 |
Poker Articles
Author: Gary Carson
Excerpt from his book
The Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker
The majority of successful women poker players are more aggressive
than their male counterparts. All successful poker players are aggressive
players, but successful women tend to be almost hyperaggressive.
They seem to have found success in adapting this style because it
usually works well against almost any male poker player.
Aggression tends to work well for women because of the way most
men perceive and react to hyperaggressive women. You can categorize
men poker players according to the way they to react to women at
the table.
Chauvinists
There are chauvinistic men who tend to think all women are weak,
predictable, tight players. Nothing they see at the table will sway
them from this view. They think all women are bad poker players
and that they are easy to read. They will assume that a bet or raise
from a woman simply means that the woman has a very good hand because
they think no woman would have the nerve to bet or raise without
a near cinch hand. The result is that chauvinistic men tend to fold
marginal hands whenever a hyperaggressive woman player bets or raises.
At the same time, chauvinistic players do not think that women
have good judgment. So, if he starts out thinking he has a good
hand, he isn't likely to change that assessment of his own hand
based on anything a woman player does. One interesting characteristic
of chauvinistic players is that they also tend to be tight players.
This combination of tight and chauvinistic does make it easy for
an alert aggressive woman to profit from his reaction to her aggression.
Macho man
Macho men can't stand to let a woman win or take control of the
betting. This kind of man can't stand to lose, and especially can't
stand to lose to a woman. He'll tend to develop an acute case of
FPS trying to outplay an aggressive woman. He's usually doomed.
Mr. flirt
Flirtatious men like women to think of them as nice guys. They will
often just call a raise from a woman with a hand that they would
reraise if the raise had come from a man. They'll fold marginal
hands when a woman bets. Generally they play too passively against
an aggressive woman.
You are?
There is a fourth group of men who simply treat women as just another
poker player. There aren't really very many men in this category.
Probably, if you're a man, you belong to one of the three groups
I described. Be honest with yourself. Which group are you in? You
don't have to tell me, but you need to know. Once you know what
group you're in, the adjustment to a hyperaggressive woman is easy.
Just don't engage in that kind of behavior.
Examples
Playing chauvinistic men
When faced with an aggressive woman player, chauvinistic
men tend to react with hyperaggression of their own when they fear
their hand is second best. They try to win by psychological domination
and intimidation. When they think they do have the best hand, they'll
often play aggressively, but not hyperaggressively. They go on tilt
and react predictably, over extending themselves with second-best
hands.
For example, say a tight, chauvinistic player has opened with
a raise from an early position. You should raise with most hands.
Even a hand like 8ª 5¨
is worth raising with. The reason for the raise is to begin a determination
of whether he has a big pair or two big cards. Because he opened
with a raise from an early position he almost surely has one of
those two hands. Either something like A©
A¨ or A¨
K§. Whatever your hand is, just
raise. He'll re- raise.
If the flop comes something like Aª
10¨ 2§
and he bets, you should probably give it up right there. Just fold.
But, if the flop comes something like J¨
8§ 4©
and he bets, you should raise.
If he reraises then you can be pretty sure he has two overcards
and you have the best hand, but you should just call. The reason
you should just call is to encourage him to bet again on the turn
and the river. Unless an Ace or King comes on one of the last two
cards you can be fairly sure your pair of 8s is the best hand. If
no big cards come by the river you can sometimes even raise for
value on the river. He'll call you with an A¨
Kª.
If he just calls your raise, you should worry that he has a large
overpair, but the good thing that will probably happen now is that
he'll check on the turn, thinking you'll bet and he can check-raise.
Disappoint him. Check. If you don't improve to three of a kind or
two pair then you should probably fold when he bets on the river.
This kind of behavior is very predicable with this kind of chauvinistic
player when he's playing against an aggressive woman.
Playing macho man
You should play against a macho player in a similar way that you'd
play against a chauvinist, but you need to be more careful. The macho
player is not likely to try to play deceptively when he has a big
hand, like the chauvinistic player is. He's more likely to just play
any hand he has aggressively. With the chauvinist player you can often
be sure you have the best hand, even when your hand is weak. That's
not the case with the macho player. With him you need to be much more
selective with the hands you get involved with.
You probably don't want to get heads-up in a pot with a macho
player with a hand like 8©
5¨, but you might want
to with a hand like 8¨
7¨. With that hand you're
more likely to have a few extra outs like a three-flush or a three-straight,
just in case he actually has you beat. Usually though, if the flop
is like the second flop above, he won't have you beat. He'll just
keep raising anyway though.
Playing Mr. Flirt
The primary benefit from playing with a flirtatious player is that
he isn't likely to raise. If he has a really good hand, he'll usually
just tell you. For example, let's say you've got A¨
Jª and the flop is J©
8© 4¨.
If you bet and he calls, you can sometimes just ask him, "Do you have
a flush draw?" He'll tell you. If the next card is a heart, ask him,
"Did you make a flush?". Again, he'll tell you. This can save you
a lot of bets.
Even if you don't ask him and he did make a flush, you can still
bet without fear of a raise. If by chance he does raise, he'll do
so apologetically, saying something like, "I really don't like to
raise, but with this hand I really have to." If something like that
happens, you can just fold.
__________________________________________________
Gary Carson's website is www.GaryCarson.com
The Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker is available from booksellers
everywhere
An ebook
edition of the book is available from the author for $4.50
|
 |
