Poker Counseling: Oops, Too Late!

A friend of mine had his hopes dashed and heart crushed when he made a terrible call in a recent major tournament in Atlantic City. The Flop had brought him middle pair, so he bet out at it. His opponent took a fair amount of time before announcing an all-in reraise.

My buddy was initially shocked by his opposition's move, as the all-in put both of their tournament lives at risk. It was an over bet of the pot, and a very aggressive play considering the bubble was nearing very soon.

My friend was obviously befuddled. He apologized to his fellow players as he asked for extra time to weigh the critical decision. The raiser was at first very still, but then grew impatient as my buddy sapped more time away. "C'mon, c'mon, let's go," the opponent muttered aloud with a deep sigh of impatience.

My friend interpreted this sly comment as a tell of weakness (strong means weak), and he chose to make the call. My hapless friend was devastated to find that he was almost drawing dead, as the man across the table wore a wide grin as he displayed his top set.

Upon breaking down the play with my friend, I uncovered a huge error in his thought processing. I asked him all about the opponent in question. How had he been acting in the hours before his all-in push? Had he made any bluffs in the past few rounds? Was he a pro or amateur? Was his goal likely to be to win the whole tourney or to simply coast to the money? My buddy shrugged his shoulders with each of these inquiries. He had not really been watching and gathering information on this particular character.

My friend's mistake is a very common one. We tend to look for tells when we are in a pinch with a tough decision in front of us. This is way too late to begin this vital process. You see, we can never accurately judge a tell on a single moment alone. We need to evaluate the total player when making any decision. This process begins before we take the first deal.

I call it gathering a total baseline. We should be observing and probing our opponents at all times. Mentally log any information that you can gather. A father of three who qualified for the tournament online is likely to be very happy to play it safe and sneak into the money spots. A grizzled Las Vegas pro player probably has his sights set on the final table and will be making more bold moves as the bubble comes nearer. A guy who chit-chats with his tablemates all day but suddenly quiets up as he peeks at his hole cards is likely to hold a monster. Maybe you could notice a young player has sat in a similar pose all day long, but he shifted way back in his seat when faced with a pot sized raise.

Reading tells begins with the baseline. I compare it to doing your research/ homework. You should never be in the tough spot where you are making decision based on a brief momentary tell. A tell is nothing more than another small piece of information that we can use to compare against our baseline information on that particular opponent. Your mind must be totally engaged in the psychology of poker as much as the cards.

Observe everyone at the table intently. Watch them when they least suspect that eyes are upon them, such as when they have already folded their hand. Watch their demeanor, their mannerisms, their focus, and their betting patterns. Ask them questions in "friendly" conversation about their family, their home town, their occupation, etc. All the while you are gathering the vital pieces of the total puzzle that you'll need to rely upon when the pressure is on!