Eric Rizen Lynch

More on trip Jacks/levels of thought

grantmasterflash put a comment on yesterdays post about levels of thinking that actually brings up a good point. For those of you that didn't read it he said:

"All the blog readers are now going to bet into you with their trip jacks. "

The truth is, that would be the best plan if you were playing me, or any player who thinks at a high level. Everyone loves to slow play, but against a truly thinking poker player you disguise your big hands more by playing them like they were vulnerable. Sure, I'll fold sometimes, but I'll raise with most of my legitimate hands, and you'll extract much more than you would had you slowplayed them.

I said when I first created this blog that I really didn't intend for it to give 'poker lessons' or anything like that, I just hoped that some of my random thoughts might help people, or at the very least be an interesting read. But here is one free lesson you can take or leave as much as you want that I touched on in my post yesterday.

When playing against other players, try to assess their skill level and thought process. Once you do that, the optimal way to play against any other player is to think EXACTLY one level above them. The reason world class players sometimes have problems with newer players is because world class players can think to the 16th level and beyond, but their opponents are only thinking 1, 2, maybe 3 levels tops in a lot of these tournaments where so many people satellite in anymore.

Let's break this down a little bit. If your opponent thinks on level 1 (he only thinks about this cards), then your optimal play will always come from playing level 2 (where you only think about your cards AND his cards). Thinking beyond level 2 to level 3 (where you think about what he thinks your cards are) is pointless, because he isn't thinking about your cards, so any decision you make based on that thought level is pointless, and quite often clouds your judgement.

Unfortunately sometimes 'playing down' to your competition is necessary. You cannot run elaborate bluffs or plays on level 1 players. If someone is a level 1 calling station, you bet your good hands for value and fold your bad hands, period. Bluffing is pointless because they won't think about your cards. If it's a level 1 tight player, then you bet/call your good hands, toss your bad hands, and bluff when the board is unlikely to have hit his good hands. If you know your opponent only thinks about his cards, and that he is tight, when he plays he likely has big cards or a pair. Any flop that doesn't help big cards is worth taking a stab at because the tight player will likely fold. Since he's not thinking about your cards, he'll never think that the flop wouldn't have helped YOU either.

We see world class players making all kinds of plays that seem strange on TV, and we try and emulate that sometimes. What people don't realize is these plays work because all of the players there think beyond levels most of us can comprehend so they make some plays that look absurd to the casual observer but work quite often when players think at such a deep level.

When you sit at the tables, just remember that you don't have to play world class poker, you just need to play poker that is 1 level higher than your competition in any given hand. The better you become at evaluating your opposition the easier it will be to choose the appropriate play style against them, and that, as my friend Soupie loves to say, is playing poker, not just cards.

-Rizen