What Does Your Sleep Have to Do With Poker? A variety of poker-related thoughts

Hi. Come on in. I've cooked up a mess of red beans and rice, heavy on the Cajun gravy. When I served honorably in my nation's defense many years ago, we were fed this delicacy every Tuesday noon. Many of the new players to the game of hold'em have poker fever to such an extent that they can barely tear themselves away from the table. And many veteran players claim they can play marathon sessions and still be at the top of their game after 24 or 36 hours. Maybe they can – and maybe they're just too groggy to recognize that the quality of their play has deteriorated.

Those veteran players are a hopeless cause, but the new players should be aware that a lack of rest will cause a chemical change in your brain and a serious loss of judgment abilities. It's rather like being slightly inebriated but thinking you can still drive your car as well as when you are sober. "It ain't necessarily so."

So, boys and girls, here's another of Roy's Rules. These are rules by which I guide my poker life. None of them are chiseled in stone. As a free citizen, you may accept or reject them as you wish. (However, keep in mind that if they hadn't already proven to be of value to my students over the years, I wouldn't be wasting my time or energy bringing them to you.)

"Play rested – play fresh."There's nothing startling there. That seems to make good sense. Playing tired just doesn't make it. Your attentiveness falls off. You're not as alert. You miss some of what's going on around you, so you make decisions with less information than you would normally possess if you were rested. You mind seems to work more slowly. Plus, one of the biggest problems with playing tired is that most people tend to get irritated easily, which further contributes to putting them off their best game. If you can't play your best, don't play.

My game becomes more defensive when I'm tired – not putting in a raise when I normally would, and not pushing a hand when I should. This isn't to say that I won't play poker unless I've just had eight hours of sleep. But neither will I play at the end of a long, hard day without getting some rest – a short nap or a period of meditation. Doctors who do sleep studies agree that we do everything better when rested, especially activities that require a lot of mental activity – like poker! Go get some sleep.

Some random thoughts about limit hold'em that I have been relearning: It's true that good hands in good (late) position are what make the money. But there are times when you are better off being in early (usually unfavorable) position. As an example, you joyfully discover a pair of aces in your preflop hand. Your next thought is that you are the first to act. You have bad position, tough break, but let's look at the bright side.

You now have the opportunity to force the entire field to put in a double bet if they want to play. Your raise from this position has a far better chance of cutting down the competition to manageable proportions for your aces. An even better situation would have you acting second, with the first player having put in a raise. Your reraise will now force any potential opponent to come in for three bets cold, and you'll most likely play your top pair against only one or two opponents. You have the best hand (or at worst are tied), and having eliminated the players behind you, your position has gone from bad to best.

A tied-in random thought: Keep that same pair of aces, but now we'll seat you on the button. That's a favorable position – maybe. Seven players, including the blinds, are in by the time the action gets to you. Your raise might cause the blinds and perhaps one other player to fold. That still leaves you with four opponents, which makes it more likely that you will be outdrawn.

Nearly all professionals will tell you to make the raise anyway. It's only one more bet and it does give you some chance to narrow the field. Others of a more conservative nature say that if your opponents will not honor your raises (those throngs of no-fold'em hold'em players), you might want to save that last bet, limp in, and have a large surprise for them when the flop does hit your hand, or get away inexpensively when it doesn't and your opponents go to war. However, you have such a strong hand that you should raise, even though you may not get anyone to fold.

Now, I require repose. Take a baggie of the red beans and rice for your breakfast. And kill the light on your way out. ♠

Roy West, best-selling poker author, continues giving his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas for both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Get Roy's toll-free 800 number from his ad on Page 150.