Money Moves Counterclockwise

Don't we love the donators? Don't we appreciate the guys and gals who sit down and call every hand? Or those who raise with trash?

When we get lucky to have a novice heavy-duty player at our table, we should have some strategies to cope with their table presence.

THE EASY ONE

Clearly the easiest player to develop a coping scheme for is the calling station. He or she is involved in each and every hand. They will seldom raise or re-raise, and, when they do raise, it is a definite read on the strength of their hand. The best coping method for the calling stations is to encourage them to keep on playing. Be friendly. Make them feel welcome. You want these people to playas long as possible.

THE DIFFICULT ONES

Boy, if only the novice, aggressive scary players were so easy to counter and manipulate. Some of these people are very difficult to play with and make it hard for you to show a profit.

One very well-known strategy is to attempt to sit to the left of the aggressive player. The rationale, according to expert poker player/writer, Mike Caro, America's Mad Genius of cards, is that money moves clockwise. Therefore, since this aggressive player is an active participant in the game, you want to be able to choose the times when you compete with him. If you act after he has put his money in the pot, it becomes your option as to whether or not you compete. When you do enter the action, you will come in with good quality hands. When you enter the pot with a top- quality hand, the odds are in your favor. That is exactly the posture you want.

FIXED POSITION GAMES

A special consideration must be made for the fixed position poker game (Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, etc.). An aggressive player on your right can cause problems when you have the blind(s). When you know that he will raise with marginal or trash hands, you are more tempted to call. Seeing him raise and drive you off the pot you would have won causes frustrations. These frustrations are important because they can cause you to lose some money.

DON’T FORGET THE OTHER PLAYERS

One very important consideration to keep in mind is that we tend to forget about the other players who are less pushy. The aggressive player commands so much attention that we lose touch with what the other players are doing. This is low-limit poker, and aggressive play will typically not force good hands to be thrown away. Watch carefully that while you beat the clown, you do not lose the pot to another player.

One very important advantage to having either type of contributors in your game is the size of the pots. Some of them can be huge. So watch and wait.