Hand to hand combat with playing cards.............

I played in a poker tournament at the casino last week with my friend Rudy. The blind structure was pretty fast, so skill didn't play a major factor in the tournament. One thing I've noticed about live tournaments is that I feel like I do have an advantage in the live games over the online games of similar skill. The reason is that my ability to read a given player's verbal and non-verbal tells has really improved over time. It's reached the point now where I'm already feeling sorry for my daughter as she grows up. She's going to have a really tough time lying to me and actually getting away with it.

My starting table was a wide mix of players. There were two younger players not much older than 21 years old. I immediately put them on being very aggressive players. They were very quiet and bet very quickly. They also would never establish eye contact with anyone after they bet quickly, which usually means they're bluffing. Had they taken some time to decide on a bet and then not established eye contact, the opposite would be true. They'd like have a stronger hand at that point. Veteran players can fake these tells to throw you off, but these guys weren't good enough to do it yet. My thoughts were confirmed when both of them were called down early and had to show their bluffs.

The older players and the female players generally played to their stereotypes. Very tight and very quiet. I use my gift of gab at the table to get a feel for these players. I started meaningless banter at the table. It didn't even matter what I was talking about as long as the other players at the table were opening up. I want to see how they act to my conversations when the cards are being shuffled or when they aren't holding a hand. The reason I do this is to get a baseline feel for how these players act under normal conditions. Once I do that, I can then put them in a similar situation when they are in a pot to see how they react. It paid big dividends.

One older lady at the table was very cordial and chattered quite a bit under normal conditions. Roughly a half hour into the tournament, she came in for a raise. I immediately commented while smiling that she must have a monster. A veteran opponent in that situation would remain emotionless and focus on a spot on the table. This lady looked up at me and flashed one of the weakest, nervous smiles you've ever seen. The reason? I was right. I had Ace-Queen and laid it down without thinking twice. She ended up in a big pot and ended up showing King-King. Anyone at the table who was paying attention should have known she was very strong, but one of the aggressive young players let his bluffing get in the way of making a smart play.

A retired man to my right was also a very easy read and an extremely nice guy to boot. He came across as a very intelligent guy who was a bit shy from a social standpoint. Players like this are the ones that talking also comes in handy as they tend to open up A LOT when someone strikes up a conversation to the point where they betray their hand strength. After figuring out early on that I wanted to steer clear of any raise from this guy, I jokingly told him that I wouldn't call in any pot he was in unless I had a monster pair (QQ, KK, or AA). Funny part was that I was being truthful. I saw him raise two hands. In one hand, he showed KK. In the other hand, everyone folded to his raise. He was ready to throw that one away without showing it, but I smiled and told him that he should keep those cards. He smiled and turned over AK. Making friends at the table has its rewards.

I was moved to another table with the retired man and the older lady when the tournament was down to 19 players (started with 38). I was relatively short on chips, so reading other players took a back seat to finding a hand of some sort that was good enough to go all-in. I eventually found 88 and pushed it all-in. The guy to my right thought for a minute and then called. Unfortunately, he had 99 which was just about the worst hand for my 88 to go up against. I didn't get any help from the cards and I was out in 16th place.

The retired man who I had played with the whole time took the time to stand up and shake my hand and said he 'thoroughly enjoyed' playing with me. Those kinds of reactions are why I love playing poker, especially live poker. It's a great way to meet all kinds of people while engaging in a competitive mind game with the opponents. There's the occasional jerk or gambler who's angry at every facet of his life, but most people playing poker are good people who enjoy the game for the same reason I do.