One of the things I love about live poker that you don't get in online poker is all the damn information. People just tell you what they have. It's true.
When I'm playing really well on the real felt quite often I just know what two cards people have. I'm not a psychic and I'm not Daniel Negraneau, but I spent years working in food service, retail and bar tending and I've learned to notice the little things that many people never see. I've also learned at the poker table to notice betting patterns that certain types of players do in only certain situations.
Last night at poker league was almost one of those nights. My reads were dead on.
Poker league can be a great place to practice reading people for that extra information. Now be very careful, you have to spot strength and weakness and apply a filter to it. People at poker league will think A3o is a monster. So be careful and figure out what range THEY think are monsters. Weak is good to know because weak means lay down or fear. Works the same for a pushmonkeys as it does for a top pro. It's strong that you need to figure out.
I had weak down pat last night. A couple of players I even had call-a-flop weak figured out so that I could steal on the turn (I love the extra bets you get with this one). I was a stealing, value betting machine last night. It was sweet and with extra chips just accumulating in front of me, poker was fun.
At one point, the guy on my right did a few things that caught my attention. He's a very quiet fella, he's patient and knows enough about poker to usually capitalize on people's mistakes. He's one guy that you can move off a pot when he's marginally weak. With the right bets, he will call with a middle pair, but he will definitely fold to pressure. Last night, I finally figured something out, he shoves all in when and only when he has the nuts. He over bets for value when he knows he can't be beat.
Having all of this extra information is only good if you use it in your decision process. There in lies my leak. This guy moves all in with the nuts. He over bets for value when he knows he can't be beat.
The blinds are 150/300. I'm in the BB with the 63c, he is in my LB. The table walks to him and he just calls and I check. We see the flop - A96 rainbow. I've hit bottom pair. He min raises. I call. The turn - 3. He know bets 300. I raise to 600. He thinks for few seconds and says "I'm all-in". Without hesitation or even the slightest bit of thought I call. He turns over AA.
How do you remember to not call that shove? Can you not call that bet?
2 comments:
The best example of someone knowing another's game and adjusting accordingly was last year's WSOP Main Event. It was interesting to watch Jamie Gold getting called down on every bluff since his bluffing was well chronicled in the 2006 WSOP.
95% of the time...
Min raise on the flop = "PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CALL ME"
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