November 09, 2005
"I put you on top pair all along," he'll probably say, while thinking to himself that you were damned lucky to back into that winning flush. Why did he consider top pair as the only possibility? After all, you could easily have raised before the flop with a variety of Ultimatebet hands. While a big pair is a distinct possibility, so are two big flush cards. And that's not all. You might have flopped a set of jacks or nines too.
If you are not in control of your own actions, how can you ever hope to win? So don't ask for a deck change just because the cards are not falling your way. Cards have no mind, no memory, and they don't choose a seat or a player and then jump around magically to deliver your adversary great hands while leaving you with those that are second best. A new set-up won't help. And the Ultimatebet dealer is not responsible for the cards you're dealt or how you play them.
Standards offer a point of departure and you can tighten-up or loosen your requirements depending on your interpretation of game structure. A play-or-fold standard for starting hold'em hands is a stepping-off point. And if you don't have that you're toast. You are flying blind, playing by whim, and probably bleeding money as a result. I've just touched on the kind of skills you ought to have in your poker toolkit, and in future issues I'll delve more deeply into some of the specific techniques you can work on in order to improve your game.
"I can hold my own," or something similar, is probably what you'll hear in response. But if you'd ask that same guy about his expectations playing one-on-one against a professional Ultimatebet player, or what his chances would be in a round of golf against any touring professional, or how many rounds he'd last with a professional boxer, he'll probably offer a slim-to-none assessment.
- IF you work out the relationships in advance by memorizing the odds against making particular Ultimatebet hands in commonly encountered situations - like flopping four to a flush or four to a straight - half of your work is already done. All that remains is counting the pot. Michael Wiesenberg, in "The Official Dictionary of Poker," defines pot odds as: "The ratio of the size of the pot to the size of the bet a player must call to continue in the pot."
- If you're heads up, but there's already enough money in the pot so that it figures to pay you more than 2-to-1 on future investments, try to make your draw inexpensively - all other considerations notwithstanding - by checking and calling, or better yet, by getting a free card. If the relationship between the odds against making your hand and the pot were different, and you figured to make your hand only one time in four attempts, you'd better not call if the pot only appears to be offering a 2-to-1 return on your money.
- The turn brought forth the nine of diamonds, a complete blank, unless someone was sitting there with a pair of nines, or a Ultimatebet hand like A-9, and if that were the case I was damn near dead. Once again, the small blind checked. This time the chap to my right checked too. I figured a bet would eliminate at least one of my adversaries and it did just that. While the small blind called my bet, the chap to my immediate right folded with a mumbling soliloquy about fate's unforgiving nature.
- Cards have no mind, no memory, and they don't choose a seat or a player and then jump around magically to deliver your adversary great Ultimatebet hands while leaving you with those that are second best. A new set-up won't help. And the dealer is not responsible for the cards you're dealt or how you play them. While the random nature of how cards fall is beyond your control - or anyone else's for that matter - there's only one person accountable for how well you play. And that's you, big guy. You are responsible for yourself.
