POKERIOPISTO

One of the surprises I came across during my first Texas Holdem tournament was how friendly the game was. This was certainly not a negative part of the game and certainly I was not hoping for an aggressive and rude table but there were some interesting things happening at the table which made me consider whether or not there was some unintentional collusion going on. As the table was so friendly, however, nobody asked anyone to refrain from their actions.

The first problem with the table was that literally every hand was being shown when the player folded. Literally every one! It was interesting to study the actions of players when the hands were about to be revealed. Players were folding the cards and visibly relaxing when they had seen they had made the right move and wincing before retreating into their thoughts when a bluff was shown. It made me realise the power of passing your cards face down to the dealer rather than reveal the stone cold nut hand to your worried opponent, showing them a great fold. Think of Phil Hellmuth being forced to lay down a big hand and going on a little speech. You would not want to inform him he had made a great fold as this would have not only caused another speech on how great he is, but given him confidence that he was playing great. There is a time to show a bluff to an opponent you think may tilt, but normally it is best to keep that mystery about your play unless you have to show your cards at showdown.

By showing the cards on my table we were freely handing out information to each other. I found this particularly valuable as it immediately showed me the loose players who were raising with any two it seemed to the tight players who only held pocket pairs or high cards. I played along in the friendly atmosphere but quietly did not reveal my hand when I had taken advantage of a nice bluff opportunity. Luckily for me no-one noticed as they were trying to help a new player improve, which was something they should have probably avoided as this player has chips we were all trying to win. But in this Texas Holdem tournament it was more about being friendly.

I was aware of the opportunities for unintentional collusion in this game. This concept is best demonstrated by when there are two friends at the table and when they enter a hand together they either check it down or play the hand differently than if they were playing someone else. The effect on their chip stack, whether positive or negative, does not represent true play against a random opponent, consequently altering the tournaments consequential outcome. I also noticed that some players were showing each other their cards and, albeit probably not maliciously, they were giving out information to one player at the table that everyone else does not have access to. If you were sitting at a professional table and showed your cards to one player, expect the rest of the table to insist that you show everyone your hand. If you do not, the floor manager would normally be called. It would not go down well with good opponents.

In the relaxed environment of a friendly low buy-in Texas Holdem tournament some of these etiquette rules can be forgotten. It is nice to play in a friendly tournament and table but understanding the differences between amateur conduct and professional conduct is important. I would not show any cards if you can get away with it even if asked from my opponents. If you start showing made hands or bluffs this presents a lot of very accurate information to your opponents. In a setting where information is flowing freely, use this information to give you a better chance to win.

By Malcolm Clarke