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Building a Roll Through Six-handed Turbo No Limit sit and go tournaments

Wednesday, June 11, 2008, Staff

In poker, everyone wants the big score. They want to be at the final table, with hundreds or thousands of dollars on the line. It is an experience like no other. Personally, I have been there through the $5.50 Turbo NL where I took second p...Read more...

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*Text		<p>In poker, everyone wants the big score. They want to be at the final table, with hundreds or thousands of dollars on the line. It is an experience like no other. Personally, I have been there through the $5.50 Turbo NL where I took second place for $643. Sure it was a great experience, but anyone, even pros can go on massive droughts where they don't cash, much less make a Final Table. An example is Daniel Negreanu from a few years ago. What does this do to your bankroll? For most of us, it kills it. The only reliable way for a majority of typical online players to make money is through sit and gos. My personal favorite: the turbo 6 handed no limit hold'em SNG's.</p><p> My most consistent success with sit and goes has come over at UltimateBet. There, I took a roll of $20 and turned it into $700 by just playing turbos. Id like to tell you about my stats. Playing $1 sngs, I played in 319 events and had a cashing rate of 42.6% and a ROI of 17.6%. I then moved to $5 Sngs where I played 173 events, holding down a 45.1% cash rate and a 26.7% ROI</p><p> The stats are good, but not amazing. However, what is important is the consistency. No matter what level you play, sit and gos are the way to go. I personally love 6 handed, easier to cash and less people to go through. Of course less money per win, but who cares if you win? Now the question is: can you do it?</p><p> The key to 6 handed Turbos is smart, but aggressive. You need to win with the hands you get, but not donk off chips. Great part is, at least 1-2 of the people don't understand turbo strategy. They panic, they tighten up, and before u know it, even if they play well they have 3BBs left. Remember, it is easier to beat 5 others rather than 8. Since turbos can be a crap shoot, less players makes them more realistic. </p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">HOW TO WIN</span></p><p> 1. Turbos have more variance then regular Sngs because stacks are smaller in relation to blinds. Therefore, it is possible to go on bad runs. However I believe 6 mans to have less variance. You should hold at least 30-40 buyins, and hopefully more.<br> 2. Turbos are a shallow stack game. Therefore I do not pay attention to the 10X BB. Instead, I use maybe 5-6BB. Why? 5X BB will still cripple someone if they call and lose to you. Do not panic if you get low.<br> 3. Early on, play tight. Remember, a coin flip early on is stupid - there's a 50% chance you're out. Keep pots small and wait for the big blinds. It is something few people understand or even think about<br> 4. GUTS- Raise with 57, 68, and hands like that when blinds get big. Why? If you get called, so what, you are behind, but if you hit you're in great shape. Also, people usually fold. A person has to have a great hand to call you. Stealing 1K in blinds will win you that tourney. You need to have guts to win turbos.<br> 5. THE CARDS DON'T MATTER- As I said, when blinds go up, raise,raise,raise. You will find quickly who's tight, and you can slam them. Once the blinds go up, you can almost play the cards blind. The reason is, you need to keep raising.<br> 6. Don't be afraid to be behind. You can not wait for AA in turbos. Whoever raises the most wins. You can not play to just cash.<br> 7. If short staked, even with bad hands, push all in. Why raise 40% of your stack? If you are re raised you have to call anyway. ALWAYS PUSH IN THESE SPOTS!!!!!!!<br> 8. Do not wait to cash. If 1 player is low on chips, do not assume he is going out. Remember, play to win. If you do not, before you know if you will be the low stack on the bubble.</p><p>TAKING A SHOT</p><p> I do encourage people to overextend sometimes. It is ok to give yourself 2-3 shots at a slightly higher level if you are comfortable. However, if you can not make the same bold pushes you can on the lower levels, then forget it. You can not think about the money you entered with. </p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">MULTI-TABLING</span></p><p> I do it all the time. Playing 2-4 sit and goes can be done. Make sure it is the only thing you are doing. Personally, I would rather play (4) $5 sngs than (2) $10s if given the choice. The more you play, the more $ you make. </p><p>PROFITS</p><p> The worst thing I see if people succeed with this strategy, and then lose the $. The goal is not to start playing $50 sngs. I've done it, and it doesn't work very well, trust me. Take profits, it will help you sleep at night. If you start at $50 and get to $300, take off half. Do not start playing a higher level that you are not likely to be comfortable with. </p><p>VARIANCE</p><p> Yes, it does exist. If you think you will turn $50 into $5000 in a straight line, you're nuts. Turbos help you grind to make profits. Players must withdraw their money so they don't go bust. I've had variance kill me in the past, do not let it happen to you. There is nothing wrong with taking a profit. </p><p>RUNNING BAD</p><p> Especially multi-tabling, you can start running bad fast. That is why you need so many buyins. If you run badly for a night or 2, take a break. I usually rest on weekends and never play at all. It is ok to stop playing. Rest up, refocus, and come back stronger. </p><p> Overall, I think I covered everything. I told you my few secrets to winning 6 man turbos, and how to deal with many other questions. If you have any more, just PM me. </p><p>GL and build those rolls the real way!</p>

Transitioning from TAG to LAG play in Tournaments

Tuesday, June 3, 2008, Shane Stacey

Lagtard \ n. -ED, -ING, -S A poker player who calls and raises a large variety of hands with the intention of outplaying or outdrawing an opponent's (usually) stronger hand Since I couldn't find an official definition, I created one. Look o...Read more...

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*Text		<em>Lagtard \ n. -ED, -ING, -S A poker player who calls and raises a large variety of hands with the intention of outplaying or outdrawing an opponent's (usually) stronger hand </em></p><p>Since I couldn't find an official definition, I created one. Look out Merriam-Webster. </p><p>The more I play, the more it is reinforced that not one true style dominates. It is the ability to effectively change speeds and keep the opponents guessing that is the key to playing better poker. Having spent a few years as a more traditional TAG player, and having had a reasonable amount of success, it is in the past 6 months that my overall game has improved with the addition of some key LAG elements. While I do advocate that beginning poker players pursue a more ABC, TAG style when starting, once you have become more adept at the game and have developed keener decision-making abilities post-flop, it is time to add some LAG elements to your game. </p><p><span></span></p><p>Phil Gordon has an interesting approach to pre-flop play. If he is the first into a pot, he's raising. While this is a bit too LAG for my tastes, it gives him an advantage when the opponents decide whether to fold, raise or call. Is he playing suited connectors, a low PP, a high PP, or just an average random hand? Then, depending on his position post-flop, the aggressiveness of his opponents, and the texture of the flop, he may be able to take advantage of his hand, one which opponents are unable to put him on. After all, he could be raising any two.<br /><strong><br /> Making the Transition</strong></p><p>The basis for my personal game-change came after having fully implemented zone play as related to m-values as described in depth by Harrington and Robertie in the "Harrington on Hold'em" series. I found that I was too passive in the Green Zone (M > 20) and was missing opportunities to compete for substantial pots. When you have this many chips compared to the blinds/antes, you have the ability to take more flops and more chances, thus allowing you to chip up, even early on. </p><p>Several players I know have expressed an interest in loosing up their game and have looked for key ways in which to do so. Honestly, while you can add LAG elements overnight to an existing TAG game, it takes awhile to become comfortable in playing with these new additions. Let me suggest a couple key areas to explore. </p><p>The suited connectors (and one or two-gapers): "Late and cheap" used to always be my motto for these hands. In the hijack, cutoff, button or SB, I would see these hands without question, given a couple limpers to make them profitable. Now, if I have chips to play with, I like to push action more than just passively be one of the crowd. As a first step, experiment with raising your 76s UTG, or calling a J9s for a small raise when you have the button. While I don't want to unnecessarily spew chips, if I have a few extra to burn, I might as well see if I can get them to multiply.</p><p>Knowing how to release these hands (or represent them) if you only end up hitting a pair or less on the flop (with few additional outs) is the key to being successful with the LAG style. So, experiment and also feel free to put the unsuited garden variety connectors and gapers into the arsenal. After all, "sooted" only adds about 2% to a hand's base worth. </p><p>Pairs (any of them): I go set mining a lot more than I used to, especially early. If the opponent flops TPTK (or has an overpair to the board) and you flop your set, chances are you'll be paid handsomely. We know that the chance of flopping a set is about 1 in 8.5. So, if the pot is laying 7.5 - 1, you are making an odds call with any small pp. Implied odds in NL hold'em can be phenomenal, though, especially early on. </p><p>I will limp the small pps early and may raise them, depending on my table and my image. I am also more prone to call a preflop raise with them, especially if I have position on the raiser. If I call an EP raiser in MP, it is more likely that calls behind will occur, thus building the odds I need to mine for the set. While it is doubtful I'll hit the set, only completing just under 12% of the time, I can win the pot in other ways. This is one of the reasons I recommend a good deal of experience with the game before adding the elements ... my small pps win as often postflop when the raiser has missed the flop as they do when I actually hit my set. </p><p>In the next section we'll look at some post-flop tactics for lagging it up. I highly recommend you check the strategy article on parttimepoker.com regarding the float. While this is more geared toward cash play, it also applies nicely to MTTs. </p><p><strong>Part 2 - After the Flop </strong></p><p>So, you've made the transition to playing a wider variety of hands found outside of the top 20 ranked starting hands or hands you see cheaply in a blind. Realize that the majority of flops miss the majority of players - this is the simple truth about the mathematics of poker. If you were set-mining, you'll be hitting your pocket pair about 1 in 9 times and if it's a small or mid pp, the chances are there will be overs on the flop. </p><p>Just some basic percentages for the range of hands you'll be playing:<br /> What you will flop</p><p> * Pairing at least 1 hole card - 32%<br /> * Straight draw with connectors - 26%<br /> * A pair on the board - 16%<br /> * Four-flush when suited - 11%<br /> * Making a set with pocket pair - 11%<br /> * Straight flush draw with suited connectors - 3.4%<br /> * Pairing both hole cards - 2%<br /> * Four-flush when not suited - 2%<br /> * Trips with no pocket pair - 1.3%<br /> * Flush with 2 suited cards - 1%<br /> * Making a full house with poket pair - 1%<br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.rivered.co.uk/poker_percentages.html"><br /> http://www.rivered.co.uk/poker_percentages.html</a> (giving credit where it's due)</p><p>The one that strikes me most is the first line - "pairing at least 1 hole card - 32%". This goes back to the opening line regarding the majority of flops missing the majority of players, and this includes you. If you were donking around with your suited connectors, notice that you'll have a straight draw about 1 in 30 times, the flush draw 1 in 9 times, and will flop the flush 1 in 100 times. It all sounds rather bleak, or does it?</p><p>The percentages that apply to you also apply to your opponents. They're unlikely (on an individual level) to have flopped a set, or a decent draw. Each one is going to pair one or more hole cards only 32% of the time. This works to the LAG player's advantage.<br /> Playing as the Aggressor</p><p>You raised preflop from late mid-position and the flop comes A74, rainbow. Let's pretend we have no clue what your cards are. The BB who had come along for the ride checks to you, the pre-flop raiser. You have one player left to act after you, the player on the button. You toss out a standard continuation bet, around half the pot and the button folds and the BB elects to call. The turn brings a J and the button checks ... this time you decide to check behind. The river brings a 3 and no flush is possible. The BB leads at the pot, about 75% of pot-size, and you tank, then raise. He calls and proceeds to muck his AJo when you turn over your 65s for the nuts.</p><p>Now, replay this same hand with you holding AA, playing all streets the same. Obviously while you don't make the absolute nuts on the river, the 2nd nuts is likely good. This is a prime advantage with LAG play, the inability of an opponent to put you on a specific hand or hands. Sure - they may be able to narrow the range but the possibility for your hand selections always keeps them guessing.</p><p>The case that I presented gave the preflop raiser a good draw and any donkey could continue with that, given proper odds (both pot and implied) are in play. However, say the LAG player misses the flop. Take the above example and substitute JTo as the hand you raised preflop. The normal betting proceeds on the flop (a standard continuation following a preflop raise). This time both the button and BB call the A74 board. A smart lag player is able to get away, either on the turn or on the river facing adversity. If the turn comes with the J this time, you may feel the need to continue, hoping that one of your 5 outs comes for improvement, or that you can bully the opponents into submission. A good LAG player is able to utilize position and opponent's tendencies to cause desired results - to acquire chips.<br /> Playing as the Tag-along</p><p>UTG 1 opens for 3x the BB and you find yourself on the button with J9s. You have some chips to play with and the raiser is deep enough to make it well worth your while should the flop hit. You call and the blinds fold. The flop comes out a ragged T73, with one of your suit. As expected, the preflop raiser tosses out a standard CB and you ponder for a moment, then call - 4 clean outs for the nuts, a backdoor flush draw and one over (which may be good). The turn brings a 2, giving you a 4-flush to go with your gut-shot draw. The preflop raiser puts out a tentative bet, about 40% of the pot, and you raise to 2.5x his bet. He tanks for a moment, folds and then complains in chat that his AK is never good. </p><p>Let's change up the hand a moment, but keep the other conditions the same ... same preflop raise, same position and you hand selection is 87s on the button. The ragged flop of T73 this time gives you middle pair and the preflop raiser again leads. You elect to raise to 2.5x his bet and he just calls. The turn comes off with an 8 (leaving a rainbow board) and the raiser leads again, obviously thinking he's good. You decide that your 2 pair is good and put him in ... he reluctantly calls his JJ and the river blanks. He curses you for being a lucky moron and spews chips for the next orbit as a result of tilt. </p><p>I'm sure Doyle Brunson has been called lucky more times than I can count in his years of playing. The LAG player creates opportunities for themselves by taking risks a TAG player will not. If in the above example the preflop raiser played back and 3-bet on the flop, a good LAG will easily make the appropriate laydown with the 87s, realizing that middle pair is no good. </p><p>As with any style or tactic in poker, experiment until it feels right. And try to concentrate more of the "lag" and less on the "tard".

Playing NL Live vs Online- Additional Thoughts

Monday, May 19, 2008, Chris Grove

1) When games do have a capped buyin, it's usually lower than you'd expect. For example, I was out in Vegas a few weeks ago and played no limit holdem at the Mirage. The game had 2 and 5 blinds and a max buyin of $300 - about $200 less than...Read more...

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*Text		<p>1) When games do have a capped buyin, it's usually lower than you'd expect. For example, I was out in Vegas a few weeks ago and played no limit holdem at the Mirage. The game had 2 and 5 blinds and a max buyin of $300 - about $200 less than I'm used to if I play the game online. When they did offer 5-10, the max buyin was $500 - half of what I'm used to. This change can seriously impact your game in subtle yet important ways - for example, make sure you adjust to the preflop implied odds shift this difference presents. If the capped buyin limit bothers you, just ask other players or dealers where a no max buyin game can be found, or just start calling around [the Mirage is actually great for that - they have phones scattered around the room; pick up the phone, dial O and the operator will connect you to any hotel in Vegas].</p><span></span><p>2) Player turnover is a lot lower in a live game. Online, people pop in and out of a game, but live players tend to stick around longer. Two impacts: first, you get know opponents better and they get know you better. Second, winners tend to stick around, so you're often walking into a table where the average stack may be 2-3 times the buyin, which also may cramp your usual style.</p><p>3) Watch your string bets, rookie. I see this happen at least once an hour when I play live - players say nothing, put some chips out in front of them and then reach back for more - a violation commonly referred to as a string bet because of the multiple trips back to the stack. The dealer informs them that only the original chips play. In a live limit game, this mistake might cost you a bet or two; in a NL game it can cost you significantly more. Just announce your intentions - say "raise" and the amount and you can go back to your stack as often as you like. If you do say an amount, remember that there is a distinction between raising to an amount and raising an additional amount. For instance, if someone bets $30 and you say "raise to $100″, you're actually only raising $70. If you want to raise $100 more, just say "$100 more" or "make it $130″. If you're the kind of person who simply has to stack up chips and play with them a bit before you raise, say "raise" and then start making your stacks behind your cards.</p><p>4) You have tells, and so do other people.</p><p>5) While this last piece of advice has been repeated over and over again, pots in NL can be so big that it's worth repeating again. Protect your cards at showdown. Don't throw your cards out to the middle of the table - place them in front of you with a chip or something on top. If your opponent says they have a certain hand, check their cards to see if they actually have it before you muck yours. Showdown is not the automated, infallible process you've become accustomed to online - dealers and other players make mistakes all the time [and some players will try to 'angle shoot' you out of a win if they think they can get you to muck]. Remember, when your cards hit the muck, they are dead, and no amount of whining or complaining is going to bring them back. Never release your cards until the pot is being pushed your way or you've seen someone else show a winning hand.</p>

When Can You Fold a Set In No Limit?

Monday, May 19, 2008, Chris Grove

Sets are your money hands in no limit hold em, bottom line. However, while holding a set usually means you end up with a win, there are some rare times when you might want to think twice about going to showdown. While these scenarios don't ...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Sets are your money hands in no limit hold em, bottom line. However, while holding a set usually means you end up with a win, there are some rare times when you might want to think twice about going to showdown. While these scenarios don't come up often, one wrong call in NL can cost you a week's worth of profit, so it's worth exploring some situations where you might have to toss your set. Note: when I say set, I'm referring to a pair in your hand and one of the same on the board, not one in your hand and a pair on the board. Anyhow, think twice about sticking it out if:</p><p>1) The obvious draw makes and someone is smart enough to bet it hard. Let's say you flop a set, bet, get a few callers, and a flush makes on the turn. Someone now bets out at you. You need to consider two things before you call. First, is this person capable of pulling off a bluff or semi bluff in this situation? Take what you know about the player and also check the board for likely semi bluffs. For instance, if you saw a board of:</p><p>Ad 10c 7c Jc</p><p>There's a decent chance that someone has two pair, aces up, with the ace of clubs for the nut flush draw, or possibly a pair, straight draw and flush draw [say they hold Kc 10h]. Especially if you're playing against a field of 2 or less, the big semi bluff is a possibility.</p><p>Now what if you can put your opponent on a flush with reasonable certainty? If you're pretty sure it's not a bluff, it comes down to a simple issue of odds, actual and implied. You're about 3-1 or better to fill up on the river, so if the pot lays you 3-1 on the call, no brainer. If the player overbets the pot severely, cutting your odds to sub 2-1, you now need to look at how much money your opponent still has left to pay you off if you hit. This calculation isn't as straightforward as the first, because you also need to factor in the likelihood that your opponent will part with the remainder of their stack [or a decent part of it]. If a player has cut your odds to sub 3-1 with their bet and doesn't have much more to give after the bet, or if you think the player is smart enough to get away from the flush when the river pairs the board, you should really think about laying it down.</p><p>2) Against a tight opponent: if you call a raise preflop from a tight opponent with, say, 99 and catch a set, beware if an ace or king hits - especially if the opponent check raises on the flop or comes back over the top of your raise. It is, of course, very difficult to put your opponent on a set, but you will run into those people who only raise preflop with AA or KK - and anytime a very meek player shows strength, it should make you pause. Of course this only applies if both of you still have a lot of money left after the first bets - if your opponent only has $80 more to throw into a $300 + pot, you are pretty much committed. But if you both have, say, $400 more in front, there are times, however rare, when you may have to decide that your set is no good.</p><p>3) Low set against a large field in an unraised pot: Again, this is a rare situation, but when you flop low set and you're staring at a ragged board such as:</p><p>2d 6h 10c</p><p>You have some serious thinking to do if you get a bet and a raise before you or a massive reraise or three bet off of your bet or raise. It's the three bet that should worry you most - that's a strong play on a board that has basically no available draws, no likely 2 pairs, etc. Yes, someone could've slowplayed a big pocket pair; yes, someone could just be trying to pick up the pot with A10 - but very few players have the guts to 3 bet without a monster. If you see two raises before the action even gets to you, or if your late position bet runs into a check raise AND a check re-raise, someone else probably has a higher set.</p><p>4) When an obvious draw makes on the river against a medium to large field: I'm of the opinion that your opponents shouldn't be seeing too many rivers against your sets, but if they do and the obvious draws make, you have to release.</p><p>Folding a set is rarely an easy move, and if you don't see a showdown you may always suspect you fell victim to a bluff. If you did, so be it. Just keep in mind that the stronger a hand is, the harder it is to fold - and the more money you'll lose if you can't let go when you should.</p>

Structured Decision-Making Preflop in Shorthanded No Limit

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, Chris Grove

Note: While the title suggests that this article is exclusively about shorthanded No Limit, the concepts addressed actually apply to all forms of the game, including full ring and even tournament play. Since shorthanded play is my primary g...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Note: While the title suggests that this article is exclusively about shorthanded No Limit, the concepts addressed actually apply to all forms of the game, including full ring and even tournament play. Since shorthanded play is my primary game, the following content will sometimes be most applicable to that form, but the article should still be generally useful to all no limit players.</p><p>One of the quickest ways to improve your expectation in No Limit Hold'em is to take a serious look at your preflop decisions. The folds, calls and raises you make at this stage inform every other decision you make throughout the rest of the hand, and a small leak preflop can easily explode into a cavernous hole on later streets.</p><p>The obvious way to analyze your preflop decisions is to break down starting hands into various groups (pocket pairs, suited connecters, etc) and map out what you tend to do with each group. You might find that you're limping too early too often with small connectors and getting punished with raises behind that you can't [or shouldn't] call. If you have a program like Poker Tracker and a bunch of hand histories, you can take this approach one step further and pore over a report that breaks down the performance of every starting hand from every position. This would probably yield some interesting results as well - you might find that you're better off limping with AQs-A10 than raising with them.</p><p>While both of those approaches are useful for plugging leaks, they don't really solve the core problem with your game so much as mask it. Poor preflop decisions are the result of a deeper flaw in your thinking about poker - overplaying KJ in middle position, for instance, reflects a more than a misunderstanding about how good of a hand KJ is. It also reflects a basic misunderstanding of the importance of position, the probability of superior hands being distributed to those players still to act, and so on. To put it simply, looking only to your results to improve your game is a bit like noticing that your bedroom floor is covered with rusty nails and heading for Walgreens to stock up on Band Aids and Neosporin. </p><p>The truth is, most preflop mistakes can be cleared up with a little structured investigation into your decision-making process (if you like quick tips like that, check out our Daily Poker Tips page). Basically, we want to stop asking what hands you play in a given position and start taking a closer look at why you would want to play hands in a given situation. For too many players, this line of thought begins and ends with a static evaluation of how 'good' a hand is. Ask a typical player why they folded Q8o to a preflop raise and they'll likely say something along the lines of: "It's a terrible hand." They may be right, but that doesn't make them correct. A better player might say something like "The raiser is a pretty tight player so I put them on an over pair, plus with so many people behind I just didn't feel like taking a shot with that hand." An even better player might reference all of those factors plus their image at the table and recent confrontations between themselves and the raiser. Point is, the better a player is, the more aware they are that the value of a hand has something to do with the ink on the cards, but a whole lot more to do with the total environment of the table ( and also in extra values like bonuses and poker tournaments overlay). It's just like diamonds - diamonds aren't valuable because of any intrinsic worth [like, say, oil is]; diamonds are valuable because of perceived scarcity, because of cultural significance, and because of clever PR and market manipulation by DeBeers to name a few factors. </p><p>Now our task should be a little clearer - we don't need to develop a rigid chart of hands we should or should not value [although such an approach works just fine for limit]. What we need is a system for assessing the value of any given hand at any given point. Luckily, it's a fairly easy system to articulate and implement. The toughest part of the whole deal is actually realizing that you need such a system in the first place. Consider this basic list of questions you should probably ask yourself when deciding how to act when facing a preflop raise. Even a general answer to each will give you a much stronger sense of how to correctly proceed in any given scenario:</p><p> 1. What does a preflop raise from this player mean?<br /> 2. How strong is my hand?<br /> 3. What kind of direct odds am I getting?<br /> 4. What kind of implied odds am I getting?<br /> 5. How many players are still left to act behind me?<br /> 6. How strong will my position for the rest of the hand be?</p><p>You can probably run down that list in about 10 seconds flat once you've gone through it a few times. Eventually, you'll consider all of those factors as a matter of habit, but try [assuming you're playing online] talking them through out loud for the first few sessions. Do it even when you're in a situation that you consider an auto-call or auto-fold. It will help to train you and you'll probably be surprised at how much that simple exercise will teach you about how you approach poker. Too simple for you, Captain I'm A Pro? Start breaking down individual items into sub-trees. For example:</p><p> What kind of implied odds am I getting?</p><p> 1. How deep are our stacks relative to the bet?<br /> 2. Is my call likely to motivate additional calls behind? How many?<br /> 3. Does the raiser always continuation bet? Sometimes? Rarely?<br /> 4. Does the raiser typically overcharge or undercharge draws when they hit a hand?<br /> 5. Can the raiser lay a hand down when the obvious draw makes?</p><p>Another benefit of asking these types of questions before every preflop action is that it sharpens your sense of the table and your place within it. For example, if the action gets to you without a raise, here's a quick drilldown of relevant factors that should inform your play:</p><p> 1. How strong is my hand?<br /> 2. What's my goal with this kind of hand - to steal, to build a pot, to trap, or to isolate a single opponent?<br /> 3. What kind of direct / implied odds am I getting?<br /> 4. What kind of impact will my play here have on my image as a whole?</p><p>You might find after a session or two that you're rarely answering the second question with "to steal" - indicating that you're not mixing up your preflop game enough and possibly missing out on some value with your big hands. Or maybe you're answering "to steal" way too often, meaning that you're sticking your neck out far more than necessary to generate the kind of action you need for optimal play. Either way, the forced reflection - a process you have to go through even before hands where it seems completely unnecessary - gives you a much more realistic picture of how your opponents are likely to act, how they probably view you, and how you should act as a result.</p><p>Notice my use of bold above. I don't just toss out boldings for my health. I know people are reading this and thinking "Yeah, yeah, I can see how that is a useful list if I have Q 10 o and I'm contemplating calling a minimum raise, but I'm not going to waste my time asking all of those questions when I have 8 3o in the BB and UTG goes all in for 220x the BB." Do me a favor, don't be one of those people. If you are, you're missing the point of this article entirely. The point is to identify and ingrain a process, a way of thinking, and the best way to do that is through repetitive application. The only way you're going to be able to process more nuanced questions is if the basic ones become second nature. For example, here's a quick list of factors to consider before you try to steal an unraised pot preflop:</p><p> 1. Who already limped and why?<br /> 2. Is there a short stack still to act behind you?<br /> 3. How loose are the blinds?<br /> 4. Is someone behind you likely to be on tilt from a recent hand?<br /> 5. How conservative / loose is your image?<br /> 6. How good is your position likely to be if you get called?<br /> 7. What kind of hand are you likely to be facing if you get called?</p><p>At most online sites, you simply don't have enough time to accurately answer the first few items, let alone the whole list [and you could probably add another 10 items to the list before you started getting ridiculous] - and this list is on top of the initial question or two you had to answer to even get to the point where you decided to steal. The only way you can hope to process this much information is to make it a habit. Additionally, you'll find out pretty quickly that asking some questions naturally leads you to ask more questions - so the repetition not only helps you to internalize the decision tree, but it is in fact is critical to building a quality tree in the first place.</p><p>Don't let the simplicity of the approach fool you - this type of structured decision making is a powerful and scalable tool that can completely change your game if you let it. Will you feel a little silly talking out loud to yourself? Sure. Get over it. Will it seem inane to drill down a list of 15 reasons why you're folding 73o UTG? You bet. Will you often be asking yourself questions you don't have great answers for? Absolutely - and that's the whole point, in many ways. Bad habits are often the result of unasked, not unanswered, questions - so start forcing yourself to consider the tough questions you've been ignoring. Unless, that is, you really have a thing for band-aids and Neosporin.</p>

Filtering Advice in No Limit Holdem

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, Chris Grove

At this point in the poker boom, most of your major chain bookstores have devoted at least a few shelves, if not an entire case, to the plethora of holdem strategy guides currently on the market. At the Barnes and Noble near me, for instanc...Read more...

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*Text		<p>At this point in the poker boom, most of your major chain bookstores have devoted at least a few shelves, if not an entire case, to the plethora of holdem strategy guides currently on the market. At the Barnes and Noble near me, for instance, poker has earned six shelves filled with a hundred titles, more or less.</p><p>One of the interesting aspects of this collection, and just about any collection of poker books, is the utter lack of texts devoted to No Limit Holdem cash games. You'll find plenty of books on limit, on no limit tournament play, and even a few titles devoted to Omaha and stud, but very few books that are completely devoted to NL ring.</p><p>One reason for this imbalance is certainly demand centered; tournament poker has fueled the television boom and limit is still the primary game spread by casino card rooms. So, on one hand, you might expect to see fewer books on No Limit ring simply because fewer players are asking for such books. On the other hand, no limit cash games are very popular online, so there is a base of players that want to learn. So why isn't anyone jumping in to teach?</p><p>The answer I've come up with is pretty simple, but also fairly instructive as to how you should filter any specific strategy advice you come across regarding no limit holdem. Simply put, no limit is context-specific to such a point that the broad majority of general advice is fairly useless. Unlike limit or tournament play where several external constants ensure a certain consistency in game play, no limit is a game of constantly shifting variables. For instance, if you're drawing to a flush against one opponent in limit, you know exactly how much you're going to pay to see the next card, and know within a reasonable amount how much you can expect to win if you make your flush. In a tournament, the finite nature of your chip stack and the certainty of increasing blinds ensures that some plays are fairly automatic.</p><p>No limit lacks just about all of these constants (one obvious exception is stack size, which can often control the direction of a hand completely), and the result is a game where proper strategy can shift wildly from hand to hand. As a result, attempting to generalize strategy for specific scenarios in no limit is a tough job at best. Take this simple question applied to limit and then no limit, and just how tough it is becomes even clearer: How should I handle flopping bottom two pair in position against a player betting into me? In limit, you only have three possible answers - call, raise or fold, and folding is a bit unusual. In no limit, you not only have some additional answers (due to the variable of raise size), but each of the answers has a broader set of consequences, each with an additional set of variables based on your opponent, table image, and so on. The point here is that answering the above question correctly for limit might take a few more questions and a bit of discussion, while answering the question correctly for no limit would take a great deal more investigation. More impressively, several scenarios in no limit, unlike tournament or limit, simply do not have a mathematically "correct" answer.</p><p>Now that I've taken about 5 minutes of your life establishing that no limit is, in fact, a different game than limit (gasp!), I'll try to wrap back around to the point of the article - how the knowledge of this difference should impact the way in which you consume no limit strategy advice. I'm going to drop down to some bullet points here in the hopes of speeding things along for you:</p><p>* First, you should be very wary of advice that claims to offer a 'one size fits all' approach to specific scenarios. If an article, book, or friend of yours says anything that begins along the lines of "Whenever I have a flush draw, I always ...", or "There's only one thing to do when you flop a set ...", you're probably getting bad advice. This is not to say that the advice given might not be valuable in certain scenarios, but anyone who thinks no limit should be approached so bluntly is, in my opinion, not thinking about the game correctly.</p><p>Second, you should always take general game play advice and run it through the set of variables that you have experienced directly. When you read general advice about, say, how to handle AK heads up when you miss the flop, think about the action the author suggests and how the people you play against every day would react. One example: do your usual opponents behave more passively? More aggressively? Why? A great way to learn about poker - whether it's live game play or <a href="http://www.parttimepoker.com/rakeback">online poker strategy</a> - is to compare what others suggest to what you actually do. In doing so, you'll often unearth a conceptual gap between the two that will force you to think about poker on a more theoretical level as opposed to a practical one - investigating why plays work instead of just being content to know which plays work.</p><p>Third, you should beware of these absolutist tendencies creeping into your own way of thinking about the game. I know plenty of players who have run into this wall, and have had several experiences myself where a lot of money was lost (or not made, same thing) because of this type of rigidity. Just because you won a monster pot slow playing a flopped flush on, say, <a href="http://www.parttimepoker.com/pokerstars-review">PokerStars</a> or Royal Vegas Poker once doesn't mean that's the right way to play a flopped flush - only that it was the right way to play that flopped flush at that particular point in time. I can't overstress that point. Don't make me try, it would be pretty boring for you and me both.</p><p>It's my opinion that no limit cash games are the most challenging form of holdem in a theoretical sense (with tournaments close behind). Several authors have taken up the task of sketching the broad outlines of correct strategy (my personal favorites are Brunson's Super System, Ciaffone and Rubens' No Limit and Pot Limit Poker and Harrington on Holdem which, while ostensibly a tournament strategy book, cross-applies well to ring), but the details are always going to be left to each player to complete as he or she sees fit. Hopefully knowing the limitations inherent in the advice of others will help you to fill in those details as profitably as possible.</p>

Modern Times

Friday, April 11, 2008, David Williams

The game of poker is constantly changing. The evolution of the way no limit holdem was played in the 70's 80's and 90's up through today is completely different. The game has seen its most dramatic changes in the past couple of years. T...Read more...

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*Text		<p>The game of poker is constantly changing. The evolution of the way no limit holdem was played in the 70's 80's and 90's up through today is completely different. The game has seen its most dramatic changes in the past couple of years. <br /><br /> The "Moneymaker effect" as some call it, began the influx of new players coming into the game. The increase in popularity of online poker, changed the game again sometime between 2004 and 2006, and in the past year or so, I would think you could heavily credit sites like Real Poker Training and online schools for making the next move into modern poker. <br /><br /> If you took a look at a solid poker players game 5 to 10 years ago, the player's minus a few who really "got it" like Doyle, Chip, Hellmuth, etc., the player's games were virtually all the same. Wait for the nuts, or close to it, and go up against someone else with the nuts, or close to it and the winner was the one who caught their card, or bluffed like they had it, and then the pot was decided. <br /><br /> Now, there are many moves, most of which derives from what live players call "the internet player" that all evolve from old moves, with a more aggressive approach. <br /><br /> Some of these moves are mentioned in training videos, or done without explanation, so I thought I'd go over a few in no particular order, and discuss how to use them effectively:<br /><br /><strong>Re-Steal counter moves: (Inducing the Squeeze play, Early Position: Convey Strength)</strong><br /><br /> One of the main moves that the aggressive online player has perfected has been the re-steal from the blinds. This move derives from knowing that a more experienced player will often try to win the blinds and ante's when he finds himself in late position in an un-opened pot. The blinds then pick up and this tendency and attempt to exploit it by re-raising from the blinds, and showing strength, while putting the original late position raiser to the test.<br /><br /> Two ways to counter this now widely popular move would be to:<br /><br /> A: Raise in early position with suited connectors or marginal hands more, to convey strength to your opponents, and follow though on the flop if you're called.<br /> B. Flat call in late position with a monster if the pot HAS been opened before you, to try and induce a blind to make the squeeze play at you. You can then trap the squeezer into a pot they might be committed to, and they likely have air. <br /><br /> Using these two variations of playing hands to an aggressive table likely to attempt re-steals can counter a modern move with a more modern move. <br /><br /> I will open light from early position now, just to change gears and vary my play, and I use the old thought process that early position raises equal strength to my advantage.<br /><br /><strong>Betting to be raised:</strong><br /><br /> Online, since you have the luxury of playing so many different stakes, you can get a feel for what the low-limit players will do, and in the same day, or even at the same time if you're into multi-tabling, play at a mid to high stakes table and get a feel for how they are playing as well. <br /><br /> I have found that what allot of low to mid limit players like to do when they are learning the finer points of how to properly be aggressive, is be recklessly aggressive. They are the players you often run into that try and take pots away from you at all times, whether it is via a three-barrel, or a seemingly well-timed check raise, etc., they love to put on the pressure, because they are incorrectly reading articles and advice on "be aggressive and you win at poker." I love when these types of articles and tips get filtered through, because for every person that reads them and gets out of them what they truly mean, there are five to ten others that assume that means to basically fire at will! That's how we make our money at the tables!<br /><br /> So, with this reckless aggression comes the need to try and fight for every pot, cash game or tournament. So my counter move to this is bet to induce a raise. <br /><br /> If I opened late with 99 and the flop comes 9-Q-4, chances are, if I bet strong, as I often do like to bet sets on the flop nowadays, then someone with a Q or a straight draw is going to call me, and everyone else will likely bow out. But in modern poker, If I bet 1/3 or the pot, instead of 75% to 80%, now all of a sudden Ace-high and pocket 7's feel the need to play sheriff and try and take this weak looking bet and make me pay for attempting to bluff them with it. Am I bluffing? Obviously not, but that is what the bet makes aggressive players think I guess. <br /><br /><strong>Overbetting the River:</strong><br /><br /> Similar to the under bet is the over bet. If you make an pot size or bigger bet on the river with a made hand, the players that are at the intermediate stage of their poker-learning often think to themselves "good players always talk about value betting the river with a good hand," or "wouldn't he want to bet an amount I could call if he held better than me?" Then you get the HERO call from the guy with Ace high or middle pair, who claims he wouldn't have folded if I bet less! If I bet less! This is the beauty of players that have just begun thinking about the game, because they haven't graduated to that higher level of thinking yet. <br /><br /> There is always a move for every move, and a counter for every counter move. That is what makes poker a game that you can truly never master. The game today might be different by tomorrow, so always try and think ahead so that your game doesn't get left behind.<br /><br /> Please visit <a href="http://www.realpokertraining.com" target="_blank"> Real Poker Training </a> for more articles.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>

When the Right Read(s)(s)(s) Go Wrong

Thursday, March 27, 2008, John Darr

Picture a 2-5NL game, no max buy, a semi-gate around the table, 8-10 people always watching, a few have MP3 players, including yours truly. The only players wearing sunglasses and hats are on the low limit games, seriously. Buy-ins at thi...Read more...

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*Text		<body> Picture a 2-5NL game, no max buy, a semi-gate around the table, 8-10 people always watching, a few have MP3 players, including yours truly. The only players wearing sunglasses and hats are on the low limit games, seriously. Buy-ins at this table are spread between $200 and $4,000. Typical stack comes in at $800. I'm sitting on $3,400. Night's been good. <br/><br/> This boniqua in the ten seat says to me: "Do I have any tells?"<br/> I shoot back: "What makes you think I would know that?"<br/> "Because you're the only one paying attention."<br/> So I laugh, "Yeah, you've got a few." <br/><br/> Last week at Caesars, I played 2-5 NL (no max buy) and my reads were at the highest level of my life. Sure, I still paid people off AND I was wrong a few times AND I bled a couple hundred on wrong calls and bad stabs. That's poker. When I pay someone off or make a bad stab, I remember what led me to think I was ahead or that he was weak and I reinterpret that information. I hope you've been 'swinging' too and I hope you're learning from your mistakes. <br/><br/> So, I'm playing in the biggest poker game in the casino, with a gallery of onlookers, and I'm the only player at a table of ten reading people with serious intent. The pros in that game usually rely on their ability to outplay the amateurs but I make up for my 'amateurness' with my ability to read. <br/><br/> Looking to gain an edge? Be THAT guy. <br/><br/> THAT guy who just folded and still stares at the players in the hand.<br/> THAT guy who gets up and walks to the other side of the table just to get a different view of what's going on and then rushes back to his seat before the next hand is dealt.<br/> THAT guy is scary because he always seems to know where everyone's at. <br/><br/> Most people try to 'read' when they're in a hand, staring down their opponent, slaving to remember the last situation they were in together. What about the last time your opponent was in a hand with ANYONE? How many times has he bought in? What chip tricks does he know and when does he do them. All of this information is out there, use it. <br/><br/> During the course of my 55 hours of NL play that week, I got my money all in a total of five times and I was deadly accurate on where my opponent(s) was/were - all five times. Five times I put more than $1,500 in the pot; five times when we flipped the cards over, I was well ahead; all five times I lost. <br/><br/> All said and done, I ended my poker binge last week $1,200 down but I believe it took one hell of solid play to lose ONLY that amount. <br/><br/> The pots totaled a bit more than $10K, and I don't know how I had the senility to keep getting it all in after suffering those beats - some horrendous, some reasonable. But I kept firing away and I kept trusting my reads, reads which I developed through some simple techniques. If you haven't already, consider reading my intro article on developing reads. I intended the next thing I wrote to pick up where that one left off, but I thought it paramount to share the story of one of my beats to illustrate what I'm looking for when I make my reads, what clues told me their cards, and to demonstrate that winning a hand takes more than a solid read. The next article will be more specific than this one, but here's a shot inside my mind during a hand. <br/><br/> <strong>The Sick One<br/></strong> Stakes: 2-5 NL, Full Ring<br/> Participants in hand and their stacks: Tourney ($1,800), Average Joe ($900), Myself ($5,100)<br/> <br/> First off, I watch everyone look at their cards before I do. This simple, unoriginal tip often goes ignored, even at this level. <br/><br/> In early position, Tourney makes it $25 to go. He'd already gone to the cage twice to re-buy, $800 each time. On one of his trips away from the table, I asked around and found out that he's a tournament player who just hit big when the series was in town, taking second in a big buy-in. He's young, not that tough an opponent, and plays cash games like tournaments - a big mistake. I'd seen him raise in early position quite a bit and usually fired out quickly when he wasn't that strong. How did I know that? He either showed down or folded to a strong bet on a bad board. <br/><br/> So, with his quickly executed raise, I immediately think Ace Big, maybe a pocket pair but not likely. Average Joe Calls the $25. Joe's an older man, nothing special about his game, pretty even keel. Does NOT like to gamble. <br/><br/> SIDE NOTE: Most old men don't gamble, I don't know why but that's what I've found. I once flopped a made flush against an older man who flopped top set. He bet pot ($15), I went all in for $300 more and he folded, showing the set. "A lot of hands beat me," he said. Back to this old man. <br/><br/> So with Joe's call I think medium pocket pair, probably 8s because there's still a large field behind him to act and he wants to see a flop, not sure if he's ahead of Tourney. He wouldn't call that bet with AQ or worse. If he thought he was ahead, I'm confident he would have re-raised. Since he just called, I knew he wanted to see a flop before committing any more money. <br/><br/> I'm next to act. I look down and see two black Queens, positive I have Joe crushed and am probably ahead of Tourney based on what I've seen from him. I want to take it down now and not risk seeing an ace on the flop. I look down the table and see players behind me doing what they do before they fold, some squeezing their cards, some staring hopelessly at them, others catching football scores on the TVs above. When someone's going to fold, they turn off the 'poker face' and start looking for something to hold their interest until the hand's over. That's a powerful read, knowing when there's weakness behind you, and it's a read opportunity most players don't exploit. <br/><br/> With all the distraction and indifference behind me, I know AA and KK aren't out there and I won't suffer a re-raise. I make it $100 total, confident I'm ahead of everyone. The table folds to Tourney who surprisingly calls. What calls that bet? AK he bets more than $25 early and most likely reraises me here, that's the way I think he thinks. He looks a bit 'ancy,' eyes open a bit wider and they're moving a bit more than normal, jumping around nervous-like and excited. My raise did something and he might be gambling here or eager to steal this big pot. Sometimes, I second guess my read, but it's best to go with the initial reaction, what strikes my mind first, that's usually the right read. His demeanor and my instincts tell me I'm ahead. Then the shocker, Average Joe auto-calls like he'd been priced in for $75 more. Now I'm confident Joe has a pocket pair. I know I'm ahead but I don't really know what kind of flop I want to see. <br/><br/> Flop: Qd 9d 5d <br/><br/> Bingo, top set. Only thing I'm afraid of is AK suited because $100 preflop is a large bet in this game and KJ suited/AX suited folds to that kind of action. As I said earlier, I know Tourney doesn't have the AK. And Tourney checks, Joe checks. I fire out pot-sized bet of $300. I try to know what I'm going to do before it gets to me and act quickly, I don't want to give them time to figure out where I am. <br/><br/> Without blinking an eye, Tourney flat calls, still looking nervous. Bells go off in my head. I immediately think he's got a set of 9s and I'm going to clean his clock, possibly slow playing KK preflop with the King of diamonds but not likely. He had to get a piece of this. Joe folds just as expected. <br/><br/> Turn: 4c <br/><br/> A blank! <br/><br/> Amazingly, Tourney fires out $500. My initial feeling is that his bet is made in haste, compulsive. Holy shiz. It becomes clear. He's got the ace of diamonds, no pair and he's representing, looking to steal a $600 pot. He wants to take it down now or see the river cheap and gain the role of aggressor in the hand. If I'm right I'm a monster favorite and WAY ahead. I go with my read and put him all in for another $900, thinking if I'm wrong, I've got a few outs and he simply can't call without a set or the made flush. <br/><br/> He quickly calls the 9 cold! I must have been wrong! <br/><br/> I ask, "You don't have a flush do you?" expecting to hear a 'yes.'<br/> "Not yet," he said, slamming down Ad Jh on the table, like he'd seen this one before, he just knew it was the nuts. That's tournament players for you. It's not real money, it's just a chance to get a stack and dominate the table. <br/><br/> For some reason, I was ahead but I was still terrified. This kid just put $1,400 in on a one card flush draw ON THE TURN. All in on the flop, Ok, maybe. But the turn? His whole plan was to steal; I knew it preflop and caught him on the turn when he pulled the trigger. <br/><br/> I show my set and the table gets silent. Everyone stands up, a poker phenomenon I don't understand. The gallery around the edges clamor to get to the railing. I hear "what does he have?" "How much is that pot?" "What was he thinking?" <br/><br/> I'm still in shock. I'd busted my a$$ all night to build this stack and I was going to be a big winner or near even. Come on river. <br/><br/> River: Jd <br/><br/> F'n four card flush. During the next hour, Tourney plays the big stack, bullies the table, draws out a few more times and then immediately racks out for $5,500. He was right where I put him the whole time and in retrospect, I could have bet more on the flop, like $600 instead of $300 (cutting his flush draw odds a bit), but an extremely solid poker player and friend told me "you want him to call. That pot bet was just tactics, not bad play." <br/><br/> Fair enough. <br/><br/> So back to that conversation with my boniqua-friend a few hours earlier. <br/><br/> So I laugh, "Yeah, you've got a few."<br/> "Well what are they," he asked?<br/> "I'll tell you one for $100."<br/> "What?"<br/> "That's cheap. It's already cost you at least five times that much."<br/> "Huh, how about $25."<br/> "$50, and if you don't think it's worth that price, keep the cash."<br/> "Deal."<br/> <br/><br/> I pull him aside and tell him that when he looks at his cards, if he intends on folding, he won't blink more than once, even if he's in the small blind and has to wait a decent amount of time. He simply will not blink, sometimes he'll shuffle his chips, sometimes he won't, but the key is the blink and when he doesn't, he folds. When he wants to play, he blinks at least twice and watches the other players make their bets, and when he holds a monster he doesn't control his blinking (usually 3 to 5 blinks) and then immediately begins shuffling chips, head down a bit, listening to the bets being made until it's his turn to act. <br/><br/> He peels off a $50 from the roll in his pocket, hands it to me and says "Jesus." </body>

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