I feel like I am constantly running into players who think they are better than they really are. Often, I am trapped into listening to their grumbling about why they can’t beat the bad players or, more accurately, amateur players with less knowledge of the game.

Knowing a lot of poker terminology and reading a few books gives you a framework, but doesn’t make you a good player by a long shot. What it often does is give a player just enough knowledge to think they have it figured out and are just getting unlucky when in reality what they are doing is misapplying what they know and focusing on how the bad players keep beating them.

This fixation with losing to bad players is something I focus on a lot and think is a key element to why so many “thinking players” who “study the game” spend so much time frustrated and complaining instead of getting better.

I was talking to someone about this the other way, as I tend to do in fairly broad theoretical terms because I believe whole heartedly that poker is mostly about general theory and much less about memorizing that in X spot you do Y. This person put me to the test, though, and asked for at least some sort of example, not down to a hand per se, but at least to a specific action.

I thought about it for a minute or two and came back with getting value out of their good hands. Amateurs tend to play pretty straightforward. When they have a good hand, they bet, and often the better the hand, the bigger the bet. In the long-run against truly good players, this strategy won’t last, but it got me thinking about the other side of the coin. The thinking player outthinks himself and ends up not getting any value out of his hands. Instead, he pays off the guy who, in his mind, has no idea how to play.

“Why would he bet 1.5 times the pot if he has it? I’m going to call with middle pair here.” The cards are turned up and the next thing you, here is an explosion of “How could you be in there with that to hit a set on the river? I run so badly! I can’t even beat the idiots who overbet the pot huge on the river.”

Well, the guy who overbet got you to pay off four to five times as much as he would have if the situations were reversed, if he called at all. If the thinking player, as we are calling him, made a big hand, he might bet one-third of the pot, afraid to bet more because he might not get called.

And this is where many players make another mistake against amateurs. On one side, it is a mistake to outthink what they are doing and make bad plays as a result. On the other, it is a mistake not to get value out of your hands.

Often, they are either calling or not and the size of your bet is almost irrelevant. If that is the case, then you have to get as much value as possible out of your big hands and also identify the players who are susceptible to both paying off big and being manipulated with smaller bets to get them to fold when that is your objective.

In my chat, I used an example of someone we both played with. “If Joe has A-Q and there is an ace on the board, do you think he is going to fold if you bet pot instead of half-pot?” The reply was that Joe is always calling with top pair no matter the size of the bet.

“Okay then, is he calling with T-9 on an A-K-9 flop if you bet $50 into a $150 pot?” The reply was no; with that hand on that board, he folds to almost any bet. At this point, my concept was becoming pretty clear.

We went a little deeper into disguising yourself a little bit, but also realizing that there are some players and some situations that require a very simple strategy. Get value out of your hands by betting for a decent amount. If they are calling, they are likely calling a big bet just as often as a small one.

Poker is an extremely complex game and a target that is always moving. Is your opponent really the novice you think he is? How does he play draws? Is he about to leave the game? Is he winning or losing? If you put him all-in and he busts, is he going to buy back in or is protecting some chips important so he can stay in the game?

Those are all things that go into assessing a player along with many, many more. But don’t outthink yourself and don’t assume other players are viewing the game the same way you are. Look through their eyes and exploit their weaknesses instead of letting them twist you up to a point where what should be a leak in their game can actually become a strength against players who react incorrectly.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities for poker media businesses. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.

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