Now That's Quality Poker

I have been licking my chops to play at my local casino on New Year's Eve.  I knew the place would be packed and lots of loose action and weaker players in the card room.  Lots of folks disparage predatory poker players, describing them as heartless vultures that take all the fun out of the game.  One of my poker gurus, Tommy Angelo, calls them something else, winners!

Poker is a zero sum game.  There will always be winners and losers.  Players of mild to moderate skill understand they need to play against weaker players in order to avoid going broke to the more talented players they inevitably run into.  When I'm at the table I NEED the weaker player to call me down with 2nd pair.  I NEED that money to pay off in a situation later when I get out played by a pro and fold the best hand (something that probably happens more frequently than I realize).

The poker economy needs weaker players because if only experts played the game they would end up doing nothing but trading money back and forth.  The profitability would dry up and the game would die.  Finally, casual players sit down at the table for different reasons than I do.  They are out to have a good time and know they will probably lose.  They might as well lose that money to me.

I went out to the casino Saturday night for a seat at my usual 4-8 fixed limit game with all this in mind and excited for the possibilities.  I came out guns blazing, getting paid off nicely on one hand when I made a full house.  Then a women I recognized as a regular sat down, an observant but very passive and predictable player.  I woke up with pocket A's in late position and raised.  A weak player in the blinds called me and the regular lady.  The flop came 3-A-6, Gin!  The weak player bet out, regular lady called, I raised and both called.  The turn came a 7.  Weak player checked and regular lady bet out.  I figured both had two pair or a weaker set so I raised.  Weak player cold called and regular lady three bet!  Passive players never three bet so alarm bells should have been going off but I had suddenly gone deaf.  I capped and immediately regretted it when a 9 came off on the river, making a straight and putting three of a suit on board.  Regular lady bet, I called and she turned over 4-5 off suit and got more than $100 pushed her way.  Limping in from early position with 4-5 off suit, now that's quality poker!

I allowed this hand to put me on tilt the rest of the night.  I battled back a few times but ultimately left stuck two racks.  I'm not too unhappy with the way I played the hand.  Except for the capped turn bet I didn't to anything wrong.  Even if reg lady showed me her straight after her turn bet I would have called because the pot was so big and I had 10 outs to make a full house.

But, the regular lady playing trash from early position illustrates nicely my earlier point.  If the poker economy needs weak players, what do the weak players get out of it?  Well, thanks to variance, however improbable, weak players do win occasionally.  That slim chance of making a hand, that thrill of defeat of improbability is what brings weak players back, over and over again.  The good news for skilled players is probability will always catch up and weak player's winnings will always go back into the poker economy in the long run.  And, sure enough, regular lady did end up donating her winnings back into the game by the end of the night.