Don't Always Look for the Softest Game

Hi. Come on in. Did you bring the pizza? Great. No anchovies, right? Toss me a slice with sausage and one with pepperoni. I'm really hungry, so I'll talk while we chew.

Let's talk about soft spots and tougher games. Most players, when they go to the poker room, take the first seat available to them at the limits they play. Those who play the game socially at the lower limits fall into this category. I also know of more serious players who make the effort to find a soft game, even if they have to go to several poker rooms first. If you are in this category, I agree with your thinking about finding a soft game to earn the most profit for your investment. (And it is looked at as an investment, not money spent on social recreation.)

But playing that way exclusively might not be the best thing for your game in the long run, especially if you're looking to play your way to a higher limit.

Now, listen up. This is the place where I give you some advice that you probably won't like or follow - unless you are one of those players who enjoys increasing your winnings.

About once every week or two, look for the toughest game you can find at the limits you play - or, even step up to the next limit for a day. Playing every day with average or poor players means that you are observing average or poor play and learning more of the same. If you want to be able to lift a hundred pounds, you won't do it by practicing with a 25-pound weight.

Because you've gotten into a bigger game does not mean that you are committed to remain there. You're just taking a shot. Stay for a few hours and see how well you do. Then, go back to your regular game. Next week, step up and take another shot. One day, you'll step up and realize that it now feels comfortable, and you'll stay. My students learn that this is a good way to ease themselves into a higher limit. (And you'll probably find that those players at the next higher limit weren't all that tough to begin with.)

Change of Subject (especially for you players who are new to our beloved game): I'd like you to make a decision. Are you playing for recreation or to win money? After you decide, go to the game with the mental attitude that will accomplish your stated objective. Most players say they play to win money. That's more of a wish than an objective. Actually, most players are playing purely for recreation - and that's OK. But be honest with yourself. After all, if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else.

Change of Subject: An old poker axiom states that for the most part, at the low and medium limits, you figure to have a losing hand unless you have the best hand or best draw to begin with. Otherwise, you'll be running uphill, chasing. Low-and medium-limit poker is a game of drawouts and bad beats. If you like living on the edge, and a lot of poker players apparently do, fine. Go to it, and keep drawing to those long shots. But if you play to get the money, stay with the best hand or the best draw.

Another Change of Subject (and another old poker axiom.): This one states that there are no friends at the poker table. Yes, serious players certainly do have friends, but there is an unspoken agreement among them that friendship is left at the door. To be a successful player, and have the percentages work correctly, you need to win the most when you do have a winning hand, whether the player with the losing hand is friend or foe. "Soft-playing" a friend in effect creates a "dead seat" from which you can win no money. Thus, the size of your win will probably be reduced because you are playing against fewer players ("live seats").

Change of Subject (and one to remember when you start winning the big bucks): Many winning poker players are not good about taking care of their money. They'll win a big tournament, and a short time later, they're broke.

A fellow who placed well in a major tournament and took home more than $300,000, blew it off in the sportsbook. Two months later, he was grinding out a living playing $3-$6 hold'em.

Another player who scored a win of about $600,000 ended up driving a cab. He told me, "I thought that I would never lose again. I thought that I had all of the money in the world and was set for life. I started playing higher limits - too high - and got my ears pinned back. Now I hustle this cab for tips and play $1-$2 no-limit to build up a bankroll."

A big win, to many players, is not something to be invested in order to live off the interest; it just becomes more ammunition to play at higher limits.

A large pizza just doesn't seem to go as far as it used to. Sorry there isn't any left for your breakfast. Next time you'd better bring an extra large. Now I require repose. Kill the light on your way out.

Roy West, poker author, continues giving his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas for tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome.