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he Guardian Poker Column |
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Victoria
Coren |
Wed 1 Sep 2010 |
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Don't forget, poker is a head
game
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You have to
think it through or you're in trouble
We all know poker is a psychological game. You
must be alert to your opponents' fear, confidence, aggression, hope, tiredness,
hunger; all affect the bets they might make. Internet poker is more purely
mathematical but there are still emotional factors around players that
have just won or lost big pots, especially on the bubble of large tournaments.
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Here is an example of a situation where my
psychology was off, in the UKIPT Edinburgh. I was chip leader on the table and
was playing (and winning) most pots. In this hand, I called an early position
raise with a pair of fives; the button and big blind called behind.
The
flop came 2 5 6. A set! The big blind checked and the original raiser bet 1000.
I called, hoping the button might try a "squeeze play" or that the original
raiser would keep betting. But the button folded and it was the big blind who
check-raised up to 4000.
The original raiser folded and I set the big
blind in for a total of about 15,000. He called immediately with 34 (a
straight) and his hand stood up.
I had played the hand as though it
were day two of a far more expensive tournament, full of 24/7 poker nuts
getting flairy with 99 or 33. That's what I'm used to. But this was a
£500 event for newer players, who are just not going to risk getting
knocked out at the start by making big check-raises from early position without
the nuts.
I'm not beating myself up; it's almost impossible to pass a
set on the flop and the chips might always have gone in. But they went in the
wrong way, for the wrong reasons, because I bet lazily with insufficient
thought to the mood of the table.
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