The Many Faces of …

If you google that term, you’ll it is a popular headline across the broadest of spectrum. Throw in an avatar here and there and your pet pseudonym at the tables and we even more varied. But, sitting at the tables we run into the same ol’ cast of characters.

I just left such a table. BTW, a winner for the fifth in a row. Only one nice win in the lot but its again moving in the right direction. All the gang though seemed present. Even when I’d not seen that particular player before his clone had been keeping the seat warm for him.

A regular at the tables is the guy who never passes betting the scare card. He’s never seen an ace he did have the pair to in the pockets it seems. Typically, he bets it at the other three to five players in the hand and they all call. Why? Could it be he’s doing it for the fifth time in a row?

He’s either the same guy or his twin that has to bet that 358 rainbow board that’s in front of him. Hands that get checked for a couple of streets seem ripe for his steal. Makes a lot of sense to try to steal a dollar or so pot with a fifty-cent or a dollar bet. A cheap pot will usually have a tight guy with a premium pair willing to run it out.

Then there is the suicide bluffer. He gets this wild hair and raises the guy that completes because he has paint up. He bets every street and then shows that ace high hand. Hell, occasionally he even wins when he runs into somebody as pig headed as he is. The point is the win or loss but that your betting exposes the hand for all to see. You only option from there on out is to bring the good when you bet. And, that isn’t part of their makeup. They blithely bet those 6’s up the next time out.

There’s the new guy that hasn’t learned to value his hands. From a ratty two pair to a nice flush, he’ll ignore the other boards. It is especially dumb when the pot is still multi-way. Not only will they happily cap against a paired player but they’ll do it on the next street. Other people make hands too.

Live and dead mean nothing to many. You see three queens at the door and will often see two of those people participate. If there is one thing to understand at stud, it is having live cards. Some people just can’t lay down what would be a decent hand when all their card have a partner in the door. You’re really make it hard on yourself and giving a tell when you steadily play such obvious situations consistently.

The pot head is often all of the above. What he adds is a total disregard for the risk-reward. He sees no difference in dollar pot or a ten-dollar one. He’s got a three-straight and a brick and ignores he’s an 8:1 dog. He’s the most wonderful opponent – the calling station.

Now the fact is at times I’ve been all of the above. We’ll all suspend belief at times against certain opponents. If there is something … hopefully … that separates me from the pack it is the variety in the game I bring on my better days. One of my earliest articles talked about gear changes. Probably still a worthwhile read for newer players. Cliff notes version is that the worst of all failings is predictability. Sometimes you just have to fire for effect.

The shocking thing that’s come across in moving from .25-.50 through 2-4 is seeing some of the same lame players at all levels playing the exact same game they’re underwater with at lesser levels. You may snow a few folks at lesser levels. What it gets you at the smarter tables is a set of cross hairs aim at the middle of your avatar’s forehead. You need to think harder and longer. You can try the ‘advanced move’ a bit more but you need variety to pull it off. If you remain a guy people are willing to gamble against more than others, you’ve a steep grade ahead.

ADDENDUM:

One very interesting feature at PokerStars that isn’t there at FullTilt is they don’t shuffle the down cards. The last one is shown as the last one. You see the suckout in Technicolor. There’s no ifs or maybes in the evaluation process. That is both blessing and curse at times as you see the suckout confirmed when you’ve run into a rough patch like I did of late.

I would also say you need a different game at those two sites. Fulltilt players do chase more. That has a big impact where you often see players that start finish or fold only on seventh street. Medium hands like aces up or the modest sets have greater value on Stars. You can push it harder with decent results there. On the other hand, if they do hold up, you can make as nice a pot with the hand at Tilt because of the participation. But, it remains a bit of a dog when there’s still that many players when sixth street arrives.

Bodog, BTW, is a bit better in players than it used to be. Although, I’d still say it is the easiest play. The number of pure calling stations there was amazing a while back. You could really get paid off there. Not quite as good of late. But, its still a juicy place to play.

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It is politic in the current primary catfighting to only discuss our exit strategy and keep that timeframe short. We have invested four-thousand dead and an obscene amount of money. It hasn’t really given us a lot. But, the recent move by the Shiite government against Sadr is a watershed. That has still to play out but for the moment I at least want to see it as a major positive.

Law has moved to a more western view. We keep doing some things right for the benefit of the Iraqi people. Check out this first of a three parter on something new to the middle east – the rule of law. Listen here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 5:08 pm and is filed under Poker Thoughts. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.