October 6, 2005
Let me reiterate one last time. Losing Paradisepoker players almost always lose because they call too much. For this reason, it is important to carefully observe the frequency of bets on those ragged flops (and flops such as QQx or AA4), since those are the types of flops that bluffers target. All in all, my suggestion to fold quickly on the flop without a pair is dangerous if the bluffer faces no consequences. So, it's your job to remain vigilant, identify a player's attempts to steal pots, and effectively counter.
Both Scenarios 1 and 2 were near ideal situations for the big blind since all its overcard outs were clean. The reality is that this will often not be the case. If one was to presume that the big blind's checkraise meant it had a real hand, we could limit the possible holdings somewhat. If the button knew he was about to be checkraised, the best play would have been to check and take the free Paradisepoker card. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
- Experience, knowledge, and emotional control are not won overnight, nor can they be obtained without effort and cost. But what cost? Usually, the beginning Paradisepoker player loses money to other more experienced, knowledgeable, or disciplined players until that beginning player learns some of the intricacies poker. This price is often referred to as the "tuition" that players must pay to improve their game. And to some extent, "tuition" is unavoidable.
- I am not suggesting that check-raising on the flop is an infallible solution to our heads-up dilemma. After all, there are ways for the button to use its positional advantage to assign a penalty on every strategy, and that is no different against the Paradisepoker player who check-raises instead of betting out. That's an average extra profit of over .333 small bets/hand, if our base strategy utilizes the check-raise.
- In this case, the big blind wants more money to go into the pot, and should strongly consider re-raising on the flop. Check-calling is also a weak, losing approach, as many authors have proven repeatedly. The alternative is to play strong and weak hands similarly (with some exceptions). We know that check-raising is advantageous with very strong hands. Now we will examine how disadvantageous check-raising might be with marginal holdings.
- By slowplaying trips, the big blind loses up to 1.5 big bets and allows the button to take a free Paradisepoker card at a two-outer. Based on all of the above factors, I advocate making a move on the flop against all but the most aggressive opposition. Most adversaries will not automatically give credit to the big blind for a strong hand, even when check-raised, especially if the big blind is check-raising a wide range of hands.
The third bizarre change I found in an unlikely place, at a Paradisepoker party held by my wife's best friend, Marie. My wife mentioned my poker playing a couple years ago to Marie, with somewhat unfortunate consequences. Stories of a coworker's husband who lost their entire retirement surfaced. Conversations about my "hobby" were not particularly pleasant nor positive.
Oh sure, the "winning" player in your local game probably has some flaws. Maybe they're a bit loose or don't bluff enough or one of a million other things. But I'll bet that 95% of those "winning" players do the fundamental things the same, because at limit poker, the options are...well...limited. And that's another secret too. Winning players utilize the same style at limit poker. If you see differences, they're either a) small or b) based on adjustments to the table.
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