Poker Information

Information is The Winner

Last week I sat down in a low-limit Holdem game and the very first hand was a pair of tens in the pocket. I rose to help define the hand and get out some of the rag players behind me. Top set and no terribly dangerous draws. I couldn't quite believe my good fortune. It was checked to me and I bet, confident that the usual low-limit players in our town will draw for a draw and there is no valid reason to slow play in the usual games. I was correct, five callers! I loved it. The next cards off was a queen. Again I bet and got two callers. The last card was another deuce.
This time I again got two callers, both with a queen in their hands. With a start like that, I cashed out a nice profit. There are a couple of lessons to be learned from that scenario. One lesson is that this kind of winning hand and flop happen so seldom that you should thank the poker deities. The other lesson is that unless you hit a real big hand in the first 30 to 45 minutes, don't play.

Information is a Key to Winning

Please note that in the above account of a winning hand, I made reference to guesses that I made, guesses &hat just happened to be accurate. I made some general "assumptions that were based on earlier observations of other games but did not necessarily mean they would be e for this lineup. In other words, I lucked out. Don’t depend on luck like this for a marginal hand or even a decent hand in poor position. When you enter a poker game, take a few rounds to get a fix on which players are there and something about their play. Even if you know the player, you need to determine how that player is feeling today and what he is likely to do. Information is a key to winning. You need some basis of information before you take any chances. Sure, if you hit a big hand, play it out, but don't get out on a limb so that someone with a chain saw will cut off behind you. Be content with modest action if the board suddenly turns menacing. Don't push the betting until you have some more information.
The key reason for this is the loss limit that all of us place on ourselves. If we get forced into hand after hand of losses from the get-go, we could easily lose our money for the day and not even have a chance to make a score. Gather and glean information before you take any risks. I realize the more astute players who play with you on a regular basis will observe this tendency and raise you out of pots that you might have a shot at winning. Don't fret it. Your time will come. Besides, those kinds of astute players are few and far between at the low-limit tables.

The Leech Player

The first order of business for a good poker player is to get a "line" on each opponent. Even after an hour, you may only have an infinitesimal amount of information, but you will at least have lumped most of the players into the bigger categories-who plays every hand, which plays once every two rounds, who slow plays the big pairs, etc. Your goal is to begin a slow process of bleeding money from each player into your stack. For centuries, the medical person in the community was known as "the leech" because he tried to cure patients by bleeding them. Think of yourself as "The leech." You are the one who will suck their money from them and use it for a good cause-your car payment.