General Philosophy

[davelin]

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My overall philosophy is that poker is a game of people, information and cards and in that exact order. I will often call, or even raise, when I know I have the worst of it in order to gain information about the people at the table.

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This information can usually be gained cheaply i.e. watching and observing how they play in hands you're not involved in. I'm also guessing in the micro-limits the incremental information you pay for is not worth the price i.e. you could've surmised it already with confidence and without putting chips in the middle.

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If I have reasonable winning chances, I will almost always call down a new player to the river just to insure that I get a peek at his outlook and strategy (many on the board call this “Spewing chips”).

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If you have a reasonable chance of winning on the river, calling down no matter the player is a must.

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The few bets I might lose are an investment in how my “enemies” operate and they pay for themselves many times over because I now have a very good feel for the player on the next hand.

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One hand isn't generally enough to truly get a feel of your opponent. Likewise it will take you many more hands to get back your investment. To truly take advantage of the information you've gained, you need marginal situations to take advantage of which doesn't come along super often.