Nice Hand?

There are a few authors who, on a regular basis, try to improve the behavior of the poker-playing public. There has been extensive discussion on this subject in Card Player for years, and I expressed my own feelings toward this in my latest column. The authors who join in on the discussion know that the behavior of a significant minority of the (better) poker players hurts the overall poker industry. For instance, there are lots of people who try to show what great players they are by criticizing weak players, educating their opponents on how they should have played, and needling players they don't like. Most people will agree that one of the worst things someone can do is criticize weak players on the way they play. These players come to the casino to enjoy themselves and have a good time, and quite often don't even care if they win or lose. Now, if some self-proclaimed expert starts lecturing these people, it's bad for poker. The player who is being criticized may think the game is not so much fun after all, leave the game, and spend his money elsewhere (on the slot machines, the craps table, or by going to the movies or a nightclub, for example). If he is not that easily driven away, and if he thinks the player offending him might in fact have a point, he might start tightening up his game and become tougher to beat. Either way, the bad behavior of just a single player may have disrupted a potentially profitable situation for all players, with the player doing the damage making a complete fool of himself. If this guy isn't able to beat some of the weakest players out of their money by simple waiting for them to give it to him, who is he going to beat?

To prevent situations like this from happening, a few poker writers have stated that the best thing to do is look at things from the long-term perspective; that in the long run, the money will be yours if you keep playing your A game; that driving the bad players off or making them play better will be detrimental to your bankroll; that it's actually good for poker when bad players draw out on you to win a big pot, because if they never won, there would be no game; and that, therefore, you shouldn't criticize them when they draw out on you and rake in the pot, but instead, smile at them, tap the table, and say, "Nice hand."

Well, while I definitely agree on all of these things, I cannot understand why you would ever say "nice hand" when your opponent takes the pot away from you, a pot that he shouldn't have been fighting for in the first place. Let's say you raise before the flop with aces and get cold-called by only one player who is a nice and friendly guy, but who also is a calling station, a live one – you name it. The two of you see a 9-4-2 rainbow flop; you bet and get called. The turn is a 3, you bet, and he calls. The river is an 8. You fire again, and get called once again. You show down your aces, fully expecting them to be good, but you're in for a rude surprise when your opponent sheepishly opens his hand – 8-4 offsuit. First, he cold-called your raise with this hand, then he flopped middle pair with no kicker that seemed good enough for him to call you all the way to the river, and then he got rewarded by making a second pair on the last card – even though at no point in the hand was he even close to getting the right odds to call. When you get your big hand cracked, these writers suggest that you tap the table, smile at your opponent, and say, "Nice hand," to show that you're not bothered about losing the pot. But how do you think your opponent will react when you say this? Will he seriously think that, in your opinion, 8-4 offsuit is a nice hand? Do you think that just because he plays badly, he doesn't know that 8-4 is a piece of cheese, a trash hand, garbage, and that trying to outdraw pocket aces with them is plain suicide? So, how do you think he will take it when you say, "Nice hand"? Will he think, "Oh, what a nice guy. He doesn't mind losing with aces because he noticed I had a nice hand as well," or, will he think the guy with the aces is giving him the needle and is trying to ridicule his play in front of everybody? I'll bet you $10 he is going to think the latter, especially if the guy saying "nice hand" isn't a laid-back, nice guy, but a serious professional player trying to make a living out of the game.

If you cannot act credibly when you try to show that you don't mind losing the hand, it might be best to just tap the table and say nothing at all. If you are someone who is able to be nice and friendly, even when losing a pot to a long shot, simply say: "Well done, man," or laugh and say something like, "Man, you're a tough nut to crack," or, "Geez, I think I'm going to need at least a straight flush to beat you." Let him enjoy his win, make it seem like it doesn't matter to you which cards he plays – or how he plays them. If your words or actions get him to reflect back on his cards, he might think, "Hey, what am I doing? OK, so I won the pot, but if I'm going to try to outdraw his premium hands on a regular basis, he is going to end up with my money for sure. I guess I'll have to tighten up my game from now on, or the night might prove to be very costly." If you make him look back at how he played the hand, he might think, "Hey, this guy raises only with high cards or big pairs. If only low cards flop, his maximum hand is therefore one pair, and he may even be in there with just two big cards. If I play back at him on the flop and he doesn't have the big pair he is representing, I might be able to make him lay down his hand, even though I might not have a pair myself. In this hand, I was definitely wrong not to raise on the river, because with only low cards and no flush possible, the maximum hand he could have was one pair, and I had that beat. So, not only should I adjust my starting requirements and start folding more often, I also should try to improve my play after the flop."

If others perceive you as being a serious person, as someone who is trying to analyze everything that's going on, you might get players like this to think more about the game and you might have cost yourself a lot of money. But if you just laugh, smile, and make them feel like they're the kings of poker, like there's something special going on right here and they are part of it, they might get the positive reinforcement they need about their horrible plays – and might start playing even more horribly. Mike Caro has taught me that there's a strong correlation between the atmosphere at the table (the noise, the laughter, people having a good time) and the potential profit for the professional player. Exploit this and you may win a lot of money you might not have won otherwise – while enjoying yourself in the process.