"In poker, speech is a whole dimension to itself. If you do it right, you can use it to influence your opponents and extract vital information. If you do it wrong, you might give away your weaknesses instead. Be careful you don't bite your tongue."
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Poker chips can reproduce faster than insects. That's what Joey learned today. Although playing conservatively to focus on collecting information, it didn't prevent his stack from tripling, going from 500 to 1500. The opponents weren't giving him enough respect, and like the noble Shogun, he executed them for it.
These players played well, at least better than the others Joey had played with before, but as he cracked their codes, the mysteries of the table revealed themselves.
"I raise." Joey pushed in a stack of chips. His opponent deeply sighed, face full of frustration, before throwing his cards away. 'I knew he was bluffing. That's 2000 now,' Joey thought to himself. What goes around comes around, and that applies to the luck of the cards as well.
Still, there was one target in particular that Joey had not had the privilege of taking a bite out of. Nick was also watching Joey, his mouth practically drooling over Joey's growing chip stack.
Joey had noticed this, but rather than be insulted, he was inwardly happy. 'Nick...you'll soon learn that some meals are so tough, you'll only break your teeth.' Soon enough, fate deemed it was time to test this principle.
Joey found himself in a hand with Nick. It was raised by Joey preflop and Nick defended his big blind by calling. On the flop, Nick checked. "Hey buddy, you gotta less us others breathe here! You're leaving me breathless man!" Nick said.
Joey looked at him and continuation bet, maintaining his lead, and Nick called. On the turn Nick checked again, Joey bet and Nick called. Before the river card came out, Nick said, "Put out a flush card!" The river came. It wasn't a flush card but instead a blank. Nick checked and watched Joey.
Joey thought to himself, 'With that statement just now, he was trying to indicate he has a flush draw. About the only thing I can be sure of...is he almost definitely...does not have a flush draw! If he did, there would be no beneficial reason for him to tell me.'
'Instead I need to consider his motivations for saying he was on a flush draw specifically. He could've said anything but he said that. With a flush draw...it would mean that he currently had nothing but he was drawing to a monster hand such that if it hit, he would very likely win. This has two implications for the hand...'
'First, if I believed he was on a draw and the river missed the flush, then I would think he was weak and continue to bluff. Second, if the flush came, I would think he had a monster, and likely check behind even if I had a very strong hand. If I was bluffing, I would be less likely to bluff again because I would think he made the flush. These two factors, for the most part...make it fairly clear what he has!'
'A blank card came and he wants me to keep bluffing, so he's planning to call now, but how strong is he? I know that if it came a flush card on the river, he wanted to stop me from betting because he probably couldn't call. It's obvious now...He has a decent hand that's going to call a medium or even large bet, but is not strong.'
Joey looked down at his cards, top pair with a medium kicker, a pretty good hand but not very strong. Most players would check back here, but with his read, he decided to make a thin value bet of 2/3 of the pot. Nick took several seconds to think before calling. When Joey flipped his cards over, he couldn't help but grimace and threw his hand away.
'That's strike 1.' Joey thought as he watched Nick's expression.
The game continued and soon Joey and Nick were at each other's throats again. Nick raised preflop and Joey reraised, then after some contemplation, Nick came over the top of Joey with a big reraise! It was a raise so big that if Joey called and played the hand to the river, it's likely he would end up playing for most of his chips. His decision now would effectively put his entire stack in danger.
Joey looked down at his hand: [Q♠ Q♥], pocket queens. 'My hand is very strong, but against a reraise from him...it's looking very marginal now. It could still be playable though. I just need more information. This guy likes to talk right? I'll help him to help me.'
"That's a big raise...Are you on tilt from that hand I just won against you?" Joey asked.
Nick sneered. "So what if I am? If you're bluffing, just fold. I know you've got nothing. Hurry up and get out of my way."
Joey listened intently, not to the words but the meaning and emotions between the words. 'He's pretending to be angry...If he was bluffing or weak, he would never suggest that he's on tilt for fear I would call...On top of that, he's goading me. If he was weak he would never goad or challenge me because I could call him just from being upset. Every sentence of his...flips one of his cards over.' Joey picked his cards up and threw them in the muck. It was a big laydown.
Tch. Nick lightly displayed unhappiness but continued with the game. This alone though was enough for Joey to verify he'd made a good fold and Nick probably had kings or aces.
'That's strike 2.' Joey thought. Avoiding losing money is just as valuable as winning money.
The cards continued to dance. It seemed these two were meant to have a deathmatch this night. Not half an hour later, they were locked in battle in another big pot.
Joey had raised preflop, Nick reraised, and Joey called. On the flop, Nick bet and Joey called. On the turn, Nick bet again and Joey still called. Finally, the river came. Similar to the other streets, Nick continued betting. It was a triple barrel, betting all streets which showed significant strength.
Joey had a tough decision to make. With Nick's last bet, although Joey would still have more chips left, Nick was all in. 'I don't have much of a hand.' Joey looked down at his [9♠ 9♦]. The board was [J♣ Q♣ 6♥ 4♥ 4♠]. Of the hands that Nick would reraise with preflop, there were not many that Joey could beat.
If Joey only considered the math of counting how many hands he could beat versus how many he lost to, it would be a clear fold. However, Joey always took his time and looked for information. "All in huh? That's a scary bet man. Are you bluffing?"
Nick sat there in silence. He didn't respond. He didn't make eye contact with Joey. Unfortunately, sometimes...saying nothing is saying a lot.
'First of all, I can feel he's tense, that's unusual for him. He was relaxed when he was strong earlier. More importantly, he's not talking...For other players, just being silent wouldn't necessarily tell me anything, but with this guy...I've watched him all night. Any time he had a strong hand he would happily speak, often goading and talking trash. But now...' Joey grinned.
"Nick The Needler? How come you're not needling me? Haha I call."