It's all in the Eyes
By Sherry W. Nixon
One great read can make the difference in any cash game or tournament. Reading your opponents as weak or strong and putting them on a hand is critical to winning consistently, especially in the game of No Limit Holdem. If you can do both well, then my dear you really have something.
While playing in the 2006 WSOP Ladies Event, I had about $8500 in chips and had been struggling to build my stack. When I had cards, no one else did. When I didn’t have cards and made a stab at the pot inevitably someone would raise behind me. All the chips that I had in front of me where won by making a read on an opponent.
After about two hours into the tournament I was moved to a new table where I sat down to a tough crowd. Most of the players on my new table had fewer chips than me and there were two chip leaders who were playing very aggressive and were running things. I watched the two with chips call every flop without much interest in their cards. They would consistently bet the flop and pick up the pot again and again without ever seeing a turn or the river. It seemed as though they were friends and were taking turns at the table. They were sitting next to each other and were very chatty.
Finally, after about an hour I picked up AK suited on the button. Chip leader number one was one off the BB and called $300 quickly. Chip leader number two threw her hand away as did everyone else. I made what seemed like a standard button raise to only $600 with one live player in the pot. The Small and BB threw their hands and the chip leader called my raise quickly. I wanted to isolate her but not lose her in case she held a weak Ace, which I would have dominated. Her call was one of those --“well, yes I should have been the raiser so I’ll call the raise of course.” I felt right there that she was confirming a weak Ace.
I was happy someone with chips would be swimming with me. But, she obviously had me covered, and then some. I needed to be very careful. I had watched her long enough to know that she was comfortable, confident, and had no problem betting pots first out of the gate no matter what she held. She had been chatting it up for the last hour, cruising along taking in small pot after small pot.
The flop came 9 8 2 rainbow. She made mention to her friend about how pretty a rainbow flop is… throwing out $600, of which I called fairly quickly. She got quiet for the first time and blinked nervously while starring at the board.
Her quiet manner told me she had hit the flop, her focus on the board told me she was concerned about a drawing hand, which my call would confirm. Right there I put her on A 8 or maybe A 9, but I thought she would have more confidence with top pair at this point in the hand. Then came a 7 on the turn retaining the rainbow board. This was a good card for me and I watched carefully as she sat lower in her chair hunching down around her chips. She bet out $1,200, blinking, and tossing the chips out with force. At this point she never took her eyes off the board. Her eyes kept running up and down the straight possibility over and over again. I made it $2,500 and she shrunk lower and came to the first hesitation I had seen her take in an hour of play. She pondered the large pot and then called.
I knew she had hit the flop; but she was feeling weak. She never looked at me and she never looked up. She shrank to my raise and then called because the pot was so big. What was she hoping might come for her on the river to beat a straight? Her call of my very small raise might have cost me the pot. It may not have been a good bet but I knew I had her read.
I was putting it all on the line right here. If I lost this hand it would be difficult to recover and make it out of the hole. To win this pot I was going to have to bluff on the river again. If she bet I would have to go all in. If she checked I would have to be convincing. I knew I had read her correctly but she could still call my bluff and I would be out.
The river brought a 6 -- a good card/bad card for me. But when it hit I saw her defeat before she checked to me. I felt that she would be more reluctant to call a small bet than a big one. If I bet big I would add to the pot odds and give her more reason to call. If I bet small it would confirm the appearance of a straight and she would toss her hand, regardless of the pot size. I bet out $2K, leaving me with just $1,200 left. I just knew that if I would have made it even $100 more she would have called. She looked at her friend and her friend looked away as if to say “you know she has it.” She turned over her hand showing A 8. That felt good. Winning is good, but bluffing and winning is great.
Now here is the bad news. I was so pumped up and all happy with myself for making a good read and bluffing that hand that I didn’t take a moment to collect myself and stick to my plan for the tournament. I went on to play two huge pots and lost them both by failing to make correct reads on my opponents.
So, the lesson I learned is -- after making a great read and winning a big pot you must collect yourself, refocus and get back in balance with your game. Take a breath and let go of the adrenaline. Pat yourself on the back after the tournament, not while you are in it. Strangely the hardest thing about making a read on someone is to stay loose. If you get tight, nervous, and on edge you won’t make the correct observations. Stay open, loose, but in control and you can make the right read and make the right decisions to take the pot.
Good Luck Girls,
Sherry W. Nixon
Men and Women Welcome
