Here’s an archived hand that illustrates a key point from my Betting for Protection article. The idea is that you don’t have to worry about protecting against a draw if you expect your opponent to bluff very often when he misses his draw. Essentially your implied odds from catching bluffs … Read full post
Just posted a review of No Limits: The Fundamentals of No-Limit Holdem by Chris “Fox” Wallace and Adam Stemple. Here’s the gist of it:
As a book for small stakes cash game players, it’s not bad, but not bad isn’t good enough when it’s covering ground already tread by great … Read full post
Part trip report, part sequel to “Gray Friday“, “Three Days in Madrid” is my latest article for the Two Plus Two Poker Magazine:
… Read full postMy heart beat eagerly as my eyes scanned the waiting crowd at Madrid-Barajas Airport. It’s nice to know that, after nine hours of
My latest poker strategy article, “Having a Plan For a Hand“, is now appearing on Part Time Poker:
In this article, I want to consider a hand that at first glance may look like just a lucky flop against a bad player. In truth, however, I think the … Read full post
Found this sort of interesting hand while randomly perusing the database. I don’t know for sure that I would have folded to a turn barrel, but I think Villain definitely ought to bet, and if I know that he isn’t betting this, then folding 88h on the turn is easy:… Read full post
Dipping into the archives to bring you some poker content…
Villain and I were starting a game. He’s pretty solid and not someone I’d ordinarily go out of my way to play heads up, especially not at 2/4 where there’s easier competition available.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (2 handed) … Read full post
…but this guy managed. He almost got there, too:
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Button ($170.35)
Hero ($250)
BB ($1351.95)
UTG ($258.90)
MP ($456.15)
CO ($96.50)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7c, As, 5h, Ac.
UTG calls $1, MP raises to … Read full post
The day started well enough. My table couldn’t be called “soft”, but given the overall tough field, I imagine it was one of the more desirable tables. We were supposed to be playing 8-handed, but my table consisted of me, three primarily live players of varying skill, and three online … Read full post
I started the day with 30K, quickly ran it up to 80K, dropped back down to 40K, ran it up to 130K, dropped down as low as 36K, then quickly ran back up to 140K and finished the day with 127,200.
Despite the swings, it was actually a really boring … Read full post
Day got off to a good start: I made some big hands and won some big pots during levels 1 and 2 to go on break with about 50K. I’ll post more details after the event is over but basically I played a couple of pots in position against Carter … Read full post
Yesterday, I posted a few hands where I exploited Early Position raisers with transparent ranges. Here’s an example of of the kind of play you can make to combat players who try to exploit you in this way:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (8 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy … Read full post
I was tweating yesterday about some big folds that I made in my Sunday tournaments. At least one person expressed interest, so here are the two biggest.
Villain was 11/8, and I’d been reasonable to tight, though admittedly my Team Online avatar does seem to make people a little suspicious:… Read full post
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha High, $1.00 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
MP ($263.80)
CO ($250)
Button ($362.30)
SB ($264.20)
Hero ($250)
UTG ($166.90)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Ah, 4c, Ac, Tc.
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, CO raises to $5.2, Button calls $5.20, SB … Read full post
BTN and SB both seem fishy, not just because of their stacks but because they are respectively 100/20 and 55/9, albeit over small samples. I felt like they’d both have a lot of random crap and I could drive them out of the pot and get it heads up with … Read full post
Also, fold the river:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t80 (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
UTG (t1560)
MP (t3290)
CO (t6660)
Hero (t4198)
SB (t3839)
BB (t1453)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 7h, 9h.
3 folds, Hero raises to t160, SB raises to … Read full post
First hand is a very relevant bit of recent history:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Hero ($1153.70)
Button ($752.10)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Th, Jh.
Button raises to $12, Hero raises to $42, Button calls $30.
Flop: ($84) Qc, … Read full post
I’ve never really been a grinder, one of those online poker players who plays 10+ tables at once, cursor and attention whizzing from monitor to monitor so quickly that they have only seconds to think about they want to play any given hand. For me, 4 tables is common, and … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who played in the inaugural Thinking Poker cash game last night. We had our share of technical difficulties:
1. When I set the stakes at $.10/$.25 and 100-250BB buy-in, I somehow thought that would mean a $2.50-$6.25 buy-in range. Of course it’s actually 10x that, so we … Read full post
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
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
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
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
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
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
I was looking to check-raise flop. When he checked it back and the turn is a brick, he’s got a wide range but a narrow value range so it’s check-call, check-call.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6 BB (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
Button ($691.50)
Hero ($605.50)
Preflop: Hero … Read full post
Villain is clearly bluffing on the river- his line makes no sense with any strong hand except 44, and even that may not call a river shove (it’s a lot more plausible for me to check a set on the river than for him to do so, given that I … Read full post
My post from last night flubbed a simple equation badly enough that I felt the need to scrap it and start over from scratch. I’ve left the old post up for posterity’s sake and so people can see what not to do. Here’s what I should have said:
Blinds are … Read full post
Edit: As several commenters pointed out, I screwed this up in multiple ways. I’m getting ready to start up a session, but I’ll be making a new post with a corrected equation soon. In the meantime, you can disregard this post unless you’re curious to see whether you can spot … Read full post
I think this is one of the worst hands I’ve played in a while:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($646.60)
SB ($1000)
Hero (BB) ($1000)
UTG ($458)
MP ($2288.55)
CO ($1148)
Preflop: Hero is BB with K
, Q
2 … Read full post
Certainly an above average year in tournaments, with an FTOPS win, a WCOOP final table, a SCOOP final table bubble, and a top 100 finish in the WSOP Main Event. No room to complain about anything here. My true ROI is probably in the … Read full post
The last hand I posted touched on the concept of recognizing the best bluffing hand(s) in your range. Here’s another example:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com
SB (t32977)
BB (t8225)
UTG (t31597)
UTG+1 (t7626)
MP1 (t21893)
MP2 (t17250)
MP3 … Read full post
Might as well. I mean, I had blockers.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($1546.80)
SB ($3819.10)
BB ($1477.80)
Hero (UTG) ($1844.50)
MP ($1745.95)
CO ($2134.80)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8
, 8
Hero bets $24, 2 folds, … Read full post
Villain’s flop call out of position with a gutshot may look bad, but it actually illustrates an important point about deep-stacked NLHE: you must play in such a way that your opponent can never exclude nutted hands from your range. Otherwise, you are exploitable by bluffs such as the one … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG (t4465)
Hero (UTG+1) (t5220)
MP1 (t5035)
MP2 (t5865)
MP3 (t5000)
CO (t4955)
Button (t4460)
SB (t4970)
BB (t5030)
Hero’s M: 116.00
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 3
, 3
1 fold, … Read full post
I had some tough tables in the USA COOP main event, full of aggressive tournament regulars. There was a ton of raising 3-betting, and when one player got disconnected and was not around to defend his blind, sparks really flew. I happened to have the button when the disconnected player … Read full post
I had a bit of a read on Villain that he bet big with his monster hands and small when going for thin value. In deciding to turn my hand into a bluff, I didn’t give sufficient consideration to the fact that he really can’t raise many thin hands for … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, Joseph Cheong WSOP Final Table “Blow Up“, has just been published in the December 2010 issue of 2+2 Magazine. It’s an in-depth analysis of the complex factors at play in the infamous A7 vs. QQ hand, many of which have been overlooked by … Read full post
Villain tells me had 6d 4d, which seems plausible:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP ($7477)
CO ($2314)
Hero (Button) ($6720)
SB ($6379)
BB ($2207)
UTG ($9558.50)
Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
1 fold, MP bets … Read full post
A lot of players are torn about what to do when they know an opponent is frequently betting the flop without a hand. Is it better to float, or to bluff-raise? I’ve written a strategy article on the subject, but in the 1K FTOPS tonight, I had the chance to … Read full post
This wasn’t anything that I planned from the get-go. It was just that on each street, I kept feeling like he could be weak enough for an underbet to show a profit. I almost shoved the turn, and then I was like, “Screw it, 80% of what he folds to … Read full post
Before I became a serious poker player, I loved to watch poker on TV. Now, I can hardly stand it. I did watch a few episodes of this year’s WSOP broadcast, mostly from the days I expected to be on there and for the final table coverage. It’s clearly increased … Read full post
About 3 hours into today’s $300 6-max, I got moved to a table with two Pocket Fives superstars. One was to my immediate right, and one two seats to my left. We tangled in a few interesting spots, and while I definitely got the best of the one on my … Read full post
FWIW I shouldn’t have 3-bet this guy pre-flop because he rarely calls but often 4-bets and KQs isn’t quite so good that I’m happy about 3-bet-calling it (although I did after remembering who this guy was).
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com… Read full post
I witnessed this hand in weekly $1K on Stars. BTN underbets the river, SB tanks for a while and then check-raises about 75% of his stack, BTN snap-shoves, and SB folds. Now in all likelihood SB was bluffing, but I feel like he could fold some pretty strong hands like … Read full post
I’ve just finished reading and reviewing Harrington on Online Cash Games, certainly one of the most anticipated poker books of the year. Here’s the two-minute version:
… Read full postHOCG is the single best resource I’ve seen for anyone just starting out online or still learning to beat the microstakes games (i.e. stakes
As I predicted, my huge post-flop coin flip against David Baker made Tuesday’s ESPN broadcast.
I’m pretty happy with how I came off, though I wish I hadn’t been calling for cards. I don’t ordinarily do that, but when the cameras are on, I always feel like I need to … Read full post
Different opponent from yesterday’s hand, but similar situation where a guy is simultaneously pissing me off and making it very obvious that he doesn’t have the nuts. I contemplated floating, but this is a really good hand to just ship on him:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($424.85)
UTG+1 ($167)
MP1 ($435)
Hero (MP2) ($1165.50)
MP3 ($638.40)
CO ($753)
Button ($744.75)
SB ($606.60)
BB ($433)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, 5
3 folds, Hero bets $8, 4 … Read full post
Amidst all the excitement of the WCOOP Main Event yesterday, I also final tabled the $250 monthly tournament on Cake Poker. I wish I could say there were interesting hands, but honestly the structure is so bad that pretty much every pot I played consisted of me either min-raise-folding, min-raise-calling, … Read full post
It was a good table draw but a bad tournament for me. The only player I recognized from the start was Jason Strasser, who is of course very very good but was thankfully seated two to my right. Everyone else was solid enough but not spectacular.
The table was active … Read full post
After 14.5 hours, I managed to take 3rd out of 1066 runners in the $500 1 Rebuy 1 Add-on. It was a very very tough tournament from start to finish. I at least felt like I had a much more difficult time than in the FTOPS that I won. Of … Read full post
UTG and I have been together for a few orbits now. This is the third time he’s raised from this position, and he once showed down A8s (for the nut flush vs. my second nut flush, which amazingly didn’t cost me my stack), so I’m assuming his range is relatively … Read full post
Despite nearly 2000 runners, there was actually $44,000 of overlay in this one. Perhaps fewer people used their rebuy than Stars expected? I made a bit of a run, finishing 90th. I liked the structure on this one a lot. It felt deep the whole way but at least after … Read full post
Players were matched with our Round 5 opponents last night, so I had the chance to google my adversary. He looked to be a Pocket Fives guy who used to play some big MTT’s like the daily 100r and such but lately had been playing a lot $16 hyper-turbo sit … Read full post
We played four rounds today. The first one started at 13:00 and I finished a little before 20:00, though many tables were still playing for some time thereafter.
My first opponent was by far the toughest. He’s a regular with a in biggest NLHE games on Poker Stars, not as … Read full post
I wasn’t going to play the first $200 because it started so early in the day (10AM here on the West coast), and I knew today was already going to be a long day. But I happened to notice that it had over 8000 runners, making it essentially a Sunday … Read full post
(Sorry had trouble finding a converter for PLO8)
I mean I’m no expert but jeebus, guy cold calls a 3-bet out of position with AKT8 and then stacks off with top-pair, a gutshot, and a backdoor flush draw:
PokerStars Game #49366543208: Tournament #2010090013, $200+$15 USD Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit – … Read full post
Today was the $300 Antes Up WCOOP event, which I think is just a fantastic tournament structure. For those who don’t know, the blinds stay at 5/5 for the entire tournament, but the antes increase with each level. So like the stakes could be 5/5/120, with a pre-flop pot of … Read full post
From yesterday’s $300 6-max shootout WCOOP:
I’m curious how you all would handle this river. The table generally had been pretty aggressive pre-flop, and believe it or not I’d been pretty well behaved. Villain was the most aggressive 3-better, with a 3B% of about 10.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, … Read full post
Although we started with 325 BB’s, I managed to blow off my stack in just about an hour.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button (t7525)
Hero (SB) (t7834)
BB (t7303)
UTG (t7333)
UTG+1 (t7315)
MP1 (t7530)
MP2 (t7720)
MP3 (t7470)… Read full post
The second installment of my trip report from the main event of the 2010 World Series of Poker, covering Days 3 and 4, has just been published in the September issue of 2+2 Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:
… Read full postI came into Day 4 with a monster stack relative to the field.