The Poker Mag

Whether you play live poker or online poker, table talk can be a big part of the game. It is often said, that you shouldn’t talk when your opponent has a big decision in case you give away the strength or weakness of your hand. I think this is true in most cases, but talking to your opponent can also have a positive effect too. I remember one hand recently where we had (8,8,4,4) on the board on the turn. I had raised preflop with (A,9) and been called by a fairly inexperienced player. I had a big chiplead over him and he had been thinking for quite some time before calling my raise on the flop.

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When the turn came down, I was strongly feeling that he had a fairly strong Ace that he was struggling to put down. My thoughts were that the pot would be split, but I did not want to see a Jack or Queen on the river that could give me a problem, and wanted to pick up the pot there and then.I knew he was thinking about calling me down with his Ace high, and probably trying to convince himself he might even be leading.

I decided I had nothing to lose by trying to sway his decision, and so I said "Only one of us knows how much it’s going to cost you on the river to see if your Ace high is good". At this point, I feel that if I am right and he does have Ace high, he will be very unnerved by the fact that I know the hand he is holding, also though, I was emphasising the main problem he faced in his situation. If I am wrong and he has something better than Ace high, he will probably call (which he might well have been about to anyway) and I will have a hint that my Ace might not be good. I choose carefully which players I talk to when they have a marginal decision, but players who are not overly experienced are usually the best bet.

My opponent later admitted he had (A,Q) in this hand, and these few choice words persuaded him to fold.

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