November 11, 2005
Good Partypoker players will always put you on a hand or more precisely, a range of hands that they'll winnow down to a logical few. Since good players will be thinking about what kind of hand you're playing, they're susceptible to bluffs and other forms of deception. After all, the good player is trying to find out what you have concealed in front of you.
Contrast this with the "Why can't I win?" question, where's there's nowhere for your mind to go, and nowhere to find a positive answer when you're operating on the assumption that you have no control over the results you achieve. We can all spend a lifetime working on these four Partypoker suggestions because there's always room for improvement.
- The small blind bets out on the flop, and I read him for a Jack. I call, since I have two overcards that can make a bigger pair, as well as a draw to the best possible flush. But the turn is no help and neither is the river. We both check, and he wins the pot with K-J. "In retrospect, I think I should have folded to his bet on the flop. With only two of us, and each chip so vitally important, this did not seem to be the best time to continue with a draw."
- And those in the middle ground will be, by definition, lifelong losers at Partypoker. It may not be a vast sum of money, and it may be easily replaceable by income that's earned elsewhere and used to subsidize a player's poker hobby. And at the end of the day, the cost of playing poker for fun and recreation may well be a bargain compared to other money draining hobbies, like boating or restoring classic cars.
- When forced to act before your opponents, their actions can reduce the odds you're getting to draw for your Partypoker hand. There's another concept that comes into play too, and that's the amount of money already in the pot. That money is the reason you might want to continue to play a hand even though you are not the favorite. Here's an example. If you flop a four-flush playing hold'em, the odds are 1.86-to-1 against completing your hand.
After all, the flop that missed you probably hit one of your opponents, and he's the one who will call your bet. But if you are up against only one or two opponents, you might be able to steal the pot often enough to make a propitious bluff pay off. What's Your Position? Life's a lot easier when you're in late position or last to act. After all, once your opponents have acted you know what it will cost to see the next card.
All of these really bizarre happenings that can cause one to throw their hands in the air and wonder aloud, "Why me, dear God, why me," are more than made up for by the fact that so many more callers are present and eager to pay you off when you do win a pot. You don't need to win too many pots bursting with extra callers to make up for those chip-burning bizarre outcome hands. And nothing could be more bizarre than someone calling two and a half bets from the small blind with 3-2 offsuit.
We can all spend a lifetime working on these four suggestions because there's always room for improvement. In fact, as the number of skilled players continues to grow, there will probably be less of a knowledge gap between players at all levels. But some of us are going to continue to get the money, while other knowledgeable Partypoker players will continue to lose.
