Poker Articles

I often take walks on the beach to clear my head and let my thoughts flow naturally. On a recent walk, I thought about an article by Tom Blake called “Voice of the Wave.” Blake writes about the various religious elements of surfing; how learning to flow with the waves instills a spiritual appreciation for the natural flow of all things.  As I watched the tide, it occurred to me poker players could benefit from the use of a “surf” mentality. As a culture, we have learned to get results “by any means necessary.” In becoming results oriented, we often lose sight of the surf culture credo: “don’t try to ride the wave, let it guide you.”

While at the table, altering your objective just slightly can make you more profitable with less risk. Instead of playing for a particular result, you might focus on wanting the best result possible at any given time. This subtle shift will force you to recognize each hand for its present value, not the predetermined value you try to force out of it.

As tournament players, we tend to massively undervalue the concepts of bet sizing and implied odds.  We can get away with mediocre understanding and execution, due to the nature of tournament structures and massive risk/reward ratios when we finish in the top three of a large field MTT.  As the blinds go up and average stacks get shorter, the risks we take by overplaying a hand are tempered with the increase in value we get from doubling up at key stages in a tournament.

Most tournament players are extremely tight in the first levels of play, so even very strong players may have little opportunity to improve on these skills. Learning to play profitably at these stages can give you a huge edge. In cash games, the risk/reward ratio is constant with the blind structure, making them a perfect place to practice. To be successful, you have to learn to flow with the hand and gently influence your opponent’s actions. Incorrect bet sizing and excessive aggression quickly become costly mistakes. To master the art of sizing you must understand your hand, your opponent, and the situation.

Most hands are either “polarized” or “smooth.” When someone’s range is “polarized” it means (with the assumption they are playing correctly) you have taken away the odds they would need to play all but the strongest hands. This theory is based on the odds of having the best hand on the flop, versus the pot and implied odds you have.  Polarized hands may not necessarily catch every flop, but when they do they are usually way ahead. These are typically pocket pairs and strong Broadway cards. Anytime you can isolate and build pots pre-flop with polarized hands, you should. By forcing your opponent to put more of his chips in pre-flop, you are doing what you can to commit your opponent to the pot, and get paid off on later streets.

A “smooth” (or non-polarized) hand is likely to hit many flops, but often it won’t be an exceptionally strong hand. These hands are things like suited connectors, and every once in a while they will flop a well-disguised monster. They don’t pay off as often, so you will need to be sure the odds you get are good. You want to encourage as many players as possible to see a flop because these hands are implied odds hands and you’ll need someone to pay you off when you hit them.

A common example I hear is “I don’t want to over play my AAxx hand pre flop, I mean it is Omaha and their only Aces, right?” This perfectly illustrates how the same cards can actually be several different hands. The hand is defined by your opponents, position, relative stack sizes, and ability to build a pot.

In No Limit Hold’em, I have the option of increasing my bet to fit my polarized hand, I can normally “price” my opponents in or out by betting action. Not only does this help define opponent’s range, but I can protect my hand from those pesky smooth hands. In Pot Limit Omaha, I am limited on how hard I can push a hand by my opponent’s willingness to build a pot.

In our Omaha example, with the worst paired ace I could think of against the strongest non-ace hand, you’re likely at least 55/45 to win. Pot/ implied odds both have an inverse relationship to winning percentage. So If I could get more than 45% of my stack in with my weak AAxx, then I have made a profitable play. I have successfully polarized my opponents range and even if I don’t hit the flop I am now comfortable continuation betting a larger percentage of the time as I am making a profit even when my opponent folds.

However, if I three-bet, and my opponent flat calls, I haven’t gotten enough of my stack in to get the correct odds to continuation bet. I must now play my hand as if it were “smooth.” If I hit the flop, I can continue to play as I would any other hand. When I miss completely, it is now often correct to fold to any bet from my opponent.

Consider the nature of your opponent when deciding whether or not to three- or four-bet. Will he cooperate and build a pot with you or are you better off calling and playing your hand’s “smooth” value?  If I don’t have the opportunity to bet strong pre-flop and polarize the hand, I have priced in a wider range of hands. Not only are my opponents going to be harder to read post-flop, but they can easily fold when they miss the flop a majority of the time.

By failing to consider the strength of my hand in this light, I make myself an easy target for those skilled enough to recognize my mistake. If I miss my set on the flop and lead out anyway I am likely to only get action from hands I am behind, my opponent has no reason to fight for such a small pot unless he believes his hand is ahead. A majority of the time I bet, and my opponent folds, leaving a small pot for me to rake. If he calls, I have built a pot where I am probably not favored.

By learning to identify the nature of hands, and playing the odds presented, we profit. When we go against those odds, we lose those profits. Each action affects the odds, and dictates the approach you can profitably take on each street. Isolate each decision and understand that while each play can be profitable they can’t all be optimal and of course sometimes folding is the best play.

I encourage you to learn to flow with your hands in every situation, to help you maximize your profit and minimize your losses.  Take a lesson from your local surf guru; learn to influence opponents and ride the natural flow of the game.