'Trying to Lose Can Help You Win'

Mike Eikenberry

The great baseball Hall of Fame catcher, Yogi Berra, was known for his "Yogiisms" - humorous sayings that were often confusing, at time seemingly contradictory, but had more truth in them than it first appeared. "It ain't over 'til it's over" and "90% of the game is 50% mental" are just two of the better known Yogiisms. A lesser known one, "Trying to Lose Can Help You Win," recently became very meaningful to me after playing in a $50 buy-in standard one table No-Limit Hold'Em tournament online at Party Poker. The payoffs were $250 for first and $150 for second.

After an hour of intense competition, the starting field of ten had been reduced to a strong-playing woman and me. She had me outchipped $7,120 to $2,880, but I had a much bigger problem. I thought I was playing in a different type of tournament (a special Party "Step" promotion) where the last two players remaining in the ten-player starting field would advance equally, no matter who won.

However, the final two players in the "Step" had to play until one of them had all the chips. This usually was quickly accomplished by both players going all in on each hand. My opponent and I had different goals - mine was a quick exit, since I had far fewer chips than she did, it would be quicker if I lost; hers was to win the extra $100 for first place. I had been all in only twice up to this point (both times I showed the nuts) and she was expecting a tight, tough match.

In the first eight hands, my opponent laid down her small blind twice. In the other six hands, I went all in before the flop and she eventually folded each time. What was going on? I was trying to lose and move on. Instead, I had won every hand and now had the chip lead. Amazingly, we had not seen one flop.

In the next hand I just checked so she could see a flop. I was going to bet all in on any two cards and hope that she would call. The winner would have all or most of the chips. We both called and saw a flop of 8 J A, all hearts. I went all in with my diamond 4 and spade 6. She thought for quite a while, then folded.

We went on a five-minute break. I can only guess what she was thinking. Had I gone all in crazy? Was I on a heater and getting all the good hands (in fact, I had not had a pair, two face cards at one time, or an ace at any time). Was she even playing the same player? On my side, I was tired of her stalling. However, if she wanted to play around, I would just not bet at all.

After the break, I did not bet for three hands. She folded once and checked right along with me on the other two, all the way to the end where I won both showdowns with ugly hands. My frustration level was building rapidly. Maybe if she won a hand things would change. I folded my next hand before she could act- she had won her first hand. She still folded the next hand on her small blind. That was it! I was going back to the all-in-every-hand approach. I went all in the next hand with king/jack; she made her first call with ace/ten. A king hit the flop and river and it was over - she was gone in an instant.

I went looking for my special "Step" promotion credit an hour later and, to my great surprise, had won $250 instead. I was trying to lose - how could I have overcome a 3-1 chip lead, won 13 of 14 hands, and the tournament? It was at that moment I remembered the Yogiism "trying to lose can help you win." I had read them, studied them, and debated their meaning. Now I had lived one. My game would never be the same. Thanks, Yogi.

More in Strategy

Several issues ago I presented a hand analysis in which a young man held trip 10's with a board of 10-10-5-A (he held J-10). The opponents he was up against had started in the blind positions. He had over utilized a concept about blind hands being random and generally weaker than average despite that the flop and turn action was fairly strong with a check raise on the flop followed by a weak bet on the turn, a smooth call by the big blind, a raise by the young man, and a reraise all in by the player in the small blind. The big blind was just calling the whole time up to this point but then he moved all in after the first all in... read more