An Unbalanced Force

Title: An Unbalanced Force

Author: narayani

Article:
An Unbalanced Force

Becoming an unbalanced force in a poker hand by using
stop-and-go plays

"She blinded me with science."

This isn't a column about physics or the industrial revolution.
But, I was reading something about Isaac Newton recently; how he
basically invented calculus, without which there could have been
no industrial revolution in the 19th century, and the subsequent
scientific and technological revolutions of the 20th century. Of
course, we might argue whether the industrial revolution and its
descendents were a good thing. But for now, let's focus on Mr.
Newton. In particular, consider his First Law of Motion: "An
object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion
tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same
direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." And this is
where Poker appears. Poker players are creatures of
inertia. Some of them tend to be in motion all the time: bet,
raise, raise, bet. Others are at rest: call, call, call. And
many of them even believe that the cards and their luck have
similar physical properties: "I'm running bad.""I'm on a rush."
It's as if there's some gravitational force pulling their cards
in one direction or another. But wait, let's review that last
phrase of Mr. Newton's First Law: " ... unless acted upon by an
unbalanced force." And this is where good poker
en starts. You must be an unbalanced force. That is, you
have to create acceleration to push the outcome of a hand in the
desired direction (noting that acceleration can be negative --
that is, slowing things down). Most of you who read about (as
opposed to just "play") Poker en ligne know about the idea of
changing gears. Maybe you decide you're going to raise two out
of three hands for the next two orbits of the button. You're
going to persuade these guys that you're a sandwich short of a
full picnic, and then settle back into your normal game and reap
the benefits of showing them only the best hand. Or, maybe
you're going to fold everything except Group One hands for the
next 30 minutes. You'll have the whole table sure that you're
pure granite, and then start raising with 5-3 suited and see
what happens. But let's look at a microcosmic perspective. You
can actually change gears in the middle of a hand, and this
oftentimes is not only the best thing to do, but pretty
confusing to your opponent. The classic example of this is a
play called the "stop and go." Here are two examples from two
very different aspects of the poker world: Situation No. 1: I
was playing in a $20-$40 hold'em game recently, and called half
a bet from the small blind with A-4. There were four or five
players already in the pot, and I was getting a good price to
flop a miracle. Well, I flopped 80 percent of a miracle: Q-5-2
with two hearts. I didn't want to pay any more than I had to for
a turn card, so I checked. An early-position player bet out, two
players called, and I called, thinking of a single card -- the
3+, which tumbled neatly to the felt on the turn. I checked
again, planning to check-raise the entire field, but the flop
bettor surprised me by checking. Fortunately, a very tough
player, Rich, bet from late position. Phew. The flop bettor's
play looked for all the world like a flush draw, so I decided
that he was going to pay full price for his draw, and I
check-raised Rich. The first bettor surprisingly folded, as did
the others, and it was back to Rich. This is when things got
interesting: Rich three-bet. Rich isn't a maniac; he doesn't
three-bet because of alpha particles or sunspots. And he knows
that I don't, either. So, Rich had a real hand. Could he have
6-4? He just might have limped in with 6-4 suited from late
position. Or, what if he had the A 4 and was freerolling me? The
other problem I had was that if I reraised and Rich had 6-4, he
would promptly five-bet me and I would hate that, because
folding was out of the question. So, I called, planning to bet
the river if no terrifying card came. The river card was a
complete rag, and I slid out eight chips. Rich stopped for a
moment (I think the "stop and go" surprised him), and then shook
his head and called. Sure enough, he'd flopped a set of fives --
about the weakest hand he would have played as he did. By using
the stop-and-go play, I got good action on my hand (four big
bets on the turn and river) without costing myself six big bets
if I was beaten. Situation No. 2: In a no-limit hold'em
tournament, it is often correct to do a stop and go, although
it's a very different kind of thing. Suppose you have fared
poorly in a tournament, are down to $1,200, and must post a $300
big blind. It is folded to the small blind (the chip leader),
who raises the minimum, to $600. You look down and discover that
you have pocket sixes. This hand is clearly strong enough to
make a final stand, but how you make that final stand can change
the outcome. The instant response most of us have is to shove in
all remaining $900 and say, "OK, let's gamble." Of course,
you'll be called, and if your opponent has two overcards, you
have a virtual coin flip. Oftentimes, however, a better way to
play is to call (stop) and then push in your last remaining $600
on the flop regardless of what it is (go). If your opponent
didn't pair on the flop, he may fold to your bet, and you don't
have to sweat out the turn and river cards. Of course, if he
outfiopped you, he will call and you'll be busted -- but that
was going to happen anyway if you'd jammed preflop. These two
stop-and-go plays are very different, but they are similar in
that they require you to think about yourself as an unbalanced
force, even during the play of a hand. Who would have thought of
Isaac Newton as a poker theorist? "She blinded me with science."
Lee Jones is the author of the best-selling book Winning Low
Limit Hold'em, and is the poker room manager for PokerStars.com.



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