Pokerwiner.com → Within poker principles
Of course it might turn out that any action would come from one of the other two players but, aiming to carry out my plan to draw unwarranted aggression from Bill, I checked. As I expected, it was checked to the preflop raiser who bet. Then came the centerpiece of my plan. I raised.
Now, check-raising a player on your right from an early poker position will frequently have the effect of knocking out players in between the two of you. Often you do it to protect a vulnerable hand like top pair in a multiway pot. I knew Bill knew that. I also knew that he knew I was a player who could lay down a hand less than trips if I thought he had them. So my hope was that he would read me for having a hand like
Or
Which I wanted to protect, and that he would try to bluff or semi-bluff me off of it I was helped by the presence of the player on the button. I knew Bill had seen that this was not only a poor player, but one who would always bet if everyone checked to him on the flop. I knew this would encourage Bill to assume I would be especially likely to try to isolate this player without much of a hand. I felt also that his apparent tilt would add to his willingness to gamble on a bold steal attempt. Well, gamble he did. When I check-raised, bill three-bet it.
Ted called all three bets cold, and the button folded. Now, here I could have just called, perhaps with a plan to check-raise on the turn. Under typical circumstances that would have been worth considering. But, while I couldn’t be certain of it, my guess was that maintaining my aggressive stance on the flop, as if I were “representing ” rather than actually holding the trips, I could get even more action out of Bill.
It would work as long as he held firmly to his read. Since I though he would, I capped it at four bets. He and Ted called. The turn was the 9s. I bet right out, and Bill raised again. Ted called the two bets cold. I knew Ted would be very unlikely to slowplay a full house at this point in the hand. Furthermore, I knew him well, and saw in his demeanor indicators to suggest that he was simply calling all bets, trying to make his hand. I put him on a flush draw. With his turn raise, bill had pushed his hand hard. Ironically, though it was exactly what I had wanted him to do, he had now shown so much aggression that I had to consider whether he might in fact have a hand which beat me, such as
Or
From what I knew of his play, I believed he would have slowplayed a pair of sixes on the flop. The K♦ 9♦ was possible, but I believed that his misreading my hand combined with his emotional state could as easily account for his action. I felt his actions would have been the same with either the case king alone or a flush draw. That made one of the those poker hands far more likely than the K♦ 9♦. In short, I was fairly sure I had been able to prompt him to semi-bluff twice in a hopeless attempt to make me lay down my apparent “weak” hand. I therefore made it three bets. Both players called, partially confirming my read on Bill. Had he had me beaten, he probably would have raised again right there. The river was the 4♦. I bet and both players folded, confirming busted flush draws for both of them.
So, I’d induced Bill to spend about six small bets (an additional $240) more than he had to in playing his hand. I was just lucky that Ted had the hand he did, and came along for the ride as well. Of course, I cannot be sure how Bill would have responded had I played my hand differently. Still, my best guess is that misreading the meaning of my check-raise on the flop was the primary trigger for his aggression.
You’re Already Doing It
Better players act according to how they read you. It follows that you can anticipate how they will act if you think about how they read you. What’s more, you can manipulate how they will read you. You’ve been doing this all the time, perhaps without even knowing it. You do it every time you play deceptively. When you bluff, semi-bluff, or slow playing texas you are trying to mislead your opponents into reading you incorrectly in the hope that it will earn you more money. What I did in the hand above was simply another form of deception. If you look for others you will find them.
Acknowledgement:
I would like to thank Sudhir Padmanabhan, with whom I discussed this hand. His insightful comments enabled me more clearly to present my thought process in writing. (By the way, you too can benefit from his poker insights as he, along with my self and many others, is a regular participant on the forums at www.playwinpoker.com this is the site for serious poker discussion on the net. See you there ).
The Strategic Moment in Holdem / One Way Not to Fold /
Beating the Berserko: Preflop Against a Maniac /
On Into the Storm: Playing the maniac After the Flop
One Reason to Reraise a Maniac / A Simple Read / Countering a Good Reader
Thinking About What They’re Thinking / Out On the Edge
Considerations in Two Blind Stealing Defense situations
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part I
Easing the Transition to the middle Limits: Part II / Multiple Changing Images