Every poker hand tells a story. Any decent player will try to represent a certain hand every time they are involved in the pot – whether they have that hand or not. What hand they are trying to represent depends on what range of hands they put their opponent. They are trying to tell a story. This isn’t a new theory but it is only effective if your opponent buys the story.
The other half of creating an effective story is writing the story for an audience that will buy it. It happens all the time. A regular creating an elaborate story with his bet sizing and check raises only to be called down by the novice who doesn’t think beyond his own two cards. You hear the words, “What did you think I was representing?” And the fish just looks at him blankly. We have all been there, right? You can often see the story begin to develop once the flop hits. The reality of the situation is, the story should begin to develop after you know who your opponent is. Will this person call me down with middle pair on a four flush board? Does this person even think about what I am holding? Once you figure out who your audience is, then you need to figure out how to tell your story in words they can understand. Do you want them to fold? Call? Raise? In what situations have they performed these these actions in the past? Did over-betting the pot get them to fold or call? What happened the last time they were check-raised? It isn’t always about what you are representing. It is more often about the complexity of your opponent’s thought process. If they have none (aka calling station), then no amount of story telling will get that opponent to do anything other than call. So make sure you are getting value there but also make sure you can beat his hand. If your opponent is a thinking player then make sure your plot has a consistent story line. Because that opponent will pick out the inconsistency and punish you for it. Learning these lessons has helped me developed into an instinctual player. I make most of my decisions based on instinct. I know many will argue that math should be the basis for making a decision. I have folded in many situations where the math has told me a call. Luckily, I am right more often than I am wrong. When you know there is nothing you can do to win the pot, isn’t it better to accept it then continue to put good money after bad? How many times have you heard “I knew I was beat but I had to call?” The lesson of this story? Write the story you know your audience will buy, not necessarily the story you want or even think you should to write. When you are trying to make money sometimes you need to sacrifice your art.
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