If you understand that poker is more about people than
cards, then one thing you must establish is the level at
which your opponent thinks, and here’s why:
You are sending a message with each check, bet or
raise, but you must know how your opponent thinks in
order to have that message received the way you want.
Daniel Negreanu, the 2004 Card Player magazine Player
of the Year, provided an example of that in a hand he
played against Huck Seed, the 1996 World Series of Poker
champion, knowing that acting weak with a strong hand
would play to Seed’s aggressive style and gain Negreanu a
bigger pot.
Seed limped from late position. Negreanu called from
the small blind with K-Q offsuit. The big blind also called.
The flop came K-J-8 rainbow, giving
Negreanu top pair/good kicker. He
checked.
“Huck bets about $5,000, which is
about the size of the pot,” Negreanu
said. “I decide to be careful. He could
limp in there with A-K. I
play it safe. Just call.”
The big blind folded. The
turn came a 5. Both players
check.
“Now I’m pretty sure I
have the best hand,”
Negreanu said.
The river came a 6.
“I decide to bet $7,000, which is a
weak lead,”Negreanu said. “There’s
$15,000 in the pot. I’m betting a small
amount. What that looks like is a
player might have a pair of Js, pair
of 8s.”
Negreanu’s message was that he was trying not to face
a big bet, even though he welcomed it and got it when Seed
raised $25,000.
“I’m thinking, `What in the world could the 5 have
done?’ ” Negreanu said. “Because 7-9 would’ve given him
an inside straight on the flop. On the turn, he would’ve
been double-guttered. On the river, he would’ve made it.
He could’ve feasibly had that hand, and I knew that, but I
know Huck, and I know Huck is very capable of pouncing
on weakness — that little, weak message that I sent him.
Huck is very perceptive. I started trying to get him talking,
and he wouldn’t talk. I started getting a read that he
wouldn’t have it. Finally I made the call.
“Initially, I was betting to protect myself from getting
raised. But then, as it turned out, I got more out of it by
delving further into the hand and knowing Huck is capable
of a play like that.
“In certain situations, if you know what a player will
pounce on, you can set them up. I wasn’t necessarily setting
Huck up there. I was using the weak lead, but I
changed my mind. In poker, you set up your strategy, but
you have to be willing to adapt. You don’t just lock in on
one pitch. You have to be able to change your read.”
Daniel Negreanu
King of hearts
Queen of diamonds
The flop
King of clubs
Jack of spades
8 of diamonds
Turn and river
5 of hearts
6 of clubs
– – –
Table talk
Double-guttered: A board that presents the possibility of two inside straights; in this hand, a player holding 4-7 or 7-9 would have made a straight.
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srosenbloom@tribune.com
