The game, $30-$60 hold'em, leaned toward the tough side, as it contained several wannabe pros who were trying their best and had a reasonable degree of knowledge. Intermingled were a couple of weak tourists with little poker experience who were intimidated and playing weak-passive-tight. There was also a top-quality Las Vegas pro in the game.
Many players avoid this type of game, thinking the profit potential is limited because of the tightness of the field and the diminutive size of the pots. But in this type of game there are many profitable plays that can add up to a good hourly expectation. Although the volume variable appears to be low, these games present many opportunities for picking off small pots with plays, and provide fairly easy reading situations to maximize your earn with medium-quality hands. You just need to be able to read hands and have good play knowledge to add positive numbers to your expectation field.
One of the weak-passive tourists limped in from up front and the pro folded in front of me. I popped the limper from middle position with K-J offsuit. Raising with that type of hand from middle position with an up-front caller is generally a play with negative expectation. But in this situation, I knew that I could read and outplay the player who called. The texture of players yet to act was predictable. My raise was certain to thin the field some. I would not make many errors in my play after the flop with these opponents. When you can outread/outplay your opponents, you can loosen up your starting requirements. However, make sure your judgment that you can outread/outplay your opponents is accurate. The human ego, being what it is, tends to make most of us overrate our abilities and underrate our opponents, which can turn into quite a money drain.
The blinds called. The small blind was a respectable wannabe pro whose only strategy error I had seen in two days of play with him was that he overdefended his blinds. The big blind was the weakest tourist in the game. The limper also called.
The flop came down A-J-5 with the A
J. All three players checked to me, and I bet. To my initial disappointment, all three called, the initial limper thinking long and hard before making his call. While he was deliberating, I spent my time reading the players' hands. I did not think any of them possessed an ace. The wannabe pro played by "the book." He was a player I read to be knowledgeable of basic poker plays and would have made the correct play of check-raising to shut out the field if he had an ace. The player in the big blind played ABC predictable, and had previously always led if he held top pair. Since the initial limper took a long time to call, I thought he likely did not have an ace, although if any player held one, it was he, and he was taking his time thinking about raising, not calling. Finally, he called. Although I wasn't in love with my situation, I felt pretty comfortable that I had the best hand, I had position on a field I could outplay, and the pot had a few chips in it. Life could have been worse.
The turn card was the 4, not my dream card. Once again the field checked to me. Still believing there was a reasonable chance that my hand was good, and not wanting to give a free card, I bet out once again. The wannabe pro check-raised me, folding the other two players.
Generally, with second pair, a three-flush on the board, four players in the pot, and having been check-raised, a fold is in order. But, I instinctively suspected that something was wrong in this situation. This player played strategically well. He obviously had spent a great amount of time reading and studying poker books, from which he had developed a pretty high level of play knowledge, but I felt fairly certain that he didn't have extensive in-game experience.
Since his play knowledge was high, I tried to read his hand based on what I thought he knew. I tried to put myself in his seat. I went into what my fellow Card Player columnist Jim Brier calls a "huddle," thinking deeply about the poker equation before me. This player would have raised the flop with an ace. From previous plays he had made, I knew he understood the concept of semibluffing. If he had a flush draw, he should have either led or semibluff check-raised the flop. So, I didn't think he could have the flush (which is the hand he was representing). If he had wired aces or jacks, he would have three-bet preflop. If he had three fives or A-J, he should have bet the flop, but might not have made the correct play. Could he be bluffing?
All I could beat was a stone-cold bluff. Since I knew he understood and was capable of semibluffing, he would raise me if he picked up a heart draw! I though the only legitimate hands he was capable of holding were A-J and three fives. If he had one of these hands, he misplayed it, which reduced the chances that he held such a hand. I had not seen this guy make a strategy error in the two days I had played with him. I thought my hand was very likely good. I called his raise and called again when he bet the river. He knuckled his hand. I waited for him to either show or muck, and he turned his hand over, exhibiting K-10 offsuit with the K. He had picked up the nut heart draw to go with his gutshot draw and chose to semibluff the hand, hoping I would fold.
You have to be able to read your opponents and then execute the correct play. Many players can read hands effectively, and then second-guess themselves or lack the trust in their judgment to execute the play. I understand that there was a chance he could have had a real hand, but given the price the pot was laying me, it was correct to make the call. When you make correct nonobvious plays, you are gaining value over opponents who do all other things equally well but lack the ability to act on the less than obvious. It is of such things that the edge variable in the "recurring sum" formula is made, and from which all poker profits flow.
Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for more than 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas – please see his ad below. If you would like to ask Roy poker-related questions, you may do so online at www.UnitedPokerForum.com.