POKER LESSON 404: Spot Your Opponent's Mistakes

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 12.10.2008, 10:04

POKER LESSON 404: Spot Your Opponent's Mistakes
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By now, my poker proteges, you can usually spot a poor player at the table. But are you using the knowledge you have and he doesn't have? If you give him very little attention, like kind of dismissing him as no big threat to you, then you are NOT. And the result could be that you get beaten by a lousy player! I'm sure we all know how that feels! Even if we get beaten by someone who is just beginning to gain some poker education, we usually feel pretty embarrassed, even if we are truly happy for him/her. I would bet that half of you reading this have felt just that way! And I can see you nodding your heads with a knowing
smile on your faces.

This lesson deals with how to handle those poor players we often see across the table. You need the lesson because you give too many hands away to him just by not paying enough attention to him.Then he thinks
he's better than he really is, which makes him an even bigger threat to a good player's stack -- because he becomes unpredictable. An unpredictable player is the second worst kind of opponent.....second only to the unreadable good player!

One of the easiest ways Dummy Dum can get an edge over you is by upsetting you with his bad playing, especially when the river is extra good to him! It's aggravating, isn't it? He had no idea what he was doing, but along comes the river and makes him the winner of the hand. He thinks that makes him good and you think.......well, what you think is not suitable for print usually.

After he has done it several times, it becomes VERY hard for you to remember your poker etiquette, you need a Tums or Rolaid, you lose your calmness; in other words, he has put you on tilt! NOBODY plays well on tilt!

So EXPECT him to be irritating and decide in advance how much control over you that you are going to allow him to have. You can handle ANYthing better when you are prepared for it. Think of some way to make yourself feel like chuckling instead of cussing when he gets his river card. Like maybe: think of him all thru the game as really being a monkey someone put clothes on and set him at the table. Even better: think of him all thru the game as sitting there naked but not knowing it. Better yet: Tell yourself that when the game is over, he is going to have to literally chew up and eat every card he beat a hand of yours with! And
if he is also a loudmouth, imagine that he is really deaf and cannot speak right either. Anything to eliminate the tension building up.

The next parts of this lesson will not be as long as that one. That one was long because I have WATCHED you getting angrier and angrier on your road to Tilt when up against a bad player. Way more than half of
you have let these guys hurt your playing skill. But no more! Right?

Okay. Secondly, when you instinctively know a guy at the table is a poor player -- maybe by the way he bets or maybe by the way he talks -- there are all the ways you know that tell you.........pay close attention and see if he ever bluffs or how often he does. Once you have figured out that he hardly ever bluffs, from then on out you should fold every time he raises or even makes a big bet! On the other hand, if during a
hand he is checking, checking, checking - make a fairly good size bet to take him out.

Next, pay attention to how often he stays in a hand because he has a high pair. Poor players almost always over-rate a pair of Aces or face cards and will hold on to them all the way to the river! That is why once in a while, the river will be good to them and give them the third one. But YOU be sure to remember that the average winning hand in Hold 'em is two pairs! So his one pair of Aces will hardly ever win a hand for him.

Next, pay attention to how often he calls. Poor players are often called "calling stations". They are afraid to raise and even more afraid to fold, so they call, call, call. Remember this, Poker Crushers: Don't ever bluff against a calling station! It's as good as giving them the pot on a silver platter or gift wrapped.

To summarize this lesson, my friends, learn to identify the weaknesses of poor players. Then you will know how to play them in a way that will not allow them to steal your pot! Just as there is a right way and a
wrong way to play bad cards, there is a right way and a wrong way to play bad players!

This lesson presented to you from your ever-lovin' Guru

Posts: 3854 · Posted: 12.10.2008, 13:04

I know I have been "blessed" by finding our GURU. AGAIN, for me, you are right-on-target! Blink

Posts: 3276 · Posted: 12.10.2008, 15:22

Great refresher Guru.We all need it occasionally.

Posts: 1740 · Posted: 12.10.2008, 18:25

Very nice lesson Guru and so close to home lol.What about the donk player that waits for ev1 to call their hand and then ALL IN over and over as the blinds are eating your chips away and building their chips fast from the ones who call and continue to do this ?And they always seem to beat the other players out on the river.They irratate me and i just check fold but after awhile unless your moved you know you are gonna have to do a donk move back and call and hope lol....otherwise your chips are to low to do much.

Posts: 231 · Posted: 12.10.2008, 22:39

Thank you GURU,I Do Believe I'm raedy for the next tourny,Guru's Poker Crushers,Let's Get EM.lol & we will. TY GURU

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 13.10.2008, 10:49

I would like to thank from my heart this wonderful group of Crushers Plus! for the faith you place in me and my lessons.

If ever anything I say costs you money at the tables instead of making money for you, PLEASE - I want to know about that too. So we can analyze the situation and see where who went wrong!

In such a tough field of study, it often takes lots of analysis.

Hugs to you all!

Your Guru

Posts: 526 · Posted: 13.10.2008, 13:48

I have to fully agree with char on this one. There always seems to be that one person who waits for everyone to call then goes all-in. By the time you get moved away from that person you have really no chips to work with left. Those are the ones that get to me.

Like yesterday I pulled a bone headed move kind of. Before the flop alot of us called the blind. There was one guy who had been doing a alot of bluffing and he bet all-in. I had pocket 10's so I called him. It ended up just me and him that stayed he had made that bet of all-in on pocket 2's. And of course wouldn't you know it I got knocked out he got a 2 on the river card. I was soooo mad. I fumed for a bit on that one.

it was probably stupid to call him but according to your odds table I had a pretty good chance.

Posts: 1825 · Posted: 13.10.2008, 18:06

I have noticed one thing I have to work on at the tables that has a lot to do with this lesson.

I get caught with egg on my face more than once when I have been paying too much attention to one player and sort of "forget" the quiet player is playing. I have been kicked in the butt real hard those times.

I was so intent on a player and how they were playing I didn't even realize there was a quiet "3rd" player playing with us and when they win the pot and took my money I thought "WOW" I didn't even realize they were playing!

This seems to be easier to do when playing online than irl as you can actually see a person and wait for their play. But this has caught me more unawares quite a few times.

Posts: 1740 · Posted: 13.10.2008, 18:19

Oh yes Val,I also come across that alot and always tell Dale where the heck did that person come from lol as I swear they are invisible till the river lol.I try to be that invisible person and click the fold button instead of pausing and keeping the attention off me lol.