Exercise: Try to think of a question, such that when an inexperienced, weaker player answers it, their opinion is likely to be so different from the kind of answer that an analytical, disciplined player would give - that the question itself acts as a kind of 'litmus test' for telling the difference between such players.
I find this kind of exercise fascinating because there are a lot of people who have a very naive evaluation of their own poker ability, but are happy to answer technical questions about the game in a very candid way. To me, it can be very helpful when working out what kind of ability the person has, if I'm not already sure.
The hard part is working out the best kind of question to ask - it has to be such that a strong player would generally answer in a completely different way than a weak player would.
Here's my example;
Imagine you have just sat down at a 9-handed table (including yourself) to play a cash game, where everyone has bought in for $100 and the blinds are $1/2$. You are UTG, first to act, and are dealt KJo. What would you do?
My own answer: Fold. If you think of the possible outcomes split into the four categories - win small, lose small, win big, lose big - there is a negative expected value from this situation. The times that you simply win the blinds, or get called and then c-bet to win with top pair will balance out with the times that you are re-raised and must fold, or see an Ace or other scary board on the flop and must play out of position unprofitably. Occaisonally, you might get called and then flop two-pair or better, and win a big pot. But that won't balance out the bigger losses you will get into with 'top pair' situations such as KJo vs.... AA, KK, AK, KQ, etc... and because you are playing 9-handed under the gun, you'll be out of position so often, facing these kinds of hands often enough, and will be forced to make tough decision after tough decision un-necessarily. Note that KJo on the button, for example, is far more playable - I wouldn't hesitate to open-raise with it there.
Without explaining the excercise, I asked someone who had been playing a good 15 years and who has read a number of books, been a poker dealer etc. They said:
"Fold. KJo is a terrible hand in that position."
me: "Can you think of anyone who would play it?"
"Only a very loose, aggressive or weak player."
I also asked someone who I suspected was a weak player who said:
"I would raise to $7."
And another completely different person, who had admitted to me that they were fairly new:
"Well, if it was being played three or four handed, I would raise, but 9-handed I would call (limp) for sure."
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- How would you respond to this kind of question?
- Would you expect good/bad players to respond to it differently?
- Can you think of better questions, that more reliably result in contrasting answers when responded to by players of contrasting understanding (good/bad) of the game?
