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