No, Sunglasses and Headphones Aren’t For Me!

I know this is being written for an online poker site, but I hope that most of you still find time to play live poker. As much as I love online poker, I would never completely give up sitting at a table and getting the chance to size up an opponent. This week’s lesson will examine why I think it is a mistake to wear headphones or sunglasses during live play.

Poker is a game of information. You give information to your opponents, and they give information to you. Most of that information is in the form of betting patterns, which is why online poker is such a great form of the game. All of the betting information is right there for you to use while playing a hand. But when you play live, there is a small amount of additional information that is given off through physical tells and audio cues. I am a very visual player, and am blessed with good eyesight. I wear contacts, and with them, my vision is 20/15. I constantly use my eyes to take in every nuance of what’s going on around me at the table. If I wore sunglasses, much of that information would be lost to me. I am confident that the information I take in with my eyes far exceeds what I give away.

If you currently employ sunglasses when you play, I would encourage you to try playing without them. Yeah, you look cool in them. Maybe. But, if you try playing without them while staying committed to taking in as much visual information as possible, you might find that not only are you doing better, the game is suddenly more interesting as well.

I reserve special scorn for the rampant use of headphones in poker tournaments. They slow down the action and, on the whole, I believe they hurt the people who use them. When a player throws a single, large chip into the pot, he usually announces ‘raise’ or ‘call’. But all the guys at the table wearing headphones can’t hear the call. Invariably, they have to take off their headphones and ask the dealer what the bet is. It is annoying when the action comes to a grinding halt to clarify something that anyone without headphones already knows. Also, poker is a social game. It would make me sad if poker someday becomes a game where nine people are sitting at a table listening to music, and no one is talking to one another.

Also, there are some valuable things you can pick up on simply by paying attention to the conversation around the table. You can sometimes tell when someone is over his head just by listening to him talk. In a recent tournament, I won a very large pot as we were nearing the last few tables because I heard someone speaking a few minutes earlier.

It was the Bellagio $15K WPT poker tournament. The blinds were $4K-$8K and I was in the big blind. A player who’d been playing very tight so far opened the pot from an early position for $25K. The small blind called and I looked down at 9-9. I often re-raise with this hand, but this seemed like a good time to just call. The flop was 8s 5s 3c. The small blind checked and, with about $275K in front of me and $100K in the pot, I continued playing cautiously and checked. The opener checked, too. The turn was (8s 5s 3c) 6c and the small blind checked. I felt like I must have the best hand, so I bet $50K. I was very surprised when the original opener raised all-in for a total of $175K. The small blind folded and now I had a big $125K decision to make. If I call and win, I have $550K and am in great shape. If I call and lose I’m in real trouble.

I didn’t think he had a big hand, but it didn’t seem like a very good bluffing situation either. The board looked really dangerous. Plus, I hadn’t seen this player get out of line at all. But then I remembered a comment he had made to his neighbor about ten minutes earlier. He had hardly played a hand for about an hour, and said to the guy next him that his cards had been so bad, it would have been just as well if he had stayed in his room after the last break. Remembering that comment, I felt there was a good chance that he was frustrated. With that factored in, I made the call. He turned over the Kd-Qd, and with a 2 on the river, I won a key hand that put me in great shape in a big tournament. If I had been listening to music, I don’t think I could have made the call.

Poker is a game of information. Sunglasses might keep some information from getting out, but they stop more from coming in. Headphones simply give you fewer opportunities to gain valuable information about other players. These are handicaps I am not willing to spot my opponents.
Howard Lederer

There’s lots of choice when it comes to poker networks including the iPoker Network, Microgaming Poker, Chico Poker and WPN Poker Networks. Check out the latest poker room reviews or the online poker showdown before you decide where to play your next hand of poker.

 More poker insight from Howard Lederer

“If he bets on the turn and you raise, you’re signaling that the turn card helped you.”

You’ve probably heard the standard reason to avoid slow playing: It’s dangerous, because when you slow play, you give an opponent a chance to make a bigger hand at a minimal cost. This is absolutely true.

But there’s another reason to play your big hands fast, and this one isn’t talked about as frequently.

A slow play can give an opponent a chance to get away from a hand more cheaply than he would have had you played it fast from the start. Consider the following example.

You’re in late position in a No-Limit Hold ’em ring game. A player raises in early position. You look at your cards, see pocket 8s, and decide to call. The flop is absolutely perfect: Qh 8h 2d. You’ve hit your set and, with the Queen out there, chances are your opponent has something – maybe A-Q, maybe pocket Kings or Aces. He bets the flop.

Many players will just call in this spot, hoping to get their opponent to bet on the turn. But a raise is usually the better play. If you just call, you risk seeing a heart on the turn.

I don’t think you need to be especially worried about the flush beating your set. You might get your set beat by a flush draw even if you raise. However, you do need to be concerned about the effect the third heart will have on your opponent. He very well might suspect that you were on the flush draw and he’d no longer be willing to commit a lot of money to the hand, even if he has Aces.

In fact, any King, Jack, 10, 9 or a card that pairs the board is likely to give your opponent pause. If he bets on the turn and you raise, you’re signaling that the turn card helped you. In effect, you’re saying that you liked the flop enough to call and the turn improved your hand in some way. You’re announcing that you can beat one pair.

So the flop very well may be the only time when your opponent is willing to make a stand with a single pair. If he bets the flop of Qh 8h 2d and you raise, he’s likely to think that you’re semi-bluffing — raising on a flush draw. At that point, he might feel compelled to protect his hand with large re-raise or perhaps an all in. When this happens, you’ll take down a monster pot.

It’s OK when a flop raise doesn’t get you the result you want. You might scare off someone holding pocket Jacks or Ace-King, but you wouldn’t make a lot of money off these hands anyway. And, if you’re up against Ah-Jh, you may lose a big pot to a flush. But that’s OK, because you’ll have gotten your money in with the best hand.

Of course, there are some occasions where slow playing is the best choice. If you flop quads or something like Queens full, you’ll want to give an opponent a chance to make some kind of hand on the turn or river. But frequently, the best option is to play fast on the flop. It may be your only chance to win a big pot with a big hand.

There’s lots of choice when it comes to poker networks including the iPoker Network, Microgaming Poker, Chico Poker and WPN Poker Networks. Check out the latest poker room reviews or the online poker showdown before you decide where to play your next hand of poker.

Despite an aversion to tips, Howard Lederer, known as “The Professor” for his ability to teach even total munters how to play poker, does give three top tips in a recent interview:

a) Never limp – despite what Doyle Brunson says (no sign of competition between pros here 🙂 )
b) Come in raising and force your opponent to define his hand
c) Always make the same raise – ideally three times the blind

Beginner’s Passion
Just put the hours in – you are learning all the time. And don’t focus solely on no-limit hold’em, which concentrates on flop betting – in limit hold’em the betting spreads over all the streets.

Study the Game Seriously
Analyse specific situations away from the table. As I learned each lesson I could free myself to react spontaneously at the table.

Achieving Expert Level
After years of study a poker player can achieve expert status. But don’t become satisfied with your success –improving as a poker player is a never-ending process. The competition is always changing and adapting. If you don’t change and adapt as well, then the competition will pass you.

Managing Your Money Skilfully
Keep detailed accounts and don’t risk more than 50 times the big blind in no-limit or 30 times the big blind in limit.

Manage Your Lifestyle
For instance, if you are tired, don’t play. Also, have a reason to win – married players do better than the single guys!

Take it One Hand at a Time
Stay ‘in the moment’. Destroy the past and don’t speculate on the future. The more that I stay focused on the present hand and forget about bad beats and bad plays, the better I play. As for the future, suppress any thoughts of winning the tournament.

Read Books
I advise that you read one book at a time, and see what works for you. I learnt from the book Zen and the Art of Archery, to relax further. A master archer can hit the target without having aimed. Cease to focus on the moment, and find that focus from within you. For two years now, I’ve been practising on my own form of poker meditation. Instead of trying hard to focus I allow it to happen through relaxation. Let the world in, let the information in.

Final Word
Let the bad plays go. Beating yourself up over a bad play serves almost no purpose other than distracting you.

Bonus Tip: Pick the Right Website: We regularly play online poker at a range of web sites and as a team of 12 each have different styles of play and preferences for different features in the poker software.

Two sites we all rate and recommend however are UK’s bet365 Poker (top site on the iPoker network – Europe’s busiest and best) and Bookmaker Poker, a savvy Costa Rica based poker room on the WPN Network.