17th Lecture - Selected Poker Myths - Part 1.pdf

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17th Lecture - Selected Poker Myths - Part 1
Selected Poker Myths - Part 1
The following lecture was the 17th Tuesday Session, held January 17, 1999, and later
appeared in Card Player magazine
Some Favorite Poker Lies, Myths, and Misguided Advice
They are everywhere. They come from out of nowhere. They may astound you, humor you,
even annoy you. And there is no place on earth to hide from them. They are opinions. Other
people's opinions.
You've heard that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but that - in itself - is just someone else's
opinion. And, in fact, it isn't a very good one. If you ask me, not everyone is entitled to an
opinion. Why should they be? Opinions are things you are free to express in most advanced
civilizations. So, nobody can stop anyone from speaking his mind. But, to me, being
"entitled" to an opinion happens after someone has done some thinking or research - or has
stumbled upon some special knowledge - that makes that opinion worth learning. Otherwise, a
person may have an opinion, but he isn't entitled to it.
Sometimes common poker advice that sounds like wisdom is not very good and not very
profitable. It is simply the fault of a society too permissive of opinions.
Today's Tuesday Session topic, from a lecture I gave earlier this year is…
Selected Poker Myths - Part 1
There might eventually be a follow-up lecture, analyzing more myths, but this is the only one
so far. As always, I am expanding the notes that were given on the one-page handout…
1.
You can't overcome the rake.
If you played poker at your kitchen table or in your basement, you probably wouldn't
take anything out of the pot to cover expenses. Every dollar lost by someone would be
a dollar won by someone else. But casinos and cardrooms create an enhanced poker
environment, complete with a selection of games, food and beverage service,
advanced surveillance, professional dealers, and more. Obviously, they need to recoup
their costs and earn a profit. So, typically, either money is taken from each pot or your
poker seat is rented to you by the hour or half hour.
Overcoming a rake or a time charge takes skill. If all players are equal, only the house
makes money. It doesn't matter if all the players were very poor or very excellent.
When there is equality, nobody wins in the long run. It is simply inequality of players
that allows the best ones to win. If you have a significant advantage over your
opponents, you probably can overcome most house rakes. Usually, the larger the limit,
the less the house fees are when measured proportionally to the sizes of the wagers.
This makes the fees easier to overcome. For this reason, there are many more
professional players at higher limits.
2.
Jack-10 suited is a powerful hold 'em hand.
At one time, many thought jack-10 suited is the most profitable hold 'em starting hand.
It isn't. It usually should not even be played against a double raise before the flop. And
you should often fold it in a full-handed game from early positions.
3.
Play loose in tight games and tight in loose games.
Anytime opponents stray from correct strategy, you can take advantage by playing
more hands for extra profit. If opponents are too tight, compensate by bluffing more
often. You also can win more hands with moderate strength simply because they go
unchallenged by tight players. If opponents are too loose, compensate by playing more
semi-strong hands that usually would not be profitable.
Because your opponents have relaxed their standards considerably, you can relax
yours, too, and still play the better hands more often than they do. So, you don't need
to be as selective. Although you won't loose profit if you fail to adjust (and can expect
to win even more money), you will maximize your profit if you do adjust. If the pot is
raked, though, you shouldn't loosen up your standards as much to match loose
opponents. That's because, although more hands would be profitable without a rake,
many of the marginally profitable hands become unprofitable with a rake. For reasons
I've discussed in previous columns, this doesn't apply to seat-rental games or games
where the button pays the fee no matter who wins. In those games, you should loosen
up in response to loose opponents, just as if there were no fee at all.
4.
World-class players can easily detect cheating.
The most sophisticated forms of card marking, card manipulation, and poker
partnerships are the least obvious. Surveillance at many major casinos is very
effective, providing players with protection they don't have in home games. But
players need to stay alert, because even world-class players can be and have been
cheated. I personally feel much safer playing poker in reputable casino environments
than in home games. You should, too.
5.
A "stop loss" is a good concept.
The term stop loss simply means that once you have lost a predetermined amount of
money, you will quit no matter what. Unless you're using it for purely psychological
reasons, or to keep you out of games where you may have miscalculated your edge,
stop loss is not an effective means of money management. Since stop loss means to
quit if you lose a predetermined amount, you are often merely stopping your
opportunity for profit. Stop loss then becomes stop win. If you can emotionally handle
the loss, the game is good, and you're playing well, you will eventually earn more
money the more hours you play.
Despite this, there are some good reasons to quit when you're losing. For instance, the
game may not be as good as you think or opponents may not be intimidated by you
and thus tend to play better. So, yes, tend to extend your sessions when you're winning
and shorten them when you're losing. But - unless you've worked out a complex
personal formula that dictates that you drop down to a lower limit if your bankroll
shrinks to a given level - there is no fixed magic amount of maximum loss that you
should use to save money. Consider each situation separately.
6.
Don't count your chips while you're sitting at the table.
Counting chips is useful in measuring how well you're doing. But, you shouldn't use
this count for things like quitting when you're ahead to manufacture a win streak. Still,
you should know how you're doing in a game. So go ahead and count. Almost all
professional poker players do.
7.
A player acting nervous is likely to be bluffing.
Bluffers bolster themselves, are sometimes rigid, sometimes don't breathe, and seldom
look nervous or shake.
8.
Skillful players seldom check and call.
Checking and calling is a natural tactic in poker. It often means that your hand is not
good enough to bet and not bad enough to fold. Against frequent bluffers and
overaggressive foes, checking and calling is very profitable.
9.
Hold 'em requires more skill than seven-card stud.
Nope. Stud is more complex, but there is more luck involved, so your tough decisions
aren't as consistently rewarded. But to figure out what the actual best decisions are in
stud requires a lot more analysis, largely due to the interaction of your cards versus
your opponents. In hold 'em, all face-up cards are communal, and the possible
combinations of all the opposing hands are fewer and easier to consider. Additionally,
it is helpful to remember folded face-up cards in stud, but this profit-making skill is
not available in hold 'em, where no faceup cards are ever thrown away.
Yes, there often are fewer skilled players in seven-card stud than in hold 'em. But this
speaks to the type of players the games attract, not to the theoretical levels of skill
needed to play perfectly.
The cards will break about even in 100 hours. Cards may not break even in a year or in a
lifetime when you consider factors such as holding big winning hands in the right games
against the right players. However, the best players will almost always win for a year, but luck
will determine how much. - MC

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