Greed: Being a Dick for a Tick

[Soultrader 12]

Typical new trader mistake: being greedy for that extra tick.

 

How many times have we waited for the extra tick just to see our profits rapidly disappear and exiting with a much smaller profit?

 

How many times have we limped in with a solid hand just to face a very tough decision at the flop/turn/river just to end up losing the hand?

 

How many times have we slow played a hand just to get beat at the river?

 

These are all examples of greed in play trying to seek that extra profit. In the long run, this sort of play style will only hurt you in terms of PNL.

 

Lets take a look at a few classic poker mistakes.

 

1.Limping in with pocket Aces expecting a re-raise preflop or someone making their top pair on the flop.

 

This is a sneaky tactic but a dangerous one. The rewards may be high but the risk is high in my opinion. In trading, its sort of like trying to catch a falling knife. Why is this dangerous? Few reasons. First, many players are emotionally attached to good hands like pocket Aces. This makes it rather hard to impossible for them to lay down these hands. Second, limping in preflop allows mediocre hands like Q10 or J10 to play as well. A two pair is devastating when holding pocket Aces. Third, these hands tend to get out of control.... under certain sitatuions, one can be forced to make a decision to go all-in. Obviously one has a huge advantage pre-flop going all-in. But what if you made it cheap preflop which in turn ended up with 2-3 other players.... lets name a few possibilities of your opponents after the flop.

 

1. Flush Draw with top pair

2. high pair

3. trips

4. two pair

5. straight draw (though I doubt they will call an all-in)

 

The above scenarios are cards that your opponent may call when put in an all-in situation against your aces. Now, right away if your opponent has the following hands: #3, #4 you are behind. #1 gives your opponent plenty of outs resulting in a gamble. Poker should be won with skill... never gambling.

 

On the other hand, if he has #2 there is a good chance of doubling up. #5 is most likely out of the question as anyone who would go all-in with a straight draw are plain idiots.

 

Now, all of a sudden your pocket Aces do not look to comforting does it?

 

How many times have you folded pocket Aces and turns up to be the right decision? How many times have you gone all-in with Aces after the flop just to be beat? Personally I dont make much money with pocket Aces. Its a very volatile pair of cards. I tend to push strong preflop and just try to take it down at the flop. Most of my money comes from practicing patience, understanding the psych of my opponent, and taking in solid made hands. In other words, waiting for optimal setups.

 

2. Slow Playing

 

Here is an example of a hand from last night.

 

My cards: Q7

Opponent: ?

 

Preflop: I called and opponent checks

Flop: 2, Q, 5

 

I check and my opponent raises $400. I call thinking I may have him trapped.

 

Turn: 2, Q, 5, K

 

Now I am thinking if my opponent thinks he has a better hand than I do, he will bet. So I patiently check... my opponent surprisngly checks. Now this opponent is good enough to play all types of mind tricks. We read each other so much that sometimes we have to play dumb. In this case, he was playing dumb and pretending to show weakness by checking on the turn.

 

River: 2, Q, 5, K, 7

 

I just made my two pair. Knowing that if my opponent was slow playing me, this could become a monster pot if I play him right. So I check pretending to have missed the flush. (flush draw since flop, though it was irrelevant for me)

 

My opponent raises $1750. In my mind, this is precisly where I want him to be. No raise pre-flop meant he was not holding two face cards or any pocket pair. In other words, the odds of trips or KQ was low. A straight was out of the question, and with no flush possibility it meant that I would have to put him on a pair of Kings or two pair, possible with a queen. I pondered thinking for any clues that could put him on a K5 or K2. I knew K7 was probably not the case as I had a 7. But I sensed that he had something made from the flop and was slow playing early.... meaning that the K or 7 probably did not help him. I decided to re-raise $2,000. My raise blew his mind... and as frustrated as he seemed he called.

 

He had a Q5 and I beat him with my Q7. This was a huge pot that almost doubled me up when I was somewhat small stacked and put me back to chip leader. So why did my opponent lose? He slow played. He bet weak on the flop and checked on the turn. This gave me a free river card, something that should of never happened. If he had raised at the turn, it would of made it extremely difficult for me to call with a queen and a weak kicker knowing that he raised flop and followed by a king at the turn.

 

How many times have we slow played our two pairs till the river just to have your opponent catch a higher two pair? Or perhaps the board pairs up and all of a sudden your low two pair is no longer good? Slow playing is very rewarding as long as you have your opponent trapped. But slow playing to be greedy is a very dangerous tactic. Learn to take down pots. A free card for your opponent is actually a very expensive card for you.

[brownsfan019 17]

But slow playing to be greedy is a very dangerous tactic. Learn to take down pots. A free card for your opponent is actually a very expensive card for you.

 

I was that guy James - slow play as much as I could. And most times it would pay off until you check someone right into a straight or flush. Enough of those and you realize that sometimes, just take the pot down and move on. Better to take the pot and have profit vs. going broke over a slow play gone bad.

 

I think this concept is not stressed enough in poker books. I've read plenty and i think it needs stressed more, as you have done here James.