What makes a good player? Part 5

      Phil Hellmuth has a big mouth at the poker table. I have heard many say that is not his normal character. Does he do that at the table to hide the strength of his hand? Does he do it to intimidate? Does he do it because it really is his character or does he think he will gain information from the other players by acting that way? Is he hiding his own tells or is he trying to pull tells from the other player. It can be very difficult to prevent yourself from giving away information when playing live. It takes practice. Many do not think about the information they are giving away when they look at their cards, when they touch their chips, when they see the flop and like their hand, or when they do not like their hand. Hiding tells is an important part of poker but not the most important. You might like every hand you see, and yet not win a single one.  You might read weakness on a player and push all your chips in trying to get them off a hand and yet, they call anyway, hitting bigger than your hand to take all your chips.
      Creating an image, knowing what your image is and using it to your advantage, could be one of the more important aspects to gaining chips. If the table thinks you only play AA or KK, a bluff may just push them off at the right time. If they believe you might be playing any two cards, when you hit those trip aces, they may think you are trying to buy the hand and call you to the river. Its important to know how you are perceived by the table. If you bluff a lot, and just keep bluffing, the chances of your success on following bluffs goes down. If you will play a single pair of aces to the river and be unable to fold, you will get called only by hands that will beat you. Creating confusion in your image, making sure that your bluffs get called sometimes, ensuring that when you need it most your image helps you, not hurts you, these are very important.
      We have touched on many different possible reasons that some players win more than others, and still we have a lot of variables in style of play. How many different styles are there? Well, obviously several, but the winners of the WSOP all had an aggressive approach. And while this is true, it is the aggressive approach that can get a player into the most trouble. You also have the complete conservative, or 'rock' player. As mentioned earlier, it is this approach, most all say cannot win games consistently. Yet, when they bet, you better have a hand. Gus Hanson is the perfect example of a complete free, or loose aggressive player. When he raises, you probably have a better hand and yet, it can be very difficult to call when he bets. You have low ball players, high ball players, the Sklansky method, tight aggressive, loose aggressive and players that never bet no matter what they hold. There are books that tell you, the way to win consistently is only through their method and style of betting. Could a particular style be the secret. Do the majority of players just lack the ability to play the style as explained within the book or is the 'secret' kept secret? The styles mostly differ in the betting. You watch a player bet, other players fold, they win chips. Isn't that is the point of the game? Win all the chips. Its that simple. Follow the simple plan the book lays out for you, throw your chips in the middle and everyone will give em up to ya. I have played too many games and too many different styles to consider that simply employing a style is the difference in winning consistently for the average player. Does it help? Absolutely, but you cannot cram a certain style down the throat of a table and expect it to work every time.  There must be more to it.
     Position is also extremely important. I have written and will continue to write more about position at a table during a hand. But as I have been going through the different aspects of the game, each one seems to be just as important, some more than others, but each important. Yes, position gives you information, but you can use the information and still lose. I was heads up at a final table last week, I had position in pre-flop betting as I was the big blind and we were near even stacked. The blinds were huge compared to stack sizes and the structure of the game did not allow for much more than making a move with a good hand pre-flop. One purchased blind creates a huge swing. My opponent limped in from the small blind. Having played him many times, I knew he did not have a hand he was overly thrilled with. I looked down at A5 suited and made the move with all my stack. He grimaced a bit, thought about it and then grudgingly made the call. I know by odds in a heads-up situation, and by his unwillingness to raise, I made the right play, giving myself the chance to win the hand right there. And when he called with A6 off, by the odds of blinds to stack ratio, he made the right play as well. By odds we were most likely to split, yet he hit his 6. Could I have played it different? Yes. Would it have changed the outcome? Maybe, but then again maybe not. I would have been out of position on any round of betting afterward and running basically blind (without information). So in that circumstance, I know I made a good play. I'm not here to dissect that hand other than for the positional aspects and in that spot, I will make that same play repeatedly with that hand, winning the majority of them. Starting cards of A5s (suited) will win about 60% of the time and is even favored to A6os (off suit) by a small percentage. I used my positional information, but it just wasn't meant to be that hand.
     Last in the series coming up...

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http://www.glossforum.com/2009/04/07/what-makes-a-good-player-part-6-coming-soon/page1/