Looking for Weakness when swimming

My prop bet with Superman has already begun! The betting line has changed slightly, right now he only have to buy-in into his 14th SNG only. Still! I still think I am the favorite to win it. Thursday night, got nothing to do. Called up Master Gee several times but he hasn't called back yet. Suppose to have some Tag Team action tonight, but I guess it is off now. Hopefully I don't have to wait long before he could enlighten me in poker again.

At the meantime, I am reading Eric Lindgran's book "Making The Final Table". As I go thru the book, I found out a very interesting chapter. It says "Looking for weakness". In the book, E-Dog says if you drawn to a new table and facing opponents that you haven't seen before, you can tell 90% of the time what kind of playing style they usually fits in.

For example: A young player, dressed neatly, looks like spent a lot of time in his wardrobe with expensive sunglasses. His shirt is untucked and handle chips like a season veteran, riffling them without effort. His read would be this guy is very aggressive. On the other hand, a middle/old age guy with a cowboy hat, always look at their cards when dealt to him and fold instantly. His read would be this guy will play very tight. etc.

I think it is a very interesting topic to discuss. How about at the biggest fish pond in the Southern Hemisphere? Does it implied over there? If his 90% rule is very true in WPT tournaments, let me access these following players. No point discussing those Lucktard Fat Mama type of players. They are not defendable. You can keep firing bullets at them, but they will drop a missile when you have AA preflop or the nuts on the flop. Their "Runner-runner Missile" is more damaging than those "Patriot Missile" from the US Army. No one can survive. There are many other type of players who like to swim. Hopefully one day E-dog will read my blog and give me some comments.

PLAYER 1

Type: Trailer Park Junkies

Appearance: Looks like haven't shower for weeks. His hair is as greasy as those Fish & Chips around the corner. You can tell what kind of bourbon or scotch he has been drinking in the last 5 hours. You can even smell his body fragrant 100m away.

Style: Maniac. Watch out when he is in the big blind. Most of the time he will mini raise it, coz he is thinking "I need to call $3 to see the flop!" Most of the time they only have 1 bullet, and his stack will shrink slowly. Not only he will check/call a lot (ATC) and fold on the river, but he will keep on buying drinks while at the table using chips in his stack.

Conclusion: Just don't play any pot against him without the nuts. Not much value against these kind of players. His stack will gradually go to the bar.

PLAYER 2

Type: Old Farts

Appearance: Very neat with a touch of Old Spice aftershave.

Style: Generally there are 2 types of Old Farts. Normally they are old school players and play like a NIT. They play nothing but pairs 77 above or AK, AQ sthooted. The others are a bunch of Calling Stations. Will call with anything and neverfold river with any pair or even AK high. They are potentially good social workers and loves to keep the poker community together. They never bluff because bluffing is very dishonest. At the same time, they love to "Keep you Honest " too!

Conclusion: Since they are not LT type of players, so we are not scare. Just value bet against them and fold if they bet big on the river (NeverBluff).

PLAYER 3

Type: MOPS or MOPS wannabe (please read earlier posts if you don't know what MOPS means)

Appearance: Well, just surf the Internet and look for Phil Lark.

Style: No matter they are real or fake, they are aggressive. Raising preflop then Continuation bet is a must in their repertoire. The real MOPS are very good players, if you bump into one of them at your table, bad luck to you. Only LT with Runner-runner missiles could destroy them. Fortunately you won't find them a lot in $2/$3 tables or lower. The Wannabe type will keep on firing, but they have no read at all. They will try to play your hands but they have no idea whether you have the nuts or not. They will keep on firing at pots, representing all sorts of hands on different streets. Most of the time it just doesn't make sense. From AA pre-flop, to top set on the flop, to straight on the turn, to the nuts on the river. They make poker so complicated, so they simplized it by betting. Normally the bigger they bet, the weaker their hands will be.

Conclusion: Normally you can tell straight away if they are real or fake.

1) The more online poker site logos they are wearing, the more wannabes they are. I have seen someone wearing a Full Tilt cap, Pokerstars jacket with a PartyPoker T-shirt. They got more combos than MVP's grip/stands in snooker.

2) Sunglasses. Most wannabes will wear $10 plastic sunnys from their local petrol stations.

3) Chip Stack. It only implies to Limit games. Wannabes love to impress other players at the table by having a monster stack. So they will buyin $1500 or more in a $5/$10 Limit holdem game.

PLAYER 4

Type: University Professor / Millionaire Businessman

Appearance: Neat casual dress. You won't see them dressed in suite because they are so rich, they don't need to work.

Style: They are not a wild bunch and generally play a tight SOLID game. Their game is based on mathematics and they always put their stack in at the right time. Normally they would open shove with big pairs preflop or a set on the flop. Post flop play would be their weakness coz either all their chips would be in the middle or they would fold on the flop. They would never give you the right price to draw. They are as solid as a Rock!

Conclusion: They are not professional poker players and they play as their hobby. They are so successful in life that money is not an issue. They will have thousands in their pocket, more bullets than a machine gun and never bother $2/$3 games. Sometimes you might find them in $2/$3 tables. If thats the case, it will be your day. The words Luck, Wishful Thinking and Failure are not in their dictionary. They just can't accept defeat to Lucktards, cracking his AA with QQ all-in preflop. With horribly bad luck on his side, plus some wishful thinking. We will transform ourselves into a LT and destroy them with Runner-runner missiles of our own!

PLAYER 5

Type: MASTER!!!!!

Appearance: Ordinary. Nothing special.

Style: Unpredictable. Generally a small ball expert but doesn't mind playing big pot at times. Players like these knows how to craft a meta-game. Always put in small bets to keep his opponents off guard. Never overbet the pot, so you can't figure out if he has a make hand, drawing or bluffing. His read is so good, it makes no difference if his opponents turn over their hand or not. The most fearful player you could ever face on a poker table.

Conclusion: Unfortunately you might bump into 1 or 2 everytime you swim around at Crown. They normally have a solid stack in front of them and they know when to leave when they are up. They would like to play in lower stakes game. Their edge is so big, its like free money handling to him from time to time. Very hard to spot one of these players, as they always slip under the radar. By the time you spot them, it might be too late. Unless you got lucky, otherwise you will be looking at your bullets in their stack.