Loose Ends

Texas Holdem Pocket Pairs

by Steve Badger

How could something so bad, darling,
come from something that was so good"
-- Bruce Springsteen

The starting hand fetish that many weaker players fixate on as a central aspect of their games directly leads to a corresponding lack of ability to lose well. Players look at AK or QQ in Texas Holdem and think "wow, what a great hand" and start counting the money they will be raking in. The game is not that easy however.

Take the confrontation of AsKc versus QhJh suited. This is about a 60/40 confrontation when both hands go to the showdown. A three to two advantage should be solidly profitable of course, but it should not surprise anyone when the 40% wins a hand. But it is not even this simple. News flash, there is betting in poker. How these hands are played can very significantly alter how much money changes hands. It's even very likely that an excellent player in position with the QJ will have a better expectation than a weak player holding the AK. The weaker player might chase or pay off far too liberally while the excellent player might be able to get away from their hands before the bigger betting rounds.  Manipulation of the betting is a key concept in itself, but the focus here is on the specific situation of something that looks "so good" ending up being played "so bad".

One of the most common errors in Holdem, much more so than other games, is to cling to hands that look good long after they turn bad. (And then of course, tell bad beat stories about how these "great hands" lost.)

One of the clearest signs of a player who will never rise above the mediocre is the inability to laydown pocket pairs after the flop -- and more specifically, hands like QQ on an AT9 flop. You see it all the time, players calling off all their chips with only a prayer and the worst straightforward draw in poker -- trying to spike an underpair two-outer. In Limit Hold'em this is sin enough, but in No Limit it borders on lunacy. Still, spend fifteen minutes observing the one or two table mini-tournaments available online at the various cardrooms and you likely will see this exact phenomenon happen at least once.

And the funny thing is, many of these same people will be able to lay down KJ on an AJ8 flop but will call all their money with QQ. When facing a bet, the difference in current value between these two hands in miniscule, but the somehow the prettier QQ gets players to act like dopes. It's just "so good" looking. Frankly, I prefer the prettiness of how good chips look in front of me in contrast to how they look being pushed to my opponent.

You don't get any "pretty points" bonuses in poker. What you get is an opportunity to manipulate the mathematical expectation of variable situations. Better players often beat weaker players for a lot of chips even though the better player is holding worse cards than the weaker player. In a way, this is the idea of most of the game. Sure, better players playing better cards will beat weaker players when they play (too often) their weaker cards, but a much more critical divide between the better players and the weaker ones is the ability to transform what should be negative situations into positive ones. The combination of factors at work are the better player's skills, and the weaker player's anti-skills.

Another way to put it is: giving a weak player a good starting hand is like giving him a rope to hang himself with.

Just because something starts out fine doesn't mean it will end that way. Starting hands are merely that, a start. Good starting hands are merely a good start. Clinging to good starting hands (that miss the flop) for too long, specifically putting in a bet on the bigger betting round on the turn, is an enormous hole in most people's play -- and it just so happens that it critically afflicts the type of person whom it hurts the worst, players who rely on the most straightforward starting hands, particularly pocket pairs.

There is nothing wrong with pretty hands. Just don't be seduced to the point that "pretty" turns into "pretty ugly."

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The Kunta Kinte of Poker Skills

Self-Control - Poker Discipline

by Steve Badger

"There is no way to peace.
Peace is the way." -- AJ Muste

Playing winning poker is a bit like a tree, everything begins at the roots and branches out from there. Unfortunately few players realize this, so when a person identifies a problem, too often they hack away at the branches, instead of going to the roots.

In written storytelling, sometimes writers develop writer's block -- they just can't figure what to do next. Experienced writers though realize that the problem is not right "there" where they are blocked, but at some point earlier in their story. Driving on the Los Angeles freeways, you sometimes run into a traffic jam. However, your problem as a driver is almost always not the jam itself, but one stemming from "roots" of poor route planning, poor monitoring of radio traffic channels, and so on. Poker is very much the same.

Force yourself someday to listen to some bad beat stories. Almost all bad beat stories involve a player making a mistake -- frequently it's checking the flop with the aim to checkraise. While the storyteller's point is the "bad beat", what they really should be focusing on the root of the beat, a risky or incorrect play early in the hand.

Listen when someone discusses a flaw in his or her game. If you analyze the flaw objectively, the person's problem is almost always not the apparent, surface flaw. The true problem exists one or two or ten steps earlier in the player's overall game.

Winning players should constantly evaluate their play -- what they do well, what they do merely adequately, what they do below average, and possible ways to improve on all three. One great thing about poker is there are so many variables, so many skills and tactics we can tinker with to attempt to get a better result. But all these stem from one great root.

Some people have called game selection, or table selection, the most important of all poker skills. Find the game most suited to your abilities, play in it, and beat it. Okay, that's important, but even that's trivial compared to the key root of winning poker.

The very most important skill a player needs to manage is not math, it's not reading opponents, it's not good starting hand selection, it's not a solid game plan, it's... self-control!

It doesn't do you any damn good at all if you know you shouldn't play above your bankroll, if you then do; it's no good to know you shouldn't tilt, if you then do; it's no good to know you shouldn't play 72o in Holdem, if you do anyway; it's no good to know your play deteriorates to the point that you are a losing player after nine consecutive hours, if you continue to play after that time; and on and on and on...

Poker isn't just a game of the moment. When you deal with regular opponents, you should be setting the groundwork for many strategic plays minutes, hours and even months before you pull the trigger on them. Likewise, every action you are doing now should be the result of a solid foundation of previous actions. Each step along a ladder that leads you to an action should be taken with self-control and a proper attitude. Play a game or games you are good at, have a well-considered basic strategy, have as a goal that you want to be a winning player, find a limit you are adequately bankrolled for, play hands with a positive expectation, keep your butt in the seat only so long as you play nearly optimally, select individual games that suit you, don't let one day's poor results allow your emotions to put you on tilt, and so on. With these in place, each individual action you then take will be rooted in a solid, sensible foundation.

All other poker skills, tactics and strategies run through discipline. Every bit of winning strategy and brilliant philosophy must be applied or it's almost worthless. No other knowledge matters if you don't practice self-discipline and use what you know. There is no way to discipline. Discipline is the way.

If you want to be a successful, reasonably happy player, work on your self-control first -- and I mean work on it first every single day. Nothing compares.

More on Self-Control, Poker Ego, the Trinity of Poker and Poker Structure

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