Posted by Dr Fro 5:09 PM
Play your man

It is very important in poker, especially in "big bet" poker to play your man. The beginner plays his own hand. The novice learns to play his man by narrowing down his opponent's possible hands based on how much he bet and when. It doesn't take much poker experience to "play your man" against strangers and figure out they have a flush because they checked until the third heart came and then check-raised you. What I want to talk about here is playing your man when you actually have a lot of experience against them and your decision is based on patterns picked up in previous hands. This is a skill that can really elevate your game, and below is some advice on the matter:

1. Perhaps you watch a guy limp in with 72o. How many times have you called a guy because "I know he always plays with trash" only to lose to a big hand? The fact is, Ted Hoth (a maniac if you don't know him) gets dealt pocket Aces as frequently as you do. He actually has more straights and flushes on the river than you do (because he plays more hands). So knowing that someone is "loose" is valuable information, but it can be misapplied. Don't assume that the loose player has nothing - this assumption will cost you money. Instead, when the board shows complete rags and you have an overpair, fear that the loose player ended up with two pair and just call (don't bet). Label the loose players, but fear them with rags on the board.

2. Just think how rich you would be if you always knew when somebody was bluffing. You could also be pretty darn rich if you knew that there was, say, a 60% chance that someone was bluffing. There are a ton of hands that warrant a call if you knew that there was a 60% chance someone was bluffing. Here is one way to do so. Pay attention to experienced players when they are on the button (or last to act because the button has folded). Notice if they automatically bet on the river when it is checked around to them. There are experienced players out there that know that this is a very profitable play w any 2 cards. The foil to this is if you notice the pattern, you can call this bet with something as lame as bottom pair. You may even raise to get the other players out of the pot. Label players who automatically bet on the button and call them.

3. Some people in NL give away their hand based on the size of their pre-flop bet. Maybe they bet 3x the blind with high suited connectors like AKs, but bet 5x the blind with AA and KK. Whatever. The point is that the vary their bet and give away information. But beware, an experienced player may vary his bet for a reason other than his cards. Specifically, they may bet more or less based on the number of pre-flop callers. So as long as it is not an experienced player, you can learn a lot by remembering how big the pre-flop raise was when you see their hands at the showdown.

4. Some people Post Oak Bluff and others never do. Doyle Brunson defines a Post Oak bluff as one that is not very large (presumably out of fear of being raised). Doyle says he never Post Oak bluffs and most experienced players never do. Notice if somebody ever does. The next time they make a fairly small or medium sized bet into a large pot, raise them your entire stack regardless what your hand is.

Well that's it for now, I need to go watch the Rocket get his 8th win of the season. See you at Texadelphia. Comment below or email if you also have patterns you notice that help you play your man.

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