FREQUENTLY ASKED POKER QUESTIONS Q: What kind of opponent do you look for to exploit in a game of poker? A: The question pre-supposes there’s a choice and of course to a certain extent there is if you do your railbird homework and watch the pattern of play. You can usually spot what I call “recreational players”. These are people who have decided the money they lose is simply a way of paying for poker lessons and broadening their skills. You don’t want folk like this to leave your table, so the art is to mug them gently and keep them coming back for more “lessons”.
WORST KIND OF OPPONENT Q: What kind of character do you most fear finding yourself up against? A: Anyone who constantly surprises and refuses to be defined by any discernable pattern of play. When you’re sure they’re bluffing, they aren’t. When you’re convinced they have the goods, they don’t. When they raise pre-flop they must have a high pair but they don’t. They are what all good poker players should strive to be: The Chameleon.
POKER TABLE SELECTION TIP Q: I’ve been playing online for about a year and I’ve just joined my local poker room to get some face-to-face action. Do you have any good pointers about table selection now that I’ll actually be able to see the whites of the opposition’s eyes? A: Here’s a simple suggestion but it isn’t bullet proof. You’ll usually find young players tend to form a table together and older players do the same. It’s a kind of natural selection based on having conversation pieces in common. Fifty year olds don’t want to talk about the Arctic Monkeys. If you want to avoid outright blatant aggression, sit down with older players. Young guys tend to play poker the same way they drive their hatchbacks. If it suits your particular game to confront aggression, then do the opposite of my suggestion.
IT’S A SHOOTOUT! Q: I know what a “heads up” is and also a “showdown” but what’s meant by the term “shootout”? A: A shootout is a poker format where players face each other in parallel ten-player tournaments with the winners of each then facing off in another round of ten-player tournaments until a single winner emerges. Online events of this kind are great fun.
Q: What does the term “bubble” mean? A: It’s the “critical moment” in a tournament where outlasting a number of opponents will get you into the prize money. If the bubble bursts on you, you are left just outside of the prize money.
ALL THE ACES poker column: Monday, August 28, 2006: "The best and worst poker opponents"
