Taking Your Best Game on the Road:
Part 2

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

Here are some strategy tips that have helped me win more than my share of money in these types of games.

First of all, size up the game as quickly as you can. Are these friends who play pretty loosely and are really just out to have a good game? Or is this a quasi casino that your contact frequents, with the same mix of serious players as a casino? A pre-game discussion with your connection usually can help give you a fairly good picture. Don't grill him for information, but engage naturally in a conversation about the game, letting him talk freely about it as much as possible. My host in the Long Island game painted an excellent picture before we arrived so I knew what I was going to be in for before playing a single hand.

Match your style to the game. In general, if the game is one with serious players, I play much more conservatively than I do in a game of casual buddies getting together. I'm friendly and relaxed in both settings. But I am far more likely to call on Third Street or before the flop in a game of friends than I am in a club game of somber looking guys who seem to be out for blood.

Use your image to your advantage. This is, of course, true in any game you're in. But I find that you need to be even more aware of it when you are the center of attention - as a guest or new player in a game of folks who all know each other from playing regularly. Unlike a casino game, when most people, for the most part, are new to each other. In this game, where you're the only out-of-towner, people will be watching you when you sit down. They will quickly come to some conclusions about you. Use this to your advantage.

I usually play very, very, very tightly and aggressively in a serious game - when I first come in. Most players tend to make their judgment based on their first impression and then not change it as the night goes on. So my tight image is useful later in the night for stealing pots.

In a friendly game of buddies I am very, very loose early on. I may be a bit wild too - especially if the stakes aren't too high. I am more likely to push a borderline hand and bet up my draw hands, not too concerned about getting caught if my final bet gets called and I have a losing hand. Let them think me a bit of a maniac early on. I'll calm down once the drinking and the fun begins. They'll be more likely to call me when I have very strong hands.

I never want to be the first guy in a game to check-raise. It's silly I suppose, but I've found that some home game players look down on check raising even if they allow it. I don't want to be seen as being "sharp", at least not until someone else has broken the ice. If they don't allow check raising, by the way, I never say anything about it. I find that it the tiny amount of extra profit I might make with this move is more than offset by the lasting bad impression it leaves among people who don't like it. Why argue for a rule change that won't succeed when the result will be such ill will. As my father says, "the juice ain't worth the squeeze".

Be very observant of how players respond to bets. Some will be very weak-tight. Others will be very, very loose - calling every bet. Work hard to figure out who the good players are and who the bad players are. This typing will serve you in excellent stead, even better than in a casino - because they'll be the same guys all night.. Don't worry about the finer distinctions too much. You won't have much time to really figure out the good players. But just knowing that they're good and respecting their bets will do a lot to add to your profit. As the night wears on you will probably be able to figure out which of the bad players are weak-tight and can be bluffed and which are super loose. I won three pots on the River with very, very little just by betting them into a very, very timid home game player in a $.50/1.00 game. Anyone who says you can't bluff at low limit stud obviously hasn't played with this guy.

Here are a few stray thoughts about playing with strangers while on the road. If you can, sit to the left of the host. Most of the time, he'll be the one of the best players in the game - if not the only good player. Think about it. He was connected to the poker universe at least enough to respond to your inquiries. Chances are that he's more interested in the game of poker than his buddies. Of course there are exceptions. But, in general, try to keep the player who is likely to be solid on your right so you can see what he does before you act.

If the seat to the immediate left of your host is taken, sit as close to the left of the guy in whose house the game is. If he hosts the game itself, the chances are better than average that he is doing so for a reason - usually because he wins money at the game. I know there are exceptions (in one game I play in the biggest fish is the host). But, as a general rule of thumb, I've found this to be helpful.

Bring twice the bankroll you think you'll need. Nothing worse than going all the way to a game and finding yourself short of funds because the game was wilder than you planned or lasted longer than you planned.

Be ready with an explanation for why you have to leave abruptly. Make sure that there is no expectation that you have to stay all night. If the game turns out to be very bad, or if you have any uneasy feelings about the honesty of the game, you want to be able to leave quickly but not look like a jerk if possible. Though I've yet to have a bad experience that caused me to leave a game early, I've always been prepared with a reason why I'd have to split. I drop a very subtle hint early in the evening. ("I hope it's OK if I don't stay too late - I've got to leave early tomorrow morning from my hotel" was my last excuse). At 4AM, after you've stuck around all night in a great game, no one cares. But if you stand up after a couple of hours and announce that it's your last hand, especially if you're ahead, - and there was no warning - some might be pissed.

A quick story about that. I was playing at one of the resorts in the Catskill Mountains - a place called Kutchers. There were 6 octogenarians playing. They told me that they played from 1:30 to 5:30 when dinner was served. Though I was about 45 years their junior they asked me to play. They wanted seven players I gathered. I gladly accepted. I arrived on time and played for three hours. I was meeting my parents for drinks before dinner, at 4:45. I got up to leave at 4:30 and thanked them all for a wonderful game, explaining that I was meeting my parents. The game organizer told me, flatly, that I couldn't leave until 5:30. I apologized for the misunderstanding but told him, and the rest of the table, that I really had no choice in the matter. I enjoyed playing poker but I had made a prior commitment to my mother and father. One of the older women, I think she was in her mid 90s, piped up, "We don't care, young man. You came to play until 5:30 - AND THAT'S WHEN YOU'LL GO!!!!" One nice woman came to my rescue and argued that surely I didn't know that I had to stay until 5:30 when I first sat down. Begrudgingly, and with a couple of the older guys saying "Don't come back!" I was allowed to leave. Maybe they were pissed because in this tight $.50/1.00 game I was up $4.50!

Don't give in to the temptation to stay beyond the point that you are starting to feel weary. Traveling itself can be tiring. You'll probably have to drive a bit just to get to the game in the first place. And you might not be getting the normal rest that you are accustomed to. If you're getting tired just be honest and tell the folks you're playing with that you're going to have to leave. You don't want to stick around and lose just to be seen as a nice guest.

For similar reasons I suggest that you don't drink too much during the night. I'm not saying that you shouldn't drink at all - though that's the ideal. What's worked well for me is to have a beer as soon as I arrive, drink it fairly quickly, be aware of the intoxicating effect even one beer will have, but then I won't have any more. The people I'm playing with will not see me as some hardcore, non-drinking poker professional, they'll be more likely to drink, and the intoxicating influences will wear off just when other folks are getting a bit loaded. I'll be sobering up from this small amount of alcohol just when I might normally be getting a little tired from the lateness of the evening - so I won't be compounding my tiredness with drinking. I'll then drink some caffienated beverages like cola or coffee.

Finally, be sure to thank your host and all of the other players for allowing you to play. Let them know that if they're ever in your neck of the woods that they'd be welcome into your game. They probably won't take you up on it, but it's important to leave a good impression in case you ever want to play in their game again. If you've been especially well received you might even find that some of the other players know of games that they will invite you to as well. Before too long you might be able to develop a network of home games for every place that you're likely to visit.

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