A Request

Recently I've been playing pretty crappy in tournaments, so I really don't feel like giving out any (bad) poker advice. Count yourself lucky.

Also, I've been really hazy on the Zen stuff personally, so I'm not sure how sharing would help either. I recommit to doing this more, but not tonight.

I just got a comment from an actual reader (or it's a cruel April Fool's joke). He was asking how I color-code players on Full Tilt. So, recklessly, I'm giving it away. Apologies in advance to anyone who may be offended at any point now or in the future.

Red: Pros, or Dangerous Business. You know, the guy who has the ROI graphs that go up instead of up and down or DOWWWWN THE HILL. Danger, and I assume that they're at LEAST as good as me.

Orange: Unfortunate seat as well. Regular players who have shown the ability to play situational poker, to be overtly aggressive when appropriate, yet can fold a hand. The kind that takes money/Tchips from the fish, cutting into the food supply. Most tend to lean toward aggressive, but if they're pushing hard with what appears to be a hand, assume it is.

Yellow: Aggressive. Only. Can reign it in and play excellent poker with a good stack but have trouble passing on an unatended pot. ALWAYS CONTINUATION BET. Also will steal blinds regularly, will resteal in and out of the blinds. Trap these players, if I can. Many many bloggers are yellow, but some are yellow only because I refuse to put them in the orange.

Green: Neutral. I have some information that I have gathered about this player but suggests neither strength or weakness. Example: "Will shove any overpair on a rags flop, so commit or don't."

Teal: ATM! ATM! It's a twister! The cash machines at the table. Perennial calling stations, they think every time they call down and lay a bad beat on someone, it vindicates them chasing the flush draw heads up to the river. I will often call down a crap hand after sitting down with them to get them going, to get them thinking that we can be the two fish trading pots at the table.

Blue: Calling station and/or Timmy (timid). Not enough blues to distinguish clearly, but they both take about the same adjustment. If they bet, they have a hand. For god sakes, don't run any bluffs their direction, unless at least showing strength.

Purple: Amateur, in one sense or another. Has shown generally poor play. Especially in the case of misunderstanding the game, thinking Razz is Stud (quad 8s RERAISE AGAIN!), etc. Generally good stuff, although they have to be treated with care, and I require playing gently aggressive and showing a couple of big hands down.

Hot pink: Aggro-donk. AD for short. Oh boy. About 70% of the players in the token tourneys, including the 4K HORSE and 3K Omaha, 2K Stud. All varieties, some are out of limit tourneys regularly in the first 20 minutes. Some overplay hands, bluff any A, but generally throw lots of money around and take only some of it back. Very occasionally a lot. I guess they just expect to keep depositing. While more trouble than ATM's, they will donate the same amount of money, more if they go on tilt. I think they also generate their poker-confidence from the times when they go really deep in a tourney. In general, the chip leader in a large limit tourney will be one of these (or top 3 at least). The one who picked the winning lottery ticket tonight, the one who has gotten paid for chasing KJJJ to the river when they hit that case Jack.

So, keep in mind these are my amateur assessments. One thing that is important is that I'm always willing to reassess. I often also back up my impressions with a little net research. So it's rare that I change one. But some people actually change styles, or deceive me at first. Or even get better, I think.