SHOWING OFF

BY: Nicolas Fradet

Many poker authorities often say that poker players who are winners at the game mostly profit from the mistakes their opponents make and not from their own brilliant play. This is certainly true. We all have egos and it sure would be nice if I could say that I outplay my opponent so often I make a fortune at it, but it would be a lie. The truth is that it's rather the mistakes my opponents make day in and day out that make me a winning poker player. Mistakes like playing too many hands, calling raises with substandard hands and chasing too much. Don't get me wrong, poker takes a great set of skills like reading your opponents, computing odds, getting into your opponents' head and much more, all of which if you are better than your opponents you should succeed. But you all know that if your opponents played perfectly, the game would be impossible to beat, brilliant play or not.

Occasionally, however, you will encounter a player who not only makes the usual mistakes but also gives any astute player an extra edge. I had the pleasure of playing against a player like this a couple of years ago. I still remember the details, as it was a good lesson for me. This opponent in particular was showing off by letting everyone see that he made what he thought were good laydowns.

The setting was in a Hold'em 5-10 game with a kill. The game had just started and I was trying to get a feel for my opponents. Some players were whining about their bad luck, a good sign of a profitable game. If you sit down at the table thinking you are destined to lose, you probably will.

I win my first pot 15 min. into the game and have to post the $10 kill in the cutoff seat (to the right of the button). The hand is dealt, a couple of players fold and our "show artist" grabs 2 red chips (we are playing 10-20), as if to call, then looks up, then looks at me, and then proceeds to put 4 chips in the pot announcing a raise. Not knowing my opponent very well, I read that as a sign of weakness as he dramatized his raised a little too much. A lot of players have a tendency of raising too much preflop when it's a kill; they want to put pressure on regular 5-10 players who could be uncomfortable playing 10-20. All fold to me.

I looked down to find 8d7d. Certainly not a great hand, but considering my position on the raiser and my read and that I only had to call a half bet, I called. Also, the button was indicating he was going to fold. Everyone else folded so we were heads-up. The flop came Ad Jd 9s, giving me a gut-shot straight draw and a flush draw. My opponent bet and I called. Frankly, I should have raised. Back then, I was probably a little too passive and nowadays I would raise in a heartbeat, if not to get a free card, to put pressure on my opponent as well as disguise my play when I do have a hand. But I only called. The turn was a 7 giving me a pair to add to all my draws. My opponent finally stopped betting his crap and checked. I decided to bet after he showed weakness. To my delight, he thought and thought and finally, he folded�but he folded KK face up! There goes my great read. But hey, I got the pot. But the point is that he made a couple of mistakes in that hand. First, he should have bet the turn again. After flat-calling the flop, unless I'm slowplaying a very strong hand, he should have the best hand most of the time, there are many draws possible. But his biggest mistake was showing his hand to the table before folding. Three mistakes in one betting round (checking, folding, and folding face up) cost him a 8.5 big bet pot.

About 20 minutes later, a friend of mine, a very good player, was sitting to the immediate right of our "show artist". My friend open-raised from the cutoff with QJs and he was three-bet by our featured star on the button. They were heads-up on the flop. The flop came T 9 3 giving my friend an open-ended straight draw and 2 overcards. He checked, his opponent bet and he called. Again, he could have raised, but he reasoned that if any scare card should hit the turn, he would have an opportunity of making him fold a better hand. This was a reasonable assumption given the tendencies of this opponent to fold good hands (after witnessing that previous hand against me). A scare card would have been any T, 9 or 3 and an ace. Of course, any 8, J, Q or K would have been great.

Low and behold, an ace fell on the turn. My friend bet into his opponent who, disgusted, folded his pocket jacks. He flashed them before they hit the muck. Who knows how this hand would have been played if it wasn't for that previous hand against me? Maybe a blank would have hit the river and his jacks would have taken the pot. So the results of showing that first hand probably cost him another 4.5 big bets.

The point is you should never show your cards when you don't have to unless it's meant to set up future plays. For example, maybe you stole your opponent's big blind last round and you could try to do it again, but you choose to show him J9o before folding, to make him think you don't steal with crap. Next time you raise in the same situation, maybe your opponent will give you a little more respect. Why give your opponents details on how you play? Poker is a game of incomplete information, and the more you let your opponents know about your play, the richer they get.

Nicolas Fradet "The Prince" is the webmaster of www.wptinsider.com,
the best resource for World Poker Tour news, results and event coverage.

© The Poker Forum.com, all rights reserved