Fancy Player Syndrome (FPS)

I just finished reading a book (The Complete book of Hold’em Poker) that I borrowed from a co-worker and thought the bit on FPS was interesting. I have been the victim to players with FPS many times and still get sucked in from time to time. However with that said, i’m finding more and more that I am picking up reads on the ones who tend to fit into the FPS mold. I do sometimes play very strong hands weakly, where i’m checking and calling rather then betting and raising and there are times to “slow play”, but not many of them.

Basically Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS), means you slow play too much, check raise too much, semi-bluff too much, and overall spend way too much time trying to be deceptive.

Excessive attempts at deceptive play actually make your hand easier for good players to read. There’s a time and a place for everything, and if you use it (deception) too much it will cost you.

Listed below are some of the symptoms and a brief explanation. (I’m sure most are quite familiar with these "sometimes" useful tactics)

Slow Play

I’m sure most of you if not all understand the concept of slow play. The best way to sum it up is, that you are playing a very strong hand weakly. You are checking and calling rather then betting and raising. You really only should consider slow play if you have an almost unbeatable hand like a straight flush, 4 of a kind, or the best possible full house. With weaker hands like 3 of a kind, weak straights and flushes, you should seldom consider slow play.

Check-Raise

I’m sure most of you if not all understand the concept of check-raise. Basically a check-raise is when you check a hand with the intention of raising the hand if someone else bets. Obviously for this to work you need to have a bet from another player. So if you are not certain that another player will bet, it’s not usually a good idea to attempt a check-raise. You’ll often do better by just betting yourself because the other player then just might raise you, giving you the chance for a reraise.

Semi-Bluff

A semi-bluff as most of you are probably aware is a bet or raise where there is a really good chance you don’t have the best but do have some chance at making the best hand.
It’s the type of bet or raise that has 2 ways to win. It can win as a bluff if the other player folds, or it can still win by improving on the next card if the other player calls. An example may be…you have a decent flush draw and think your opponent might be weak and may fold is hand. If he does, you just pulled off an semi-bluff.


You should play fairly tight in your pre-flop hand selection. On the flop you should guard against 2 things: developing FPS and being pushed off a hand by a player with FPS. The biggest element in FPS is “aggression” when aggression is not called for. Aggression just for the sake of aggression usually just isn’t a good idea. Being sneaky or deceptive just to show off to your friends or show the other player how tricky you are usually just isn’t a good idea. Play aggressively but don’t develop FPS habits. With that said, also be aware that many players out there suffer from FPS and may not necessarily have much of a hand when they are betting and raising.

Don't let yourself get cought up in this long term losing strategy.

PKRBABY

Heh, thats good advice Trying to make things too fancy, especially over the internet, will not make you money in the long run.

I feel like the only time to slow play, is if you flop an ace flush, a high straight with a rainbow board, trips with a rainbow, or something of the sort.

Basically, where you basically can't be beat. That's the only time I do it.


Basically i use the word basically too much, basically.

i think i do that a little bit 2much 2..lol.... good advice though ill use it in the future to up my already super ausome perfect game

Definately some good advice.
I just played a cash game, in which I could have bet out alot more times where I elected to try a trap play only to let my opponent stumble into a winning hand. When you got a strong hand PLAY IT OUT - dont give the chance for free cards or outs to your opponents!

indica

I used to slow play way too much. I'd flop top pair or two pair and I'd check and call down the line then raise and reraise on the river only to find that he caught his straight or caught a higher pair. You just get burned too much slow playing good hands, especially when you flop the nuts. Those next two cards can fill in someone else's hands and if they want to try to draw for it, you need to make them pay for the opportunity. I do slow play some monster hands to get a better pay off. Like holding AA and flopping an A with rainbow rags. I'll check through the flop hoping someone thinks their 2nd pair is good or that maybe their A rag is good. Yesterday I got an awesome opportunity to slow play. Had pocket 10's, it was early in the tourney still so I just called with them as is my general strategy for early in the tournament. Flop came TT9, 4 tens on the flop for me! I checked, someone made a small bet it was called by all 6 people in the hand. Turn was 9. I checked again, chip leader at the table bet 500 (blinds were 10/30 and I was sitting on about 1800 chips, chip leader had about 2400 chips). The guy following him pushed all in with his 900 or so chips, i reraised to all in and the chip leader called me. Chip leader had AKs and figured it was going to be a split pot, the other guy had A9 so liked his full boat, and of course I took home a huge stack. Those hands don't come along often but when they do they sure are are a lot of fun. This was especially great because there were two people who thought they had a shot at the pot. A month or so ago I flopped quad aces and couldn't get anyone to nibble at the pot because they were scared of the two aces on the board. So I basically took home the blinds and one bet with four aces which is almost worst then taking a bad beat in my opinion.

i seem to run into fps more in live games than on the interent, this is great info though thanks

also do you think things like the way a player is dressed or their personality at the table try and add to the fanciness of their play. for example the bellande guy recently on teh wsop circut event who kept complementing everyone like what he knew was always right.

That guy was pretty entertaining to watch I have to say. His "Excellent lay down!" comments were great. I have to say, if I'm sitting at the table with him and he says that I'm pretty sure I just threw away the best hand and without realizing it he's got me on tilt, because next pot I'm in with him I'm going to want to avoid making that same mistake. All of sudden I'm playing mediocre hands against him and losing. That kind of chatter, the stuff that really makes your skin crawl, is excellent at really putting your opponents on edge, if you can really pull it off well like he did. It's something that has to be in your personality though, or something you practice for a LONG time, it's not something you can fake easily. If you try to fake it, it comes out sounding fake and instead of irritating your opponents, you give them more information on how to read you.

The televised events really have made FPS an epidemic. Since you only see a fraction of the hands, they show the ones that have some drama to them. Deception causes drama, so you see a lot of slow played hands or big bluffs. Poker newbies see this and think that's the way to play and so every hand they are bluffing or slow playing. What they don't realize is that this actually makes it much easier to put you on a hand then if you play straight.

I don't think there is a problem with using any of the plays you describe, you simply use them where conditions warrant a slow play, semi-bluff, check-raise etc. Base decisions on the combined equation on your cards, the community cards and your opponents and they can be massively profitable.

95% of the time I play a standard TAG style game, but when a situation occurs where I know can extract more chips by a check-raise, overbet or make them fold then make the fancy play.

I think the problem is that some players try something and they get paid off and they reuse the same play in a similar situation but forget about other information around them and end up with less chips than they just won.