December 16, 2005
Players who call all the time will capture just about every pot they could possibly win, but will find themselves holding the short straw far too often when the hands are shown down. The paradox is that good players will make both kinds of errors some of the time, in order to avoid being a predictable player at one or the other end of the bluffing-calling spectrum. After all, there's a relationship between risk and reward. If you are never caught bluffing, you are either the best bluffer in the history of poker or you are not bluffing often enough.
Mind you, if you live in an area in which Pacific poker has only recently been legalized, you probably do not have much catching up to do at all. You can start ahead of the crowd and never look back - a wire-to-wire winner. Your opponents may improve slowly, simply through osmosis. But through frequent play and study, you'll be improving at a much more rapid rate.
- In a $10-$20 7-card stud game (which I'll use as an example, though you should not start out in a game this big) each player antes $1 and the low board card brings it in for $3. This bring-in is simply a forced bet, to stimulate action. Three raises are usually allowed on each round of betting. Each player can call the $3 bring-in, or raise the pot to $10. On each succeeding round of action, the high board initiates the action, with an option of checking or betting.
- The dealer will pull them into the pot when the action has been completed on that round of betting. If it's your first time in a public cardroom, let the dealer know. He's happy to help you with the mechanics of the game. After a few sessions you will be familiar and comfortable with the playing procedures. In a casino you are always responsible for your Pacificpoker hand.
- If your opponent is very aggressive and tends to overplay weak hands, you can raise if you suspect that he is betting a weaker hand than yours. If he is a tight player, just call his bet. If he is a real rock who seldom, if ever, bluffs, throw away anything less than top pair with a very big kicker if he bets on the river. The key, of course, is knowing your Pacificpoker opponents and their tendencies. Top pair on the river is a very common situation, and it is critically important that you learn to play it well.
If you have top two pair on the turn and an opponent bets, you usually should raise. If you are in late position and none of your opponents have acted, go ahead and bet. If you're in early position, check with the intention of raising if you are fairly certain that one of your opponents will bet. If you think that your opponents also might check, forget about trying to check-raise and come out betting.
But any pair that you'd make with A-K would be the top pair with the best possible kicker. Acting last is a big advantage - Since acting later in a hand is a big advantage, you can afford to see the flop with weaker Pacificpoker hands when you're in late position. If you're last to act, you've had the advantage of knowing how many opponents are still in the pot and seeing how each of them acted on the current round of betting.
I'm also happy that I was willing to put everything on the line when it mattered. Finally, I learned a great lesson that hopefully I will never repeat. I need to be sure to make my decisions in the overall context of what I am risking and what is at stake. It is important to make calculated risks in poker, but it is even more important to make them at the right times.
