10- 6-04, LearnTexasHoldem:
Gus Hansen & Watching The Pros
I enjoy watching the poker professionals on television and I like to think that watching them play has helped my game. However, I also wonder if the games they play are in such a different stratosphere than the average guy who plays in small-stakes all-in games and tourneys that emulating there decisions and strategies would be counter-productive. What do you think?
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More specifically, I read your page about basic strategy and it mirrors what most players, pro or amateur, do in terms of starting hands - folding most of them. Well, I see Gus Hansen play and he throws convention to the wind. He will play just about anything.
And we're not talking about a rank amateur here, Hansen is a pro player who makes more money playing poker than all but the tiniest percentage of players. How is it possible that he can play so recklessly yet also play so brilliantly (and profitably) and what can a player like myself learn from his success?
Answer: Those are really good questions.
To answer the first one, yes you can learn some from watching the pros play on TV but you are right in assuming that the games they play in are different than those that you will find yourself in (at least for the time being). Let me explain the difference between the games. When you are at lower limit games with players who aren't knowledgeable, disciplined or tricky the best strategy in beating them is to play good cards and showdown winning hands.
What happens as the limits increase is that you find that everyone else has the same information that you do -- they know starting hand selection, how to play post flop, odds, etc. So all of a sudden your best weapon is taken away from you and you have to find another way to win. The way to win is to still play tightly, but to mix up your game in a way so that it isn't possible for a good player to figure out what you have. This is a dangerous prospect though because you can easily lose your chips if you don't know the right spots to apply this loose play.
This is why games get harder and more of a gamble as limits increase. The tournaments that Gus Hansen won on WPT were good examples of how to play aggressively against pros and mix up your game (plus he got a little lucky but you have to in tournaments). Be very clear though, he doesn't play every single hand. What he will do is fold 20 hands in a row and then in the right position raise any two cards. His strategy is to be the aggressor and make another person flop a hand they are secure enough with to call his big bets.
Also, a side product of being seen as a loose player is that when he does get a little something on the flop, often times it is better then what people assume he has and he gets more action. Also, note that there is a difference between the play that got Gus Hansen to the final table and the play that he makes at the final table where he only has a few opponents remaining. Another concept to mention is the idea of perspective levels.
You've probably heard pros talk about this on the WPT. Basically, levels of perspective describes what I have, what you think I have, what I think you think I have, and so on. After three or four levels things get murky but you get the idea. Gus Hansen and all the other top pros in cash and tournament games are excellent at reading and manipulating levels of perspective; throwing off people with mixed signals, being aggressive in marginal situations, and reading hands well.
So to finish up, yes you can learn from them but be careful about how you apply what you have learned, not all games are beat with the same strategy.
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