Paying Attention

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, but here we are again. I know it’s not always my strong suit either, but I was either involved in or witnessed two different hands this week that underscored the idea that paying attention is one of the most important things in live poker. I’ll go over one of them in this column and I’ll save the other one for my next. All of the best players I know of pay so much attention when they’re playing, especially when you get down to the points in a tournament where every pot matters or in a cash game when big pots are developing.

The first hand was in a H.O.R.S.E. tournament at the L.A. Poker Classic. The first of the two players (Player A) was in a conversation with someone else at the table and the second (Player B) was fiddling with his food or iPad or something during the deal in stud. This is an especially important time to pay attention because important strategy decisions are decided by what other cards are visible on third street.

For instance, if there are three dead cards of my suit when I have a weak three-flush, I’m not going to play the hand, even if it looks like I might be able to steal. In this particular situation, a four brought it in and the next three cards were kings. Because Player A wasn’t paying attention to the board, he didn’t see that two of his kings were already dead and therefore it becomes much easier to put him on a narrower range like three flushes or buried pairs. In addition, if he has K-K-x, opponents who are paying attention will be aware that his opportunity to improve to a very good hand will be limited. For instance, if I have 6-6-9 (not a good hand to take up against K-K-x) and there are no kings dead, I have about 35 percent equity. If there are two kings dead, I have 43 percent equity. Additionally, I know that his hand is much more likely to be something other than K-K and can adjust accordingly.

It just so happened that Player B had exactly that hand and all of his cards were live. If I were him and I knew that there were two kings dead, I would three-bet every hand I was planning on playing. I have lots of information about my opponent’s hand, he doesn’t have that much about mine, and I can drive out some of the other players who might have had marginal holdings. As is, Player B just called and they went heads up to fourth street where Player A caught the Q and Player B caught a seven. Player A bet and Player B called. Fifth street is where things got interesting. Player A caught the 6 and Player B caught the last six in the deck to give him three sixes. Player B had the lead and checked, Player A bet, got check-raised, and three-bet.

At this point, had Player B been paying attention to the cards that were dead on third would know what everyone else at the table seemed to know. Player A’s range is Q-Q-Q or a diamond flush. In which case, he certainly wouldn’t four-bet. However, because he wasn’t paying attention, he thought A could have K-K and a flush draw or kings up if he’s a stone maniac. In other words, in normal situations, raising again is already questionable, but it’s especially questionable in this instance where his range is so clearly defined. Against three queens with two kings dead, Player B’s hand has about 32 percent equity and against a flush it has about 30 percent equity. Not a disaster by any means, but certainly not a hand that you want to be putting in extra bets with.

Player B then bet sixth and seventh (blind), didn’t improve, and lost to Player A’s flush (which he probably shouldn’t have played given the fact that it’s really hard to actually make a flush and two of his pair cards were dead.

Player A thinks to himself, wow what a big pot, I’m so glad I played that and is almost certainly oblivious to the fact that he was completely exploitable for this hand. Player B thinks he got cold decked when, in reality, he had a very easy situation to maneuver in if he had been paying a modicum of attention. In fact, if either player had been paying more attention, the outcome of the hand would almost certainly have been different. Player B would have lost much less money, and Player A would have won much less money.

By this point, I shouldn’t have to tell you, my faithful readers, that paying attention is a key part of playing live poker, but it comes up so often that I’m certain that I need to remind you and myself of this fact on a regular basis. Next time, I’ll share a no-limit hand where my opponent hoped nobody was paying attention and I’m lucky that I was. ♠

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