The Man Who Knew Too Much
A current search for the word poker on Yahoo returns 39.5 million hits, and that number grows exponentially everyday. Another 3200 plus listings on Amazon.com, although, some of those might overlap. Not to mention at least four monthly magazines covering the topic, including this one. Clearly, poker has taken the nation by storm. Or at least, gale force winds, as a search of the TV Guide site with the same word produces an average of 100 to 115 listings on any given day. It would seem that an entire vertical market has been created, and I've even jumped on the bandwagon, with my own T-Shirt line.So, what does this mean to the beginning poker player? Well, if you were on a schoolyard, you'd be familiar with the phrase, Too Much Information, or, TMI for those that know. Of course, at the same time, you're reading this, possibly because you found it on a search engine, or better, have purchased my book. Why'd you pick this one, out of all the others available? Or, a better question, with all the competition out there, why did I write one? I'll try to answer those questions here.
But first, a word from our sponsor. Oh, wait, I don't have one. However, other poker players out there do. You've seen the ads on tv, and in the better Poker Magazines, both on and offline. All of them touting the latest poker site, or free signup bonus available. And of course, theirs is the best. The online magazines have gotten in on this craze, too. They tout all the sites you've heard of, and even some you haven't. And they've signed up as affiliates, therefore, every time you click on their link to the hosted site, and signup, they get a fee. And a percentage of all your future earnings. Neat, huh?
But I digress, on a recent edition of Poker Superstars, Doyle Brunson came on the air with the following advice, which boiled down to, "Read as much as you can." He might as well have said, "Buy Super System 2, available at a local bookstore near you!!!" Phil Hellmuth Jr. has published not one, but two books on the subject. I guess he felt the need to write the second one so that he could contradict everything he wrote in the first.
Now, let's say you buy the above mentioned books, plus a couple of others that are on everyone's recommended reading list, read them all, and absorb all they have to offer. Is this a good idea?
Well, I've played with the guys that have read everything out there, and even some stuff that isn't, in the various tournaments I've entered. You can almost hear the gears turning inside their head. "Now, Doyle Brunson says to bet three times the big blind, but then Phil's first book says I need to know what he has, however, Daniel Negreanu's latest column tells me to simply play the cards." And this goes over and over and over again. Usually, combined with alternating looks at their hand, and the board. Another part of this analysis might go like this, "Well, he slow played his aces three hands ago, which I saw recommended online, however, he's betting big this hand, so, can I go all in with my flush draw?" Almost like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, "On the other hand, he might expect me to bet the turn, but on the other hand, if I slow play, I might make more money, however, on the other hand, I can't check raise if he doesn't bet. But on the other hand, I could go all in, unless of course, he's bluffing."
Now, I've read most of the better books out there, and some of the ones that aren't so good as well. I even have a recommended reading list, if you're interested. They all have several things in common. They give you the hands you should play, what to do and how to bet when you play them, the math involved, and how to figure out what the other guy has, or in the vernacular, how to read the other players. Now, the problem here is simple, and why most of the poker books are flawed. They assume a 'reasonable man' argument, as applied to the game. Or, to rephrase, they assume that their opponent will play the way they do, and all their hand analysis bares this out.
So, I give a resounding, "No!!!" to the question I posed above. Why? If one guy tells you one thing, and the other guy tells you the exact opposite, who do you believe? What if they're both wrong? I alluded to it above. Not everyone plays the way the pros play. I can't tell you how many times I've seen guys bet out, hoping to catch either a flush or a straight on the river, without even a drawing hand after the flop. And catching. You won't see this recommended in any book. Or on any website. And yet, I see it all the time. OK, I do believe that all probabilities are 50%. Either something will happen, or it won't. And all the math in the world won't keep you from being sucked out on the river. However, I have to ask, "Where are these people getting these habits?"
Good question. I can only speculate, and you won't see that type of play recommended by me. At the same time, I'm not about to write it off with the cliche, "That's Poker!!!" which I've seen too many times in my life, and I've only been playing in No Limit Tournaments for around eight months as I write this. My only explanation can be online freerolls, or loose home games. I've also heard the term "No Fold 'Em Hold 'Em" around the lower limit tables. Limp in, and see a flop. If you don't get a piece of it, muck and wait for the next hand. Repeat. And if you're betting with play money, you can experiment, and go all in pre flop every hand. A strategy I'm particularly fond of, and have seen on more than one occasion, is the rich housewife that doesn't know what to do with her money. Their strategy boils down to, find at least one face card, and bet it all the way to the river, no matter if you pair up or not. Although, lately, one of them has gotten a little smarter, and she figured out she could fold when I bet her on the river. It's thinking like this that gets some into trouble, and it doesn't make 2 7 offsuit any less of a gamble.
The flip side of this phenomenon is someone who believes after having read all the books, that they know everything. You can see these guys a mile away, with their Ray-Bans, and chests puffed out. Baseball cap optional, as always. Now I like seeing these players at my table in the various tournaments in which I partake. Simply because they think know everything, doesn't mean they know what I know. Or, to put it another way, the guys that think they know everything, really tick those of us off that actually do.
72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.
e You next time.
Disclaimer: Mike's views are entirely his own, and probably reflect no one else's on the planet. The aforementioned T-shirt line has yet to go live, and the aforementioned book will be published as soon as he writes enough of the above type of opinion columns to compile into one. If you'd like to express your necessarily differing opinion to him, he can be reached at: Batman@azteca.net.
posted by AllStars at 10:27 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home