[lef1000]

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There are many other important skills needed to be a long term successful poker player (professional or otherwise), other than just 'technical' poker skills.

One of these skills is keeping the fish happy. And this extends to more than just refraining from berating their play when they outdraw you. Sometimes little actions like not being absolutely merciless when in a pot with a fish can be +EV in the long run even though they are -EV in that particular pot. In the given example, the reasons not to take the opponent's last few chips might extend further than just not wanting him to leave the game that night. If you go a little easy on him every now and then it might make it more likely that he comes back tomorrow night as well. Of course, if he had substantial amounts in front of him that you think he'll call you with then you've got to bet 'properly'. But it is not always +EV to adopt a strategy that can win a few extra chips, if that strategy might antagonise a weak player and prevent him returning to the game.

The classic example of this is the check-raise. Now of course you should be check-raising when it is right to do so. However, if a good natured, slightly drunk millionaire sits down in your game to 'gamble with the boys' then you need to be careful about things like check-raises at certain times. If you think the check raise would allow you to win an extra bet, but would antagonise this opponent and make him see that some players are playing a rather more cut-throat game than he wants, then it may be -EV. If your check raise angers him enough to leave the game then you could potentially have cost yourself a lot of money over the next few hours by trying to win that extra bet. It is definitely +EV to promote a 'gambling with the boys' type of atmosphere, even if this occasionally means you have to refrain from making the perfect (technically) poker play.

Say you are playing NLHE. You have the nuts on the river and the pot is already huge. Your weak opponent does have a few chips left in front of him, but nothing at all substantial considering the size of the pot. In this circumstance it may often be +EV not to set him in for the last of his chips. You may instead wish to just table your hand and take in a huge pot, leaving him with a few chips left. It makes him feel better and makes the game seem less cut-throat. It also makes you look like a gentleman, one of the boys, which may have unexpected and positive side-effects (one example is that this type of action may result in invites to very juicy games where they try to exclude the strong players). What you are actually doing is making the most cut-throat play of all (keeping the fish happy so you can take more of their money in the long run), but it comes across just the opposite. Of course, there may be other circumstances when it would be +EV to set the opponent in when in this sort of situation - e.g. he may start steaming because he is angry, or he may pull out plenty of money if he goes to the felt but will play on short-stacked if he has any chips left. You must judge each situation on its merits.

I play regularly with a very successful and well-known poker professional. He is the father of one of the best players in the world. And I have learned a lot about these sort of things from watching how he acts towards the weak players. He is extremely friendly to them, almost seems to court them. And he definitely does things like refraining from setting an opponent in for the last of his chips if he judges that this is the best thing to do to keep a fish happy. Interestingly, the weak players tend to really like him even though the strong players don't like him in the game (he wins too much). He actually has certain fish following him around from game to game.

I will repeat my point that there is more to being a successful gambler than just technical skill. Other, more social, skills can be almost as important. This is something that is perhaps not appreciated by those who just play online or in huge US card rooms where the player pool is constantly being replenished. In these situations, keeping the fish happy is probably irrelevant since every time a fish dies, a new one is born in his place. But in most other circumstances you may sometimes want to consider sacrificing short term EV to make the more +EV long term play.

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really nice post