‘Easy’ Things to Do to Win at Poker — Part I

Page 48 of my book, Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, offers a list of things that you need to do while playing to become a winning player. It states that there are other things that you should do away from the table, but it provides a reasonable checklist of what you should think about during a session to become a winning player:

• Pay more attention
• Select the best games
• Learn how your opponents play
• Study betting patterns
• Analyze every situation
• Plan in advance
• Play focused on the game
• Count the pot
• Compute the odds
• Figure out how the play might go
• Estimate what your opponents think you hold and how you should respond
• Then, make a decision

Of course, taken together, that list represents quite a few things that you constantly need to keep in mind. When I think about this, I recall what I went through when I was learning to drive. I had to watch the road, look out for traffic, anticipate what other drivers might decide to do, pay attention to my speed, look for lights and stop signs, remember to signal, look in my rearview and side-view mirrors, try to remember where I was going and when I had to change lanes, and more. I thought I would never catch on to all of those individual details and be able to integrate them so that they would become at least semiautomatic, but eventually, they all came together.

And so it can be at the poker table. You have to do a lot of work to make everything automatic, but just like driving, the more you do everything right, the fewer accidents you will have.

This and my next few columns will examine each item on this list in more detail, fleshing out the reasons and applications for each one. Some probably sound familiar, but I will try to provide some different perspective on most of them.

Pay more attention: This appears to be simple enough, but when should you pay attention, to what, and why?

Ideally, you should pay attention to your game even before you take your first hand. Most players pay attention to the hands they are playing, trying to figure things out. However, when they are out of a hand, they start looking around for something else to do. Sure, they often are still looking at the game, and if someone makes an unusual play or turns over a weird hand, they notice it. But if nothing out of the ordinary happens, the action just sort of blends together into a forgettable haze. Many people who do that are convinced they really are paying attention, because, after all, they are not watching TV, reading a newspaper, or ordering a drink.

They are wrong. You can make inferences from nearly every hand. Of course, it is a lot harder to pay attention to what didn’t happen, because humans are conditioned to look at action, not inaction. Let’s look at an example:

You hold 7-2 in early position and fold. Two players limp in behind you, and the button raises. Both blinds and the limpers call. The flop is 10-8-7 with two hearts. Everyone checks to the raiser, who checks. The turn is a 4. After the blinds check, the first limper bets, the second folds, the button folds, and both blinds call. The river is a 7, pairing the board. Everyone checks, and the limper turns over A-8 offsuit. Both blinds fold, and the limper wins.

What have you learned? Actually, nothing, but you should have made several preliminary inferences. Of course, if, as soon as you saw your 7-2, you sort of went into a waiting mode unless something spectacular happened, you wouldn’t have done even that. But let’s look at some of the possible inferences.

First, the button: He raised preflop, checked the flop, and folded the turn. Most players who raise preflop will bet the flop no matter what when everyone checks to them, so this player does not follow that belief. Perhaps if he does bet in the future, it means that he really has something. Or, perhaps he would have bet against two opponents, but the connected texture of the flop and the four preflop callers dissuaded him. In any event, he plays a cautious game and does not like to waste money on nearly hopeless causes. This could be an important inference.

Next, the first limper: He open-called first in with a fairly weak hand from early middle position. Thus, his opening range is likely to be very large, and he is probably a weak player whom you can exploit later. He checked to the raiser on a dangerous board, but many players do that. His turn bet was fairly standard, as was his river check. However, many top players would bet the river for value, hoping to pick up a call from a hand like 9-8, or even 5-5. The blinds checked the turn, suggesting that they did not have a 10, and his ace was the best kicker. Only a player with a 7 who elected not to bet the river would beat him, and although this could happen, it is defeatist thinking to check the hand down on that unlikely chance. That’s another weak play, but it should put you on notice that if he does bet the river later, he is likely to have a very good hand.

Finally, here’s a quick look at the small blind. Many small blinds are aware that if everyone checks the flop, it is not a bad time to try a bluff on the turn. He must have had something, as he did call the bet on the turn when getting only 6-1 and with a player yet to act behind him. So, he held something and still elected to check. This could be indicative of a weak player who does not recognize this bluffing situation, or does not like to bet much. If he does bet in a similar situation later, give him credit for having a better hand than an action-oriented or aggressive player might have.

You also might be annoyed that the winner turned his hand over quickly, so that you could not get better information by seeing another hand or two; but set that aside, as it can’t help you much. Later, you may decide to hide your hand and give him a chance to protect it in the same way, but that is a distant effect.

It’s not much of a hand and you have established nothing for certain, but every inference and bit of evidence will prove useful later in the session as you continue to build a better picture of each opponent. But that will happen only if you are paying attention now and in all future hands. Building your picture of every opponent during every hand is what enables you to play increasingly profitable poker throughout a session.

Next issue, I will continue going through the list.

Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies, both available at www.CardPlayer.com. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].