Quote:
Originally Posted by DougL
at some point you'll beg people to play short.
This. I remember offering to straddle my button every chance I got in order to try to keep a 3 handed game going when the 5th and 4th players left. It half worked.
My favorite hand reading advice comes from "Theory of Poker," which says to "listen to the bets." Poker is a form of communication. Every action says something. In the pile of "Bob's lost 2+2 musings" there is a post that looks something like this from the poker theory forum:
Thread title was something like "Improving Hand Reading Abilities," to which I replied:
I like to assign voices to my opponents as they take actions in a hand. Loose passives sound like Lenny from "Of Mice and Men." Tight passives sound like Martin Lawrence when he imitates white guys. Lags sound like the Cookie Monster. Tags sound like Mr. T. When a lag looses a pot they say, "Aaahhh!! No cooookie!!!" When a tag pulls in a pot it's always, "I pity the fool!!"
Sorry couldn't help myself. Now I feel like I owe something more for being silly.
If I see someone who I would classify as a "young hot shot type," I immediately focus my attention on them because they'll be pushing the action. Whether they're an ex internet pro, which is unlikely, or a really bad lag, which is more likely, is to be determined by the usual process. If you've never seen a lag on a preflop heater, then you're missing out imo. When a lag gets a good run of preflop cards, the table often goes on tilt. Suddenly formerly tight players are calling two and three bets preflop with QJo and the like. The Loose passives just do what they always do, which is call a lot. The tags might prematurely open up their isolation ranges, and they often do it incorrectly imo.
Once this dynamic is created at a table, it can end in a number of ways. The most common being that the lag goes broke and leaves. If he has deep pockets though, then it's either time to find a softer game where 7 players are playing for one bet preflop, or fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.