And more recently there have been headlines that, while not explicitly about poker, carried with them concepts we use all the time at the poker table.  In an earlier column I commented on the phrase Cut and Run and how it relates to poker strategy.  Now I'll discuss Stay the Course.

�Stay the Course� is a phrase that had been used by the Republican leadership to describe our policy in Iraq.  They argued that we started a war in Iraq against terrorism, with the goal of building a democratic nation out of the ashes of the fallen Hussein regime.  Though the going was tough, they opined, we should not diverge from our general strategy of staying until our job was done.  Were we to change our course by leaving Iraq, these political leaders argued, we would be emboldening our enemies by admitting defeat -- encouraging more attacks on our democratic allies and us in the future.

So went their song.  But as opposition to the war in Iraq grew, as the mid-term elections neared, and as the human and political cost of �staying the course� escalated, the tune changed.  We need not stay the course to buttress the interests of democracy, our Republican leaders now tell us.  Rather, we may now adjust our course to suit the changing circumstances in Iraq.

Say what you will about whether we should stay the course, change our course, or abandon our course in Iraq; this debate serves as an enlightening metaphor for how we should and shouldn�t view our approach to poker.  Let me explain.

We the players...

Let�s say, for example, that we�ve been playing limit holdem poker, have thrice raised with pocket Kings before the flop, but gotten beaten on the River each time when our opponent paired his Ace on the final card.  Does that mean that we should abandon the strategy of aggressively playing those Kings in the future?  Certainly not.  We should stay the course.

Now let�s say we are playing Omaha 8.  We've adhered to a general strategy of playing only two-way hands: hands that have at least some ability to win both high and low, hands like Ah-2s-Jh-Th or Ks-Kd-Ad-3c.  We�ve gone an hour with hands that haven�t met those standards; and we�ve folded pre-flop,

PLAY WITH THE PROS

That being said, there are times when we must deviate from our general strategy, times when we should at least depart from the narrow course we may have been on.  Here are some examples of that.

Suppose we�re playing $1-5, no ante spread limit stud poker.  We entered the game with a very tight/aggressive strategy of raising with premium pairs, calling with live 3-flushes with an Ace or King, and folding just about every other hand.  It was a strategy that had worked for us well in the $1/$2 limit, $.10 ante game we played online where players were very tight and aggressive.  We figured that we�d stay the course and continue with that strategy in this live poker room game at our nearby casino.

We noticed quickly that the players in this game were much looser and much less aggressive than the players online.  Everyone, or nearly everyone, called the $1 bring-in.  Sometimes a player would raise to $2 or $3.  On the few occasions when we caught a premium pair and raised the maximum -- as we would in our online game -- all but one time everyone folded and we won $1.  On the one time that didn�t happen, we raised to $6 with a Queen and someone with a King called us.  We bet all the way to the River when we got Queens up on Fifth Street and he called us down, finally beating us with Kings up.

In this game it would be a mistake to stay the course.  We must adjust, by loosening up on Third street by playing more speculative hands for the $1 bring-in, by being less aggressive on Third street with what we presume is the top pair -- so we win more than just the antes, and by being somewhat trickier and less straightforward in how we play our premium pair, lest we be too easy to read early on.

We need to change our course and adjust our play to take advantage of the changed circumstances of this loose/passive spread limit game, recognizing that we�ll be playing more hands more loosely, early on, than we would in our tight/aggressive online game.  We�ll be making thinner draws to stronger hands, and raising less until we have a made hand.  We�ll be adding some trickery and manipulating our opponents to thin the field later in the hand with check-raises and re-raises more than we would in the more tightly configured game that we�re normally in.

Players need to be wary of staying the course during the play of a hand as well.  All too often players fall in love with their starting cards and are too reluctant to abandon them as they get more information.  But good players like you must be able to abandon course.  Here are some examples of what I mean.

Let�s say you have QhQd pre-flop.  You are in a $10/20 limit holdem game in mid position.  The pot is folded to you.  You raise to $20.  You get two callers -- one player on the button, and the big blind.  There is $65 in the pot.  The flop is Ad-Jc-6c.  The big blind checks.  You bet $10.  The button calls and the big blind raises to $20 (for a check-raise, in case you weren�t paying attention).

You are tempted to stay the course and call the $10.  You have a pair of Queens, after all.  But should you?  You�re getting a little better than 10:1 for your call.  But that check-raise indicates great strength -- trips or Aces up most likely.  That leaves you with only two outs (unless your opponent is bluffing or has you really nailed with pocket Aces, or has the freakish hand of KJ).

You should abandon the course you were on and fold.

But let�s say you make the call -- figuring that if you hit your hand you�ll win a ton of money.  The third player folds.  There�s $115 in the pot.  The Turn is the unhelpful 2c.  The big blind bets $20.  What do you do?

Again, you are tempted to stay the course and call.  In for a penny, in for a pound, you think.  But the math demanding a fold is even more compelling here than it was before.  Just because you made what might charitably be described as a borderline call on the flop doesn�t mean you must stay the course and follow it up with a really poor call on the turn.  You�re only getting a tiny bit better than 11:2 pot odds for a 13:1 shot.  Fold this hand and don�t stay the course.