脇を固めた弱虫、the chicken

[English]

脇を固めているとはすなわち、四方八方に気を配っている、とにかく周囲に付け込まれないようにしっかり自らを防護しておこうという意識を表しています。それほど注意深い人種ですから、ポーカーに勝つためにはどうすればよいか、その基本はすべて理解しております。手のつくり方もひと通り心得ています。ただし問題が一つありまして、とにかく心配症なんです。かれらに共通する特性、あるいは周囲に勘違いされやすい特性といったほうが良いかもしれませんが、それはベットやレイズよりもチェックやコールする場合が圧倒的に多い。そしてとても積極的です。

なぜこうなるのか？それはポットをほかの人＝ありきたりの手にとられたくないのです。もう一つ、そこらじゅうからレイズの声を浴びせられたくはないのです。こうしたテキサスホールデムのイメージは脅されやすいプレーヤーのように映るかもしれませんが、知らない人間にとってみればそのまやかしがなかなか見破れません。

あなたの席がこうした連中より前にあれば、チェックするよりもベットから始めるようお勧めします。「脇を固めた弱虫」プレーヤーに向ってベットすると、彼らの普通の反応は、コールするか、単に降りてしまう場合が多いようです。降りてしまえばもうこっちのものです。コールしてきたとしてもそこそこの手ができているのでしょうが、ポットをベットしたりレイズしたりする気はありません。とにかくポットをなくしたくないのですから。とにかく強気で突っ張れば最後には降りてしまいます。

A chicken　::　Or, someone calls them "weak-tight player" for the Texas holdem poker. I prefer chicken, of course. Ever seen a chicken walking around with their head swinging? They watch around them. It looks like they are trying to watch around them to protect themselves. The chicken players are that careful. Then of course, they have the knowledge of winning poker.

They know how to prepare their hands. But there's one exception. They are afraid of something. The common property of them, or I should say that the common character that other players misunderstand, is that they much prefer check or call to bet or raise. And they are positive on anything.

They do that because they fear losing the pot to an average hand. At the same time they don't like to be scared off by the raise.

When you stand up to fight with those chickens, their common reaction is to call or folding. If they fold, that's the end of them for the game anyway. If they call, they are probably having a decent hand but does not have the guts to raise because they never ever be able to have confidence of winning.

Why they do that? Because they know for the fact that they are not the fish but more skillful than the fish. They believe that their passive call will scare off those whe does not have guts or decent hand. Consequently they believe that their firm attitude, oh that's not your impression but their belief, can chase away 80% of the opponents at the table.

Unless you are familiar with those people you sure will feel uncomfortable and may see them the veteran players. You are wrong. Once you identify them as the chicken, and if you are acting before the chicken, it is better to lead with a bet than check. If they call, they may have a decent hand but don't worry, eventually they will fold because they are afraid to lose more.

Now you know that you can't win if you keep checking, right?