The exciting (?) conclusion of my 2012 PCA Trip Report has just been published in the February issue of 2+2 Magazine. Regular readers of “What’s Your Play?” will recognize a few of the hands, but there’s plenty of new content for everyone, plus it turns out the Mizrachis’ mother … Read full post
Q: My understanding is that I should generally continuation bet a polarized range consisting of both bluffs and strong hands but check medium-strength hands for pot control. Sometimes I have difficulty determining which category my hand falls into. For example, if I raise in middle position, the BB calls, and … Read full post
I concluded last week’s “What’s Your Play?” by saying that, “I should have been more open to taking in new information and re-evaluating my plan,” since I’d just admitted to following through on a big semi-bluff despite obvious shows of strength from my opponent.
I also said that, in the … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who offered opinions on What’s Your Plan? Turned a Big Draw. I’m surprised that so many people zeroed right in on the two most important details of the hand and yet so few came up with what I believe to be the correct play.
Important Details
The … Read full post
This hand occurred about an hour and a half after last week’s WYP hand, against the same opponent. This time I’m the Hero and he’s the Villain. For those too lazy to look it up, here’s how I described him: “middle-aged recreational player, presumably aware that he sticks out … Read full post
As you know, I was the Villain from What’s Your Play? Busted Draw. As many of you deduced, I held KK with a spade. My opponent was kind enough to give up on the river and let me win the pot with a hand that, barring some really blatant … Read full post
I’m still in the US, which means no online poker, which means I’m still mining the PCA for WYP hands. This is one of those ones where I’m actually the Villain in the hand and we’ll look at it from my opponent’s perspective. So Hero is a middle-aged recreational player, … Read full post
I just published a review of one of the best and most advanced poker books I’ve encountered, the 3rd Edition of Andrew “BalugaWhale” Seidman’s Easy Game. It’s probably too advanced for your average recreational player, but if you want to be a serious competitor at no-limit hold ’em it’s … Read full post
Today’s question comes from a comment on last week’s “What’s Your Play?” The relevant details are that Hero is in the SB with AQs facing a raise from a loose-passive player in early position and a call from a possible scared money player in late position. It’s early in the … Read full post
The wait is over! I’m flattered by everyone who’s been asking about this. Part 1 of my PCA Trip Report is now appearing in 2+2 Magazine. Part 2 will be in next month’s magazine. Here’s a snippet from one of the more interesting hands I played:
… Read full postSaskatchewan limped UTG again,
Today’s mailbag question comes from a comment on the What’s Your Plan? Flopped Pair and Draw: Results post. It was a good question that I felt warranted a thorough response.
Q: Though honestly I agree with what you wrote I just wonder since “Villain is a young online MTT wizard: … Read full post
Judging from the number of comments, folks found this WYP less compelling than someone. That’s to your credit, because as many commenters advocated, I believe folding the flop is correct. Dangerhorse explains why:
… Read full postI would probably fold although the pot odds are enticing and your hand (a pair and a
Edit: Fixed the suit of card (c) so it doesn’t match what’s in Hero’s hand.
It’s Level 4 of the PCA. Hero is wearing his PokerStars Team Online patch, which in Villain’s eyes probably makes him a cash game grinder with minimal tournament experience. Villain is a young online MTT … Read full post
I took plenty of notes for a full write-up, but for now I’ll just say that we started with 30K and I finished with 38.5K. I think the average is between 50 and 60, and blinds will be 500/1000/100 on Monday, so I’m in OK shape. I had two other … Read full post
I was inundated with requests for reviews over the holidays, so I asked a friend if he’d be interested in taking one of them. Thus, the review for Nathan Williams’ Crushing the Micro-Stakes can be found on Gareth Chantler’s blog. If you read the comments here on Thinking Poker, … Read full post
To understand this week’s hand, you have to understand the psychology of a certain type of live player. I’m not the most experienced live player myself, but I do think I’m quite good at understanding what and how my opponents think, and I’ve encountered more than a few of … Read full post
Q: If you find time i want your opinion about a hand i played in a EPT side event with a pokerstars pro from Argentina (i don’t remember his name but he won the high roller event last year at EPT London i think)…
With 75/150 blinds and about … Read full post
This week’s WYP is based on a hand I witnessed during a rare live cash session at the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, West Virginia. Rare for me, that is- the Hollywood has a surprisingly large and active poker room.
Hero and Villain are both regulars at the casino but … Read full post
Sorry again for the error in my original What’s Your Plan? post. It certainly wasn’t deliberate, but in a weird way it did help to highlight one of the central points of this exercise, which is the significance of Villain’s pre-flop stats and our general read on him.
Most … Read full post
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (5 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB (t3023)
Hero (BB) (t3978)
UTG (t4344)
MP (t2230)
Button (t1910)
Hero’s M: 53.04
Preflop: Hero is BB with Q♥, K♠
1 fold, MP bets t100, 2 folds, Hero calls … Read full post
Villain had high Attempt to Steal and post-flop aggression. I debated 3-betting, since I’m well ahead of his pre-flop range, but I didn’t want to fold to a 4-bet, and I think getting it in pre is kinda light. It’s probably slightly +EV, but I hate giving away the advantage … Read full post
This week’s WYP didn’t prove too controversial, but it generated some good discussion nonetheless. I must say that I’m a little disappointed more of you weren’t tempted to make the same mistake I did:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($2845.40)
BB … Read full post
I tanked for a bit before calling this pre-flop, because it is a little light given our positions, but the dynamic was right. It wasn’t what I was going for, but when he checked the flop I realized that the tank-call may, in his eyes, increase the likelihood that I’m … Read full post
This hand occurred at a PokerStars deep table, meaning that the maximum buyin is $1500 and there’s an ante ($0.60 I believe) in addition to the blinds. I’ve never seen Villain before, but he seems both very aggressive and very good. He’s 36/21 with 8% 3-bet. I haven’t seen him … Read full post
I’ve now got three Thinking Poker Tournament Seminars under the belt, and they keep getting better every time. The next seminar will be held at 11AM Eastern time on Monday, December 19. The topic will be Advanced Flop Fundamentals, and it will take one of my most popular … Read full post
Thanks again for all the great comments on this week’s What’s Your Plan?. I was a little worried since the question was more open-ended than usual, but once again we had a lot of really though-provoking contributions. I actually write about this hand in some detail in the new … Read full post
I’m blown away by the number of responses Monday’s What’s Your Play? post received. It produced some great discussion that was instructive even for me, so a big thanks to all of you who commented. I know I didn’t interact with your comments as much as I usually do, but … Read full post
The next installment in the Thinking Poker Tournament Seminar series will be on Saturday, December 3rd, Noon-2 PM Eastern. The topic will be Playing Out of Position: Value Betting, Bluffing, and Getting to Showdown. Virtually all of the toughest spots in poker arise from playing out of position, … Read full post
Villain is a decent player on the tight side of TAG, 18/15 pre-flop with a 33% Fold to Flop Continuation Bet over a sample of about 200 hands. Don’t have much idea how he views Hero.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB … Read full post
On Monday, I posted a hand from the British Columbia Poker Championship in which I flopped top two pair in a three-way pot but saw heavy action in front me. It solicited a lot of interesting thoughts and comments. I’ll start by telling you what actually happened, and then I’ll … Read full post
Yesterday’s inaugural Thinking Poker Tournament Seminar was a great success. I think all the participants got a lot out of it, and I learned a few things that I can do to make future seminars even better. So thinking of future seminars, the next one will be on Tuesday, November … Read full post
Q: You were talking about a hand you played on Day 1 of the recent BCPC . You didn’t specifically say the blinds and stack sizes, but I can estimate them from your write-up and my guess is that the blinds were 100/200 (no ante?) with effective stacks about … Read full post
If you’ve been enjoying my BCPC trip reports, be sure to check out my write-up from the WSOP Europe, now appearing in 2+2 Magazine:
… Read full postLoose-aggressive play has become so common among the best players that many of them tend to assume that anyone who doesn’t open 50% of hands
I once final tabled a small-field, small buy-in PLO8 tournament at the PCA, but otherwise the final two tables was the closest I’d ever made it to a live final table. It was exciting to keep seeing (some of) the same people day after day, and to feel the envy … Read full post
Such a great day! Where to begin? My day actually started around 9:30. Emily was sick and needed some things from the grocery store, so I biked over to the Whole Foods (I told you we’re in the yuppy district!) before leaving for the casino. It was a beautiful morning. … Read full post
I was happy with my table, and the day got off to a great start. I was one of the two biggest stacks, the other one of whom was a young Asian kid in yellow hoodie and designer sunglasses who looked like he could be good. He handled his chips … Read full post
Emily and I arrived in Vancouver less than two days before my departure for Europe. I’ve been back for a little over a week now, so I’m just starting to get settled in. It seems like a very cool city: mild climate (for Canada- still chilly, but the notorious rain … Read full post
This is from the PokerStars $150 6-max Sunday tournament. People are often surprised by calls that I make out of the big blind when I’m getting very good odds. I don’t know how helpful it is when I say things like, “The more you feel that you have a skill … Read full post
One topic that I would appreciate some comments (and possibly something posted on the blog for discussion) are techniques for playing, in comparatively low-staked NL games, a flop of three suited cards. In particular, for those circumstances where there has not been a lot of pre-flop action, and you are … Read full post
I didn’t expect Villain to much Kx in his flatting range. Then again, I wouldn’t have expected him to flat the hand he showed up with, either, so maybe that’s a bad read. In any event, I felt I was in very good shape versus his betting range but a … Read full post
Edit: Fixed the flop in the Vanessa Rousso hand, I didn´t river a full house obviously.
Busted third to last hand of the night, been going back and forth a lot for the last half hour about whether I like my call, but we´ll get to that in a second. … Read full post
The conclusion of my 2011 WSOP main event trip report is now appearing in the October issue of 2+2 Magazine. We’re down to Day 6, and needless to say, things are starting to get tense:
“The last hand before a break, especially a dinner break, always means fireworks. Some … Read full post
I suppose my main event was a fitting end to the series and a paradigmatic WCOOP experience. In the early stages I plundered the satellite qualifiers, going on an early rush that made me chipleader with 1400 players remaining. Over time the table got tougher and tougher, with 3-bet pots … Read full post
This was one of the more frustrating events I played, probably because it came on the tail end of so many other frustrations. I played for nearly 7.5 hours and finished in something like 140th place with 108 paying. This is the hand that I went out on:
PokerStars No-Limit … Read full post
Sorry for the lack of posts on here. It’s just that I’ve been playing so much poker that when I’m finished I don’t feel like spending another half-hour at the computer putting together a blog post.
Also I haven’t done anything of great interest in any of the recent WCOOPs. … Read full post
Round 1
My first opponent was a guy I didn’t recognize from China. Before cards were even dealt, he typed “lololol pro so cool”. Based on that alone, I predicted that he was going to give me no credit and try to outplay me.
Picking up JJ on the first … Read full post
I don’t have much of interest to report from the other WCOOPs I’ve played recently, which were the $1K NLHE and the $500 NLHE Triple Shootout. I registered 2.5 hours late for the 8-Game but ended up running up a big stack almost immediately but running well in PLO, Triple … Read full post
I’m really upset at myself for spewing off my stack in the 4-max. It’s such a fun tournament, especially in the early stages when everyone is really deep and trying to play loose aggressive. Many otherwise good tournament players are just clueless about playing wide ranges super-deep and seem to … Read full post
I was really kicking ass in this thing, had twice-average stack of 150 BBs approaching the bubble, and then it all went to shit in about 25 hands. This was the first one that took a big chunk out of me:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 125 Ante … Read full post
I didn’t last too long in this one but ran one kind of interesting bluff that I ended up bailing on (which I think is the most interesting part):
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (MP3) (t9760)
CO (t9500)
Button … Read full post
I played so badly in the $265 that there weren’t even hands worth posting. Here are some interesting ones from the Second Chance, though.
The Villains in Hand 1 both have nitty pre-flop stats, so I think 7’s are extremely unlikely for either of them (not to mention that I’m … Read full post
Edit: Oh snap! I just saw that Villain in this hand went on to win the tournament! And it was his second WCOOP bracelet. Congratulations 2FLY2TILT!
I skipped the PL Draw event because I don’t know how to play that game, and I registered three hours into the Triple Stud … Read full post
I played all of today’s WCOOPs but only did anything notable in the $320 6-handed shootout. My starting table feature PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis, thankfully on my right, and four players I didn’t recognize. I’d been playing aggressively against Lex, generally with the best hand, and finally he’d had enough. … Read full post
It’s a clear and lovely evening here in Canmore, great for unwinding after a long day of poker.
I played both of the $200 WCOOP events today but didn’t last long in either. Honestly I consider that a fine result. The one thing I dread every time WCOOP rolls around … Read full post
The second installment of my trip report from the 2011 World Series of Poker main event is now appearing in the September edition of 2+2 Magazine. It covers my experiences on Days 3, 4, and 5:
… Read full postThere are people who are good at poker, and then there are people who
In a recent mailbag, I discussed the potential for exploiting players who size bets one way when they want to induce a raise and another when they don’t. I had the opportunity to take advantage of such a player last Sunday.
I’d already folded to re-raises twice this orbit, … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who commented on the latest What’s Your Play? If you haven’t already, please take a look at the original post and think about what you’d do before you read my thoughts and the results.
With Hero’s commanding chip lead and the fact that Villain is in 2nd/3rd … Read full post
I had a very frustrating 11th place finish in the $150 6-max today. Lost a huge coin flip. It’s a good thing that’s the last thing I was playing because it was the most frustrated I’ve let myself get in months. Anyway, here are two key hands.
CO was a … Read full post
Edit: Sorry, I made a significant typo when posting this. As many of you realized, the BB is actually 250K, not 500K.
With the WCOOP coming up in barely a week, here’s a “What’s Your Play?” that focuses on tournament play. This is a hand that occurred early at the … Read full post
Been playing some 8-game mix lately. I’m pretty sure the games are good but I am not so it all evens out! Here are two of the best hands I played yesterday (sorry for the lack of conversion):
PokerStars Game #66507871933: 8-Game (Hold’em Limit, $10/$20 USD) – 2011/08/24 22:27:27 MT … Read full post
There were tons of comments on the most recent “What’s Your Play?” post, which is awesome. I’m going to go ahead and post the results, but especially after seeing the comments I think it’s very close and I don’t mean to hold my play up as the best possible … Read full post
Hero and Villain are heads up on four tables at Villain’s request. Villain bought in short at all four but promised not to quit no matter how big his stack got, and he’s been true to his word. He’s not a professional but has proven surprisingly capable. He is playing … Read full post
Unfortunately I was the victim of this one. Honestly I don’t think his river call is too good. If diamonds miss, he can snap-call, but a huge chunk of my range just got there. It’s possible he didn’t think I would value bet a flush, but I absolutely would. The … Read full post
Q: I have a question about your article “The Last Bet“.
It is a very interesting article and I want to thank you for that and for your website. I read a lot of books about poker and learned a lot, but since I read your articles and … Read full post
Earlier this week I posted a new What’s Your Play, and now it’s time for the results and my analysis! First off thanks to everyone who commented, there were a lot of really interesting ideas and good questions, and I’m going to address a few of them here.
In … Read full post
First hand of the match, but both players are 5/10 regulars and each respects the other’s game. No history particularly relevant to this hand.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB ($2500)
SB ($2581.50)
Dealt to Hero: T♥ T♣
Preflop:
Hero bets … Read full post