Archive for February 3rd, 2010

I’m a little late in mentioning this, but my latest poker strategy article, “Thinking Ahead”, is now appearing in the February issue of 2+2 Magazine. I’m a little frustrated that I couldn’t find a way to express myself quite as clearly as I would have liked, but I believe there’s some pretty valuable information in there if you take the time to digest it:

What many players do not fully appreciate, though, is the extent to which planning ahead can inform your ranges for the current decision point. In other words, players will ask, “What is the best plan for this hand?” when they ought to ask, “Given that I will sometimes check-fold, sometimes bluff the flop and then check-fold turn, and sometimes bluff by betting flop and shoving turn, with which hands should I execute each plan?”

I argue that the best planning doesn’t just make a plan for a hand; it chooses hands for a plan. This article will examine several examples to illustrate what exactly this means, why this kind of planning is valuable, and how you can integrate it into your game.

Please let me know what you think!

Yeah, a little sad that we have to ask directly, but Thinking Poker currently has a grand total of 19 friends on facebook, making us look bad in front of our close friends and family, who coincidentally, make up a good portion of that 19.

Please fan ThinkingPoker on Facebook so our friends and family don’t look at us so funny when we try to tell them how popular the site is.

To those of you who are already fans- thanks! Right now we haven’t been updating that page too much, but we’re thinking about doing a weekly update or so- how would you like us to use the facebook page? Do you appreciate updates, or do you usually keep up with the blog by making regular visits or following a feed?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($1274.50)
UTG ($955)
UTG+1 ($824)
MP1 ($1508)
MP2 ($1042)
CO ($1015)
Button ($1230)
SB ($490)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, K
2 folds, MP1 bets $20, 4 folds, Hero calls $10

Flop: ($45) 9, 4, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: ($45) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $30, MP1 raises to $120, Hero raises to $345, 1 fold

Total pot: $285 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, K.
Outcome: Hero won $282

Basically, I think he has something but rarely a flush. I like my hand for 3-betting because it has a lot of outs against his calling range but very little against his shoving range, which I expect to be flushes only. Thus, I can make a high-equity semi-bluff without risking a situation where I’m forced to fold away a lot of equity, since I think when he shoves my hand is not worth much anyway.