Texas Hold 'em - game of choice  

Changing gears (4/21/08)

   May how things change.  I have to write about the new style I've adopted.  First, I am not very agressive pre-flop.  I want to see flops more than push people off hands.  So my range of hands to raise has become more of a product of position and opportunity than on strength of hands.  I will usually flat-call a raise with any big Ace, including A-K.  Why?  Two reasons: first, my opponents won't give me credit for AK if I didn't re-raise.  Second, AK is just like any other unpaired starting hand.  I don't want to commit chips when two random cards, regardless if they are AK. 

Another  big change is my proclivity for trapping.  I will check-call on the flop most of the time when I hit big.  Then, fire the artilery.  I will lose some pots because I am not protecting my hands, but I am usually aware enough to protect myself from the BIG losses. 

I'm also taking my own advice and slowing the heck down.  No need to play hands in early position, or to raise with nothing just for deception or to know I can do it.  Just play your game.  I am more loose than others, but I also know when I am beat and can get out without blowing up... usually.

One-outers suck (11/9.07)

  So, I played last Friday, Nov. 2 and have I got a bad beat story.  Playing $1-$3 NL I am in the BB and the next guy raises to $13... gets two callers around to me with (7-3) of spades.  I say, well I'm getting 4 to 1 on my money, I call.  Flop comes 3-A-7 rainbow.  I am stoked, because I put at least one of these guys on an Ace... so I am ahead.  I check, hoping for a bet.  Original raiser bets $20 into a $50 pot, gets one call and a fold around to me... I thin for a minute and I decide my hand is ahead, but vulnerable so i decide to end it here.  I say "raise... another 100 on top".  I made it $120 to go, expected the guys to fold.  First guy goes all-in over the top for about $80 more, next guy says "all-in" and he has less.  I obviously call, since I doubt either has a set.  First guy as (A-Ko) and the other guy (A-8o).  I have two pair and the lead.  next card is a 7 for a board of (3-A-7-7).  I have a full house, 7's full of 3's.  There is only one card in the deck that beats me, the case Ace.  I am 98% to win a $600 pot.  Of course, the Ace of diamonds comes on the river, to give the guys a split pot and me the first one-outer loss of my career.  What fun.  I decide to take a walk so i don't go on tilt and donkey off the rest of my chips, I start playing slots and I hit the jackpot... except I didn't bet max coins, so I win $50 instead of $2,800.  What a day... but at least I have a story to tell.

Tip of the day (10/30/07) -  Slow the heck down!

   You don't need to be Daniel Negreanu or Gus Hansen, especially in cash games.  Don't feel the need to play weird cards (like 9-4 offsuit) just so you can show how tricky and tough you are.  I used to feel this way, and I lost a lot of chips.  I'm not saying not to play those cards, but don't just do it to show you can, or to try to end a losing streak.  If you are card dead, get up and go the bathroom, get something to eat.  I sometimes go play blackjack for a few minutes.  When you star trying to "force it" and play suited kings, or unsuited 2-gappers like (7-10).  I know this from experience.  When I "tightened up" I began to win more and lose less, which obviously is the name of the game.  In the book "Why You Lose at Poker" (which I HIGHLY recommend) there is an entire chapter on tightening up.  In short, stop gambling with very speculative hands.  You wind up chasing straights or flushes, or even calling with bottom pair because you think your opponent is unpaired.  Play fewer hands and you'll be happy.  It may be a little more boring, and it may not work in your home game but in the casino (or online) it will work to your advantage.

Tip of the day (10/9/07) - All you can do...

    ... is get your money in with the best of it.

I've seen so many players go balistic when they get sucked out on.  I've been there, many times when I was a new player, but  I've tried to relax a little more in my old age.  But the worst thing you can do at the table is go on tilt, and start playing emotionally.  One of the best ways to prevent this is to realize that all you can do is get your money in with the best of it.  I mean, if you've a favorite, even if it's 51% and you get all the money into the center, you've done your job.  You can't control what cards come out.  Obivously. you don't want to gamble all the time.  But if I gave you the option of holding (A-A) against (K-Q offsuit) and getting your opponent all-in, wouldn't you take that bet?  Of course.  Now, when your opponent catches a Q on the flop and a K on the river to beat you, did you do anything wrong?  Not in the least.  You did your job, but got unlucky.  That's poker.  But don't go on tilt.  This happened to me, I lost a $600 pot, when I was 76% to win after the turn.  I left the table for the evening because I felt I was on tilt, so obviosuly I didn't handle it well, but looking back, I am happy with how I played:

Playing 1-3 NL:

I'm in the SB... 3rd position raises to $12... folded to the cut-off seat, who raises to $42.  I look down and see (A-A).  I can call, and try to get the 3rd seat to call, or I can go all-in and isolate the cut-off.  I decide to just call and see what the flop brings.  I put third position on some sort of suited or connected cards and the cut-off on a pair. 3rd seat calls the $42 and the flop comes: (Q-3-J) rainbow.  I check, fearing cut-off had a set.  third seat bets out $25.  cut-off raises all-in.  I feel the cut-off would slow-play a set, so he probably missed the flop.. so I go all-in, and third position goes all-in.  There's about $600 in the pot. 

3rd seat: (K-10) of diamonds

cut-off: (K-Q) offsuit

SB (me): (A-A)

Turn is a 8.

I am 76% to win, I have to dodge: 2 Aces, 2 Kings, 2 Queens, 4 9's... only 10 cards in the deck beat me.  River is a K, to give the cut-off 2-pair and the win.   Did i do anythign wrong?  No... if Iraise all-in pre-flop the cutoff would have called and won, and I wouldn't have gotten the third seat's money in.  I had the guy in the cut-off crushed, and he sucked out, whaddya gonna do?  Just remember, all you can do is get your money in with the best of it.

Tip of the day (9/30/07) - Don't fall in love with one pair

    What seperates good players from average ones?

Average players can not get away from top pair, or an overpair.  Good players can lay down (K-Q) on a board of (Q-6-9-8-10), average players say "I have top pair and a great kicker, I must be good).  I don't know why this is, don't get me wrong, I've done it too.  I think average players see poker on TV, it's usually in the late stages of a tournament and one pair wins a pre-flop race.  This might be the single best piece of advice I've ever been told: DON'T LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY WITH ONE PAIR!  I read than somewhere, I think, and it's really true.  You can bet pre-flop with a pair, bet the flop, but if you are faced with a huge re-raise, or if a guy in first position who's been check-calling the whole time finally fires the heavy artillery, you have to lay it down.  Now, on occasion, you'll be bluffed out of a pot.  But 4 different $25 losses sure beats one $200 loss.  One pair, even if it's a good one pair is still only the second hand in a poker hand ranking chart.  That means it only beats a lower pair and a non-paired hand!  You have to recognize when you're beat.  In short, you have to learn to fold, and the easiest way to start learning this is to learn to fold 1 pair.

  Tip of the day (9/25/07) -  Maximize value
            Ok, you've hit your hand... big.  You have the nut-full house or nut flush and you want to get paid off.  There's two lines of thinking on this.  The first is to check, and slowplay as much as possible to trick your opponent into thinking you've got nothing.  I don't like this play.  Anytime you check and then either raise, or put in a big bet on a later street, you're announcing that you've got a big hand, and usually good players know this and can get away from their hand.  I prefer to bet-out and see what happens, and let that information guide me.  If I flop a set, I will usually bet it.  I want to see what the other person has.  If they fold, they have nothing and I wasn't going to make any money anyway.  If they call, they're either on a draw, or they have a medium strength hand.  If the raise, you've got them... then you know you can get all of their money in (unless they're raising on a stone bluff).  Betting always gets you information, and info is power.  Here's an example from a hand I played last Friday when I won $1100.  I was in the BB with pocket 6's, under the gun raised to $18.  Two callers and back around to me and I made the call.  I hit my set, and I bet-out.  I am trying to communicate that I have an Ace and I want to end the hand.  the initial raiser called me, so I put him on a medium strength Ace, the other two folded.  I checked the turn (again, trying to say I have an Ace, but I'm not thrilled with it, I am acting "scared" of his call) and the other guy checked.  More information.  That told me his Ace wasn't that strong, or he had a smaller pair and doesn't believe I have an Ace.  River is a blank, and using my information, I bet out, $125.  I over-bet the pot and tried to make it look like I'm stealing because of his check on the turn.  He called with pocket Kings, and I scooped a $250 pot.  I was able to extract that call on the end because of my betting pattern.  If I had checked the flop and raised or bet big on the turn or river, I guarantee he would have folded, because that's what novice players do when they have big hands, they love the check-raise.  Don't be a novice player, think on a higher level and you're more likely to be paid off.

Tip of the day (9/11/07) -  Small pairs are your friend 

    I will play a small pair for any reasonable price.  I called a $50 bet once with one caller in front of me, with pocket 3's.  Why?  Because I was deep stacked, the original raiser was deep stacked and the caller was short stacked.  I assumed the caller would check if he missed, and go all-in if he hit the flop, so I know what to expect.  But the guy on the button who popped it to $50, that's what I was interested in.  the guy had about $800 in a 1-3 NL game, I had about $1,100.  If I am to assume I will get at least half of his stack if I hit my set (I can assume this because I expect he will call a raise on my part on the flop, since I'm pretty sure he has a big pair), then I am calling an additional $45 for a chance to win $550 (the 3 $50 calls and the $400 in the button's stack), I am getting 12 to 1 on my money.  Since the chance of hitting a set is about 8 to 1, I am coming out ahead. 

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