Trouble Bound

"He's the best general the British have.

But he's more interested in not losing

than he is in winning."

- George S. Patton Jr., in reference to British Field Marshal Montgomery

A faint heart never filled a flush. I've written previously that the ability to lose is a crucial part of winning poker. While that appears plainly obvious, most poker players sure play as if they have no understanding of the idea.

One thing lots of mediocre poker players do is fixate on avoiding trouble. It's true that if you have a choice between "trouble" and "no trouble," and they have the same financial impact, choosing "no trouble" makes sense. But, the critical thing is: "same financial impact." An example would be repeatedly flipping a (fair) coin with someone. It's silly, unless you get a thrill out of having pointless bankroll swings. This rarely occurs in poker.

In poker, the "trouble" situations to avoid are those in which you are in trouble but your opponents are not. These are rare. Most of the time, when you are in trouble, your opponents are in trouble, too! It takes two (or more) to tango. To make money at poker, you must court trouble situations. You can't win playing just no-brainer hands. The point is to make your opponents' trouble more troublesome and more costly than your trouble.

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone complain about the trouble of having A-Q offsuit or Q-Q in loose hold'em games, I'd have lots of nickels. Sure, these hands lose a lot of the time, but they have a positive expectation. Mucking them because you often "don't know where you are" is simply terrible poker. Fixating on the weaknesses of your own hand misses the point that 7-5 offsuit, 4-2 suited, and other hands have a lot more weaknesses, more trouble, than Q-Q.

The simple fact that you're in a troublesome situation is not a bad thing in itself. In fact, "knowing where you are" can often cost you money, such as when you flop quads. You almost always make more money flopping trips when a straight is possible, getting a flush card on the turn, and then rivering quads. Trouble makes you money. If your opponents are in worse shape than you are, this is good, not a problem.

A key part of the challenge of developing as a poker player is mastering the art of troublesome situations. Excellent players squeeze money out of mediocre players because their decision-making is superior and because the mediocre players want to avoid trouble altogether. In Texas hold'em in particular, a lot of the pot equity is seized during times of trouble for everybody. The most obvious example is when a flop misses everybody. The person with the best no pair is in trouble. The person who is last to act is in trouble. Any player who is in the blind is in trouble - trouble, trouble everywhere. But each of these players has advantages, too. Regularly seizing more than their fair share of the equity that is essentially "up for grabs" is one thing that separates the best players from the rest.

Some of the most profitable hands in loose games are those that court trouble. In Omaha eight-or-better, K-K-Q-Q with two suits is the sort of hand that loves as many opponents as possible. When it wins, it will scoop a very high percentage of the time. It's a good hand, but it's lots of trouble. It would be completely foolish to fold it when facing eight loose opponents, but when you continue past the flop, much of the time you are going to be involved in big, action pots. Every card that doesn't make your hand might kill it - but "might" only means might. You will often win with non-nut hands (including top full house). The hand can be easy sometimes, but it often will make you more money in the more difficult situations.

I'm not suggesting that people should throw rocks at pit bulls just to get in trouble, but I am suggesting that "trouble" is a winning player's friend. You want your opponents to be in big trouble when you are in moderate trouble. You want the money associated with trouble. You want to sensibly get into trouble situations in which you win some and lose some - and make a profit.

Trouble is what you make it.

Steve Badger's links to "Poker News" around the world can be found on his website: www.PlayWinningPoker.com.