Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Paying Attention
Late in a tournament it is very important to pay attention to what is going on around the table. How many chips other players have is right up there as one of the most important. Here is an example from last nights game. We are down to the final 2 tables just one or two from final. I am in mid position with Q-J and one person has already called. I look around the table at chip stacks and realize that big blind only has 2000 left after the 2000 blind. I fold. Player to my right thinks a little and calls. BB moves all in for 2000 more. First player calls and player to my right thinks a while and folds complaining as he does. BB blinds catches a pair with a bigger kicker and wins pot. Guy to my right tells everyone he would have flopped a set and turns over his two deuces that he folded. I ask him why he had folded. His answer was he didn't realize that BB had only 2000 more or he would have folded. Now I can see folding 2-2 preflop late in a tournament to a raise or even if you think someone is going to move all in and you are worried about a bigger pair. But when you have committed 2000 to a pot and the raise is only 2000 more how do you fold! There is already 7000 in the pot when it gets to you so your pot odds are enough to call anyway. Not only does his fold keep the BB in the tournament and allows that player to make it to the points, but after he caught his set he could have moved all in and the other player most likely would have called and be taken out. That player ends up winning the tournament. That one fold changed the whole tournament dramatically. So if you are going to limp into a pot late in a tournament you must keep track of others stack and say to your self am I willing to call if it is raised. If you are not then just fold. You will soon be blinded out!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
New Player Styles
After last nights bar game at McCann's, I have come up with two more players styles. The only problem is I am not sure how a person can deal with them.
The know it all.
This is a player that must comment on every hand. He had to call he had pot odds. He may even tell you the odds. If you try and tell this person they are wrong they will argue with you until you give up because you don't want to hear about it anymore. He has an opinion on every subject and is never wrong or someone else opposing opinion is never allowed.
The I love to hear myself speak guy.
This guy never shuts up. From the minute he arrives to after he is out of the tournament. He will talk constantly. He will talk about the hand during the hand and then even more after the hand is finished. If he sucks out, he will have to explain why he called. If he losses a hand, he will have to explain why he was in. If he wins a hand he will have to tell you he knew he had the best hand.
Now image those two player styles and they are the same player. I am on tilt just thinking about it. The guy that knows it all and never shuts up! It's no wonder they play bar poker. Either their significant other sends them to play to have some peace and quite or there is no one because no one can put up with it.
How do you deal with these types of players at a poker table. Your options are few. Ask the tournament director to move. I would laugh at you and say suffer. Try and take the player out. That may create even more discussion. I think you only have three options.
1. Bring ear plugs!
2. If you have music such as an Ipod or MP3 player, turn it way up!
3. Give all your chips away and go home!
I suppose there is a 4th option. Tell the player to shut up!
Let me know how you would deal with these player styles. I would love to hear your ideas or stories.
The know it all.
This is a player that must comment on every hand. He had to call he had pot odds. He may even tell you the odds. If you try and tell this person they are wrong they will argue with you until you give up because you don't want to hear about it anymore. He has an opinion on every subject and is never wrong or someone else opposing opinion is never allowed.
The I love to hear myself speak guy.
This guy never shuts up. From the minute he arrives to after he is out of the tournament. He will talk constantly. He will talk about the hand during the hand and then even more after the hand is finished. If he sucks out, he will have to explain why he called. If he losses a hand, he will have to explain why he was in. If he wins a hand he will have to tell you he knew he had the best hand.
Now image those two player styles and they are the same player. I am on tilt just thinking about it. The guy that knows it all and never shuts up! It's no wonder they play bar poker. Either their significant other sends them to play to have some peace and quite or there is no one because no one can put up with it.
How do you deal with these types of players at a poker table. Your options are few. Ask the tournament director to move. I would laugh at you and say suffer. Try and take the player out. That may create even more discussion. I think you only have three options.
1. Bring ear plugs!
2. If you have music such as an Ipod or MP3 player, turn it way up!
3. Give all your chips away and go home!
I suppose there is a 4th option. Tell the player to shut up!
Let me know how you would deal with these player styles. I would love to hear your ideas or stories.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Phil Hellmuth Effect
One thing about being a bar poker tournament director it gets you a small feel of what it would be like to be a professional poker player. If you watch enough TV poker, especially events with a lot of amateurs like the World Series of Poker, you will notice that when amateurs get on tables with big name players such as Phil Hellmuth that they will play more hands against that player. It may be for TV time or it may be that they just want to say I knocked them out. What it does is create action for the pros to win more chips, but at the same time creates more opportunities for them to be sucked out on. As a tournament director, I run into this all the time. Players that want to "out play" the director. Now I am not saying that I am a big time player just that I understand what they must go through.
One player in particular has decided that it is his mission at the bar poker games to take me out. In the last two weeks he has been on my table to start a tournament the last 3 times I have played. It is an interesting phenomenon especially when the player tells you he is staying in hands because you are in them. It requires you to make some adjustments to your game and accept the fact that it means that at some point they will suck out on you. At the same time it also means that there are going to be more chips in pots that you play and more for you to win. That's not a bad thing.
How to deal with it. You must make small adjustments to your game. It means that small raises will almost always be called by this player. This will create higher pot odds that other players left to act will play less premium hands. I have found that tight aggresive play works best for these situations, but at the same time when I do raise I make the bet much higher then I would in a normal hand. You must stick to better starting hands and try and take the pots down right after the flop. You also must be willing to throw those same hands away when it becomes clear that you don't have the best hand anymore. Here is an examples of what I have run into lately.
Blinds are 300-600 and I have about 7000 in chips. Not a big stack but not a small stack either. A player that just lost a big pot is down to 2200 and will probably push all in next hand because he is on tilt from last hand. Sure enough he moves all in. It's folded to me and I still have guy that wants to take me out behind me with a big stack. I have A-J and am certain that I am way ahead of all in. My first thought is I should push all in to try and get heads up with all in, but I know that player behind me will call, so I just call. Of course, player behind me calls, I ma in the pot. LOL! Flop is A-2-2 with two hearts. I instantly move all in to try and get the other player out. I can tell that he wants to call. I tell him unless he has a 2 he is way behind. He calls and turns up A-4 no hearts. Turn is a 3 and river is, yes you can feel it coming, a 5. He goes runner runner to take me out. He then c goes into the long and very loud talk about taking Dave out again. I just tell him to keep making the bad calls and I will take the odds on him hitting his 2-4 outer every time. He ends up getting second in the tournament, so unlike the pros who can just get up and leave I have to hear all about being taken out for the next hour and a half until the tournament is finished.
So, I do understand the out bursts that the pros make when they are sucked out on. At least I don't have to pay $10,000 to see and learn to deal with the same issues. The only problem is I am being paid to run the tournaments, so I don't get to go off on the "idiot European players". Thanks Phil for making TV poker more interesting and teaching me to deal with my limited celebrity status.
One player in particular has decided that it is his mission at the bar poker games to take me out. In the last two weeks he has been on my table to start a tournament the last 3 times I have played. It is an interesting phenomenon especially when the player tells you he is staying in hands because you are in them. It requires you to make some adjustments to your game and accept the fact that it means that at some point they will suck out on you. At the same time it also means that there are going to be more chips in pots that you play and more for you to win. That's not a bad thing.
How to deal with it. You must make small adjustments to your game. It means that small raises will almost always be called by this player. This will create higher pot odds that other players left to act will play less premium hands. I have found that tight aggresive play works best for these situations, but at the same time when I do raise I make the bet much higher then I would in a normal hand. You must stick to better starting hands and try and take the pots down right after the flop. You also must be willing to throw those same hands away when it becomes clear that you don't have the best hand anymore. Here is an examples of what I have run into lately.
Blinds are 300-600 and I have about 7000 in chips. Not a big stack but not a small stack either. A player that just lost a big pot is down to 2200 and will probably push all in next hand because he is on tilt from last hand. Sure enough he moves all in. It's folded to me and I still have guy that wants to take me out behind me with a big stack. I have A-J and am certain that I am way ahead of all in. My first thought is I should push all in to try and get heads up with all in, but I know that player behind me will call, so I just call. Of course, player behind me calls, I ma in the pot. LOL! Flop is A-2-2 with two hearts. I instantly move all in to try and get the other player out. I can tell that he wants to call. I tell him unless he has a 2 he is way behind. He calls and turns up A-4 no hearts. Turn is a 3 and river is, yes you can feel it coming, a 5. He goes runner runner to take me out. He then c goes into the long and very loud talk about taking Dave out again. I just tell him to keep making the bad calls and I will take the odds on him hitting his 2-4 outer every time. He ends up getting second in the tournament, so unlike the pros who can just get up and leave I have to hear all about being taken out for the next hour and a half until the tournament is finished.
So, I do understand the out bursts that the pros make when they are sucked out on. At least I don't have to pay $10,000 to see and learn to deal with the same issues. The only problem is I am being paid to run the tournaments, so I don't get to go off on the "idiot European players". Thanks Phil for making TV poker more interesting and teaching me to deal with my limited celebrity status.
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