Doyle Brunson once said that T2 can sometimes be a pretty cool hand. True, but so can any hand – especially if it wins you the WSOP main event for 2 years running. The thing about poker is that despite percentage odds, despite probability and despite players having the best cards before the end, there's often something or someone that's going to fuck it up. That's what makes the game fun!
In '76, Brunson hit runner-runner on the turn and river to make his boat for that first title – giving his opponent one of the most famous (and expensive) bad beats in poker history. However, he didn't need any luck when he wrote the poker bible, Super System, and educated a generation in various poker strategies.
Most players these days have developed their own skill sets and it seems everyone has their own, unique style. Who doesn't have a favoured starting hand (besides AA) that they love to play - even though it's somewhere between mediocre and hopeful garbage? Well, in our league Robert might like to pretend that he plays a tight game, but no-one's buying that any more. And that's the thing – we learn about each others' game when we keep playing the same people. And when we think we know another player's game, or we can read another player, watch out.
I'm pretty sure that everyone who plays regularly mixes their game up. One strategy is to feign a style in order to do the opposite later on, so anybody looking for a nice safe bet is playing the wrong game.
This week saw 2 new players joining the Poker Gods Lottery – Oskar and George. Two unknown quantities at the start, and by the end both showed they know the game well. Trying to size up your opponent's game takes time – and frequently a chunk of chips from your stack, too. Taking a few notes during the game for these reports has also provided some insight this week. Let me show you what I mean.
Oskar went out with A4 suited – George had AJ suited, before hitting a flush.
Jake lost with AT, when Sean's KK tripped.
Sean had trip 9s, and lost to Rusty's straight.
Ug paired a 9, but Rusty got a flush.
George also lost - to Rusty's top pair (Ks).
Steve lost (pocket 8s) and doesn't want to talk about it any more (Rusty 24-off, trip 4s)
Heads up, Tom lost (A9) when Rusty called (72-off, take that, Doyle!) and hit the 7.
So, my insightful conclusion is that you can know how others play, you can have a game plan, you can mix it up, you can get all your chips in when you know you've got the best hand... but when somebody else is running hot, you're probably going to lose.
Congratulations to this week's lucky bas... I mean top performer, Rusty, who had all the fun, fun, fun!