During the course of a hand, any player who needs a few extra moments to think about what to do when the action is on him can request "time." It can be anything from a few moments to a minute or two, as he tries to decide what to do next. But occasionally this poker time-out takes longer-a lot longer. This is known as going into the tank. And it's not uncommon to see this happen over and over again, particularly in tournaments.
Most of the time it simply means that the tanking player is faced with a particularly nettlesome decision. He'll often use that extra time to mentally review the play of the hand from the beginning. Or he can study his opponent carefully for possible tells. He might simply be agonizing over the decision, or second-guessing himself and wondering if he should trust his gut feelings. Or perhaps all of the above.
If you're in a hand and an opponent tanks, the mere fact that he has done so can tell you a lot about his cards. By all appearances, he's unsure what to do next. So you can pretty much discount the idea that he holds very strong or very weak cards. Odds are that he has some kind of medium-strength hand-the kind that forces a tough, borderline decision. This is especially true if he is tanking when faced with calling a large bet or raise. And the longer he takes to anguish over his decision, the more likely it becomes that his hand is weak. More often than not, the player in the tank will end up mucking.
But for a few crafty tournament players, going into the tank can be a ploy-done purely for show. Perhaps Mr. Pushy is bluffing with garbage cards and then Mr. Scrappy, who has a real hand, comes over the top of him. Mr. Pushy knows perfectly well that he is going to fold when the action gets back to him-but he goes into the tank anyway, to make a big spectacle of how he needs to agonize over this decision. This is done for one reason, to send Mr. Scrappy a clear message: If you raise me, I'm not going to snap-fold and make it easy for you. I may call or raise you back. He's using that extra time just to send out false signals about the strength of his hand, to hopefully disguise the fact that he was bluffing.
No-limit hold 'em dominates the tournament scene nowadays, and this is a game where the ability to get inside your opponents' heads is of supreme importance. For some players, any technically legal tactic is fair game if it means being able to mess with an opponent's mind. This includes exploiting the rule that allows players to call for extra time. Taken to an extreme, some players will go deep into the tank again and again-for no other reason than to frustrate and tilt their opponents.
When this happens repeatedly-or if a player remains submerged for such a ridiculously long time that he needs an oxygen mask and fins-the only official recourse is to call the clock on that player. This will force the tanked-up player to act on his hand within a reasonable amount of time or his cards will be declared dead. By definition, any time a player goes into the tank he is holding up the game, forcing everybody else at the table to wait for him. Doing this for the sheer purpose of upsetting other players and throwing off their games usually ends up causing more trouble than it's worth. But if you're faced with a genuinely difficult decision, don't hesitate to call time and plunge into the tank until you have a reasonable idea of what action to take on your hand.
Barbara Connors is a sucker for classic old movies, science fiction, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Her life's ambition is to figure out the unusual behavior patterns of that unique breed of humans who call themselves poker players. Contact her at fyreflye222@yahoo.com.
