Navigating a Mine Field

Whether you are playing poker on-line, or in a large tournament full of players you're not familiar with, it is crucial to pay very close attention to every player at your table to try and figure out what type of player they are. The general rule is that you try and play the opposite style from the rest of the table, so if the table is playing very tight and conservative, it's time to bluff and steal some pots. Conversely, if it's a very loose table, full of bluffers and overly aggressive players, just sit back, wait to make a good hand, and let them throw their money at you.

But what do you do, when you sit down at your table and think to yourself "Hey, I'm the only one who knows what the hell is going on... oh crap!"

Some players might look forward to this opportunity, believing that this table would be easy to run over, but from my experience, I would much rather play at a table full of players who know what they are doing. I call it Navigating a Mine Field, because in poker terms that's how it feels. Like every hand could be your last.

Here's a few common indicators that you are surrounded by landmines.

The most common version of these weak players will quote a few lines from Rounders, may even reference some poker they saw on tv, and may briefly have you convinced that he knows what he's doing. Then you see him play. He will call pre-flop bets with garbage, and in fact will probably play almost every hand dealt to him early on. When you actually see the cards they play (and they'll generally show every hand, win or lose, because they don't know they don't have to show and they're honestly not sure if they won or not until someone says something) you'll realize that they were just hoping to make a hand, it wasn't based on any sound principles or statistical logic.

If they are questioned on a hand that they won where they obviously got lucky after making bad plays, they will say things like "we're gambling, you can't win if you don't play" or "There always seems to be 2 kings on the flop, so I couldn't fold a king preflop".

Point out how badly they played on a hand they lost, and you'll likely hear the reply "I thought for sure he was bluffing" or "I had a pocket pair, you can't fold those". Win or lose, they will always try to justify their poor play, but to anyone who knows how to play poker, they will be as transparent as the glass of Vodka usually sitting beside them as they play.

The most annoying guy to play with is the guy who is truely clueless. Not only has he no idea what he's doing at the table, but he doesn't even give the courtesy of paying attention. You have to keep nudging him on the arm to get his attention, then explain to him what has happened so far in the hand, then tell him what his options are. They are the most frustrating, especially in a tournament format when the blinds are raising rapidly and you're on a short stack. They don't realize how inconsiderate they are, so any attempt you make to hurry them up is seen as being rude, and probably will only encourage them to play slower and stupider.

The commonality for all weak players is that they don't understand the odds, nor do they understand the etiquette. They will act out of turn, not realizing that this could be important information to other players. They will make illegal bets, they will talk about the cards they folded during the hand and they will likely need instruction on how to deal when it's their turn.

The most dangerous player of this ilk is the player who knows they're being fishy. They actually have more poker knowledge than their play would indicate, but for whatever reason, they just don't care about playing an intelligent game. They will chase every straight and flush draw, no matter what the bet or the odds, and just hope to get lucky. Maybe at one point they even tried playing poker smartly, but probably took a series of bad beats, and just decided to play for fun, winning would happen if it were "in the cards". These players have another advantage, because they know what type of player you are, and can take advantage of that. More than anyone else else, these players can make or break a tournament, because their insane play will either lead to their early elimination, or for someone else.

The common theme amongst these various types of players is that they really don't know or care about how badly they are playing, so you can rarely be certain about what hole cards they have. They could have limped in with 5 other players holding AA, or they could call a massive preflop raise with Q2.

Personally, I haven't figured out how navigate such a situation. 1 or 2 players can be avoided, but when it's clear you're up against a large group of fishy players, I think it's best just to stick to the most simple of strategies. Play a tight, aggressive game, and hope like hell that if they decide to chase, you don't get hurt too badly.

Online Poker Games

The following article is brought to you by the good people at Pokerstop.com

Know the sort of adds different poker variants and game structures offer you. Build you bankroll by playing in tournaments, generate loyalty points by playing in cash games.

When you decide that online poker may be a fun and entertaining way to generate some extra income, that is the object of your playing becomes the making of money, you need to know the exact expected value in all the different games, variants and structures available out there.

Take Texas Holdem for instance. It is a game much better suited for beginners than Omaha. It features a much more temperamental short-term variance, but in this case that is in your favor, because you’ll be able to confront experienced players from relatively equal footings for the short-run. In Omaha, rookies never get any benefit out of schooling and the structure of the game provides an insurmountable advantage to those who are skilled. That’s right, in Omaha the luck factor is much less relevant than in Texas Holdem. The same goes for 7-Card Stud.

In conclusion: if you’re a skilled player, you’ll definitely want to take unskilled opposition on at the Omaha tables, if you’re an unskilled player however, you should avoid Omaha and Stud. If you’re skilled and you have to do battle with another skilled player – again, you’re better off moving the hostilities onto a Texas Holdem table.

The other question is: should you play in poker tournaments or cash games at the beginning of your poker career, when you’re attempting to build up a bankroll?

The answer to that is easy: tournaments. Both MTTs (Multi Table Tournaments) and STTs (Single Table Tournaments) provide much better expected value for the average player than cash tables.

Cash play – especially if it’s NL Holdem we’re talking about – requires a great deal of discipline. One wrong move and you can kiss the fruits of months of hard labor goodbye. You’ll also pay rake on every single hand that you play, and you won’t be allowed to settle for anything less than victory there.

Tournaments do not charge you rake on every hand. You’ll pay a one-time and you’re done. Also, in a tournament, you will not necessarily be required to win in order to turn a profit.

Another Hand for Debate.

I was recently playing in a 6 player tournament to mix it up from our usual weekly cash games. This was actually the 4th (and final) tournament of the night, in what we call the "Superstars" format where all players compete in 3 round-robin tournaments and are then given bonus chips based on their performance to use in the 4th tournament.

Exactly half of the cash is paid out to the top 2 in each of the first 3 tournaments, and the other half is reserve for the top 2 in the final tournament. The blinds are raised quite quickly, taking some of the skill out of the game, but to accommodate 4 tournaments in one night, it is necessary.

Having now explained the logic behind the tournament style (not that it's at all relevant to the story, just thought others could make use of it in their home games) I'll now try to explain how I played one very pivotal hand that led to my victory in the 4th tournament. As always, your feed back would be appreciated. (all chip counts are approximate)

Final 3 (Top 2 Pay)

$25000 on the table

blinds are $300/$600

Dealer has $8500

Small Blind $5000

Big Blind $11500

For the record, I'm the small blind, so I'm playing with the short stack, but I'd just tripled up a few hands before when my all-in with 66 was called by both players, and I was very lucky and made a 6-high straight after the 2 big stacks smartly checked it down the entire way to try and get the elimination.

Despite the blinds being very high in relation to my stack, at least I have something to work with, and then I'm dealt A-9 in the small blind. The dealer folds, and as I'm considering my action, I see the Big Blind appear to fold his cards, and they're now sitting between him and the dealer.

I ask him "Did you just fold?".

This player is a very calm, collected individual and simply replies "No."

I stare at him for a few seconds to see if he gives me a little smile like I caught him folding his cards when he's in the Big Blind and I haven't raised. I've played hundreds of games of poker with him, he's been easily the most successful poker player in our group, and is known as being a very solid, probably tight, and always aggressive player when he's involved in a hand.

I think about it for a few seconds, and decide that despite any facial expressions giving it away, he probably was planning on folding, and therefore must have a very weak hand. I have a very good hand with my A-9 in a 3 handed game, and decide this is as good a time as any to steal his blind and continue my momentum.

I raise it $1200 on top of his $600 blind, expecting him to admit I caught him acting out of turn, and then he would fold. To my surprise, he does call, and my read here is that he's trying to defend his accidental fold, and plans to steal the pot from me later in the hand.

The flop brings 3-6-Q rainbow, and I decide to check it here to see what my opponent does. He checks as well, and at this point I'm pretty sure he has nothing. If he'd hit anything, after I had checked the flop, he would have bet and try to win the pot right there.

The turn is another K, not a card I'm really afraid of, but at this point I really don't have much money left. I'm hoping my opponent will check it down to the river and that Ace high will hold up as the winning hand. He checks and the river brings a 6, pairing the board.

I stick with the plan, although at this point I'm wishing I had bet on the turn. I check, and my opponent quickly grabs 20000 in chips and puts them in the pot. I still only have Ace high, and with only 32000 left, it really forces me to a very tough decision. I start to think about how the hand has played out so far, trying to imagine what he could have.

I'm pretty sure that, having played with him before many times, he would have bet when he had a pair, either on the flop or turn, so his bet on the river when the board has paired reinforces what I had thought all a long. He has nothing, he knows he can't win the hand by checking, so he fires off a large bet hoping to make me fold even if I think I have him beat. Being wrong would leave me with 12000, and the blinds are shortly going to raise to 4000/8000.

I call, knowing that if I'm right and he has absolutely nothing, he won't call my re raise, no matter how small it is, and if he has any kind of a pair, my re raise would be so small he would have to call, and I'd be done.

His head drops, a painful expression on his face shows me I was right. He flips over 2-5, expecting to see at least a pair when I show him my cards. I show Ace high and rake in the chips, my hands actually shaking a bit as this was a very difficult call to make. Normally quite vocal when he feels his opponent has made a brutal play, (I've been the recipient of several tirades before) he was strangely quiet here. 

From here, I go on to win the tournament, despite losing a potential elimination all-in when my JJ loses to the short-stacks 99.

OK, that's about it, please feel free to ad your comments by the link below. I'd love to hear different opinions, it's the best way to learn, and I am just a student.