Oh yes poker is a psychological game. The motivation of greed and the appeal of being the best on that particular day are often the reason people win and lose it all. In between the people and the chips is a battle field, where strategic play and wits will take place, people come armed with all sorts of weapons from intelligence to power betting, and of course the smack attack.
"I do it to get in your head" -- Rob aka "The Mouth"
So you have seen it all before, the lip service and remarks people say at the table. Some of it is really just out of anger and disgust but some of it serves a purpose, and then some of it is masked in anger to serve a purpose. Now if that is not confusing enough you need to know when it is which and how to react to it, if at all.
I was at a game this last week and this one guy was a strong believer in the "any two cards can win" theory. He was catching some cards and collecting the pots acting like he was the man not realizing that half the time he was losing it back on the next hands. Some of the people at the table were beginning to bitch and moan about his and another guys play cause they were getting outdrawn on, needless to say the guy noticed people were not happy with him and he himself got angry I noticed this and put it to use. I got involved in a hand with him in which I had A-Q and he had J-9, there was another fellow in it that folded on the turn so I don't know what his hand was. The flop came A-2-9, giving me a top pair and good kicker and him the mid pair. I bet 25 and he calls. The turn comes and it's a 5, I bet $50 and he calls again. So at this point I have $90 in the pot of my own money and am thinking that he has an ace also or some other pair and an obscure draw. The river comes and I watch him as the Jack hits the table, his eyes light up like fireworks on the fourth of July. I check and he goes all in for $150 more to me. I know I am beat, he likely was calling with J-9 suited "But their Suited!" I say to myself, but I want to know for sure. So before I fold I say:
"You sucked out on me didn't you?" … "I wonder what trash cards you are playing with this time."
I could tell this got under his skin as I held my hand A-Q. So as I folded I gave him one last comment I was sure would send him over the edge and get him to show his cards. So as I am folding I say under my breath but loud enough for him to hear "unbelievable… Nice Bluff."
WOW! Did I get a reaction! He nearly jumped out of his chair to shove in my face his J-9 suited as he exclaimed "Was that a Bluff!" After taking a second to recover I said "nope sure wasn't but you did suck out on me."
So what information did I gain from this exchange? I gained the info that:
- I read him right (pat self on back)
- how he reacts when he has a strong hand
- how he bets
- What he is willing to risk his entire stack on.
Plus I get the added bonus of really putting him on Tilt. So I register all this info away to use for later. And later came about a round or two later. I hit my top set on the flop and he hits his two pair. I bet and he comes over the top putting me all in. I call and show my set and with a look of excitement proclaims he has two pair; he looks a little confused as the dealer pushes the chips to me after running the cards out.
So how do you deal with people when they talk smack to you? This is often hard to do and while I sometimes don't deal with it well. I have learned to ignore it or talk smack back. An instance of this came up when a guy tried to pull the same thing I did to that guy. He wanted me to show my cards after I check raised him and he folded his pocket Jacks, which he showed me. The flop was K-5-2, I had Pocket Two's. I said something like "wow I thought you had nothing" and I looked at my cards and flipped over just one of my two's. I knew this would tick him off and I also knew that he would be calling me later if he had anything so I needed to make sure that when I was heads up I had the best hand. This would turn out to be profitable as later he would think I was bluffing again.
I am not the best at dealing with smack and talking smack at the table but I am learning. And I hope that y'all are starting to realize how much psychological warfare takes place on the battlefield that is the green felt. If you need lessons in smack talk just playa few tournaments with The Mouth.
