The Box

I played a weekend event at Binion's on Saturday. Binion's runs good poker tournaments as do the Orleans, the Venetian, Caesars, and the Wynn. Binion's is especially good on the weekends because the buy-in doesn't change from the affordable weekly $70 with one $40 rebuy, however they have a $10,000 guarantee every Saturday and Sunday which makes it extra sweet. On Saturday, I was at a table with three very good players, a few others I had seen but did not remember their play, a few strangers and one young hot-shot. He looked 17 but was supposed to be 21 to be playing poker in Las Vegas. How do I know he was a hot shot? Because he looked, talked and acted like a hot shot. If you are not familiar with the term, please go to my web site, www.susieisaacs.com, go to "Susie's Tips" and it is the last example I give. He was talking about pot odds, outs, implied odds, and all the math a poker player would need to be a world champion.

On the second hand of the tournament I picked up pocket Queens, I raised, Hot Shot called, and another player I did not know re-raised. I hoped he was on ace-big, along with the kid, or a lesser pair. The flop came perfect for me, 3, 5, 9 rainbow (off-suit). I made a healthy bet, kid called, stranger moved in. I didn't like it but believed he would move in with that flop with ace-big, a pair of tens, or jacks. I just hoped he hadn't made a set. After the hand, I knew I should not have called. For one thing, it was too early in the tournament to put all of my chips at risk without the nuts, but I did have a rebuy I could rely on. The turn and the river were insignificant as to the outcome of the hand. When the smoke cleared, I rolled over my queens, my mature opponent had kings, and the kid had two pair. He had called a double raise with a 3-5 of hearts. As he raked in the pot that tripled him up and the players at the table rolled their eyes, he crowed, "You've got to play outside the box. You'll never make any money at this game if you don't get out of the box. You can't always have a big pair or ace-queen to call raises." A few hands later, a hand came down that had five callers and then one healthy raise from a fellow I knew had placed in several World Series of Poker events. I totally respected his play and had no problem folding my two nines. The kid was his only caller and it took a healthy chunk of his chips to make the call. The flop came 7, 9, 10, again rainbow. The seasoned player moved in, the kid called without hesitation, the cards were exposed. The good player had a pair of aces, the kid, still out of his box rolled over 8, 9 offsuit. He was risking the majority of his huge chip stack on a draw! He loudly begged for the dealer to turn a 6 or a jack, and sure enough, the jack hit on the river. Now the kid felt indestructible and probably had the chip lead of the entire tournament and we were in the early part of the second round. He was yakking and yakking about his many outs and the box he preferred to be out of. He knew the whole table was aggravated but he was on a soapbox, talking to no one but himself about his reasoning and how to be a great player.

A friend of mine, who had owned a private school, once told me that a poker table was like one of her kindergarten classes she had taught some years ago. One kid could upset the entire class and change the tone of everything that happened.
I couldn't get away from that table fast enough. It broke early and box boy racked up a couple of trays of chips and swaggered to another table with unbridled self confidence.

I watched from another table as his "out of the box" play continued and he gradually depleted his chip stack. Within an hour he limped away from the table.
I thought, yes, young hot shot, some outside the box play is used by the pros who know how and when to use it. They know when to risk chips for the potential gain and they know when to put on the brakes and get out of the way.
It's sort of like flying a jet plane. You can read 100 books and watch TV as to how it is done, but without time and training, you best not get behind the controls and take off, talking like a seasoned veteran pilot 'cause you are asking for a crash landing!