About 50 times a week, people that have read my books or seen my DVD track me down on the Internet (it's not difficult) and ask poker questions. I do my best to answer each and every e-mail personally, believe it or not, but in about 90 percent of the cases, the best I can do is cop out with an answer of "it depends" and take a guess. Context is king.
Here's one of the more complete e-mails from my inbox:
Phil, thanks so much for your Little Green Book. It has helped me enormously. So, I have a question about a hand I recently played. I had Ace-Ten of diamonds on the button and there were nine players at the table. My friend Rob raised from middle position and made it $3, or three times the big blind. We both had about $50 in front of us. What should I do here? I feel like I should reraise and try to take the pot down, but then again, in your Little Green Book you say not to play hands like A-T because they are easily dominated. I'm in situations like this all the time and really don't have a clue what to do. Thanks for your help and thanks for everything you do for the game. Love the ESPN radio show, by the way, keep up the good work.
Luke
Chicago Illinois
I was on a flight from Orlando to San Francisco when I got this e-mail. The in-flight movie was terrible. I had a bunch of time on my hands, so instead of a short, "It depends" type of response, I decided to really answer his question and use it for this column.
My response:
Luke, thanks for your kind words. I'm sincerely glad that the stuff I write is helping your game. Unfortunately, your question has a vague answer: It depends on what type of player your buddy Rob is. Folding could be right. Calling could be right. Reraising could be right. I'd have to know more about Rob to take a guess at the correct play.
Tight-Aggressive-Tricky-Expert
If Rob is a tight, aggressive, tricky, expert-quality player, I think the right move is to fold. You want to avoid playing dominated hands against these types of players. You'll either win a very small pot or you'll lose a very big pot. Because he's tight, the hands he's most likely to play, such as ace-king and ace-queen, dominate your hand.
If you hit an ace on the flop, you'll be in a world of hurt, and if you don't hit an ace on the flop, your tricky, aggressive opponent who just raised before the flop will probably be able to maneuver to win the pot from you. And oh yeah, being suited doesn't help your cause all that much -- you'll only flop a flush about 0.84 percent of the time. If you flop a flush draw, your opponent will probably bet enough to make chasing that flush draw inappropriate.
Loose-Aggressive-Kamikaze-Unpredictable
If Rob is a loose, aggressive, unpredictable player with kamikaze tendencies, I'd very often reraise. I want to punish him for playing bad hands, eliminate the chances that I'll be in a multiway pot by forcing the blinds to fold, and do my best to win the pot before the flop. I'd probably make it about $12 and hope that did the trick. If he comes over the top with an all-in raise, well, I'm probably going to lay it down and not be too happy about it.
Loose-Predictable
If Rob is a loose, predictable player that plays a very straightforward game postflop, I'd have to know about the players in the small and big blind before I could make a decision. If the blinds are very tight and unlikely to call the preflop raise, I'd probably call his preflop raise and hope to get heads-up in position. If the blinds are loose and likely to call, I would probably reraise and make it about $8 to go -- I want to encourage the blinds to fold so I can play one-on-one against Rob while in position.
Because Rob plays a predictable postflop game, he will probably bet if he hits his hand and check if he doesn't. By playing in position, I'll be in a good position to pick up all the pots where he misses the flop. If he's playing unpaired hole cards, he'll miss the flop completely and be "pairless" about two out of three times. I should be able to pick up most of those pots. I'll be very wary about putting chips into the pot if the board comes A-9-3 and he bets right out -- I'm not playing this hand to pair my ace, I'm playing it for Rob not to pair his hole cards. In essence, I'm playing his hand and not mine.
So, you see, Luke, context is king. Without knowing anything about Rob, it is impossible to answer your question. The next time you're playing poker, let your opponents' styles dictate your decisions. Good luck with your game. And, when you start beating this game, consider making a donation to my Bad Beat on Cancer initiative: www.preventcancer.org. It's a great way to "pay me back" and help with a worthy cause at the same time.
Phil Gordon is a World Poker Tour champion, co-host of The Poker Edge on ESPNRadio.com and plays online exclusively at FullTiltPoker. Phil Gordon's educational poker DVD and books, are available at ExpertInsight.net.