Kicking It Up

I was recently playing at a casino where I had not played in a while. When I was playing there regularly, they had a $5-$10 no-limit game with a $1,000 max buy-in that had quite a bit of action. I showed up to play in the mixed game that they’ve been running lately but there were no open seats, so I took a seat in the $5-$10 game, which now had a $1,500 max buyin.

I didn’t know many of the players but there were some $5,000+ stacks and they appeared to still be doing plenty of gambling in this game. I waited until my big blind and noticed that a few people had straddled but thought nothing of it.

I posted and heard someone say to the guy on my left after I had been dealt my cards, “Hey, it’s your turn to straddle.” A few people folded as I asked the person if they’re playing with a straddle and he replied in the affirmative. I usually don’t like to be the nit that doesn’t straddle, but $5-$10-$20 is a little out of my comfort zone as of late since I’ve been playing almost exclusively mixed games for the last year and the game is listed as $5-$10. I politely let them know that I wouldn’t be straddling but that I probably wouldn’t be playing long as I was waiting for a seat in the mixed game to open. Several people looked at me exasperatedly and tried to cajole me into straddling. I stood firm and let them know again that I wouldn’t be doing so. I played my round out and left for a new mixed game.

When I arrived at the mixed game, I noticed that several of the people were going to play with “overs buttons.” This means that if all of the remaining people in the hand have overs buttons, they play at double the stakes. This game was $40-$80 limit so $80-$160 would be the overs limit. They asked me if I’d like to join in the overs and I, again, politely declined. Not being on overs is not in a similar vein to not straddling as it doesn’t really affect anyone who are playing overs, but my declination was met with politeness instead of an attempt to guilt or force me into playing it.

My regular mixed game at a different casino has been playing overs as well and many of the other people who play overs in that game are constantly pushing people to play bigger than they want to. Always asking to kick up the stakes when the players who don’t usually want to play bigger are in the game. Some of the players take a polite approach and others don’t. I try not to get involved in the “let’s kick it up” talk as I want players to be comfortable playing and not feel as though they are always being pushed into things they don’t necessarily want.

Of all three of these situations, I’ve found the mixed game at the new casino to be very pleasant in that regard. There is all manner of side action going on amongst some of the players. Some are playing overs, some are crossbooking (two players agree to crossbook some percentage of wins and losses meaning that if player A wins $1,000 and player B loses $1,000 player B would owe player A x% of the difference of their results, in this case $2,000), some are betting on sports or betting on props. They do their business, play their game however it’s different from the one I or others are playing and that’s that. They don’t try to press others into joining and I have yet to hear anyone ask to raise the stakes. It’s a wonderful environment to play poker and I’m glad to have found the game.

Live poker is hard enough to deal with. You have to get loaded up in your car, drive to the casino, find the game you want, wait for your game, worry about how you’re bringing money, etc. When you finally get into the game, the last thing you want is to be harassed about the game itself and browbeaten about the stakes or straddling or whatever other nonsense the other players want to do. If the game is listed as $5-$10, most people expect it to be that. Even if it’s not listed that way and the brush or board operator tells you that they are playing with a straddle, at least you’ll be expecting that.

Being coerced into playing bigger than you want to or are comfortable with shouldn’t be a part of the game and if it makes you feel uncomfortable and the stakes are too high or stacks to shallow for you because of it, make your feelings heard politely and if they don’t acquiesce, find another game. You’ll be happier for it. ♠

Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NHGG