Late Night Mistakes

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

I played at Foxwoods yesterday, in the middle of the night. I've found that it's best to play then - when guys are at least a little more tired than they normally are and there isn't a long wait for a table. I just get up very early and go down at 3:00 in the morning or so. My records indicate that this is the best time for me.

What I've noticed is that many people play as if they are on autopilot. Guys who might otherwise be very aggressive or tricky tend not to be at this hour. They may make moves - but their moves don't change. If they might otherwise occasionally raise with a scare card on the deal, at 3:00AM they ALWAYS raise. If they are generally tight, then at this late hour then they fold EVERYTHING that isn't a premium hand right off the bat

This overly predictable play, of course, can be exploited by someone who is alert and on top of his game at 3:00 AM (me for example)�that I tried my best to do yesterday.

But that's not the point of this article (although it is good point that probably deserves more attention some other time). I want to let you know about something else that people do. They make more mistakes. And these mistakes can be very expensive ones.

Some are obvious. Some players, at 3AM, expose their cards. Really. I've seen otherwise good $20/40 players who, at this late hours, start lifting up their cards with only one hand - as if they really can't be bothered with the more usual and safer two -handed, card shielding method. Now whether you take advantage of this horrible error is up to you - some consider it unethical. But as you can imagine, it's a huge exploitable mistake. (If someone's exposing herself, I usually look.)

But here's the other huge mistake. Players - good solid players during normal hours - concede on the river too quickly and too obviously.

Here's a specific example. I had three to a Flush with (9-Q) Ace. I raised from early position (all of my Flush cards and my Ace, Queen and nine were fully live). The other players were all pretty tired. All but two very loose players were playing by rote - just folding most of the time if they didn't have a hand. So I was happy to steal the antes and the blinds.

But one of the loose players called me with an 8. There had been another 8 folded. That's OK, I thought. I'll see if I can pick up the pot later - if he's on a Flush or Straight draw.

Fourth Street came and I got a 10 (unsuited). He got a complete blank as well. I bet, figuring I might take the pot right there. He called quickly, so quickly in fact that I hadn't even gotten my bet completely out when he called - as if he had decided to call before I bet.

Fifth Street came and I got a fourth, suited card. He caught another blank. I semi bluffed here - hoping he'd fold but also knowing I still had a shot to win even if he called. He called. I really wasn't sure where he was at. Had he started with a small pair? Had he started with three consecutive cards and the connected for a pair on Fifth Street? I really didn't know. And it was so late in the night for him that maybe he didn't know either.

But I figured that maybe he was one of those players who might fold for a double bet on Fifth Street if he hadn't improved. So I bet. He called.

On Sixth Street I caught another blank. He caught an Ace. I was disappointed that I hadn't gotten him to fold by now. He seemed to just be a calling station who was probably ahead of me by now (I had yet to even get a pair). I decided that my bet wouldn't cause him to fold since the pot was so large and he was so loose. So I just checked, hoping he'd check behind me but afraid he might sense weakness and bet. He checked as well - not paying attention to me at all it seemed. He did it almost reflexively.

On the River I had a difficult decision to make. I didn't make my Flush or even a pair. I was tempted to bet as a final bluff into a nice-sized pot (from the betting on Third Fourth and Fifth Street). But I literally had nothing and was afraid that he, calling station that he seemed to be, would just call along and I'd waste a bet. I was thinking about this when he just looked at his card and tapped the table and folded to me. $189 in the pot and he just folded without my bet. He didn't even think about it - just conceded. Had HE bet I would have folded. Had we each checked it down he would have won if he had any pair. If nothing else, if we had checked it down he would have seen my lousy hand and learned something about how I played. But he just folded.

But it wasn't an isolated incident. I saw him do this against another player. And then he did it against me. The second time, though, I was ready for him. I had set him up by raising his bet on Fourth Street (and I had nothing). And then on Sixth Street I didn't check but bet into him. Though he had a pair of 4s showing on the River and I had nothing, when he checked I just reached for my chips and he folded. I didn't have to even make my bet.

This auto fold wasn't the only mistake that my opponents made at this late hour. But it surely was the most expensive type of mistake. And unlike nearly any other situation in poker, there was nothing questionable about the play. It was just awful no matter what. This is only one extreme example of behavior that abounds late at night. If you haven't checked out the action at this time, it's worth going to bed really early to do so. I made $515 in only about 3 hours of play! And, frankly, I was a little sleepy at that hour as well.

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