Nutbar

In my last column, I discussed the art of teaching poker and how dismal I was at it. Eventually, though, I think I got the hang of it, understanding better how to teach my friends what they needed to learn based on the mistakes they were making.

Just recently I got an E-mail from Mike that reminded me of a little drill I gave him about a year ago. The drill was called "Nutbar." Mike thanked me for the drill, as he thought it helped him address the problems he was having, and was also a lot of fun.

In Mike's original E-mail to me a year ago, he asked me how he could improve his hand-reading ability. Now, that is a tough question. Of course, books will teach you fundamentals, but it would seem that only experience can help you develop your hand-reading skills. Mike was already a reasonably successful player at the $15-$30 limit, but often had trouble with good, looser, aggressive players. He had difficulty, as does everybody, figuring out what these players had.

So, I went back to my teenage years, when I originally developed "nutbar." Actually, at the time, nutbar was basically an excuse for me to go on tilt and feel good about it. It was like "constructive tilt." Of course, I was absolutely fooling myself.

Anyway, when I used this "drill," I noticed some amazing things occurring at the table. Much like "Bettin' Benny" (a loose, aggressive player I mentioned in a past column), I was in complete control of the table. Before I go any further, maybe I should explain exactly what nutbar is.

In a nutshell, you must raise every single hand preflop for a predetermined period (about two hours) and "try" to break even. Of course, if you are a regular $15-$30 player, you don't want to blow that much money on the drill, so I would recommend playing $2-$4 or $3-$6. The fact is, you are probably going to lose, but you are paying for a lesson.

The idea of the drill is to try to teach you something – most importantly, "How do my good, loose, aggressive opponents think?" I think some of you might see a side of poker you may have never thought of before.

Once you've started raising every hand, notice what effect it has on the game. Everyone's game will be affected by you. The game will revolve around you. If you happen to get lucky and win some pots here and there, your opponents may become afraid of you. On the other hand, they will also call you more often. They will likely check-raise you more often. So, you'll be forced to adjust your strategy accordingly. This is your table now and everyone will be reacting to you.

Before I go too far with this, I want to address the actual meat of the question. How will this help your hand-reading ability? Playing A-A or A-K is relatively easy in comparison to trying to make Q-5 offsuit a winner. There are very few favorable flops for a hand like that, obviously. This drill may help you practice making more difficult decisions than you are used to making.

The flop comes 10 7 5. What do you do with your Q-5? The obvious answer is usually fold. But, since you have become the maniac, you've likely made the pots too big to fold! You may, in many situations, actually be making an error by folding. You have to ask yourself several questions in a situation like this – most importantly, if I hit a queen or a 5, will it be the best hand? Also, am I getting the right price to draw to five outs (assuming that you think you may have that many)? If I call, what are the chances that somebody will raise behind me? Should I, perhaps, raise, hoping that the bettor is bluffing and I have the best hand? Or, should I raise to try to get a free card on the turn?

These are all basic questions that you also have to ask yourself with hands like A-K on a K-8-4 flop, but the Q-5 hand is obviously a much more difficult one to play. You'd rather flop the nuts, bet it the whole way, and have everybody pay you off. That's nice, but it's not reality.

The one aspect of poker that simply can't be taught is feel. Feel is something players develop in time, and some develop it better than others. All great players know the fundamentals, but it is their "feel" that separates them from the pack. Nutbar may speed up the process for you and help you develop your feel. Or, it could be a dangerous tool that dooms you to playing too aggressively in your $15-$30 game. Use it at your own risk!