Acting for Beginners
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Yesterday, I went 2 for 4 in my SNGs, taking 1st in a 10 person SNG with bloggers GCox and Kipper, and taking 2nd in a 6 person SNG with DNasty and Trip. In both games, fellow bloggers placed (Kipper took 2nd out of 10; Trip took 1st out of 6), and I got to play with 4 out of 5 SNGers, with the sole exception being SteelerJosh, who is on SNG life-support. Our thoughts are with you and your family, Steeler. See the links on the right under 'SNG Challengers' for another view on the games played.
The highlight of the night must have been at the 10-person SNG. When my fellow SNGers play in a room together, we DO NOT COLLUDE. I don't play that way. I love the game, and to cheat would be to taint it. It just isn't worth it. "Other people are doing it!" you say? Well, other people can go fuck themselves.
So, we don't collude. But we do have a good time. This time, without any warning to Kip or GCox, I decided to play a character. I was Fishy McFisherson, the newest, most vanilla player around.
Me: "Hello everyone. This is my first time playing poker online!"
Dodo: "Hi High. Are you enjoying it?"
Me: "So far. This is cool."
Dodo: "You've never played before?"
Me: "I've played before, but never online. Mostly with friends, but we play with a lot of wilds."
You see how this went. Meanwhile, Kipper was goading me on with questions as well. The end result was that Dodo, on my immediate right, thought I was a newbie. This alone doesn't sound like it would do much, but in fact, it probably allowed me to win the whole tournament. Here is why:
Let me start by saying that Dodo was a good player, and a great sport. By the end of the game, we were joking around, and I meant no offense by my sly moves. In fact, by the end of the game, Dodo even checked out the blog. So, Dodo, if you are reading this, it was a pleasure.
It was early in the tournament. In one hand, everyone folded to Dodo, the SB (I'm the BB). He bets, and I flat call. I was mostly folding, as it was still early in the tournament and I was not getting good cards. So Dodo is thinking, if he's a fish, he's playing ABC poker. He won't call me pre-flop without a decent hand (i.e., JT or up). I actually had K2. The flop had an Ace, but nothing else of interest. Dodo bet at me. I raised him. He folded. With King high I got him to fold, because I induced the bluff on his part. Even if he had mid or low pair, he probably thought, "This HighOnPokr guy is a rookie, so he probably called with an Ace thinking an Ace alone was good...and now he hit the ace." I literally used this sort of an advantage in 6 or more hands. I knew what he thought of me, and I played into that.
The second part of my acting plan came quite accidentally. Dodo typed into the chat box, "I don't think High is a rookie. He doesn't play like one." (Thanks for the compliment Dodo). I knew I was making too many moves, but at this point, I was in good chip position and decided to take off the costume. "Hahaha. You got me, Dodo. HighOnPoker.blogspot.com." I replied in the chat box. Yes, I'm a shill for my site, even though it does nothing for me financially. Its an ego thing. Sure enough, Dodo took a quick look and got back to play. But now I had a new role, Sharky McSharkison. I switched to an overaggressive style and getting respect because the table thought that my whole ruse was the move of a sly, seasoned veteran. They didn't know it was the brainchild of boredom and over-creativity.
So, there you have it. My acting lesson for beginners. Try it out next time you are at a table. Say you are new, and play like you are new, until the opportunity arises to steal. Have fun with it, because if you aren't having fun playing poker, it isn't poker. It's just another poor paying job.
Poker, on the House!
posted by Jordan @ 8:50 AM,
5 Comments:
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At 10:45 AM,
TripJax said...
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Man that's good stuff. Wish I had been a part of that one, though I clearly wouldn't have placed in the money with Sharky McSharkison on my heels at every moment.
Good call on the colluding disclaimer. Cheaters suck.
I caught a guy cheating once in a live game. Would actually make a pretty good post, so maybe i'll write it up someday. -
At 11:25 AM,
Jordan said...
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I had an incident when I almost caught someone cheating. I've been looking for a topic to write about, and I guess that's it. Look for the post, later today.
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At 4:18 AM,
said...
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Fun reading. I didn't realize my busted steal attempt was so memorable. The hand I remember most was my weak call of Kippers all-in with my top pair and nut flush draw. It would have been ok for me to go all-in, but to call was lame. Crippled me for the rest of the game. I was on a big dry spell, but seem to be coming out of it. In four games today, I have one win and 2 2nds.
Dodo -
At 4:02 PM,
Jordan said...
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Hey Dodo:
It was only memorable to me because I felt that the table image I set helped me take the hand. Overall, though, your play was nothing to shake a stick at, so I'm not surprised you won 3 of 4 that day. -
At 8:16 PM,
High Plains Drifter said...
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Why do I always play the role of Idiot O'Toole? :)
Nice post.
