Getting Outplayed In No Limit:
Why Thinking Is So Important

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

It was 10PM. The game was great. Eight bad Hold Em players and I playing in a baby no limit game. Oh, and one good player as well. Turns out he was on my right.

I say he was good. I really don't know that for a fact. I know that he was aggressive -- aggressive as Hell. Everyone else seemed to be playing a different game. "Call $2, call $2, call $2, fold, raise to $4.00, fold, fold..." That type of game -- with lots of young, timid players. And then this guy. "Raise to $20 with nothing!" "Really. I have nothing. 7-2 off. I'll show you when the hand is over." That kind of guy.

And he often did have nothing -- nothing at all. He WOULD show it down at the end. Maybe not exactly 7-2 off but frequently 10-5 suited or J-6 off or 8-6 off -- his favorite hand (so he said).

He wasn't stupid or wild -- at least not without intent. It was all part of a plan. He wanted to look loose and wild and maybe even crazy. Crazy like a used car salesman. Players tended to stay out of his way. Which let him win a lot of small pots. It's not that he never folded or always raised. But he did it often enough to keep these timid souls completely off balance. And in the process many of them learned that they couldn't win by folding. So they took stands -- or they mimicked his raising. Only they really didn't have a clue. So they called when they should have folded and raised when they should have called. And many of them lost their stacks, winced, and went home.

Man, he had them all turned around. It was fun to watch. Poor suckers.

Not me though. Nah. I'm a pro -- or at least a semipro. And an author. Don't forget that. I'm a poker author of the first rank -- a book, many articles. Hell, I even tutor people and run seminars and charity tournaments. I'm a part of this poker industry that is booming. He wasn't going to touch me. No way.

All of this hyper-aggressive stuff wouldn't work on me. I notice it. I see through it. I know better.

Well, um, kind of.

I'd been rocking around. Not that I was quiet. I stole some small pots myself with some raising. Knocked this guy to my right out of a couple of pots with my aggressive play. He wasn't going to suck out on me. He wasn't going to outplay me. Sure, I folded a lot when he raised. Why go up against him unless I had a real hand. I wasn't going to be duped like the other dopes.

I just wanted a hand. I just wanted a chance to show him who was really boss. I was patient -- and the professional player after all He was just a wildman taking advantage of children. I'd show him. Give me a hand!

I got one. He raised the $2 big blind to $10. I don't even know if he looked (sometimes he didn't). Two guys folded. My turn. I looked down and saw A-K spades. Beautiful. I had a hand. I raised to $30. Everyone folded as I figured they would. Everyone but this guy. He looked at me, smiled and said something probing like "What you got Mr. Author?". And then he called.

Good. He called. I wanted him to call. And then I wanted to hit. And I wanted him to bet. And I wanted to take all of his money.

The flop hit me very well. K-J-4. Two suited. I didn't recheck my down cards. I knew that the suit wasn't mine. But the King was. Goodie for me.

He smirked and bet $25, after playing with his chips a bit. I raised to $75. He said, "$75 huh? $75 from the Author? Hmm." Then there was a rather long pause -- maybe 10 seconds or so. "All-in" he said -- shoving in his chip rack with about $240 in chips on it.

I had about $80 left and, without any hesitation, called. What could he have, after all? I figured maybe a pair and a flush draw. Trying to knock me off my hand -- off my great top pair top kicker. Hah! I'd show him!

We exposed our hands, I before he. "Ace King" I said solemnly. He didn't announce his hand -- letting them speak for themselves. He had King Jack for top two pair.

Turn blank. River blank. He won the hand. Thank goodness it was BABY no limit.

I reminded myself how badly the other players played. And I told myself to forget about it and shake it off. Being the pro I did shake it off-- and went on to win for the night. But not from him. Nope. He left when he was up about $300.

Lesson from this experience? I'm not sure I would have played the hand any differently no matter who had done the raising or how long I had thought about it. I mean, it was $80 more and I did have top pair and top kicker. And he surely could have been bluffing -- trying to knock me off the hand with garbage. But one thing is for sure. I did get outplayed. I was over eager. I didn't think about what he might have had for a moment -- just shoving in my chips without hesitation. HAD I thought about it I may have concluded that the odds that he had me beaten were too small to warrant a fold for $80 into a pot that was nearly three times that. But the key is that I DIDN'T think. I was affected by his act and his shtick. In other words, even though I would probably have called regardless of what he was doing to me -- he WAS doing something to me. I wasn't immune. I wasn't nestled in some superior players' zone that kept me safe from the affect of deliberate attempt to get me off my game. I wasn't thoughtful. I didn't pause to consider what he might have. I didn't hesitate one bit -- calling instantly with my hand.

You see, the lesson I learned is that goading works -- even on good players. The power of the goad -- of daring someone to take you on -- is very effective in no limit. All it takes is one successful stab to take someone's entire stack. It's worth the effort to set up the play -- unlike in limit poker. I don't think I was the intended object of his act all night long -- but maybe I was.

Any time you are reacting to someone without thinking you are making a mistake. Any time someone is getting you to push your chips in without real thought you are making a mistake. That was me. Replay the action or go back and reread it and you'll see that I was a puppet when I pushed in all my chips. Sure, in retrospect it may well have been the right play -- calling as I did. But I sure didn't know it when I did it. I did it unsoundly -- prompted by the play of my opponent as opposed to the thoughtful conclusion of decision making process.

In pot limit or no limit you will often be tested with bets the size of your entire stack. If you aren't thinking "does he have me beaten" before you call then you are getting outplayed. I wasn't. So I was. Some pro I am!

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