Finding Fish

Poker is a game of very small edges. With the few edges that you have in the game it can be difficult to get maximum value out of a strong hand unless you are playing against opponents that know less about poker than you do. If you are able to recognize and exploit these mistakes you can make a lot of money. Something that I have recognized is that the mistakes that your opponents make are small in nature so you have to make the most of these opportunities and pounce on them when they arise. Most people that sit down at a table play the game recreationally. Though they want to win they don't have the same skill set as those who are consistent winning players. These types of “fish”, as they are often called, can be difficult to find, especially if you have a casino that you frequent often and find yourself playing against a familiar group of opponents. Players whom you play against on a regular basis get familiar with your style of play so outplaying them or getting them to pay you off when you have a huge hand can be the equivalent of trying to break into a bank vault. One of the ways that I have been able to exploit one of these edges is when I am traveling out of town and get a chance to go to play Hold 'Em in a casino where I am the foreigner. I have always believed that if you have other card rooms within a decent traveling distance from where you live that it’s a good idea to play there every now and then. The players who are regulars at a place that you are visiting will not be as familiar with your playing style, so you may be able to get away things that you couldn't at a poker room that you regularly frequent. I usually am able to ascertain in the first hour who's tight or loose, and If I can get all of my chips in with the best hand and get paid off in the process.

I was traveling out of town one weekend during the joyous Christmas season to visit family. I decided to go to a little local card room that had 2 blackjack tables and 4 poker tables in the place. It was Christmas Eve so there was only one table going at 10pm. I convinced my wife to let me go play for awhile since we had all of the Christmas gifts wrapped up and the kids were in bed. I got to the 1/2 NL table that was going and bought in for $200. I wanted to establish the image that I was cash customer looking to buy what people were selling. I figured that if I came in too tight, people might be leery to call my bets. The people there were nice but I realized about 15 minutes into when I sat down after I my got chips that every single one of them was playing with scared money. There was one person that was a bit of the loose cannon but even he was trying to play from a damage control perspective. I knew that this table was pure profit if I could get a hand.

Less than hour in the game after I won $100 dollars with a set, I picked up Q 10 off suit in the BB. There was a live straddle on of $4 pre-flop and the pot was 4 way going to the flop. The flop came 8 Q 5 rainbow. I checked the flop and it was checked all the way to the button who fired $16. SB called and I called to keep from getting the pot too big since I didn't have a huge kicker, while the next player folded. At this point, I'm in check call mode the whole way, because I don't want to lead out and get raised. The turn card came a ten. So now I have top 2 pair and immediately I'm trying to figure out how to extract what I can from the button who led out on the flop. SB bet $30, I called, and the button raised to $60. SB folded and I'm trying to figure how I can get his last $80+ he had in the middle. I asked him how much he had left and he revealed what he had left. I thought about moving him all in right here but decided to just call. If he put me on a gut shot straight draw and decided that I got there on the turn that I might lose him. By calling I was hoping that he would think that I was still drawing. I was fairly comfortable that he had a big Queen (AQ, KQ) and that I may be able to get the rest of his chips in on the river and long as a fourth card for the straight didn't get there. The river blanked and I thought about my move for about 10 - 20 seconds. I moved my opponent all in. He seemed a little stunned by the move. He knew I didn't make a straight on the turn but he was still trying to figure out if and where he lost the hand. He finally called and saw that his AQ was beat. One player at the table asked, "Where did this guy come from?"

"He said he's just in town visiting," another player responded. To which, the player asking the question responded, "He may need to go back home. He's taking the table down." Oh, but I wasn't finished yet.

About a half hour later I picked up AJ offsuit in the BB and raised all of the limpers to $12. This is pretty much a standard pre-flop raise with the intention of getting heads up and then taking the pot down C-bet on the flop. However, with 3 players calling I switched my post flop protocol from C-bet and take it down to check fold. That all changed when I flopped trip Jacks (Jc Jh 8h). I said to myself "Yahtzee!" I'm hoping that someone has a pair at this point and will bet it to take the pot down. I knew that there is a small possibility that someone in this mashup could have pocket 8s and have flopped a house on me, but my hand is so strong and with no one else on the table having at most $100 while I’m up over $300 in profit, folding really isn’t an option. I just have to roll with the hand even if I get cooled. The first player bet $8, I called, the next player folded, the last player to act raised it up to $20, and then the first player who led out just called the $12 raise. When it got to me I was trying to put the pieces together as to who had what. I was thinking that the first player who led out and then called the raise either had a draw or a pair because the board was to dangerous for them to flat call a raise out of position with a made hand. The late position raiser had to at least have a pair (I even suspected that maybe she had an overpair to the board and was trying to trap me pre flop when I raised and now is in no man's land). I was hoping that she had a Jack and that I could get her last $90 in in bad shape. If she happened to have flopped eights full or Jacks full of eights, oh well that's poker.

If either opponent had a draw of any sort I wasn't going to let them see another card for cheap. Even though I was getting 8 to 1 to call at this point with a super strong hand, I felt that moving it all in was a much better play. I have such a strong hand here that if I could get either one of my opponent to get their money in and my hand holds up that I would still get 2 to 1 on my investment. 3 to 1 if both of them call. Either way, I wasn't going to let either of them draw unless they were willing to play all or nothing, so I raised it to $100. The original raiser looked at me and then almost in disgust threw their last $90 in the pot. My other opponent folded. My opponent who called turned over pocket Queens and almost got disgusted when they saw my trips. My opponent got up from the table and then said, "Well, thanks for taking my Christmas money." I didn't want to say anything to rub it in. They went over to their spouse and pointed me out as, "…the guy that took them for their last $100." (Side note to my opponent’s last comment: I never have and never will apologize for taking any or all of someone else’s money. Even if it’s money that they were playing with that they wanted or needed for something else.) I played for another half an hour and then racked up and left with a little 3 to 1 profit over my original buy in. It was nice to be the unknown and take the table down for a such a profit in less that two hours.