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 he Guardian Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Friday July 7, 2006
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How to play poker
(How to play has been running from issue 16) |
In their respected 1998 book Hold 'em Poker for Advanced
Players, David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth wrote: "In Hold'em, there will
sometimes be a 'maniac' at your table." Eight years later, on any given Texas
hold 'em table, there isn't "sometimes" a maniac. There is always a maniac. And
it isn't one maniac. It is usually about five maniacs. Everybody is making
oversized bets from the start, reraising with half-hands, and bluffing like
crazy.
Last week, I mentioned my new theory: that many modern players,
drawn to poker by its current high profile rather than a background of general
betting, have no other outlet for the gamble in their souls - thus, at the card
table, they enjoy the thrill of risk more than the challenge of surmounting
it. |
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In a cash game, this is great news for the
rest of us. You can sit down with as many chips as you like (be sure to have
more than the maniacs), and wait for as long as it takes to find a hand and hit
the flop. When that happens, your action-crazed opponents will hurry to pay you
off. If it doesn't happen all night, you've lost nothing more than a few blinds
and a couple of raises.
In a tournament, where time and chips are
limited, the maniac tendency is much more daunting and dangerous. A certain
lunatic disregard for consequences, and no fear, is actually very profitable -
if correctly managed. The biggest all-time money winners in no-limit hold 'em
competitions could reasonably stand under a sign which says, "You don't have to
mad to work here, but it helps."
If you don't have the mad streak, how
do you defend yourself in tournaments? You must be even more disciplined and
decisive. It's too easy to start calling raises with anything, just because
you're bored of passing while everyone else has fun. But what you can do is
upgrade hands such as 99 or AJ: when others are playing with rubbish, medium
hands become that much stronger.
When you find a strong starting hand,
reraise heavily to isolate one maniac, rather than dive into flop madness with
five of them. Conversely, with little pairs and suited connectors, limp in to
keep the pot small: if you can be sure of several runners, you're getting good
odds to hit hard and get paid. When you hit the flop, trap-check to use the
maniac's own strength against him. Be prepared to make big, difficult calls on
the river. Let them hang themselves. If you can't get mad, get even.
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