It’s been a while since I started out trying to teach myself to play poker. There were a few websites and books that I had read telling me what were good preflop starting hands, how to bet and read flops, ect. But at the beginning it was hard for all this new information to sink in, and in the heat of playing it was hard to remember all these basics.

And at the same time I was being influenced by what I witnessed at the tables. I saw how any Ace in the hand could win if an Ace came on the board, making those pair of tens in the pocket look weak. I saw wins with K, Q, J high flushes. I saw people flop straights with middle connectors and heard them say, “always play your connectors”. I saw people rake in big pots when their gutshot draw came in, or their runner-runner flush filled.

What I’m trying to do in this post, even as I type, is to recreate the perspective, environment, influences and thought process of the beginner. I thought it might be interesting to try to don those glasses again. I’m remembering back to a live tournament I played in a few months ago where one beginner was at the final table and doubled up with a big call of a more experienced player. Afterwards she said that he had been bluffing and so she called, with something like a J2s preflop, pairing the 2 on the flop and then hitting a J on the turn, shoving over his second barrel and doubling over his QQ or something. I still play a variety of levels because I think there is some value to being able to read/play against a variety of competition, and so there is some value to revisiting a “beginner’s mind” to see things as they might see them.

What else? Hmm, gutshots look strong; “any 6 and I have a straight, which beats two pair or even three of a kind, right?” Somehow gutshots look stronger than other draws, because you have the cards surrounding that key card covered, protected, as if that straight is almost there. Doesn’t make sense, but that’s the impression that a gutshot gives.

Then there’s the lack of betting control. At lot of beginners have very slippery bet sliders. They rarely bet something in the proper range to accomplish their goal. Instead the bet slider seems to slip easily between too little or too much. Up, down, up, down, depending on how excited they are. The problem is, the excitement might be from a bad beat in the previous hand or from desperation as much as from the cards they currently hold. Others seem to have frozen bet sliders that cannot move past a minimum raise, until suddenly it pops free and in goes most of their chips. Again, that bet slider may jump because of the cards the player holds, or because they think it’s time to fight back against a perceived bully.

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Sometimes they don’t seem to have a goal with their betting. Rather, there are rules or reasons, such as:

• “I caught a pair, so I should bet”, regardless of whether it’s top, middle, or bottom pair. Almost always a minimum bet
• “I caught a pair, so I have to call”, regardless of whether it’s top, middle, or bottom pair with kickers or not.
• “No one bet yet, so I’ll bet”
• “He bet the flop but checked the turn, so it must have been a bluff, or he’s scared. I should bet.”
• “AK/KK/QQ/JJ/TT is a great hand, so I’m not folding”, regardless of what flops and who bets at it
• “I have a draw so I should call”, even if it’s a gutshot or backdoor
• “I have overcards, or an Ace, so I should call in case my card comes”
• “He’s bluffed before, so I should call”, regardless of whether they hold a bluff-catching hand
• “Let’s call and see if we can flop something”, even when they’re down to 5 BBs or less
• “I’m in for 50 chips already, I might as well call that raise”
• “They’re suited; I might get a flush”
• “I’m desperate/tired/frustrated/hungry/drunk/got an Ace, I’m playing this hand”

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