JV'S KILLER POKER: MORE TOKES

BY: John Vorhaus

Last time we talked about the flourishes and filigrees you can put on top of your poker game to change the way you play. The need for change is clear: When we creatures of habit fall into predictable patterns, we become that much easier for our opponents to read. When those patterns are not only predictable but also self-destructive, we must rightly fear, and expect, the worst.

So these few tokes, or tips, listed below are designed to break down some of the crusty reside which may have built up around your game. Remember, I'm not talking about varying your play so much as trying a whole new approach, simply for the sake of discovering what benefits your change of approach may bring.

1. BLACKJACK ATTACK This toke has to do with your starting requirements, and the fact that, try as you might to stay tight, you inevitably let looseness slip into your game. For your next hold'em session, adopt the hard-and-fast rule that you will play no hand under any circumstance that's not a big pair or a natural blackjack 20 or 21. This gives you the following hands and no more: T-T, J-J, Q-Q, K-K, A-A, T-A, T-K, T-Q-, T-J, J-Q, J-K, J-A, Q-K, Q-A, K-A. Further, for the sake of maintaining your discipline, tell yourself that if you play any hand other than these hands, you must get up from the table and leave the club immediately. This will have the effect of cementing your discipline to your desire. After all, you came to play, right? Playing so tight a regimen as the Blackjack Attack thwarts your desire to play many hands; however, if you tell yourself that broken discipline will result in not getting to play at all, then you'll give yourself the strength you need to be patient.

The Blackjack Attack makes it simple for you to tighten up your play, because there's no ambiguity about whether a hand qualifies as a starting hand or not. It either is or it ain't. This will make it easier for you to achieve the goal of limiting the hands you play. And when you achieve that goal, you'll derive the benefit of having done what you set out to do. No small thing, considering that so many of the external outcomes of poker (money lost or won) depend not on doing the right thing but on catching the right card. This way, win or lose, you can feel like a winner when you walk away.

2. CALL WAITING Do you call too much and raise too rarely? Many people do. For those players I recommend the following toke: Tell yourself that for the next half-hour or hour of play, calling is not an option. You can only raise or fold. The thinking behind this toke is that if your hand is worth a call, it's worth a raise. We know of many situations where, strategically, this is not true. But for the sake of this exercise, act as if it were. By eliminating "call" from your poker vocabulary, you will force yourself to consider more carefully whether you want to participate in the hand or not.

Obviously you will acquire an aggressive image, and couldn't you stand to have that? You may even acquire a maniac's image, and that wouldn't be a bad thing for you to experience either. Plus, look at it this way: If you never just call, you'll never make a loose call. If you never just call, you'll never make a crying call. If you never just call, you'll never be calling "just to keep them honest" or "for the size of the pot." Let the other guy engage in that nonsense!

Can you see this change filling some holes in your game? If you can't, then you're already raising appropriately and you don't need this strategy. But if calling too much is a disease you carry, then the call waiting toke may be just the cure for you.

3. BOISTROSITY We talked last time about playing a whole session in silence. Now let's contemplate the opposite of that. Win or lose, set your goal for your next session to be the noisiest player at the table. If you're a naturally timid person, you may find this hard to do. But once you get used to turning up the volume on your chat, you'll be amazed at some of the benefits you reap.

For one thing, big noise at the table always draws attention. Any attention your opponents pay to you, well, that's a little less attention that they pay to themselves. You may find that being a big talker also earns your bets a little more respect. The mere act of talking a lot suggests confidence, and people tend to give confident players a wide berth. This is especially useful if you don't feel particularly confident going into the game. Sure you're timid - maybe even you're scared - but they don't need to know that. As the saying goes, "If you can't be right, be loud. If you're loud enough long enough, you will appear to be right."

4. BIG BUY-IN Next time you buy into your typical game, don't buy in for your typical amount. Instead, buy in for double that amount. You'll be amazed at how having twice as much money on the table allows you to be more aggressive and more fearless. Think about it: In most typical low- to mid-limit games, most players buy in for the convenient amount of one rack. That's, for example, $200 in a $6-12 game. But you know how the game goes: You lose a stack or a stack and a half, and then you're back on your heels, already worrying about having to buy more chips. Give yourself many bullets in your gun, and this problem goes away. And don't forget that anyone who joins the game after you do will naturally assume that you bought in for the typical amount, and thus are beating the game.

So there you have four strategies you can use to knock off the crust surrounding your play. If you try all four, you will experience yourself as a tighter, more aggressive and more confident player. What could be bad about that?