Posts Tagged ‘middle position’
In middle and late position, the number of players who have called before you will affect your decision whether or not to play your opening hand. Big pairs can stand up on their own but when you have a small pair, connectors, or an Ace with a small suited card you will need to improve on the flop. These are drawing hands. You won't make them often but if the flop hits you they can turn into powerful hands.
Suppose you are holding
If an Ace flops, you have an Ace with a small suited kicker, but if you flop three spades, you now have the nut flush. If you do make a flush draw, and proceed to make your flush, you will have the nuts. Similarly, a small pair will probably not win on its own without improvement. In most cases, you will need to flop a set in order to win.
With these types of hands, you want to enter the pot with a minimum bet when possible. More times than not, you won't improve your hand, but if you do make your hand when there are a lot of people in the pot, the amount of money you make will compensate you for the times that you don't make the hand. If you have a drawing hand, you want at least four people in the pot when you are in middle position and five if you are in late position.
In a loose passive game, when you know that the blinds will usually play their hands, you can count them in, even if you act before them. Professional player and author Tom McEvoy coined the Two-Limper Rule in his book Tournament Poker. He writes that once two players have voluntarily entered the pot for a minimum bet, the pot has already shaped up to be multiway.
A tell is a mannerism or physical movement that can give you an indication as to a player's intentions. There are a few subtle tells that can help you determine if the players acting after you are going to call or fold. Obviously when a player throws in his hand out of turn you know they are folding. Other times they make a move that is almost as obvious. They hold their cards in a manner that lets you know they are going to throw them into the muck. You will see them
th their cards in one hand and their wrist cocked back waiting to pitch the cards. This is a sure sign they won't be playing. If a player is not paying attention to the game or joking with another player while waiting to make his decision, there is a good chance he is merely waiting to toss in his hands.
The other side of this is when you see a player reaching for his chips before it is his turn to act. You know he will either be calling or raising. Another tell that someone will be calling is when he suddenly pays attention to the game.
Most cardrooms offer free copies of Card Player magazine. There have been many occasions when I have been in a game and players were actually reading at the table. If a player looks at his cards and then goes back to reading you know he is going to fold. If he looks at the cards and sets the magazine aside, you know he is going to play. This is a pretty obvious tell and I can only assume that these players do not realize the importance of the information they are revealing with this action.
When I started playing, I had a tell that would signal other players to my intentions. I was protecting my cards prematurely. When you are playing in a cardroom it is important to protect your cards at all times. Most players do this by putting a chip or coin on top of their pocket cards. I use a chip to protect my cards as well. What I did to give away my intentions was to look at my cards and then immediately cover them with a chip if I planned to play the hand. I would not cover them if I planned on tossing them into the muck. Luckily a good friend of mine saw me doing this and pointed it out to me. These are the types of things you should be looking for to determine a player's intention.
Most low-limit players do not give any consideration to the number of players in a hand, this is a concept that is either overlooked or ignored. Remember your big cards and pairs will win more against fewer players. Your drawing hands will play best against a lot of players. You need to know how many players are in the hand before you call.
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