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Information and Poker

Friday, February 25th, 2011 by Phil

Poker Information

Chess skills don’t always translate well into poker skills. That’s because chess is a game of complete information. Poker is a game of incomplete information. The skill of making good decisions with incomplete information is crucial to poker success. Imagine a poker player who can’t read the difference between a bluff and a value bet. She’s going to lose money more often than not, right?

Poker players can get information on a given poker hand in many ways. Context clues are one variable. Your history with the other player is another. Experienced players think about what happened preflop as well as postflop. New players usually only think about their own cards, not their opponents’. Processing poker information is an intermediate poker skill.

Context Clues in Poker

Context refers to the situation that you’re in. Every situation has clues. If three cards of the same suit fall on the flop, and another player goes all in, what cards might that player be holding?

Other factors to consider in this situation include what the player did preflop. If he checked and called preflop, then he probably had a drawing hand. Going all in now makes it pretty clear that he hit his flush.

This could also be a well executed bluff though. Knowing what kind of player you’re up against is another piece of information that can help you in this situation. Some players assume their opponents are geniuses, but most poker players are actually pretty straightforward in their play, especially online. This changes some as you move up in stakes.

In Texas hold’em, the board gives players the opportunity to improve their hands. But they also give you the opportunity to analyze information about your opponents’ hands. For example, if you have the ace of hearts, and the fourth ace was dealt on the river, you know that your opponent can’t possibly have the nut flush. He could bluff at the pot though.

In this situation, you have information that your opponent doesn’t have. He’s representing the ace that you have in your hand. Here you have the nuts, and your opponent doesn’t realize it. So call his bluff, AND remember that he’s capable of such a move.

Historical Poker Information

History between players can be an invaluable weapon at the table too. If you know a player’s tendencies, you are much more likely to know what she is holding when you play a pot with her. Picking up tells and/or betting patterns can be crucial.

Some poker players do the same thing over and over, despite their opponents’ adjustments. Savvy poker players don’t make anything obvious.

If a player always bets 3/4 of the pot on the river when they have a good hand, but they suddenly make a full or half pot size bet, it means they don’t have their standard good hand.

The player might have a stronger hand, or he might have a weaker hand. Picking up bet sizing tendencies does no good if you can’t decipher what they mean, though. Playing styles and tendencies vary according to players and situations, so play smart when using history to aid in a decision.

Known Information

The board and your hole cards provide solid information. You don’t have to guess what type of hand you’re holding. You KNOW what you were dealt. And this information is important too.

If you disregard that you’re holding two cards to block a straight when your opponent bets, you’re giving your opponent an unfair advantage. Use what you do know as a tool to discover what you don’t know.

The community cards (board) are the best way to use context clues when piecing together information. When trying to put your opponent on a hand, use the cards on the board in relation to any prior play. If a player bets when a queen is dealt, bets when a jack is dealt, but checks when an aces falls on the river, it should give you great insight into what that player is holding.

He either has a big pair that is scared of an ace, or he was bluffing with an ace and got lucky. If he checked with an ace, it means that he’s hoping you’ll bet and build up the pot.

But most of the time he’s scared of that ace on the river. This information can make playing poker much easier, but what good is information if we don’t know how to use it?

Play enough poker, and you’ll hear players complain about how their opponent didn’t fold when she should have, or how someone went all in when she should have called, or how she made some other boneheaded mistake.

Sometimes these complaints are valid. Other times you could have avoided the situation entirely based on the information you had available.

If you know someone has a weak hand, then bet. Try to get her to fold.

On the other hand, take into account what your opponent is likely to do, and adjust your decisions in this situation accordingly. If you put your opponent on pocket twos on a board of A A K Q J, what good will it do if she calls when you go all in with 7 8?

Poker information is only as valuable as you make it. It’s not enough to gather information. You have to act intelligently on it if you want to win.