The Cincinnati Kid and string betting
Posted by Dave Bremner on 17 Mar 2010 at 08:03
The problem of poker in movies reared its ugly head again this week as talk at the table turned to a hand even more unlikely than the Casino Royale beat-fest discussed previously.
This time the Steve McQueen flick The Cincinnati Kid came under the spotlight – not for its unlikely finale, but for the shocking amount of string betting that goes on even after the dealer’s explicitly forbidden it.
For online-only players, or those who just play the occasional home game, string betting – making a bet out of two separate statements or movements – is a big no-no at casino poker tables.
You can’t for example – no matter how often they do it in the movies – say, “I’ll see your thousand… and I’ll raise you another thousand.” Nor can you say, “I’ll raise you a thousand… in fact, make it TEN thousand.”
Why not? Well both those bets are made up of two separate statements. And unscrupulous players making them would read the reaction made by their opponents before deciding whether to proceed with the second part of the statement.
Of course I don’t string bet. At a table full of novice poker players, I would never move one stack of chips forwards, quickly gauge my opponent’s reaction and move more stacks forward if the signs were favourable.
That would give me an unfair advantage. Terrible. But there’s a far better reason, too.
I try not to make string bets because novice poker players are often painfully oblivious to the nuances of bet size, often calling bets a more experienced player wouldn’t – which can be embarrassing when you’re bluffing.
Furthermore, novice players are frequently subject to delayed moments of enlightenment – like when they realise at the river they’ve been sitting on a high straight ever since the flop.
That look of panic at the turn is swapped for a car-salesman grin: the one that makes you think, “This is going to cost me.”
This doesn’t mean I’m happy for people to string bet against me. I’m no poker novice, and I don’t want my honest visog used as ammo against me.
So say NO to string bets – and beware if you’re going to try them out for yourself.
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