Villain was pretty disbelieving of me and wasn’t making a lot of what I call “disciplined folds”, meaning that in small- to medium-sized pots he usually called any time his hand was defined as medium-strength rather than trying to figure out my value bet vs. bluffing frequency. I also think … Read full post
Edit: Meant to add that there’s still room for a few more people in the league. You can join by searching Club ID # 312467 in the PokerStars Home Games lobby and entering “foucault” when prompted for an Invitation Code.
Thanks to everyone who played in yesterday’s inaugural Thinking Poker … Read full post
After my other adventures on Friday night, I decided to read for a while. I’m currently working on Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, but I didn’t want to exacerbate my already bad mood by immersing myself in a world of flea-ridden “soldiers” graphically scalping and getting scalped by Apaches, so … Read full post
I let a guy get under my skin and tilt me tonight, which I almost never do. We were at a $2/$4 deep-stacked table, and he was just relentlessly aggressive pre-flop, both in and out of position. He was cold 4-betting me, he was 3-betting me, he was 5-betting me, … Read full post
Edit: The buy-in for the tournament will be $5+$.50.
Second edit: The invite code is “foucault”, I’m told you need that join. Sorry for the confusion.
Third edit: Invite code is all lowercase.
I’m pleased to announce that I’m starting a Thinking Poker League on the new PokerStars Home Game … Read full post
A Hungarian poker site picked up on my recent post about money disappearing from my old UB account. Curious to see what they said, our Esteemed Webmistress ran it through Google Translate. Playing around with GT is always fun, and I especially like seeing what happens when you translate … Read full post
I’ve posted a lot lately about overbetting, so here’s a spot where overbetting with (functionally) the nuts would be a bad idea:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (8 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
SB ($696)
BB ($645)
UTG ($785.70)
UTG+1 ($493)
MP1 ($368.50)
MP2 ($201)
CO ($109.30)
Hero … Read full post
I had a deep run but ultimately a disappointing 15th place finish in last night’s $1000 Super Tuesday tournament on PokerStars, which performance they chronicled on their blog. I say “disappointing” not only because I went from 2/18 to out in 15th but also because I felt like I … Read full post
I recently had an experience with Ultimate Bet that can best be described as “shady”. I don’t feel that the evidence warrants accusing them of outright theft, so I’m just going to post a factual account of what happened and let people make up their own minds:
In 2007 and … Read full post
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
MP2 (t2650)
MP3 (t3048)
CO (t2775)
Button (t4909)
SB (t2070)
BB (t2715)
Hero (t2646)
UTG+1 (t3952)
MP1 (t6300)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with Kd, Ac.
Hero raises to t150, 4 folds, CO … Read full post
I folded the second nuts to a raise like this a few days ago, because there was no chance he didn’t have it, and got me thinking how cool it would be to do that as a bluff. Based on sizing, it’s unlikely Villain has the nuts here, so it … Read full post
Thanks to Short-Stacked Shamus for calling my attention to this fascinating article from a 1967 issue of Sports Illustrated. The writing is spectacular and evokes the atmosphere of the California cardrooms of half a century ago, doing justice to the article’s title, “Lowball in a Time Capsule”:
… Read full postIn Gardena, unlike
I’m going to be hosting (and hopefully playing! fingers crossed…) the final table of the $215 Poker Stars Sunday Warm-Up today. They tell me the final table should start somewhere around 20:00 server time (which is also US Eastern Standard Time). I’ll be hamming it up in the chat box, … Read full post
I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I just started using Table Ninja about two weeks ago, and I love it. I just published a full review, but here’s the bottom line:
… Read full post“Table Ninja is one of the very best poker tools I’ve found. Though
My girlfriend was kind enough to let me plan our Valentine’s Day around an interview with Mike and Adam. We spoke for a little over half an hour about all kinds of stuff: blogging, coaching, traveling, and of course strategy.
My only regret is with regard to the last question … Read full post
Sucks to check-fold rockets getting 3.5:1 but there’s just nothing I beat. Any worse hand has showdown value and checks back river, methinks
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
BB ($142)
UTG ($268)
MP ($173.50)
CO ($463.25)
Button ($406)
Hero ($402)
Preflop: Hero … Read full post
Villain was unknown to me and had pretty crazy stats for a 6-max game, like 57/32 or something. He floated a lot of flops and would fire the turn when in position, so I was originally looking to check-raise. The overbet threw me off, as I’d never seen him do … Read full post
Hi all sorry for the short notice but I’m going to be recording an interview for the 2+2 Pokercast tonight and I’d really appreciate any suggestions you have for topics we ought to discuss. Obviously we’ve got a lot of ideas already, but I’ve never gone wrong asking you all … Read full post
Sorry that I was slow in posting results and lax about responding to comments. Not only was I moving over the weekend (got a place in Boston for a few months- more on this soon), but I also took ill. In retrospect eating a pre-made tuna sandwich from a rest … Read full post
This hand is a good example of being aware of your own range and what your hand will look like to Villain. I had recently folded to a triple barrel from this same Villain, who generally exhibits very aggressive tendencies. I had no idea whether that history would make him … Read full post
Today I’ve got another variation on the “What’s Your Play?” theme. I’m going to give you the play, and you have to give me the range with which you would make it. Of course for the sake of discussion, please give us your reasoning as well.
Reads:
MP2 … Read full post
I’ve had an account at PokerStars for more than five years now, and though I don’t remember exactly when I created my avatar, Mr. Bananagrabber has been with me almost since the very beginning. Sadly, Arrested Development has been off the air for a few years now, and just as … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article in the 2+2 Magazine, entitled “Bluff Cooler“, introduces a new term to the poker lexicon:
… Read full postA “bluff cooler” would mean that a hand in your bluffing range runs into a hand in your opponent’s bluff-catching range. In other words, you have a hand
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Hero ($288.45)
BB ($99.70)
UTG ($238.20)
MP ($110.80)
Button ($250)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Qh, Kh, Jc, Ts.
2 folds, Button raises to $2.5, Hero raises to $9.5, 1 fold, Button … Read full post
Villain is an excellent NLHE player and surely competent enough to read my hand and play well in this spot. I feel like there are no just good options with my hand on a flop like this because it’s essentially face up.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $2 BB (5 handed) … Read full post
I think my line looks pretty damn strong here. Obviously it’s not going to work when Villain has trips himself, but I feel like he has a lot of TT-AA here as well (not to mention AK before he calls turn).
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (6 handed) Hand History … Read full post
First introduced in Harrington on Hold ‘Em, this play is an oldie but a goodie:
Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
BB (t3000)
UTG (t840)
Hero (t3359)
CO (t5965)
Button (t2950)
SB (t3205)
Preflop: Hero is MP … Read full post
In NLHE, I pretty much always choose to call rather than re-raise-get-it-in when I have position and suspect some sort of coinflip situation (overs vs. pair pre-flop, top pair vs. big draw on the flop, etc.). I figure that between position and superior skill, I ought to be able to … Read full post