Select Page
Poker Forum
Over 1,291,000 Posts!
Poker ForumAll Other Poker/Live Poker

I know I need to defend this hand -- should I fake tank?

Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1

    Default I know I need to defend this hand -- should I fake tank?

    I was in a pretty aggro 1/3 game that played quite large.

    One of the biggest things I've been working on this past year is realizing where I am in my range, what hands I need to defend on what runouts, what hands I need to turn into bluffs ("Do I bluff with this hand or is it a check-fold for SDV? Do I have better hands to bluff with here?" etc).

    Two regs in particular always have bluffs in their range and like to unload:

    1. Maniacal Asian who loves to attack dead money (especially when people just call straddles) and weakness (strong tendency to bet when checked to). Has balls of steel and absolutely abhors paying off.
    2. Quiet young white kid who plays very TAG preflop but likes to barrel off his missed draws.

    So I found myself in a lot of spots where I know I have a hand that I have to defend on the river. Player 1 or Player 2 bets, and I toss a single chip in to hear, "I missed."

    Maniacal Asian made a comment after a couple of these, "He just snapcalls, doesn't even think about it."

    This is a level of live poker where there is quite a bit of tanking, and "soul-reading."

    The fact that he picked up on the fact I was snap-calling a lot of these (honestly, trivial decisions) gave me pause however. I mean, I didn't do it ALL night, there were a couple of decisions where I had to think a bit about betting, raising (the right amount) and a couple of calls where I had to figure out if a different player had enough air to warrant a call.

    Should I be taking a bit more time even though I know what I'm going to do?
    Playing big pots at small stakes.
  2. #2
    Renton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    8,863
    Location
    a little town called none of your goddamn business
    Yeah you should deliberate a little, for a bunch of reasons. There's literally no benefit to snap calling other than shoving your nutsack in someone's face pretty much.
  3. #3
    Yeah its a good idea to disguise your decisions, take the same amount of time to call/raise/fold to avoid giving them any information, sounds like a fun game to be in, good luck!
  4. #4
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    10,322
    Location
    St Louis, MO
    I think you should take time just to take the time. Give your brain time to work. Taking 10 seconds or so isn't stalling the game, it's just smart play. Brains run on oxygen and time. Give your brain both before you make important decisions. (Get rest, too, but that doesn't apply in-game.)

    The only real reason to avoid snap-calling is that it makes your opponent more likely to think they did something which gave their hand away, and it could inspire them to play better. If you wait a bit before acting, you allow them to level themselves into thinking that you just made a weak call.

    The fact that the Asian guy pointed out that you snap called means that he's going to be a bit more sensitive to barreling off to you, too... so maybe you can play a bit easier if he's on your left.

    Meh.

    The table antics are part of the game and if you can manipulate a player to do something predictable, then that's +EV for you.

    I mean. Wait 10 seconds, call and when you win say something like, "I couldn't have made the call if you had made it $10 more."
  5. #5
    thanks guys.

    I've always been kind of annoyed by serial tankers and almost never do it, so I kinda thought making quick decisions when possible would be better all around. But yeah I see it's potentially a problem here when it affects image/meta.

    You don't think there's any chance people find it fishy that I call without thinking?
    Playing big pots at small stakes.
  6. #6
    Renton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    8,863
    Location
    a little town called none of your goddamn business
    You don't need to tank, just take 5 to 7 seconds or something. I think when you snap call weak hands against people they're likely to adjust in unpredictable ways so I don't see any great benefit, other than possibly tilting them short-term.
  7. #7
    What MMM alluded to- You don't want to make these guys play more correctly. If you tame the Maniac by insta snapping off his bluffs over and over, he'll probably start bluffing a lot less against you. In most situations I'd say that's not a good outcome, since he'll probably be tougher to read. But it depends on the dynamics. This maniac might not have any other gears and getting snapped off could well tilt him and make him even more spewy.
    Some days it feels like I've been standing forever, waiting for the bank teller to return so I can cash in all these Sklansky Bucks.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •