Let Your Good Cards Beat Bad Players

The frustrations of low-limit poker are legion. There are many ways to get beat, and so many events can happen in any low-limit poker game. It is quite common for a fairly decent player to go off the edge because some other player does something dumb and gets lucky. That is just the way life is in low-limit. Terrible beats go with the territory. Your choices are essentially two: go on tilt or learn to accept. I guess there is another option, now that I think about it. You can quit low-limit poker. That last option doesn't appeal to me.

THE BEST CHOICE

The best choice, in my opinion, is to accept the risks of low-limit poker and develop good coping strategies. We have all seen players who get stymied by bad play and try to cope by making either power moves or fancy betting moves. These moves are poor choices in low-limit. If you try to raise people out of the pot they look quite puzzled, look back at their hole cards, check out what cards are showing and then throw in the extra bets. I have found it is close to impossible to move anyone who has any kind of a hand or any kind of a draw. That will include almost everyone at the table. Power moves confuse my fellow players, and they counter that confusion by throwing their money in the pot.

FANCY BETTING

Fancy betting moves seldom work, either. Usually the other player(s) have no idea what correct betting strategy is, and so they are just baffled by anything fancy and will call you down. They will have no idea you made an excellent move and that they should honor that by getting out. They should know that the only person in the world who would make that bet would have the absolute mortal nuts, but they don't know it, so they call you with a pair of fours and win the pot.

TAKE NO PRISONERS

My advice to anyone who plays low-limit poker is to let your cards do the talking. Show nothing but the best hand. Don't try to bluff; don't try to steal the antes or the blinds. Exercise the finest elements of patience. Do not enter pots with anything marginal, throwaway busted hands before they start to cost you, and wait until you have your fellow players up against the wall and take their money. When you have them cold, take no prisoners. Extract that last ounce of blood. If they are going all in and want to keep one chip, demand that chip also.

Don't ever taunt them with comments like, "Take that hand over to the shop and get it fixed," "Get a hand," or "How could you playa cheese hand like that against me?" Statements like that are low class and could easily come back to haunt you. Be a class act. Don't whisper to a friend about his or her poor play; just be quiet and stack the chips. Let your cards do the talking. Good cards beat bad players. Nothing more needs to be said.