Why humming can be a good thing
January 24, 2007 at 4:16 pm | In Tells | Leave a Commentby Diane McHaffie
First published in Poker Player Newspaper
I’m easily annoyed by humming and whistling. I remember driving to work with a passenger who would whistle or hum the entire hour-long ride. It was like fingernails on a chalk board. I eventually ended the association and began driving by myself — no rider, no annoyances.
So, imagine my surprise when I read one of Mike’s columns and discovered that humming isn’t an annoying noise, but a good and profitable sound. Yes, that is what I read, profitable. Humming is a tell. Wow!
Mike wrote that years ago he played with a gentleman who hummed, mostly show tunes. Well, I guess you could sit there and try to identify which tunes he was humming. Mike thought it was “charming,” although the other players found it annoying. I would have found another table. I mean laughter is fine, as well as chatting, but humming, no way!
This gentleman would begin the game in deep concentration, proud of his ability as a poker player and believe it or not, he thought he could read his opponent’s tells. Poor guy didn’t seem to realize that he had a blatant tell that he was advertising around the table. Distracted. The gentleman’s attention span was short, and soon he’d be easily distracted by things happening around the room or other random thoughts. He seemed to find it hard to sit still and concentrate on his opponents or what was taking place at the table. This boredom would soon result in him humming. If he wasn’t involved in a hand, he’d hum quietly.
Ah, but if he had a good hand, with strong possibilities, the humming would grow in volume and intensity, a joyful sound. Mike stated that such happy humming was a sign that he was content with his hand and was pleased with how things were moving along. So, opponents beware! This was a sign that he held a significant hand. Now, if there were a crack in the humming, a rhythmic suspension, then it was a sign that he was under stress, that there was some doubt, maybe dissatisfaction in the flop. The humming was no longer cheerful, instead it was sadder. Now, if the cards had made him happy, the humming would’ve reflected his pleasure. But that wasn’t the case.
The distinct tempo of the man’s humming was a precise interpretation of his feelings. The humming was a profitable tell. Mike wrote that what was even more telling and more profitable about this humming was the fact that you could hear when he was bluffing. Yes, that’s right. The humming would falter in it’s cadence. It’s like he was forgetting the tune. Then if you started to call his bluff, the humming ceased. Ah, ha, got you! Now you knew you could call and win. No humming, he was worried. He didn’t want you to call. Sorry buddy, this one’s mine.
Raise. Mike said that he could be holding a weak hand and still raise if this opponent bet and the accompanying humming faded. Usually the hummer would choose to fold.
In many of Mike’s seminars he has taught that players will actually cease breathing and barely move when they are bluffing for fear any movement on their part will instigate a call. They don’t want you to suspect what they are attempting to do. They aren’t confident in their abilities to pull off this maneuver, so they become like a mannequin.
Mike writes that humming is much the same. When your opponent is a hummer and he suddenly ceases his performance, then you can suspect that he is bluffing and he is worried about being called.
So, when you are preparing to sit down at a table to play poker and you hear humming, don’t look upon it as an annoying sound to run from, but as a profitable sound that could net you a healthier bankroll.
Exceptions
January 21, 2007 at 8:56 pm | In Psychology | Leave a Commentby Ashley Adams
First published in Poker Player Newspaper
Certain general poker truisms have become like gospel for many players. Here are six.
1. Don’t play at stakes you can’t afford.
2. Don’t drink alcohol while you play.
3. Play tightly in a loose game and loosely in a tight game.
4. Don’t draw to an inside straight.
5. Bluff more in a shorthanded game.
6. Don’t play when tired.
In my experience, however, there are exceptions to these rules that can be the source of considerable profit. Let me address each of them in turn.
1. Don’t play at stakes you can’t afford. This is usually a good rule. You don’t want to play with “scared money”. If you are afraid of the stakes, for the most part, you won’t be able to compete at the same level as the others in the game missing some opportunities to maximize your advantage while at the same time being too inclined to fold to betting pressure even when you may have the best of it.
That being said, you need to realize that you can take a brief stab at a game that is a higher than your regular game even if you are on a short bankroll. Let’s say, for example, that you only have a poker bankroll of $1,000, earned by playing $.50/1.00 and $1/2 on line. Your friends and on line poker buddies have all told you the conventional math that says you need to have 600 times the large blind to sit down in a game. You’ve believed them and had planned to wait until you had $6,000 or so before making the move up to $5/10 Even so, you join your poker buds on a trip to a nearby poker room where they play. You’re watching a game and notice that the players are awful. The game seems to be really passive and really loose. Five players typically call the $2.00 bring in. It’s rare for someone to complete the bet to $5.00. There’s usually some betting on all of the streets, but there’s also a lot of checking and calling.
All you have is that $1,000 you brought along “just in case”. True, you have a regular job, but you don’t make much money beyond your expenses – maybe only $50 a week for entertainment. Still, you’d like to play and this game looks juicy. Do you forego the game in the interest of strict financial discipline?
No, this is an exception to that rule. This is a great game where you have a shot at winning. Take the shot. Set yourself a loss limit of $300. What’s the worst that can happen? You buy in for $300 or so, lose it all, and your bankroll goes down to $700. You know you can make money on line at $.50/1.00 and $1/2. You have some small stream of income to reseed your poker account. So go ahead and try playing over your head.
You can make certain adjustments when you do this, to minimize your risk while not killing your ability to win. Play a generally tighter version of your best game – playing fewer speculative hands. Set a strict stop loss limit so you can return with enough of your bankroll still intact to handle the low stakes on line games if you fail to win here at $5/10. True, this is not the ideal way to play, but it can be a winning way to play in a particularly good game. So make an exception to the rule, play over your head, and enjoy yourself. You may win enough to make the step again for a longer period of time.
Rule 2. Don’t drink alcohol while you play This is generally a wise guideline. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s ability to function. Top-level poker requires considerable brainpower, so why put yourself at a disadvantage? Similarly, alcohol works as a depressant – tending to make many tired, distracted, inattentive, and sleepy. This surely diminishes your ability to stay and take advantage of a good game – yet another reason to eschew this intoxicant while playing poker.
Still, there are at least two good reasons to indulge, at least from time to time, even while playing poker – presuming that you can control your drinking once you begin. First of all, if the game is good, and others are drinking, you may not want to draw attention to yourself as an abstemious teetotaler. If everyone is drinking, laughing it up, and having a good time, it may look weird or at least somewhat suspect for you to ask for only a cup of coffee or water. You’re probably already going to stand out some as a serious player. Not drinking is an unnecessary red flag that you are there to make a profit, not to have a good time. And that may be all the excuse that is necessary to rescind your invitation the next time there’s a game.
I’m not suggesting that you drink like a fish. But if everyone’s handing out the brewskies and the host asks, “What’ll you have” there’s no harm in asking for a beer too. You don’t have to drink more than one – or even the entire beer. Few if any of the drinking players will notice how much you drink of your beer. But they may notice if you don’t have one.
There’s another reason – and this is admittedly a bit Machiavellian. If it’s your home game, you want others to drink. Your apparent eagerness or at least willingness to imbibe may be the signal that it’s “that kind of game” and therefore safe for your guests to indulge as well. Encourage this inclination with your behavior.
Consider this scene. There’s a game at your house with people whom you’ve met in other games but never had to your house. They’ve seen you in the local poker room perhaps, where serious play is the rule. They don’t know what to expect. Is this a “friendly game” like they’re used to with their buddies – where players talk, watch TV, drink, eat and don’t take the poker too serious. Or is this a serious affair like in the casino – where everyone tries to play their best game all the time, orders bottled water, and focuses nearly all of their attention on the game? They’re waiting to see how you act to determine how they’ll act.
Give them an excuse to drink by having drink yourself early on. Of course you need to have an eye on your own sobriety – because you really are trying to take their money. But have a beer at the start. But it’s OK to drink early on just so long as you’re at your best as the poker game progresses into the wee hours, when others tend to be more tired, looser, and easier to take advantage of – especially if they’ve been drinking.
Next time will examine more exceptions to these six rules.
Opinion: Online Gaming: The Sky Isn’t Falling….Yet
January 21, 2007 at 8:50 pm | In Legal Issues | Leave a Commentby Amy Calistri
First published in PokerNews
Yesterday’s announcement by Neteller that it was withdrawing its online gaming funding services to US residents marked a critical disruption in the online gaming food chain. And it is likely that other funding companies will join suit, as Citadel has, rather than risk facing criminal charges from a zealous US Department of Justice. While there is a big dark cloud hanging over the online poker community this week, it is hardly the stuff that Chicken Little feared.
First and foremost, while UIGEA motivated, the charges brought against Neteller’s former executives were not as a result of the UIGEA law. This is a classic case of enforcement of the 1961 Wire Act, which to date has only been able to be interpreted to make sports
books illegal. Since 1998 when Janet Reno issued the first Wire Act charges against six offshore sports betting operations (two of which only solicited wagers over the internet), the internet has been interpreted as a relevant transmission for Wire Act related prosecution.
I guess it should be said that if you are an executive of an offshore online sports book, you’re sky is falling. But then it’s been falling since 1998. And if you run an offshore online funding operation that transmits money to and from offshore online sports books, I wouldn’t vacation in the US any time soon.
But if you started a private offshore online funding company today and didn’t allow any transmissions to sports book operations, it’s far less probable that the US would come knocking at your door. Likewise, if you are an offshore online gaming operation that didn’t offer sports wagering, federal prosecution is probably not in your foreseeable future. Obviously, the changing landscape of state law has to be negotiated, but ’sky falling’ material on the federal front would take passage of a new law, or a vastly different interpretation of the Wire Act then currently exists. While both of those prospects are possible, it would take strong motivation and some heavy lifting from Congress and the courts to walk that path.
It was probably more than a coincidence that Reno’s initial charges against online offshore sports books occurred just one week before the NCAA basketball tournament. And it is probably not a coincidence that in the case against the former Neteller executives, the transmission of money for bets on NFL football was used as the crucial evidence. As stated above, the Wire Act has only successfully been applied to sports books. But it shouldn’t be a shocker that both the NCAA and NFL have been lobbying hard and fast for a long time to eradicate online sports betting; rightfully believing that a large amount of money riding on the outcome of a game is a recipe for a cheating scandal. And it is no secret that the NFL’s lobbying effort was behind Frist’s quarterback sneak relative to passage of the UIGEA.
I often hear about how poker is now a major sport. It has grown in popularity and has great mainstream appeal. But online poker is a virtual punter when compared to the NFL’s steadfast lobbying clout. Unless we want to keep looking at the sky waiting for it to fall, the so far individual interests of the major players have to be put aside to address the collective industry’s interests. New law could be enacted. Interpretation of the Wire Act could be expanded. And while the Poker Player’s Alliance appears to be a well meaning group, their list of names and appealing rhetoric is hardly a wall of defense, let alone an independently viable offensive brigade.
We need to stop looking upward and start looking forward. We can wax poetic about skill vs. chance all day long, but for the long-term interest of the sport, poker needs a UIGEA carve-out. It will take a lot of influence (money and lobbying clout) and hard work to get there. The first step is a unified industry that can demonstrate that it is willing and able to be self-regulated and, ultimately, US regulated. A willingness to cough up taxes is also a given; it’s hard to ask someone to throw their Congressional life on the line for an offshore company not paying its US dues. But most of all, the industry has to recognize that this is their problem, their responsibility, requiring their unified plan of action.
On a misguided hysteria-driven journey, Chicken Little’s supportive and well meaning friends get eaten by Foxy Loxy. The moral of that story, and ours, is that hysteria isn’t an action plan and we must defend against real, not imagined, risk.
Neteller Founders Detained: New UIGEA Precedent or Old School?
January 21, 2007 at 8:46 pm | In Legal Issues | 2 Commentsby Amy Calistri
First published in PokerNews
Today Neteller suspended trading of its company’s shares on the London Stock Market and confirmed that two of its former company officials and founding members had been detained in the US. Neteller further stated that they have not heard from US authorities.
The mainstream press is treating this as just one more legal wrangle in the string of well publicized actions taken by the US to crack down on online gambling. But on the face of it, the current Neteller situation appears to be far different than last year’s moves against Peter Dicks, chairman of SportingBet and David Curruthers, chief executive of BetOnSports. If charges are filed in the Neteller detentions, could this set new legal precedent? Is this the harbinger of
UIGEA related cases to come?
While headline grabbing, last year’s actions against Dicks and Curruthers were consistent with the US’s current enforcement of the US Wire Act. Starting in 1999, the US broadened its interpretation of the sports betting focused act to better target online sports betting operations and since that time, a number of online sports betting operations have run afoul with the law. Convictions (and indictments pending trial) netted executives of companies like World Sports Exchange (WSEX.com), Paradise Casino, Gold Medal Sports, Safe Deposit Sports.com, betWTTS.com, and bettheduck.com.
Neteller is not an online sports book nor does it run any online gaming operation. And while they are currently under more scrutiny because of their online funding operations in light of the October 13, 2006 passage of the UIGEA, Neteller has publicly stated that they will comply with UIGEA regulations as they become available. Even if the US move was UIGEA motivated, neither of the detainees were company employees after the passage of the UIGEA.
Speculating; this could just be the US’s way of firing a well publicized warning shot across the bow of a visible and publicly traded UIGEA poster child. But if the US is planning on using their shiny new UIGEA legal stick, they will set a very dangerous precedent felt throughout the investment community at large. Post-UIGEA, the only affiliation founders John LeFebvre and Steve Lawrence had with Neteller was as share holders; granted they may have been significant shareholders. But would that mean that any large institutional share holder was somehow legally liable for a company’s actions? If MGM had a legal issue, could Tracinda and Kirk Kerkorian be taken to task? If I owned an oil stock, could I face charges if the company skimmed a little off their federal royalty fees? Legally, it’s a dog that won’t hunt, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work as a tactic. Neteller may feel more heat to self-regulate prior to the release of formal UIGEA regulations and the US may not have to put another dime in the pot on its legal bluff.
Of course while still UIGEA motivated, the US may try working a technicality that somehow fits within the sports betting paradigm. When the US couldn’t convict the mob of racketeering, they went the tax evasion route. In the world of online gaming affiliations, money laundering may become the new tax evasion. Did Neteller facilitate the transfer of money to online sports books while they were taking US action? That alone might be enough of a sticking point to force Neteller’s hand.
The US has only one tried and true hammer to beat down on online gaming and that is the sports betting related wire act. It’s my guess that if this situation progresses, the wire act will be the US legal tool of choice; even though Neteller doesn’t resemble the typical online gaming nail. The short-term ramifications for the online gaming community are obvious should Neteller alter its current services in the US, but the Neteller detainees are unlikely ushers into a new UIGEA legal era.
Bad Beat Bob
January 12, 2007 at 9:31 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Commentby Jennifer Matiran
First published in Poker Player Newspaper
Poor, poor Bob, to whom all bad things happen. His wife hates him; his children think he’s an idiot and his co-workers walk all over him like he’s part of the carpet. He spills hot coffee on his shirt every morning burning his white delicate skin and staining his already wrinkled shirt. Bob just kept telling his bad beat stories over and over again until it became the very fabric of his being. He seemed not to be a child of God anymore but of the beat. The bad beat. Triple “B” some called him.
Don’t be like Bad Beat Bob this New Year, basically he doesn’t know what he’s doing and when one doesn’t have enough knowledge they become a magnet to “bad beats.” Learn the game well and if you play well and lose, that’s just a part of gambling. Read everything you can get your hands on about poker, be a student of it and learn it classically first, then, you can get fancy about your play because you will know why you’re doing it. Research also helps you find out what “they” know…
Dr. Fink walked in the first day of film class and said I know the movies that are popular at the moment are unconventional and break all the rules. A movie like Pulp Fiction (which is a great film) breaks almost all the rules of dramatic structure…He continued expressing that the beginning works of Picasso were perfect life like, so mastered one felt like reaching into the painting to grab a piece of fruit from the bowl for example. Picasso’s pieces were so real that they looked like photographs. Pablo had mastered his art form, “classically.” It was later in Picasso’s life when he decided to put a nose on the forehead and an eye on the cheek…He did those things with purpose not just to be odd. He did them when he was a pro and knew ALL the rules and reasons. And until you learn the way it’s done classically, until you learn the rules you should not break them.
Rules like showing your cards (especially when you’ve bluffed your opponent), rules like chit-chatting too much at the table, rules like listening (this is to all the new players who listen to music instead of listening for table tells) rules like not calculating the pot odds and memorizing percentages, rules like strategic use of position, rules like being able to muck your Ace/Ten after the pot has been raised twice. There are so many rules that one needs to know before you can be a “bad ass” while playing cards and if you try to be a “bad ass” before you learn those rules you are just going to look like a dumb ass, pardon the language.
Happy New Year Everybody!!!… Turn it all around this year, God has and always will give you a second chance, call your parents you do not speak to (no one will ever call you a fool for doing that no matter what the outcome,) start exercising, slowly, walk around the block, I know a marathon runner who began by running to the first street light on his block, baby steps that’s key, donate money you will get it back tenfold, trust me that’s how it works, donate your time, go visit that elderly family friend that nobody ever goes to see, you’ll make her day, SMILE, you have a beautiful smile, LAUGH it’s contagious, it’s strengthens your immune system, finally put to rest that relationship you know is bad for you, don’t romanticize what you thought you had. And last but not least take time to be silent…
Deepak Chopra said something like this, that between each thought there is a silence before the next thought and it is in that silence that you can attract anything you desire by tapping into the infinite energy of the universe….Be still, slow down and take time for your spirit…See you next year…God bless you…It’s never too late, stay strong and may love penetrate all that you are…
“Let the rain come down and wash away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun
A new day has…come.”
Poker Counseling: Oops, Too Late!
January 9, 2007 at 6:01 pm | In Tells | 1 Commentby John Carlisle
First published in Poker Player Newspaper
A friend of mine had his hopes dashed and heart crushed when he made a terrible call in a recent major tournament in Atlantic City. The Flop had brought him middle pair, so he bet out at it. His opponent took a fair amount of time before announcing an all-in reraise.
My buddy was initially shocked by his opposition’s move, as the all-in put both of their tournament lives at risk. It was an over bet of the pot, and a very aggressive play considering the bubble was nearing very soon.
My friend was obviously befuddled. He apologized to his fellow players as he asked for extra time to weigh the critical decision. The raiser was at first very still, but then grew impatient as my buddy sapped more time away. “C’mon, c’mon, let’s go,” the opponent muttered aloud with a deep sigh of impatience.
My friend interpreted this sly comment as a tell of weakness (strong means weak), and he chose to make the call. My hapless friend was devastated to find that he was almost drawing dead, as the man across the table wore a wide grin as he displayed his top set.
Upon breaking down the play with my friend, I uncovered a huge error in his thought processing. I asked him all about the opponent in question. How had he been acting in the hours before his all-in push? Had he made any bluffs in the past few rounds? Was he a pro or amateur? Was his goal likely to be to win the whole tourney or to simply coast to the money? My buddy shrugged his shoulders with each of these inquiries. He had not really been watching and gathering information on this particular character.
My friend’s mistake is a very common one. We tend to look for tells when we are in a pinch with a tough decision in front of us. This is way too late to begin this vital process. You see, we can never accurately judge a tell on a single moment alone. We need to evaluate the total player when making any decision. This process begins before we take the first deal.
I call it gathering a total baseline. We should be observing and probing our opponents at all times. Mentally log any information that you can gather. A father of three who qualified for the tournament online is likely to be very happy to play it safe and sneak into the money spots. A grizzled Las Vegas pro player probably has his sights set on the final table and will be making more bold moves as the bubble comes nearer. A guy who chit-chats with his tablemates all day but suddenly quiets up as he peeks at his hole cards is likely to hold a monster. Maybe you could notice a young player has sat in a similar pose all day long, but he shifted way back in his seat when faced with a pot sized raise.
Reading tells begins with the baseline. I compare it to doing your research/ homework. You should never be in the tough spot where you are making decision based on a brief momentary tell. A tell is nothing more than another small piece of information that we can use to compare against our baseline information on that particular opponent. Your mind must be totally engaged in the psychology of poker as much as the cards.
Observe everyone at the table intently. Watch them when they least suspect that eyes are upon them, such as when they have already folded their hand. Watch their demeanor, their mannerisms, their focus, and their betting patterns. Ask them questions in “friendly” conversation about their family, their home town, their occupation, etc. All the while you are gathering the vital pieces of the total puzzle that you’ll need to rely upon when the pressure is on!
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