The Next Level

I remember one day when I was in my early twenties. I had played golf a couple of times with friends, and a couple more with my father, always with borrowed clubs, tennis shoes, and a left-handed baseball swing that usually sent the ball bounding across the ground toward the hole. I didn't really know the rules, didn't really keep score, and didn't really care. I was having a blast, and that's what mattered.

What I remember about that one day is telling my father, "I want to learn to play golf, to really learn to play." I had watched other people play, and knew that they were playing on a whole other level from me, and while sometimes they seemed frustrated with the game, I wanted to be able to do what they did with the ball. I wanted to be able to drive the ball 250 yards, to pitch it up in the air and have it land softly on the green, and then putt it into the hole from ten feet away. I wanted to challenge myself to become better and better at the game, and to challenge others in the spirit of friendly competition.

What I also remember is what he told me in response. "Two things you are going to need," he said, "tools and practice. You're going to need to buy some clubs of your own, some golf shoes with spikes, some balls, and some tees. I'll get you started with the balls and tees, but the rest is up to you.

"And you're going to have to take a couple of lessons. Get a pro to teach you how to swing, and then practice until you're sick of it. And then keep practicing until you can't imagine swinging any other way."

So that's exactly what I did. I got a starter set of clubs, took some lessons, practiced at the range for hours and hours, and eventually learned to play. I never turned pro, never even became a scratch golfer. But I was able to raise my game to the level I wanted to play at, and all I needed was the tools and the practice.

I'm sure you know where this article is going. Poker is the same as golf. Perhaps you've been playing awhile. You've done all right at the micro limits online or at home games with friends, and it is time to move up to the next level. I'm not talking about the next level of stakes. The stakes you play have more to do with your bankroll than anything else. I mean the next level of ability, which is a much different matter. In order to move up there, you need the tools and the practice.

In the toolbox, you need to become familiar with more sophisticated poker moves. You need to be able to use them in your own game and to be able to spot them when they are being used against you by opponents. Here are a few to be aware of.

Bet Your Draws

This for me is the distinguishing characteristic of a sophisticated poker player, one who bets his drawing hands after the flop. The beginning player with a straight or flush draw will try to see the next card as cheaply as possible, checking and calling if the bet is in line with the odds of hitting. That's all well and good, but how often will you get favorable odds to call? And how well are you getting paid off when your card comes in?

More sophisticated players are betting, even raising their good drawing hands. Doing so gives them the chance to win a small pot right there, and if they are called, they still have a well-disguised hand to play with. Another benefit is that betting or raising your draw on the flop can lead to a free card on the turn. It used to be that free cards were discussed only in limit games. But they are also very real assets in no limit games, where the price of the river card can be ten or twenty big blinds.

When you flop a drawing hand, you should be betting it much of the time, especially if you are the pre-flop raiser, or last to act. There is nothing wrong with checking when there is a good chance your opening bet will be raised, but if you can stay in control of the hand with a bet, then a bet ye shall make.

Raise a Bluff

"I think you're bluffing. I call." That's a rather frightening statement to hear, especially if they are right.

But what about, "I know you're bluffing. I raise." If you were indeed bluffing, the only thing to do now is to smile sheepishly and give your cards back to the dealer.

Bluffers don't mind being called. Much of the time, they are semi-bluffing, so if they are called, they are hoping to catch a card to make a big hand anyway. What they hate to see is a raise, which turns the tables on them and forces them to make a decision with a weak hand.

And what better way to discourage the whole table from bluffing at you than to push back on the bluffer with a big raise.

So, when you come across a bet that looks like a bluff, don't just call it, raise it. Don't just min-raise it, make it three or four or five times the bet. Punish those that try to push you around by pushing right back, and with much greater force. After awhile, you will find that nobody bets into you unless they have the cards to back it up, and your decisions will be much easier to make.

Bet for Information

This is a subject that not everybody understands, and even some players who think they do, really don't. Betting for information is a column unto itself, but I'll boil it down to one sentence here:

Early in the hand, when you know very little about what your opponent is holding, you can find out a great deal by seeing how he responds to a significant bet.

Here is an example. You are up against a preflop raiser with King-Queen. The flop comes out Ace-Ace-King, giving you two pair with a nice kicker. You are way ahead if your opponent has a smaller pair, but way behind if your opponent has an ace or a pair of kings. If he has one of the hands, he knows he has a monster. Otherwise, he's worried. He checks. What do you do?

You bet for information, that's what. A good-sized bet of at least � of the size of the pot should be enough. If your opponent folds, then he likely had a middle pair or less, maybe even King-Queen. If he calls or raises, you're in trouble. He's probably got the Ace, or somehow knows that you don't. In either case, you're better off checking and folding the rest of the way in this one.

But why waste a good bet? Wouldn't just checking work too? Well, let's think about it. Say you were to check behind on the flop. Then he bets the turn, say, the half the size of the pot. Is he bluffing, or does he have a hand? He's making a bet, sure, but only after you've shown weakness. The river comes and he bets again, this time double the turn bet. Same decision. Bluffing or not? Would he really take two shots at this? But wouldn't that be exactly what he'd do if he had the Ace, slowplay the flop, and then bet the turn and river when it looked as if you weren't going to do his betting for him? You are faced with two tough decisions simply because you have no idea what your opponent has, something you could have established on the flop.

Betting for information is an important part of the game, and will end up lowering your variance significantly. It is part of every sophisiticated poker player' repertoire, and should become part of yours too.

Finally, there is the other thing my father said, and that was, "Practice." It is not enough to know about these moves, or to watch them on TV. You need to make them in a real live game or a tournament. You need to look for opportunities to take advantage of these ideas, and to make them, and to keep looking for these opportunities and making these moves until you can't imagine playing poker any other way. Expect that they will fail most of the time at first, just like I missed the fairway most of the time when I first picked up my driver. But eventually, I found the sweet spot, learned to hit the ball down the middle, and so will you.

© The Poker Forum.com, all rights reserved