Trick to beating new breed of player

By Mark Lasser

When I started playing poker, making a bet usually meant you had some semblance of a hand, or it meant that you were making a calculated bluff.

Checking was generally a sign you had a weak or near worthless hand. And so tight aggressive play was the way to beat the game. Play good cards and be aggressive when you have them. Life was good. Sunshine. Big pots. Cheap buffets. Your house was still worth something.

Then a new breed of player got into the mix and made life difficult for the old timers. The new players exploited the tightness of the established game by raising more frequently than was considered optimal, or heck, even reasonable. They tried to steal pots every round from the button, cutoff and hijack positions. They rolled over the old nits who didn’t connect with the flop (which statistically is most of the time).

So how do you beat these players who raise a lot and call a lot since they don’t like backing down from a confrontation?

I think we’ve seen the answer several times in watching this year’s World Series of Poker on the tube: Trapping. When you have a bunch of loose, raise-happy, hoodie guys at the table, let them try to push you around and let them think you’re passive. Don’t raise a lot but call more often than you’re comfortable with. Let them accuse you of being a calling station. Of course, you’re calling with draws and smaller pairs. They’re continuation betting 100% of the time, giving you no choice.

I’m thinking in particular of a really incredible hand by Kenny Shih. He was dealt pocket queens in middle position and opened the betting with a raise. Poker pro JP Kelly three-bet him with complete junk, a king-9 off suit. Kelly was surely trying to isolate Shih and outplay him on the flop since Shih is a solid but not too wild a player. But the flop of QQ7 changed everything. Flopping quads can sometimes be a problem because although you’ll win the pot, it can be nearly impossible to make a pot from it.

Shih could have bet the flop and that would have put Kelly to a decision. Since Kelly obviously had no queen, he knew he probably had no showdown equity if Shih did in fact have a queen. Then he’d have to make a determination as to how likely Shih was to bluff a QQ7 flop.

With dire consequences, Kelly may have played it safe and folded. In the old days, players would often make contrarian moves, betting strong when they’re weak and weak when they’re strong, so the new breed started doing the opposite and betting their hands to induce incorrect calls from their opponents.

I’m not sure if Kelly had seen Shih do this or not, but in checking Shih may have convinced Kelly that either K9 was good or that firing at the turn and river could buy the pot. For Shih, the trick was convincing Kelly that there was still fold equity in the hand if he kept betting even though there wasn’t any fold equity.

So Shih checks the flop and Kelly fires chips. Shih pauses, thinks and calls without Hollywooding too much. The turn brought a 4 of hearts. Shih tries to run the same play and again taps the table. Kelly fires out again. That was the plan for Kelly initially and he stays the course. Shih takes a moment again. Really perfect. Not anxious or dramatic and calls. The river brings a 3 of hearts and Shih runs the play a third time. Kelly shoves, committing all of Shih’s chips and thinking he surely would be getting a fold. Of course Shih insta-calls showing quads and doubles up.

Lesson? Be aware of traps. Sometimes it is a good idea to bet against a check, but if you do it every single time, sooner or later you will get bit by the trap.

Mark B. Lasser is Denver writer and international poker player. He regularly plays in Colorado, Arizona, California, Missouri and Nevada. You can hear him talk about gambling and casinos every Friday at 5 PM on KEZW AM 1430. Readers can send questions and comments to him at ColoradoPokerMark@comcast.net.