Post by jdaddy on Dec 31, 2007 13:04:12 GMT -4
The 1-2-3 of ABC… CHILD’S PLAY
Textbook tight-aggressive poker may sound a bit basic, but sometimes it’s the only game in town, says Barry Carter.
You’ll often hear the term ‘ABC Poker’ used to describe a playing style, or the way a particular hand was played. It has connotations of predictability, and this isn’t too far from the truth. I like to sit down at a table full of ABC players because, in a game of imperfect information, they are probably giving me more than I am entitled to. I will know exactly where I am in the hand when an ABC player re-raises me with an Ace on the flop, and I know exactly how much to bet to elicit a fold or a call against ‘by the book’ players.
Pushed by lots of books, ABC is a tight-aggressive strategy of raising only when you have a raising hand, calling when you have a decent hand or are getting the correct odds for your holding to improve; betting top pair, and folding when there are several overcards to your pair; never slow-playing a big hand, and rarely if ever bluffing.
In other words, you are playing only to value bet your big hands, and are folding everything else.
So is ABC poker a profitable strategy? It certainly doesn’t seem that way. If you look at some of the most successful players in the world, they play something far removed from ABC. Daniel Negranu, Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen call with any two cards, re-raise with any two cards, slow-play premium hands and take risks that not much of the poker literature would advocate.
Now you may be able to do this yourself at your chosen stakes. In fact, I would say that a loose- aggressive style is often the way to go these days, rather than the tight-aggressive ABC style – but this doesn’t mean that ABC poker is a losing strategy. There is a reason that the books advocate this style of play, and whether you are grinding at the micro limits or you are playing in the Big Game at the Bellagio, there are times when ABC poker is the only way to prevail…
1. In the early stages of a cash game.
When you sit down for a cash session, you could well be there with the same players for a very long time, because the stacks are deep and you all have the option to reload. So even the most unobservant of players are going to pick up on elements of your character – and these will form your table image.
The early stages of a cash game session are about setting up the table image that you want, giving your table an indication about how you play, so that you can exploit that image later on. If you spend the first hour folding most of your hands, making strong bets when you do have a hand, and showing down a few monsters, you’ll soon be tagged with a TAG.
Later on in the game you can pull off big bluffs, get aggressive with draws and slow-play huge hands. You will elicit more folds when you act strong, and get more money into the pot with monsters when someone tries to outplay you.
When you’ve amassed a decent stack and got respect at the table, its time to mix up your game a little. You can use your chips to bully more, and can get a lot trickier in an attempt to create and win huge pots with speculative hands.
2. When you have a bad table image.
If you didn’t follow Rule 1, at some point you’re almost bound to be exposed for the thief that you are – which is definitely the time to knuckle down to some textbook poker.
If you have been caught out bluffing – or just took down a huge pot when you flopped a boat with 8-6 off suit – any bets you make from this point are going to be looked on with scrutiny, especially by the players involved in the hand that showed you up.
It may even be a good time to switch to some ABC poker if you have been getting away with raising with junk and not having to show down a hand, simply because everyone will have had their fill of you being the table captain and will be ready to play back at you.
When you have had your table image ruined, the worst thing you can do is stick to that playing style. Everybody wants a piece of you, and you are going to get called down with some pretty average hands. This is when an ABC style is going to have a lot of value – nobody believes you flopped your Ace, and you’re going to get paid off by someone who never would have in any other circumstance.
3. Against a donkey, or at low stakes.
Sam Farha has a nice phrase that sums this point up. It goes something like: “A good player I can destroy, but against a bad player, I need cards”. There are some players who are going to call no matter what – players who only think about their hand, and don’t give a second thought to what you might have, or what you are representing yourself as having.
These players are your bread and butter, if you can find them. But no matter how clever your bluff was, or how you slow-play a hand, you are not going to change their style. They are still going to call most bets down to the river, and this is why you need a hand.
Bet your big hands big, knowing they are likely to call. Don’t bother trying to check-raise them, because they will probably take the free card, with the result that you will miss a bet or let them hit a draw. Bluffing should not be in your repertoire against calling stations. Their role in life is to call, so make sure that is what you want out of the hand before you get involved with them.
If you are playing at low stakes, then ABC poker should be your only ethos, because the players at this level are 95% donkeys. Betting patterns, pot odds, table image and any other remotely complex aspect of poker have no home here. Most hands are played down to the river, and tight-aggressive is the only way to go at these stakes.
If you haven’t already read Winning Low-Limit Hold’em by Lee Jones, it’s well worth a look. It may be a Limit book, but it really is the bible of playing against a table full of idiots, whether at Limit or No Limit.
4. When you are out of position.
Not knowing how your opponent is going to act means that a tricky play can land you in of hot water. If you’re in position, you can make an informed decision about when to bluff, when to smooth call, when to bet and when to fold. But if you are first to act, bluffing is a problem, you can get re-raised or (often scarier) just called. Likewise, checking first with a big hand can allow your opponent to hit a miracle free card on the turn that busts yours.
When you have a big hand out of position, betting for value either ensures money in the pot for the next street or at least protects it from being outdrawn. But with a weak hand, you really want to keep the pot small and controllable. By all means get more imaginative and take a few risks when you do have position, because you have the benefit of having gathered the most information about the hand so far, and can control the pot to stay small or increase at will.
5. When you have bankroll issues.
If you have a small bankroll (or are playing way above your bankroll), then the last thing you want to do is play like a maniac – you could deplete your entire roll in half an hour. If you are going to play loose-aggressive poker, you are invariably going to encounter some serious swings, and for this you need to develop disciplined bankroll management skills.
Similarly, if you have been on something of a bad run and your bankroll has taken a bit of a hit, knuckle down to some basic poker until you recover it. Drop down a level or two while you are at it. Playing very loose during a rough patch is not only risky, you could be on tilt and not even realize it.
The most important thing at this stage is getting used to winning and playing well again, not to recover your funds in a handful of games. ABC poker will counter some of the effects of variance, and get you used to making a profit again.
SUCKED OUT
ABC poker will not work all the time. If you are against some formidable opposition or are playing at a stake that you are not used to, you will eventually be sucked out and become predictable. You will have to mix things up a bit, slow-play a few hands or raise with junk. When you become easy to read, you have to use that against your opponents and suddenly play hands in ways they never would have thought possible of you.
When your table image is good, this is a great time to mix things up. Your hard work has paid off, and nobody wants to get involved in a hand with you when you are raising. By the time they figure out that you are playing a lot looser, it will be too late, and you will have amassed a mighty stack. Having a lot of chips is also a good time to vary your play. Speculative hands have much more implied value, and you can use your stack to bully people off hands.
STILL USEFUL
When you have position, the world is your oyster. You can bluff or slow-play with impunity, because you can control the size of the pot. You have the most information about the strength of other people, so you can make an informed choice about whether ABC poker is the right strategy or if selling them a dummy is your passport to profit.
If the only style of poker you play is ABC, then you will probably struggle beyond the medium stakes. But this doesn’t mean that ABC isn’t a very useful strategy, because you will hit times when it is the only way to make money, and meet people you can only extract a profit from when you use it.
Textbook tight-aggressive poker may sound a bit basic, but sometimes it’s the only game in town, says Barry Carter.
You’ll often hear the term ‘ABC Poker’ used to describe a playing style, or the way a particular hand was played. It has connotations of predictability, and this isn’t too far from the truth. I like to sit down at a table full of ABC players because, in a game of imperfect information, they are probably giving me more than I am entitled to. I will know exactly where I am in the hand when an ABC player re-raises me with an Ace on the flop, and I know exactly how much to bet to elicit a fold or a call against ‘by the book’ players.
Pushed by lots of books, ABC is a tight-aggressive strategy of raising only when you have a raising hand, calling when you have a decent hand or are getting the correct odds for your holding to improve; betting top pair, and folding when there are several overcards to your pair; never slow-playing a big hand, and rarely if ever bluffing.
In other words, you are playing only to value bet your big hands, and are folding everything else.
So is ABC poker a profitable strategy? It certainly doesn’t seem that way. If you look at some of the most successful players in the world, they play something far removed from ABC. Daniel Negranu, Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen call with any two cards, re-raise with any two cards, slow-play premium hands and take risks that not much of the poker literature would advocate.
Now you may be able to do this yourself at your chosen stakes. In fact, I would say that a loose- aggressive style is often the way to go these days, rather than the tight-aggressive ABC style – but this doesn’t mean that ABC poker is a losing strategy. There is a reason that the books advocate this style of play, and whether you are grinding at the micro limits or you are playing in the Big Game at the Bellagio, there are times when ABC poker is the only way to prevail…
1. In the early stages of a cash game.
When you sit down for a cash session, you could well be there with the same players for a very long time, because the stacks are deep and you all have the option to reload. So even the most unobservant of players are going to pick up on elements of your character – and these will form your table image.
The early stages of a cash game session are about setting up the table image that you want, giving your table an indication about how you play, so that you can exploit that image later on. If you spend the first hour folding most of your hands, making strong bets when you do have a hand, and showing down a few monsters, you’ll soon be tagged with a TAG.
Later on in the game you can pull off big bluffs, get aggressive with draws and slow-play huge hands. You will elicit more folds when you act strong, and get more money into the pot with monsters when someone tries to outplay you.
When you’ve amassed a decent stack and got respect at the table, its time to mix up your game a little. You can use your chips to bully more, and can get a lot trickier in an attempt to create and win huge pots with speculative hands.
2. When you have a bad table image.
If you didn’t follow Rule 1, at some point you’re almost bound to be exposed for the thief that you are – which is definitely the time to knuckle down to some textbook poker.
If you have been caught out bluffing – or just took down a huge pot when you flopped a boat with 8-6 off suit – any bets you make from this point are going to be looked on with scrutiny, especially by the players involved in the hand that showed you up.
It may even be a good time to switch to some ABC poker if you have been getting away with raising with junk and not having to show down a hand, simply because everyone will have had their fill of you being the table captain and will be ready to play back at you.
When you have had your table image ruined, the worst thing you can do is stick to that playing style. Everybody wants a piece of you, and you are going to get called down with some pretty average hands. This is when an ABC style is going to have a lot of value – nobody believes you flopped your Ace, and you’re going to get paid off by someone who never would have in any other circumstance.
3. Against a donkey, or at low stakes.
Sam Farha has a nice phrase that sums this point up. It goes something like: “A good player I can destroy, but against a bad player, I need cards”. There are some players who are going to call no matter what – players who only think about their hand, and don’t give a second thought to what you might have, or what you are representing yourself as having.
These players are your bread and butter, if you can find them. But no matter how clever your bluff was, or how you slow-play a hand, you are not going to change their style. They are still going to call most bets down to the river, and this is why you need a hand.
Bet your big hands big, knowing they are likely to call. Don’t bother trying to check-raise them, because they will probably take the free card, with the result that you will miss a bet or let them hit a draw. Bluffing should not be in your repertoire against calling stations. Their role in life is to call, so make sure that is what you want out of the hand before you get involved with them.
If you are playing at low stakes, then ABC poker should be your only ethos, because the players at this level are 95% donkeys. Betting patterns, pot odds, table image and any other remotely complex aspect of poker have no home here. Most hands are played down to the river, and tight-aggressive is the only way to go at these stakes.
If you haven’t already read Winning Low-Limit Hold’em by Lee Jones, it’s well worth a look. It may be a Limit book, but it really is the bible of playing against a table full of idiots, whether at Limit or No Limit.
4. When you are out of position.
Not knowing how your opponent is going to act means that a tricky play can land you in of hot water. If you’re in position, you can make an informed decision about when to bluff, when to smooth call, when to bet and when to fold. But if you are first to act, bluffing is a problem, you can get re-raised or (often scarier) just called. Likewise, checking first with a big hand can allow your opponent to hit a miracle free card on the turn that busts yours.
When you have a big hand out of position, betting for value either ensures money in the pot for the next street or at least protects it from being outdrawn. But with a weak hand, you really want to keep the pot small and controllable. By all means get more imaginative and take a few risks when you do have position, because you have the benefit of having gathered the most information about the hand so far, and can control the pot to stay small or increase at will.
5. When you have bankroll issues.
If you have a small bankroll (or are playing way above your bankroll), then the last thing you want to do is play like a maniac – you could deplete your entire roll in half an hour. If you are going to play loose-aggressive poker, you are invariably going to encounter some serious swings, and for this you need to develop disciplined bankroll management skills.
Similarly, if you have been on something of a bad run and your bankroll has taken a bit of a hit, knuckle down to some basic poker until you recover it. Drop down a level or two while you are at it. Playing very loose during a rough patch is not only risky, you could be on tilt and not even realize it.
The most important thing at this stage is getting used to winning and playing well again, not to recover your funds in a handful of games. ABC poker will counter some of the effects of variance, and get you used to making a profit again.
SUCKED OUT
ABC poker will not work all the time. If you are against some formidable opposition or are playing at a stake that you are not used to, you will eventually be sucked out and become predictable. You will have to mix things up a bit, slow-play a few hands or raise with junk. When you become easy to read, you have to use that against your opponents and suddenly play hands in ways they never would have thought possible of you.
When your table image is good, this is a great time to mix things up. Your hard work has paid off, and nobody wants to get involved in a hand with you when you are raising. By the time they figure out that you are playing a lot looser, it will be too late, and you will have amassed a mighty stack. Having a lot of chips is also a good time to vary your play. Speculative hands have much more implied value, and you can use your stack to bully people off hands.
STILL USEFUL
When you have position, the world is your oyster. You can bluff or slow-play with impunity, because you can control the size of the pot. You have the most information about the strength of other people, so you can make an informed choice about whether ABC poker is the right strategy or if selling them a dummy is your passport to profit.
If the only style of poker you play is ABC, then you will probably struggle beyond the medium stakes. But this doesn’t mean that ABC isn’t a very useful strategy, because you will hit times when it is the only way to make money, and meet people you can only extract a profit from when you use it.