Playing Against Beginners by Negreanu

A different approach is required

 

I recently made a trip to Toronto to see family and friends. The main reason I was there, though, was to be a part of Ian Leggett's celebrity golf tournament, which benefits children's charities. Ian has been running the tournament for years, but this year he decided to expand on the event a little bit, adding a charity poker event to get things started.

The poker event was held at Downtown Porsche, a Porsche dealership in downtown Toronto. When I arrived, there seemed to be a bit of confusion as to whether I'd actually be playing in the event or just acting as the master of ceremonies. After all, the prize being awarded was pretty significant - a brand-new Porsche.

Since I was the "new guy," I didn't want to make a fuss about it at all. I explained to them that a charity event with 15-minute levels for the blinds isn't something I'm exactly a lock to win! In fact, I guaranteed them that I wouldn't win. That was before I heard that the event had rebuys!

I rebought only twice, as I was there just to have a good time and to support the charity. A couple of hours went by, though, and I was still in, albeit on a very short stack.

We started with close to 200 people, and when I noticed that most of the tables were empty, I asked, "How many tables are left?" To my surprise, we were down to the final two tables. Then, just before I had a chance to play the button, the floorman announced that we were all at the final table. Not only that, but we all would start with an equal stack of chips.

At the final table of 10, I started to dominate early. I was chopping away, and also knocked out two players early on. The key hand of the event for me was the one I played against a lady who was playing poker for the very first time.

Now, when you are facing off against a total novice, different thoughts go through your head as to the best approach. Bluffing isn't at the top of my list in this situation. Instead, it's best to figure out exactly how much you can squeeze out of your opponent when you do have the best hand.

We all started the final table with $550 in chips, and I was up to about $2,000, while the lady had close to $1,200. In early position, I was dealt the Q
J
and decided to just limp in, since any small raise would be called in at least three spots. In this pot, we had four players, and the flop came J
7
2
. There was $120 in the pot, so I decided to bet $100, and only the lady called.

The turn card was even better, the Q
. If I checked, I was certain that she would check right behind me. If I bet too much, I figured she'd probably fold. I bet $300, which was close to the size of the pot. She called pretty quickly.

Now, the river card was a complete blank, the 3
. I looked over at her stack and saw that she had about $800 left. The thing is, I didn't think she had even a pair. If she did have a pair, it was probably sevens. Why did I think that? Well, it was based mostly on how long she took to call my bet on each street. On the flop, she hesitated for quite some time, but then on the turn, she called a little quicker. I actually thought she might have 10-9, A-10, or, most likely, A-K.

Before making my bet, a few other things popped into my head: She was really proud of being the only lady at the final table, and wasn't about to make a courageous call for all of her chips. She was curious, that was clear, but if I put the heat on her and put her in a situation in which it was all or nothing, I figured she'd rather still be in. So with that, I bet $600, leaving her with about $200 or so. She called pretty quickly, and when I showed her my hand, she said, "I just thought you were bluffing." She ended up calling me with A-10.

Poker is such an interesting game. I hadn't played with rank amateurs in ages (or since the World Series of Poker, actually), and I forgot how differently you need to approach playing against novice players as opposed to skilled players.
Now, in this hand, I may have bet the hand the same way against a skilled player, but it would have been for totally different reasons. This hand stresses the valuable concept that in order to make the optimal play, you must take into account all of your opponent's strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies.

In the end, I won the tournament despite promising the organizers that the event was "all luck" and that I wouldn't win.

Based on all of that, I would have felt awkward accepting the car, so instead, I gave it to the second-place finisher. He had no idea until it was over that I planned on doing that, so it made for a neat moment.

After the event, I took some pictures with the "winner" in my car - er, I mean, his car.

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