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Tips For Playing Multiple Tables Online

Tuesday, July 29, 2008, Chris Grove

As you get more comfortable playing poker online, you'll naturally start to think "hey, I make money playing one table - if I played two tables, I would make double the money! three tables, triple!" and so on. Well there are a few reasons w...Read more...

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*Text		As you get more comfortable playing poker online, you'll naturally start to think "hey, I make money playing one table - if I played two tables, I would make double the money! three tables, triple!" and so on. Well there are a few reasons why you might want to think twice about playing as many you can cram on your screen, and a few things you should do if you think twice and decide to do it anyway:</p><p>1) Don't play multiple tables because it decreases your edge. In theory, you should be a better player because of your ability to better evaluate a given situation than the average player. Play more than one table, you lose that edge.</p><p>2) Don't play multiple tables because it makes tilt far worse. Getting killed on one table is bad enough. but as we all know when things are running bad, they run bad, and getting killed on two or three tables is a sickening experience that feeds frustration and bad play.</p><p>3) Don't play multiple tables because you will make mistakes. Everything from folding when you should have called to hitting the wrong button when tables switch [you hear horror stories about this from NL players].</p><p>4) If you still want to play a few at once, set your display resolution to the highest setting your eyes can handle [start > control panel > display > settings in windows]. Most people set their monitors at 800 x 600, and you can barely see two tables that way.</p><p>5) Choose your table arrangement carefully. Select tables that allow you to see your hand at EVERY table at all times. Sitting in the corners is usually your best bet here. Also be careful to not have any of the action buttons of tables overlap, as tables tend to pop to the front unexpectedly. Some sites let you disable this feature by the way - it's usually called "auto focus" or "auto switch."

Tips for Pulling an Online Poker All Nighter

Tuesday, July 22, 2008, Shawn Perry

As a newer online poker player, you're probably about to have this experience: one night the cards are running good, the action is fast, you decide to make a late-night pot of coffee and then presto! It's 8am. If you're someone who has been...Read more...

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*Text		As a newer online poker player, you're probably about to have this experience: one night the cards are running good, the action is fast, you decide to make a late-night pot of coffee and then presto! It's 8am. If you're someone who has been playing for a bit, that scenario probably sounds just a bit too familiar.</p><p>All-nighters are certainly "fun" [in a slightly masochistic sense]. On the positive side, 30 hours of continuous play is bound to teach something to even the most unobservant of players. 30 hours also affords you a chance to build some truly monstrous stacks on small buyin NL and PL tables [the benefits and drawbacks of such stacks are topics we'll cover later]. But, the downside: a CNN article reports that "people who drive after being awake for 17 to 19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent" An article from WebMD reports that "Regardless of the brain's attempt to overcome sleep deprivation, a sleep-deprived person cannot perform mental tasks as well as someone who is well-rested."</p><p>So basically, you're drunk and stupid. Sounds like a money-winning combo to me! But regardless, some will still play through the night. Here are some tips for a smoother ride.</p><p>1) Stay hydrated: drink a lot of water. Constant water drinking. The dehydration that comes from staying awake and drinking mass amounts of coffee has a very real, very negative effect on your brain. Plus, water is one of the best was to stay awake.</p><p>2) Don't drink any alcohol, or perhaps more to the point, any more alcohol. It only makes you stupider and dehydrates you further.</p><p>3) Keep perspective. Even though it is a long session, it is still just one session. DO NOT play to catch up when you get down [loosening up, moving to higher limits, etc]. It can be frustrating to play 30 hours and lose money when you were up at one point, but over the course of your poker 'career', you will more than likely play thousands of hours where you lose. 30 are no worse just because it comes in one chunk.</p><p> Good luck with it and remember: you can always sleep now and play tomorrow

Session Stages and Player Identities

Tuesday, July 22, 2008, Chris Grove

There are few skills more critical at a poker table than the ability to take small pieces of information about your opponents and to extract from those pieces larger conclusions about how they're likely to play. One thing to consider when y...Read more...

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*Text		There are few skills more critical at a poker table than the ability to take small pieces of information about your opponents and to extract from those pieces larger conclusions about how they're likely to play. One thing to consider when you're attempting to generalize about your opponents is the fact that people are prone to act very differently at unique points within a single session.</p><p>Understanding some basic truths about common tendencies that players exhibit during different stages within a session can present unique opportunities for profit, while failure to recognize a player's identity shifts can leave you acting on outdated information. Most importantly, paying attention to the impact that session stages have on your opponents can yield useful insights regarding your own play.<span></span></p><p>For the purposes of this article, we'll break a typical session into 3 stages: warm up, game time and wind down. Obviously, this is a broad schema, but it'll do the trick for our purposes. We'll take each stage in order and break down how to tell when a player's in a given stage, the factors that are likely to force a player from one stage to the next, and what you can assume about your opponent's play within each stage.</p><p>Session Stage One: The Warm Up.</p><p>The warm up is generally a short stage for most players, usually lasting a couple of orbits. During this stage, players are likely to play a bit more conservatively than usual as they settle into the game. For most people, a lack of comfort makes them more risk averse, and sitting at a table with 9 strangers and trying to stop them from taking your money isn't exactly the most natural setting for a lot of folks. Players in the warm up stage are generally reluctant to play large pots, will generally pass on marginal situations and are likely to be willing to wait for a better hand than usual before they open a pot for a raise. Players in the warm up stage are also likely to be paying extra attention to how you play, and forming strong opinions about you based on what moves you make at this stage of the session.</p><p>Some players skip the warm up stage entirely and jump right into game time. Common types who are likely to jump right in: drunk people, players who have just busted out of a tournament, people who have been on the list a long time, people who have come from table games (look for odd chip denominations like $25 chips in a 1-2 no limit game).</p><p>Session Stage Two: Game Time</p><p>How do you know when someone's moved out of the warm up stage? It's different for everyone. For some players, it's simply a matter of time; other players don't seem to really enter a game until they win or lose a significant pot (or a pot of any size). Some players wait until drinks or food arrive, and some don't really start playing until an opponent they perceive as a target enters the game. Whatever the motivation, you'll be able to notice the change in their attitude - they'll become more talkative, more engaged. They might increase their buy in, order a drink, or even come right out and make comments about how "it's time to play."</p><p>Game time is by far the longest of our three stages, making up the majority of the session for most players. As players settle into this stage, their play is likely to open up. As people become more comfortable, they become more confident and generally more aggressive. This isn't to say that people are going to magically transform into LAGs after an hour at the table; rather, it just suggests that you can just expect most players to become more exaggerated versions of the player they were during the warm up stage. An important exception to this rule: some players will actually become much tighter in this stage of the session, as they've resolved to "wait their turn" for a big hand. These types of players can usually be spotted by their tendency to pay attention to the television, a magazine, or conversations with other players - anything but the game itself.</p><p>Session Stage Three: The Wind Down</p><p>The signs that someone is moving into the wind down stage are usually pretty clear. You'll get a lot of obvious verbal cues, like players announcing their intention to leave, commenting on the time (or some impending responsibility) or speaking about the session in the past tense. Some people do some pre-packing an orbit or two before they're ready to bail. Other players announce their intention to exit by checking out of the game mentally - if you see a player who was intently following hand action an hour ago intently following college football on the television, chances are they're just running out the clock.</p><p>How does entering this stage impact a player's game? A lot depends on how they've done to that point. Players who are winners for the session generally loosen up in small pots but tighten up in large ones. Exploit this by isolating these players and building large pots quickly. Pushing strong draws against these opponents is usually a very profitable strategy.</p><p>Players who are losers for the session are usually looking to catch up and are willing to make unreasonable gambles, especially if they think they can win a big pot. Plays that rely on fold vig to be profitable should be abandoned against these types of opponents, but your value betting range can safely be expanded, and over betting strong hands can be an insanely profitable strategy.</p><p>Break-even players are a little trickier to type, but a good rule of thumb is that the bigger an ego on a break-even player, the greater the likelihood that they'll make a significant mistake at the end of a session in an attempt to generate the win they think they deserve. If you've got a strong sense that you're up against a big-headed opponent who's even for the session, be on the lookout for massive bluffs, and be careful about making such bluffs against them, as you're likely to get picked off. </p><p>That's our quick survey of the different stages of a typical session and the impact each stage can have on the behavior of your opponents. The more you think about sessions in these terms, the more you'll discover about the natural rhythms and momentum that occur within a typical session. You're also likely to learn valuable truths about your own play in relation to different points in a session. In the long run, this type of knowledge will give you a more robust perspective on your opponents - an advantage that you can carry into any game you play.

Thoughts on Moving to a New Online Poker Site

Wednesday, July 16, 2008, Jace Thomas

One day, while perusing your favorite site for poker info, you notice an ad for an online poker room with an attractive deposit bonus offer. Having a little extra cash, you sign up, deposit, and start playing your regular game. Only thing i...Read more...

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*Text		One day, while perusing your favorite site for poker info, you notice an ad for an online poker room with an attractive deposit bonus offer. Having a little extra cash, you sign up, deposit, and start playing your regular game. Only thing is, while you crush this game at your old site, you're taking a beating at the new one. What's up? Well, while one online poker site might seem just the same as the next, there are a few things you should consider before sitting down to play:</p><p>1) You have no image at the new site. At the old site, players knew you, how you played, etc. this especially makes a big difference if you are an aggressive player, but regardless, image makes more of a difference than you might think. People fear a winning player, but at a new site, people don't have the same reasons to fear you.</p><p>2) You don't know the players. Even if you didn't keep notes at your old site [shame, shame], you still build an intuitive base of notes in your brain area.</p><p>3) Each site, as odd as it sounds, has a different personality. It seems like play would be the same no matter where you go, but each site does have a dominant style - some are looser, some are more aggressive, etc. this especially applies to smaller sites, where the play of just a few individuals can set the tone for the whole site. It can take you awhile to shift to this new style, especially if you're not on the lookout for it.</p><p>4) Just like it takes you a bit to settle into a new apartment, it takes a little bit to settle into a new room. The graphics are different, the buttons are in an unfamiliar place, etc - all of these things have a deep effect on your comfort level, which has a deep impact on your play.</p><p>All these things mean that you should probably hang back for a bit when you start at a new site, especially if you are an overly aggressive player. Take a day or two to get a feel for unfamiliar players and a changed atmosphere before you start tossing those chips around.

Dealing with the Emotional Impact of Bad Runs in Poker

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, Chris Grove

Bad runs are sort of like the in-laws of your poker experience. You know they're inevitably going to show up, even if you aren't always sure when or why, you know that no matter how hard you try, there's nothing you can really do to make th...Read more...

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*Text		Bad runs are sort of like the in-laws of your poker experience. You know they're inevitably going to show up, even if you aren't always sure when or why, you know that no matter how hard you try, there's nothing you can really do to make the experience any better, and, worst of all, once they're around, there's absolutely no telling when they're going to leave. </p><p>I'm not going to pretend that I can improve your relationship with your actual in-laws, but I can provide a few words of wisdom for dealing with their poker equivalent. Bad runs are a fact of life for every poker player, and the good news is that they're an equal-opportunity offender. Put simply: everyone gets the same luck. The bad news is that while we all experience the same amount of bad runs (in a purely objective sense), the choices you make about dealing with those stretches of misfortune play a huge role in determining the impact bad luck has on your attitude, your game, and - inevitably - your bottom line.</p><p>So where does that leave us? Well, if we know that bad runs are inevitable, and if we also know that there are choices you can make about how you deal with bad runs, it stands to reason that handling bad runs properly is a skill that not only can be developed, but must be developed if you're to be a successful poker player. Finally, we can assume that since bad runs have the potential to inflict a strong, focused emotional impact on you as a player, our development of a coping strategy would be best built upon a foundation of rationality and long-term perspective. </p><p>If you're a regular reader of my articles, you know what's coming next - my standard caveat. I've yet to hear a piece of poker advice that applies universally to every player in every situation, and the advice I'm about to dispense certainly isn't going to break that streak. What I'm going to offer are general guidelines that can be digested one of a few ways. They may work wonderfully for you just as they're typed on the page, they may require some serious tweaks based on your individual situation, or they may be useful only in the sense that they start you on a line of thinking that winds up dropping you off at a completely different (yet ultimately useful) action or conclusion. Whichever of the following ends up being the closet to your experience, the basic point is still the same: I'm just providing you with a point where you can start - it's up to you to determine where you head and when you stop. </p><p>With that out of the way, let's get into it. The following are three tactics for building positive habits that should help you cope with bad runs. Each focuses on a combination of short term and long term approaches for reducing your emotional entanglement with a stretch of bad luck, drawing on the premise that the more rational your perspective on the relationship between luck and poker is, the more control you'll have over the resulting relationship between luck and your approach to poker.</p><p><strong><br /> Tactic one: When you're experiencing a bad run, raise your threshold for wanting to play.</strong></p><p>A common tendency that I've observed in my own play (and the play of countless others) is to treat bad runs as a sort of finite problem that can be solved through sheer force - essentially that bad runs can be powered through if you simply play enough hands. The logic behind this approach is obvious and somewhat appealing: a bad run is just a statistical clumping, and if you increase your amount of play, you'll force the math to flatten out. The basic flaw in the logic, unfortunately, is just as obvious: the math will only flatten out if you're playing all of those hands optimally, and the chance of you doing that while you're in the midst of a losing streak is pretty slim. However, that flaw isn't always so easy to spot when you're three weeks into an incessant drubbing and desperately searching for any reasonable answer that might make the onslaught of lousy luck cease, so we need to account for that inevitable weakening of your ability to rationally evaluate the quality of an answer. </p><p>A solid solution is to demand a higher than usual level of interest, ability and mood from yourself before sitting down to play when you're mired in a bad run. Only playing when you really (or maybe even absolutely) want to and when you really feel capable of executing at a high level for an entire session can help you sidestep a few frustrations that you're a bit more vulnerable to when the cards aren't running your way. First, it helps you avoid allowing losing to become a habit. No matter how strong you are mentally, there's a number of consecutive losing sessions at which you're going to start to expect to lose - clearly a terrible starting point for any session, even if every other condition is optimal. It also helps you to avoid the self-flagellation born of post-session regret: "I knew I shouldn't have played before I sat down and, sure enough, I lost. I'm just not a very good player if I can't trust my own instincts." Last, but not least, only playing when you're 100% interested and invested makes it less likely that you'll pull the tilt trigger as soon as things start to go south - a dangerous cycle that can multiply mistakes with near-exponential force: "This sucks - I didn't even want to play and now I'm down 2 buy ins in 15 minutes ... well, I think I'm beat here, but what's one more buy in?"</p><p><strong><br /> Tactic two: Resist the urge to make radical changes to your game during a bad run. </strong></p><p>If the urge to power through a bad run is alluring, the urge to overhaul your game as a method of escape is nearly irresistible. The tricky bit of the overhaul solution is that it rests on a logic that seems fairly unassailable: a bad run, in theory, should increase the contrast setting on your game, making it easier to discern which plays are winners and which are losers. The fact is, that logic is absolutely solid - but only to a point. A bad run does force focus on -EV habits that you may have slipped in to while times were good, but it also creates an environment where plays with smaller edges that are long-term winners start to seem suspect as well. The frustration that accompanies bad runs also increases your desire for 'quick-fix' solutions, raising the troubling possibility that you will over-correct parts of your game that required only a minor adjustment (if any at all). This wouldn't be so troubling except for the fact that your approach to poker is basically a living, dynamic entity that is both interconnected and holistic. If you make a change in one area, every other area will feel some level of impact. The more radical the change, the greater the depth and breadth of the impact. Even worse is the fact that radical changes exert impacts that are both unpredictable and tough to trace, making it very difficult to both identify what damage has been done and how to reverse it.</p><p>In short, radical changes are likely to fail, both at improving the quality of your game and at helping you to cope with a bad run. If anything, the additional frustration you'll feel as the answer you settled on ("I just need to play way tighter from every position preflop and on the flop") fails to provide results ("I tightened up, but now I'm so predictable that I'm not getting paid when one of my damn hands actually does hold up") will artificially extend the run and decrease your ability to recoup losses when your luck does turn around. When you start to sense your luck going south, make a promise to yourself to make any adjustments to your game in a measured, deliberate fashion. It might be a hard promise to keep, but a little discipline on this issue will pay major dividends thought the remainder of the bad run and far beyond. </p><p><strong>Tactic three: Find an outlet for releasing your frustration</strong></p><p>I chose to put this tactic last because, as the most obvious idea, it's also one of the easiest to dismiss or overlook. Here's the deal: poker is a game largely populated by people with egos, and people with egos hate to think that they aren't in control of a situation. Some of us find the idea so distasteful that we'd rather lie to ourselves about how much control we have in a given situation than admit any truth involving a lack of control. Bad runs, frustration, tilt - all of these things involve an absence of control, so there's the very real possibility that many of us will choose to deceive ourselves about our true feelings for any given session that takes place in those contexts. To paraphrase common advice regarding addiction, the first step is admitting that you need help. You probably can't control the feelings of frustration and helplessness that naturally arise out of a bad run through sheer will alone, and that fact doesn't make you any less of a person or a poker player. The longer a bad run goes on, the less likely it becomes that you'll be able to handle the anger (depression / disillusionment / whatever particular emotional form bad runs manifest in for you) on your own.</p><p>The answer? Don't try to handle it all on your own. Look beyond your natural defenses and coping mechanisms to some alternatives that you might not normally consider. Ideal mechanisms are ones that will drain you both mentally and physically, providing a type of reset function that helps you to strip the negative momentum from your stretch of bad luck. If you think that a total reset feels excessive, that a brief time-out will suffice for straightening out your head, ask yourself: Have you ever been in the middle of a bad run and you realized that you were starting to think of poker (or luck) as a sentient being that had something against you personally? Have you ever, in a moment of frustration, uttered a sentence along the lines of "It doesn't matter what I do - I just can't hit a draw!"? Both states of mind reflect a type of accumulated frustration that has resulted in you feeling like a passive victim of bad luck, a perspective that makes it pretty much impossible for you to have a winning session via any route save sheer dumb luck. Strenuous exercise, lengthy reading or writing sessions, time in the workshop - whatever allows you to wash off the emotional grime bad runs pile on your psyche, that's what you need to do.</p><p>....</p><p>For most people, the only inevitabilities in life are death and taxes. If you're a poker player, you get to add at least one more to that list - runs of terrible luck with no apparent rhyme or reason. Also, you'll probably eventually develop an aversion to sunlight, but that's another issue. While the bad luck might be inevitable, a little foresight, planning and faith can ensure that permanent damage to your game and bankroll from that luck doesn't have to be. Think of it this way: you can't help when your in-laws arrive, but you can make a point to perpetually have enough alcohol and quality Tivo on hand to weather the storm as happily and sanely as any person can hope to.

Position is everything!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, Staff

Position is everything! Let me repeat that, position is everything! Most new players do not utilize what I believe is the most important factor in decision making and hand choice at the card table. I am going to just give a basic run down f...Read more...

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*Text		Position is everything! Let me repeat that, position is everything! Most new players do not utilize what I believe is the most important factor in decision making and hand choice at the card table. I am going to just give a basic run down for newer players of what position means and its importance. These basics are for mostly tournament style play, but also work in no limit cash games as well. In cash games though, you can be a little looser and gamble more, as you can always reload if you have to. I try not to have to.<br /> Position is what constitutes what starting hands you should be playing in each of the seats. Under the gun is first position before the flop, which is the seat to the left of the big blind. After the flop, the small blind will be under the gun. Then the middle seats of course are middle position, and the seat to the right of the button and the button itself is late position. The button is the best position in the whole game, that is why it should be utilized to your advantage. You are the last to act on each betting round and get to see what other players do before you. This will help to make your decision even easier then an early position.</p><p>First off, lets talk about starting hand requirements for the positions. In the early positions and under the gun, you should only play big hands. The problem that arises if you raise or limp in in these positions is you have no idea what is going to happen behind you. Say you limp in or raise with the K-J in this position, then somebody behind you raises a good amount or pushes all in, what is your choices??? Well, my choice would be to fold depending on the factors, because most likely your hand is behind. K-J looks good, but is dominated and behind a lot of starting hands and really is marginal at best. As you see, you are taking a chance on just throwing away chips for nothing. You have no idea what the rest of the table is going to do when you're first or second to act, which will be the case the rest of the hand as well. Only premium starting hands should be played in these positions.</p><p>Middle position is a little better, but still not as good as late. You can lower your starting hand requirements a bit in these middle positions, because you have seen the first half of the table act before you.This is a position you could call or raise with hands like j-10 or k-q or hands of that nature. Do not raise or call if someone has raised before you in early position. Most skilled players will only have big hands in the these positions and now your hand is no good. Even if they are making a play in early position with garbage, why risk it? With players behind you, it not a good idea to call an early raise with a marginal hand. With limpers or folders though before you, you can play a wider range of cards because there are very few players left to act behind you. Being in the middle you are still facing possible raises or all ins from the players left to act, so you must still be a little cautious.</p><p>Now the late positions are where it's at. You get ALL the info you need to make the best decisions you can to win the hand. You can even come into unraised pots, or pots that give you good pot odds to call with some marginal hands. You will be one of the last players to act in each round of betting which will enable you to get better reads on what the other players before you are holding. The button is the best position because no one acts after you.</p><p>These positions are also good for stealing blinds and pots with relative ease. You can get a read from the players actions, like if they just limp or make a weak minimum raise. Sometimes someone will be trapping with a big hand and you might get your hand caught in the cookie jar. Then you just release the hand if you think you are beat. If you steal pots here and there, they will add up and add to your strength and image at the table. Also, showing a few of these lesser hands you are position raising with will get you more action on your bigger hands in position. The other players will assume you are only raising because of position. You might get your hand slapped a few times, but when that big hand comes up and you break them for all their chips, it will be well worth it.</p><p>Starting hand requirements lower in these positions. Ace and King with middle kickers suited, connectors, and actually just about any hand can be played in this position. I will even play junk if I am on the button in an unraised pot, because I will know exactly what action to take after seeing all my opponents act before me. I will know if I can bluff and steal the pot or not, or if I should just toss my hand. Plus, playing the more marginal hands in the better positions helps to disguise your hand. If you do hit a flop, the other players not being able to put you on the weaker hand could get them in a lot of trouble.</p><p>Say they let you limp in with a k-8 suited when they are holding A-K and they decided to slow play it. The flop comes out k-8-3. Can you see who is in a world of hurt and might not be able to release their hand? They are!</p><p>One more tip for the later positions. When you have a bunch of limpers and you have a big hand, do not slow play it. Raise, raise, raise! Get these amateurs out of the hand or make them pay for limping in with marginal cards out of position. You either earn all the limped money or you bust them with the big hand you hold. When you are button or last to act, you have total control of the table in that hand. Make the fish pay when you have the most powerful position.</p><p>As you can see, I just gave some basics for the positions and their starting hand requirements. There is a lot more to learn and think about when it comes to position. Like I said, I believe it to be the most important factor in poker and you need to practice and utilize it to the best of your ability. If you do, you can make maximum profit off of your hands when you have position. As we know about poker though, you have to change up your style to keep the players guessing. Do not ever play the same constantly in any hand or any position. Always throw them for a curve every once in awhile. If you are raising the button every time you have it, limp in a couple times here and there and keep them guessing. Position is everything people, and I hope these basics get you started in the understanding of it. Good luck!

Bluffing in Low-limit Games and Low Buy-in Tournaments

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, Dustin Gouker

Perhaps this article would be more appropriately titled: "Don't bluff in low-limit cash games and low buy-in tournaments." I think most online players who play these kinds of games - those who are trying to build bankrolls, or who are tryin...Read more...

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*Text		Perhaps this article would be more appropriately titled: "Don't bluff in low-limit cash games and low buy-in tournaments." I think most online players who play these kinds of games - those who are trying to build bankrolls, or who are trying to win lots of smaller games to profit - will agree that you can usually throw Super System out the window.<p>That's not to say that there aren't aggressive players who are constantly raising the pots with bad cards in these games who do well. But I do think that there are many more successful players who play a much different kind of game to make a profit. </p><p>So, to be clear, we're talking about limit cash games (where the blinds are $3-$6 or less, and low buy-in tournaments (both small sit and gos and multi-table tournaments, I'd say this can be applied all the way up to $11 buy in games, and perhaps even higher in some instances). This does not apply to no-limit games of any type, even .1-.2 blind games, where bluffing can be very effective even with the smallest of blinds and small starting pots. </p><p>Let's start with low-limit games: </p><p>LOW-LIMIT CASH GAMES </p><p>Why shouldn't I bluff?</p><p>Think about it like this. If you've played in brick and mortar limit games, you know how this goes. Have you ever played a $1-$2, $2-$4 or $3-$6 game at a casino? Some hands end preflop, but not many. There's always a few players who will call a raise with more-than-marginal hands and try to get lucky. Once a hand gets past the flop, there's often going to be a showdown. And there's often going to be raising. And re-raising. The pots get large enough that players simply have to call, just because it's silly to fold (even with marginal hands) when you only have to pay a few dollars for a pot worth potentially several times more than that. </p><p>The simple lesson is this: Bluffing doesn't usually pay. And if you read strategy books (everyone playing limit poker needs to read Lee Jones' "Winning Low-Limit Hold'em" and immediately commit it to memory) they'll usually tell you the same thing. There are times and boards that you might be able to bluff at, but overall playing solid, tight poker is a better idea than making plays at pots. </p><p>And above, I was talking about real-life examples of low-limit poker. Apply this to the mirco level of limit poker (.02-.05 up to .50-1.00) that exists only in cyberspace, and the problem is exacerbated. Four cents to call a raise? Who's not willing to gamble with four cents? Almost everyone. Bluffing in these games often only wins you a small pot, and can end up costing you a lot if you continue a bluff..<br /> The math behind not bluffing</p><p>This is a pretty basic concept for most poker players, but it's worth talking about it. While almost everyone who plays these days knows what pot odds are and can use them for making decisions on whether or not to call, people often don't think of it in reverse in limit games - making a decision on whether or not you should bet because of the pot odds other players might get when they call. </p><p>Think of this example. Let's say you're playing a full .50-1.00 game.You're sitting three in front of the button with one limper so far. You have 3-8os and decide, "I'm going to try to steal the pot." You raise. All it really takes is one caller for you to be screwed. The pot at this time contains a limp and the blinds, or $1.25, and you've just bet $1 into the pot. You've certainly made it more difficult to limp and you'll get rid of hands as bad as yours. But anyone who is calling with no money already invested is getting about 2:1, meaning hands with potential might still call, despite your raise. If they put you on anything but a huge hand JJ-AA, they aren't going to be too far behind. And it's not even so much about pot odds as it is "Oh, I only have to spend another $1 to see a flop." You've obviously made the decision tougher, but lots of hands will call. And in limit people know their pot odds will only get better as the hand goes one, unless more than one person is raising the pot. </p><p>And that's just considering people who have no money invested. The big blind and the limper only have to call .50 more into a $2.25 pot, and one or both of them is likely to call. The best case scenario is everyone folds. And in low-limit games, that's not going to happen very often. Next best is one person calls, which is also possible but also not likely. Because of the small amounts of money involved, you can throw some traditional poker theory out the window and expect several people to call your raise, even if they shouldn't. And now you're screwed. </p><p>Continuing the bluff against one or even two players might work, sometimes. And you'll have picked up a small pot. But a far more likely scenario is that you are going to end up costing yourself another bet, or several more if you continue to bluff, as you get called down to the river. </p><p>I'd argue you're better off investing bets into prospecting with good drawing hands, rather than attempting to bluff with truly bad hands in the kinds of games we're talking about. Pulling off a bluff in these situations is hard to do, and you can lose a lot of money (5 bets) if you are the initial raiser preflop and you bet every round). A better idea for those five bets would be a.) hold onto them for raising with good hands when you're ahead or b.) limping in late position with a decent hand when you are being offered good pot odds. </p><p>But what if you're dead set on bluffing? Here's some things you can do, and a lot of this follows classic strategy:<br /> When can/should I bluff?</p><p>For any of these scenarios, "should" might be too strong of a word: </p><p>Preflop, late position, no callers.</p><p>If you're on the button, or even one in front, betting into the blinds might not be a bad idea. They're not getting the kind of pot odds they would have gotten had earlier positions called before your raise. So both blinds might have to have a decent hand to consider calling. They might anyway, but that's a risk you take when you bluff these games. </p><p>Postflop, late position. ragged board, three or fewer players.</p><p>When I say ragged, I mean ragged. Think J-7-2 rainbow. You have a chance that no one hit their hand, and you can with the pot right then. </p><p>The semibluff</p><p>If you're going to bluff, at least do it with not awful hands. Playing 6-7s for a raise is a lot smarter than playing J-2 for a raise. You have several ways to win a pot, and you're more likely to have live cards against your competition. </p><p>That's about it. Once again, this is only advice. But I don't think bluffing in situations other than these will make you much money in the long term. The risk/reward is a lot less than other ways you have at your disposal to spend your bets. </p><p>Now, let's take a look at bluffing in low buy-in tournaments:<br /> LOW BUY-IN TOURNAMENTS<br /> Why shouldn't I bluff?</p><p>I'll preface this by saying that bluffing can be a much better strategy in tournaments than in limit poker. But it's still not a good idea. Here's a few reasons why. </p><p>People play loose early</p><p>People playing tournaments at low buy-ins are often looking to build their stacks early (aren't we all?). Some players are willing to race, and sacrifice their buy-in, for a chance to take an early chip lead. That leaves stone-cold bluffs early in tourneys looking silly and hurting the player's chances of cashing. Because if a player thinks they are racing with overcards or against a lower pair, it won't be easy to get them off their hand. The smaller the tournament, the less this is a problem. Nine-man SnGs might have a better chance of avoiding these kinds of players. But playing a $1.10 MTT, there will be lots of players hoping to get lucky and playing mid pairs and their aces in an attempt to double up early. </p><p>You don't have a lot of chips to bluff with</p><p>In the typical <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.parttimepoker.com/pokerstars-review">PokerStars</a> SnG, you have 1500 chips. Even at the early stages of a tournament, a bluff that gets called down is going to hurt you badly, and the rewards can be pretty small if you happen to win a bluff. Let's say your in the third hand, still with 1500 chips, blinds at $10-$20. With no callers so far. A successful bluff probably requires you to bet at least 4-5x the big blind. So you'll be betting 100 chips or 6.7% of your chips. And you're investing that much to win a pot that currently contains $30 in tournament chips. And if you do get called, by say one player, you're going to have to make another big bet if you plan on continuing your bluff. So with $230 in the pot, you'll need to make at least a half-pot size bet to take it down. So $230 plus the $100 you aleady bet, and you're risking a fifth of your chips on a bluff. Simply put, that's a lot of chips to put into play. </p><p>Once again, you can certainly play like this and win. But I'll say you are better off using those bets for raising with good hands or calling with good draws in low buy-ins </p><p>So, when might be the best times to bluff? Some of the same basic principles apply as the limit games (preflop late position with no callers, postflop late position with a ragged board and the semibluff). I'd say the first two are not as a good of an idea, for reasons just discussed regarding your chip stack, but that the semibluff is acceptable early. </p><p>But there are other times when bluffing might be opportune: </p><p>Playing behind a big stack followed by a small stack.</p><p>Here's the premise behind this play. Let's say you haven't done much, treading water at about 1,500 chips. Blinds are 25-50. You're on the button. So far a big stack (3,500K left) and a small stack (900 left) have limped in front of you. A pot-size bet is a good bet here, in my opinion. The big stack has already run his chips up early. He's likely pretty happy that he more than doubled up early in the tourney, and he's probably not interested in giving those chips back with a marginal hand. He might still play really loose, but chances are he'll tighten up a bit. And you have protection behind him. In a low buy-in tournament, the big stack probably knows that if he calls, and the small stack also calls, that he may have to cover the small stack's entire stack by the flop. And that's not a great play for the big stack. So he's likely to get out of your way, not wanting to call the all in.</p><p>The small stack is also not likely to simply call your bet. If he had a hand, he would have likely raised into the big stack, hoping to get paid off. So he's very likely to let this go as well. In deep stack higher buy-in tournaments this may not be that great a play, but it can work in small stack smaller buy-in events. </p><p>Tight early, then bluff late when you have a decent stack</p><p>Even in low buy-ins, play will tighten up closer to the cash. This makes it a better time to bluff for you. Knowing everyone is now hoping to cash, you can take advantage of the tighter play. Here's why: A cash to someone playing in a low buy-in tournament can be a big deal. If you're playing a 5.50 SnG you're not likely to have a big roll. Some players will and just like to risk less of their bankroll in SnGs. But the difference between winning nothing and winning even the smallest prize can be a big deal to an entrant. </p><p>Once again, I wouldn't do this with a huge percentage of your chips. But if you have done pretty well early and have a decent stack, stabbing at pots in late position with few players can definitely pay off. Big stacks are probably not interested in clashing with someone else with a decent amount of chips, and they'd rather pick on smaller stacks. The smaller stacks are waiting for a good hand to invest their chips in. So they're not a huge danger when you're bluffing in late position. </p><p>Under the gun bluffs can be effective too...as long as you don't do it often. Betting out under the gun is likely to scare a lot of people off late in a tournament.<br /> So...bluff, but do it sparingly</p><p>If you're going to bluff in these games, pick your spots. Don't expect that the fancy bluffs you see on TV are going to work in these smaller games. I've cashed 9-man SnGs several times by picking up one small pot early and watching everyone else around me bluff their chips away or risk them unnecessarily with marginal hands. </p><p>Playing tight, smart poker is better in these games than trying to be a super-aggressive bluffer. You'll find players who can win by disregarding all of the advice in this column. But those people also expose themselves to big losing streaks, too.

Tight Aggressive vs Loose Aggressive play in Holdem Tournaments

Tuesday, June 17, 2008, Staff

There are two styles of play in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, tight-aggressive and loose-aggressive. Which style is best and in what situations is it best? Many players think they know the answer and play excessively loose or excessively tight in...Read more...

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*Text		There are two styles of play in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, tight-aggressive and loose-aggressive. Which style is best and in what situations is it best? Many players think they know the answer and play excessively loose or excessively tight in all situations, which, as David Skylansky states in The Theory of Poker, is incorrect (27). Whether to be tight or loose and when to adopt either style will be determined by comparing and contrasting the two styles, listing their advantages and disadvantages, and applying the findings in a logical fashion. However, to even understand the differences between the two styles, a player must first understand the game.</p><p> In No-Limit Texas Hold'em, each player is dealt two down cards which the player does not show his opponents. The two blinds are placed on the table, required bets in order to force the action, and are posted directly to the left of the dealer. A round of betting occurs, starting with the person to the left of the big blind (the person to the left of the button goes first in each of the following rounds). Three community cards, known as the flop, are dealt face up. Another round of betting occurs, and a fourth card, the turn, is dealt face up. A third round of betting takes place and the final card, the river, is turned face up. The last round of betting takes place and the person with the best 5-card poker hand wins the pot.</p><p> Such a complex game is boiled down to two relatively simple styles; tight-aggressive and loose aggressive. (Both styles include the word 'aggressive' because when a player enters a hand from either style, he is supposed to be aggressive; to play weak or passive is generally known to be incorrect strategy.) Each of the two styles has its own unique approach to the game.</p><p> Tight-aggressive play is discussed first because it is simple, solid poker playing. A tight-aggressive player's gameplan will be to play few pots and try to pick off small pots. Also, they must keep even with the blinds and antes so they don't get blinded away. A player should avoid all-in confrontations unless his hand is very likely to come out on top; if a player loses an all-in confrontation, he is out of the tournament! By playing small-pots, he assures that he at least will not lose all of his chips during one hand (Harrington 1: 51).</p><p> What are the advantages a tight-aggressive style has over a loose-aggressive style? When a player adopts the tight-aggressive style he plays higher quality hands than the average player, simply because he doesn't play as many; consequently, his post-flop decisions will be made much easier. For instance, if he hits the flop at all, he is very likely to have the best hand; if he misses it, he can easily throw his hand away (Harrington 1: 37, 51).</p><p> The disadvantages of a tight-aggressive style are few. One big disadvantage is that it may leave a player feeling cramped, "perhaps you're just a little too flamboyant for conservatism." (Harrington 1: 39) Many players love the action, and a tight player just doesn't receive very much. In addition, sometimes a player plays too tight in the wrong situations, which raises a question: when should and shouldn't a player play tight-aggressive?</p><p> One situation when a player plays too tight is when the blinds are so high compared to a player's chip stack, pot odds justify just shoving his chips in with any two cards (Harrington 2: 258). Similarly, at a smaller table, say four or five people, the blinds go around much faster and a player must play looser or risk losing his stack to the blinds (Harrington 2: 27). Remember, the gameplan of a tight-aggressive player is to keep just ahead of the blinds and antes, but to do so, sometimes he must loosen his starting hand requirements (Harrington 1: 51).</p><p> However, there are certainly plenty of times to play conservative. At the beginning of the tournament, when blinds and antes are still relatively low, it doesn't pay off to play every hand. There is no pressure to play and a player can simply wait for a good hand. Another great time to play tight is during cash-games, the kind of game where a player puts his money down on the table and sometimes even plays with real cash instead of tournament chips. Dan Harrington says that in these ring games, old-fashioned conservative play predominates; there's no reason to steal the blinds and antes when a player buys in for 300 times the big blind. (Harrington 1: 37). Also, unlike tournaments, the blinds never increase! Obviously, a cash-game is similar to the situation at the beginning of tournaments; there is no pressure to play many hands, and a player can simply wait for a good one (Harringon 2: 76).</p><p> In Harrington on Hold'em, Volume 1:, Dan Harrington states that most books recommend beginners to go tight-aggressive; the style keeps them out of trouble. "Every pot you enter has the potential of consuming all of your chips." For example, in the 2003 World Series of Poker, a player had the chip lead on Day Four after many hours of play but lost all of his chips in the course of just two hands and five minutes (37). However, he also says that conservatism can leave a player feeling bored or cramped. "In that case, you may want to look at the merits of the aggressive style" (Harrington 1: 39).</p><p> The loose-aggressive style is different from the tight-aggressive style in that one plays many more hands from many different positions than he normally would. A tight player would frown upon raising with an 87 suited from first position, but a loose-aggressive player considers this normal. The loose-aggressive style requires a big-stack; it is needed to push the smaller stacks around. Therefore, the loose-aggressive player's first job is to double up as soon as possible, then use his huge chipstack to discourage opponents from playing their hands against him (Harrington 1: 40).</p><p> The loose-aggressive style has many advantages over the more conservative style. First, an aggressive player plays many more pots and therefore receives plenty of action; the more action, the more fun and excitement. Second, the loose player steals many more pots. The player's stealing of pots is very financially rewarding because a player picks up pots he shouldn't be picking up. Also, pulling off a bluff with a horrible hand is psychologically rewarding and gives a player more confidence. Finally, Dan Harrington says "An aggressive player is more likely to win big on his monster hands." People will think, 'It's just a loose-aggressive player. He probably doesn't have anything' and gleefully move over the top of him with medium-strong holdings ( 2: 40).</p><p> However, one huge advantage encompasses all of the previous advantages; "An aggressive player is much harder to read," explains Dan Harrington (2: 41). The reason is that the player adopting the style plays many hands and raises with almost all of them, which makes it difficult to determine where the player stands. An opponent has a much harder time deciding whether a flop helped a loose player than he does a tight player. A flop of 643 may be harmless when facing a tight player who plays nothing but high cards. "Against a super-aggressive player, you could be facing a straight, two pair, or a set" (Harrington 1: 42).</p><p> Of course, there are severe repercussions when playing loose-aggressive that some people cannot cope with. "The aggressive style is not inferior to the conservative style in theory, but it requires much more skill to play well" (Harrington 1: 41). In other words, a player is always dancing on the edge, making tough decisions while holding weak cards. All this delicate maneuvering is tiring, and tired people make more mistakes. In addition, by betting and playing more hands, an aggressive player will more often run into well-concealed monster hands. Experienced pros will often use the 'rope-a-dope' method, checking to a loose-aggressive player with a monster and letting him lead in the betting. Finally, with all of the action, a loose player will face much bigger swings in stack sizes, which can be emotionally devastating. Going from chip leader to shortstack and back in the course of a few hands is very draining and can be hard to deal with (Harrington 1: 41).</p><p> Once a player understands the two styles and their advantages, disadvantages, and basic strategies, he must then understand some of the unusual situations that occur during tournament play.</p><p> The first odd situation that occurs in tournament play is known as the bubble. The bubble is the time in a tournament just before the money. If there are 400 people in a tournament and 40 are paid, the bubble occurs when the number of players left is around 41-43. Naturally players grow tighter and tighter because people, especially satellite qualifiers (players who entered a major tournament by winning a lower-costing tournament), want to be paid. This is the perfect time to play loose-aggressive! However, a player shouldn't call other players, but instead raise them out of the pot. Poker expert John Juanda says "You can just wait until nobody raises, then you raise, you become the first one in, and a good percentage of the time, everybody's just going to fold because they don't want to mess with you" (30).</p><p> Even a tight-aggressive player can benefit from being on the bubble. All he has to do is switch up his style and the right moments and pull off a few bluffs. If people view a player as being tight, they won't recognize his play for what it is; a simple steal on the bubble. They will believe he has a real hand! A tight-aggressive player has just modulated his style to fit the circumstances and adopted the loose style. Dan Harrington says "Once you begin modulating your style, you'll discover of the amusing paradoxes of poker: You'll make the easiest money when you're playing in a style opposite to your natural one" (1: 52). A tight player will find it easier to pull off bluffs, a mostly loose-aggressive tactic, and a loose player will find that their big hands are being called down, something a tight player strives for.</p><p> When should a player switch? The first time to switch is when a player has been pegged by his opponents; if he continues playing the same style, he might as well be playing with his cards face up (Harrington 1: 52). Harrington says that ironically once a player has pegged his opponent on a certain style, he's gone! The other players have pegged him too, and he has not switched up.</p><p> The other reason to switch styles is in order to adapt with the blinds and antes. Usually, it is the tight-aggressive players who need to loosen up as the blinds go up. Soon, they will find out that one round of poker around the table takes up a fifth or more of their stack, and they cannot wait to find better hands. The amount of rounds a player can survive before the antes/blinds gobble him up is known as M; the lower his M, the looser he needs to be. As said before, a tight player will find it easier to pull off bluffs in this spot just because of his image (but unless he switches up, he will be unlikely to actually bluff because he is playing tight) while a loose-aggressive player may have trouble stealing the blinds and antes, especially if his opponents know he is playing loose-aggressive. However, the loose player will be called more often when he has a big hand, resulting in double ups instead of just the stealing of the blinds and antes (Harrington 2: 142).</p><p> From all the evidence listed thus far, playing tight-aggressive throughout the whole tournament is the wrong way to play. While a player may start off as tight-aggressive, soon the blinds and antes will catch up to him, and he will have to switch up and turn loose-aggressive. By playing loose-aggressive through the whole tournament, a player can steal and dance his way to the final table. However, Harrington said that a tight player can bluff with a higher success rate than a loose player, and a loose player will get his monster hands called more often then a tight player (Harrington 1: 41). Logically, since a loose player's goal is to bluff more often, and a tight style does just that, a loose player should strive to attain a tight image! A tight image can be acquired by showing down only good cards and mucking all of the other trash hands. In the same sense, a tight player's goal is to get his monster hands called, and since a loose style does just that, he should try to attain a loose image! A loose image can be achieved by showing down his bluffs the few times he actually bluffs.</p><p> In conclusion, both styles are well-rounded with one style's weaknesses drawing off another's strengths. From the evidence, a player most likely cannot win a tournament without playing both styles or at least pretending like he's playing both styles. Since switching styles is a key element in poker, and there are only two solid styles, both are important. As David Sklansky says in The Theory of Poker, "Some players always play loose. Others always play tight. Good players adjust their play to the game" (149).</p><p> While the loose-aggressive style offers thrills and outrageous bluffs, some people might not be that crazy and prefer the solid, tight-aggressive style, where the player has the confidence of knowing his hand is almost always better than his opponent's when he enters the pot. While some situations demand a certain style, such as short tables with low M's (demands loose-aggressive) (Harrington 2: 276) or old-fashioned cash games (demands tight-aggressive) (Harrington 1: 37), it is almost always up to the individual to draw upon his own strengths.

Using the Reraise Bluff in No Limit Hold'em

Tuesday, June 17, 2008, Staff

I'm sure everyone has seen an idiot or two in their poker career that will reraise you all in and then show jack high after y

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