Lesson #4

As part of my new approach to poker - to break out of this tight/ABC line of thinking that has caused my game to go a bit stale over the summer months - I have promised to give my game a bit of a make-over during these next three months to give me the edge I think I am going to start to need. This is essential for when I start The Experiment in the new year. Part of this process, besides reading some terrific books on the game by Ed Miller - one of the great writers in poker literature as far as I am concerned  (along with John Vorhaus) - I have decided to reflect on some of the lessons that I have learned over this past year.

This lesson starts with a preamble involving a session I played recently at Aspers Casino in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford...

It's in the evening and I have just moved from a super-aggressive table full of LAGs to a table where I feel much more comfortable and where there is actually room for manoeuvre. I have been reading this e-book...

...by Zachary Elwood on the tube on the way there and I'm trying to put a few of his insights into practice. In a nutshell, the book is amazing for reading poor/bad poker players. It doesn't do much for sussing out the better players because, by definition, they don't give away obvious tells - but for reading the actions of the poorer players, this book - I believe - is probably the most useful in this field of study today.

Anyway, back to the game and I look down at my curse-hand - KK. I raise preflop and get a caller from the small-blind who has been playing very tight. The flop comes down with the inevitable ace and my opponent checks the hand while doing this thing with his eyes that Elwood advises is a show of weakness. (You'll have to get the book to find out what it is - I aint giving this information away for free.)

As such, I throw in a continuation bet of £20 - and get a call which kind of throws me and tells me (stupidly, as it turned out) that he may have had the ace. I (stupidly, as it turned out after reading Miller) decide to check the checked turn for the sake of pot-control. The river comes a blank and my opponent goes all-in!!

Now my read on the flop told me that my opponent showed weakness so what did I do?  Mucked my cards face up and said, "I can never win with these bloody things!" Whereupon my opponent flipped over his cards to show KJ - for the king high!! Lesson? Think a bit deeper about what your opponent is up to but more pertinently...

Lesson 4 - Pay Attention To Tells And Act On Them - Especially From The Weaker Players.

You might debate, in this instance, whether my opponent was that weak a player  - as he had the balls to push me off a better hand with an all-in bluff on the river (I think he may have been reading Ed Miller) - but that ends the lesson of the day. And the lesson for you, dear reader, if you are planning on playing live poker any day soon is to GET THIS BOOK. Hell, even buy a Kindle if you have to - in order to read it. It is well worth the money.