Double Vision

"Fill my eyes … with that double vision
No disguise … for that double vision
Ooh, when it gets through to me
It's always new to me …"
- Foreigner

When working with novices, I assure them that they can still make money even though they are novice players. At the lower limits, choosing the right games and the right starting hands is enough to get you in the black. But I tell them that to obtain true long-term success, and to move past the "beginner" level, one of the most important skills they need to acquire is what I refer to as double vision.

What is double vision? Simply put, we primarily view each hand from our own perspective, based on our own cards. But you should also view the hand as an outsider, as if you were not personally involved in it. Many decisions are easy to make, such as folding 7-2 preflop or raising with K-K. But you often will have a marginal hand and a tougher decision to make. And when those times come, you should rely more on your outsider's perspective - your second line of vision - to help you make the right choices.

I tell each of my students, "When you have a tough decision to make, try to pretend that you are floating above the table, watching the hand and observing the decision with which you are faced. You must then ask yourself, from that perspective, pretending as if you don't know what cards you have, what you should do. In other words, if someone else is leading the betting, how strong a hand would you need in order to call? What would it take for you to raise? Is there reason to believe the bettor is bluffing?"

You'd be surprised what a difference this change of perspective can make. You get a much better feel for why your opponent is taking a particular action, and in turn, you can narrow the range of his possible holdings. On the other hand, if you are focused only on your own cards, you'll miss out on this type of information.

I find this double-vision exercise especially useful in two situations:

1. When debating a call: If you are like most players, you tend to put your opponent on what you hope he has, on a hand you can beat. But if you view the hand objectively, as an outsider, you obtain a clearer vision of the type of hand your opponent is betting. You can then assess your chances of winning and decide, for example, whether a call with middle pair is worthwhile. Sometimes your call is justified. But in many situations, it is abundantly clear that you are beat, and the only reason you feel like calling is because the cards are physically in front of you. The idea is to ignore your physical participation in the hand.

Here's an example: You have the J 10, and the flop comes J 10 2. You bet, and get four callers. The turn is the 3, and even though you are aware of the flush possibility, you bet again to protect your hand. A couple of players call. The river brings the 4, for a final board of J 10 2 3 4. Now, the notoriously tight player who never bluffs, and has been check-calling the entire way, suddenly wakes up and bets out. The other player folds, and it's up to you. You're sure that he has you beat, but you make the call anyway, and as expected, the bettor shows you the nut flush with his A 10. You might then say to yourself, "I thought he had me beat, but it's not like I could lay down top two pair!" And if you find yourself thinking along those lines, you need double vision, and you need it right now.

Let's get one thing clear: You can lay down any hand you want to. What you are really saying is that the two pair are sitting in your hand, in front of your eyes, and you can't bring yourself to release them. But if a player across the table were holding the same cards and called the river, you'd probably think to yourself, "What a waste of money! It was obvious the bettor had a flush!" You can see the hand much clearer as an observer, so the idea is to become the observer, even when you are also the participant. And the observer in you would have known to save your wasted call on the river.

2. When debating a bluff: Make no mistake - it's tough to ignore your cards. And when you look down and see a total rag of a hand, it can often make you think twice about bluffing, even when you have what would otherwise be a perfect bluffing situation. In situations like those, you need to make every effort to see past your own cards. They only serve to keep you from making your optimal play.

Enter the role of observer. Look at the hand from a detached point of view, and ask yourself the questions that winning players ask themselves. For example, is a particular player clearly getting out of line, betting and raising more than his fair share? Do you have reason to believe that he is out of line now? If so, do you think he is capable of laying down if you put in a raise? If not, is there some other way that you could get him to lay down?

You won't always get the perfect answers you're hoping for. In other words, you might decide that your best course of action is to play it safe and fold. And that makes sense, since you can't attempt a bluff every single time that a loose opponent bets into you. You need to pick your spots. All I'm suggesting is that the simple act of asking yourself these questions will help you choose those spots correctly.

And There's More
I've discussed only the two situations in which I find double vision to be the most useful, but you can use it in just about any poker situation. Whether you are contemplating folding, calling, or raising, the more you can detach yourself from your cards, the more objective your decision-making will be. And the more objective you can remain, the more you will make the correct play. It's really as simple as that.

"Ooh double vision … I need my double vision …"

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.