Poker Articles

Scraping the Rust Off
By Mike Paulle

Maybe this has happened to you. For whatever reason you don't get to play poker for a month or two. When you come back to the game, you find that everything you knew is gone and you have to start all over like a rookie. If this has never happened to you, I hope it never does. It's a bitch!

Since the World Series of Poker ended I've had to relearn how to play poker. Not being able to play for a month, while the Series was going, seems to have destroyed my game. Normally I win all the time, that's why I can write poker advice columns. If I didn't win on a regular basis, I wouldn't feel right about suggesting to you how the game should be played.

But I haven't had too many winning sessions in the last few weeks, as a combination of inactivity and running bad has caused my game to spring a few leaks. As I play more, the expertise will reassert itself. And I'll quit running bad. In the meantime, I just have to suffer.

A hand that came up the other night is an example of what happens when you don't play as often as you usually do.

I was in a $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em game at the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas. This is about the easiest poker game to beat in the entire universe, unless you are rusty like I was.

I have about $350 in front of me. That's my normal amount for this game. It allows me to win a lot and not lose a lot.

I pick up the infamous pocket Aces in my big blind. There were seven players at the table at the time. One player and the button had called the $2, the small blind tossed in a buck. What to do? How much should I bet with this hand? In an attempt to be casual about the monster I have, I say, "It's going up!" and flip $15 in the pot.

Now $15 is a pot limit bet in this situation, not a no limit bet. I was being greedy. I wanted callers, which is always a mistake with pocket Aces. Still I got what I would normally want. I got heads up with one caller. Unfortunately it was the wrong caller.

Joe Paraille is a tough no limit player. I play with him in these games all the time. He's not easy to read and he can gamble. He wouldn't have been my choice as the ideal caller. Joe was on the button with about $1,000 in front of him. He called the $15 just as casually as I'd bet it.

The flop came Q 8 3 rainbow, just about my dream flop for my hand. Joe checked giving me another chance to make a big mistake. I jumped on that chance with both feet. I put Joe on a Queen at best, if he calls, so I don't want to bet too much. He might fold if I move all-in and I would only make $20 with my beautiful pocket Aces, which I get maybe once a night.

I bet $40. Again, this is a pot limit sized bet, which is intended to give little information about how big your hand is. Joe calls quickly. I think he has a weak Queen and is afraid I have an overpair. The turn is an 8. Joe checks and I check. I'm sure I have the best hand. I want more money with my pocket Aces!

When a 4 comes on the river, Joe bets $50. Alarms are going off in my head, but I can't hear them because I haven't been playing enough. "You're going to bust me, huh, Joe?" I say as I move all-in hoping he bet with two pair. "I have to call now," Joe says and I knew I was cooked. "It ain't pretty," Joe said as he turned over 8 6 for trip 8's.

I'd completely mangled a premium hand for my entire stack in an idiotic attempt to make some extra money. These things happen when you're scraping the rust off your game. Try not to take a month or two off from playing poker. This is a warning.