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Your First Five Minutes At The Table
By Josh Arieh
After two longs hours of listening to a list of other people’s names, I finally hear those sweet words: “Josh A, your seat is open for the $10-$20 no limit game”. Man, I’ve been sitting here on the rail people-watching at the Bellagio forever, and now it’s time to get in the action; time to put my skills to work and make a few bucks for the girls at home. As I’m pealing off the hundreds for the chip runner, the players in the game are jockeying for the open seat that’s meant for me. Are they trying to get position on me? Are they trying to get to the left of another player in the game?
My seat is finally decided upon and I get the 1 seat next to the dealer. Sweeet! If the dealer gives me a bad beat I can just give him a swift elbow to the gut (just kidding). Now it’s time to get to work. I take a glimpse around the table and my preparation starts right now.
What do you think about when you first sit down? The thoughts that go through your mind during the next five minutes are as important as any hand you play the rest of the night.
If “What am I gonna drink tonight?” is the first thing you think, just turn the page and skip this article, because you are obviously a player that really doesn’t care too much. But if you’re a player who is serious about winning and wants to know the finer points of No Limit, please read on and feel free to email me your thoughts.
First things first: always, always take a few minutes to determine exactly what everyone at the table is trying to accomplish. Ask yourself, ‘Who is this guy?’ Is he here to learn? Is he here to have fun? Does he play for a living? There are a million questions that you can ask yourself about every opponent, and the more questions you ask, the easier it is going to be to get comfortable in the game.
Lots of your profit in no limit games is going to come from picking a target and going after him (I’m getting real sick of you guys picking on me and making me your target, by the way!). Your job is to find the target and find him fast.
The guys who were jockeying for position are probably playing for profit. Pay attention to the players that they’re trying to get to the left of. Ask yourself what a player’s reason for moving is. Think about it. He’s doing your homework for you. You’re getting inside information about certain players and you haven’t even played a hand.
Figure out who is winning and losing. People usually don’t play as well when they are losing, and therefore a losing player may be easier to target. No Limit is a card game, but in No Limit Hold’em the most important thing you have to do is learn and understand the people you are playing against. The strategy you used the last time you played could be worthless today. Every time you sit down you need to be able to understand what kind of game plan you are going to use and to know that that game plan is going to be the right one.
It sounds pretty simple, just figure out who’s drinking; pick on the drunk guy who’s just there having a good time gambling. They are everywhere, guys. Face it, poker is the mainstream these days and it’s a lot more fun than blackjack. We may get a lot of bad beats from bad players because of this, but, in the long run, we want these people at the poker table rather than the blackjack table.
In your first five minutes you will need to establish a dominating presence at the table. You don’t want to be someone else’s mark. If no one at the table knows you, they might pick you out as a sucker and start messing with you. No Limit is no fun when you have a big target on your head. From the minute you sit down, reek of confidence. Sit up high in your chair and let everyone at the table know how comfortable you are. Be intimidating; let them know that you have played plenty of No Limit and that you’re ready for any angle they try to throw at you. Doing this will not only gain you the respect of your opponents, but will also help you stay focused.
Last, and definitely most important: PAY ATTENTION. I can’t stress this
enough. You will learn more after you fold than you will any other time. Look for the little things; the details, because that’s where your bread and butter is. If you pay attention constantly you will find certain tells and you will pick up on a player’s betting patterns. Players will give you information that you can use against them, and eventually you will be able to pick up pots here and there on the strength of that information.
Best of luck at the tables. If you use this simple info I guarantee you will improve your game and you’ll be one step closer to playing world-class poker. Anyone can sit around and wait on big hands, but when you pay attention and come to the table to work out a game plan, you will be able to expand your starting hands and increase your hourly expectations - fast.
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