I constantly emphasize the importance of patterns. Avoiding them in your own play and detecting them in your opponents are two crucial keys to winning poker. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work and observation to accomplish both, and many players are not able or willing to do it. Several people have asked me for concrete examples of how to put the pattern concept to use, and a good one came up recently that I will share with you here.
We were down to 30 players in a Las Vegas tournament, and I was in seat No. 8. In terms of patterns, the player in seat No. 3 was the most interesting case study. If he had an obvious check or fold, he acted quickly on his hand. But, if he had something with which he might call, bet, or raise, he took at least 15 seconds before making his move. He clearly was not an experienced player, and it seemed as if he had told himself before the tournament that he would wait 15 seconds every time he was prepared to put chips into the pot. I don't know if he spent that time doing anything productive, but his opponents seemed to be thrown off by his deliberate play. At the time of this hand, he had managed to gather about $55,000 in chips, putting himself among the chip leaders.
The blinds were $500-$1,000 and I was in the big blind with an above-average stack of about $44,000. The under-the-gun (UTG) player limped in for $1,000. The action was folded around to the player in seat No. 3, and at that point, something interesting happened. He immediately grabbed $4,000 and got ready to put in a raise. Then, it was as if he remembered his personal 15-second rule. He sat there as if he were being held in restraints, and I could almost see him counting to 15 in his head. Finally, he couldn't hold himself back any longer, and he put in the raise.
I had been at the table with him for almost three hours, and that was easily the most excited I had seen him. His pattern up to that point had been to sit back and calmly consider his next move. Now, however, he was so eager to raise that he practically couldn't contain himself.
I did not think that he, a seemingly novice player, was capable of putting on an elaborate act. So, before I even looked at my cards, I was pretty sure that he was holding aces, with a slight chance of kings.
The action was folded to me, and I was expecting to have an easy fold. However, I found myself looking at pocket jacks. Damn. Normally, I would reraise in this spot, especially since it was getting late in the tournament, but this was obviously not a normal situation. Instead, I was prepared to fold! But then I realized that would be silly. Having put him on pocket aces, I didn't think he would be capable of laying them down if I outflopped him, so I needed to take a shot at doubling up. I called, and the UTG player also called.
The flop came 8-7-6 rainbow. We checked to the player in seat No. 3, and as expected, he took his sweet time before acting. Eventually, he came out with a $10,000 bet. Now, I was the one who had to take some time. This was getting to be a big pot, and I had to be pretty sure of myself if I was going to throw away an overpair. I sat there and replayed the preflop action in my mind. Yes, there was no doubt about it.
The way he acted was inconsistent with any of his other hands, and so far he had not shown down any monsters. This was the monster. He had to have me beat. I took one last look at my jacks and threw them away.
The UTG player looked at the player in seat No. 3 and said, "OK, I won't chase my gutshot," while throwing away A-10 faceup. The player in seat No. 3 nodded, then quickly flashed his cards in our direction. Sure enough, pocket aces. Inwardly, I gave myself a pat on the back, and then it was back to business.
As a side note, this was a good example of why you should never show your hand unnecessarily. Not only was he giving away information but he unknowingly added to my confidence, which was already pretty high. Now I knew for sure that I had made an excellent laydown.
There were no nagging doubts. I had correctly thrown away pocket jacks on an 8-high flop, and I could take pride in knowing that I was one of very few people in that tournament capable of doing that.
Being observant of his pattern was what enabled me to make the correct play. You can't be focused on only your own cards and situation.
You have to watch your opponents, and in this case I was able to pick up a crucial tell that saved me from disaster. If my attention had been elsewhere, or if that had been my first hand at the table with him, there's a good chance that I would have gone broke, or at least lost a large chunk of my stack.
Instead, I was able to preserve $40,000 in chips and subsequently put them to good use. After a couple of hours, my opponent's run ended in ninth place. A little while later, I was eliminated in fifth place, which was good for a $9,800 payday. I can confidently say that had I not laid down the jacks, there was no way I would have made the money, let alone come in fifth. That laydown might very well have been worth $9,800 in real money.
Continually observing your opponents might be labor-intensive and often boring, and the annoying part is that sometimes you pick up things that you get to use only once or twice. Sometimes, however, especially in no-limit hold'em tournaments, that once or twice makes all the difference. Luckily for me, this was one of those times.
Matt Lessinger is the author of The Book of Bluffs: How to Bluff and Win at Poker, available everywhere. You can find other articles of his at www.CardPlayer.com.
