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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

May 13, 2006

Ten Ways To Play A Better Game

That was a crazy game of poker; I lost it all
but someday I'll be back again; And I, never to fold. - O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) Lyrics

Seems that way, doesn't it? Crazy game of poker one night, wonderful game the next. You suck out on the river; your pocket queens hold up; you fill a gutshot; the nine-high flush reaps big rewards. You never really know how the cards are going to fall and that's what makes everything so attractive, so tempting, so sensual. But sometimes, even though you can't tell which way the cards are going to drop, you can tell how you should play them without thinking of pot odds or outs or even what you're holding. OK, scratch that last phrase. We don't want to be thought of as sacrilegious. (It works, though, that word sacrilegious. After all, Leonard Cohen referred to it as a "holy game of poker.")

But honestly, doesn't it sometimes seem as if the angel of hearts is perched on your shoulder, waving some kind of magic wand that draws the pot to you? And doesn't it sometimes seem as if she's sitting on your opponent's lap, whispering sweet somethings ("Go ahead. Bet. She has a lowly pair of fours.") into an obeying ear?

Well, if you pay attention to the texture of the game, especially the speed with which your opponents play, you might just pick up a few extra pots that can mean the difference between a losing and a winning session.

Some of these suggestions work for both online and brick and mortar cardrooms, some for online only but take note and see if they don't help you game.

1. When there's a bully on your right and you know you're not going to play, be prepared to fold quickly. Use the fast or auto fold button or a quick flick of the wrist so it looks exactly like what it is - the release of a junk hand. Sooner or later you'll have a monster and at that time you can hesitate, count to five slowly, then either call or raise, depending on how the rest of the table has acted ahead of you and how you expect others to act behind you. Now the bully has to wonder why you hesitated. So far you've quickly tossed your cards away. Now you're thinking and betting (or raising). Chances are he's going to see at least one more card, just to make you think he had potential. But unless he did manage to get something good, when you bet or raise again - quickly this time - he's going to fold.

2. If the oppressive punk is on your left, raising your every bet, start to fold slowly when you're not going to bet. Make it look as if you are thinking about getting into the action. Now when you have even a medium hand, and of course a strong one, bet quickly. Make the guy sit up and notice because it's likely he's going to relinquish a medium or lesser hand, and he might even let a decent hand go because you just jumped up and bared your fangs. (What makes this milquetoast suddenly become aggressive?)

3. Watch how others are playing. If someone hesitates before he bets, follow him through to the end of the hand. See if he's really on a draw or if he's just trying to make himself look wimpish. If he takes the money, you can bet you've caught a tell. This guy is trying to milk as much out of the table as possible and you'll know how to play your cards against him.

4. Now, if someone bets quickly and doesn't have a hand, he's probably feigning strength. In other words, he's working up to being a bully, if he isn't one already. If he doesn't go to the river or if he does arrive there but has nothing but a dead draw, then next time you can probably steal his bet with a semi-bluff.

5. Turn off the chat mode - online and in a cardroom. Some players like to aggravate others with constant chatter. After a while it starts to feel like water torture. Besides, chats can be distracting. You get caught up in the exchange between two other players and soon you lose track of where you are in the hand.

6. Sit out a hand. You can do this, you know. In a cardroom, tell the dealer to deal around you. If it's your turn in one of the blinds, you'll have to post then or later (when you return) or wait for the round to complete. In stud you can just ask to be dealt out. Online line, just click on the "sit out" button. Letting a couple of deals go by you is good discipline. Besides that, it helps you cool off after getting burned in the heat of the action.

7. Pick up and go to another game. You might have to wait for a seat but online and in the cardrooms you can generally find another limit or another table. Often that simple change can flush the extraneous material out of your brain and reset the computer inside your head. 8. If you're in a full-fledged casino, don't go to the craps table or the video poker machine or those pull tabs. They are pretty much reverse ATM machines. The take your money and don't even let you charge a fee! Get some coffee or a burger, or just call it quits if you aren't doing well.

9. Set a loss level when you're on the way to building your stack. Every once in a while you become a real buzz saw. You win pot after pot and your accumulate chips rapidly. Forget the Kenny Rogers lyrics and count your chips at the table. Remembering that you should, theoretically, win about one big bet an hour, if you managed to win four, five, maybe ten times that amount, decide immediately how much you can lose before it hurts. Taking a hundred bucks up to a fifty-dollar profit in a low-limit game is phenomenal. If you lose ten of it, take a hike. Your saw just ran out of gas.

10. Finally, don't spend a lot of money trying for the first step of a thousand miles. If 5,000 people are trying to win one of five seats to another tournament, at least 4,590 of the players are probably dead money -- and you are one of them. Pick the games where you can cash, either low buy-in tournaments, live action, or sit and go events that don't cost you hours of your life.

As for me, I just learned a couple of these lessons the hard way online. I hope you can avoid them by reading this because they can really tick you off (especially that chat thing.)