Poker Phrases That Backfire

Conventional wisdom is the downfall of many an aspiring poker professional – not to mention many a baseball team, many a high-budget Hollywood film, and many a relationship. In this column, however, I'll stick to discussing poker.



I used to think poker's conventional wisdom was a thing of the past, and that everyone playing these days had his or her own ideas about how to play. Especially considering the influx of new players we've seen over the past three years, I felt sure that the old poker adages would disappear sooner or later. And while a lot of the newcomers to our game certainly do have their own styles, it amazes me how many players still cling to the old way of thinking.



The vast majority of adherents to the "conventional wisdom" have not made any money in their lives playing poker, while the great players play a completely different style from the typical "by-the-book" approach. Think of any great poker player. Do you have your favorite player in mind? Good. Now, would you say that player follows conventional wisdom? A great player does things differently than the mediocre player. For this reason, if for no other, feel free to ignore any of the advice you hear from a player who plays the same way everyone else does, no matter how experienced or inexperienced that player may be.



I'm confident that most readers know what I'm talking about when I say "conventional wisdom." But just in case, let me pick apart some of the phrases I hear all too often around cardrooms, and explain why I don't find them useful.



1. "Don't risk your tournament life on a bluff." Many players avoid risking their last chips in poker tournaments, even if they truly believe the risk is a good one, just because they're afraid to put their tournament lives on the line without a strong hand. This is perhaps the most dangerous conventional wisdom of all.



Surviving the first day or two of a major tournament has little or no value. I know it's counterintuitive to think so. After all, you have to survive for a long time to get to the final table. I started my career adhering to the conventional wisdom. I lasted a long time in a lot of tournaments, sometimes even making it to the money, by playing a very conservative, "guard your chips" strategy. Meanwhile, my records kept showing a bigger and bigger loss in tournaments.



Finally, with the help of a kick in the pants from poker theorists Jerrod Ankenman and Bill Chen, I realized how foolish the "guard your chips" approach was. You win tournaments by accumulating chips. You win tournaments by risking your "tournament life." A poker tournament is not a life, after all, it's a game. And the object of this particular game is to make as much money as you can. The object is not to see how much time you can spend in the tournament. The guy who finishes on the bubble gets paid the same as the first guy out. And the winner typically gets hundreds of times as much money as the first player to cash.



If I hadn't started routinely risking my tournament life in dicey situations, I never would've been hired as a poker strategy columnist – not to mention made a living as a professional poker player.



2. "It's important to get control over the table." People who say this think they can have their opponents folding, calling, and raising at their will. This type of thinking may not seem dangerous, but it is. Players who think they have "control" over the table often use this perceived control as an excuse to make big laydowns. They say things like, "I don't need to call there; I can just build up my stack whenever I want to, with no risk." Here's the problem: Your opponents do not bend to your will. Even if you've been running great and haven't had to show a hand yet, it is far from a guarantee that your good fortunes will continue. In fact, when you win a lot of hands without having to show your cards, it usually means half the table is just dying to come after you (trust me, I've experienced this many times). This situation is not the time to start making big laydowns. If you give your opponents even the slightest credit for having a clue, you probably should start calling with lesser hands than normal, expecting them to take a shot at you with trash.



It's not important to get control over the table, because control over the table is impossible. (I wonder if the idea of controlling the table came from the days when players intimidated their opponents at gunpoint.) If your opponent has a big pair, nothing you can do will make him fold preflop. And your opponents can always flop a big hand, no matter how badly they play. It's important to play your best poker, and constantly evaluate and re-evaluate what's happening with your opponents, so that you can anticipate what they're going to do next.



Here are some better ways to describe the situation at a table where you've had success: "I have several players at my table who've been loose-passive, but now they're getting short-stacked and I expect them to turn up the aggression." "I've got a real maniac image at my table, so I don't think I'll be able to bluff." "I've got a real tight image, so I plan on making some moves." "I've made the nuts a lot, and I think some of my opponents are afraid to play against me." Note the difference between these statements and "I have good control over the table."



3. "Never put your chips in when you're either a big favorite or a small underdog." I looked at this issue in detail back when I wrote the column "Poker Math – Part II: A Practical Example of Using Math to Make a Decision to Call an All-in Raise." In that piece, I justified making an all-in call with pocket eights, knowing full well I was either a big underdog or a small favorite. It's vitally important to look beyond the two cards in your hand, and even beyond the two cards your opponent might have, and consider the risk and reward of the situation. There are times when the pot is offering such a good price that you call with any two cards. There are times when the pot is just large enough that you should call when there's any chance at all that you're a favorite – even a small favorite. And there are times when your pot odds are so unfavorable that you should fold even very strong hands. Knowing how to evaluate these different scenarios is much more important than memorizing an unreliable piece of conventional wisdom.



The old way of playing poker – bullying opponents mercilessly but never risking all of your chips without the nuts, and never calling another player unless you thought you were a big favorite – might have worked for some players. But believe it or not, there is a reason that 95 percent of the people who blindly follow advice passed down from supposed poker gurus do not become rich playing this game. There is one time-tested maxim with which I do agree, and if you haven't come across it in other walks of life, I'm happy to introduce it to you via poker: Think for yourself.

Matt Matros is the author of The Making of a Poker Player, which is available online at http://www.cardplayer.com/.