Villain’s flop bet, representing 75% of the pot and about 15% of the effective stacks, puts me in an awkward spot with my whole range (and is therefore a good one). Actually, I can play good draws pretty easily by making a pot-committing raise, but with say one marginal pair … Read full post
I’d noticed but not paid much attention to the fact that Poker Stars is approaching its 40 billionth hand dealt and having a promotion where they award cash prizes to all players dealt into certain “milestone hands” along the way. Lo and behold, I happened to get dealt into one … Read full post
Many of will have heard of this guy Leatherass, who plays just an absurd number of tables for an absurd number of hours every day. He plays pretty big stakes, mostly 5/10 and 10/20, and while he’s not one of the better regulars, he probably makes more than just about … Read full post
Edit: Yeah, I’m an idiot. It was late when I posted this, and I did in fact calculate my pre-flop equity rather than my flop equity. I’m actually a 2:1 dog here, which is more what I expected. Thanks to qanda201 for pointing it out in the comments. I thought … Read full post
I played this guy bawaa heads up on a couple of tables the other day. He played well and it was a wild match, with me taking an early lead, then getting stuck 6-7 buy-ins, then clawing my way back to even. After more than 1000 hands, I was up … Read full post
I can’t say that I expected great things from the memoirs of a man who divided his life between the ranch, the pool table, and the poker table, and while it can’t be called great, Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People is a surprisingly enjoyable diversion.
From … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $8.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($816.20)
Hero (SB) ($2062.85)
BB ($2710)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A
, 6
1 fold, Hero bets $32, BB calls $24
Flop: ($64) 5
, 6, 5
(2 players)… Read full post
The thing about these professional short stackers is that they suck at playing post-flop. That’s why they buy-in short in the first place, after all. So my strategy is to make small pre-flop raises against their blinds. They win less when they shove on me, and if they really want … Read full post
This is a blatant example of a guy who is thinking about my hand and what he wants me to do but not about what I will be thinking or what his hand will look like to me:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool … Read full post
Edit: Sorry I didn’t have time to do commentary for this one when I posted it. I’ve added some discussion below.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($685)
BB ($768.15)
UTG ($2340.05)
MP ($673)
Button ($1457.95)
Preflop: Hero is SB … Read full post
The player that I ended up sucking out on yesterday was the reason I was sitting in this 40/80 game. I didn’t recognize his name, so I sat in and started playing a bit. It quickly became apparent that he was one of the most loose and aggressive players I’d … Read full post
At a cash table, anyway. I’m sure I’ve sucked out a few times at the WSOP in pots that were worth a lot more than this in equity.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $80.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($10690)
Hero (SB) ($14549)
BB ($25279)
UTG … Read full post
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 … Read full post
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 … Read full post
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 … Read full post
I posted the other day about a sexy river check-raise that resulted in my opponent abruptly quitting on me, up about a buyin and a half. He found me Sunday and we played two tables of heads up for 4-5 hours. Initially, I was owning him. He was opening 100% … Read full post
One month into 2010, it’s time to review my progress towards my Yearly Resolutions.
… Read full postGoal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games
I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at any real job I could get,
I was really blown away by The Onion’s tribute to Salinger. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen in their pages, and that’s saying something. Not only is the irony spot-on, but they mimic his writing style brilliantly as well:
… Read full postIn this big dramatic production
Sadly this guy quit me immediately after this hand, it was worth it though:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (BB) ($3284.50)
SB ($6929.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 10
SB bets $40, Hero raises to $160… Read full post
I believe I’m generally pretty good about not tilting, but for whatever reason some stuff was getting under my skin the other night. I felt like I’d been losing a lot of pots to bad luck, and though it’s hard for me to keep accurate track of how I’m doing … Read full post
Michael Craig’s The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of (at the time) the highest stakes poker game ever played. In search of a new challenge, banking prodigy Andy Beal challenges the best poker players in the world to play for stakes so … Read full post
Full Tilt Poker recently introduced some new small stakes tables in a format they call “Rush Poker”:
… Read full postAvailable exclusively at Full Tilt Poker, Rush Poker* is the ultimate high-speed poker experience.
This new poker format is designed to minimize your wait time between hands and keep you in the action.
When starting a session last night, I noticed that there were two 40/80 games going with several players whose names I did recognize. That’s usually a good sign, so I snatched up the last open seat at each and played a few hands while googling the unfamiliar screen names.
It … Read full post
Truthfully, I don’t think I played this very well, but the results are pretty cool!
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($1209)
MP ($1027)
Hero (CO) ($1302)
Button ($1490.75)
SB ($2925)
BB ($1748)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 6, … Read full post
I had the pleasure of playing with Liv Boeree in the 2008 WSOP, spent basically an entire day sitting on her immediate left. Poker media are generally pretty quick to promote anyone who can handle chips and has two X-chromosomes as both ravishing and a competent card player, and it’s … Read full post
Note Villain’s stack size. The river bet isn’t actually pot, it’s putting him all in for about $90.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($350.45)
MP ($1448.75)
Button ($1268)
SB ($845.25)
Hero (BB) ($1000)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 2… Read full post
No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (9 handed) – Hold’em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG+1 ($3450)
MP1 ($5000)
MP2 ($5422)
MP3 ($4925)
CO ($3521)
Button ($9048)
SB ($4750)
BB ($8768)
Hero (UTG) ($5763)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero calls $50, UTG+1 calls $50, 1 fold, … Read full post
Even after days when I’m totally immersed in poker, it’s pretty rare for me to dream about the game (or to remember those dreams, anyway). I’m sure it’s happened before, but I can’t recall any specific instances. I had two such dreams last night, though.
… Read full postIn the first, I raised
The controversial LA Gangland Bus Tours, which for $65 a head takes tourists on a two-hour bus tour of Watts and South-Central Los Angeles to visit sites significant to the history of street gangs in the US, is scheduled to give its first tour this morning. The tour, led by … Read full post
I’ve been vaguely aware of both the plot of The Blind Side (homeless black teenager from broken family is adopted by wealthy white family and goes on to play pro football) and the critiques of its racial politics for some time, and despite its unexpected box office success, I’ve had … Read full post
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
CO ($2077.75)
Button ($1181)
Hero (SB) ($2208)
BB ($1000)
UTG ($1015)
MP ($1491)
Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
1 fold, MP bets $30, 2 folds, Hero raises to $111, … Read full post
Here’s a few miscellaneous hands I made notes to post about. These first two were from my first night here, at $5/$10 NLHE, and the last one was from today in a pretty nitty $10/$25 game with a couple tough players.
River Check-Raise
Two limpers, I complete J6s in the … Read full post
45 runners in the $500 PLO8 today, and yours truly managed to final table it, finishing 8th (we were playing 8-handed) for a whopping $875. Also at the final table was my friend and fellow Poker Savvy Plus instructor Tom Chambers, who finished 4th after a series of gross suckouts … Read full post
100/200, very young kid in CO opens to 450, I call with Js 9s in SB, relatively bad German calls in the BB. Flop Q c Tc 5s. I consider leading out but decide to check, and we check it through. Turn is a blank, I bet 750, BB raises … Read full post
Playing in a pretty nitty 10/25 NL. UTG straddles for $50, gets two calls, I make it $275 to go with 7s 5s on my BB. Straddle folds, other two call. I’m playing about 7K, they both cover. Flop Qs 5d 5h. I bet $750, first player folds, the other … Read full post
After two hours of 5/10 NL this evening, I was up about $800. By my rough count, I’d voluntarily put money into the pot 16 times, won 13 of those pots, and saw exactly 1 showdown. I was going to leave at the next time collection, but then I played … Read full post
Ever since reading Tommy Angelo’s excellent Elements of Poker, I’ve been working on keeping calm and focused while playing live poker. This is no mean feat: the pace is glacial and the company grating. There are a million reasons to zone out, wander around, or get annoyed with someone. … Read full post
First hand of the day, I raise to 2500 UTG+2 with AKs. Older guy in the CO takes a minute to eye up my stack and think, then shoves some ridiculous amount like 35K. I’m pretty sure he has AQ, because of the hands he would monkey-ship, it’s the only … Read full post
Phil Fucking Ivey
Paul Carrillo
Stephen Baines
Lars Graf
Alan Complainsaw Kessler
Aaron Szerencses
Daniel Walter
Nam Le
Andrew Brokos
That’s right, I’ve got Phil Ivey on my immediate left. To be honest, I’m pretty excited to play with the guy, though I wish it weren’t in a 10K. At … Read full post
We started with 30K, I was up around 50K at my peak, had 30K with two hands left to go in the day. Got into a three-way all in holding 66 on a 5h6c8c vs. 74 and AcJc. The straight held, but I won a small sidepot against the flush … Read full post
I’ve always been impressed with the customer service at Poker Stars: the seed with which they respond to issues, the frequency with which they solicit and act upon player input from sites like 2+2, and their general willingness and creativity in addressing customer concerns. I don’t think their support has … Read full post
I’ve got myself a nice little room at the Atlantis Resort and Casino. I’m only on the third floor, so the view sucks, but I’ve got a little patio that’s large enough for a table and chairs, whichis kinda cool. The higher rooms just have a very tiny balcony.
I … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($500)
Button ($2080)
Hero (SB) ($2060)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 3, 5
1 fold, Hero bets $40, BB raises to $100, Hero calls $60
Flop: ($200) 6, … Read full post
I’ve been writing a lot lately about the importance of understanding how much equity your hand has against your opponent’s range, and a lot of people have quite reasonably asked how to figure that out at the table, when Poker Stove is unavailable or impractical. Thus, my January article for… Read full post
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves responsibly last night (and last year, for that matter), and that you are striding confidently forward into a new year.
Yesterday, I revisited my 2009 poker resolutions. Now, it’s time to make some new resolutions and set some new
Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games
This is my bread and butter game, and even if I don’t do anything to improve,
The more I think about it, the more I feel like this is one of the worst calls I’ve made in a long time:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($4423.50)
BB ($2026)
UTG ($2477)
MP ($2168.50)
Hero (Button) ($2000)
Preflop… Read full post
Feels like a good spot to me because it’s plausible that I’m giving up with some trash that I 3-bet, most of the hands that I could stack with a bet-bet-bet line will value bet for me anyway, and there’s a very plausible way for lesser hands to make something … Read full post
There was a rarity on Poker Stars on Sunday: substantial overlay in one of their major tournaments. They ended up contributing nearly $100,000 in overlay to reach the 40-seat guaranteed in the $700 PCA satellite. This hand occurred with 114 players remaining. The average stack was 20K, and I figured … Read full post
Let me say up front that I don’t think I played this particularly well. Nevertheless, I think there’s some interesting discussion to be had here.
This hand was from the Poker Stars $500 weekly. Villain is Roothlus, a very successful MTT pro who teaches at Poker X Factor and is … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (BB) ($5124.50)
SB ($6237.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 6
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40
Flop: ($120) 6, 7, 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $80… Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($1753)
SB ($1534)
Hero (BB) ($2003.25)
UTG ($1058.75)
MP ($1060)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, K
2 folds, Button bets $25, SB calls $20, Hero raises to $123, Button … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
CO ($2441)
Button ($2814)
SB ($4000)
Hero (BB) ($6186)
UTG ($2278.70)
MP ($630)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, K
4 folds, SB bets $40, Hero calls $20
Flop: ($80) 5… Read full post
This is a rare situation, so I can’t promise you’ll get a chance to use it, but it’s a fun brag:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP ($1000)
Hero (CO) ($1272)
Button ($1000)
SB ($1090.30)
BB ($1479)
UTG ($2129.15)
Preflop: … Read full post
A recent study finding tremendous academic gains for students participating in urban debate leagues has meant great things for the Boston Debate League, not only because of the impressive findings themselves, but because of the opportunity for publicity. Here’s a recent local news piece featuring compelling interviews with some … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($7800.50)
BB ($4029.50)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
Hero bets $60, BB raises to $220, Hero raises to $499, BB calls $279
Flop: ($998) 2, … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (4 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($594.25)
Button ($375)
SB ($711.25)
Hero (BB) ($2190)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 8
1 fold, Button bets $25, SB calls $20, Hero calls $15
Flop: ($75) K, … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($5294)
BB ($4588)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 5
Hero bets $60, BB calls $40
Flop: ($120) 9, 8, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $77… Read full post
We were looking for a place to stay last night in Estes Park, a resort town just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. During the summer, the place is apparently over run with tourist families, but in December it’s a ghost town and lodging prices plummet. After walking out on … Read full post
Happy Thanksgiving! I know I’m a few days late, but I do want to thank all of my readers, especially those of you who read and comment regularly. I generally enjoy blogging and am pretty sure that reviewing my thought processes publicly is helpful to my bottom line as well. … Read full post
As “The Poker Philosopher”, and in honor of one of my favorite non-poker blogs, I occasionally consider the ethical dimensions of a high-profile controversy in the poker community. In September, I discussed Joe Sebok’s decision to join Team Ultimate Bet. This month, I examine a $50,000 deal gone … Read full post
I feel like it’s been happening a lot recently (though sometimes it’s ended well.)
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
CO ($2000)
Button ($1189.50)
SB ($2014)
Hero (BB) ($2030)
UTG ($2429.50)
MP ($5521.95)
Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A… Read full post
This time on FTP, and there were only 110 runners. I busted in 7th on a kinda dumb shove:
Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 800/1600 Blinds (7 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB (t145518)
UTG (t15658)
MP1 (t38832)
MP2 (t32782)
CO (t31976)
Hero (Button) (t31765)
SB (t33469)
Hero’s … Read full post
There’s a $600 cap at this table, which is why there’s not betting after the flop.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($1591)
SB ($1561)
BB ($3733)
UTG ($5231.95)
Hero (MP) ($4163)
Preflop: Hero is MP with K, A… Read full post
I played a pretty long session at 40/80 over the weekend, definitely one of the longest I’ve played at such high stakes. It was a surprisingly tight game, with one guy who was not a fish but was noticeably weaker than the rest of us. But there really wasn’t a … Read full post
Edit: Fixed the title. Was thinking this was 3/6, not 4/8.
First, the appetizer:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $8.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($780)
Hero (BB) ($2215.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 9
SB bets $24, Hero calls $16
Flop… Read full post