Chapter 4 Ep. 1 Trust Your Reads

Summary

Podcast Summary: Ante Up Poker Magazine

Host: Joe Scales
Episode Title: Chapter 4 Ep. 1 – Trust Your Reads
Date: January 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the pivotal poker concept of "trusting your reads," blending strategy discussion, humor, and community updates. Joe Scales is joined by co-host Elle, Patrick, and rules expert Elliot Schechter in their trademark roundtable style, covering the latest Ante Up Magazine issue, practical strategy and mindset, poker etiquette, and a deep-dive ‘Hand of the Week’ segment. The conversation continually revisits the importance of intuition and read-based decision-making, offering relatable stories and actionable advice for everyday poker players.

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Key Segments & Highlights

1. Table Talk: Magazine Launch & Community Buzz

[03:19–17:36]

• Magazine Launch: Celebration of the latest Ante Up Poker Magazine issue, declared by Elle and Joe as "the best one yet" due to its mix of genuine interviews and new contributors.
• Featured Stories:
  • Lupe’s Cover Story: Inspiring rise from railbird to founder of the Ladies International Poker Series. Noted for authenticity and candid details.
    • “The wealth of information that she has acquired and built and the encouragement and the community, all because she was dating a guy that played poker.” — Elle [05:11]
  • Ben Mench’s First Casino Experience: Valuable for novices, recounts Ben’s anxieties and takeaways as a first-time solo player.
  • Dustin’s Resolution Article: Focuses on practical goals, coaching, tracking performance via apps, and intentional play.
    • “As I was reading through and proofing that article, I thought to myself, yeah, I’m going to download that app.” — Elle [08:21]
  • Jasmine’s Work-Life-Balance Column: A new bi-monthly contributor, Jasmine provides tools such as the “Wheel of Life” to promote holistic wellness for poker players.
    • “The Wheel of Life is simply to make you stop and consider the different components, pieces and parts of the pie.” — Elle [12:24]
• Community Reminders:
  • Discord is open to everyone, not just Patreon members.
  • Next week’s Patreon mixed game is Razz.
• Personal Banter: Fun stories about local eats (Potawatomi Casino’s Bloody Mary), and baking weekend traditions.

Notable Quote

• (On contributors)
  “I would put our staff, our writers, up against anybody. We have such a phenomenal group of people that contribute to this magazine.” — Joe [15:42]

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2. Snap Calls: Poker Mindset & Would-You-Rather

[17:46–27:04]

• Mindset Quiz: Joe throws Elle a series of poker-themed "Would You Rather?" and situational questions exploring risk tolerance, ego management, and self-reflection.
  • Would you rather min-cash every tournament or win one big one? (“Definitely the second. I don’t want to be losing all the time.” — Elle [18:44])
  • Would you rather never get bluffed or never successfully bluff? (“I don’t want to be bluffed, but I like doing that [bluffing others].” — Elle [20:00])
  • Table image and pressure: Elle finds wearing a patch or being known in the poker community increases her performance anxiety.
    • “When I’ve had that pressure, I haven’t risen to the occasion that I would like. So I actually have been working on that mentally going in...” — Elle [22:41]
  • Bankroll management: Elle admits she tends to stay when games are good—even though discipline is sometimes a struggle.
• Self-Reflection: Elle highlights the challenge of applying lessons learned after the fact: “Sometimes I’ve walked away from a table two or three times with the same reflection and gone, why didn’t I remind myself before I went in?” [26:50]

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3. Call the Floor: Tournament Ruling Deep-Dive

[28:13–38:24]

• Situation: A player disputes the size of an all-in call on the river, but the floor staff instructs the table to finish the hand before resolving the issue.
• Ruling by Elliot Schechter:
  • If heads-up, the floor can defer ruling—no further betting action needs to occur.
  • If multi-way, chip amounts must be clarified immediately.
    • “If one person’s all-in and the other person has called, there’s nothing left in the hand that needs to be decided now that can’t be decided when all the cards are out.” — Elliot [30:29]
    • “The only mistake here is on the dealer’s part … there’s no point in putting both players’ chips in the pot so you can push it back.” — Elliot [31:03]
  • Dealer should avoid prematurely mixing all-in chips in heads-up pots to simplify accounting.

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4. Hand of the Week: “Trust Your Reads” in Action

[38:35–62:36]

• Scenario: Listener Tommy Charles submits a 2/5 NLHE hand. On the river with top pair/top kicker, facing a check-shove bluff, Tommy folds after a suspicious speech from a typically stoic opponent. Villain shows the missed draw bluff.
• Discussion: Patrick and Joe walk through preflop and postflop actions, emphasizing how live reads, verbal tics, and deviations from a player’s baseline can decisively affect decisions.
  • Verbal tell: Villain says, “If you’ve got it, you’ve got it,” while making eye contact—both counter to his usual behavior.
  • “Trust your reads. His baseline: strong equals quiet, no eye contact; weak or unsure: talks, little comments... This is the first time he’s talked all night during the hand—pattern blown, right?” — Joe [56:58]
  • They both would have called, based on tells. Tommy folds—and villain exposes a bluff.
• Lessons:
  • Bet-sizing on the river: Consensus is smaller is better or even a check-back against this opponent profile to avoid facing the jam.
  • Most crucial: Use your session-long information bank—your gut isn’t guessing, it’s remembering.

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5. Joe’s One Outer: Reflection on Trusting Your Reads

[62:46–66:50]

• Theme: Joe expands on why most players don’t miss reads—the problem is not trusting them. He connects the poker lesson to life in general.
  • “Trusting your read doesn’t mean you’re always right … you can make the right decision and still lose. So folding a winner doesn’t mean the read was bad. It means the game just did what the game does sometimes. But consistently ignoring good reads? That’s how you bleed chips…” [63:46]
• Closing: Trusting your intuition (“that quiet little voice”) is often the hardest but most profitable skill at and away from the poker table.

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Timestamps for Memorable Moments

• [05:11] Elle on Lupe’s beginnings in poker & LIPS
• [08:21] Elle on realizing the value of poker-tracking apps
• [12:24] Elle on the Wheel of Life assessment
• [18:44] Elle chooses wins over min-cashes
• [22:41] Elle on performance pressure at the tables
• [31:03] Elliot on dealer procedure in heads-up all-ins
• [54:53] Joe on the dilemma of folding big hands to a read
• [56:58] Joe’s “Trust Your Reads” hand summary
• [63:46] Joe: “Trusting your read doesn’t mean you’re always right …”

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Tone & Style

• Originality: Conversational, candid, full of in-jokes and relatable scenarios.
• Accessibility: Focused on real-life, pragmatic advice for “everyday” poker players.
• Humor: Good-natured ribbing and self-deprecating asides throughout.

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Conclusion

This episode reinforces the core value of trusting yourself—at the poker table and in daily life. Through listener hands, magazine features, ethical debates, and strategic banter, the hosts continually return to the point: Pay attention, trust your experience, and listen to your gut—because the costliest mistakes come when you know better and ignore it.

Recommended for: Players seeking actionable strategy, relatable table talk, and entertaining insight into the psychology of poker.

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Transcript

[Elle]

Take

[Patrick]

your seat, the cards are flying high Shuffle up and deal at the Aces Lie Longest running show. Yeah, we've seen it all. From the river to the rail we answer the call.

[Joe Scales]

Hello, a team, and welcome back to another episode of the Antiette Poker Podcast, where every hand is an opportunity, every player is a friend, every. And every episode is a winning experience. I'm your host, Joe Scales, and as you probably noticed, that intro this week is the same one as last week. That doesn't mean that the voting's done, that we're Everything's in the clear. Because it occurred to me as I was putting everything together for this week that I didn't put the full version up on Patreon like I promised. So that's on me. But now it's there. It's available for you all to see. And so go take a listen. And now that it's there, feel free to change your vote if you've already voted. We did have a lot of people that put their thoughts in on which version they like and which one they don't, but feel free to change your thoughts. I'm also working on getting the intro put together with some different video and making sure there's a clean bumper for each segment. My goal is to have all of it put together and fully integrated by next week, so if you have a favorite between the two, let me know. It's pretty close right now, and, and, and I really do value that feedback, so let me know. The magazine is out too, and it's a good one. If you'd like an email notification whenever a new issue drops, just send me a note to joannieupmagazine.com and we'll make sure you're on the list. Looking ahead. Next week is our Patreon game. It's our mixed game, and it's going to be Raz this month, so that'll be happening on the 22nd, and I'd love to see you guys there. While we're also talking about community, I do want to clear this up because I've had now a few people that have reached out about this. You do not have to be a Patreon member or play in our monthly games to be a part of the discord. Jump in there even if you're not playing in our Patreon game. I know we talk a lot about it in that context, but outside of that, we talk Hands of the Week. We talk stuff from the. From the podcast, we talk magazine. So jump in there. We'd love to celebrate your wins Commiserate over the losses. And honestly, we interact with people more there than probably anywhere else. So join us. Let's talk. That's all I have for now. So let's get on with the show.

[Elliot Schechter]

Find out what conversations are happening around the poker table with Table Talk.

[Joe Scales]

Elle and I are back around the poker table.

[Elle]

Cheers. Into the weekend, man.

[Joe Scales]

Yes. Cheers, everybody.

[Elle]

You can see us drink local.

[Joe Scales]

That's what we like to do. A lot going on this weekend. A lot has gone on this week. Like, it's been back to back. Like, a lot of good things, you know, Like.

[Elle]

Like, what's today?

[Joe Scales]

Well, it's podcast release day.

[Elle]

I know, but that's how it's felt with so many good things.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, it. It was like, it was Monday, and then we turned around and it was Friday. But so many good things that happened this week. Yeah.

[Elle]

First of all, hello. Our magazine's out, and I am beyond proud.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. Yeah, this is a good one. And I say this every time, but.

[Elle]

Yes, you do. I think I know what you're.

[Joe Scales]

It's my favorite one so far. And I know every time we put one out, I'm like, oh, this is my favorite wood. And then another one comes out. I'm like, this is so good. It's my favorite one. But no, this one. First of all, Lupe,

[Elle]

our cover story.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. What a. What a great interview.

[Elle]

Like, beyond great. It's just packed with genuine details. And that's what I most enjoy about this issue in general coming out, is there's so many new contributors with an awesome perspective or a true perspective on the game and how to prepare yourself for the rest of the year.

[Joe Scales]

Right.

[Elle]

And we're not New Year's resolution people, per se, but we are goal oriented people. And so I think that's why I'm so proud of this issue. And Lupe, gosh, I mean, just the wealth of information.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

That she has acquired and built and the encouragement and the community, all because she was dating a guy that played poker, and they would go to the casino with a hundred bucks each and she would play the blackjack table, and she, as she says, lose all of her money. And then she'd go sit behind her boyfriend while he's playing. And I think a couple months into that, she started criticizing his play.

[Joe Scales]

Right.

[Elle]

Because Lupe's observant and likes to get involved. And he finally just, I think at one point was like, if you're gonna tell me what to do, go play your own. A hundred dollars. And she did.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

And from that Point on. I don't wanna say the rest is history, but the right place at the right time with people throughout the last 30 years of poker. And now she's built the Ladies International Poker Series.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. And she was just so genuine and so upfront about all of the things that it took to get from point A to point B. And it just keeps going.

[Elle]

Right.

[Joe Scales]

She's not done. No.

[Elle]

By any means. And really has so many more visions for mixed games and how to continue to improve the atmosphere at the table for all who play. So we. We tried. We had a long interview with her, and so it might be a little different than other issues people have read. We had lots of. Of commentary back and forth.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

So you see a couple pages that are just full of videos. It's because she had a lot to share, and we wanted everybody to hear it. Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

And it's. It's. It's important information. It's not. I couldn't find anything where I'm like, oh, we'll just throw that away. It was all really good information.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

And then we also had a guest article breaking down what it was like.

[Elle]

Ben Mench. We talk about him all the time. Come on. He's a Patreon player. He is a consistent Patreon player in all games. I don't think he's missed one.

[Joe Scales]

That's probably true.

[Elle]

I really don't think he's missed one. Went to the casino for the first time.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. Went to the casino in Milwaukee. Potawatomi Casino. And he asked us, do you think

[Elle]

people would want to know? We said, yeah. And that's a. Hell, yeah. I mean, I can't even remember when I went to the casino for the first time. If I had even been able to read this, I would have been thankful for just the insight.

[Joe Scales]

Right.

[Elle]

What it. What it's really like. And I never had the balls to go by myself. I always been like, can you go to the cage with me?

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Can you tell me what these colors are?

[Joe Scales]

You. You said it's your own table, though.

[Elle]

Oh, I was adamant about that. I still am, but, I mean.

[Joe Scales]

And now I'm better set at your own table. First time ever playing cash across from Berkey. You gotta play against Berkey.

[Elle]

Yeah. If you guys have heard that before. Sorry. That's a repeat. But it's stick. It's just. It's in my mind.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. And then you. You kind of touched on it to, like. Dustin wrote about the New Year's resolutions for poker players.

[Elle]

Yeah. And he has A lot of really good suggestions. I mean, as I was reading through and proofing that article, I thought to myself, yeah, I'm going to download that app. Didn't even know it was there. Didn't know. I mean, without tracking my. My pluses and minuses, my wins and losses for the year in an Excel spreadsheet in my budget, you. You use an app?

[Joe Scales]

I do.

[Elle]

I was like, I don't need an app for that. And now I'm like, yeah, I do.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Yes, I do. And I want to be more intentional about when we're traveling, what I'm going to play instead of just showing up being like, sure. So I really found his article to be very encouraging.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. And if you're even considering taking your game more seriously this year, then I think it's. It's a must read.

[Elle]

Yeah. He mentions coaching, he mentions tracking plays, he mentions hand reviews, he mentions all sorts of things. And by the way, this is not some guy who's just in his basement. Neither one of these guys are just, you know, typing this without the experience. Dustin is down at the Beau Rivage, one of our beautiful favorite properties. Playing lots of games, lots of hands, lots of reps this week and killing it.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

So we just want to give you a shout out. And I have to go back to Pottawatomi because s. We're coming back for you. I really hope we can come see you.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

This year, if you don't know what I'm talking about, Google, very close to the Potawatomi casino, is a stand up, crazy local yokel. The biggest bloody Mary I've ever seen in my life.

[Joe Scales]

I never.

[Elle]

It comes with a whole chicken.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It's. I think that one of the past issues, if you go back and look at maybe the magazine, I think there is a picture of it. But yeah, the biggest.

[Elle]

I still think about it.

[Joe Scales]

I. I've never seen anything like that. They brought that out there. And I was like, what is that? Why did we order food? Because it's right there.

[Elle]

We don't need a meal. It's in our drink.

[Joe Scales]

Exactly. And then we both fell in love with the article from Jasmine, who wrote about the work life balance in poker.

[Elle]

Yes. He's gonna be a bi monthly contributor about balancing your health and wealth from the sub. Right.

[Joe Scales]

This one was all about the will of life, which. You've actually taken the quiz for that before.

[Elle]

Yeah. It sounded like you just said the will wheel.

[Joe Scales]

It's my Kansas it's your Kansas.

[Elle]

Just like. It's a cooler. Instead of a cooler. It's a cooler. It's a cooler if you're in Kansas. Guess the wheel.

[Joe Scales]

Wheel of Life.

[Elle]

What do you know about the Wheel of Life?

[Joe Scales]

Only what you've told me because I have not taken.

[Elle]

I love this assessment.

[Joe Scales]

So we're gonna take it, though.

[Elle]

We are gonna take it and we're actually going to share our results on YouTube and show you how to take it if you want. So look for that coming out this week. And there is a link in the magazine this month of how to get to your assessment. People hear assessment and they're like, really? What is this going to tell me? Okay, lots. I would say lots of people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s in our age bracket know about taking the INTFJ or what is it? Myers Briggs.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Elle]

And I feel like the Myers Briggs just kind of made you feel bad about yourself. I don't know. It didn't really give me a lot of insight.

[Joe Scales]

Okay. I.

[Elle]

It kind of points out, like, okay, you're this way because I would.

[Joe Scales]

I would agree with that. It is. It is very generic. I don't know if it makes you feel bad about yourself.

[Elle]

Maybe I just did.

[Joe Scales]

But. But it is very generic and doesn't give you a lot of direction.

[Elle]

Or.

[Joe Scales]

Or maybe the person do with that.

[Elle]

Exactly. Or maybe the person who gave me the assessment didn't follow it up in a way that I could really understand. How can I apply what I know? All right. The wheel of Life is simply to make you stop and consider the different components, pieces and parts of the pie. Kind of like Trivial Pursuit. You've got your purple and your blue and your green and yellow, all those little pieces of pie. Right. You collect. They're all about different subjects. So really it's like looking at your life from a bird's eye view with how satisfied you are. How satisfied are you in your personal relationships? How satisfied are you with your financial situation? How satisfied are you with your physical health? How. How satisfied are you with. Enter the thing. Right. And what the results are meant to do is have you just reflect on that. So I think the important part is we're doing it together because we have somebody to reflect on it. And when I first did this in 2019, I'd hired a life coach prior to meeting you because my professional life was, like, upside down from the standpoint. I was a teacher. I knew I didn't want to continue teaching, but I didn't know what to do. Next. And so she said to me, none of this is negative.

[Joe Scales]

Okay?

[Elle]

All of this is meant for you to review. Are you satisfied with the result? And if you're not satisfied with the result, what are you going to do about it? Okay, so if I wasn't satisfied with where I was financially, what does it take? It makes you ask more questions. And the example that's in the magazine was an actual professional poker player that took the assessment in January of 25 and then of July of 25, making very small tweaks, not happy with exercise. They added a 20 minute walk three to four times a week, or maybe it was daily. And then they were like, yeah, I'm okay with this now. So six months later, they took the assessment and that had improved. And so it's all based on how you are viewing things and what you want to do about your situation, not what other people say you should do.

[Joe Scales]

Okay, that makes sense. And I know we said this about, you know, the, the previous writers, but this isn't just somebody who's pulling this out of a hat either. This is the kind of stuff that, that Jasmine's going to school for.

[Elle]

Right.

[Joe Scales]

And you know, she's fought for people in casinos to have the, the right seats and the right, you know, when you're doing posture. What is that called?

[Elle]

Oh, it's the ergonomics of a ergonomics. It's the ergonomics. It's the lighting, it's the seating, it's opportunities. It's what, what do poker players and dealers and floors and managers have at their disposal to continue to improve work, life balance?

[Joe Scales]

She's seen this, this trend obviously with especially dealers because they're doing that same motion over and over and over again. And, and then they have carpal tunnel or they have shoulder problems or elbow problems or back problems because they're sitting for so long and trying to make sure that they're improving that.

[Elle]

So I really admire, she has a

[Joe Scales]

passion for that, but she also has a passion for poker. And so we're, we're so lucky. We, I would put our, our staff, our writers, I would put them up against anybody. Like, we have such a phenomenal group of people that contribute to this magazine

[Elle]

and, and they're everyday people just like you and me. And that's what we appreciate and, and

[Joe Scales]

respect and, and I'm so appreciative of them and feel so lucky to be able to have them. Great.

[Elle]

So what are we trying to say, Joe? Check out the magazine. That's what we're trying to say, go to www.antiop magazine.

[Joe Scales]

The longest commercial ever.

[Elle]

Go to www.antiop magazine.com. the top white, what I'm going to call a ribbon. It says magazine. Click on it. The article's there. It's free. Free. Free. Free out there. Available to anyone who would like to.

[Joe Scales]

And then head over to the YouTube page because we'll be posting the Wheel of Life video over there.

[Elle]

Yes. And we're going to share our results. And then we're also going to share our results. It's already on our calendar in July.

[Joe Scales]

Okay.

[Elle]

To continue to do it and then maybe we'll take it.

[Joe Scales]

When was the last time you took it? Was it like six years ago?

[Elle]

I took my first assessment in 2019, and then I shared it with my work team in 2020. And we actually met at a park because that's when we weren't allowed in the office. So I think we met in 2020 or 2021, and we met at a park and all brought our results and talked about it and ate lunch together. It was really neat. It was a really nice time to share and understand where everyone on our team was so that we could be on the lookout of, like, how to encourage one another or know what's going on.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. They have all of those exercises to create bonding experiences with your co workers. I think that was a great one.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

And it wasn't even necessarily intentionally, for that matter, but I think that's a great one.

[Elle]

Yeah. And I'm a little nervous because you also have mentioned you have an exercise for my parts, which I wasn't really allowed to know what it is.

[Joe Scales]

Speaking of quizzes. Yeah. Yeah.

[Elle]

Here we go.

[Joe Scales]

I have come prepared with. This isn't. It's technically not.

[Elle]

Do I need more?

[Joe Scales]

So it's. I wouldn't say the first part of this is really a quiz, per se.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Joe Scales]

But it's more like a. Would you rather.

[Elle]

Well, you are doing a snap call with Elle right now, is what you're doing. And if you don't know what a snap call with L is, it's in the Mac.

[Joe Scales]

I'm really curious to where your head is with these. Okay. You know, a long time ago, we did some quizzes with you on, like, naming hands and things like this. Completely different. This is more of a mindset thing.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Joe Scales]

So I'm ready. Would you rather this is like a middle school game. Would you rather men cash every single tournament you play but never win 1 or lose 5 tournaments and win 1? That covers your losses in the first

[Elle]

round, so you definitely, definitely the second. I, I don't want to be losing all the time.

[Joe Scales]

You're min cashing, you're still winning money. You're just not taking that first place spot.

[Elle]

I'm ready for the first place. I'm at that point in where I've made final tables. Now I want the freaking win.

[Joe Scales]

Okay, so it's a little different. The mindset, you can ask me this

[Elle]

next year and it could be different.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, it's like, is consistency better to be consistently in the money or chasing those wins?

[Elle]

So I want to chase those maybe. I mean, it might be better for my bankroll to have consistency, which I understand. And a lot of people are probably rolling their eyes like, here she goes again. But I have my eyes on the prize when it comes to tournament.

[Joe Scales]

All right, so then would you rather never get bluffed?

[Elle]

Oh, gosh, this is extreme.

[Joe Scales]

Or never successfully bluff someone else?

[Elle]

I personally am not going to get bluffed anymore or I'm not allowed to bluff other people.

[Joe Scales]

You would never successfully pull off a bluff or you would never get bluffed.

[Elle]

Oh, I don't want to be bluffed, but I like doing that.

[Joe Scales]

Such messes with your ego when you get bluffed.

[Elle]

You're like, it doesn't mess with my ego. It makes me want to continue to do it with other people. So maybe that's what you misinterpret, is like, damn it, well done. But also,

[Joe Scales]

all right, this one's a little bit different. More of a what would you do? Situation.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Joe Scales]

You sit down at a 1, 2 game.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Joe Scales]

Someone welcomes you to the table and immediately asks, so what do you do for a living? Do you tell them that you own a poker media company? Try to deflect the question or just straight up lie.

[Elle]

Well, this has already happened a lot, so it's hard because this is just generic. Is it during an ante up poker tour stop or is it just when we go?

[Joe Scales]

No, we're, it's just, we're just at a random table.

[Elle]

Oh, no, I just say I'm a corporate trainer because it's not a lie.

[Joe Scales]

That's fair.

[Elle]

I do do corporate training.

[Joe Scales]

You just collect it. You just deflect.

[Elle]

No, I just don't say what I also do.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Elle]

I'm not lying.

[Joe Scales]

Okay.

[Elle]

But I'm not telling you what I also do either. Now, later on, if you gain some rapport with me.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Then I give you my card and I go, I also do this because I've done that.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, you Have.

[Elle]

I also own a poker media company and I'm going to cash out and I was really good to see it.

[Joe Scales]

So basically, if you took his chips, then.

[Elle]

No, it has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with you, your character and my read on you at the table. There have been plenty of people that I've played with that I've not given our card to or I've not given my card to because I'm thinking, I don't know if I want to continue a conversation, but there are also lots of people that I have played sitting next to. And I go, hey, you seem like somebody who wants to continue to learn and continue to grow in the game, and so do I, regardless of how much money we've taken from each other.

[Joe Scales]

So the next one.

[Elle]

All right.

[Joe Scales]

Is I know the answer to this kind of. Because we talked about this.

[Elle]

Okay. Now there's even more pressure.

[Joe Scales]

But this is going back to what you asked prior to this. This is more like if it's an ante up tour stop or they know what you do.

[Elle]

Okay. Okay.

[Joe Scales]

How does that affect your session? Do you put more pressure on yourself if they know about your poker background or do you play differently?

[Elle]

I think I do feel a pressure when I have a patch on.

[Joe Scales]

Okay.

[Elle]

And I do feel pressure when people know that I own a poker media player to have a great session. And when I've had that pressure, I haven't risen to the occasion that I would like. So I'm actually have been working on that mentally going in to say, I'm just like you. I'm just like anybody else. I could have great luck at the table tonight. Meaning cards coming to me.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

I also know when on a poker tour stop, I should play now and when I shouldn't. And I think that's made a big impact on my play. When I'm tired or when I'm celebrating that we made the guarantee. And then I sit down and I'm like, yeah, this is gonna be awesome. And then I'm like, boom. Where go find? You know, I mean that I do think it's. It is more than.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah.

[Elle]

If people know. It's how I'm approaching the table.

[Joe Scales]

When people know, that's fair. Yeah. All right, so final question. I love this final answer. I love this question.

[Elle]

Actually, I'm a little nervous.

[Joe Scales]

You're winning. You're up for the session.

[Elle]

Okay. Cash.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Okay.

[Joe Scales]

You're tired.

[Elle]

Happens a lot.

[Joe Scales]

But the game is really good. Like, people are spewing tips left and right there's there's definitely more money to be made there. What's more important? Staying. Because it's good table and you can make some money. It's too. Just too good to leave or leaving to protect the wind and living to fight another day.

[Elle]

Oh, no, I'm ordering coffee and game on. And if in. And if the coffee's not good, I'm finding a better one. And. Or I'm getting a soda. Or I'm. And that's probably. Again, we all are answering these questions from the lens of where we are. Seeing my bankroll sucks right now. So if I had a great session, I think I would push through.

[Joe Scales]

Okay, is there a point where you go, okay, that's enough. I need to go.

[Elle]

If I know I'm responsible for something tomorrow morning, and I need the rest.

[Joe Scales]

What about a dollar amount? Like, you're. Let's say you're up $500.

[Elle]

Not enough.

[Joe Scales]

And. And you lose another hundred. Are you like, I. But this table's still good. I'm. I'm gonna keep going. Or are you like, okay, I lost a hundred. Things are starting to swing the other direction. I need to walk away.

[Elle]

Depending on what I started out with. You have too many unknown variables and questions.

[Joe Scales]

It's a one, two game. You started with 200. 200, and now you've got seven.

[Elle]

Same.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Easy answer.

[Joe Scales]

So you have more. No, no, no. It's more. That one is more like a discipline question. Like, are you disciplined enough to say.

[Elle]

Are you trying to point out all of the fact that I'm not disciplined?

[Joe Scales]

No.

[Elle]

Oh, okay. This feels like a trap, everyone.

[Joe Scales]

I would. I'm just telling you the things that I was thinking when I was making these questions. Like, I was thinking about it. Like, is this a discipline question where it's discipline versus opportunity, or which one's more important?

[Elle]

Honestly, you're illustrating excellent points. So I appreciate the quiz, and it's making me think. But you also know I'm a pretty reflective person. And we leave a stop or we leave a casino, and I'm like, what about this? What about this? What about this? And I think. I think I've done a great job of reflecting where I am still struggling. And maybe some of you are. And hopefully maybe some of you will take a deep sigh of relief. Is it's the going to the table with the knowledge that I have. Because sometimes I've walked away from a table two or three times with the same reflection and gone, why didn't I remind myself before I went in? Or why Didn't I check in with myself or why didn't I wait?

[Joe Scales]

Right. So that is true. We've had the same conversations sometimes. Yeah. On the drive home it's like. Sure.

[Elle]

You've had moments too.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elle]

So I think all of those are fair questions and maybe ask me later. They might be different.

[Joe Scales]

We may, we may revisit for sure.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

Let's. Let's wrap this up though. We've got a big weekend this weekend.

[Elle]

Yeah, it's baking weekend.

[Joe Scales]

It is a baking weekend.

[Elle]

All of our children and grandchildren come and bake all day. It's so fun.

[Joe Scales]

It's also big playoff games this week. We're in the divisional round now. So at this point there's, there's no flukes left. Right. Every team that's still standing is good. So there's, there's no, no easy games at this point.

[Elle]

You're.

[Joe Scales]

You don't get here by accident.

[Elliot Schechter]

Right.

[Elle]

You're absolutely right. So my dad would say he's the six P's which are pre planning prevents piss poor performance.

[Joe Scales]

One of my favorites, actually. But basically by the end of this weekend, we'll see who's still standing. The conference games will be set then. And then we'll see who's fighting to go to that Super Bowl.

[Elle]

Go Bills.

[Joe Scales]

Exactly.

[Elle]

As always, it's a pleasure being around the table with you.

[Joe Scales]

Likewise. Now it's time for Call the Floor with Elliot Schechter. Elliot Schechter joins us each week to say how he would rule in situations that come up in year games. And he's with us again this week. Elliot, how's it going?

[Elliot Schechter]

Well, I'm doing nicely. How you doing today?

[Joe Scales]

Doing very well. You've got a little bit of different scenery than what we normally have behind

[Elliot Schechter]

you, so swapped out the walls for something else. Yeah, I'm in my. My work office actually, or my day job.

[Joe Scales]

Well, I'm glad you took a few minutes to join us here because we have a call the floor sent in by Derek Harding. And Derek is in mid tournament in a $300 daily action is on the river. It's no limit. But he says player A moves all in. Player B quietly stacks chips into the pot. He never verbally says call, but the dealer counts the chips and accepts them as the correct amount. The dealer pushes the chips into the pot and the hand proceeds. The next card is dealt. It's only after that card hits the board that player A says, I don't think you put in the right amount. The floor is called and he defers the ruling. Instead of deciding right then and there how to handle the, the bet discrepancy. He says play the handout, then we'll sort it out. If necessary, they play the hand to completion and player B actually wins the pot. So it didn't matter, he didn't end up having to make a ruling. So the question from Derek is, is it appropriate for the floor to defer this ruling after the hand until after the hand is played? Because he feels like, shouldn't the pot be made right before you move on?

[Elliot Schechter]

Those are fair questions. Was is it appropriate for the floor to ever defer ruling and was it appropriate this time? The answer is yes. I mean, from what I gather there, these were the only two players in the pot. So if one person's all in and the other person is called, there's nothing left in the hand that needs to be decided now that can't be decided when all the cars are out, just wasting time.

[Joe Scales]

Right.

[Elliot Schechter]

The only mistake here is on the dealer's part and not because they might have miscounted the chips, but because if it was heads up, why were the chips going into the pot anyway? As long as the players put chips out all in and call, there's no more action to decide either player A is going to win or player B is going to win. Or the coin will land on its side and they both win, they'll tie and they can split the pot. In either event, there's no point in putting both persons chips in the pot so you can push it back to one of the two persons. So yeah, the floor is appropriate to wave here. I mean, if there were more than these two players in the pot, then yes, this makes a difference. But we don't know that it's possible that there were more than just players A and B. And if that's then, yes, those bets need to be settled now because obviously player B needs to have the correct call in the pot so that the remaining action with the remaining player or players left will be correct.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Elliot Schechter]

And that the main pot would be correct if player A happens to win it. So, yes, then it's a whole different kettle of fish. The problem is that we're missing a detail or two in this narrative and we don't know for sure. So all I can do is present both cases, which hopefully I'm, I've done. Yeah. So heads up. Yes, you should defer and not heads up. No, it needs to be correct and corrected now.

[Joe Scales]

Well, I don't. I, for some reason I Assumed it was heads. I thought they had said that it was heads up because of the way it was worded or the way it was ruled. So. So you're absolutely right. He doesn't say that it's heads up. I just made that. Made that assumption. But assuming that it is, how do you even determine how much the. The original player A put in versus what player B put in then? Do you have to go to the cameras? Because now it's all in the pot. It's all mixed there together. You don't technically know what, what the original bet was.

[Elliot Schechter]

One is assuming that if, if player B is stacking chips and placing them out there and the dealer counts them, that the dealer had counted player A's bet all in or otherwise. So I mean, I mean we're doing a little bit if not a lot of assuming, but we have to. Some procedures got to be followed. Player A's bet would have had to have been counted so that player B could effectively call it. Otherwise, I mean, oh, well, I'll bet this and I'll call that and it's close enough for government work. No, that's just not the way the game is played in dealt.

[Joe Scales]

Right.

[Elliot Schechter]

So yeah, one would assume that one or more of these bets was counted. So as that number would have been announced, it's very likely that the dealer and. Or the players will have remembered exactly what the bet was. And recreating the pot at that point shouldn't be too difficult, especially with only two players. Chips in the.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. And to your point from earlier, I mean the way typically I see this go is player A shoves all in. Player B, whether he pushes a stack of chips or whatever says call, then they play the handout, they count player A's chips and they say, we need this much from you.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah, yeah. Whoever covers and wins. Yeah. You just, yeah.

[Elle]

You're.

[Elliot Schechter]

You're moving the chips to one player or the other and you're not worrying about getting it to the middle to move back to the player. So yeah, if this was heads up, I don't know why player B is trying to get the chips to the pot before they push the pot.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. Or like you said to you know why the dealer's bothering to pull them out into exactly the pot together because all that's going to do is add more confusion.

[Elliot Schechter]

Which absolutely explains why the, the floor held off on trying to make the bets. Right. Or count the pot until we decided who won.

[Joe Scales]

Right, right. I mean the number of times that it's the way it's presented. It sounds like it's a, it's something unusual, but it really isn't because usually there's not a ruling on the chips of the pot until after the hand is over anyway. Exactly. Usually we don't need the floor to do it. Yep.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah. The solution here and the ruling are not unusual. It's the actual procedure that was unusual.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. So I would say in a lot of cases, you know, there, there are a lot of points when the floor needs to make a decision before we can move on. But this, this type of ruling doesn't have to happen until after everything's settled because there may not even be a reason to make a ruling. And like you said, that is only going to slow the game down if you're making a ruling that was unnecessary.

[Elliot Schechter]

Yeah. Everybody's on the clock. And especially in daily tournaments, time is precious. No point wasting it if you don't have to.

[Joe Scales]

Right. So, yeah, it sounds like they did everything. It sounds like the floor did everything he could to do this correctly. The only thing is the dealer probably shouldn't have pulled everything into the pot,

[Elliot Schechter]

so no reason to.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. Yeah. Derek, I hope that clears things up for you. For sure. It is a good discussion. I mean, it is good to think about that a little bit differently because things happen, especially when we're at a casino, we tend to let our guard down a little bit and not think about things because everything's running smooth. Every. This person knows what they're doing. This person knows what they're doing. When it's a well run room, I should say, then we don't think about how it's typically done. And in this case it sounds like that's what happened is things typically aren't in a situation where the floor has to make a ruling on this at all. So you. It seems out of the ordinary, but I hope that clears it up for you, Derek. And if anyone has a call the floor that they would like to know how Elliot would rule, send it to podcastyupmagazine.com Elliot, appreciate you joining us again and we'll see you next week.

[Elliot Schechter]

Looking forward to it. I'll see you then. Let's break it down with Hand of the Week.

[Joe Scales]

Welcome to Hand of the Week where Patrick, our resident fish and I dive into listener submitted hands each week we tackle everything from questionable bluffs to hero calls and the hands that make you scratch your head. Whether you're looking for strategy tips or you just want to see if you would have played it any better, we've got you Covered. I almost couldn't make it through that, Patrick, because the hands that make you scratch your head reminded me of the last Patreon game.

[Patrick]

It wasn't a scratch your head moment is more of a bang your head against the door moment. It's what we talk about all the time. And for all the novices out there, you definitely understand me. But you get into the flow of games and online goes, you know, really quick, and it's. Honestly, I just thinking about it, you know, when. When we were playing, I should have. You just got to open your eyes because I had you. Well, first off, the betting size was not there, but I flopped. I flopped top two pair, and there wasn't anything out there that could beat me right out the gate and then. But the. The betting size was wrong right off the flop. It wasn't big enough. You remember it being close to, like, not even quarter to the pot. I was giving myself a little bit of credit. I think it was higher, but, you know, it is what it is. It wasn't big enough. Let's just put it that way. And then the turn came, and your straight draw, or excuse me, your straight draw came in. But I never even made you on a flush draw. I just never did. And then I went about half pot, which at that point, you're in.

[Joe Scales]

Right.

[Patrick]

And we're heads up, and lo and behold, another spade came out on the river.

[Elle]

And.

[Joe Scales]

And you didn't even see it.

[Patrick]

Nope. I said, okay, there's no pairs that can beat me. There's no trips that can beat me. And the straight draw missed. I'm golden. And I was this close because my mindset was, I'm gonna set him up. He's thinking that he's gonna take me down, he's gonna have a story, blah, blah, blah. And I got him. So I was this close to checking and letting. And letting you bet, which would have worked out in my favor, come to think of it, because you to come in hot, clearly.

[Joe Scales]

Oh, definitely. Yeah.

[Patrick]

And I would have hopefully had a. A light bulb moment, like, oh. But no, I didn't. But you know what?

[Joe Scales]

I, I. If I would have actually bet probably pot or three quarter pot.

[Patrick]

Yep.

[Joe Scales]

And I would have done that simply because I would think you would think that I'm trying to steal it from me.

[Patrick]

Yeah. Which may have. Mitch, may have worked, but either way, it was. What'd you end up finishing third. You had said.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah.

[Patrick]

You definitely had a good chunk of my chips to do it. So for everyone out there, my apartment, and as we have talked about off camera. I will make every effort to not get frustrated with technology and log into discord because it's not that hard. So I also waited till the last minute every single week and didn't give in. So then if anyone has any comments on my play, or at least I can try to, you know, pretend to defend my strategy or whatever you want to call it.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, we all said that it wasn't, it wasn't really fair that we're, we're talking about your play and you're not even there.

[Patrick]

Well, I would have had nothing to back myself up on that one. So maybe this week that, you know, that week was a good one to have me not in there. So. Yeah, I would add nothing to defend myself on that. That lack of, you know, seeing what was on the board.

[Joe Scales]

Maybe we can get you, maybe we can get you into the RAZ game.

[Patrick]

I am not against it. I gotta, I gotta refresh myself. So it might be a poker stars for, for the next week or so to get ready, but we'll.

[Elliot Schechter]

We'll see.

[Joe Scales]

All right. It'll be. This will be the first mixed game that you actually join. I think so, yeah.

[Patrick]

I have not joined any of them.

[Joe Scales]

There's. That would be awesome. Not because I want your tips, but because I think it would be great for you to join. But this week we are not playing Raz. This week we have a 25 hold' em game that's sent in by Tommy Charles. All right, we're eight handed. He says it's a solid lineup, mostly regulars with a couple new players in from out of town on business. So it sounds like maybe it's in Vegas or a big city. Anyway. Yeah, he says he has about 1050 in his stack. Under the gun. Folds under the gun plus one opens to $20 and it folds to us on the button. Now, Tommy says, I've played with this player a fair amount. He's solid, straightforward. When he's strong, he usually goes quiet and avoids eye contact. When he's weak or unsure, he tends to talk. Little comments, nothing excessive. And it's also important to note that I've never seen him pull a huge bluff for stacks. Feel like that's going to come into play here.

[Patrick]

Yep. Little precursor there.

[Joe Scales]

He has about 1200 in his stack. And we have the ace of spades. Queen of spades.

[Patrick]

Well, two schools of thought. Yeah, pot control. You call, but you're not thinking that. How big is too big? It's 80, 100.

[Joe Scales]

He bet 20. Yeah. So I probably go A hundred? Yeah.

[Patrick]

Yeah. I'd probably be on the lower end of that. I'd probably be that 75 or 80. I think that takes care of most.

[Joe Scales]

And, yeah, here's the thing. This is a premium hand.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

It plays well against a typical under the gun. Plus one opening he's got in his range. Things like pocket nines, plus. Right. Ace, jack suited, king, queen suited. He could have another ace, queen, maybe even off suit. If they have ace, king, we're probably going to hear about it right now.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

We have position. If they 4 bet us, it's almost always going to be something. The nets or better than us.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

So we can fold, but, Yeah, I think 100 is a good amount. Tommy just calls, though.

[Patrick]

Okay.

[Joe Scales]

And the blinds both fold.

[Patrick]

All right, well, got the heads up.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. That's gonna put $47 in the pot. And the flop is the queen of diamonds. Nine of spades, six of spades. Under the gun. Checks not.

[Patrick]

I mean, there's obviously better flops for us, but there's not a whole lot. I mean, spade draws there. Queens are there.

[Joe Scales]

Pretty darn good.

[Patrick]

Yeah. I mean, we're definitely at, you know, I'm probably going at least pot size.

[Joe Scales]

Okay. So I want to bet something, but I don't want to bet enough that it's going to make them fold. Right.

[Patrick]

Fair. Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

If I bet small here, I might be able to get them to raise me even. You know, bet something like 15 bucks, just, like, absurdly small.

[Patrick]

Oh, I like that.

[Joe Scales]

And if they fold to that, they're obviously they're. They're folding.

[Patrick]

They won't fold anything, too. They're a lot less likely to fold to 15 than 45, which is what I had in my head.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. But 15 might also look a little suspicious. 20 would probably be a little less suspicious. But I already said I was putting 15 out there, so that's what I'm gonna have to go with.

[Patrick]

I'm gonna stick to it.

[Joe Scales]

Given that he's a straightforward kind of player, he probably just checked calls. So I probably should have gone 20, but. All right, 15 is what I'm running with. You're going with. Would you say 45?

[Patrick]

45.

[Joe Scales]

So kind of in the middle there. Calls. So we've got, what, $107 in the pot, and the turn is the three of clubs. So the board is queen of diamonds, nine of spades, six of spades, three of clubs. And the villain checks again.

[Patrick]

Well, I'd continue kind of where Tommy was then. Not, you know, full pot, not, you Know, too small. I mean, probably you want 107.75.

[Joe Scales]

That's kind of, that's kind of where I was thinking. It's in that 75 range. But before we get too far, what do we put under the gun? Plus one on medium pocket pairs.

[Patrick]

Yeah, I mean, the only thought that I had that he, that we have, he could beat us on right now is nines is the only thing. I mean, he could pocket nines, but yeah, I mean, jacks, tens, you know, Queen, Jack, Queen, 10, King, Queen, any of, any of those. You know, obviously if it's a spade draw, you know, we've got the ace kicker on that one, so we're good there. So I really, I really think we're, you know, percentage wise, well ahead again. Unless he's holding nine, you know, pocket nines.

[Joe Scales]

They could have a, a weaker queen.

[Patrick]

Yeah. What about, I mean, 10 if you have, if you have 10 jack. Okay. Oh, there you go. You just beat me to it. You do have an open ended there. Do you bet higher is what I mean, maybe a thought here is, you know, bet a little bit higher and, and take it down now if need be, I'm, I wouldn't be against, you know, going higher than 75, but that's kind of where my first thought was.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, 75 is kind of where I was. I think with 75 we can get called by weaker queens. This also might be where if they have a set, they would raise us here on the turn. Yeah, we go 75 and we're not, we're not bloating the pot, but we're still building a pot. Tommy bets 85, so about the same, just a little bit above us. Villain tanks for a very short time and calls. So now we have 277 in the pot. And the river is the nine of diamonds. So the board pairs. We have queen of diamonds, nine of spades, six of spades, three of clubs, nine of diamonds. And our villain checks for a third time.

[Patrick]

Well, it's very, it's less likely they're sitting on, you know, we're holding a queen. So it's, it's very low percentage that they're holding queens. And obviously four of a kind doesn't come out very often. So I mean, I gotta think it's a weak queen or 10 jack. I'm leading in again.

[Joe Scales]

Okay, how much?

[Patrick]

Probably pretty close to pot if I catch it, if I catch a snap call. Now the only other thought is if we don't go that high and we're gonna get raised. Where do we want to go with it? So maybe not. I don't know either. If I think I'm gonna get raised, I'm probably going like in that 150 range. If I don't, if I don't think I'm gonna get raised, which in this case I don't personally think we're going to, I would go higher.

[Joe Scales]

What are you trying to target here?

[Patrick]

I'm trying to target.

[Joe Scales]

What's your goal in betting pot? What's your goal?

[Patrick]

I don't mind them folding right here, right now, making it big enough to where they're going to fold.

[Joe Scales]

But if they don't fold, do you feel comfortable if you bet that much? What I'm getting at is I feel like if you bet that much, you're only going to get called by a hand that beats you. So I feel like you should bet less. And I'm thinking I want to just check back and be happy with the pot as it is. If they call us, we're almost never good. If they raise, then we're really in bad shape. So I think I just take the free showdown. We still beat Total Air, which he could have here. And occasionally some weirdly played over pair could come into play here. I think it's a good check back spot against a straightforward player, right?

[Patrick]

Yeah, I think, yeah, I think this straightforward player is probably a good call. I mean, think about it that way. I mean you're not. If you, if you bet small enough to where you, you know, get a raise, then that straightforward player's probably not bluffing. So you probably lost.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. So Tommy says after about 20 seconds, I bet $150 into 277.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

The villain immediately looks at my stack, then at me and says calmly, if you've got it, you got it. Then he shoves all in for roughly $950. He says this is the first time all night he's spoken during a hand. While saying it, he's staring directly at me, something I've never seen him do before. I'm sitting with top pair, top kicker on a paired board. Missed flush draws are out there, but this player almost never over bluffs, especially for this size. I have a lot of thoughts, but I'm gonna let you go first.

[Patrick]

I mean, I, I'm taking what Tommy told us about the fact that you know the talking. If you have it, you have it.

[Elle]

What?

[Patrick]

What is that supposed to mean? There's nothing on there to have it. I feel like I hear that most of the time when there's some kind of draw out there, like a.

[Joe Scales]

Right. Right.

[Patrick]

I'm calling.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. So I. I think this is. I probably wouldn't snap call, but I feel like this is. My first thought, is snap call, and I'm definitely calling. It's the first time all night during a hand he spoke streams week, right? Yeah. If you've got it, you got it. Screams weak. Staring directly at us. When he said that, usually when he's strong, he avoids eye contact. So again, screams weak. The only part of this that is a red flag is that Tommy said he doesn't bluff for stacks.

[Patrick]

Yeah, that's.

[Joe Scales]

That's the scary part. But I feel like I still have to call here, though.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

Just won't respect myself otherwise.

[Patrick]

No, you can't look yourself in the morning tomorrow. I'm feeling good about this one.

[Joe Scales]

I also don't feel like he's checking the nuts or a huge hand on the river, because we could have checked back. So that makes it feel like a bluff here, too.

[Patrick]

I get the check on the flop, maybe even on the turn, but not the river.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah. Because if he calls every bet, then he has to anticipate that a lot of times a check is coming behind. So you're not checking with the intention of shoving with a huge hand. Yeah, so. So, yeah, we're both calling here. Tommy says after tanking for about what feels like 20 minutes, but it's probably only a little over a minute. I am replaying every live tale and every street in my head. I fold. Ace, queen of spades, face up. Oh, man, he says, Villain doesn't say a word. He pauses for half a second, then slowly turns over the jack of spades, 10 of spades for the missed flush draw and gut shot. A couple players at the table groan. One guy mutters, that's sick. Villain just shrugs and says, didn't think you had a nine. So the questions he asks, is this a disciplined fold at 2. 5, or am I overvaluing a live read and finding a fold that's too tight? Bonus question. Should the river bet size have been different to avoid facing a shovel? Love the show and appreciate everything you do for the everyday poker player. All right, so can I go first here?

[Patrick]

Absolutely.

[Joe Scales]

Bottom line, bottom line, trust your reads. His baseline, strong equals quiet. No eye contact, weak or unsure. Talks, little comments. This is the first time he's talked all night during a. Excuse me. During the hand pattern blown, right?

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

If you've got it, you've got it. We both picked up that's that's, that's a weird thing to say there, right? A delivers it calmly while another thing here staring directly at us, something he hasn't seen before. It's not a value speech from a straightforward player. It's. I feel like the monster hands would have snap call or raise or silently, quietly, not saying a word, tank and for some Hollywood. And then raise. I feel like this was. He knew he was beaten. The only way he was going to win was to do it. You know, there's. There's a player out there, Will Kasuf. He could say this, this identical line. He could, he could talk and everything and it be for value, but he's, for lack of a better word, he's a chronic talker. Like, he talks all the time. Our villain is not that. It's, it's not that. It's not so much about the fact that he said words. It's the fact that it's a break from the norm.

[Patrick]

Yeah.

[Joe Scales]

So trust that he's not trying to, like, reverse engineer some kind of tell. He's. He's. He's giving a tell.

[Patrick]

Absolutely. I, I don't think it's an undisciplined fold necessarily, but to trust your reads. I mean, we, you and I had no background other than what you gave us, Tommy, and we use it. Not sitting at the table, mind you. You know, we're sitting in the studio. I mean, it's different, but we just. That's a perfect example of trusting your, your tells on, on your, your guys that you're sitting there playing with. Because we use what you told us and, and, you know, outside looking in, we're able to use that. Joe Pod or the bet size on the river. I, I don't know that. That.

[Joe Scales]

Yeah, I think that he's absolutely right. A smaller bet or as we did check back avoids the jam entirely.

[Patrick]

Yeah, the. The check back for sure. I don't know that any.

[Joe Scales]

If he bets 80 to 100, do you think he's shoving 900 or a thousand into the pot?

[Patrick]

Probably not. I think anything from 150 and above, you're going to catch a shove there, which means I would have. Oops. But that's a perfect example if you're gonna, if you want to bet, maybe make it a little bit on the smaller side. I think anything a hundred or less, you probably just, you know, catch a folder. Just a call. Well, maybe a raise. If. I mean, he was ready to shove. Maybe a raise, but not, you know, not a shove to that point, though.

[Joe Scales]

You guys. Well, you would have made more money than me because he would have fallen. You were willing to make that call if he shoves. Yeah, I, I'm checking back, and so all I get is the whatever277 that was in the pot. So, you know, and in hindsight, you would have made more money. But, but from a safety standpoint, I, I, I think 99 times out of 100, I'm checking there.

[Patrick]

Yeah. Is there any, I don't think, you know, I think I know this answer already, but you just put it out there. Is there any bed size that, I mean, if he's willing to shove at 150, he's willing to shove it to 250. 3, 350. Any, any bet into that 277 pots, probably going to catch shovel if he was willing to do it at 150. Right?

[Joe Scales]

Probably. I mean, obviously, maybe 80 would have kept him from doing it.

[Patrick]

Yeah, I think you're right on the low end. I think on 80 to 100, you know, you probably either, you know, catch a, a call, you know, to see it, or maybe just a raise, but not a shove. But I think anything 100 or above,

[Joe Scales]

if he was willing to, I mean, like, you're not putting in 125 and him not shoving because he did it at 1:50. Yeah, I see what you're saying.

[Patrick]

Yeah. I think anything above a hundred, probably ballpark, you're, you're catching the shove there.

[Joe Scales]

So, yeah, I, I, I, I love this one. This was, this is a good one. I love ones that, that you have to trust your reads, and that's a hard thing to do when somebody's putting that much pressure on you. Yeah, you know, but, but that's what, that's, that's what a big part of this game is, is trusting your reads. And that's, that's what would win you the most money here for sure. Tommy, I really appreciate you sending that in. Love this one. If you have a hand of the week that you would like to know how Patrick and I would play it, send it to podcastyupmagazine.com Patrick, we'll see you next week.

[Patrick]

Sounds like a plan. It's time for Joe's one outer.

[Joe Scales]

This week, our hand of the week came down to trusting our reads. And I want to explore that a little further because trusting your read is probably one of the most misunderstood skills in poker. And I don't mean the Hollywood version of a read, not the sunglasses and hoodie stare, a hole through someone kind of read. I'm talking about the real ones, the earned ones. I really don't think most of us miss reads at the poker table. We see them, we just don't trust them. I'm sure you've probably had one of those moments where the hand is playing out and something feels off. The bet size doesn't make sense, the timing is weird, the story they're telling just doesn't line up, and your brain immediately says, hmm, that doesn't feel right. But then you start negotiating with yourself. Well, maybe they're tired. Maybe they decided to finally get creative. Or what if I'm wrong and I just look dumb? That's where the money gets lost. Because a read isn't just one big flashing sign, right? It's a pile of little things your brain has been collecting all session long. The way someone stacked their chips, the way they acted in a similar spot earlier. The speed of their bet, the fact that they suddenly stopped talking or suddenly started talking. Your gut isn't guessing at that point. It's remembering. So then what? What do we do? Do we call anyway? Do we fold face up like the guy in hand of the week, hoping that they will show us what they had anyway? Then in the end, the cards flip over and we say the three most expensive words in poker. I knew it. Now, one important distinction I want to make here is that trusting your read doesn't mean you're always right. Poker just doesn't work that way. You can make the right decision and you can still lose. So folding a winner doesn't mean the read was bad. It means the game just did what the game does sometimes. But consistently ignoring good reads? That's how you bleed chips without even realizing it. And life can work the same way. Most bad situations don't come out of nowhere. There's usually a moment early on where something feels off. A conversation doesn't sit right. A deal looks great on paper but makes your stomach tighten a little. A situation where you catch yourself saying, hmm, I'm probably overthinking this. That's life's version of talking yourself out of a fold. And just like poker, it's not about being paranoid or dramatic. It's about trusting the information you've already picked up, even if you can't explain it perfectly yet. Sometimes the strongest play you can make is stepping away. Sometimes the smartest move is folding something that looks good. And sometimes trusting yourself is actually harder than trusting anyone else at the table. But if you've paid attention and the story doesn't add up. And if that quiet little voice keeps tapping you on the shoulder, saying, hey, hey, trust the read. Because the biggest losses usually don't come from being wrong. They come from knowing better and not listening. That's today's one outer and that's today's show. I'll see you next week, a team. And until then, I'll see you at the tables. The Antioch Podcast is a production of

[Elliot Schechter]

anyupmagazine.com contact the show at Podcasts at any up magazine.

[Patrick]

Com or call the show at 540-339-7741.

[Joe Scales]

If you'd like to advertise, send an email to editorneupmagazine.com.