Pros Versus Wannabes: Part II

This is the second part of a two part article about distinguishing the differences between the successful pro poker player and the unsuccessful aspiring one. Last issue I listed some of the attributes that often help a player but are not really big differences between pros and most serious amateurs. Discipline, bankroll management, game selection, knowing odds, etc. are too easy for most to learn and are thus skills often found in players who still don’t significantly beat bigger games. Also lack of these attributes are often used as an excuse by losing players who would still not win if they acquired them.

So what things really do separate the men from the boys? (Remember that we are not discussing pros who mainly play very high, short handed, no limit or pot limit, or tournaments. Also hi-lo split games require a few special, not mentioned skills.)

I have identified twenty things that these $70,000 a year-or so, $30-$60 or so public ring game players understand and do well. Things that are often misunderstood or mishandled by merely good players. (Unfortunately space does not allow me to elaborate much on the items in this list. Perhaps I will, on some items, in the future, depending on reader feedback.)

1. Reading hands. Doing this well is even more important in big bet, short handed, or super tough games. And there are some who overate the importance of this skill in limit ring games. But even in those games it is still very important and weakness in this area is often the reason for the downfall of “bookish” types. There are four main ways to read hands:

A. Psychology. (No way he would have the guts to bet in this spot.”)
B. Tells. (“He always scratches his nose when he is weak.”) Last issue I warned that generic tells, typically learned from a book, are too unreliable in most bigger games. Picking up an individual tell on an individual player is a different story however.
C. Deduction. (“He raised the guy on his right on the multiway flop. So it’s highly unlikely the river flush card hit him.”)
D. Math. (His raise means aces, kings, or queens. With a queen on board it is 12-to-3 against him having a set.”)

Though multiway pots reduce the value of the first two categories, they increase the importance of the last two.

2. Reading thoughts. (Again less important in limit ring games.) Reading hands helps you put people on a hand. Figuring out what they are putting you on (or someone else in the pot) in conjunction with how they are playing is an important part of your reading hand skills.

3. Tempering reading with probability. Even if you are using judgement rather than math to read hands, you should assign probabilities to your opponent’s likely holding. Pros do this if only instinctively. Putting your opponent on a hand early and sticking to it, come hell or highwater, is a sure road to bankruptcy.

4. Understanding multiway “forehead” type problems. These are a class of logic problems, often involving painted foreheads, that can only be solved if you assume that everybody can think straight. Similar situations occur all the time in moderately tough, moderately big ring games.
If open aces bets the river in stud, get called by open kings followed by open queens, your three tens are no good. Most situations of this nature are not so clear cut but the principle is the same. Painted forehead logic is extremely important in the games most workaday pros play.

5. Knowing when to save a last round bet. Theoretically it can be disastrous to throw decent hands away for one last bet. Your pot odds are too high. Ands even if you get away with it, it will alert others to play trickier against you in the future. That being said, the fact is that the pros recognize lots of opportunities to save these bets which adds up to lots of eventual extra profit. The three tens of the previous example is a clear case. Almost as clear, are many other multiway situations where you are required to overcall. In heads up pots, however, throwing a decent hand away on the end is almost always a debatable play. Those who do that well are probably playing $100-$200 or higher.

6. Understanding how my “horse-race paradox” applies to multiway pots. Years ago I showed in my book Getting the Best of It, that the best horse in a race may not have the best chance of winning if it was steady and others were erratic. How this applies to poker is very important. It means that fair to good non-drawing hands should often not be pushed and sometimes even folded in multiway pots.

7. Knowing when to isolate. Along the same lines as above, the best players are able to recognize those situations where it is critical to try to get the pot heads up, even with a mediocre hand, by raising (often check raising) out other players. A full analysis of this subject would take dozens of pages.

8. Raising skill. Most merely good players usually know when to call or fold and when to check or bet. But they usually don’t raise enough. (They especially don’t check raise enough.) There are lots of reasons to raise with non-obvious hands as in the example above. Pros recognize them. (They also recognize who not to raise with very good hands.) Knowing raising strategy is unquestionably an attribute of pros that separate them from non-pros.

9. Using logic. (“Even though I probably have the best hand, I should check, since he will bet all the hands he will call me with, plus some bluffs, and he will raise with those hands that beat me.”)

10. Using chess type thinking. By this I mean visualizing how future rounds will be played, given various cards that would come and adjusting present strategy accordingly. (“I’ll wait until sixth street to raise with my two hidden pair in stud so I can save money if his board pairs.” “I will raise on fifth street with these hidden trips in stud, because sixth street may bring me the third open heart which will scare him into checking.”)

11. Semi-bluffing properly. In a nut shell, pro players semi-bluff a bit more than non pros. Besides the fact that the bet gives them multiple ways to win they understand that it also helps them down the road.

12. Knowing when to give a “free card.” This is a very important component of hold ’em. Less so in other games. Anytime you choose not to bet a decent hand you are not only perhaps losing profit but also risking losing the pot to a player who would have folded had you bet. On the other hand checking and giving that free cared could:

A. Save money when you are beaten or destined to be beaten,
B. Induce a bluff from someone who would have folded to your bet,
C. Allow someone who would have folded to almost catch up, or
D. Get a river call from a mediocre hand who would have folded rather than call twice.

Obviously, knowing how to balance the pros and cons of giving a free card in a particular situation is one of the most important talents a pro has.

13. Stealing small pots. Amateurs tend to lose interest in small pots when they themselves have nothing. But in hold ’em especially, situations often arise where one big bet has more than a 33 percent chance of stealing the four small bets in the pot. Pros don’t miss these opportunities.

14. Being slightly tricky. In the limit ring games that gives the pros I describe their income, it is wrong to play much differently than how your cards and the situation indicates. Playing deceptively usually does more harm than good in eight-to-ten handed games. Many amateurs try to get to tricky. On the other hand there are a few players who hurt themselves by playing so ABC that their cards are practically face up. Pros know that the best overall strategy is just a pinch of trickiness.

15. Knowing when to fire two or three barrels. Most decent players will usually bet a second time, regardless of their hand, after raising before the flop in hold ’em or on third street in stud. The best players know when to continue and when to give up on the bluff or semi-bluff.

16. Always consider the size of the pot. Fair players know that your pot odds is a key factor in determining whether it is right to chase with a hand that is obviously not yet best. Great players know that almost all poker decisions, be they betting, calling, bluffing, or raising can hinge on pot size.

17. Having great starting hand strategy. Fair players are often tight or tighter than pros. Aspiring hold ’em pros usually know how to adjust for position and previous action as well. (If they don’t, they should be ashamed of themselves since it means they haven’t studied “Hold ’em Poker” or “Hold ’em Poker for Advanced Players”). Successful pros however go beyond this. They know when they can loosen up because of bad players in the pot or future expected action (or lack of it). In stud of course there is also the very important factor of the cards that are showing and the action taken by those cards.

18. Staying away from calling cold. This is a simple concept like having discipline. The reason I list it as an attribute, possessed by successes but often not by failures, is because as simple as it is, it is not well known or abided by. Simply put, you stay away from early position raisers, especially when you are in middle position, unless you have a truly excellent hand. There are exceptions of course, but not nearly as many as amateurs or most writers believe. (Eg, call a raise cold with KJ.)

19. Making tough folds early but not late. This should be common sense and maybe lumped into the category of considering pot size. I’m separating it out because the mistake is so prevalent among non-pros. Pros are quick to get out early in the face of betting pressure, but almost ignore that pressure later on.

20. Getting others to play badly. In Part I I mentioned that a serious image can kill your action and entice unwarranted trickiness from others. Successful pros don’t have that problem. Both their demeanor at the table and the way they play their hands encourages opponents to play against them at least as badly as they play against others. They don’t go overboard on this as the benefit is not worth the cost. But they do little things to make sure their opponents are not unwittingly playing as game theory would suggest.

The preceding skills and attributes of the highly successful moderate stakes ring game player is not all encompassing. I for instance could have included being “tight but aggressive” or a “bettor not a caller” as well as a few other concepts. However, they mostly overlap with other things clearly listed. I could have also included specific things related to only one game (Eg when to bluff on the flop in Omaha eight-or-better when a high pair shows). I’ll leave that for another day. For now I hope to have given a sense of the many things that only the best players know and do to make their $1500 a week in cardrooms. It ain’t just luck.

David Sklansky