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Friendly Play

by Blake on October 31st, 2007

So, you go to a bigger sized no limit game with a bunch of strangers and you bring a friend. Your friend plays pretty solid poker. You end up in a pot with your friend alone and he bets out at you, equal to the size of the pot. You know he probably has at least top pair. You have a gutshot straight draw. Do you call?

There’s nothing I hate more than playing a ring game with a friend and having them bluff at you or call bets to try and draw you out. It’s really bad etiquette. I’m not a enthusiast of soft play among friends, but when I end up in a hand with my only friend at a table full of strangers, I’m not trying to take his money. Usually I bet very standard. If he bets and I have a monster, I let him know by raising. I do not try to draw him out. There are other smaller games for playing tricky against a friend, but if you came to the game with him and everyone else is new blood, why draw?

This is particularly a bad move when you’ve gone on a roadtrip to a casino six hours away and you know your friend has to sleep in same room as you.

True, there are no friends in poker, but you shouldn’t rough play your buddy when there are plenty of others to prey on. Keep it straight.

No?

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