Player's Stories

Card Players Are Always Looking For An Edge
By Tim Kopp

Card players are always looking for an edge, and in the early going my edge was having had grown up with parents who loved to play cards. Every Saturday night as a kid my parents would host a poker game amongst their friends and neighbors. Just wanting to be a part of the fun, I'd run around the kitchen emptying ashtrays, fixing drinks, and making sure everyone had an ample amount of snacks available.

At some point in the night my dad would normally sit me on his lap and let me push in his bets, rake his pots, so on and so forth. Later on in life he would tell me he used to do that because it used to fluster some of his opponents and he could pick up their tells easier. Also, he would add, it stopped the constant barrage of, "Can I play?" coming from me.

Anyway, I'd get to watch my dad play out his hands and got a sense on how to play the game, or I should say, how he played the game. My dad always used to say that poker was 40% skill, 40% psychology, and 10% luck. As far as I could tell, luck wasn't a part of his game. They'd call him "Brickhouse" because it appeared that he rarely took chances, and in doing so, set himself up for some great moves. Dad had great timing on the bluff and could make his opponent lay down their cards 90% of the time with large, timely raises.

One night, when I was a bit older, I watched him fold twenty-three hands in a row only to raise all-in with high card against, what I thought, was an apparent three of a kind. The guy merely looked at dad and laid his hand down immediately. As my dad raked the pot the man insisted on seeing dad's cards and when my dad just flashed his ace, the man slammed his fists on the table, requested to be cashed out, and left the game.

"Patience, son," Dad said beaming, "will put you on the plus side more often than not."

"How can you fold more than 20 hands in a row and then push in with nothing better than high card?" I asked as my dad stacked up his winnings.

"I thought you were paying attention. What do you think just happened here?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do you think I just won that hand? Good timing? Luck? " He smiled and let out a little laugh.

"I don't know, you must have picked up a tell. It looked to me like he had the hand made." I eyed the open seat.

"Mmm, kinda sorta. You see, with a guy like that, his play is rather predictable. He's just like 60 to 75 percent of the people you'll come up against who think they know what they're doing. Chips talk son. I'll break it down for you so you can see. Pull up a chair.

I sat in the newly vacant seat.

"Not that chair!" He was irritated, "That's a player's seat. Go grab a chair from the other room and come sit next to me."

A bit embarrassed, I went and grabbed a chair. I wasn't about to challenge his authority while he was in a game. I set the chair next to my dad and sat down.

"Now," He leaned closer and lowered his voice a bit, "a lot of players, and especially that guy, will bet when their hands are weak and check when they're holding heavy. Strong means weak, weak means strong; remember that, it's as good as gospel to any player. So, with him being on the big blind, and knowing that what I just said applies to this particular player, I decided to play a so-so starting hand to see if I could make a move if the opportunity arose. Do you remember the golden rule?"

"Always a bettor or raiser be?" I said

"Right! Avoid just calling an un-raised pot from a late position if at all possible. It makes it harder for the other players to put you on a hand. So, with everybody folding in front of me, I threw in my token raise knocking out the button and the little blind out of the hand and leaving the big blind to see my raise or concede the pot. Now, I've played with that guy long enough to know that he rarely folds his blinds and that if he has anything of a hand, he'll re-raise if the play is heads up. Well, he called the bet so I figured right then and there I probably had the better hand from the get go. Do you remember what flopped?

"Three of Clubs, Six of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds."

"Umm Hmm, and what did he do?"

"He checked, but…"

"But what? What did I just say? Strong means weak, weak means strong. I figure that he didn't make a pair of jacks because if he had one, knowing his past play, he most definitely would have re-raise my initial bet before the flop. So what do you think he has at this point?"

"An under pair?" The hell if I knew.

"Nope, try again."

"Trips?"

My dad sighed, "Tim, no. If he had a pocket pair he would re-raised pre-flop. Now what does that leave?

"Two pair, three's and six's!" I was beginning to see my dad's logic.

"Exactly!" I could tell my dad was still excited about the steal. "So, he checked, and I checked to make him think I was afraid of the jack. And here's the beauty of this hand; another jack fell on the turn, counterfeiting his under pair, but giving him the impression that his top two pair was still good because he thinks I already fear the jacks. He plays at the pot with a substantial bet (strong means weak), and I practically beat him to the pot with an all-in raise! He's not stupid, so he can't help to think I've trapped him with 3 Jack's or a bettor two pair. He has a decent hand, but knows that calling would be extremely costly if I'm not bluffing. So, the only play he can make is the smart one. He had to fold.

You like?

"Jesus Dad, that's awesome!"

"I know it is!" He said proudly. "But listen Tim, I could have gotten extremely burned on that play. Confidence and timing were the keys to that hand. You just don't need to know how to play the game, but you also have to know how to play your opponents."

"So do you think I could sit in a few hands since there's an open seat?"

My Dad looked at me for a few moments as if he was contemplating a bluff. "Save your money and go do something productive."

I couldn't wait for the day I could show up my dad.