It is a sure sign of the popularity of Texas Hold 'Em when the cruise ships now have poker tables and run cash games as well as tournaments. I just returned from a very nice cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy and offer the following Power Plays for cruising.
1. The cash game on Celebrity is a good one. It is a $1/$2 no-limit game with a buy-in of $50 to $200. The house takes 10% up to $15 from each pot and that rake is outrageous but the game is so good that you can still easily expect to make about $100 per hour because of the competition. Some people come to the table expecting that a game with blinds so small will be a low stakes game. These people will pay $2 to see any flop and will fold any two cards if there is a raise as much as $10. You do not need to worry about these folks. There are other players who play so tightly that they see maybe 2 or 3 flops an hour. You do not need to worry about theses players either although if you find yourself in a hand with them, you can bet they have something. Other players will play almost any two hold cards even against a big raise. You do not need to worry about these players because they generally will not be able to beat any real hand. I saw several players who claimed not to know the game very well, having only watched it on tv. As a good player, I was skeptical of those claims but it became very clear very quickly that they were generally telling the truth. You do not need to worry about those players. I found a couple of players that wanted to discuss every hand before, during, and after play. While I find this somewhat annoying, these players are generally pretty easy to beat because their actions are very predictable. That was pretty much the table night after night. This is not a difficult group especially when there are two or three drunks among them.
2. How do you play with opponents like this? Generally follow all the other good rules. Don't bother to play your hole cards for a call unless you are slow playing something very strong or you are in one of the blinds or the pot odds are just too good to pass up. Either fold or raise significantly. I did this on the first few hands I played. Some of the players thought I was loose and would raise any two starting cards. Others thought I just had very strong hands. Others thought I was just throwing money around and wanted to get a piece of me when they eventually got some cards. Of course, all of those players were wrong.
3. Watch out for the Cruise Ship poker tournaments. On Celebrity, the house took a whopping 20% of the total buy-in. That makes the odds of winning so small that one should think twice about entering at all. The buy-in was modest and will be modest on most ships. The tournament is set up with a small amount of tournament chips (2,000 on Celebrity) and rapidly increasing blinds (every 15 minutes) with the intent that a tournament with 11 players is concluded in an hour to an hour and a half. This makes success dependent on getting some playable cards early and turns the predictability of the outcome into something approaching Bingo. I entered once and won the tournament in about 50 minutes because I was able to catch some cards and take advantage of what I learned playing in the cash game. It was good entertainment value but not very good poker value.
Playing Poker on a Cruise Ship
Good Games and Bad Games
One of your best Power Plays is to choose the right game to play. This is especially important at the casino but also has application to private games.
1. Never play in an ultra-low stakes game. This would include the $2-$4 limit games found in casinos and any game with smaller limits than that. Because there is so little money involved in each raise and bet, players play more recklessly than normal. The result is a very loose game where nearly every player is in every pot even if there are pre-flop raises. The result for the Power Player is dangerously close to flipping coins. Who wins each hand has a great deal more to do with the community cards than with the hole cards, player skill, or any of the many other factors that can give the Power Player a bankable advantage. You should avoid these games and, if you are drawn to games of pure chance, try the lottery.
2. No limit games are the best Power Play but the player must have a sufficient bankroll to finance some unfortunate losses. Buy-ins are typically $200 or more and the good player may be pressed to make a decision about the entire $200 at any point. There are several other important cautions. These games often attract stronger players than other games so you should be prepared to bring your A game. The good news is that the weaker players are easier to spot and, in any event, they typically do not stay long. Don't let the small size of the blinds fool you in to thinking this will be a low stakes game. I have often seen the blinds as low as $2-$5. It is still a big game as long as there is no limit.
3. Avoid games where it appears that several of the players are well acqainted and you do not know them. This is a classic example of when you cannot identify the sucker at the table, it is probably you. In private games, some or all of the players are likely to be well acqainted every time. If you are not acqainted with the players, you may still want to play as a social event. In that case, simply even the playing field by staying out of the pot for the first 30 minutes or so. Observe the other players carefully and get to know them. If anyone gives you a hard time about never playing, complain about the lousy cards. When you finally do play a hand, you may not get any callers because they will naturally think you finally have monster cards.
Betting: Check, Call, Raise or Fold
There is little you can do at a poker table that is more important than the way you bet. Here are some betting Power Plays that can transform your results from average to superior overnight.
1. Almost never call pre-flop. The only time you can correctly call pre-flop is when the pot odds suggest that you should stay in a hand you would otherwise fold or when you have a legitimate slow playing hand. This can happen when you are in the small blind and most of the table has joined the pot but there has not been a raise. It can also happen late in the betting but you should have some type of hand and just about everyone at the table should be in the pot. In all other cases you should fold the hand if you don't think you can play it or raise if you think you can. I have seen lots of people win pots that should have been much larger by violating this rule. I have also seen more than a few people chase marginal hands and lose a great deal more than they should have lost. I have also seen a few people fold winning hands but that does not happen nearly often enough to make that a mistake. By the way, your choices in the big blind are slightly different. If you are in the big blind, you should raise if you have a good hand and check if there has not been a raise and you are not excited about your cards. Checking even though you are excited about your cards can be a Power Play if you want the table to believe you have nothing. If you use this strategy, you MUST play the next bet correctly. You will check after the flop regardless of what hits. If your hand is good after the flop, you should check raise.
2. If you are new to a table and are trying to gain information about your opponents, it may be a Power Play to call when you otherwise would fold. This also might make you check if you are betting in front of someone that is showing power. You must be cautious, however, that you do not invest too much of your money in this information gathering effort. It is even better, of course, if you discover someone else at the table who will call and let you get a look at the other player's cards.
3. Never check or bet in the dark. The risks are too high for the momentary benefit you may gain by confusing your opponents.
4. When you bet, let your chips do the talking. If you say the amount of your bet out loud, you run the risk of giving away information through the tone or other attributes of your voice.
5. If you feel enough confidence to try and trick your opponents, try this Power Play. When you are intending to fold, hold your cards in a way that makes it appear that you are going to throw them in. Every now and then, hold the cards in the same way when you intend to bet. This only works if someone in front of you bets thinking he can drive you out of the pot. If this is after the flop, you are best advised to connect it with a little acting. Hold the cards like you are going to throw them away but when it comes time to bet, take a second look at them (note that this is an appropriate exception to the rule about looking at your cards a second time) and call the opponents bet. If you are comfortable with it, you might even say something like, "Well I guess I'll see one more card." With the next card, the opponent will probably bet again. If you think you have the best hand, you should raise here and hope that the opponent feels like he is pot-committed.
Power Plays with Pot Odds
I realize that the concept of "pot odds" may be more than some poker players want to consider. The math may be too involved or the entire concept may just escape some casual players that still want to improve their game. If you are in that group (or even on the fringes of that group) don't despair, there is still a simple way that you can use pot odds to convert uninspired play into Power Play.
I will not bore you with the math related to pot odds. Instead, think of pot odds like this. If you see lots of chips in the middle of the table and you only have to put in a few chips to have a shot at all those chips in the middle of the table, your pot odds are good. If you see a few chips in the middle of the table and you have to bet lots of chips for a chance to win the small stack, your pot odds are bad. It really does not need to be any more complicated than that.
The Power Play is equally simple. You should try and fill out a flush or an inside straight or hope for the third card in a set of small cards or hope that you can improve your unimpressive two pair if the pot odds are good -- if you only have to bet a few chips to win many. You should fold those hands if you have to bet lots of chips to win a few. Indeed, if you are in the small blind and everyone at the table has called, you should call as well because you are getting great pot odds. With ten people at the table, your pot odds are almost ten to one. In that case it is a Power Play to call even with a 7/2 off-suit.
Conversely, it can be a Power Play to fold if the pot odds are bad. You have a strong pair in the hole such as QQ. You made a small raise pre-flop and had only one caller, the big blind. The flop comes 10, J, A off suit. Your pair likely beats the other player if he had a small pair and even if he had only one large card, unless, of course, the large card was an Ace. You feel pretty good about your hand. The big blind bets first and makes a very substantial bet three times the size of the pot. Depending on your assessment of the other player, the Power Play here may be to fold. Unless you think the other player is bluffing, you are going to be required to put up lots of chips to only win a few and your Power Play is a fold.
All of this supports the first and foremost rule of Power Players. Win the big pots and, if you have to lose a few hands, make sure they are the small pots.
Looking at Your Hole Cards is a Power Play
We all know that playing poker is as much about how you play and how you bet as it is about what cards you get. One of the most common mistakes of the inexperienced player is his reaction to his hole cards. We react in various ways but a skilled observer can discover the reactions you make and get more information about your hole cards. This is information we all want to have about other players and do not want to give out about our own hands.
The best Power Play to help you deal with this issue is to avoid looking at your hole cards until it is your turn to bet before the flop. This allows you to observe all of the other players as they look at their hole cards and as they bet. You even get the opportunity to observe how different players handle their chips when they are either going to bet, or not, as the case may be. Most important, all of those betting before you get no information from you about your hole cards because you don't even know what they are until the other players have already acted.
The corallary to this rule is to look at your cards once and once only. Remember what they are and do not look at them again. A second look at your cards can give away the fact that you are looking to make a hand. For example, if the flop is three cards of one suit and you immediately look at your cards a second time, it strongly suggests that you are trying to remember the suits of your two unsuited cards so that you can determine if you are in the running for a flush. Conversely, if you bet big and do not look at your cards a second time, it suggests pretty strongly that you got exactly what you wanted from the flop and your flush is already made. The Power Play here is to look at your cards once and once only immediately before you bet pre-flop.
The only exception to this rule is when the second look at your cards is part of a betting deception. Note the very limited way that you can turn looking at your cards a second time in to a Power Play in the suggestion about betting.
Chasing a Hand
Can you ever have a Power Play when you are chasing a hand? You bet.
Your hand is an Ace and another unsuited card. All three cards in the flop match the suit of your Ace. You are chasing a flush but you are chasing a very strong flush. With no pairs on the board yet you do not need to worry about a full house beating you if you make the flush. The Power Play is to bet heavily at this point especially if you are in early position. Never call or check here. Bet big. This gives the impression that you have already filled out your flush and it only rises to the level of a semi-bluff. The only exception to this comes when you are betting late and a very tight player has raised or re-raised in front of you. You may be facing a set on the flop and your chances of prevailing in that case simply by betting big are not very good. The Power Play in this case is a fold.
Your hand is 8, 10 off-suit and you are in the big blind. No one raises so you check pre-flop. The flop comes 7, 9, K unsuited. You have an open ended straight draw on the high side. The Power Play in this case is a bet, raise, or fold. Do not check. Free cards are nice but they are also free for your opponent. If the jack comes on fourth or fifth street, the Power Play is a check/raise if it is permitted and the tactic is especially powerful if other players in the hand are loose or overly aggressive. If you are betting early and the jack comes on the turn, check and raise any subsequent players who get in the pot. If no one bets, check again after the river.
Playing in a Soft Game
This situation gives the most power to the tight player and is a strong Power Play.
A soft game is one in which many players want to play many hands, often regardless of the strength of their hands. Many players will be in pre-flop, especially if there are no raises. Many will chase straight draws and flush draws even from a weak position such as the lower end of a straight draw or a weak flush draw with two suited cards neither of which is a high card.
The inexperienced player will get frustrated with this type of game. He will play what he thinks is a strong hand for a call or the minimum raise pre-flop only to have one of the loose players draw a straight, flush, or set that beats his strong two-pair. An inexperienced player will adjust his style of play so that he too can get in on the money making opportunity to out draw his opponents. That is the worst of all possible plays.
The Power Play at a soft or loose table is to play tight. Indeed it may be best to play tighter than normal. You will play few hands but lose very little. When the Power Play hands come along, you will win more often and will win more money in each hand. You may lose sometimes when one of the loose players draws out but, over the long-haul, you will win more.