Gabba Gabba Hey

My last post was a bit of a disjointed rambling. Sorry about that. There was one very important point I wanted to make about why live poker is a great place to improve your skills and I completely forgot to mention it. So here it is:

In a live-person game (opposed to on-line) after big hands the winner and and loser often quickly discuss why they made the moves they did. These little comments are incredibly valuable to people learning how others approach different situations. I don't think I've ever been at a table where this has not happened. The hand is over, so the players usually don't see the harm in discussing it, even though the chat reveals to other players how they play. Just being at the table and listening to these post-hand recaps will give you many mini-lessons. The fact that it takes a little while between hands for the dealer to extract the rake, push the chips to the winner, exchange decks and deal, means that these little analysis sessions naturally tend to fill the void.

Do be careful, because good players will change up their strategies - particularly after talking about them. Be wary of the guy who says he always plays this or that situation a certain way, he might be setting you up. But you can take most of what you hear at face value, because much of the talk won't be about the cards but about the other players. The comments you will hear will be something like:

"When you called my bet after the turn, I knew I was dead."

"I didn't put you on aces. Why did you just limp in with aces?"

"I wasn't sure if you hit the king or the queen on the flop."

Such comments reveal information about the speaker's thought process and also reveal a bit about how your opponents feel about each other. You don't even have to play a hand to learn a lot.

For similar reasons, one of the best things you can do to improve your game is to discuss your experiences with friends who also play. A friend of mine told me about how he got knocked out of a tournament in Vegas when he made a bad call with pocket queens post-flop. I remember his description of the hand and I have learned from his experience and it didn't cost me anything. Many professionals are constantly analysing their play by discussing hands with friends - you should too.

No-Limit Chinese Pineapple

After a couple hours the guy on my left started talking and soon the whole table started chatting like we were old buddies. Lefty was new in town and wanted to know about the different casinos. There was talk about how the Elbow River was a limit hold 'em place and that you could play omaha high at the Deerfoot. People talked about their favourite card games. This one older guy said how he liked to play pineapple. I asked what that was.

"Pineapple is just like hold 'em, except everyone is dealt three cards and they discard one before the flop," he replied.

"And there's Chinese pineapple," added the dealer. "That's where you discard one of your three cards after the flop."

People were generally loose and having a good time. An Asian guy listening to music on his i-pod pulled an ear-bud out to hear what all the talk was about. Hearing that it was just chit-chat, he went back to his music.

A new hand was dealt and it folded around to i-pod man, who put in a raise. The guy on my right, an Arab in a Yankees cap, called and the two of them saw the flop. I-pod bet half the pot and Yankee Fan called. After the turn, I-pod bet half the pot and Yankee Fan calls again. The river comes and this time I-pod just checks. Yankee Fan thinks very hard about what he should do. After a minute Yankee Fans asks I-pod how many chips he has, but because he is listening to music I-pod doesn't hear the question. Instead I-pod assumes that Yankee fan has checked and that it's time to reveal his hole cards.

"I just have ace high," says I-pod and the table erupts in laughter. Yankee Fan moves all in and I-pod, realizing what he has done, folds.

And that is why it is good idea not to listen to music at the poker table.