What if there was one guy in your game who had position on you every time the two of you played a pot? You dread playing against him because hand after hand, when the flop hits the table, you have to go first. Turn and river, same drill. He gets to see what you do before he does what he does. It’s frustrating as hell, and definitely not profitable.
You can be that guy. You can be the dreaded one.
Here’s a quote from Elements of Poker:
Acting last is like taking a drink of water. We don’t have to understand why it’s good for us to know that it is. And the benefits are unaffected by our understanding of them.
Are you acting last the same amount as your opponents? More? Less? I believe that if you increase your ALP − your “Act Last Percentage” − you will increase your score.
Try this. Next time you play, keep track of how many postflop streets you act last on, and how many you don’t. Let’s say you’re on the button, and you see the flop. You call a bet on the flop, and you fold on the turn. That would score as two last-to-act streets: the flop and the turn. Or let’s say you see the flop from the small blind, and you end up check-folding the river. That would count as three not-last-to-act streets: the flop, turn, and river.
The Folding
The hard part is the folding. To turn the positional tide on your opponents in a big and permanent way, you’ll need to fold the blinds way more than you do now. And you’ll need to open pots less often than you do now. And fold to 3-bets out of position more often than you do now.
Maybe you’re thinking, “I couldn’t tighten up even if I wanted to. I just don’t have the folding discipline.”
Well, I can relate to that. I used to get so mad at my mathy-wathy poker teachers. They were flagrantly unemotional, and unsympathetic, and unrealistic. In their books and essays, they’d tell me about how tight I needed to play. “Just do it, and you will win the maximum.”
I knew they were right. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t maintain the discipline. And if I complained about the pain of poker, and about my 100 ways to tilt, and about how it was impossible for me to do what they said because I was an action junkie, the advice they gave was predictable, and useless: “The solution is simple. Don’t leak. Play with a bot brain like we do. Bye bye and good luck with that.”
Aargh!
Yet, here I am, about to say the same thing to you. If you want to earn a reliable income from this game, you need to fold a lot before the flop, consistently. Where I differ from my teachers is that I do know your pain. I know what it’s like to know that I’m seeing more flops than I should, and being powerless to stop it.
Climbing the High ALPs
Here’s a hand a client sent to me. It clarifies the difference between common preflop play, and positionally sensitive preflop play…
Bob wrote:
I was playing $2/5 NLHE at Aria. I had 6-5 suited in the big blind. One player limped for $5. The small blind raised to $20. I called & the limper called. We all had about $1,000.
Bob had sent the hand so we could discuss his post-flop decisions. And we did, at length. Then we circled back to preflop. Bob had assumed that calling the small blind’s raise with 65s was a no-brainer. I convinced him otherwise with this rundown:
When the small blind raised to $20, you had three options: Call, 3-bet, or fold. If being last to act with your drawing hands is your prime objective, then calling the small blind’s raise is not an option. You must raise or fold. Here’s why…
- Call the raise. If you call, the limper will almost always call too. You will not be last to act after the flop, which will lower your act-last-percentage. Therefore, you should not call.
- 3-bet. This pattern is sanctioned by the position gods because if your reraise drives the limper out, you are promoted to last, and your ALP rises.
- Fold. This is also a good choice because it guarantees that you will not be not-last. 🙂
Demoralization
I didn’t hear from Bob for a couple months. Then came this letter…
“I am demoralizing my opponents. You should have seen this guy. It was late… shorthanded $1/2. He was a non-chopper. Three times it came down to blind vs blind, and all three times I folded.
“First time, no fanfare. Second time, the big blind kind of slammed his cards down. Third time I folded, he pushed my cards back to me and tossed a chip in the pot to complete my blind. ‘You have to play one eventually!’ he said. And I was thinking, actually I don’t, not out of position.
“Like I said, I am demoralizing these guys. It’s like I’m a leprechaun and they know there’s no way they can catch me.”
The next time we talked, I told Bob that I too know and love the leprechaun feeling. And I told him about one of my stock lines.
When everybody folds and it comes down to blind against blind, and I’m in the small blind, and the big blind says, “I always play,” I reply with, “And I always fold.” And then I fold.
Bob’s words captured not only the joy of lastness, but also the effect. As your act-last percentage rises, so will your confidence. Weak opponents will become fearful and confused. Strong opponents will feel frustrated and disarmed. And all you did was wait for your turn to be last.
Related articles:
Folding the Small Blind in Limped Pots
Related videos:
Folding the Small Blind in Limped Pots
As my clients discover, less pain and more money go together. Coaching by Tommy