There is a theory that "Tight is Right" in poker. This theory simply says that you should play few hands--good cards only--and when you do play hands play them strong and aggressively. What you want to do in poker to be a winning player is not quite so simple but following the tight is right theory would make many poker players more successful than they are now. In most poker games I do believe that it is possible to be a "nit," even an extreme, nit and win.
I would probably fall under the category of what most would consider a nit. It doesn't bother me to fold 20 hands in a row. It never has and never will. I look at poker as a long run game and I don't care if I win tonight or tomorrow night or even this week. I care about how I do over the year. And so far--knock on wood--I have never had a losing year (since I began playing in 2003). While it is true that I mostly play good cards, that is not my only goal. My goal is to be in profitable situations. The cards can sometimes be a lot less relevant than other factors in deciding whether a hand is profitable. And that is what matters....Is the situation profitable?
There is a player at my local club that I would consider to be the best player of all of the regulars. He is on a short list of players in our poker room that I try to avoid playing pots with unless I am loaded with the nuts or close to it. If he raises the pot in early position and I look down at A 10 on the button I will fold to him. Not because I am never holding the best hand there, but because I am holding a marginally good hand and will be forced to play with a player who reads players better than anyone else in my town and can likely outplay me even when my hand hits the flop or is better. Maybe I am a nit for folding to him but I would rather wait for a better spot or a worse player to play a pot with. I don't need to play that hand. There will be another hand dealt in just a minute and there are weak players at the table. I also am able to do something at the poker table that almost nobody can do these days...control the ego. I play poker to make money. Not to beat the best or outplay the best or dominate my competition. If you make $399 winning 25 pots in three hours and made great bluffs and great calls good for you. But If I made $400 winning one pot in the same three hours--by my rules of success--I played better than you. It is all about money for me.
Last night, tight was right for me. I played poker for 6 hours and won three pots of significance all night and I turned my $200 buy in to a $750 cash out. I did it by winning three hands! What I mean by hands of significance are pots that really lowered or elevated my stack that you would notice. I did win several other hands throughout the night, but they were all small pots. And I don't think I lost more than $20 or $30 on any other hand in the 6 hours.
On one hand I flopped a pair and a flush draw with 85 of spades. I bet $15 on the flop and a player (one of the weakest players at the table) raised $15 more on a flop of Q 9 5. I called the additional $15 and a 4 of spades hit the turn. I checked and he bet $40. I bet all in for about $130 total and he called with a QJ and was drawing dead.
A short while later the same player who I beat with the flush raised to $12 and two other players called and I looked down at AA. I made it $50 to go and the original raiser called and the others folded. The flop came Q 3 5 with two clubs. He checked and I bet $100. He called and a King hit the turn and he checked. Based on my read of him at the time and my past experience I felt 90% sure I still had the best hand and shipped my last $151. He took a few minutes but decided to call with the 10 3 of clubs. I was a little more than a 2-1 favorite as the dealer put the Jack of spades on the river and I collected the $600 plus pot.
A little bit later I had QQ and put the very same player all in preflop when he three bet my preflop raise. He had King high and my Queens finally busted him from the game.
In less than one hour I played three pots, all against the same player and almost quadrupled my stack. Not only did I only need to play good cards to win, I only needed to play with him. You can be a table with 5 sharks but if there is at least one fish or two it is still possible for the game to be profitable. I played in profitable situations last night. I had good cards against a bad player. Those are the situations to look for. When you are playing low stakes you can win by "nitting it up" that way.
Sometimes profitable situations present themselves in other ways and it doesn't mean that you have to have good cards. Last night a fairly loose player opened for $7 and I had 10 7 of clubs on the button and called. I called because the player was not a real good player, I have a good read on how he plays, If I cooler him in the slightest he will stack off for his whole buy in, and I had position. All of those things combined, despite not having a real strong hand made the situation profitable. He ended up missing the flop and I bet the turn when he checked on a 5 8 Q Q board and I won the pot with 10 high. My cards were not strong but the situation was profitable in my opinion due to many factors. You can follow the Tight is Right theory and still play 10 7 if all other conditions are favorable.
Tight is Right to me means playing selectively with your situations, not just the hand value of your cards. You can fold an A7 and call with a 10 7 and still be correctly playing as a nit. Let them call you a nit. Let them call you a tight ass or a rock. Let them call you whatever they want as you stack chips and profits. And don't care if the profits came from them or anyone else. Money is money and that is why I play.
Disciplined Degenerate
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