Weaving Tangled Webs

Quiz question: Who said, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”? Did you say Shakespeare? Most people do, because they think that most clever and “classic-sounding” things come from Shakespeare. In fact, these are Sir Walter Scott’s words, and I raise this point not just to give you a can’t-lose bar bet, but also to introduce a fundamental truth of shorthanded poker: Even more than in its fullhanded cousin, you have to lie to win. Here are some things to consider as you “practice to deceive.”

Shorthanded Play is Pattern Play

Because everyone in a shorthanded game takes such swift and frequent turns at being in the small blind, in the big blind, under the gun, in the cutoff, and on the button, it’s easy to fall into predictable, position-based patterns of play. It’s not uncommon, for example, to encounter players who open-raise preflop from the button or the cutoff regardless of the cards they hold. They’re not necessarily wrong to do so, for position is power shorthanded. But if you know they’re doing it, you have cracked a pattern of their play, and now have a weapon to use against them.

Let’s say you’re in the big blind against such a player. If you wait for good cards to resteal his button steal, you’ll just be falling into a play pattern of your own. Your attentive foe will quickly become aware of this trend and simply not give you action when you reraise, because he’ll know you’re strong.

To break this cycle, simply disconnect your pattern from the hands you hold. Have it in mind, for example, to let him attack your blind exactly twice, then reraise the third iteration, no matter what you have. Since your first two folds will have created the impression that you won’t defend your blind with bad hands, he’ll credit you with having a good one and will fold. By playing such patterns, instead of hand values, you can take control of the shorthanded joust.

The Trap of Continuation-Bets

Continuation-bets are another area where unschooled players fall into exploitable patterns of play. Let’s suppose that you’ve limped in from early position and the button has popped the pot with a raise. Based on his prior play, you figure him to have something like two big cards or a medium-to-large pocket pair. Now, here comes the flop, and it’s low cheese, 7-6-2 rainbow. It’s not likely to be the sort of flop that he hit very hard, yet when you check from early position, you invite — indeed, almost demand — the good ol’ continuation-bet, which you then counter with a check-raise. Most of the time, he will have missed the flop, and must fold. Because he fell into the pattern of continuation-betting, he got out ahead of his hand and made himself vulnerable.

This is another example of detecting and exploiting a pattern of play. If you know that your foe is hooked on his continuation-bets, go ahead and limp-call from out of position. Then, look for flops that don’t connect with the medium or strong cards with which most raisers raise, and check-raise them to take the pot away. In shorthanded play, the cards you hold are much less important than your pattern-analysis skill — and, of course, your willingness to back up your reads with significant bets.

Avoiding Land Mines

Since poker is, among other things, a game of laying traps, you need to be aware of the possibility of a foe dragging, or slow-playing, a huge hand. Let’s say you’ve raised in position and gotten a call from the small blind. Recognize that a defensive call from the small blind carries more clout than a defensive call from the big blind, simply as a function of its higher price. Now, the flop comes small — let’s say 4-4-3 rainbow. Your opponent checks to you, and this looks like a perfect opportunity to make a pot-size continuation-bet and take the pot, so that’s what you do. But now you’re met with something very suspicious: a flat-call. This is different from the check-raise resteal of a continuation-bet. This flat-call from out of position should ring loud and clear in your mind to be a possible trap. The only other possibility is a float — a call with intent to steal on the turn. If you’ve been attentive to patterns, you’ll know if your foe is capable of that. If he’s not, credit him with an attempted drag, and just don’t pay him off.

In this instance, your opponent’s betting pattern has been so uncharacteristic from the start of the hand that he almost has to have an uncharacteristic holding. And what’s an uncharacteristic holding? A big one. Here’s the good news: Now you’re using not just patterns, but also anti-patterns to control the shorthanded game.

The Rift in the Fabric of Space

Uncharacteristic changes in others’ webs of deception characteristically leave traces of evidence behind. Something just doesn’t look right or feel right or smell right. I call these traces “rifts in the fabric of space,” and whenever I encounter one, I assume that my foe either is trapping or, if he’s attentive, has deciphered my pattern of play and launched a countermeasure. Whenever a pattern gets broken — when that rift in the fabric of space reveals itself — I simply slow down and wait for new patterns to emerge. Eventually they will, if for no other reason that my foe will think his tactic is working, and will continue to use it. Eventually I’ll get out ahead of his thinking and take back control of the game.

The overall goal of pattern analysis in shorthanded play is to get your foes “out of phase” with your actions. If you’re correctly manipulating their patterns, and their analysis of your patterns, you’ll find them calling when they should fold, folding when they should raise, and raising when they’re drawing dead as Shakespeare. It’s really just a matter of staying one step ahead of your foes’ adjustments — and of making sure, of course, that your tangled webs of deception don’t get you all tangled up, as well.

John Vorhaus is the author of the Killer Poker book series and the new poker novel Under the Gun, in bookstores now. He resides in cyberspace at vorza.com, and blogs the world from somnifer.typepad.com. John Vorhaus’ photo: Gerard Brewer.