The next player I'd like to take a look at in the moneypokerbonus.com Player Profile is not too far away in relationship from our first feature, Gus Hansen. This player is known as much for his willingness to play strange cards, but he is also gifted with an uncanny ability to read his opponents, and his analysis of hands is well above average even from pros. As you might have guessed by now I'm talking about Daniel Negreanu.
Daniel Negreanu, who rides under the silly nickname KID POKER, is similar to Gus Hansen in that he plays cards that many others don't value as much. Daniel once stated that his favorite hand in poker is 7/10 offsuit, offsuit because he considers it 'double suited.' Daniel's great ability usually comes in his combination of playing weird cards and simultaneously being able to figure out what his opponent is holding with a warm degree of accuracy. If there's something to be learned from his style, it is in the fusion of these elements.
Here's the main idea, I think, behind Daniel's method of playing low cards, or at least what I've gleaned of it in trying to applying some of his methods to my own game: Playing smaller cards is less risky, and holds a much greater return on the money. If you are holding 5/6 suited and someone makes it overpriced to see the flop, no big deal, where's the next hand? If you get to see the flop cheaply and you miss, it's very easy to throw the hand away. With hands like JJ or 10/10 though, many players often get committed because there is more 'value' attached to the cards. If you are holding AA, that's great, but if your opponents hits on you, you are often going to have to pay him off, whereas with suited connectors you either flop big or you are gone. It's risk vs. reward at its finest.
Also people are much less likely to put someone on a low hand than a big hand in a raised pot, so the 'implied odds,' or value you are getting on the opponent paying you off when you hit your hand, are much higher for these small cards. In a way, if you were to play an evening of cards and never once have a big pair, but get to see a lot of cheap flops with suited and unsuited connectors, you would be tied to small investments for potentially big returns vs having to put all your chips in on one hand. A smart venture.
The reading part of Daniel's game is a thing that tends to come with time, but there's definitely more of his style of observation that can be put to use in the hand. Daniel seems to pay more attention to how his opponent bets and when, putting together a story. Many times I've heard Daniel say, "That bet doesn't make sense. What are you trying to sell me?" And he's also more likely to follow his read than many players I've seen. He trusts his instinct, trusts his ability to know how the hand comes together with his opponent's tendencies, and together pieces the puzzle. Watching him analyze hands is a great tool for thinking the way poker works, and the way to reconstruct a hand.
