Article 1 - Learning How to Think About the Play of a Hand

written by: mike l DeucesCracked Coach
published 11 months ago

This is the first in a series of articles on live limit hold 'em by me, Mike Landucci, a professional poker player and coach from San Diego, CA. The goal of this series is to examine, using hands taken directly from actual play, some common situations that arise in current live mid and high limit hold em games. This series will not provide a series of rules or generalizations. We will spend no time explaining terms or basic concepts you should be familiar with already if you are any sort of student of the game, nor will we be wasting time on things like the history of the game that have been presented in many other places.  Instead this volume is intended to encourage the reader (presumably a player who plays a great deal and has extensive knowledge of poker theory, for that is who will benefit most from the ideas presented here) to exercise the analytical skills required to become a top player.  The hands presented here eschew cookie cutter answers, in fact sometimes there will be no definitive conclusion as to the best way to solve a specific problem. What's most important is determining and weighing all the consequent factors of a specific situation. Most of these hands do not involve some sort of extra-sensitive super-read, nor an elaborate play that will only have a chance of working once every several months. We will evaluate all streets of all the known hands involved because sometimes great truths about this game and how people play it are evident in asking "Why do people play like that"? Perhaps these examples and the ideas presented are best used to spark dialogue between you and your poker buddies, to be debated and analyzed, laughed at or applauded. In short, this is my current play book, so take from it what you can best use in your game.

Learning How to Think About the Play of a Hand

   The best players are the ones who have made a conscious effort to learn how to think about the game in a way that is productive. If the goal is to excel in the specific games, players, and situations one encounters most in their career, then programming oneself to most effectively analyze the relative virtues or pratfalls of certain plays can be the most critical element of a limit hold 'em player's growth.

    An example of productive and non-productive ways to think about a hand came up in a good Vegas 30-60 game recently. I had asked the player on my right if he preferred to chop or play. He said he prefers to play. It was folded to his sb and he openlimped for one chip more. I raised 77 and he called. The flop came J53 rainbow, I bet, he checkraised, and I called. The turn was a 2, he bet, I raised, and he called. The river was a Q and it went check, check. My opponent showed J6o for the winner.

    It is a pretty straight forward hand, but the potential for valid discussion is huge. Here are the varying ways a player might approach this hand:

    1. Angry. This idiot limps in with this crap because he has too much gamble and he can't possibly bear to fold a hand and chop his blinds like a sensible person. Then of course I get cold decked, dealt a decent pocket pair and I have to be a huge favorite against this idiot preflop so I raise him and of course he still calls with Jack-Six OFF can you fucking believe it? Now he flops his top pair no waiting and since he's such an idiot I have to raise him on the turn and slow him down and see where he's at. Once again, I play my hand perfectly, but this idiot gets rewarded. This game is bullshit and I must be the most unlucky person alive.

    2. Confident. I played the hand fine. This guy just happened to get lucky and flop top pair. I punished him correctly by raising him preflop and then I used position to get to showdown against him while maintaining control of the hand. This hand has good meta hand repercussions because clearly this guy, and the rest of the table, will call all my turn raises from now on whenever they have something because they will think I am making a play with a weak hand. I am playing aggressively and strategically,  and am a favorite against the table.

    3. Regretful. Wow, I just spewed off big time there. Sure it's a decent hand in that spot preflop, but maybe I should see a flop first before committing extra bets? And why not just fold the flop, it's clear he has top pair, what else would he be checkraising with. And the turn raise is way over the top, these people are going to think I'm insane, I'll never be able to get away with anything at this table now. Man, I really screwed up I ought to just get up and quit.

    All three of these emotional tangents are non-productive. The first one can easily lead toward tilted reckless play, an unhealthy contempt for your opponent, the game, and your chips. The second one seems seductively safe, but it could actually be the most damaging because long term it can set a tone where you decide you are beyond learning, that you don't need to concentrate on each individual hand or reflect about ways you could have played differently. So instead of dismissing analysis because you feel angry someone lucked out on you, you do so because you are cocky. It is not abnormal for a good player to get cocky and rest on his laurels, ignoring the way a game changes hour to hour, month to month, rarely taking the time to reflect on his slowly diminishing earn rate until it has significantly hurt his bankroll and ego. In other words, overconfidence is a big problem. The opposite would be a lack of confidence like in example 3. Tilt is just around the corner when the results of every hand are critiqued harshly in one's head. Negativity produces weak tight play and passive lines that oftentimes earn less than fearless aggressive play. While it's important to reflect, especially away from the table, about hands you have played, it's also important not to get so wrapped up in the moment that you are emotionally off balance for the rest of the session.

    I watch players all the time that are in a constant state of despair and dismay, or elation and jubilance, depending on how they are running at that very moment. Even some otherwise decent players I have played with fall into this trap of letting the results of hands alter their moods far too much in each session. And once the mood shifts far enough, the play is very likely to follow. Many players brag that they don't tilt, and their play doesn't change even if they do seem angry or irritated, but I have rarely  seen that. Playing Limit Hold 'Em is an emotional balancing act. Because the game is that perfect mix of luck and skill, all players great or horrid, are to some extent victim of the fluctuations in emotion the game can cause. Practicing emotional distance from the cards and how they treat you each session is a huge part of lessening tilty play. For example a constructive way to think about the hand above might be as follows:

    Okay so first I need to take note that this guy is going to play every hand in this sb and call a raise as well. So I can punish him with a lot of hands that would have a nice edge against his loose range preflop. It's not surprising he went to shodown he did have top pair and picked up a draw on the turn. So his play of the hand is reasonable. The question really is could I have saved a bet somewhere or played my hand in a way that was smarter? When he checkraises me on that flop it could be something like a 5, but I doubt it's a bluff or anything worse than a 5. It's most likely to be a J, I think with just a 5 or 3 he would be more cautious and feel more comfortable just checking and calling to see how I react to that. So I really think I should have taken more time to think about his hand on the flop. The pot is so small I could actually just give him credit for the J and fold the flop. After all if he has a J I'm drawing almost dead. Another option is I could call the flop and see what he does on turn. But that doesn't really solve my problem, I think he could safely bet a hand like 85 without much fear if a safe card like that 2 peels off and I would fold the best hand because of a lack of information. Calling the turn and folding the river if he fires again is a valid play because many mediocre mid-limit players (always assume your opponent plays pretty bad unless you have significant evidence to the contrary) freeze up by the river even with hands as strong as top pair. Reraising the flop and deciding those are the last chips I put in the pot barring improvement also has merit. (The concept of "these are the last chips I put in the pot" in a spot like this is a strong one; it shows willingness to think ahead and plan a way to get to showdown, or release your hand if your opponent shows continued aggression) Ultimately, I feel like next time I am in this sort of way-ahead, way-behind spot against a player who is most likely straight forward and predictable in a small pot I need to be more willing to give him credit for the hand he's representing and release my hand.

    Objectively factoring in all the information and problem solving step by step in one's head is the way to think about a hand while at the table and resolve any emotional conflict before it gets stirred up. If you don't have time to do that sort of analysis in the middle of a busy card room, with a drunk on your right raising every hand and a talkative dealer yapping up a storm on your left, perhaps say something as simple as this to yourself: "That hand really bothers me, I think I may have misplayed it. I want to remember that board and that situation and think about it later." Going so far as taking a small note on a piece of paper is a fine idea too. No one needs to know what you are doing, and even if they do who really cares? Perhaps they will fear you more because they will decide you are more studious about the game than they could ever imagine being. Cultivating more fear in your opponents could only be a good thing if you temper it with aggressive play that includes enough bluffing.

    How do you think about the game? Are you generally in a state of euphoria or desperation, emotional extremes that reflect the rollercoaster of swings that LHE can induce? Or are you too cocky to care, laughing to yourself about all the fools you are playing with, and feeling fine about every beat you take, convinced you played every hand just fine, without actually taking the time to really reflect on each hand? Neither will suffice. Practice calmly and rationally figuring out if there was perhaps a better way to approach a hand you lost (or won!). Occasionally you will simply be cold decked: dealt a hand you could only lose many bets with, and were right to have done so. But even more often, you will have missed a laydown, or a raise, or a strategic check or bet,  that could have saved you some bets in a place where your opponents would have made a worse choice. Cool headed reflection, both on the spot and afterwards, is a hallmark of an excellent poker player.