How important is patience?

[pokerrude]

This is only my first post but been reading the site for awhile now. Started playing last November and only now is 'position' and 'pot odds' starting to make an inkling of sense. I only do 'play money' for now since I'm still learning.


But I'm wondering if patience and self control matter more then position and pot odds? Resisting going 'all in' with KK pre-flop when 5 other people are also 'all in' and shrugging off having folded the winning hand. Not having established a table image so waiting for the chance to go 1 on 1 with a bluffer even if others take him out in the meantime. Folding 44 hole cards pre-flop when half the table has raised too much and not caring much when the flop includes the other two 4s. Things like that for example.


After a horrible hit and usually miss SnG history I tried an experiment last night to test patience and self-control ignoring for the most part position and pot odds. I wouldn't play a single hand to the river unless I was 1 on 1 with an identified bluffer or had the nutz. The reason is, Full Tilts last hand feature is truly powerful to figure out people that show their cards.


All NL hold'em and aside from game 1 players were actually goodish:


First game: 250 buyin, 6 players, placed 1.
I was chip loser the entire game but had the image of being super-tight so managed to bluff to a win late game after letting the other players feed off the known bluffer.


Second game: 250, 9 players, placed 1.
Same as the first, but had the nutz twice so people became cautious if I was actually in a hand. Was a long game, about 40 minutes.


Third game: 250, 6, placed 2nd.
Longest game so far lasting almost an hour. No one was an 'all in' fool, all players were really tight and I was so stinking drunk I can't really remember what was happening. In heads up we just kept swapping chips, calling each others bluffs. It took awhile to chisle down the others stack. We both got bored and started to all-in, fold, all-in, fold. In the end, the opponent had the best high card and we both sighed in relief it was over.


Those three games I stuck to my no-river rule. In all three games if I'd seen the river I would have only won about four hands, all suck-outs. In contrast I would have lost over 100. My play scared people, making even the bluffers pause after seeing their stack fall from 8K to 2K with a pair of 2s.


And then there was game four where I went back to my old ways.


250, 6, placed 4th. I chased the flushs and straights, challenged high bets pre-flop and had the table image of a fish. An 'all-in' hooked, landed, scaled and cooked me.


Any opinions on patient and controlled play? Would it work at higher limits?

[gameaddict]

I'm a patient player-sometimes too patient. Of course, every one in a while, I'll play LAG (loose - aggressive), but I'm overall pretty tight. I've found that being patient usually pays off, but if you're playing a turbo or super turbo tourney, being too patient can be a downfall since the blinds increase so quickly. Higher limit ring tables-where blinds don't continually increase-can be a place to be patient, but you can lose money through blinds if you wait too long.

[DogCity]

I'm a patient player too. I think this kind of play takes a certain mindset, which you either have naturally, or need to learn (at great cost to begin with!). Somehow I don't think you will get any replies from folks who play aggressively

I get my most satisfying wins from cautious play which, when combined with a little luck, frequently sees me through to the prize seats in tournaments. Having said that, it's not a great earner in open table games; I usually find a more aggressive style generates more wins.

[Peacefrog]

I always loose in the long run since i don't have patience.

You need to have that i think. Maybee you can have a winning strategy another way but that would never be optimal.

[jack]

It’s true that without great patience one can’t success in the game, like any other fields, but some time you need to be hurry to win the game.

[Nick1971]

Patience is the strongest weapon professional players use in tough games. They are clearly patient and emotionless. Once you lose the patience, you tend to do mistakes.

When you lose the patience, you might also lose the focus so you might not get the game in to your self.

[SuperGimmics]

Patience should go hand-to-hand with emotions. Pros do not have emotions and they play patiently with the brain.

[brainrico]

emotions is at there deep chest and they suppressed it really tide not to come out and then there brain keep thinking not "how to win the play,there brain is"see and Study what is going on in the table.See the pattern and try to capture "gap of fortune"

[nh3zy]

Patient should be practice if your are playing. Me i am always a loser in the game because i don't have patient.

[lmpandey]

I also agree that it is patience only, which is the key for winning in a game of poker. So, be patient and apply correct strategies and I am sure that you will definitely win plenty of money from poker games.