The psychology of asking your opponent questions during a hand

[ripwalk]

I've read Caro's Book of Tells, but I don't remember anything in it specifically about that topic.

I'm wondering, when faced with a large river bet from your opponent ... Is there any merit to asking your opponent some simple questions about his hand and getting a read on how he reacts/answers?

For example, asking things such as "You have a monster?" "Your hand better than 2 pair?" "Make your flush draw?".... Just stuff like that.

Also, if there is any merit in asking these questions. How should the results be interpreted. If a player remains silent? If a player answers sarcastically or with a joke, if a player answers with a straight face? If a player says "call and find out"?

I'm sure there must be some value in reading your opponents reactions to questions you pose them while in a hand. Any insight would be appreciated.

[Dan Mezick]

These types of questions are probably within rules and OK in cash B&M ring games.... but are penalizable (I believe) under TDA tournament rules. These rules apply to WPT events and most other casino-based multi-table tourneys.

It's rule #24:

[ QUOTE ]
Players, whether in the hand or not, may not discuss the hands until the action is complete. Players are obligated to protect the other players in the tournament at all times. Discussing cards discarded or hand possibilities is not allowed. A penalty may be given for discussion of hands during the play.

[/ QUOTE ]

See also:
http://www.pokertda.com/rules4_inter...sults_page.asp

[ripwalk]

I'm not talking about a multiway pot here, or in the middle of a hand.

I'm speaking more specifically ... You are heads up on the river and are faced with a large bet. I can't see how engaging your opponent in conversation would be illegal.

Also, my comment was more geared towards home games and such ... Not so much big tournaments.

[RiverDood]

These sorts of Perry Mason moments make for fine drama in poker movies . . . but it's a rare home game where they really matter a lot.

If you're looking for tells, watch people's hands. Watch how they move chips into the pot at each round of betting. Watch how they hold their cards and where they put them when they're done looking. I'll try to watch the most LAGy players this way for the first hour -- and sometimes there's a real difference between what they do when they've got a hand and when they don't. That can help you by the time you get to your river showdown.

In terms of quizzing opponents, I've found three different things can happen -- only one of them useful.

1. THE STOIC OPPONENT. No matter what I do, short of setting fire to his clothes, he stares impassively at the flop, breathes steadily and waits for me to shut up. No real information gained here.

2. THE JIBBERING MANIAC. He's either studied Caro or just spews out stuff anyway. Out comes a profusion of stuff. Strong body language. Weak words. Contradictory comments. It's almost like watching a third base coach signaling hit and run. I'm not playing him; he's playing me. By the end I'm so tangled up in analyzing nothing that I'm ready to misplay my hand something awful.

3. MR. LACONIC. If he's got nothing, he gets visibly uncomfortable the longer I put him on the spot. He stops breathing. He twitches. Turns strange colors, etc. Or (different subgroup) he smiles. Then I call . . . By contrast, if he's got a hand, he stays calm and unexpressive. Eventually he says some variant of: "You'll have to pay to find out." That could be an argument for folding.

If it's people you know and socialize with, you can play DA for the sheer fun of it, knowing that it probably won't help your game much. Unless you're up against Mr. Laconic.

If you're playing strangers or trying to win pots, concentrate on the real information that's right in front of you. What were villain's betting patterns all through the hand? What does that tell you? What does villain think YOU have? Is this a classic situation where third best hand will try to represent the nuts and get 2nd best to fold? (Trips goes all-in so flush lays down, fearing full house.)

[PairTheBoard]

Watch how Daniel Negranu operates on television. I think he picks up a lot of information whenever he gets his opponents to respond to him verbally.

It seems to me that the Rule 24 that Dan Mezick mentioned gets violated all the time on TV. Remember when Moneymaker made his great Bluff against Sam Ferras and Ferras said "missed your flush huh" along with some other things?

PairTheBoard

[PokrLikeItsProse]

My understanding is that it is based on how comfortable an opponent is in answering questions rather than the actual answers themselves. Poker players put on an act to protray strength, weakness, absolute nothingness, or some other front. Some players let slip their true feelings when they break the mask to contemplate an unexpected question. It's more about trying to get your opponent to react toward some stimulus for which they are unprepared than about asking the right sorts of questions.

In regards to the TDA rule, I think it could be said that discussing a hand involves two participants. It may be okay for a player to "think out loud" so long as his opponent doesn't reply.

[Dan Mezick]

Ok here is an example.

I was in a mid position with KK and in a small multi-table rebuy tournament tonight with about 90 players. The guy to my left was the big stack not just of the table, but of the whole room. He is a huge problem with a big stack and sometimes gets very loose with the big stack, with marginal holdings such as K4s. Let's call him LAGPlayer.

So 1 limper comes in and I also limp, hoping for a raise from LAGPlayer behind me. He raises to 3X the BB.

Everyone else goes out. My stack is small, so I push in. After thinking about it of course! As I finish doing so I say, "you do not want to call here. I have a hand here, and you want out. You are my friend-- get out. (Pause) ....If you call, it will be very embarrassing when I show you these cards. You dont want that scenario. Fold now."

This guy called me with K4s. He had a large stack and the call was only about 1/6th of his chips. He announced his conclusion that I was on a small pair and most players out of the hand agreed that a small pair was likely.

I like to tell them the truth sometimes and tell them complete BS other times if they try to talk to me before a difficult decision.

[MoodyA]

This subject came up in a live game I was playing the other day...

an opponent bet into me on the flop and I put in a reasonably large raise, but not to big to call...

He said " Will you show me if I fold?"

I said "no, you have to pay to see"

He folded

after the hand a friendly bystander told me that he read a study, believed by him to be in cardplayer a few years ago

That if you want your opponent to call the correct answer to this question is "yes I will show you if you fold"

He said more than not they will call you when you tell them you will show.

This is hear say, but another side of the coin that I thought I might bring up...

GL

[pb1]

I have used a similar tatic in the past and it seems to work nicely. For example I, flopped a straight (Rainbow) and called into checked the flop behind the only other person in the pot, who is a maniac. After he went over the top of my River bet I pushed and said "You want advice? Lay it down, simply save some money and lay it down. I'm going to muck if you do but it will save you money" He eventually called with a pair of K's with Q kicker.....

PB1