How to be careful, Cold & Calculated in your play − and still go all in...
From time to time over the years−and against my better judgment − I have taken a player under my wing, coached him along, and have tried to help improve his or her game. The results have been mixed. Most are playing better than they would have otherwise, but not all have turned from losers into winners. Sometimes I wonder why people don´t listen.
I sat down in a $20−$40 game to the right of such a protege−friend to socialize and see if I could help him with his game. He is a good (but not great) player, and has correct hand selection skills and good intuition. He also plays Online Casino games on his spare time, so he knows the game. However, he lacks the conceptual knowledge, experience, and mental toughness required to become a great player. He had lost on the two previous days and was stuck again.
Halfway through my first lap, I picked up two black queens. An early−position casino player raised the pot and I made it $60. My friend mucked pocket sevens behind me. The flop came J−10−7. He would have flopped a set that would have won the pot. After the hand, he smacked the table and almost shouted at me, "See, you take control of the game and blow me out of pots." He was right to a certain extent. By all gambling laws, taking control of the table through aggression is a big part of winning hold´em.
I smiled and teased, "I may be your worst nightmare if you want to win the battle, but I´m your best gambling chance to win the war." And there´s no question that this was true, too. His net edge against the field is significantly reduced with me in the game, but the knowledge that he gains in those situations should more than make up for it over the long haul. He knows this and I know this, but at that very moment, he just didn´t care. He was stuck and steaming. When he went to the roulette table that day, he had envisioned his Casino Internet Experience, forgetting how REAL sharks act at a REAL Poker Table.
Hating to see my friend down, I tried to make the situation positive. "You made the right play. You should pat yourself on the back," I told him. Calling three bets cold with a small or medium pair is horrible, especially when the reraise is from a tight player and the pot is likely to be played only three−handed. That pot had $370 in it, and likely would have been larger had he played. On a three−day skid, the $500 at the moment was a lot more important to him than playing correctly.
Being "internet casino oriented" can get you in a lot of trouble. You will be emotionally affected when you lay down poor hands that should have won. Also, when you see medium−quality and poor hands taking pots, you will be tempted to play them. All of this will devastate your hourly win, and will turn a fair gambling winner into a loser. Just this one mistake will cause problems.
Having explained the wisdom of laying down the pocket pair, I expounded on the importance of always making the right play and ignoring the results. My friend didn´t want to hear it. He needed the money. The next pot, the next hour, and today´s win were the important things, so he wanted to press, and take cards off in marginal situations (a big gambling mistake... but the correctness of the play made no difference to him). My friend changed Casino games, figuring that the short term advantage of not playing in my game was more important than the long− term advantage of solid professional advice. His correct play in this spot was to sit tight, play tight, and analyze situations −in short, to learn. But he was in a short−term results mood.
That man should DEFINATELY make the switch to any casino internet possible.
