While playing at the
L.A. Poker Classic recently, one thing really jumped out at me: the general lack of focus and attention that people who had put up $10,000 to play in an event had. As you may or may not know, I took about six months off from playing live play after the
World Series of Poker to focus on family. My wife and I had a beautiful baby girl this winter, and I wanted to make sure I was around when it happened, as well as help out during the first few months of her life. So, when I returned to live play, it was like a sledgehammer hitting me when I saw all of the terrible things people do at the tables.
The thing that always sticks out, though, isn't fundamental flaws in the way people play; it's the general apathy they show toward the task at hand. We all put up $10,000 to play for a first prize of $2.5 million, and people were yawning at the table and watching television! Now, don't get me wrong, I love the fact that these people were playing poorly because their attention was not on poker; instead, it was on the Lakers game or whatever was on the televisions around the table, rather than what was happening at the table.
So, why this ramble in a strategy column? Well, it's a reminder that sometimes the single biggest thing we can do to set ourselves up for success is also the simplest. By always maximizing our effort and focus at the tables, we put ourselves in the best possible position to win, and therefore put money directly into our pockets. Maybe it won't happen in this game or the next, but eventually some key piece of information that we pick up, or some momentary lapse in judgment that we don't commit, will become real money in our pockets.
One example from the
L.A. Poker Classic took place in the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event. A few hours into the event, I had an aggressive player two to my left who was attacking a lot of pots and taking them down. I knew that he couldn't always be that strong, so I was looking for an edge to be able to tell when he had a real hand and when he didn't. I noticed that he was spending a lot of time talking up his opponents after check-raising them all in, and in general seemed very relaxed. I wasn't picking up much of anything, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying.
Finally, I noticed a change. He was playing a hand from the big blind when the small blind raised the pot, and all of a sudden, he stopped his normal table banter. I also noticed that as he put chips into the pot in this particular hand, his hands were shaking ever so slightly; in previous hands, he had been relaxed and had tossed his chips into the pot in a very aggressive manner, and now he was calmly counting out his bets very carefully.
I started making mental notes and was hoping this hand would get shown down. To my surprise, post-flop he had abandoned his usual aggressive style, as well, and was playing the hand quite passively. At the end of the hand, it turned out that he had A-Q on an ace-high flop. Sure enough, he had hit a big hand and had given me lots of free information, since I was paying attention.
Let's fast-forward to an hour later, when the following hand came up. I was in the small blind, and the player who had A-Q earlier limped in from under the gun with $75-$150 blinds. The player directly to his left, who was fairly tight, raised the pot to $600, and everyone folded around to me. I looked down and saw A-K. At this point, the under-the-gun player had $10,000 in chips, the raiser had $4,000, and I had $15,000. I was already among the chip leaders, so instead of reraising, I simply-smooth called. The under-the-gun player smooth-called, as well, and we saw a flop. The flop was K
9
8
, which wasn't necessarily a great flop for me, but it wasn't bad, either. The under-the-gun player came out firing with a $1,400 bet. The original raiser folded, and it was my action. Since I was paying attention earlier, I noticed that he now made his usual aggressive bet at the flop, was talking liberally, and seemed almost carefree with his bet. I decided there was a good chance that he was betting a draw, or not a very strong hand, since he had played his strong hand much differently earlier, so I just called, to keep the pot under control and pounce on a non-threatening turn card.
Sure enough, the turn was the harmless 4
. Undeterred, the under-the-gun player fired $3,200 out at the pot, again in an aggressive manner. Using the information I'd gathered earlier, I thought about it for a few minutes, carefully counted out the amount to call, and then pushed all in. You could visibly tell that the under-the-gun player's heart dropped. He thought long and hard, and eventually made the call with the A
3
, the flush draw. The river blanked, and I had a huge stack of $25,000 that I eventually used to make the final table and earn a nice payday.
If I had been spending more time watching the Lakers game than studying my opponents, I probably wouldn't have made the final table in this event, and definitely wouldn't have won this hand. In poker, if you're not giving 100 percent at all times, you're leaving money on the table. In my mind, leaving money on the table is just as bad as losing money, and it should be avoided at all costs - simply by just paying attention.
Eric "Rizen" Lynch is a professional poker player who is well-known for his impressive online results. Read Eric's analysis on his blog
(rizenpoker.blogspot.com), and check out his instructional videos, available at PokerXFactor.com.
