Poker Perambulation

My last post was atypical.  But, it served to make me think about the strengths and weakness that tournament poker has brought about.  Tournament poker has changed.  It has gotten much closer to ring play than it was in the past.  It remains a format that dictates play more than the other options in poker.

If somebody hasn't said it they should have:

Blinds doth make fools of us all.

It always provides more ways to fail than to succeed.  Today's formulaic approach that is hot is the Scandi approach.  It gets the popular press.   It is the exciting form.  Is it that unique or powerful?  Unique has to go with a no.  A coked up kid played it that way in early days.  Stuey had his flaws but he knew how to work aggression.  Doyle's T2 was a back to back powerhouse and demonstrated that the best can suckout like the worst.  Super System I defined aggressive play.

A single hand cannot define a player.  Nowhere is that more true than in tournament poker. Aggression isn't new nor does it come from a particular local.  Letting a hand define a player always misses.  But, it is interesting and worth the discussion.  In the final analysis, it is what every edited, tournament poker show is about.

Now every style of play has its counter.  That is a basic fact.  Probably the pro that has posted most on that subject is Negreanu.  He really understands blind level, players and timing.  Ivey may understand ebb and flow better than anyone in the moment.  But, he stays mum on the topic.  Tuesday night he demonstrated (edited version) being a card rack and that too is part of it. 

It is interesting that in an era defined as Scandi poker that the most respected tournament books were written by “Action Dan” Harrington.  They are great because they do reveal ongoing hand thought far beyond an interview or airing of single or key hands.  The idea remains placing yourself in a position to participate in that key hand.   Harrington has provided such knowledge and that trumps all the formulaic approaches.  

I recall making a comment a number of years ago about the big tournament that Poker Room ran.  That site was a club like place and we knew a lot of players.  I followed several of them over several hours.  One of them was not a weak anything.  Maybe loose cannon is the better term.  His stack was all over the place.  Early on he tripled up and went into table captain mode.  He was overbetting often.  There was a girl in the game that I'd played a lot with.  She wasn't a weak-passive or pick the negative term of your choice.  She struggled for hours.  She just wasn't picking up cards but would do the blind steal now and then.

Hours in the cannon was long gone.  The girl was slipping away.  When she'd try something it just didn't go her way.  Not an unusual happening for any of us.   The difference between the two players was that she was managing to hang in there and keep herself in a position to profit if the ebb went into flow mode.   The guy had success handed to him early and blew it up with his overbets while ignoring position.  You aren't position for success if your stack plays yo-yo.  I said in a forum afterwards that of all the various friends I'd followed, I thought she'd played best although you had to like watching grass grow to follow her.  But she was hanging on when day two came.  Yeah, short stacked and carrying long odds with the blinds starting to get nasty.

Now espousing that view is going to have my recent friend showing up with some sand to kick in my face.  Yes, it is great fun to talk about your level three move.  We all love to talk about our great successes, reads or laydowns.  All that happens from enlightened novices through the November Nine.  We've the hand histories to prove it. 

We've recently bandied about the term “Play to win” like it exonerates our blunders.  Blunders come to all who play poker.  Yes, you can win out of position by betting total crap.  On some tables it can even turns into a staple.  The simple fact is betting total crap from early position is risky.  When you fire the completion bet when two behind you called, you're a gambler. Gambling needs to be more selective when you “Play to win” consistently.

ADDENDUM:

My favorite players are the agro gamblers.  It opens up a lot more options.  Having position on them is a plus but I'll live with lost position.  It is one's easiest chances for a substantial pot that moves the serve to your court.   It is one of the few benefits that big blinds can actually enhance.  They do bring one more risk but they can exponentially up the reward.  Maybe it won't work this outing but the payoff potential is huge.  I'll take that any day.

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