No Limit Hold ‘em How They're Great?

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

You've wondered it. I know you have. I have. And I'm a practical guy. Even so, it seeps in every now and then. What makes those great players so great? What is it? Some special reading ability - like they have X-Ray vision and can see what I have? Are they cheating? How do they do it?

I've played against the best in tournaments: Tony Ma, Miami John Cernuto, Scotty Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Oklahoma Johnny Hale, Eskimo Clark, T.J. Cloutier, Huck Seed, Tom McEvoy, John Bonetti, and even Amarillo Slim. I've watched them and dozens of other major league players on TV and live. I've tried to study them and think about their moves.

No doubt about it. They're more than just lucky and persistent. There's something extra. They're truly great players.

Here's what I think it is. Before I reveal the secret I need to tell you a story. Stay with me.

When I was in high school - back before computers, cable TV, or cell phones - we played poker for entertainment. Not on the computer but in people's basements and on their porches and kitchens. At first we played for pennies. And then we played for nickels, dimes and quarters.

When we played for pennies there was a guy who was literally unbeatable. I played with him a few dozen times. He never lost - never. I didn't understand it then but I think I do now.

At first I and my friends just thought he was lucky. Hell, no one can win like that unless they're really lucky. Hell, he MUST have been lucky to always walk away with $5.00 in pennies in a penny ante game.

But then I read the one poker book my father had: The Education of a Poker Player by Herbert Yardley. Yardley told great tales of his travels and poker playing around the world as a spy for the O.S.S. (predecessor to the CIA). He didn't write much about strategy. But what he did write cautioned tight play - with a bluff thrown in every 20 years or so. I realized that there really was some method to the game - some strategy. And I decided to figure out a way to beat this guy.

I clamped down on my starting requirements. This nearly always worked when we played 5-Stud. I played the "safe way system" never calling a bet unless I could beat the best possible hand this guy could have. And when I was clearly in the lead I'd bet aggressively. I could wait for a hand that was clearly better than this guy's and then play it to the hilt. If it stayed better than any hand he could possibly have then I'd win. I would fold the rest of the time. I eked out some small profit.

But when we played any other game - and there were many, many variations with wild cards and twists and buys and replaces and passes - well in any other game I'd end up leaking out losses to the ante. I just couldn't play a hand with the super tight style I had adopted. And though I wouldn't lose much, I'd never win anything. So I couldn't play like that for long.

I then decided to pay attention to what he was doing - that great player in my high school game. Since I could win just by being tight, and I was convinced that his wins were more than just luck, I realized that he must be doing something special. What was he doing I wondered.

He was very, very loose and very aggressive. If someone bet $.01 he'd always call - and maybe raise it to $.05 about 70% of the time. He'd be laughing and throwing pennies in as if they meant nothing. But for the rest of us, those pennies meant a great deal. We couldn't afford to lose much. Accordingly, few of us every played back at him. We might call but I don't think we'd ever raise - at least not in the crazier games. Bottom line: we were terrified.

He steam rolled over us.

I look at the best players - the really top flight players. I think what makes them great is their ability to steamroll their opponents. Now, of course, they can't do this all the time - or even most of the time. But when I've played with the guys I've mentioned, against the average Joe player, these top pros have an incredible ability to intimidate. They play as if the chips mean nothing - while the rest of us are shaking with fear - afraid to lose what we have - afraid to look foolish. They're in control and able to take advantage of their image as tough players while we're easy prey.

OK. It's not an incredible revelation. But it's something to think about. And now think about this. You've started on a shoe string but with some good play you've built up your stake. How do you get ready to play the really great players? How do you approach the games that they're in?

Here's my answer. Perhaps it will disappoint you. But it's honest. And honesty should count for something.

My answer is simply this. I don't get ready to play the really great players. I avoid them. They're great. I'm not. I'm just very good. Why waste my money? I'll stick to the games with the good, the mediocre, the bad, the awful and the clueless - thank you very much. I'll happily make my money off of them.

Here's the problem. If I save up $10,000 or $50,000 or even $100,000 by playing my best game against players who are worse than I am, I sure as Hell don't want to blow it in some large tournament populated by a bunch of players who are at least as good if not better than I am. So that leaves out the huge tournaments. Similarly, though I may have a large enough bankroll to sit down with the really big players, no matter how big it is it's always going to be scared money against them. I'm always going to worry that they'll end up taking my entire stack - unless I have the nuts. And if you have to wait for the nuts to play then you can't really play.

Nope, I'd always be playing scared money, just as I was in high school against the best high school player I knew. Instead, back then, I focused on the games when he wasn't at the table. I did quite well in those. It was a blow to my ego back then to admit that I wasn't the best player in high school. But I was satisfied earning a decent amount of money by being the second best player. I'm the same way now. I don't need to be the best - only good enough to make money by beating the second tier players and their inferiors. So I'll stay away from the very best and swallow my pride while counting my benjamins.

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