How to Begin a Session — Part II

In my last column, I began a series on things that you should do when you start a session. We looked at the following list:

1. Don’t play right away.
2. Look for negative inferences.
3. Assess each player’s current state of mind.
4. Determine your table position.
5. Take fewer chances.
6. At no-limit, buy in for the minimum.
7. If possible, establish a positive image.
8. Decide which players to exploit and which to avoid.

My last column covered point No. 1 and took a quick look at point No. 2. We now will continue with a deeper investigation of negative inferences.

This topic is important primarily because many players do not understand it. They play a session for a few minutes, then get involved in a hand and later proclaim that they had no idea how the other guys played. I am not saying that after those few minutes you can write a book on every player, but things have happened, hands have been played, and you should have been able to make some preliminary assumptions about how your opponents play.

Most players look at the hands that get turned up, and that certainly is the easiest way to assess opponents’ playing strategies. If a guy three-bets and later turns up K-9 suited, you can conclude that his future three-bets may be suspect. Of course, you should take into account the player he is three-betting and their relative positions, but you can still see that he is not very tight.

Far more often, things happen at the table that do not involve hands being turned up. This is where your observation ability and detective skills come into play. Let’s look at some examples:

Example No. 1: A new player enters your $20-$40 game and posts $20 in the cutoff. A middle-position player open-raises, a late-position player calls, and the new player folds. Of course, he may have a terrible hand, but lots of gambling players would call here. They do not want to fold the first hand, they have position, the pot looks like it may get large, and any two cards can win. They make up a reason to call. This new guy folded. While it does not tell you much, he probably is a conservative player who does not defend his blinds very aggressively. In fact, his blind may be a good one to attack later in the session. File this away and use it later.

Example No. 2: A middle-position player limps in, followed by the button. Both blinds call. On the flop of K 8 3, everyone checks to the button, who bets. Only the small blind calls. The turn is the 9. The small blind checks, as does the button. The river is the 4. The small blind bets, and the button folds. What can we conclude?

Almost certainly, the button’s flop bet was an attempt to pick up the pot with nothing. That is interesting because it tells us that he may be willing to bet more flops with nothing later. In the right situation, you might consider checking to him on the flop instead of betting, to pick off his bluff.

However, also notice that he shut down right away when called. He tried once, but when things did not go his way, he gave up. There is a chance that later, if he keeps betting the turn, he is more likely to have a real hand.

In fact, you might consider calling a late-position bet from this player with very little yourself, just to see what he does on the turn. If he bets, you can fold; if he checks, you can try to take it away on the river.

Anything else? The button also called preflop. Many people, if they were going to play, would have raised to potentially get heads up and take control of the hand. His call is not a strong play, but you need to be aware that when he does raise in similar situations, he probably has a real hand.

Example No. 3: In his second orbit, a new player open-raises from the cutoff. Only the big blind calls. On the flop of Q 10 6, the big blind checks, and so does the raiser. The turn is the 2. The big blind bets, and the raiser folds.

This is a most unusual hand. Almost everyone who raises preflop, whether in limit or no-limit, makes a continuation-bet if he gets heads up with a blind. After all, the blind figures to miss the flop and fold most of the time.

Clearly, not everyone does this, however, and this player is one who doesn’t. You need to do two things: First, remember to respect his continuation-bets more than most when he does make one. Second, bet the turn when he checks the flop. Sure, he may be trapping, but your chances are pretty good that he is just giving up.

Conclusion: Things that do not happen can have almost as much meaning as things that do. Hands not played, raises not made, hands not bet, calls made instead of raises, and folds made instead of calls can give you clues regarding how to play in the future: whom to attack and whom to avoid, and which bets to fear and which to ignore. You can formulate a provisional strategy based on these things.

Of course, you need to be ready to change your mind as you see more hands or obtain new information. But, you will never again be in a position of playing at a table for a period of time and then saying, “I don’t know these guys. I have no idea how they play.”

Next issue, we will continue our look at starting a session with a discussion aimed at determining each opponent’s state of mind. ♠

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].