Today’s poker tip is about which poker players to attack during a hand of Texas Holdem, or rather which poker players not to attack. From the perspective of a poker tip, there are a lot of reasons to single out other poker players during cash games or a Texas Holdem poker tournament. If they are a maniac, whenever you have playable poker hands that type of person will generally pay off like an ATM machine. If you notice somebody is on the edge of tilting, then you would apply a little extra pressure to that poker player in an attempt to push them over that edge. We could go on all day describing scenarios during a Texas Holdem game and various poker hands that are ripe for the picking, but don’t take off after other poker players for the simple reason that you don’t like them.
This poker tip actually started with an interview that we did with Daniel Negreanu (one that will post this week). Mr. Negreanu had said some rather inflammatory things about fellow poker pro and former poker tournament king, Phil Hellmuth. Daniel had no malice in his voice when he assessed Phil’s relevance and ability to win in the current poker tournament ecosystem; he simply gave his honest opinion about how Phil plays his poker hands, and how potent his overall game is today. Unfortunately Phil will probably take great exception to what Daniel said, and knowing Mr. Hellmuth he will try to settle the score at the table someday. In other words he would be going after another poker pro out of anger in an attempt to make a point. I can’t think of any reasonable poker tip that starts with somebody getting really, really mad. Especially against a skilled opponent who will just perform the Texas Holdem version of Ju Jitsu and turn your aggression, and your poker hands, against you.
The problem with targeting other poker players out of anger is that there is no guarantee that the cards will support your irrational feelings. You may well run into some very strong poker hands while you have nothing more powerful than a bad attitude. While it may feel good to eliminate somebody you dislike from a poker tournament, or take a large sum of money of them in a ring game, that person needs to be in a position to lose as well. Going off after them half cocked because you have a grudge is a good way to find yourself at the rail early in a poker tournament, or simply broke.
That is the Texas Holdem poker tip for today.
