Hearts was one of the first card games I was taught. My older brother, I, and our parents would play it while on camping trips. With my two younger brothers put to bed, we felt like grown-ups as we navigated the art of trumping my dad’s last needed trick. I can remember salivating as I learned that I could stick it to my family for 26 points if I could shoot the moon and take all of the tricks. From then on, I would always start each hand with giving the shot some serious consideration. I entered each hand thinking I could take them all. I just needed to get control and not lose it. No big deal.

If you’re going to approach a game of Hearts with that mentality, you learn quickly the value of giving the brakes a tap and, even more so, the value of coming to a screeching halt. I can play an aggressive game of poker. It really is the best approach as long as you keep your starting hand requirements in ship shape. You’ve heard the advice. If you’re going to come into a hand, it’s best to do so with a raise. If the pot has been raised ahead of you from an earlier position, you’re going to need a better hand than that with which you would have opened first in. A funny thing happens, though, when an aggressive player who likes to control the hand is getting some cards. As a result, said player starts looking a bit maniacal. Apply this scenario to a six-max no limit game where a standard raise is three or four big bets, and you start looking downright bullyish.

But you know how to classify a player. If you’ve read my previous articles, you also might be realizing the benefit to not classify a player based on limited information (such as one run of cards in one particular session). What you need to know is how to get me to tap those brakes. Maybe you could even get me to come to a screeching halt when all you hold is seven-deuce (ahem, Mr. Esfandiari).

I don’t know if my mindset matches those other particularly aggressive players, but let me share with you some of my thoughts as I enter a hand that I hope to control and not lose. Specifically let me share the moves my opponents can make to get me to tap those brakes. Now, keep in mind, that I do not consider myself to be a maniacal player. But I try to remain very aware of when my table image might be approaching that status. You all know how to trap an over-aggressive player (maniac). If, however, you try to hammer a tight-aggressive player who is on a rush while you’re not holding the nuts, you’re going to lose a lot of big pots.

Let’s assume I’m playing a six-max no limit ring game. My first golden rule is that I always buy in for the table maximum. If you see me sitting at a $200 no limit table and my four opponents are all sitting with a stack in the $80 range (or less), consider what you’re getting into before taking that empty seat. If you sit with $200 and top off your stack every time you get to $190, you’re going to catch my attention as a potentially solid player. You wouldn’t be doing anything other than managing your stack for ultimate leverage, but you’d be surprised at how often you’ll find yourself playing opponents at these tables with their last $50. Often times, without much trying at all, you can find yourself at a table where most of your opponents are playing scared or, at the minimum, playing not to lose. Tip number one, then, if you want to keep me aware of my brake when you’re involved with me in a hand, is to always be sitting with maximum stack. You’ll have my instant respect.

If I’m going to enter a hand on a six-max table, my starting requirements have relaxed a bit, but trust me when I let you know that they’ve not gotten horrendously soft. If I’m going into a hand, it will nearly always be with a raise (or a re-raise) and with a hand that can do well against one or two opponents. If I’m sitting on the button and I know the blinds aren’t the type of players to raise a big amount to steal a bunch of limps, I will merely call two or three limps with a drawing hand as I anticipate the blinds to complete and check for the cheap flop. Tip number two, then, encourages you to realize that if we’re seeing a hand heads-up I will often be holding a made hand. Simultaneously, if you’re acting before me and I’ve limped on the button, you best know how to wreck my odds if a flop lands that looks chase worthy. If you give me the odds to call, I’ll take them and will often raise your bet for a free card.

That’s because I still like to control any hand with which I’m involved. Perhaps this goes back to my Pavlovian response to shooting the moon, or perhaps it’s just solid poker, but I like the control. If you’re holding the nuts, I’m going to lose some money. Just let me think I’ve still got control and try to keep my foot off of the brake. The unfortunate thing, however, is that you’ve been sitting there with your maximum stack getting all kinds of respect from me. If you call my bet and then check the turn to me, I’m going to slow down. If you call my bet and then lead out on the turn (with or without apparent help), I’m quite likely going to let you have it unless I’m confident I’m ahead. The astute reader will realize that you’ve just been handed two methods for regaining control of the hand without position. My flop bet would have offered you a mistake to call any sort of draw. With your call, you’ve made it very expensive for me to continue to wreck your odds. In a tournament, I’ll make that bet when I’m fairly confident I’m ahead. In a ring game, however, I’ll often times give serious consideration for not betting out when the turn has been checked to me and you have the ability to drain me of an entire buy-in. And I absolutely dread the stop-and-go. If you call my significant flop bet and then lead out on the turn, you’re going to have me very aware of where my brake pedal is. You can use an all-in move if you feel it is warranted, but tip number three suggests that you learn the benefit of how to take control with a call-check or a call-bet move. As you play more and more, you’ll begin to easily recognize the situations where these moves are particularly effective. Then, make it just affordable enough for me to call when you’ve got the nuts. Again, if you’re savvy enough to sit with a maximum stack, I’ll have you pegged as savvy enough to price me in for a call (and I’ll fold).

So why not use THAT as your bluff? The pot sized bet is becoming so overdone that I’ve begun really taking notes as to what it might typically mean in different situations. Most sites have the “bet pot” button or its equivalent and players have become lazy in their use. But the bet that is JUST affordable enough is another story. If you look like a savvy player and you’ve gotten my respect, this 1/4 to 1/3 pot sized bet becomes a very useful tool. For me, it appears as if you know what you’re doing and you’re pricing me in for the call. If we’ve got an uncoordinated board, my alarm bells are going to sound and I’m going to slow down considerably if I don’t outright stop. But you’ve got to have my respect for this to work. As curious as the pot-sized bet is, the minimum probe bet is even more curious and I’ll often play along for the odds you’re giving me. So, for tip number four, start realizing what your bets mean and get creative with your smaller bets.

There you have the beginning of a look inside my head at a six-max /no-limit ring table. Do me a favor. Should you decide to sit with me after having read this article, at least have the decency to let me know you’ve become enlightened? Such will give me the chance to adjust my game into my super-secret, double-reversed, aggressive mode. Until then, good luck. But remember that it’s much better to be good than it is to be lucky.

BD