Poker: The Us Versus Them Strategy
I came up with this at the poker table at the Hollywood Casino near Cincinnati. I'm sure that I'm not the first person to think of this, but I thought I would pass it along.
First off, you need to be at one end of the table. Seat two or seat eight is the best. Next, you need to start up a conversation with the guys right around you about poker. Now, what do you say? The best thing I've found is to give out a little information about the players at the other end of the table. Even if it's a guess about what someone had, if they were bluffing, or so on. This starts things off.
From there, you need to find some way to talk a little bad about the players at the other end of the table. You don't need to over do it, just little jabs. The best is if the other end of the table is winning, to say something like "Those chips need to start coming to our side of the table", or "When are we going to start getting cards?". The idea is to say something positive, and include the one or two guys on either side of you. In creates the idea that you're all in it together against the other end of the table.
The fact that you're talking about other end of the table, also means that their less likely to hear you talking about them.
What does this do for you? A couple of things.
One, if you have more talkative people around you, they might start giving you information about things they see the other players doing. Three sets of eyes are always better than one.
Two, if they're the friendly type, they might not try so hard to take your money. They might fold a little easier, bet a little weaker, and so on.This makes it easier for you to concentrate on the other players around the table.
Finally, they might also give you a lot of information about themselves, and how they play. Things like telling you what they had, why they played a hard the way they did, or even their general strategy. You might find out something that will help you later if you do end up in a big hand against them.
You can get a lot of things like this from just being friendly, but for more serious players, that doesn't always work. I've found though that if they think you're in it together, against the other players, even hard cases are more forthcoming.
The downside of all of this is that the second you take their money, they're probably going to stop talking to you. If you take a small hand or two, show them you had good cards, tell them your sorry and act like you mean it, you might be able to keep things rolling. The longer the better.
This isn't something that you can do all the time. It has to be the right situation to give it a try, but it can give you quite and advantage.
Let me know what you think.
Posted by Ghostshark under Poker | Comments (0)