Northern Exposure Part I

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

I learn poker lessons in the most unusual places. Of course, part of the reason for that is because I seek out unusual venues for poker play.

A few weeks ago, for example, I headed off on an expedition to Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories for whatever poker action I could find. I had heard that there were good games in those parts and I wanted to see for myself and then report back my findings.

The poker family is very wide and very tight. I have found that with a few emails and posts I can usually track down a poker playing contact in just about any region of the world. I tried this out for Fairbanks Alaska. And, true to form, two wonderful poker players popped up willing to help me with my quest. One, a life long resident of the Fairbanks area, offered to show me a nice place to eat. Another, offered me his Bed and Breakfast at a reasonable rate, with the added bonus of a regularly scheduled home game in an adjoining room. $50 a night in Fairbanks is impossible to beat for a bed and breakfast. And I was certain that this was the only B&B with a poker room attached. So I booked the reservation.

The game was immediately recognizable. It was a low limit no limit game just like many of the games I'd played in back east. There was only one other player over 30. A couple of the players were very aggressive, but not particularly selective, and most players were passive and timid - afraid to bet advantages even if they had them unless they had powerhouse hands.

I came into a situation that I've been in a number of times before. It is a good example of the inadequacy of reads when you're new to a game.

I had been playing my typical tight and aggressive game - having won $60 or so in the 90 minutes I'd been playing by raising aggressively in late position when other players showed weakness. I had done this on a bluff once, but had to show down my strong hands once or twice. So I figured that my opponents viewed me as a strong player.

A hand came up that was particular interesting. I had the Ks Jd in early position. I called the $2 Big Blind. These cames sometimes ended up with 6 or so players calling the Big Blind without anyone raising - so for cheap action I was willing to play the $2.00 and see the flop. Two other players called, including the small blind.

The Flop was Kh Js Td. The small blind and big blind checked. I had what I presumed to be the best hand. Had someone an Ace Queen or a pair of Tens, I reasoned, they would have raised pre-flop. Still, they it could be out there as could a pair of Kings or a pair of Jacks, but I discounted each of those because of the lack of a pre-flop raise and the fact that I had one of each.

I decided to raise to $10 and see what developed. The first caller folded. I was raised by the player opposite me. He raised to $30. The blinds folded.

Now I had a decision. Did he have A-Q or Trips?. A-Q for a straight seemed highly unlikely - since he would probably have slowplayed me with that monster. It seemed highly unlikely that he would raise aggressively on the flop with such a hand. More likely, it seemed to me, in fact HIGHLY more likely that he had a hand like A-K. I decided to put him to the test - and I raised him all in for another $200.

He paused and then called. We flipped over our cards. Sure enough, he had the damn A-Q for the straight.

I thought about it. And I realized that my fundamental mistake was attributing to this relatively young timid player the same strategy that a more experienced player would employ. As a timid player, this nut hand would be the exact kind of hand that would get him to raise. He wouldn't try to be deceptive, he would just bet for value as he did.

My play was exactly the kind of mistake that experienced players often make. They fall into the fancy play zone when they should be more conventional. It was a useful lesson and one that I took out of the northern wilds of Alaska.

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