Depends – It's Not an Adult Diaper

It depends! It depends! It depends! Those who know me are very familiar with my stock answer to most poker questions. The answer tends to irritate most of them. They want easy answers to complex problems. Every situation in poker (or in life, for that matter) is unique and needs to be analyzed independently. Analyzing each poker problem independently makes poker hard work and requires application of intelligence. If you want to obtain winning results from your poker game, you need to get in tune with a winning way of thinking.

Many players (including myself at times) get lazy and sloppy. They want effortless routine answers to poker situations so they can play on autopilot and not work too hard. They want to talk with their friends, flirt with the dealer, watch the stock or sports ticker, and still win the money. They are soon to be disappointed. These players look for answers to poker questions similar to the way that a blackjack player plays blackjack strategy. If a given situation occurs, they respond with a memorized, previously determined answer. Not much thinking is required once they have memorized the basic strategy. In most of the situations, assuming they have a correct strategy knowledge base, their answer will be the same as if they had thought it through. However, when the answer to the question falls outside the commonly correct strategy response, the "autopilot" player will make an error in judgment, and will make an incorrect play that will cost himself expectation. That means real money.

When faced with a poker predicament, I break down the question, determine what concepts are applicable, and weigh the importance of each concept in regard to the situation at the time. Then, I make a judgment. I never make a judgment in advance of the action being on me. That way, I do not miss opportunities that present themselves as the situation changes based on people's actions. Often at first glance, many situations seem identical, but underneath the surface, they can be very different and have very different answers.

A representative question that I get is: How do you play K-Q on the button when facing a raise? The hand and the situation will vary, but people want to know how to play a certain hand in a certain position when facing a certain action. And the answer is pretty much always the same – it depends.

I hold K-Q offsuit on the button. Too-Tight Tom raises the pot under the gun and everyone folds to me. Tom is the sort of fellow who needs a high pair – say, jacks or better – or A-K to make a raise like this under the gun. I am in deep trouble to his A-K, A-A, K-K, and Q-Q holdings. I muck the hand, not wanting to give heads-up action with an inferior starting hand when I am unlikely to be able to outplay my opponent's holding.

Next lap, I again hold K-Q offsuit on the button. Too-Tricky Ted on my immediate right raises once everyone has folded to him. Ted raises in that situation with lots of hands, trying to steal the blinds or at least the button. He also makes lots of fancy jukes and jives in an effort to outplay people. Making decisions against Ted can get very precarious. He is both difficult to read and reads his opponents' hands well. Two loose, bad players are in the blinds. They are the type of player who plays too many hands and makes many mistakes on later streets. If I let them into the pot, Ted will be much more limited in the number of fancy plays that he can make against me since they will be very likely to call him down, and Ted knows that. Also, if I make a hand, the bad players in the blinds are very likely to pay me off or make mistakes in a situation down the road. Having analyzed the most important variables, I decide that flat-calling in this situation is my best play.

I keep getting dealt K-Q offsuit on the button. The next lap, Too-Timid Terry raises from two positions to my right. No other player has called. Terry has a legitimate hand in this spot, as he is just the type of player who never raises without one. He also is the type of player who needs a very good hand in order to call an opponent down. He is a highly uncreative guy who plays just an ABC style and rarely makes any deceptive plays. He will raise with many high-card hands in this situation (those that do not contain a pair). Against this player, I am going to get aggressive and three-bet him in order to make him lay down his hand if neither of us hits the board. I want to win all of the pots in which neither of us makes a hand. By three-betting him, I show a high degree of strength, increasing my propensity to succeed with an aggressive play later in the hand, and I also make the price of my follow-through bluff higher. Moreover, if I make a hand and win the pot with a legitimate hand, the pot is bigger. And, there is also a reasonable chance that I have the best hand anyway.

So, how do I play K-Q offsuit on the button when facing a raise? Umm … right!

These kinds of players do exist, and these situations come up every day in public poker. I had the identical hand facing three heads-up raises and made three different correct plays based on the texture of the situation at the time. Among many other variables, different players' styles and weaknesses dictate how you should play a given hand. No two situations are ever the same. Making your decisions based on a defined strategy will confine your poker game to mediocrity. Mind you – for some players, that is the most they can hope to achieve, the best that they can get. Their lack of feel in reading people's hands and minds due to either poor people skills or lack of effort takes away their capacity to play a world-class game.

In order to make accurate, flexible decisions, you need to have a good feel for the game and the highest level of possible information upon which to base your decisions. To develop those strengths, you must constantly pay attention, think about poker theories, and be conceptually correct in your strategy knowledge.

Always split aces and eights, hit soft 17s, hit fours, fives, and sixes against a 10, and double down when it's the right time to do so. But when you hold K-Q offsuit on the button and you're facing one opponent who has raised – they don't make basic strategy cards for that one.

Editor's note: Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas – please see his ad below.