Learning No-Limit from Scratch: Knowing When to Fight

I’ve read several no-limit books and viewed some videos which mostly discussed game theory, approximate percentages to call, etcetera. All of that is good knowledge to create a baseline of understanding of how to play. That said, most of the current poker literature is centered on online play and based mostly on math and computer models.

That’s all relatively easy for any intelligent person to learn. But live poker is face to face, bringing more human aspects into the matrix. You don’t have the massive information of a poker tracking program prior to every decision. However, you can read your opponents’ psychology, skill and sophistication, and utilize that information in formulating your best play. What gets very complicated is knowing why, when and how much to modify from basic game theory. And that knowledge gives us an edge over those intelligent poker players who fail to adjust.

I’d been playing $2-$5 at the Aria in a tight mindset, mostly playing to improve my read on my no-limit opponents’ minds. I picked up the Q Q, under the gun (UTG) plus one, $650 deep, and opened for $20. The button, small blind (SB) and big blind (BB) all called with more $500 stacks. We took the flop four-handed, $80 in the pot.

The 10 6 5 flopped, it was checked to me and I fired $60. My only caller was the SB, who had me covered. Confident and rightly so, I felt he was the best player at the table. He played a wide range preflop and was full of play, very aggressive and a good reader postflop. He wasn’t my first choice to tangle with, but poker, like life, doesn’t always provide the circumstances of your choosing.

The turn came the 3 and Mr. Young-Aggressive checked again. Much of the literature I’ve read discusses keeping the pot small in these types of situations and checking a street. But I’ve found that, when I’m playing opponents who are either weak or easy to read, I’m better off betting the turn. It gives me greater options on the river, and I’ve built some big pots with one pair hands when I was pretty sure they were best.

That said, Mr. Young-Aggressive wasn’t weak or easy to read. And checking would not only keep the pot small, but it would also take away his chance to check-raise bluff, a play he was capable of actualizing. I wasn’t looking to call my stack off, get bluffed, or to put myself in a position where I might get outplayed. I knuckled behind Mr. Young-Aggressive.

The 4 hit on the river, putting a four-straight on board. Mr. Young-Aggressive tossed in $60, a rather small bet considering the pot was $200. I felt it was an easy call, he might have a pair and bet small as a blocking bet, and I knew bluffs would be a big part of his range. He turned over the A K, having flopped a two overcard flush draw. The dealer pushed me the pot.

I pondered his thought process regarding betting so small with A-K on the river. I believe he thought there was a combination of possibilities that made the bet favorable in spite of the fact he already beat all my no-pair range. He read me for being extremely tight and believed I would fold a small pair or A-K, though that wasn’t a significant portion of my potential range. And small-betting might lower my chance of bluffing. Did that have enough value to be worth $60 in a $200 pot? I think he thought so, and I believe he’s right, though I think I would have called lighter than he gave me credit for.

I’m an old school guy and grew my game through live poker. While computer-tracking programs blend averages and analyze statistics well, they fail to take into account how human elements vary the situation. Many highly intelligent players are geeky, great at math, but poor at people skills. And they never rise to the highest levels in live poker. Live players need to adjust more to their opponents, their emotions, their current mindset, etcetera.

Reading your opponents’ hands via psychology and then applying the math will create more accurate reads than just assessing the situation via the math. Acquiring that “feel” has a lot of poker value. It’s a skill that needs to be developed through focus and concentration. Players’ ranges vary greatly based on their emotions and their read of the situation. Reads based on the current situation are going to be much more accurate than the blended averages of past events.

I see many smart, young, highly knowledgeable “Internet poker stars” bored with the slowness of live poker, playing on their Ipads and phones, completely missing the game’s human element. Thinking about how your opponents think, knowing how they react emotionally, and identifying what their current mindset is will make your decisions clearer and crisper. But you have to look for these components, keep your mind on them, and learn to better recognize them.

I could have bet the turn, and I’ll never know what would have happened. I don’t want to get too one-dimensional where I’m playing situations in the same manner in a game where the bets have so much value. Some authors recommend using external codes like the suit of the card or the second hand on your watch to determine which way to play a given hand to randomize your play. I’m going to do it in a different and better way, by differentiating my play based on the current situation. Altering my play based on my opponent’s emotional state and tendencies rather than any external factor. That way I’ll mix up my play and make my holding unreadable to all but the best hand readers, most of whom are playing bigger games. Then I’ll be making the most profitable play more consistently. In this case, I wanted to keep the pot and my risk small because I knew I was dealing with a knowledgeable thinking opponent, which is not the nature of player I’m looking to gamble my stack with.

And when I get into games with those great hand readers, I’ll start wearing my watch! ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman. Should you wish any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-376-1515 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.roycooke.com. You can also find him on Facebook or Twitter @RealRoyCooke