POKER TIP OF THE DAY Here’s a simple tip if you are enjoying some short-handed play. Let’s assume there are only four or five of your playing and you find yourself in the blind. If there are limpers ahead of you that’s your signal to take down the pot. Here’s why. In short-handed games any player with an Ace high or even a King is probably going to raise. If no-one raises ahead of you then you should do so no matter what you’re holding. If an Ace shows up on the flop so much the better because you know already from the limpers it’s unlikely anyone has its twin. You need to bet like crazy because any remaining opponents are going to figure you’re the one holding the second Ace and fold.
DEFENDING BLINDS Another thing to remember in short-handed poker is the tendency quite a lot of players have to defend their big blinds. Often they’ll do this when they’re holding nothing at all in the hope that others will fold and give them their investment back plus a profit. If you have gone in with a pre-flop raise, seven times out of ten it will pay you to follow up with another bet on the flop itself. This will sew the seeds of doubt if the big blind is holding less than comforting hole cards. He will have doubled his contribution to the pot only to find himself confronting regret. With luck you’re aggression will get him out of there along with your oher opponents.
MOOD MANAGEMENT In cyberspace, nobody can hear you scream, so how you manage your moods, during hours of playing poker online and alone, is perhaps more significant than most people would want to admit. I’m not going to bother with the whole psychological debate. Just keep one simple fact in mind. All poker players can expect to spend a lot of their time losing. Of itself losing is just part of the game. What you have to watch is losing badly.
A NEW ANGLE ON TILTING Losing badly is what professional players call “going on tilt”. Being aggressive in a game of poker is required behaviour. Being aggressive with yourself after losing a few games is not required. The only mood management worth concentrating on is your anger and frustration with yourself. The cause of most “bad beats” rest at the door of the player who is bemoaning them. Visualise yourself as the kind of cool character you’d like to be in a poker movie and become that character. Fake it until you make it. If you lose three games in a row: Take a break. Try some blackjack or roulette or take the dog for a walk. Never let losing get to you. That’s mood management pure and simple.
