NL HE

The Pre-Flop Push: A Defense, Part 2

See Part 1

So, in my prior post on this subject I promised a discussion about using this strategy when you’re an underdog to your opponents. What I mean here is that there are situations where you recognize right away that you are playing against people whose skills are superior to your own.

What? You’ve never been that situation? You’re always the best player at the table? Every time? Really?

Oh. Guess it’s just me then. Anyway…

Most poker players I know refuse to admit they are in a game where they aren’t the best person at the table. It’s an ego thing, and it can be deadly for your bankroll. We never want to believe we’re the fish in the game, but the fact is all “fishiness” is relative. Sometimes, you’re the shark; other times you’re the guppy. Just depends on who you’re up against.

You can control your game selection in live games because you actually have to go someplace, usually with people you know, sometimes with some intelligence about the skill level of your opponents. But online, especially in the tournament and SNG world, you’re flying blind.

Is donkalicious99 a high-buy-in, solid player on a bad run and stepping down to $10 SNGs? Is HotMary69 a newbie?

There are some tools out there that can give you a little insight into your opponents - Sharkscope, PokerDB, etc -but they’re limited because they can’t track players using different screen names on different sites. They also typically cost a few bucks to subscribe to, so you’re limited in how many searches you can do.

So, long story short, you get in a game and find 2 players are listed in Sharkscope as “Sharks”, and 420Bong420 sitting on your left is chatting away but hasn’t played a hand since Jesus Christ was pitching pennies against the temple wall.

Hmmm.

As you suspected, you survive the $10 SNG down to the bubble in, oh, 30 minutes, because the rest of the field is that bad. Now, it’s you and 3 solid folks, and you’ve seen a couple of advanced moves from each already. You know you’re the fish among those who are left.

How does that feel? (I don’t know, I’m never the fish… )

I keed, I keed.

You’re intimidated. You’ve already put up the buy-in, so it’s not like you can cash out and leave. You know you’ll be outplayed in the long run.

And therein lies the answer: Don’t let there be a long run.

Reduce the number of decisions to be made. Force the other players to make big decisions as early as possible with the BARE MINIMUM of information.

DO NOT PLAY THEIR GAME!

This is NO-LIMIT poker - don’t fall into their traps of “oh, let’s just see a flop,” and “why so big a raise so early?” You MUST set the tone and control the table. You don’t want to be mindless about it - if you’re a middle-stack and there’s a short-stack you want to be very selective about the hands you play. But, you can’t give up either, or you’ll be broomcorned out of the game. Every other player needs to be aware that if you’re in a pot, you’re playing for all of your chips, and all, or most, of theirs. This will make THEM be more selective about getting into pots with you. Change gears, be unpredictable, and watch who seems to be content to fold into the money and push on that person with any reasonable hand.

Solid players understand the Gap Concept very well. This is what you’re exploiting. The hand they’ll call off all of their chips with is going to be a lot better than the hand they’ll bet all of their chips on, and those hands don’t come around often enough. When this is the only decision they get to make in the hand, you’re playing the game that gives YOU the best opportunity to beat the better player.

 Comments or discussion? Shoot them to me at Big Slick Nuts Poker Blog.