No Showdowns

It has been said that at cash poker games you should take time out after serious changes occur. These changes could have come in the form of a pot so large that it elevates the level of the game play, a rock getting caught in a huge and outright bluff, or a maniac winning a string of bets with pure blind luck.

The reasoning behind the new found polarization is as follows: the odds no longer hold, style no longer holds, the sky is falling. People are unsettled and instead of curling up into a fettle position they do the poker equivalent – they revert to their natural state, be it ultra aggressive or super conservative. This of course applies both to Live and Internet poker .

Now the more players are taken out, or neutralized by losing a large amount of their stack, the better. This is good because the game doesn’t technically become shorthanded. You could still have 8 or 9 people but the hands are going to be over more quickly, there is way less deliberation taking place. The new speed is also important because this environment is not going to last forever, maybe 10 hands; 15 at a 5 or 6 person table. What you want to do here is play the opposite game of each of the people at the table and try to be involved in as many hands as you can justify. We are talking of about 80% of the hands, the other 20% percent is where you are dealt 27 off suite and somebody in front of you goes all in with a larger stack than you. Honestly you should barely look at your cards during this period.

It will play out like this. Those that are now afraid of having their stacks raided are just looking for excuses to fold. You are going to be their muse. Ideally you are going to start betting double what had been considered the pre-flop norm. This will ensure that they are only calling you with hands that they believe are going to score them a home run. They are not going to try anything fancy, no check raises, no semi-bluffs just hitting cards and pushing poker chips. Of course you know that any card that comes which doesn’t move them to push all in means that you have won. So if you are in position and they check – bet about the size of the pot. If they don’t raise all in and they just call you are going to need to bet pot again on the turn. Remember these players want to be fold. They need to be folded because right now they are all convinced that anybody betting a lot has to have hit something and will be rewarded with their stack.

With both groups you have one statistical goal – 0% showdowns. Because mostly you don’t have the winning hand, you have the winning play.

The other pokerplayers, the ones that see that money can be made quickly are going to try every trick in the book to buy a big pot. But they are going to be sloppy because they are too excited and emotional. You know better than them. So let’s say they bet pre-flop or check raised your pre-flop bet. You call. You can not raise them because they will probably go all in and calling that means a showdown. It is very important not to get these people pot committed (unless you yourself have a very strong hand). Pot bets are not a good idea against this group. You must limit the sum of your bets before the river to below ½ of their stack. You need to drag this out because they aren’t going to hit most of the time and neither are you. On the river when it’s your turn and because you were careful to keep them from becoming committed you go all in. Before them, or after them, it doesn’t matter you need to be all in so that they have no ammo against you.

In summary – play nearly every hand, steal pots from the tight players on the flop or turn, make hands with aggressive players last until the river and then go all in. Do not call all in bets. Let the hand die. 0% showdowns is your goal.