Tournament Advise

 Get Out of Your Head

By Crystal Osgood-Gray

 I’ve been in the game of poker for many years, both as a dealer, a player, and an avid observer.  I learned that putting a player on a hand is perhaps the most important skill in poker.  Long before there were hole cams I was out there trying to put players on hands. Although you would think I would learn such a lesson through years of play, I learned this invaluable lesson in one single hand.

 My first teacher was a gentleman,  I will call Bill.  He was a crusty curmudgeon who started as a dealer and moved up to floor man in a card room riddled with colorful characters and questionable activity.   Birthed out of the old days, he would wander around the card room staring over shoulders and making alarming comments about hands played and not played.  He taught me to deal and shortly thereafter asked me to play as his “horse.” “You’re a girl,” he would say.  “Just smile and they will throw their hands away.” While this worked a few times in the beginning, I found I needed a lot more than that.  He staked me in small limit games, coaching me on the basics.  I soon came to rely on his sharp criticisms that chiseled out the player I am today. 

 On one occasion, in the beginning of my tutorials, I was playing in a back room No Limit game, back when No Limit games were hard to find.  I was sitting one off the button and looked down to see pocket 10’s.  I could feel Bill walk up behind me as I looked at my cards.  Two callers limped in front of me and I raised four times the big blind.  Bill stood solid behind me.  I could hear his thoughts… “play a pocket pair very aggressively in late position, no matter what.”   The button and small blind folded and the big blind went all in over the top of me, making it $500 total.  That was a raise of $420.  $420?  That was two paychecks, more than my rent or three car payments, and all the money that I had in front of me.  I held my breath.  The two limpers folded and it was to me.  I couldn’t breath.  All eyes were on me. I smiled cutely at my opponent, but his eyes were down and covered by two black orbs.  I couldn’t ask Bill what to do.  I couldn’t ask anyone what to do.   I was confused.  It felt like all my thoughts were attacking me.  Breath I told myself.  I paused, and thought about pocket 10’s.  Now what do I know?  I’m a 50/50 race at best, 4 to 1 underdog at worst.  As I thought, I could feel Bill’s frustration growing.  He nervously shifted his weight from side to side.  I could actually hear his breathing become labored.  Pocket 10’s.  I kept thinking pocket 10’s.  I looked at my chips; I looked at my hand again; I stared at the dealer.  Would he save me?  I just kept thinking, pocket 10’s - AT BEST a race.  A race!?  I picked them up and looked at them one last time.  “Two rather pretty cards” and sent them into the muck. 

 As soon as they hit the muck I picked up all my chips and walked swiftly to the cage, and then followed Bill to his office for my critique.  Just by his swagger toward the door I could tell I was in for it.  Calmly he took his chair, turned, clasping his hands, almost like he was trying to control his rage.  “What happened?,” he spoke through clenched teeth. 

 “I was beat, at best it was a race” I said softly, not wanting to set him off.

“How do you know you were beat?”

 “I had pocket 10’s.

 “How do you know you were beat?  What exactly do you think he had?  You had no idea.  You were in your own head.  You never even looked at him.  Not once did you consider your opponent.  You were not playing poker, you were playing your hand.  GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD!”

 The thought had never occurred to me.  Unfortunately I didn’t have an answer.  He wouldn’t stake me again for along time.  Instead we would watch  poker and he would ask me the question over and over again while observing.  Eventually it became my silent mantra, the question echoed in my head, and then slowly I found myself answering the question, over and over, hand after hand, I began to play poker in my head.  Bingo!  One day it just all came together…like a light going on.

 When I began to play again, and it was a very long time until I did so.  I felt that I “knew” what my opponents held.  Having this skill made my hand selection not as important.  It took me out of my head, and into the head of my opponent.  After you put your opponent on a hand you can then apply percentages, tells, betting patterns, position, scare cards, and finally and the board to outplay your opponent.  Getting out of my head was the best lesson I have learned, and it has made me the poker player I am today.