Head games

Post any psychological games you engage in to win at poker. I'll start:

- One of my favorites to get an opponent unsettled is the "seemingly random amounts of time and money" tactic. I usually do this when I have a poor hand because it gives the impression you really have a lot invested in whatever you're holding, when in actuality you're just trying to get him to get nervous and fold.

This technique almost always is pre-planned and has little to do with my cards, or whatever comes out on the board. I also limit this to when I'm against only one other player.

On the flop I'll wait a long time - maybe until the timer starts letting me know I have 20 seconds to act. Then I'll min-bet, or if the pot is a little larger, bet twice the min (so still a small amount, less than 1/2 the pot). Combined with the time it took me to bet, this is intended to signal I have a hand I really had to think about, maybe something i'm slowplaying or a really strong draw. At this point I am usually called just because the bet is so small.

On the turn I will do one of two things, either check as quickly as possible (so quickly it seems like I wasn't even waiting for the next card)... or I'll wait a long time again and then overbet the pot by 50% or so. The latter usually gets a fold. The former might get a check behind, in which case I now go for a big overbet on the river; or if they bet the turn, I swiftly check-raise by a really unreasonable amount. Like tripling their bet.

All this takes a lot of concentration and sometimes goes badly awry, but very often they sit and sweat it out with their one pair or whatever, and then just let it go because they can't figure out what the hell I'm doing.

- Always fun tactic in a heads-up pot is to tell people specifics about your hand. If I'm only going to do this once, I always tell the truth: "there's that heart I needed" or "just paired my 9!" or whatever. It's funny when you bet right after saying something like that, how often they will call just to see if you're lying. If I'm doing this repeatedly, I'll try to alternate between telling the truth and telling blatant lies. The best use of this tactic is telling your opponent when you flop a monster - playing weird gapped cards and flopping a straight, for example, and then you say "thank god I played this 79o!" They may well call to the river convinced that you have almost ANYTHING except 79o.

- A variant on the above for live games only. If you tell them what you hold, then flip one card over just to "prove it." In one home game, I held 75o (big blind special) and the 7 was a club. I told the guy on the flop that I held 75o and had paired my 7. When the turn brought a third club I then flipped over my 7 (a club) and said "see? just a pair of 7s." He checked his top two pair all the way down, absolutely paranoid I had another club and was lying to him. If I hadn't shown him what I showed him, I have no doubt he would have bet on the turn and river despite the clubs out there. In this case it didn't make me any money (he had the winning hand and I didn't try to bluff him out) but I have found lots of good uses for this. On that hand, I just used it to get under his skin.

- This one is VERY specific, but definitely has its applications on occasion. If you take a bad beat in an online game, one of those improbable "guy cracked your TPTK by hanging on with 93o and hit two pair on the river" deals, bitch about it in the chat box. Keep griping through the next few hands. Then if you are dealt a good starting hand (JJ, QQ, KK, AA, even AK or AQ) within that orbit, push all in. This is read as tilt every time and you're pretty likely to get called by some guy with A9 or something. Often the call comes from the maniac who put the first bad beat on you, and it's a good way to get your money back off that bad beat. Just make sure you're not really tilting and your starting hand is actually as good as it looks. Also - it helps a lot if you are somewhat short-stacked. So don't replenish your stack immediately after the bad beat.

At my last live game, I'd had some good hands, and was beating people up with them. from late position, it was folded to me so i rased with A9 off

The big blind called, and the guy guy was absolutly SLAMMING his chips into the table.

flop was 4 6 9, so i bet the pot, he slammed the chips down for his call. I have no idea what he had. turn was a Q i checked he bet and i folded.

this was an ordinarily nice guy, but for that one hand he was acting like a bruiser.

The more i think about it, the more i think i had him beat, just the phisical aggression was so out of character for him, it threw me off.

Here's a fun one from last night. I went to a home game and on the 2nd hand, got ATo on the button. I gave it a decent raise because the pot was unraised and there were only two limpers - just looking to steal, basically. Only one guy called me. Long story short, I made two pair on the turn (aces and tens) but the river made the board really frightening: A K x T J. This guy, who had been passively calling me down, came alive with a pot-sized bet for about $5 (low buy-in game) so I folded. He told me a few hands later that he didn't have the queen, just saw an opportunity. I guess he was chasing a flush draw in actuality and it missed.

So it's about an hour later. I give the same pre-flop raise with 9s in the pocket, and again this guy is my only caller. Flop is T x 3 rainbow. He checks, I bet pretty strong, he calls. Turn is another 3. I bet again pretty hard. He now asks me, "So how high is that pocket pair of yours?" I massage the truth and say "Higher than anything I'm looking at right now," gesturing to the board. He calls anyway. The river is a very sweet 9 to give me a boat. He checks to me again and I bet the pot, about $5. He calls and flips over pocket 4s... and tells me after the hand that he had just convinced himself I was trying to pay him back for the bluff earlier by bluffing him out of this pot. Funny stuff. I more than recouped my earlier losses on this hand.

Here's one I like in live games:

If you flop or turn a flush (especially the nuts), make a point of looking at your hole cards. If your opponent(s) is/are paying attention, it'll appear as though you're still drawing.

The couple of times I've had the chance to do this, it's worked: they put me on a draw and bet furiously at me.

Of course, it would suck if they rivered a house or something...hehe...

Originally Posted by Molinero

Here's one I like in live games:

If you flop or turn a flush (especially the nuts), make a point of looking at your hole cards. If your opponent(s) is/are paying attention, it'll appear as though you're still drawing.

The couple of times I've had the chance to do this, it's worked: they put me on a draw and bet furiously at me.

Of course, it would suck if they rivered a house or something...hehe...

Hey that's nice. Obvious and yet I've never thought of doing that. My friend who reads people so well would really bite on that one, I bet. Do you usually follow it up with a fake "bluff bet", or do you check it?

I'm not sure where i remember hearing this, possibly on this board, but along with the looking at your cards thing... another tell Mike Caro says is when people look at their cards and havea good hand they usually look straight to their chips. You may be able to flip this when repping a good hand. Take it with a grain of salt tho... I don't think it would be a serious weapon in ur arsenal.

I posted this one a few weeks ago, but this looks like a better spot for it.

There are four people left in a 12 person tournament. $500 on the table, I'm holding $11 of it, after suffering a pretty huge beat, so I am SEVERELY short stacked. Blinds are only 2/4 at this point.

After suffering the huge beat I am pissed, so I go AI next hand. No callers, so I take the blinds. I win a small hand from the BB a few hands later, so now I'm back up to $30 in chips or so. Few hands later I receive 93o, decide to push AI. No callers, so I take $6 more, and I *SHOW* my cards. Next hand I push AI again with total crap, 83o, take down the pot and I show my hand again.

My buddies are smart enough to know that I'm probably setting them up for a play, which I am...Next hand, somoneone limps, I have QQ, I push AI again. Again everyone folds. I do not show my cards, but instead I say, like a prick, "you guys are a bunch of pussies."

Very next hand I am dealt AA, woot-woot. I again push, this time I get TWO callers that are "wanting to knock me out." My AA holds, I triple up, and now I'm 2nd in chips with $180 or so.

Long story short...One of the dudes ends up busting out a few hands later (he went on tilt), other dude went shortly after him...I ended up taking the tournament down, taking home over $300. HORRAY FOR GEORGE.


And yeah, yeah, I know...I got the PERFECT cards to do this, and the PERFECT dumbass didn't call at the right time, and called at the wrong time...but still. My plan worked exactly as I wanted it to, but I realize the cards helped out BIG TIME.

I've had the same thing happen before. Once live once online. Ther perfect cards at the perfect time. Took all i had not to smile when my Aces showed up and I pushed all in for the 4th straight time.

talking strategy with guys outside of your regular poker games. For example, a guy at work who i play with is a decent player. Sometimes we chat it up over some strategy, and I let him in on some of my "ways" and tell him how I would play in a certain situation. Next time we play I totally reverse it and screw him up. hehe
For example, a while ago I told him I pretty much never overbet my semibluffs. Last time I played him, here's the hand:

A4s, I limp and he also limps. Flop comes up KJx, two of my suit. I bet out pot sized and he calls. Another x comes on the turn to complete my flush. I continue betting, repping the TP. He calls. Q hits on the river and he slams down a massive bet. I raise and he calls, showing KQ, saying what the hell were you thinking overbetting your draw like that?! To which I reply what are you thinking believing that I don't occasionally overbet semibluffs?

I'm a dick.

Originally Posted by dalecooper

Hey that's nice. Obvious and yet I've never thought of doing that. My friend who reads people so well would really bite on that one, I bet. Do you usually follow it up with a fake "bluff bet", or do you check it?

I'd have to play that by ear...if the river could help a straight draw or something, or if I'm pretty sure he'll bet into me, I'll check raise.

It's particularly lucrative when you flop the A-high, and someone on a K-high flush draw betsat you and pushes in when he makes on the river.