The Las Vegas poker scene is different from other poker arenas. It is an old-time gambling destination resort and the gambling capital of the world. Lots of pros and players who are almost pros have gravitated here. Retirees with good card sense and the time to study the game play here. These "locals," whether they're the kid from Cincinnati who signed a lease last week or the retired sheriff's deputy who's been in town for 60 years, have been around the poker block a few times.
Of course, not all of the locals can play, and there are plenty of tourists. Unfortunately, some of the tourists are not the contributors that they used to be when there were no legal poker markets in other areas of the country. Some days, I'll sit down in a Bellagio $30-$60 game and not recognize a single face, and discover to my dismay that every person at the table can play.
It's lucky for me that Vegas has some attributes that compensate for these issues. The rake is low compared to most other places. The dealers tend to be professional and get out the maximum number of hands per hour. And best of all, there are those folks who come to town to gamble and seem to fall into the cardroom from the gambling pits with little or no public poker experience. Just a few such players can add a great deal of value to a poker game. Their presence is particularly strong on weekends, when the casinos are filled to capacity.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, I sat down in a $30-$60 hold'em game that was pretty tight and had mostly small pots. The field consisted mostly of inexperienced tourists with little playing knowledge who appeared to feel a little intimidated by playing in Vegas. All of them were trying to play their best. But, they seemed to have the mentality that "tight is right," and defined that as playing few hands for as little money as possible. This resulted in a game with little preflop raising and betting on the flop, giving a knowledgeable player the opportunity to play a broad range of hands correctly.
Unlike many players who like playing big-pot poker, I like playing in this type of game. It presents many challenging, different decision-making opportunities, opponents are easy to read and don't protect their hands, and the opportunity to outplay opponents is frequent and has a lot of value. In this type of game, getting involved in lots of hands and knowing how to play them after the flop is the key to success.
I was on the button with the K
2. One player had limped in, the rest of the field had folded, and the action was to me. Generally, this holding is an easy muck in this spot, as the number of players is not enough to justify calling in hope of making a flush, and a king with a deuce kicker is nothing to write home to Mother about, either. More money is lost with a top pair that is out-kicked than almost any other hold'em situation, especially when the top pair is aces.
But in this situation, the player limping in was very predictable and readable. He bet when he held top pair or better, held out his chips threatening to call when he really intended to call, called down with a smaller holding (and with any pair), and checked when he was going to check-fold. The guy was so predictable, he might just as well have turned his cards faceup!
The blinds were not aggressive or experienced players, and while they were not as easy to read as the limper, they were not exactly full of play and imagination. I called the preflop $30, the small blind threw in a single chip, and the big blind knuckled. We took the flop off fourhanded for one bet.
The flop came K-6-5, all red. Both blinds checked and the predictable limper bet. I could not beat any hand he would bet, and the pot was not offering the correct price to draw to my deuce kicker even if I knew it would be good. I tossed my hand into the muck. Both blinds, also aware of the strength of the bet, folded. The limper showed the table wired sixes, announcing, "I had it," having flopped a set. It was as if he didn't want anyone to think negatively of him and that he might have been bluffing.
This is not the most exciting poker hand I have ever played, nor is it the most exciting poker story, but play in small-pot situations is very important to your overall expectation over the course of time, due to its frequency of occurrence. Also, several important poker concepts applied to this hand.
When you can "outplay" an opponent, you can loosen up your play against him in pots he is playing. How much to loosen up depends on the amount of variance of edges you can pick up in the situation. Outplaying an opponent can take many forms. You might get away from hands better than your adversary. You might be able to bluff him often. You might be able to play your hands in a manner in which you gain more bets when you win than your opponent gains when he wins. I define outplaying as this: When all other things are equal in the same situation, you will make a decision that will give your hand greater equity. When you have that edge over an opponent, you can play hands that are inferior to his holdings and make up any lost hand-selection edge with the equity gained from outplaying him after the flop.
This hand also speaks to the issue of not getting into a generic mindset and playing the hand by rote. I often hear players state, "I had to pay it off; I had top pair." Well, I would much rather have second pair in a situation in which I thought the hand was good than top pair and know it was no good. Two aces that are no good have negative value … two deuces that are good have positive value. I know that is self-evident, but it is often overlooked by players in the excitement of battle.
Too many players overrate hand selection, and judge it as the only issue in playing poker. While hand-selection strategy and preflop play are important, other skills – post-flop strategy, reading hands, game selection, and psychology – have greater impact on your win rate. Being capable of making the correct adjustments for any situation is what can turn an average player into a force at the poker table.
If you are going to loosen up your play in any situation, you still need to consider any opponents yet to act and the effect any action on their part will have on the value of your hand. Many players tend to overestimate their ability to outplay opponents, and discount the players yet to act. They get caught up in the action and find themselves in situations involving tough decisions and negative-expectation plays. Don't put yourself in that trap. Be realistic, and the chips will find you.
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.