Ask and you shall receive - first part

By Erick Lindgren

A lesson in two parts by Erick Lindgren

You can learn a lot by listening. You can learn almost as much by talking, if you ask the right questions.

The following took place in a tournament at Bellagio in 2004.

I'm sitting on a very solid first table and I do recognize that two faces. It s is two pros, but none of the two n is really aggressive. I know that I can take control of the table and target customer. I notice an old man with a cowboy hat that is involved in many too many pots and I decide what will be my prey. My plan is to bluff at the earliest opportunity and to do so before his eyes. I want what it takes me to a young punk in l hope qu he tries to bluff me later when j have a really strong hand.

I pick up a few jars and my stack of departure of $20 K is inflated to $43 K when the Cowboy and I will find finally involved in interesting one-handed. For a long time, j have revived several weak hands and squandered some of my chips. In this hand, the blinds are $200-$400, and I raise to $1,200 with J - J. There are 3 players that I call including the Cowboy on the big blind. The flop falls 7 h 4 c 4 h and the small blind check. C is the turn to the Cowboy who pushes all-in. He had l air proud to bet $37 K in a pot of $5 K.

I was completely confused. Qu - what happens? I do not see the sense of it all. There is a player to play behind me, but remains it $3 K it n is therefore irrelevant in this hand. The best thing I can do is encourage the Cowboy to talk. "Why put you so much?" I ask her. He tells me of caller to know the answer.

I therefore made a list of his possible hands: A - x heart for the nuts flush draw. A pair of eights, maybe. Or a bizarre bet with a pair of 7. After a minute or two of deliberation, I decide to caller. He returned T - 7 c giving it a pair! It rata till the river and my stack went up to $80 K, putting me in a very comfortable position.

C is important to know which are the weak players. Try to play against them and inspire them to make mistakes. You cannot count on the pros to make this kind of error. In this particular case, I knew what he was exhausted to play and through some verbal exchanges, I manage to find my target.

Next article, a similar issue with a different choice of responses to an equally interesting profit.