Safety Bet

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($1082)
SB ($1982.50)
BB ($1084.25)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 7
Hero bets $25, SB raises to $90, 1 fold, Hero calls $65

Flop: ($190) K, … Read full post

The Horse Story (and New Blog)

horsebig1So I kind of have a second blog, though so far it’s mostly been my girlfriend posting to it so I haven’t really been promoting it as much as I should have. It’s nothing to do with poker but about our road trip/nomadic existence we’ve been living since August. Anyway, … Read full post

Two Final Tables!

Unfortunately, they were both in PLO8 events with fewer than 200 runners. But I was 5/135 in the $100 and 2/180 in the $200, so not too shabby, and it was fun. The heads up was interesting in the $200, the guy was playing $10/$20 PLO8 cash at the same … Read full post

I’m Off the Wagon

My tournaments results have been pretty good the last few months, culminating most recently in two PCA seats and a win in the FTP $300 Saturday 6-Max. I attribute this improvement to a disciplined effort to avoid bringing the aggressive play needed to win in high-stakes cash games over to … Read full post

Folding Out Draws

Cardplayer recently published a strategy interview with me that they titled “Folding Out Draws”. I think that title is actually a bit misleading, because it’s more about hand reading and going for thin value with a turn check-raise. But I think it’s a neat hand and I encourage you to … Read full post

Betting For Protection

The whole idea of betting for protection is one that I feel I am really only now starting to understand. Most people, when they first start playing, are way too concerned about protecting their hands. You see them overbetting and moving all in with one pair hands in spots where … Read full post

Whoops

andrewarchesI’ve been spending most of my time these last few weeks camping, most recently at an amazing site in Arches National Park, and emerging only occasionally to play poker and catch up with the outside world. Annoyingly, this means I’m often at the mercy of either a hotel internet connection … Read full post

The Merits of a Wide Range


PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (3 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($618)
SB ($1774.20)
BB ($690)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, K
Hero bets $15, SB calls $12, 1 fold

Flop: ($36) 2, A, 9 (2 players)
SB checks, … Read full post

On My Way to the PCA

“Super Satellite
Buy-In: $665.00/$35.00 USD
585 players
Total Prize Pool: $389025.00 USD
Target Tournament #201001051 Buy-In: $14130.00 USD
25 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started 2009/11/01 18:00:00 ET

Dear foucault82,

Congratulations – You have won a package for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) 2010 Main Event. The PCA is

Read full post

Halloween Stories

I overheard a pretty funny conversation today that reminded me of another funny Halloween incident from some years ago.

A Critical Difference

The child in this story is roughly 9 years old.

Father: How was your Halloween party today at school.

Son: Ummm, this girl Matilda, it looked like she … Read full post

The Old School: Oswald Jacoby on Poker

I like old poker books. It’s fun to see how people played, and talked about, the game decades ago. In “The Old School”, I share the best and worst from these antiquated tomes. Sometimes the strategy is laughable, sometimes it is surprisingly astute, but it always provides a unique insight Read full post

Brown v Board Monument

andrewatbrown2Driving through Topeka this morning, we stopped at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Landmark. Unlike the iconic Central High School in Little Rock, which we visited on a previous road trip, the physical location of the Brown landmark was not particularly significant. It was simply on the … Read full post

Advanced Bluff Induction

This isn’t going to work against a lot of opponents, but against very tough opponents, it’s essential:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP) ($4429.50)
CO ($7120)
Button ($2587)
SB ($4449.30)
BB ($4169)
UTG ($712.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP with … Read full post

The Flop Squeeze Play

$5/$10 NLHE 6-handed game. Villains have about $1000 each, I cover. MP opens to $35, BTN calls, I call 9h 7h in the BB.

Flop Ks 6h 2d. I check, MP bets $70 into $105 pot, BTN calls, I raise to $190, both fold. Why?

The logic here is very … Read full post

Quick Bit of Cryptic Advice

Most players handle the turn far worse than any other street. In particular, when the pot is getting large, even very good players tend to revert to level two thinking on the turn. They are making the play that they think is best given their hand versus your range, with … Read full post

Want to Run the Boston Marathon?

The Boston Marathon is the most prestigious and oldest continuously-run marathon in the entire world. Many people dream of running it, but participation is extremely limited and exclusive. The only way to get a spot is either to qualify with a world-class time in a different marathon or to … Read full post

Classic Made Hand -> Bluff

This one jumped out at me just because it’s kind of a paradigmatic case. I call a relatively innocuous flop against a guy who I don’t think will multi-barrel bluff well (against a good barreler folding flop is probably best). Turn and river bring two cards that may well give … Read full post

I 6-Outed Myself


If I don’t pick up showdown value on this river, I shove it. I doubt he calls 250BB on the river, but I’ve been wrong about such things before:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($8365.25)
BB ($3787.25)

Preflop: … Read full post

How I fold

You might not know it from reading this blog, but I make some big folds. The key for me is thinking about my whole range. If I can think of a few hands that I could have in this same spot, that I would have played the same way up … Read full post

The Poker Ethicist: Sebok Signs With UB

Edit: My girlfriend has just pointed out to me that, as a self-styled poker journalist, Sebok might well be held to a standard of journalistic ethics as well. In that light, endorsing a particular internet poker site might not be appropriate. But that’s beyond the scope of this article, as Read full post

Viffer… Wow

You may have seen David “Viffer” Peat on High Stakes Poker. He just sat down at one of my tables tonight and wrote this in the chat:

richreich: checks
Viffer said, “omg”
joe E scar: bets $120
Viffer said, “just  anyone in london”
foucault82: folds
loosefer: folds
richreich: calls $120… Read full post

Wow, I Got Owned

I really did not expect this guy to be capable of something like this. I’d been pounding on him a lot, on multiple tables, in and out of position, and he’d been backing down a lot. “Trapping” by slowplaying a big hand is exactly how I’d expect a guy like … Read full post

Online Poker is Rigged

Note to the inevitable idiot who finds this post via google: I’m not serious about online poker being rigged. But you can bet that this hand, which busted me in 18th in the FTP $1 Million Guarantee, got the rail speculating:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10000/20000 Blinds 2500 Ante … Read full post

Ooops… Double Up!

Villain here is pokerjamers, a pretty standard Pocket Fives donkamenteur hero:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 350/700 Blinds 85 Ante (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t40190)
Hero (Button) (t65575)
SB (t25644)
BB (t66189)
UTG (t192484)
MP (t67199)
Hero’s M: 42.04

Preflop: Hero is Button … Read full post

When the Best Hand Isn’t Good Enough

This was a pivotal hand from my third session against the same player I’ve mentioned in a few recent heads up hands I’ve posted.

He’d been 3-betting a fair bit this session, but not as much as he sometimes has. This was one of the first 4-bets I’d made this … Read full post

Bathroom Ethics Fail

Emily and I are currently camping in Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod. It’s a huge campground with hundreds of sites, and even past peak season it’s nearly at capacity. There just a few building with showers for the entire campground. The other night I visited one of them for … Read full post

Double Double

When trying to exploit a particular opponent, the most important question to ask yourself is, “What are the situations where his range is either tighter or wider than it ‘should’ be? When does he build pots with hands that don’t warrant such a show of strength?”

This is the same … Read full post

I Don’t Buy It

I had a real neat, deep-stacked heads up match going on two tables for several hours yesterday. I felt like we were very evenly matched, and indeed I got off to an early lead, eventually lost a 700BB pot with two pair vs. a turned flush in a four-bet pot … Read full post

OK to Slowplay

Edit: Made a mistake in the original post. Villain did not have two pair, he had Aces with a kicker that didn’t play.

$5/$10 NLHE, $1100 effective stacks. Action folds to a decent TAG regular in the SB, he opens to $30, I make it $90 with AJo, he makes … Read full post

Relative Happiness, Part 2

As I ended Part 1, my girlfriend and I had just driven home a virtually new car (2009 Subaru Forester with about 4000 miles on it), but we weren’t as happy/excited about this as I felt we should be. I was aware that a great many people in the world … Read full post

Nice Check Back

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3829.50)
BB ($1000)
Hero (UTG) ($4795.55)
MP ($1490)
Button ($2152.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $40, MP raises to $120, 3 folds, Hero calls $80

FlopRead full post

Just a Triple Barrel

The last two weeks have been pretty hectic (more on that soon), and I’ve barely played at all. Here’s the most interesting hand I could find without much effort from my “archives”:

No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Hold’em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($3183.65)
SB ($1679.40)
BB … Read full post

Largest Pot of My Career

…and it’s not even that close:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $80.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($19098.50)
Hero (UTG) ($16000)
MP ($16538.30)
Button ($16485)
SB ($15277)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, K
Hero bets $280, 2 folds, SB raises to Read full post

Not ALWAYS An Oxymoron

Particularly earlier in the year, running too many big bluffs in tournaments was a substantial leak of mine. I’ve made a concerted effort to confine the monster bluffs to the cash tables, and my tourney results have improved a bit. In the $300 rebuy 6-max FTOPS, though, I did pull … Read full post

Bluffing With the Second Nuts

Sounds crazy, right? What better hand would fold? Ah, but what about the same hand?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($3360.50)
Button ($1316)
SB ($1012.50)
BB ($2066.50)
Hero (UTG) ($2759.50)
MP ($608.40)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, … Read full post

SSNL Group Seminar Announcement

Tired of betting with decimal points? Stuck in a rut? Feel like you’re past due to get into the mid-stakes games and start earning some serious money?

Get high-end coaching on a small-stakes budget with my new SSNL Group Seminar.

I’m going to be conducting a series of seminars on … Read full post

PLOLOL8

Edit: On further reflection, I actually think his call is OK. He needs barely 33% equity, as he probably isn’t behind the SB caller, and my range is likely weighted towards the strong draws, against which he is a slight favorite, than the strong made hands that have him in … Read full post

I Got These Backwards

This is one of the biggest leaks that I’ve helped my students to find, and as these hands illustrate, it’s not something I’m immune to myself. I’m talking about choosing the wrong hands to defend against a possible bluff/semi-bluff when there are still cards to come. It is so much … Read full post

Psychotic Call

Guy was a decent player, if a bit of a LAGtard. This is a pretty bracingly bad call though. Honestly, I think every move he made after the open raise was a mistake:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($7751)… Read full post

Now That’s a Graph

nugloker

Evidently there was a glitch on Poker Stars heads up Sit-and-Go’s that enabled players to start a new game using the “Rematch” button even if they did not have sufficient funds in their accounts. What you see here is a small stakes grinder who figured this out and hit up … Read full post

Owned Hard

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($1027)
MP ($980)
CO ($1442.40)
Hero (Button) ($1471.25)
SB ($1000)
BB ($1336)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, J
UTG bets $35, MP calls $35, CO calls $35, Hero raises to $165Read full post

Guess That’s Why They Call It a DEALership

Emily and I were looking at used cars today, and though we weren’t even at the point of negotiating prices or anything, I found a few parellels to poker that I thought were interesting.

I should tell you about the guy we were dealing with first, because he was a … Read full post

New Book Review: Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ‘Em

Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ’em
by Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn

Professional No Limit Hold ‘Em, Volume 1 (PNLHE) is one of my all-time favorite poker books and the one that I recommend to anyone looking to get started to the game. I eagerly awaited the … Read full post

The Double Check-Raise

I used to be afraid of check-raising the flop in a spot like this. It felt like I was turning my hand into a bluff, because if he called, I wouldn’t know if it was with a Q or a draw or a worse pair or a total float. Then … Read full post

Tournament Stupidity

How not to play in the Sunday Million:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t9600)
Button (t10700)
Hero (SB) (t9850)
BB (t10000)
UTG (t10000)
UTG+1 (t10000)
MP1 (t10000)
MP2 (t9850)
MP3 (t10000)

Hero’s M: 131.33

Preflop: Hero is … Read full post

Just Do It

Some of you might remember a player named Jason Strasser, who in his day was one of the very best NLHE players online, at both cash and MTT’s. He dominated the 25/50 games and won a WCOOP event before largely quitting poker to become a Wall Street analyst or something … Read full post

River Check-Raise for Thin Value?

One of my students asked me about this hand today, and I thought it was pretty interesting. My first instinct was that the check-raise was thin but good. Q8 is pretty much the top of Hero’s range here, and this looks like such a weird line that I doubt Villain … Read full post

Calls That Get You Quit

Given the difficulty I’ve had recently getting heads up action, I’ve put some thought into how the risk of provoking a quit ought to factor into my decisions. It seems there are certain situations, usually winning or losing a big pot, that greatly increase the chances of an opponent quitting. … Read full post

How We Did

Thanks to everyone who commented on my recent post “You Tell Me: How’d We Do?“. I’ll address a couple of the great questions and comments here and share my own thoughts.

1. The pre-flop 3-bet. I’m certainly not doing this everytime I have J9s, but my 3-betting range … Read full post

Gates at the Top of the Range

By now, you’ve probably all heard about the arrest of prominent black academic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in his home by a Cambridge police officer. If you haven’t, or even if you have, I suggest reading the police report. The short version is that a neighbor called the police … Read full post

You Tell Me: How’d We Do?

Here’s a change of pace. Instead of telling you my reasoning and take on the hand (yet), I want to hear yours. What do you think of my play? What do you think of Villain’s? Obviously some streets will be more controversial than others, but I’m interested in anything and … Read full post

A Case of the Sundays

The tournament cold-deckings continue, with me busting the Sunday million set under set after accumulating an above average stack three hours in, losing a huge pot with set under set in the $500 WCOOP satellite (which had a remarkably small and tough field, hopefully that will change with time), and … Read full post