A Great Game?

"I'm in a great game," my friend whispered in my ear as he strolled over to my table looking for a loan to stay in action. "Their chips are flowing like the Mississippi River in full flood," he added. I looked over at the group of players he was talking about. And he was right, they were firing, which was a major part of the problem he was having at the table. He was playing with a group of fast, aggressive, good players while he was on short money and trying to play tight against players who were charging at him. He was getting run over and outplayed; yet, in his own mind he was in a super spot with a great overlay for himself. If you want to win at the game of poker, the single most important thing you must do is pick the correct game.

For starters, this applies to choosing between the various games – hold'em, Omaha, stud, or whatever – and stakes. You should play a game that suits your skills, knowledge, bankroll, and temperament. I play $15-$30 through $80-$160 hold'em, with the vast majority of my time being spent at the $30-$60 limit. I have chosen this niche for many reasons, including comfort, my skill level relative to that of my opponents, and other variables that make me believe this spot in the poker world has the greatest positive potential for my life with the least amount of risk.

Beyond deciding what game and limit you should play – which are part of your big poker picture – the next most important variable is choosing the table at which you will actually sit down. Your success at poker depends not on how well you play, but on how well you play in relation to your opponents. I've often repeated the poker adage that being the 10th-best player in the world is not a good spot to be in if the other nine are at your table. This presents a significant problem for many midlevel players. Their egos are inextricably interwoven into their poker games. When handicapping themselves in a field, almost all players put themselves closer to the front of the pack than they deserve to be. This is almost inherent to the nature of the kind of person who plays a lot of poker: A powerful confidence in oneself is a necessary element of the mental toughness required to win at the game over an extended period of time. My friend who wanted the loan had not made this mistake, though. He had greater knowledge and skill than most of the players at his table.

Besides being short-bankrolled for the game, he was making another mistake. Another significant facet of game selection is choosing a game that fits your style of play. Great players can adjust well to any style of game; that is a large part of what makes them great players. However, most middle-limit and recreational players have a knowledge level that doesn't go beyond small adjustments in technique. They have an emotional mindset, style of play, and body of knowledge that feature consistency as the central principle of their game. They know what they know and they play how they play – and they need to find games that fit their style, due to their lack of ability to adjust.

My friend is a pretty solid book player. He is experienced enough to go beyond an ABC style of book play, but his range doesn't extend much beyond DEF. He was playing in the wrong game for his skill level. The weaknesses in his game were magnified by the fact that he was playing on short money, which limited his capabilities to make plays and mix it up with players with whom he needed to mix it up in this game. By playing a high-fluctuation game with short money, he was increasing his chance of going broke and losing the opportunity to play when he had a significant edge.

Furthermore, the game called for significant deviations from the basic hold'em strategy utilized by most players at these limits. And most players, when confronted with these types of games, either adjust too much or don't adjust enough. My friend would have been much better off playing in a slower-paced game where his cash would have lasted longer, giving him more opportunities over time to choose his spots carefully without risking large quantities of chips, thereby reducing his chance of being taken out of action by a negative fluctuation.

So, what is the right game? How do we pick a game that suits our style of play? Tiger Woods plays better golf on courses with wide fairways, which favors his long driving skills. Poker players have game types that favor their skills, also. Playing to his skill level and avoiding his weaknesses can make a mediocre player a productive player by enabling him to get the most out of his abilities.

If you are a player with good fundamental knowledge, good discipline, a little creativity, and a little advanced-play knowledge, you will perform well in a game with loose-passive players. Your superior hand-selection skills and basic betting strategies will outperform players who are playing too loosely and with poor value considerations in their betting patterns. Even if good players are playing in these types of games, the style of these games will limit the value of many of their creative plays, thereby limiting the edge they hold over any given player.

If you are a player with good mind and card-reading skills, and have the heart to act on them, you will do better playing against a style of player who is both predictable and capable of folding. Your tools will play well against that type of opposition. When the pot can be bought, you will be buying it. When a good call is called for, you will be calling. You will make and save bets that your opponents won't. All of these plays will add up considerably over the course of time. Often, the hourly rate of a great player can be higher in a predictable game than in one in which there is lots of fast action.

The best opponents to play against are the ones on whom you have accurate tells. Also, very profitable opponents are the ones who tend to call often and raise infrequently. That said, some very aggressive players with only one speed tend to perform poorly when they try to run over players in a game in which it is impossible to get anyone to lay a hand down.

Be in tune with yourself. Honestly and accurately define your strengths and weaknesses, and make sound judgments based on that self-awareness. Play to your strengths, and move away from your weaknesses as much as possible. What makes a good or bad game is different for different people, based not only on the previously mentioned variables, but also on a player's emotional condition at the time, financial situation, and other circumstances. Handicap yourself honestly.

I told my friend the game was no good for him, and that I wouldn't be doing him any favors by giving him a loan. He was pretty mad about that, and stalked off in a bit of a snit. However, two days later he apologized and thanked me.

Editor's note: Roy Cooke has played winning professional poker for 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas – please see his ad below.