With a Little Help From My Friends

Being a poker columnist provides certain advantages. One advantage is having the opportunity to talk to a wide variety of interesting people and communicate with players all across the spectrum – from novice beginners to world champions. Some of these players have an invigorating sense of perspective about poker. They have given me practical ideas about strategy, including techniques to maximize earning potential. They have made me ponder questions I've never considered before – not only about poker, but about life. At times, they have even rekindled my enthusiasm for the game. When a conversation unveiled what I thought was a particularly useful concept, I often took notes so that I could remember the idea later. Over the years, I collected quite a few of these notes – on credit card receipts, notepads, and even a few bar napkins. This column is a reconstruction of some of those notes and conversations.

Boris Alec, Queens, New York: Boris is a poker professional who is one of the game's premier strategists. He knows the technical side of poker as well as anyone I know. Shortly after last year's United States Poker Championships in Atlantic City, Boris shared this anecdote with me while we were waiting for a game:

The day before the main event started, I had an incredible day at the Taj. I made about $8,000 in side games. Since I had made such a big score, I decided to play in the main event the next day and pay the entry fee in cash. The tournament started and after several hours of playing, we got down close to the money. I had a good-sized stack and was due to make my buy-in back – plus a nice profit. Then, I made a mistake and got out of line with a marginal hand. I ended up busting out with no prize money. Afterward, I thought about it and realized that not only did I play the hand poorly, but all the profit I had made the day before went down the drain with that one bad decision. It's easy to see it now, but I should have at least made the money first, and then started making moves. I lost everything I had won the day before because of a single mistake. So, instead of having a good tournament, I ended up with nothing to show for it.

Moral: Playing to win should always be the goal, but sometimes it's best to lock up a win first.

Jim Karlinski, Las Vegas, Nevada: When I first met Jim several years ago, he was in Atlantic City. He later moved to Los Angeles and played poker professionally, mostly at the $15-$30 to $30-$60 limits. He relocated to Las Vegas a few months ago. We had a discussion at a weekly "poker roundtable" meeting at a local Las Vegas restaurant recently, which produced this bit of advice:

If anyone ever comes up to me in a cardroom or is sitting with me at a poker table and asks me, "How's it going?" – I always tell him that I'm on an incredible winning streak, and have won the last 30 sessions in a row. It doesn't matter if it's true or not, because most people who ask you that question inside a cardroom don't really care what the answer is. If you had lost 20 sessions in a row or won 20 in a row, it makes no difference to them, if you get right down to it. But, if people think you're really running good, they fear you. If they know you are running bad, they will run all over you. When you tell people you're running bad, nobody really cares, so what's the point? If people think I'm a winning player and I'm killing the games, that's going to give me an advantage.

Moral: You can determine your own table image by what you say and how you say it.

Russell Rosenblum, Washington, DC: Russell is a DC-based attorney who plays mostly middle-limit poker and a few major tournaments. One night, we played in a satellite together at the World Series of Poker. We were discussing what it means to play your "A" game – especially in live-action games. Here's what Russell said, which I thought was an excellent point:

Let's say I get dealt Q-10 in early position. When I am playing my "C" game, I usually call and see the flop. That's a mistake a lot of weak players make. When I'm playing my "B" game, I think about calling with it, but then I usually throw it away. When I am playing my "A" game, I throw a hand like Q-10 away without even a second thought. If you play a hand like Q-10 from there, you are just asking for trouble. Playing weak hands out of position is probably the biggest difference between what it means to play a "C" game vs. an "A" game.

Moral: Winning hold'em requires having the discipline not to make fatal errors early in the hand, especially with potential trap hands (like Q-10).

Herb Allen, Brigantine, New Jersey: Herb limits his play to tournaments and the local pot-limit game in Atlantic City. Formerly a casino host, Herb now supports himself exclusively from poker playing and investments. He also plays an excellent game of golf – although you often wouldn't know it by watching his game and seeing him hit his ball into the woods. He had this to say on the golf course one afternoon:

When I play a guy for money – whether it's poker, golf, or whatever – the hustle is always working. You have to make the other guy think he CAN beat you. Not only that, you have to make him think he WILL beat you. Otherwise, he's not going to play against you. You know you're the better player, of course, but you can't let on to that. If he shoots a 76, you shoot a 75. If he shoots a 99, you shoot a 98. Why humiliate the guy by shooting a 76 when he shoots a 102? It's the same in poker. Why humiliate a guy at the table? Never berate him. Never criticize him. If he drags a big pot, just say, "Nice hand," and let it go. If you have the skill, you'll eventually get the money. And if he beats you, that's OK, too – maybe you aren't as good a player as you thought. Then, you should try to learn something from the man who just beat you. That's the way it works.

Moral: Never tap on the aquarium.

Barry Tanenbaum, San Jose, California: Barry plays middle- and high-limit live action. Year in and year out, he averages more than one and a half big bets per hour, and is without doubt one of Northern California's best ring game players. (Note: As this is being written, Barry and his wife, Betty, who is also a fine player, are preparing to move to Las Vegas in semiretirement.) Barry and I were at a bar in San Jose when he told me this gem:

I was playing in a $20-$40 game a few nights ago, and was on the button with a Q-10. One player was very short-stacked and opened for a raise, which basically put him all in. In an effort to isolate the all-in player, I made it three bets, both blinds called. The flop came with an ace and two low cards. The two blinds checked to me, I bet, and both of the blinds quickly folded. Since the other player was all in, we turned up our hands and I ended up winning the pot with a queen high. Here's where the story gets really interesting. There was a break a few minutes later, and I was in the restroom. I overheard a couple of the players in our game talking in there about what an idiot I was for three-betting with a Q-10. One guy who was not in our game was listening to this, and decided to come over and buy in to the game based on the impression that I was (in their minds) such a clueless player. Of course, I played a whole different style after that, and got all kinds of action when I had aces and kings. The new player dropped a couple of racks. The guy in the restroom received some very bad information. It was terribly inaccurate. His friends thought they were helping, when in fact they weren't capable of making an accurate assessment of the situation. That kind of disinformation goes on a lot in poker rooms.

Moral: When a "friend" tells you there's a great game or a terrible player in it, it may be wise to reserve judgement.

Steve "Crunch" Daniel, Boston, Massachusetts: Crunch calls himself a recreational player, but that masks the fact that he is an astute observer of human nature and a serious student of the game. Although he has a successful career outside of poker, he often looks at poker from an academic point of view and plays primarily for self-fulfillment. He shared this insight with me while we were driving to Foxwoods in Connecticut late one evening:

The thing you really need to do at the poker table is find out what motivates the player you are up against. Is he playing the hand because he's bored at the moment? Is he playing the hand because he thinks he can make money on it? Is he playing because he won the last two hands and now thinks he's on a rush? Is he playing to satisfy his ego? Is he playing because he's on tilt and has completely lost his self-discipline? What is motivating his call or raise here? That's the question you should be asking yourself all the time. That's one reason I do a lot of talking at the poker table. First, it's good for the game. It keeps people entertained. But it also gives me critical information about my opponents. Find out why your opponent is sitting at the table and why he's playing a hand, and the battle is partially won. He might as well be playing his hand faceup.

Moral: It's OK to talk, but it's far more important to listen.

Greg Dinkin, Los Angeles, California: Greg was a prop player at The Bicycle Casino a few years ago, and is now a full-time literary agent and writer. He is currently working on a new book that combines poker and business strategy. It's called The Poker Principle: How to Convert a Winning Hand in Poker to a Winning Hand in Business. Greg is also a Card Player columnist. He relayed this pearl of wisdom during a dinner engagement in Rockville, Maryland:

The difference between gambling and other activities is that when you're gambling, you can get the money back, and then some, if you know what you're doing. If I go out and spend $50 on something, that money is gone forever. It won't ever come back to me. But if I invest $50 in a pot, there is a reasonable chance that I will get something back in return. People outside the gambling world have their priorities totally mixed up. They think serious gamblers are reckless with money. In my view, quite the opposite is true. The people who are reckless are inside shopping malls wandering from store to store, often buying things they don't need.

Moral: Playing games of positive expectation is a completely rational act, while many so-called "normal" activities are pretty senseless.

Note: Later on, I'll do a follow-up column with more quotes and quips from my poker friends.