Using Betting Time to Mislead
Opponents
written by BeatTheFish.com
 ...Fishy
says, "Why rush when you're betting if you want them to
call?"
Patience is a
virtue in poker, as it is in life. If you don't play poker with
patience and discipline, you're certainly not winning as much as you
could be, if you win at all. A little bit of self-determination may
be all it takes to regain your psychological poker smarts. I believe
that your outlook on the game and your ability to make responsible
decisions is just as important as the cards you hold and what
position you're in.
Remember that you can't control any of your
opponents' actions, but you have to control every one of your
own actions. Your only action at the table is to make the best
possible decisions given the information available to you. That’s
it. Poker’s pretty simple when you think about it that way. Just
focus on making good decisions every time it is your turn to act. No
one is immune from playing the occasional J-5 offsuit from under the
gun, but try to practice self-discipline and keep this leak to a
minimum.
Initially, you need
patience in terms of your starting hands. Ideally, you should wait
for the right opportunity with strong cards and seize it by raising
your opponents and building a pot. Most often, you’ll need this
patience when you’re in the middle of a run of cold cards. However,
you also need patience when you’ve hit a real monster hand. I often
see players, especially online, who can’t wait to get all their
chips in the pot after they just hit their nut flush or straight.
Why give away your hand unless you’re trying to bluff your opponent
out of the pot? Of course, that is a great online bluff to take
advantage of occasionally, and we’ll discuss it more in depth in a
future column. Just know that betting or raising instantly can be a
great tool to intimidate your opponents and gain control of the
hand.
Slow Down and
Hesitate With Your Monster Hands
Let’s assume,
however, that you aren’t bluffing and that you want
action from your opponent. Have a little patience and take your time
when you’re about to call or raise your opponent. What you’re trying
to convey is weakness and hesitation. When you have a very strong or
unbeatable hand, you should let your opponent take control.
If you are in position and are acting after your opponent,
immediately betting, calling, or raising will let your opponents
know that you have something. This shouldn’t be your goal when you
want action. However, by “thinking” about your action for at least a
few seconds, you’re implying that you have a close call to make. If
you’ve hit your hand on the flop and your opponent bets out, you
should consider just calling his bet instead of raising. Why? If
you’ve hit the nuts or close to it, you want your opponents to pay
you off. You should string him out and allow him to improve his hand
as opposed to raising him out of the pot on the flop.
To illustrate this
point, let’s say that you limped in with Ah-6h from the button in a
no-limit ring game. This isn’t a call that you would normally make,
but you were feeling confident and 3 other limpers had come into the
pot. The big blind checks the hand down, and you see a flop of 4h,
Jh, 9h giving you the nut flush! Ah, if poker were as easy as
imagination. Anyway, since you’re on the button, you have position
on your 4 opponents and will get to act last in each betting round.
Remember, position is power in hold ‘em and you’ve picked the best
position to play your hand from. You don’t want to scare anyone out
of the pot with 4 suited cards on the board.
The big blind bets the
pot, and everyone folds to you. First of all, there’s no reason to
raise this hand as there are no conceivable threats to your flush
right now. Don’t call right away, though! Take your time and act a
little bit. Try to give off a, “Shoot. I’ve got two pair but he
could have a flush” vibe. After you’ve given it a few seconds, just
call. Do you see the advantage in this play? He probably won’t put
you on a made flush because of your hesitation, plus you’ve
allowed him to take control.
The turn comes with
another heart, this time with an 8. This is an excellent card for
you, as your opponent could have also just made a lesser flush. Your
opponent bets the pot again, which has grown quite large. At this
point, if he has just a little bit more money you might as well put
him all-in. However, if there is still a decent amount to be won,
just hesitate and call again. Your opponent might be getting
suspicious, but if he has the Q or K of hearts, he’ll be feeling
pretty good at this point. The river comes with a deuce of spades,
and he bets half of his remaining stack. Hesitate one final time
before you double his raise, putting him all-in. Hopefully, he
actually has made another flush and will call your bet. If he’s just
been bluffing the whole time, he’ll probably fold but you’ve managed
to gain a lot more out of him on the turn and river by letting him
think he was ahead. In the actual hand in question, the opponent had
a Qh-Kc.
Again, you can
extract many extra bets from your opponent by taking your time and
looking like you’re hesitating when you have a great hand. After you
do hesitate, think about just calling or check-calling rather than
raising. If you can’t see a possible better hand than yours, why
drive your opponents out of the pot? Keep in mind that this is the
opposite strategy I recommend when you have a vulnerable hand
like top pair, two pair, or a set with a draw on the board. In these
situations, you should bet out to protect against possible draws.
Back to Online Poker Strategy
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