Eric Rizen Lynch

Represent!

Okay, I promised a quick entry based on something that happened to me Saturday night. I'm going to start by introducing a pretty basic poker concept, but it's important to know for what I'm going to say.

In poker there are 'levels of thinking' that all players go through. The first level is 'what are my cards?'. These people are playing cards. Most people make fun of these players, but in truth they're mostly just wanting to have a good time and pay our bills, so we can't complain. They look at what they have, and evaluate all their decisions based on that and that only. The second level is 'what are my opponents cards?'. This takes a bit more thinking as you have to guess your opponent's cards based on his action. You can then evaluate your opponent's strength or weakness based on that and and decide if you should fold, bet/raise for value, or bet/raise as a bluff.

That takes us to the third level. 'What does my opponent think I have?'. You can go through infinite levels of thinking, but I find that the difference between decent players and good/great players is they think on the third level or higher. The easiest example of this is that when you raise a hand pre-flop, most opponents will automatically put you on an Ace. This isn't always true, but most players automatically think people raise Aces. So when that Ace flops and he checks to you, you bet because he thinks you have an Ace, and he will not play back at you without a hand that can beat an Ace (this isn't always true, but I'm generalizing).

People often call this representing a hand. You play your hand in such a way that you represent a certain holding, which allows you to get away with a bluff when you don't actually hold those cards. Now, one thing to keep in mind is if the opponent you're playing can't at least think to the second level (meaning he actually thinks about your cards and not just his) then this sort of play is useless.

The reason I think of this?? I was in the 45k on Stars Saturday night when I was dealt AQo in middle position. I raised up the pot and it was folded to the big blind, who flat called. The flop came down JJ5. He bet into me a fair amount, I raised him, and he called. The turn was a Q, I bet, he called. River was a rag and I bet and he called. Turned out he had ATo. Now besides the fact that he played this hand horribly, he started berating me for my awful play basically saying 'how can you raise that flop, I bet like I had the Jack'.

Ignoring how insanely awful his play all the way through was, the fact is he didn't represent a Jack. Had he had a Jack, he would have check raised or check called the flop to extract more money on his trips. His betting was precisely how I knew he didn't have a Jack. I raised him with the intention of him folding, but hitting the Q on the turn was a bonus. I never feared I was behind because he never properly represented a Jack.

In short, when you play think about what exactly your actions are telling your opponents about you, and make sure it's what you want to say. Every bet tells a story, and as the storyteller you control everything. You can tell a truthful story (in the form of a value bet) or a lie (in the form of a bluff). The key to everything though is making sure the lies you tell are believable, and disguising your truths just enough that people become suspicious.

Lots of people think that bluffing is making some sort of elaborate bet or play to steal the pot, when often bluffing is just a subtle lie carefully crafted to make your opponent believe you hold something you do not. So next time you're thinking about bluffing, take a deep breath and think about how you would play your hand if you actually held the cards you were trying to represent, and then play that way, and you'll find your bluffs will have a lot more success.

-Rizen