OK, But What Happened to Your Other Chips?

Every day I receive e-mail explaining a poker hand, with a sentence at the end asking how I would play the hand. Lately, most of the questions are about no-limit hold'em. Sometimes I get questions about limit hold'em, stud, or Omaha, and I usually respond by saying that I should be asking them for advice, because I don't have the proper skill set to respond to questions about those games. Other e-mail refers to a hand on television and asks me for input. Both of these types of questions are hard to answer because of the limited information given. It is hard to analyze hands properly without being in the heat of the battle and knowing the exact situation. TV hands are really tough to discuss because less than 5 percent of the hands played are shown.



The first thing you need to do when discussing poker hands is make sure that you have all the facts stated correctly. Start off by stating what the blinds and antes were, and what the pertinent player positions were at the table. For example, stating that Jimmy raised from third position to $1,000 when the blinds were $150-$300 with a $50 ante is much better than just saying that Jimmy raised to $1,000. Even better information would include the chip counts prior to the hand. I have had people tell me that someone raised, they moved all in, and the other person called the all in with a queen high or something similar. It sure makes a difference whether he was calling 10 percent of his chips or 90 percent of his chips. Many times in poker, you have to make a call because of the amount of chips in the pot relative to your chip stack. I would much rather make a call with pocket fives after a raise when it costs me $100 of my $10,000 in chips than $5,000 of the same $10,000. There is a big difference, and it has to be stated. Also, when telling someone how you got knocked out, it helps to give more information than just the last hand when you were down to $400 in chips from the $10,000 that you started with. People always tell me that they went broke with K-K versus A-2 in those scenarios. I would rather hear how they blew off the other $9,600 in chips three minutes earlier with K-Q.



Finally, the most important part of telling a poker story is putting the listener into the moment. How did you get to where you were? What was going on at the table in the previous hour or two, or the previous 10 minutes? Do you have a history with the opponent? What had been said at the table prior to the hand, and what were you thinking was going through your opponent's head? By sharing this information with the listener, you can help him understand the hand better. Hell, he may even bother to look a little bit interested.