“I Can’t Take That Money, It’s Almost Stealing”

If you have a “thick” skin, as I do, you won’t allow those type notions to enter your head when you’re playing poker. Sure, there are going to be times you feel bad for some hapless opponents at your table, especially when you are ready to make matters worse for them by adding to their misery, but don’t waver from the task at hand.

When opponents demonstrate any lack of experience, skill, patience, or discipline, your total focus and primary goal should be to relieve them from permanent ownership of any or all of their chips. Feeling sorry for someone, instructing someone, or badmouthing someone at the table that is playing horribly (consistently losing, and clearly out of their league), should be avoided at all costs. It’s in your best interest to intently observe, to play your “A”game. Ever present is your watchful eye on how other opponents are interacting and playing against the obviously weaker opponents, thus making sure you don’t focus your entire attention on the weak links and fall victim to the other “hunters” at your table.

Sloppy play can be a result of being intoxicated, becoming tired, having an illness, or from an actual lack of understanding principles relating to playing winning poker. There are many players who love to “gamble” and will play under the influence of one or more of the above-mentioned, negatively impacting conditions/distractions. It’s commonplace to find that most of these players have “disposable” income and don’t care what amount they lose at the tables. They are interested in just winning an occasional big pot so they can justify coming back, and most importantly, have a real juicy story to tell their friends. When recounting their experience, rarely do they mention how much they lost overall, just that they doled out a beating to some unsuspecting seasoned player. The story is always better when they add some details – for example, they may say: “I cracked this so-called semi-pro player’s aces when I caught my seven on the flop and hit my deuce on the river. Boy, was he ever hot!”

At other times, you many encounter players who are hell bent on playing every hand (ATWD-any two will do), and their sole objective is to entertain themselves, and in the process, piss off the entire table by either being very brash and outspoken: sometimes rude, entirely obnoxious, agitative and combative in displaying bravado. Some more social characters are the opposite, being very complimentary to everyone winning pots, offering to secure cocktails, sharing unwanted poker opinions, recalling bad beat stories, and other verbal/nonverbal actions that tend to distract and bother avid poker players when done in excess. They are unaware that they can quickly become a nuisance and be very annoying. This can be distracting and seldom welcomed or embraced by everyone at the table. Someone will be fuming, someone will get a bit annoyed, and yet others will just depart. Keeping your cool is essential as you map a plan to snatch their chips while they distract others with their constant interactions and lack of attention to not just their cards, but that of their opponents during critical decision-making moments.

Conversely, strategic “bluffing,” another form of “stealing,” is rampantly gaining a foothold in the exploding virtual online setting, which is now spilling over into live play. More so than ever before, with the influx of so many new players, especially at the micro and lower limit NL tables, I am seeing so many “poor” attempts to steal pots. Players with little or no training or experience are making huge bets in a questionable effort to win small or moderate pots without holding positional advantage, or any real potential for their hands to improve. One such prevalent attempt that I personally witnessed recently online was a player who attempted a bluff/steal, on four consecutive occasions out of her small blind. She heavily over bet an unraised pot (pre-flop) and successfully convinced everyone to fold. She was so successful with her first two attempts, I guess it did not matter what the cards were on the following hands, she just pushed a large amount of chips into the center of the table and everyone continued to fold quicker than a flimsy tent. Well almost! During her last attempt, someone in early position with much more experience, who was actually lying in wait for an opportunity to trap her, sprung the trap and took all of her previous winnings and most of her remaining chips. Going to the well one too many times can be very hazardous to ones bankroll, and could possible derail or curtail a budding poker career.

There is a lot of “loose” money to be found at the tables and I’m not ashamed to admit that you will never hear me say: “I can’t take that money, it’s almost stealing!”