Yank

by G-Rob

Dread.

I dread what happens at noon tomorrow. I mean, the dentist is a necessary evil. Hell, I think the word evil is really a bit much. I picked my dentist by the picture in the phone book.

She's hot.

Unfortunately, it's her husband, the oral surgeon, who will extract my tooth at lunchtime tomorrow.

Yay!

THURSDAY AT THE BLOOD

Wanna play JUST LIKE G-Rob?

Here's the magic formula.

First, you'll need a big stack. The big stack is absolutely CRUICIAL to the G-Rob style. At most of the underground games these days, there is no buyin cap. That means I can circumvent the whole "Get a big stack" step by simply buying in for more than anyone else.

If your game DOES have a cap, you'll need to take chances.

I'll take some very silly chances to try and double up early... yes... in a cash game.

If it means looking for a suckout, so be it.

If it means flipping coins a few times, even dropping a few early buyins, so be IT too.

Thursday, I sucked out on Otis. I got all in on the flop with second pair against top pair. I hit trips on the river.

Now, because you've just knocked someone back, either through good play or a suckout, take advantage of the opening.

Be an ass.

The key to being G-Rob is to force your opponents to play a sub-optimal game. That means, tilt the table and keep it tilted.

I talk trash.

I play garbage hands to a raise. A few weeks ago, in a singe game at the Spring Hotel, I cracked aces with 35s, 46s, and 48o.

Think that tilted anyone?

See, as far as I'm concerned, poker is like Major League Baseball. The very best hitters, the ones who finish the season with 55 home runs, didn't hit more than a half dozen of those shots off of really great pitches. They took advantage of 50 mistakes.

I think the key to big stack poker is forcing more mistakes from your opponents. I can't outplay a good player who is playing well. I can outplay a good player who is tilting his nuts off.

Finally, most players blab endlessly about "pot odds." I find NOTHING more tedious than a discussion of "having odds" after some monkey folds his hand. For my money, in NO LIMIT Hold-em, IMPLIED ODDS are far more important.

Remember, we're playing for stacks... not pots.

The old chestnut about pocket aces winning small pots and losing big ones... still true. The key is to be the guy playing against those aces.

Especially against a tilting player.

TheMark and I, who share almost identical styles, ones discussed what we'd do on the button if the guy to our right raised 10x and then SHOWED us his pocket aces.

If we have a deep stack and so does the Ace man... of course... we call.

With any two cards.

Probably without looking. I mean we can't raise... but we can get paid off post flop.

TONIGHT

I'm off to the Spring Hotel.

I'm fired up too.

Let's get TILTY.

| G-Rob's Thoughts