Playing With Strangers

During the World Series of Poker, it sometimes feels like every poker player in the universe has descended on Las Vegas. Across the town, cash games are plentiful and action-packed. For both Las Vegas regulars and visitors, this creates the challenge of playing with multiple strangers.

When playing what is likely to be a single session with players you have never seen before and may never see again, you rarely have time to really size up each individual’s game. You should still try, of course, but for the most part, you have to rely on overall impressions and general principles of good play. A hand that I played in a cash game during the 2010 WSOP offers an example of this approach.

Preflop: Early in a $30-$60 limit hold’em game with eight people I have not seen before, I pick up black pocket eights on the button. An early-position player limps in, and a late-position player calls. This is my first decision.

The choice of calling or raising seems to be a close decision. Calling almost certainly brings in the small blind, who has to put in only one more chip. This will make it five-handed going to the flop, and almost forces me to hit a set to continue. I am last to act, however, so there might be room for some other play. In addition, if I do happen to hit my set, I am likely to get action from one or more opponents drawing nearly dead.

Raising may get the blinds to fold, leaving dead money in the pot. I may be able to represent a big hand or even take it down if the others miss the flop. Most of the time, everyone will check to me anyway, so I can check and get a free card if the flop is scary.

If there was one limper, I would raise for sure, trying to limit the number of overcard hands that would see the flop. The two opponents in already may have up to four overcards (some could be duplicated), so raising to increase my chances of having the best hand post-flop does not help much. If multiple overcards come on the flop, I will almost certainly have to fold to a bet, since I can’t tell if one is held by an opponent or not. Raising and killing the blinds also means that I have put extra money in to play three-handed, and in most cases, I do not like to create that situation with a medium pair. I elect to call. Naturally, the blinds play.

The flop: We see a flop of K 7 3. Only one overcard, so that’s good. The first three players check, and the last limper bets. It’s up to me.

My assessment of this player in the brief time we have played is that he is above average. He has not played too many hands, and he has not shown much aggression. Certainly, most top players in late position facing one middle-position limper would have raised preflop if they were going to play, so his limp is a weakish play.

Am I probably ahead or behind? If I believe that he has a king, I should fold. If not, I should raise and get rid of as many others as possible. As a general rule (with many exceptions), limpers, especially late-position limpers, do not have a king or a decent pair. Above-average players in late position with a king tend to raise if they like their kicker (even down to K-9), and fold with a poor kicker. Some will limp with weak suited kings, but not that many.

On the other hand, a flush draw is highly probable. Even players who are reluctant to bet flush draws on the flop will yield to temptation if almost the whole field checks to them. The possibility of picking up the pot with a semibluff is too great to pass up.

I cannot eliminate a hand like 7-6 suited, which made middle pair, but I am ahead of that hand.

With that as my preliminary conclusion, I decide to play my eights as the best hand and raise. Everyone obediently folds back to the bettor, who calls.

The turn: The Q hits the turn, and my opponent checks. Unlike the king on the flop, the queen is not a particularly good card for me. Just as limpers do not have a king very often, they frequently do have a queen or a jack.

But the fact that he may have a queen does not mean that he does. If I was ahead on the flop, I am probably still leading now.

A general principle comes into play here. If I take the lead on the flop, I almost always continue on the turn. Reasonable guidance is, “Keep the lead until someone tells you to stop.” I bet, and he calls quickly. This seems to reinforce my flush-draw preliminary read, although he could still have a king. With a small pair, he ought to have a problem deciding whether to continue or not, and hesitate at least a bit, so that hand goes down on my probability chart.

The river: The 2 on the river does not seem to change much, and he checks again. Should I bet the river for value?

I love to value-bet, and have made a lot of money from crying calls. Every situation is different, however, and I need to analyze this one. The question is, which hands could he call with that I beat?

I doubt that he would call with ace high in this sequence, so if he has the A X, I will not collect. It’s likely that he will not make a fancy move with the 10 9, or anything like that. He will call with any king, and if he happened to hit his Q on the turn, he will not lay that down, either.

It looks as if the only hand that could pay me off is one with a 7 or a small pocket pair, and I just lowered the probability of a small pocket pair a moment ago. If I bet, he will fold, or I will lose a large majority of the time. So, I check. He shows down the Q 9, and takes the pot.

Conclusion: I lost the hand, but that is not important. I was pleased that I had good reads throughout the hand, and made quality decisions.

Nearly everyone finds it easier and more comfortable to play with a bunch of familiar faces. When you can’t, you need a good set of general guiding principles to apply while keeping the specific hand and situation in mind. This combination will enable you to make reasonable decisions most of time, which is all you can ask for. After all, the players who make the best decisions make the most money.

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