On advertising, and an appropriate budget for such things

written by: DJ Sensei DeucesCracked Coach
published 10 months ago

I generally hate advertising as a rule. It wastes my time, it is usually pretty annoying, and it is almost always aimed at people with a more primitive sense of humor than me. Now thats not to say I don’t love a good football-in-the-crotch scene now and again, but most ads come up woefully short when trying to woo my business with a joke. Also, the only redeeming purpose of advertising, that of spreading useful information about products or services to consumers, is so rarely effective for actually informing me about anything that is relevant to me that it just pisses me off more. And perhaps most offensively, the massive amounts of advertising we’re inundated with every day are an alarming manifestation of the corporate takeover of American culture. But thats enough frustrated ranting for now, lets talk about how to get those paper stacks!

Advertising’s effectiveness as a weapon against the unshielded mind is unquestionable, and poker is a particularly relevant example. When I start a new heads-up match (the ultimate game of psychological warfare!), I sometimes like to throw a few chips in the advertising budget early in a session. Usually my “ad budget” takes the form of a large multi-street bluff, where I show my cards if they fold and if they happen to call, well, they get to see them anyhow. I usually don’t just start spewing chips at the pot and hoping they eventually give up, but if I see a good situation for a big move that I think will work most of the time, I’ll be more likely to take that shot early in a session. When this one big bluff is mixed in with an arsenal of smaller stabs at the pot and other silly things like showing 62o when your opponent openfolds the SB, it can pretty quickly lead to a massive psychological advantage. Also, most weaker opponents will play their hands incredibly transparently when they think you’re a spewing maniac, so thinking carefully about the situation can lead to a lot of profitable situations.

Take, for example, a session I played earlier tonight. My opponent sat with $1000, and right from the get-go I began to openraise to a variety of strange sizes, between $20 and $50. It was not long before I found a spot for a multi-street bluff and followed through on the river. When he picked it off with a decent but not great hand, my ad budget had been deployed:

Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,015)
Seat 2: LASVEGASFUND ($975)
LASVEGASFUND posts the small blind of $5
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [9d 7s]
LASVEGASFUND raises to $34
DJ Sensei calls $24
*** FLOP *** [As 4h 4d]
DJ Sensei bets $45
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND raises to $100
DJ Sensei calls $55
*** TURN *** [As 4h 4d] [Kd]
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $175
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND has requested TIME
LASVEGASFUND calls $175
*** RIVER *** [As 4h 4d Kd] [8c]
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $375
LASVEGASFUND calls $375
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [9d 7s] a pair of Fours
LASVEGASFUND shows [5h Ac] two pair, Aces and Fours
LASVEGASFUND wins the pot ($1,367.50) with two pair, Aces and Fours

Now it was just a matter of keeping him at the table, and winning it all back, along with his starting buyin. After that hand I didn’t plan to run any more big bluffs on him, as they would have a pretty low chance of success, but I continued with a barrage of little stabs and showed him tons of weak hands, so as to maintain my bluffy maniac image until I was able to pick up a real hand and go for the jugular. I struck the first blow with a well-disguised hand and a nicely timed river checkraise:

Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,080)
Seat 2: LASVEGASFUND ($1,730.50)
LASVEGASFUND posts the small blind of $5
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [5h 7h]
LASVEGASFUND raises to $30
DJ Sensei calls $20
*** FLOP *** [6s Ts 8d]
DJ Sensei checks
LASVEGASFUND checks
*** TURN *** [6s Ts 8d] [5c]
DJ Sensei checks
LASVEGASFUND bets $40
DJ Sensei calls $40
*** RIVER *** [6s Ts 8d 5c] [5d]
DJ Sensei checks
LASVEGASFUND bets $100
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei raises to $444
LASVEGASFUND calls $344
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [5h 7h] three of a kind, Fives
LASVEGASFUND mucks [Kd Td]
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($1,027.50) with three of a kind, Fives

And after that it wasn’t long before I dropped the hammer on him (note the particularly small openraise!):

FullTiltPoker Game #5288218879: Table Anchor (heads up) - $5/$10 - No Limit Hold’em - 4:06:13 ET - 2008/02/17
Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,539.50)
Seat 2: LASVEGASFUND ($1,263.50)
DJ Sensei posts the small blind of $5
LASVEGASFUND posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Qc Qd]
DJ Sensei raises to $26
LASVEGASFUND calls $16
*** FLOP *** [7c 2c 5d]
LASVEGASFUND checks
DJ Sensei bets $44
LASVEGASFUND calls $44
*** TURN *** [7c 2c 5d] [2d]
LASVEGASFUND checks
DJ Sensei bets $121
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND has requested TIME
LASVEGASFUND calls $121
*** RIVER *** [7c 2c 5d 2d] [Js]
LASVEGASFUND checks
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $355
LASVEGASFUND has 15 seconds left to act
LASVEGASFUND raises to $788
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei has requested TIME
DJ Sensei raises to $1,221
LASVEGASFUND calls $284.50, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $148.50 returned to DJ Sensei
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [Qc Qd] two pair, Queens and Twos
LASVEGASFUND mucks [Ad 3d]
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($2,526.50) with two pair, Queens and Twos

Looks like my little advertising budget paid off! Of course it was contingent on him staying around after he won the first big pot, and me actually getting a hand to bust him with. It helps that usually if they win that first pot by picking off a big bluff of yours, they’re more likely to stick around since they think they can win more from a tilty spewer. If the first pot was a cooler or a suckout, they’re much more likely to hit and run, thus rendering your ad budget useless.

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