The Best Damn Hand In Poker - Poker Strategy, Tips and the Secrets of 72o

The Hidden Psychology Of 7 2 Off Suit

Have you heard of the concept of tilt? If you haven't then I shall take a brief moment to explain:

"Tilt" is a term used by poker players to describe a player who is playing too many hands, taking too many gambles and playing badly due to the fact they have suffered a bad beat.

A bad beat is where a player holds a good hand and expects to win the pot, only to be busted by a chaser playing weaker cards who gets lucky (usually on the river.)

So, in other words, a guy who is on tilt is a guy who played a good hand, got beaten by a weaker hand and is now a psychological wreck and playing badly.

Out of all the possible starting hands in the deck, which one do you think is most likely to cause a good player to go on tilt?

Could it be: ????

How likely are the above two hands to cause somebody to tilt when you bust them? Not very, I would say.

Now, let's say there is an initiate of the temple of 72o at the table who proudly plays

(I am using this example to remind the tight aggressive Level Three initiates who fold this hand that it is still a worthy competitior)

When you have an opponent who is holding big slick: and the board develops like this:

FLOP:

You immediately have an advantage over this player due to both Sklansky's fundamental theorem of poker AND due to the fundamental theorem of 72o.

Remember, as soon as you called his pre-flop raise, the universe immediately sent you X. Your odds are looking quite good now.

As any good player would do, he naturally checks the flop and you violently bet the deuce. This gives him the perfect opportunity to check-raise (which was his original intent) and knowing he is on a draw or holds something like AQ (as they usually do, predictable trashy premium hand players are so very very predictable) you calmly call his "Masterful" check-raise, knowing you hold the advantage of X.

TURN:

This is an excellent turn card for you and is strong evidence that the universe is in the process of laying a trap of the most beautiful genius you will ever witness. The trashy premium hand player won't know what hit him....

Knowing that although he has now hit top pair, top kicker (TPTK) the trashy premium hand player immediately whacks down a pot size bet in order to protect his premium hand. He has to do this as he is scared that you may hold something like and have now caught an open ended straight draw. (Boy, will he be shocked when he discovers your real hand........)

At this point, there are two options available to you:

1) Call. This option is preferable as it can make the big sting on the river even more dramatic.

2) Raise. This is gutsy and if you raise here the premium hand guy may think you are representing KQ or KQs Remember, you called his preflop raise so he naively assumes you are playing a premium hand.

If you raise, there is a chance he may fold and this is not what you want him to do. Remember, you are playing poker to take his chips, to put him on tilt and to send a strong signal to the entire room that you are a worshipper at the temple of 72o. For psychological reasons, your correct action here is to CALL.

RIVER:

Sure enough, bang on time and punctual as ever, the X factor kicks into action as the universe bends the laws of short term probability to restore the balance of the abuses of those such as your pitiful opponent.

Your opponent is now quite relieved that you have not made your straight but is still worried that you may be holding KQ or KQs.

He places down a medium size bet on the river and is reasonably confident he has you beat but does not want to commit more of his stack just in case.

Naturally, at this point, you unleash the full force of your masterful strategy and after a long pause to suggest uncertainty, you type "Whatcha got?" into the chat box and make the minimum raise, sending the ball back into his court.

"I got your Jack Ten beat", he replies and now makes an aggressive, substantial raise, having now committed 60% of his entire stack on this hand.

His raise is so large that to call it would take you all-in. Being an adept you are not even slightly bothered about this, knowing that the universe is on your side.

After a dramatic pause, you type "Can you beat this?" into the box and then wait a few seconds further before hitting the call button.

BINGO! The cards are revealed and his trashy AK is ruthlessly and shockingly busted by your brilliant and masterful play of 7 2 off suit.

At this point, he is liable to type something along the lines of "Fucking fag" into the window or "How the fuck can you call a raise with 72? Fucking moron" or some other variation on the aforementioned expletives. If he does this, you know you have succeeded.

Psychological Effects:

1) You will damage this player almost irreparably. He will now proceed to go on tilt and will start raising every and any pot with decidedly weak cards. This is where you now play tight and when you get a premium hand, you hit the table hard.

2) You have now established a table image as a maniac. Your premium hands will get called and paid off many times more than they would have done previously.

3) Your opponents will never know what you have. They will fall foul of Sklansky's theorem on almost every hand, knowing that you completely disregard pot odds, implied odds, positive expectation, discounted outs and all the rest of the conventional poker mumbo jumbo that floats around out there.

4) You will look fucking cool.

NEXT: The Fallacy Of Pocket Rockets