More on Tourists and Locals - and Why You Should Care

Hi. Come on in. I'm making grilled cheese sandwiches. Do you like yours done lightly, or crisp, like mine?

We're going to finish up on what we were talking about last time – tourists and locals, and how you can tell one from the other. Let's continue.

Many local players meet in the cardrooms on a social basis and know everyone's name. They know about local issues and what the weather forecast is. The dealer and the local player tend to converse on a familiar basis. The dealer might know the local's first name and ask how his kids are. Pay attention to this conversation.

The young, impatient poker hustler will be easy to spot. He tends to shuffle and pile two stacks of chips with one hand, over and over again, mostly unaware that he is doing so. It takes practice to learn this move, and almost anyone you see doing it can be considered to be a local. This player appears to be bored most of the time and often looks around the room, checking out the other games, searching for a "soft spot" – an easier game in which he figures to have more of an edge.

A player looking at his downcards by picking them up from the table is most likely a tourist. The local has a more closed way of looking at his downcards, usually lifting just the edges while leaving the cards mostly flat on the table. The local sometimes gets disgusted when he loses, because he is "supposed to win" – he's supposed to beat the tourist. When the tourist loses, he generally figures, "What the hell." He's here to have a good time. Winning isn't the priority that it is with the local.

The local sometimes criticizes other people's play. The tourist probably won't do this – not because he's too polite, but because it just doesn't enter his mind. He hasn't experienced enough bad beats and drawouts. The local has experienced plenty of both, and when he experiences another, he becomes upset and critical, especially if it involves a tourist. (None of this is logical, but it happens anyway.)

The tourist rarely raises on the early round (third street in stud or preflop in hold'em) of play. When he does, he raises by a small amount if he is in a spread-limit stud game. The local raises on third street by a larger amount.

A player complaining often about getting bad cards is most likely a local. The tourist might make a good-natured comment, but he usually doesn't moan and groan about his bad luck. The local doesn't show his cards when he loses; he just throws them in. The tourist shows his cards when he has lost, because that's the way everyone does it at home.

The tourist is having fun; the local is playing "serious poker." So, the tourist generally appears to be happier and talks more. The local gets up and walks around more than the tourist, and the local leaves his chips on the table when he goes to eat.

It's important to distinguish the local from the tourist so that you can play tougher against the local. The tourist plays more loosely, as if he's still at home on the kitchen table, where a pair of sevens is a good hand.

None of these pieces of information alone will tell you whether a player is a local or a tourist. However, put them all together, and you can make an educated appraisal and be right most of the time.

Be smart, and play confident, tough poker. Maybe someday a newly arrived tourist will be trying to get a line on you – the tough local.

Take a couple of those grilled cheese sandwiches for your lunch tomorrow. They're good cold if you sprinkle some hot sauce on them. Now, I tire and require repose. Kill the light on your way out.

Editor's note: Roy West, author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning (available from Card Player), continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome.