Darkened Poker

Since most of my play is at Lucky Chances Casino the semi-pros there have a pretty good bead on my play and know me to be tight – aggressive player.  They tend to get out of my way if I am driving the betting, but since they also know I am tight they will take shots at me if flop looks like a total miss or I ever check.  Normally I like to bet my hand very straight forward manner as there are plenty of people in the game to pay me off.  But I have been getting tired of them taking flops with me just so they can bet into me on any bare flop.  To counter this trend I have started checking some good hands to these guys so I can come over the top of them.  I have got a few of them to slow down quite a bit as they realize there are easier targets in the game that they could be going after.  But you do not get enough great hands to make this an effective strategy by itself.

Some people see a pot being built and they just can not resist no matter what or some people keep track of the percentages of check raising and realize it is not often enough to still not make it profitable.  Well since their play is messing up my continuation betting strategy I have been forced to start introducing the re-steal into my game.  Given that my bankroll is in good shape and I can afford to get caught re-stealing a few times I decided to just punish one of my favorite Russian players and see how he reacts to my image and aggression.

It worked amazingly well, but I had spent a little time figuring out how to make it believable as he is a good player and if you just come over the top all night, he is going to start picking them off.

1. I only did it on scary boards that made it look like I was protecting a big hand and I came over the top for an amount that was not giving anyone proper odds to call but it was never an all in bet that looked desperate.
2. I made the decision to come over the top on the flop before anyone acted, that way it was no pause in my action and it looked perfectly natural.
3. I got seated to his right so that I was last to act after his steal and did not have to worry about others over calling and messing me up.
4. I did not slow play anything against him that night and came over the top with good hands as well even on dry boards for now real reason.
5. Every once in while I showed him a monster to keep him calm.

Even after 4 re-steals that night on the last one he was talking out load and convinced himself that I must have had a set and laid down a big str8 flush draw against me.  Wow that is crazy, I would never put anyone on that good of a hand if they had been re-raising me that many time in one night.  But that is fine with me, if you want to always assume I have the nuts and lay down every hand.  So be it

Take advantage of that tight image but be careful not to loose it, if i went for 4 re-steals every night I am sure he would wise up, but I am going to keep it at few in every night to keep these thinking players at bay.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Things that have been bugging me in games lately:

First, if some fish draws out on you, do not show you’re hand no matter what, just muck it and say nice hand.  Every idiot shows the fish their hand and the fish realizes how lucky they got, then they tighten down their play for another ½ an hour or the rest of the night.  This means it is going to take you some unknown extra amount of time to stack them because they are no longer playing like they are invincible.

I even lie now and say things like “you where ahead all the way” or “I missed” just so they think they are playing better than they are and keep coming at me.  You do not want sympathy at the table about how unlucky you got, you only want the money, so just muck the hand and keep the fish jumping.

Second, it is everyone’s job to get the table going.  Everyone wants to sit down at a table that is laughing and having a good time for many reasons.

• They are having fun and not paying as much attention to the game which hides how good a player you are.
• It is more fun, people feel like gambling more if they are having fun, otherwise they play tighter and wait for good cards.
• If it is not fun, the fish will find something else to do with their free time.

But there are not that many good tables and now with the move over of internet players there are even less that are comfortable talking at the table so we are getting more and more quite ones.  This is one reason it is good to play in pairs, you get a conversation going between yourselves and then start to include others in it.  Lightens up the whole table eventually.

Never let anyone get angry and bad mouth someone’s play, it brings the whole table down.  As soon as someone starts with something like that, you have to call them a baby and tell them to shut up right away.  Sometimes you become the target for their anger but that is still better than it being pointed at the fish and them taking off.

It is everyone’s job to get the game out of the muck.  Everyone wants to sit down at a table that has big pots and people calling off all there money on thin draws.  But it does not happen by accident, you got to throw the bait in the water and get the fish jumping so the sharks can eat.  You only do that by waving some money in front of them, so gamble with them a little and build some big pots even when your not sure you have the nuts.

So if the whole table is playing too tight, then start betting all the time, if they are making small bets into pots, then start over bet the pot.  It will get them into frenzy and create the game you want.  Now it is hard to do all alone, it is better if two or more people can share the risk, but I have seen people solo kick it off and make their money back.  Next time you are complaining that the table is too tight, put in 3 raises in a row, for 3 rounds and see if you can get the table going before you give up on it and move on.

If you want more info on the art of keeping cash games going look up anything by Roy Cooke and Mike Caro as they are two of probably best writers on the subject.

♣♥♦

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Original Post: Wed May 23, 2007 7:35 pm

I had recently been thinking about what to do when you are at a Lucky Chances Casino table with no crazy weak players and no ability to get a table change any time soon.  If everyone is good then you’re going to have to get really lucky to come out ahead and not just feed the monster rake.

We have all seen the idiot that come to the table and say they have never played no limit before; then they check raise you all in on the third hand and you know they are full of it and their fish act is over.  What could you do that would allow you not to break the illusion so quickly and exploit them quite some time before they figure out you level.

Well the biggest thing I look for is people over playing hands and getting stacked with weak holdings, these are the money makers that I want to take any implied odd to get into the pot with.  So you have to figure that everyone else is looking for that as well.  Now the question is could you play badly and loose enough money to trigger this response from people, but then be able to make your money back and more before everyone that saw through it leaves the table.

Well I had some extra bank roll and gave it a try, did a short buy in for 100.  The table had 4 people that where aggressive and seemed to really be paying attention.  After blinding down for an hour without getting anything close to playable, I was down to < 60 and I finally got a good hand.  Not much to lose so I and limped in with A J, hit top pair got it all in and went broke for.  Mission accomplished, I now look like such a beginner it hurts, so after a little bitching about my good hands getting cracked and we are good to go again.

I buy in for another hundred and then dump some extra reds out a little later, get a pair a few hands later and hit trips.  One of the guy that was paying attention before bets on the flop, I call to see if anyone else will come in but everyone drops.  The guy bets again on the turn, I min raise him with 60 bucks in the pot and he pushes all in for 150 more.  A massive over bet because he thinks I will go broke again with top pair while he had two pair.
The great thing about this move is it is the label you get from getting stacked is so strong that you can show down killer hands all night and most people will not pick up that you have switched gears and are now killing them.  They think you are just getting lucky and keep coming after you.  I think the thing to make sure you do not do is buy back in for double right away as that is a pro type move and not something a fish would do that is just there to have fun.

I have done this many times over the years and it seems to work unless you have played with people at the table before and they start talking to much.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…