Has Anyone Seen My … Gamble?

I was sitting at a supersatellite table recently after laying down a hand that in retrospect I think I should have played, and while being dealt the next hand, I exclaimed, "I need to go home and look around the house and see if I can find my gamble."

Everyone laughed, which made me laugh, but then I realized how intuitive my statement might have been, or at least it was something I needed to examine.

In the early stages of my playing career, I remember hearing things like, "How can you play that?" or "You won't be here long," or "You've got a dinner reservation? Don't worry, you'll make it in time, and probably be able to catch a movie, too."

These remarks were direct comments on my play at the time. Now, three years later, I find myself saying the exact same thing about other players, but not out loud. As a matter of fact, lately I've been saying it as these kind folks have been busting me out of tournaments. As any good poker player should do, I started analyzing my play, or looking for my gamble.

During my early years as a player, I read no books, talked no poker with the pros, and basically played my hands. I was playing stud in those days and had a good memory for cards and starting hands. So, I always had a decent read on the table. The switch to hold'em was an interesting one, because it changed the read from cards plus possibilities plus people to just possibilities and people. This is when I started playing tournaments, and discovered how much I liked that type of competition.

I was a winning tournament player in the lower buy-in daily events, and enjoyed that success enough to start moving up. I started entering bigger events and my success continued, as I found myself at many final tables of these events. I even made a high overall points finish in the 2000 Legends of Poker tournament without playing in any event with a buy-in of $1,000 or more. Continuing on, I went on the tournament trail and made some more final tables. That's where I'm at today, still on the trail and still trying to improve.

As an advocate of reading and learning, I started to delve into the many books out there, talked to many of the tournament circuit pros, and bought computer simulation software. I learned a lot! So, now I'm playing right, or am I?

Right now, final tables are tables away. I'm close, but not there. At the few final tables I've made this year, I haven't gotten to the promised land (the top three places). Except for a fourth place at the World Series, I'm not really happy with my overall achievements this year. So, what's wrong? Where's my gamble?

Well, as I see it, I'm not gambling in spots in which I used to gamble. I look at a situation, determine by the betting that I'm beat, and lay my hand down, or based on the pot odds, I realize it's a bad call, and fold. Often, I've noticed that a hand with which I might call a single raise gets three-bet and I no longer consider it. In other words, I'm playing it by the book, while I used to play more by instinct, and therefore have lost all of my gamble.

Eventually, big hands are going to get beat. The numbers prove that they don't always win, and if I'm playing it by the book, I'm constantly walking away saying, "Well, I started with the best hand." Those big hands just don't come along often enough to offset those losses, and out the door I go with no chips.

In fact, I've noticed that I'm not even gambling with big hands. I haven't varied my play enough; I am not limping in with big hands, waiting to get raised, and then trapping, or having an opponent flop an underpair and trapping him at the river. No, I've been raising, and my opponents know I have a big hand, so all I win are the blinds. (Now, I don't advocate never raising with a big hand, but we must vary our play.) Thus, I find that I'm never amassing enough chips to take the hits when I do lose pots.

So, where is my gamble and how do I get it back? Well, it's hard to go against what you learn in a book, but the pros I've been watching have written their own book in their heads. They may talk the book, but when it comes to their play, they are anything but conventional. I know one successful pro who, when raised, looks at his hand, sees something like 6-4 suited or 7-5 suited, sits straight up in his chair, and calls. Now, his sitting up in his chair may be something only I noticed, but the point is, he's ready to gamble. There is another pro who called three bets with a marginal hand in big tournament. She knew she was beat, but decided to gamble. She won a very big pot, and went on to win the tournament. I had a conversation with another pro about why he hasn't written a book. His answer was simply that his play is too unconventional, and he doesn't want to give that info away. Guess what? He is a very successful tournament pro, and his term "unconventional" means he has gamble.

So, where's mine? Well, it's still lurking in here somewhere, and I'm about to bring it out. Yes, no longer will I always have the big hand. In fact, if I go broke with a bad hand, at least I will have experimented. If I sit straight up in my chair and call, look out! If I call your three-bet, I might be coming from behind, but I'm coming. If I'm unconventional, I may not write a book, but I will try to take your chips. People will say, "That Warren, he can be playing anything," or, "Jeez, I just got Warrened!" From now on, call me gamblin' Warren.