The best example of this that comes to mind is someone I used to play with in Black Hawk. She would always say “I am playing the player” anytime she would be in a hand with a donkey that played rags. She figured if her rags were slightly better than donkey rags, she would win.

More times than not, she would lose. Why? Because those players see every flop and showdown every river. To play that player properly, you HAVE to showdown the nuts to win the hand. Slightly better rags are not good enough.

My brand of “playing the player” does not  involve the hand range of my opponent. It involves their ability to play after the flop.

I play with a guy in Detroit that has alot of potential to be a rounder. He plays good cards, usually makes good decisions, and plays a generally good game.

But, he is inexperienced in post-flop play. For example, when he has pocket 10s or better, he shoves pre-flop so he does not have to think about the hand after the flop.

I have also seen him lay down the best hand after the flop when confronted with a substantial bet or raise.

This game takes more than cards and bets to be consistently profitable. In a nutshell, it takes heart.

You have to be willing to die to live, and that means not being worried about losing.

The player from Detroit and me had a conversation a while back at the table and I mentioned that I am not afraid to put the chips in and I am not afraid to lose. His reaction to that was one of astonishment.

Flash forward a month to a hand he and I were in. This player was on my immediate right and limped in. I raise to $17 pre-flop with A-Q. Action folds around to my young friend and he calls.

At this point for me, the cards don’t matter. He probably does not have A-K. I know he does not have 10-10 or better.

Knowing his range of hands, he has a small pair.

The flop comes Q-6-3 rainbow.

My opponent checks.

I bet $15.

Check raise is not in this player’s arsenal unless he has a set or better. I also know that he is timid about risking his stack of about $200.

My opponent announces raise, grabs a stack of about $75 and starts putting red chips out in stacks of $15.

I think it is time for me to make a move and outplay my young friend.

The key here is confusion. I need to confuse him with an unexpected play.

Keep in mind that if he flopped a set of 6s or 3s, I need running Queens to win. In other words, I am basically drawing dead.

I let him count out three stacks of $15. As he is getting ready to start the fourth stack, I announce “all-in”.

He freezes.

So far, so good.

“What? Did we both flop a set?” he asks me as he stares me down searching hopelessly for a tell.

I sit and I wait, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

My heart is idling at my resting rate while he starts to breathe fast and shallow.

Perfect.

He shows me his hand. Pocket 3s.

“Out of fairness to you and the table, I can only show you one card. I don’t want anyone thinking there is any collusion here. Ok?” I say.

“Sure.”

I pull off the top card. The Queen.

He tanks and folds.

“Do you want to see the other card?” I ask.

Now, he starts steaming because he knows now it is not a Queen.

I show the Ace and he tells me he calls next time.

“Next time, I have the stone cold nuts.”

And that is the second part of playing the player. If they are now on tilt and will call anything against you because they can’t read you, then you HAVE to have the stone cold nuts on the next hand.

Where many fall short is they think they can take a marginal hand and outplay weaker players that are calling stations.

It won’t work.

You need to have the stone cold nuts against these types of players.

That said, it is HOW you play the nuts against the players that makes the difference.

I was in two hands with two different players yesterday where I flopped the nuts.

The first hand, I just sat down in the big blind with J-10 hearts.

A player in middle position had the look of a cocky “let me give you poker lessons” type guy.

He raises pre-flop and gets several callers, including me.

The flop comes 9-8-7 rainbow.

I could tell from his tells that he flopped either two pair or a set.

He starts stacking up chips.

I decide that check raising him may lose him as a customer.

So, I bet half the pot.

He plays back at me with a min raise.

Everyone folds around to me.

I also know that if I jaw at him, he will go on insta-tilt and give me all his money.

“I am not used to people playing back at me Sir,” I say. “Frankly, it pisses me off. I re-raise $100.”

He glares at me for a brief moment and shoves $200 in the pot.

I push the rest of my stack into the pot and he insta-calls.

“You have Jack Ten?” he asks after he is all-in.

“The stone cold nuts, Sir.”

“Pair the board,” he says to the dealer sheepishly.

I knew before he turned over his hand that he had flopped top set.

The board never paired and I doubled up.

Second hand: My big game broke and I was sent to another table at a smaller game.

My first hand under the gun was A-A.

I raise to $25 and get two callers: One to my left and one to my right.

The player to my left gives me the impression that he could care less what I am holding. He is playing his hand against the board.

The player to my right gives me the impression that he will go away if he does not hit a flop.

The flop comes A-4-4.

Just what I was hoping for. My A-A is easy to play now. But how to play it?

If it was the player in the first example, I would bet it hard knowing he will come over the top if he had an Ace, a 4, a straight draw, a flush draw, or any pocket pair.

But, I am dealing with a different animal now.

I check the nuts.

The player to my left bets the pot.

The player to my right folds.

I need to tell a story of weakness and uncertainty to my opponent.

This is kind of hard because there is roughly $2000 on the table and I have $800 of it in front of me.

But, I give a performance that could earn an Oscar.

I finally call.

I never looked at the board again so I have no clue what came on the turn and river.

I studied my opponent.

My opponent never looked at me. His eyes were focused on the board the entire hand.

I check both streets.

He bet off all his chips to me.

All I had to do is hesitate and call.

Boy, was he pissed when I showed him Aces full.

I spared him the Teddy KGB “Aces foolah” showdown re-enactment from the opening scene of Rounders.

He never showed. I suspect he had either a 4 or an Ace, or maybe A-4. It is hard to say if he had the case Ace or not, but I knew I was good all the way the moment the flop hit the felt.

After the session, he told me he had A-K. It is nearly impossible to put someone on A-A when you have an Ace and the case Ace is on the board. This is one of the reasons why I rarely play A-K.

Play the player. But have the nuts to back it up.

The emotion, speed, and size of the bet broadcasts the hand as if the hole cards were face up to everyone within a two block radius.

Determining the right price to bet is an art in this game.

In this same session, I have J-9 off in the big blind.

I am not a fan of J-9 in any position, but I decide to call a small raise by a player under the gun. I call for two reasons: first, we are heads-up. Second, even though I am out of position, I had a good feeling about the hand knowing that I could outplay the raiser if I had to after the flop.

The flop comes J-9-9.

My opponent would expect me to check if I had a 9. I am thinking he has a hand like A-J or K-J. So I bet the pot.

He min-raises me. I pause about 10 seconds, then call.

The turn is an 8.

I pause about five seconds, then bet half the pot.

My opponent insta-calls.

The river is the case 9.

I pause again for about 10 seconds. If I bet too little, my opponent will put me on quad 9s. If I bet too much, he will put me on quad 9s.

I want to represent a full house: 9s full of 8s, second to his 9s full of Jacks.

The right price in this case is just under half-the pot.

My opponent insta-calls the bet and shows K-J.

He then says, “You priced it just right for me to call. Nice hand.”