Calling Station

[Chess]

I haven't played poker for too long, (about 7-10 months), and I chatted with the guy whom showed me the ropes today, and he called my game a "Calling Station"
I read what the book definition was and it doesnt seem like my game.

I wish I could be more spicific but Im not sure how.

I play mostly premimum hands (switching it up for blinds) I bet good hands and at least decent draws with good pot odds
I fold when I know Im beaten and when I have good reads on others...

When Guy told me this I thought it to be a good Idea to reevauate my game so please (I know Im being vauge) tell me what you think

Thanks
Chess

[BarronVangorToth]

Oddly enough, with some players being SO aggressive these days (overly so, as Ultra LAG is becoming more and more commonplace) it's oftentimes best against these players to NEVER bet at them and just call them down (and check-raise the river when appropriate).

I annoyed the hell out of an opponent this past Saturday morning at The Woods as he was your typical Long Island LAG who would never ever check through when he had position and bet every street, even the river, with absolutely nothing. It works against some people who check-call twice and fold their draws, but I (and a few others) at this particular table adopted the Tommy Angelo'esque check-call through the river with top pairs and the like and he'd always either muck his hand face down after getting called on the river OR announce some fourth pair that he held and lose.

The whole "raise or fold there is nothing else" is ludicrous and those that adopt it are leaving money on the table, whether leaving it as their money OR leaving it as more money they could've won.

Sometimes it's okay to call....

HOWEVER -- doing it too much (and against the wrong competition) is a definite problem as well and you should analyze your game and figure out if you are doing it in the right places against the right people OR just doing it always against everyone.

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[Mike]

I think it doesn't matter if you are getting all the chips you know how to get. As long as you are trying to improve, who cares what people think. It's much better to be a playing calling station than an aggrressive railbird imo.

[dogmeat]

The term calling station usually refers to a person that is happy to call a bet without ever playing back at the original better. Most successful upper-limit players push their hands aggressively and won't stop pushing them (raising and reraising) until proven that they might not have the best hand. There are a lot of bets lost by meek players who are afraid of raising or betting with less than the nuts.

However, with that said, I will sometimes take a less aggressive approach. An example:

There is a bet preflop and I raise with AA. Two people call. The flop is K 7 2 rainbow and I bet. The next player calls and the third player raises. Now if I raise, I give away the strength of my hand, and probably lose the player to my immediate left who will not call two more bets. In this case I call.
When the turn comes I will (depending on what the turn is) either bet again anticipating a raise from the 3rd player with the king, or check and go ahead and check-raise. If we lost the 2nd player between us on the flop, I almost always check-raise.
This may not be the best play at all times, but if there are two ther players, I like this best to trap both of them. Often this gets three callers even on the river, and even for a raise there.

Remember that every single hand can be played differently each time you see the same "type" of plays by other players. The best players are using this knowledge to their advantage instead of just playing A-B-C every hand.

It's not that tough to win a BB/hour, but when you see players winning 1.5 - 2.5BB/hour at $5/$10 and $15/$30 they are not calling stations, and they are not just playing A-B-C, although their "standard, average play" is probably better than most of the "A-game" play shown by the majority of the posters here.

Dogmeat /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[K C]

From what you've said, you're not a calling station at all. This involves players who don't fold anywhere near enough, and play from behind or with bad draws far too much. They are great to play against of course, because when you have something, they will hang around to pay you off.

As for playing against maniacs at a limit table, calling at times is the best option, but you want to get the most money in the middle. If they're playing a lot of hands aggressively, you will call along at the flop and turn, and sometimes at the river, when this is going to get you the most money. If the maniac tends to fold when played back at, or there are other people in the pot who are calling and you don't want to scare off, then calling's the right move. However, if you're heads up against the maniac and he isn't put off his strategy very easily, laying the lumber to him is the right move, because your favored hand will get more of his money this way of course.

It's frequently often correct to call in other situations as well. Simply put, if you're not on a bluff, have a strong enough hand to call with, but don't have a strong enough hand to raise with, then calling is the right move of course.

KC
kingcobrapoker.com

[ACW]

Make sure you use this information when playing against him. He's very unlikely to bluff you if he thinks you're a calling station - if he bets into you, he probably has the goods.