random and most players played solidly back then. A lot of the “old school” pros use to base their game on reading their opponents and finding tells. The game was so simple back then. Post flop plays, then, was seldom used as most betting ends after the flop.

Now, there are a lot of young and aggressive live and internet poker players. Add to the fact that a lot of the tourneys now are deep stack. The game has opened up with a lot of fancy plays and 4-bets. Be careful when raising with AQ as someone might go over the top with a stronger bet, not necessarily with a better hand. You don’t want to bust out with that kind of hand. Also, most tourneys have very nice structure that allows an aggressive player to lose 30% of his stack and still have a lot of time to recover with the slow increment of the blinds and longer blind levels. It, therefore, allows an aggressive player to see a lot of flops with marginal hands that gets paid off when they hit. Nowadays, a lot of the players with advance skills, tends to raise with suited connectors. This conceals their hand and eventually gets paid when they hit the board. Plus, most players now have more knowledge about the game, and they just don’t give up on hand, especially with the pot odds, implied odds, etc.

“Old school” plays will win you small pots with your big hand and will often be outplayed when misses the board. New guys, on the other hand, can play any 2 cards and can easily outplay you coz’ you will give them credit of hitting the flop.

The game of poker today is far more complex compared to 5 years ago. To learn and to put a lot of time studying, watching videos, playing online are keys to improving once game. I have my work cut out for me if I intend to stay competitive in this game called POKER.

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