How to Know When You're Beat
How to Know When You're Beat - Valuable Info from John Phan
One of the top-ranked players of 2006, John Phan sat down to explain when to dump a good hand and how to avoid steaming from a bad beat.
Question: How do you know when you are beat in a hand?
Answer: When the other player is too confident, it can tell you that your hand is not good.
Question: How hard is it to lay down a good hand?
Answer: Very hard! Especially for a new player. You can't really lay it down when you have a big hand; you've got to somehow hope to win a coin flip.
Question: Is it a lot different with a new player you aren't familiar with vs. a pro?
Answer: Of course, very different. That has a lot of effect on the game. With a new player, you basically have to gamble with him. He could have any two cards, that's really something no one knows. That's why a lot of pros get knocked out by those guys, because you really don't know what they have, and you have to gamble with them sometimes.
Question: How do you recover from a bad beat?
Answer: Take a walk, walk around, talk to yourself. Tell yourself it's okay. Let it pass. Focus on the next hand. Whatever has happened, let it happen. All you have to do is wait for a better hand and play better. Take a break for at least 10 to 15 minutes. It will help out a lot.
Question: So you avoid steaming by getting away from the table?
Answer: Yes. Sometimes when the cards are dealt, you get the second-best hand. That's bad, and you can't avoid things like that sometimes. It's pretty hard.
Question: What do you think about rabbit hunting? Do you like to see what you could have had, or do you think it doesn't matter?
Answer: That doesn't matter. You shouldn't look. I do that once in a while, but you shouldn't do that. It's not good. You get mad when your card comes. If you lay it down, forget it. It's over with. Play the next hand.
Question: How do you handle a player who is a sore winner, who gloats about winning?
Answer: Let him do whatever. That's why a lot of people have their iPods on. They ignore whatever other people say and whatever goes on around them.
Question: Do you think it helps to listen to music?
Answer: Sometimes, and sometimes it does not. It can take you away from the game a little bit. Pay attention to all your players, what they do. Without it, it is a lot better sometimes. It just depends. The noise from all the bad-beat players, it helps a little bit.
Question: Do you ever have your headphones on without listening to anything?
Answer: Sometimes.
Question: How can you be successful with such a high luck factor involved in the game?
Answer: I have skill, too. Luck can only help you to get there once in awhile, but skill eventually gets you closer and closer to the final table more than luck. Luck comes around only once in awhile. It doesn't come around every day.
Question: What do you think the percentages are for luck vs. skill in tournaments?
Answer: I say 50/50 for me. Luck, skill, you'll win it.
Question: So you aren't intimidated by the luck factor?
Answer: Sometimes you have to be. On a coin flip, you have to. You can have the best hand, pocket aces, but luck can suck out.
Question: What is the best laydown you have ever made when you knew that you were beat?
Answer: Kings against aces. Once, but not a lot.
Question: How could you know to lay that hand down?
Answer: Because you just know that the other player has a better hand than you do. You're not going to take all that risk to try and gamble. If you know you are beat, you have to lay it down.
Question: Was it based on instinct or the player's tells?
Answer: He had some, but I usually play by my instincts. Every player has his own different strategy, so whatever works for him. And I have whatever works for me.
John's instincts were definitely working for him in 2005. He ended the year with nine final tables at major events, and three first place finishes, including a World Series of Poker circuit event.
