Show Them Some Trash

Hi. Come on in. Simple food today — hot Reuben sandwiches with my own special touches. Chow down while we speak of our beloved game of poker.

Most players have a list of hands with which they will enter a pot. They probably don’t have an actual “list,” but they generally know which hands they are going to play. In actuality, many players, limit or no-limit, play “by the seat of their pants,” without considering position. Most of these players will start with any pair, any ace, any king, any queen, any jack, any connected cards, any suited cards, or whatever feels right at the moment!

You, as a knowledgeable and skillful player, have many fewer starting hands. This means that you are not playing very much. You look like a rock. So, now and then, when you’re in late position and there has been no raise, you should play a “trash” hand — and manage to show it. Let opponents see that you don’t play just big cards. This will be good for your table image. Your opponents will think that you are “one of them” and play like they do, and are no threat to their stacks of chips.

It’s also a good idea, as I tell my students, to be a very sociable person. Don’t sit at the poker table with your chin tucked into your Adam’s apple waiting for the nuts. Be the person who makes the table a friendly place to play. A friendly game is a profitable game.

Let’s talk about something else. The last time we met, I promised to tell you about a gold mine for insomniacs. Being a man of my word, I do indeed have such a gold mine for you.
One of my $1-$2 no-limit hold’em students e-mailed me about these 3 a.m. games, per my instructions. I then visited three of the games in one week, at three different poker rooms, to update the subject for myself. I won an average of $42 an hour over nine hours of play. My student did a little better. That kind of money won’t make you rich, but it’s much better than flipping burgers.

There are players still at the tables at 3 a.m. in many poker rooms. The winners have gone home, and the losers are trying to get even.

I talked about this many years ago, but it now bears an update. Here’s the plan: At about 10 p.m., take a nap, without undressing. Get up at about 1 a.m. — and don’t comb your hair or “fix yourself up.” Go to the poker room looking like you’ve been playing somewhere else and losing, and are there to try to get even.

Be aware that these late-night/early-morning, trying-to-get-even players are usually very loose-aggressive. That’s how they got stuck.

Bring your best discipline and strategic play to this middle-of-the-night gold mine.
Be ready for a lot of raising, as you’ll probably find yourself in a shorthanded game with loose-aggressive gamblers who don’t seem to have any discipline or any kind of a strategy. They’re guessing. And again, that’s why they are still there at 3 a.m., trying to get even.

If you are a conservative player, you might not enjoy such a game, because you’re not going to want to keep up with all of that aggression. Just relax and play your A-game.
You have to have a specific plan to play against those types of players; otherwise, you’ll just be guessing and gambling right along with them. Then, you’ll be the one who’s stuck and playing at 3 a.m., trying to get even. Pick up a book and learn how to play against those types of players.

E-mail me if you are playing in such a game. How are you doing? Winning? Losing? Maybe I can help.

If you are that stuck player, I suggest getting a book of strategy.
Patience, discipline, and a sound strategy in these games, as in all games, are the requirements for winning.

Talk kindly to the losing players: “You played that hand well, and just got unlucky.” You don’t want to discourage them from playing the way that they are playing.

Wait until your hand has value, and then go to war. Don’t get upset when they draw to garbage and sometimes hit gold. It has happened to me more than a few times. Their starting-hand values — well, if they have any starting-hand values — will be a lot lower than yours.

You’ll be sitting there, not playing much, and they will notice, so you have to be an extremely friendly person.

In late position with no raise, come in with a marginal hand. If you hit a great flop, go to war. If not, wait patiently for the next playable hand, while being a very sociable person.

If you are an unknown in that poker room, ask a lot of questions, to appear to be a dummy and no threat. When you win, say it was just lucky. Ask how long the game goes every morning, and perhaps tell them that you are an insomniac.

Call the poker room before going there, but be careful of what you’re told on the phone about the games that are going. You call, and are told there’s a “full game” going; when you get there, it’s four-handed and about to break down. Don’t go back.

I sent another of my students on the same mission. She won an average of $47 an hour.
Wow! I never saw anyone eat four of those Reuben sandwiches — until now. Take that last one for your breakfast and kill the light on your way out.

Roy West, poker author and teacher, has been giving his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas for more than 20 years to tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Contact Roy at [email protected], or (800) 548-6177, access code 03, or (702) 873-7574.