Then, instead of taking the free card they wager again on a more costly round...

PLAYING BACKWARDS

by: Lou Krieger©

In a recent column I posed a question about whether identifiable betting patterns can be spotted in a poker game and used to gain an edge on the opposition? That column went on to identify and discuss many common betting patterns and suggest how your own game might improve by getting a fix on your opponents’ tendencies.

Now I want to concentrate on one specific betting pattern I call "playing backwards." It’s not something you see too much of in lower limit games, nor do you see it all that often in very high limit games. Where you do tend to find this phenomenon is in mid-limit games, and it’s generally practiced by good players, who are not yet great players, but think they know more than they really do.

Mike Caro would probably call it an example of "Fancy Play Syndrome," and it is. But this particular and all too commonly found fancy play is something I call it "Playing Backwards" æ or "playing ass backwards," if this weren’t a family magazine æ because that’s precisely what it involves. For some reason many good-but-not-great players go through a phase of playing backwards, and they do so by checking the kinds of hands they really ought to have been betting, and betting when they should have checked or folded.

Another form of backwards play occurs when players opt out of a "free card" play they’ve so eloquently set up by betting on an inexpensive round in hopes of having their opponents "…check to the raiser." Then, instead of taking the free card they wager again on a more costly round, usually without a hand that supports their action, and then act surprised æ if not downright stupefied, like the proverbial deer in the headlights æ when they are called.

That’s what happens when you play backwards, when you bet when you should have checked and checked when you ought to have wagered. What’s going on here, and why do otherwise good players persist in this kind of silly activity that only costs them money? After all, in their efforts to be tricky, the only players they manage to fake out are themselves. Imagine that!

Since it’s one you see all the time, let’s examine the free card play. David’s in late position and raises with A-Ks. Abby, who’s in the big blind, and Karen, who called initially from middle position, both call David’s raise. There’s nothing strange about this so far, but look what happens next. Suppose the flop is a raggedy J-7-6 of mixed suits. Abby and Karen both check and David bets, hoping Abby and Karen will fold. Although they both call, they each "…check to the raiser" on the turn.

By betting the flop, David has set up a free card play. But when Abby and Karen both check, thereby offering David the free card he’s ostensibly looking for, he bets. And David, by betting, has killed the very play he set up for himself. When both opponents call æ or perhaps one calls and the other raises æ he’s surprised. But David shouldn’t be surprised at all. After all, each of his opponents know that the chances of his having raised with big cards like A-K or A-Q far exceed the chances that he raised with a big pocket pair.

Anyway, Karen might have called originally with a hand like Q-J and Abby may have gotten very lucky and called from the blind with a hand like 7-6s, and now she’s made two pair. If this is the case, David, by opting out of the free card he’s reserved for himself, has unwittingly set himself up for Abby’s check raise just because he’s gotten too fancy for his own good. After all, if David is checkraised on the turn while holding nothing more than two overcards, he’s just paid the maximum amount possible for the privilege of releasing his cards. Had he taken a free card, he still might have lost this hand, but he would have saved himself a bet or two in the process.
David has just played a hand completely backwards. He bet when he should have checked and cost himself the maximum to lose a hand, rather than the minimum.

Here are some other examples of playing backwards. Let’s say Billy decides to get tricky by checking a pair of aces on the button when three callers are already in the pot. Because Billy called instead of raising, Jim will probably call for half a bet from the small blind, and Neale will have a free play in the big blind.

Now Billy, who got tricky because he wanted to disguise the strength of his hand, allowed two additional opponents in the pot. After all, unless Jim or Neale had strong hands they would probably have folded to Billy’s raise.
Do you see what’s happened? By getting tricky, Billy has five opponents each in for one bet instead of three opponents contesting the pot for two bets each. So there’s one bet fewer in the pot and five opponents to beat to take the pot, rather than just three. You can never tell what will happen on the flop, but if Jim or Neale get lucky and flop two pair, trips, or better, Billy will have gotten his just deserts by getting fancy when a straightforward raise was called for. In reality, the only person he stands a chance of faking out with this kind of play is himself. He would have been much better off showing strength with a raise, forcing the blinds to fold, betting the flop in most circumstances, and then either betting the turn or taking a free card, depending on the texture of the board, once the price of playing doubled on the turn.

My advice to you is to keep tabs on opponents who seem to like playing backwards. When they’re firmly in your sights you can often raise them out of the pot when they come out betting, or check behind them æ unless you’ve got a really big hand æ when they check in front of you. This, after all, gives you the best of both worlds. You can bet whenever they show weakness by betting their inevitably bad hand, and you can hijack a free card by checking behind them.

For those of you who have slipped into this netherworld of backwards play, take solace in the fact that this particular bag is an easy one to get out of. Just bet when you’ve got a good hand and check when you don’t. Take a free card when you need one. Check or fold to a bet when you’ve got a weak hand. And bet the best hand. What a radical concept, huh?

Lou Krieger has come a long way in the poker world. Well known as the co-author of Poker for Dummies, Lou has also written 11 best-selling books and more than 400 columns and magazine articles of poker strategy, and is the editor of Poker Player Newspaper. Catch Lou’s views, opinions and commentary on just about everything in the world of poker. Join Lou every Thursday at 9:00 PM ET on www.roundersradio.com, where he hosts the radio show, "Keep Flopping Aces."