As a frequent player for a number of years now, I sometimes witness the following pattern repeated by new players. A new player tries to make a name for himself at the hold’em tables. This person is usually relatively young, fairly intelligent, believes he understands the game better than virtually anyone else, but doesn’t do very well. He can’t understand why and will often claim that he is being cheated.
But the real truth is that his game still requires extensive development which can only be attained through experience and the willingness to constantly reevaluate his play. It is interesting to note that when one of these players comes along, his game usually follows the same pattern. The mistakes made are similar to the mistakes many of his predecessors also made. Four common mistakes made by these “target” players are:
Mistake No. 1: Stealing too much in late position. Position stealing is a symptom of being overly-aggressive. Winning hold’em does require picking up the blinds occasionally. But when the table is full, a player doesn’t need to be constantly attacking the blinds due to the relatively small blind structure that hold’em exhibits. Constantly attacking the blinds one to three positions off the button with hands like 8c 5c or Ks 7h will prove to be very expensive.
Let me illustrate further by examining the players you may be up against. Let’s suppose the players in the blinds are loose ones. They should over-defend. Thus you won’t be picking up the blinds except when they have really terrible hands. Furthermore, even though you will have position on them, you will frequently be holding the much weaker hand. Result: Your superior playing skills won’t always overcome your disadvantage.
Now let’s suppose the remaining players are tight. It wouldn’t be so bad if being “weak-tight” was their only characteristic, but unfortunately many tight players also play quite well. They should begin to pick up on what you’re doing, and they will adjust their play accordingly. You may find yourself being called more … being reraised more … and having to face plenty of bets both on the flop and beyond. Then you will find it difficult to call because of the poor quality of your hand.
Mistake No. 2: Isolating weak-playing opponents too much. This is another trait of being overly-aggressive. There is occasional value in isolating a weak-playing opponent. You will have position on him, and even if your hand is only marginally good, it may be better than what a weak-loose player holds. But there is a problem with this play. For it to be profitable you must be able to get heads up with your opponent. When this play is overdone, you frequently find players in behind you — plus the blinds will frequently play as well. Besides, when the better players come in and/or the very aggressive ones, you may find yourself facing another bet. Now you will be the one out of position with the weak hand.
Mistake No. 3: Not understanding that some loose “gambling” opponents play better than you think. There is a class of hold’em players who probably play too many hands, but then play their hands very appropriately from the flop on. Most of these people do win; a few of them do quite well. They are able to make up for their large hand selection through a good understanding of the strategic concepts that govern play on the flop and play on fourth and fifth streets by the use of their hand reading skills. If you were to concentrate on their hand selection, you arrive at the conclusion that these players are not very good.
When in a pot against a “many hands” selection expert, you need to understand that your main advantage against him is that you tend to be playing with a little better hand. You must also understand that some of your starting advantage may be reduced as the hand proceeds. “Many hands” experts are not the best players to attack. Most good players usually try to stay away from them recognizing that most of their earnings come from the truly bad players, not necessarily from those who play a little too loose before the flop.
Mistake Number 4: Defending the big blind too often. I’ve already pointed out that our target player tends to attack the blinds with too many hands from last positions; however, this doesn’t mean that everyone else does. Yet, many players with this characteristic tend to think that other players do it and, because of this belief, they defend their blinds with too many hands.
There are also two other reasons why our target players defend too often in this spot. The first is that they do not always realize that the calling burden should be shared among all remaining players. The big blind should call far less in a three-handed game when the player on the button raises than he should in a two-handed game (when the small blind is on the button). Why? Because there is a third person in the middle who should also do his share of calling (though not as much as the player in the big blind). This is true even though the pot will now be slightly larger.
The second reason has to do with the fact that the raiser has position on you and is entitled to more of the pot than you are. Consequently, you can and should reduce your calling frequency from what the pot odds seem to indicate.
To conclude, I usually see several of these new players every year. Of course there are many more around the country, but I spend most of my poker playing time at The Mirage in Las Vegas. As for their long-term chance of success, my best estimate is that about one out of five of these individuals actually will mature into a successful player. More of them should mature, but it seems that their biggest stumbling block is their own personality. They just can’t believe that they don’t know it all, and they refuse to accept the fact that many of the more experienced players play more skillfully than they do.
Poker Digest Magazine – Volume 1 Number 4