Poker Card Systems, Why They Do Not Work

Being registered with many poker sites has its benefits and its disadvantages. With a huge alternative of games to play, different incentives and competitions, I could be online 24/7 and always find a game to play, major tournament to qualify for (Ha! Ha!) and try to better my standard. The downside is that I get a stack of junk email.

Some of these communications ask me to part with $20 upwards to invest in spend on a book that will revolutionize the way I play on the tables and guaranteeing me riches beyond my wildest dreams. Headlines such as “Invest in the Whacky System” inform me that, for a small outlay, I will acquire the innermost secrets of professional poker players. In reality, these are all training courses which are generally free online and contain most of the knowledge that one gets from simply playing – “When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience.” Anon.

Nonetheless, after a little investigation, I though I would try one out. One of these companies (who I will not grace by advertising their name) declares that you bet a “reasonable” amount when holding pocket pairs TT or higher, AJ, AQ or AK, and when holding suited connectors (5d 6d for instance). The “reasonable” amount was a bit indefined and this hardly represented advanced hand selection. But I carried on, resolving that I would bet the pot rather than go all in every hand and see how it went. Three SnGs later, this is what happened

Game 1 started with AA in mid-position. Was this a omen that I had chosen the right road for my future poker play? I bet the pot. The flop came down, I was raised and bet the pot, which was re-raised and 4 us ended up all in. An A on the turn and I collected. Thank you system. Would I have got such a catch if I had gone all in at the beginning? Hmm? So, I carried on only betting on cards that fell into my criteria and folding everything else. The hands in which I was not playing provided a useful time to study my opponents and the way they played. Who was aggressive. Who was passive. How table position affected the way that some people played and not others. I felt that I should be doing this more frequently, so in one respect it was time well spent.

After 30 minutes, just three players remained. Some of my bets had won, some caused the table to fold and I just amassed the blinds. Then I hit AA again and lost to two pairs. The next hand I was out when, following the system, I ended up all in on 3s 4s. Third place and an education – not bad, although I would have got at least third place, I felt, with the cards I had been dealt.

Game 2 was all over in two hands. 3d 4d, followed by 6d 7d

In game 3, I did not get the cards to play a hand for the first 20 minutes, by which time four players had already left and I was sitting 3 of 5. More time to learn about my opposition. I got AK, was raised to all in and picked up with two pairs. Several hands later, I am sitting 3 of 3 after my raises brought folds from my adversaries and two had knocked themselves out. My stats at this point were; played 5 of 32, won 1 hand at showdown and 4 without.

The chip leader took out the third player, and we were heads up. I continued playing to the system and he completely “sussed” what I was doing (if, in fact, he didn’t know already). There would have been an inescapable situation where I would have fetched second as he was folding to any raise I made and I was folding any cards that did not correspond to the system. The blinds would have wiped me out ultimately. So, I abandoned the system, played my normal game and won.

My conclusion is that systems don’t work exclusively. You have to combine them into your regular strategies. Combining a system with luck will enable you to pick up a few runner up prizes but, is that what you really want?

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