MyPokerCorner.com » Texas Holdem

Making Smart Decisions in Poker Tournaments

MPC admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:35:49 +0000

There’s a lot of poker math involved in making smart decision in poker tournaments. The simplest calculations involved determining the size of a bet or counting your “outs”. Factoring your chip count or the chip counts of opponents in your decisions is important. Calculating pot odds, implied pot odds, or taking into account the independent chip model calculation and having to make all these analysis in a matter of seconds is simply difficult for a lot of people.

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Small Ball Poker Tournament Strategy

MPC admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:02:15 +0000

Small ball poker is a move which involves minimising the size of pots during a hand. It’s been heavily exploited in Daniel Negreanu’s Poker strategy and it reduces the risks of committing large chunks of your stack,(...)
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More Heads UP SNG Strategy

MPC admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:50:10 +0000

Heads up sit and go tournaments (SNGs) can be incredibly profitable but they are also difficult to master. Once you have a little poker experience under your belt, heads up SNGs are a good way to make money and improve your skills. Heads up poker is a high stress, high reward game.

The constantly rising blinds and difficulty of having to play the same opponent in every pot makes heads up SNGs intimidating to new players. If you take the time to learn them properly, you can make a lot of money. Anything that is difficult rewards those who work the hardest and tackle those challenges head-on.

If you’re new to poker, I wouldn’t recommend you jump straight in to heads-up SNGs. Poker itself is a complicated game as it is, and heads-up SNGs only make it even more complicated. But if you’re bound to play heads-up SNGs, you’ll be glad to know they are great for clearing poker bonuses and building the bankroll.(...)
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Heads Up SNG Strategy

MPC admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 11:59:34 +0000

In my experience Heads Up games are about outwitting, manipulating and ambushing your opponents. They are great for churning a good ROI because they give you the perfect opportunity to exploit weak players and use your own post-flop skills.

Unfortunately, there isn’t that much room for “normal” poker strategy because with only two players in the hand, you’ll be bluffing far more pots than you would in a 6 or 10 man table. The outcome is that they’ll be moderate swings throughout the games, but the game itself is decided in one or two “perfectly played” hands.

In terms of Variance, I would say it can become an issue if you only play 5 – 10 games, but anything above 20 games should give you some nice results.

Playing Style

Heads Up games are most profitable for loose aggressive players (LAGs) who can readily understand their opponents. (...)
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Rush Poker Strategy

MPC admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:21:37 +0000

Rush Poker is a new and exciting game introduced by Full Tilt Poker. In Rush Poker is the perfect game for the fast paced action junkie because of its unique concept. As soon as you fold a hand in Rush Poker, you are instantly moved to a new table a dealt a new hand. There is no waiting time, which is very appealing to a lot of players. You could be sitting at table A in seat 7, fold your hand and immediately move to table B and get dealt a new hand. Until your turn actually comes up on table A, no one from that table knows you actually folded your hand yet. Exciting isn’t it?

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Stealing the Button Position Advantage

MPC admin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:48:54 +0000

A lot of poker strategy concepts involve table position, and this one does as well. This particular poker strategy is easy to learn and can drastically improve your poker performance.

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5 Tips to Beat 10 player NL Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:38:59 +0000

Here are 5 great tips to help you beat 10nl Texas Holdem. If you are struggling to beat the 10nl Texas Holdem games then hopefully these top 5 tips will help you turning things around. A running theme when considering how to beat 10nl Texas Holdem is simplicity. Don’t try to get out of line, play solid ABC poker and include the tips below in your poker strategy repertoire.

Play a Tight Preflop Range

You are going to encounter a lot of fishy players on the 10nl Texas Holdem tables who are playing far too many hands to be profitable players. You are going to see players with stats which have big gaps between their VPIP and PFR all the time. These players are playing too many hands and the hands they are playing they are not playing aggressive enough. You can exploit this by playing a tight range of hands preflop. Superior hand selection should be enough to give you a good chance in these games. You want to be looking to play between a 15 and 18 VPIP with a gap of no more than 3 between your VPIP and PFR percentages.

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Winning NL Holdem Poker Cash Games

MPC admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:49:34 +0000

There’s a huge difference in poker cash games vs poker tournaments or SNGs: the blinds are fixed in NL Holdem cash games. That changes a lot of things in your poker strategy and if you’re consistently loosing money at the cash tables, you’re probably doing one or more of the following things:

Playing too many hands
Chasing cards when you don’t have pot odds
Bluffing to frequently
Playing higher limits than you should

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Short Stack Texas Hold'em Strategy

MPC admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:59:49 +0000

During any Texas Hold’em game, whether it be a cash game or tournament, there is always the possibility that you will become short-stacked and have a small amount of chips in relation to the blinds.

When you are in this short-stacked situation, your strategy and approach to the game should change in order for you to continue to make the most profitable plays. Even though you have fewer chips than other players at the table, it does not mean that you should resign yourself to defeat. Even as a short stack, you should still be able to play winning poker.

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Continuation Betting in No Limit Hold’em

MPC admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:33:54 +0000

Once you learn the basics of no limit Hold’em, such as how to play your preflop hands, the next topic to study is flop play. One of the most important moves you can make on the flop is to make a continuation bet after displaying preflop aggression. The continuation bet is an important play that shows continued strength on the flop, and can also win you many pots when you have nothing. Now, we’ll discuss what a continuation bet actually is.

Continuation bets are ½ to 1/3 pot sized bets made on the flop by a player who made a raise preflop. The best way to explain this is through an example:

Imagine you are playing a NLH cash table and have AK. You raise preflop, and one player calls your raise. On the flop, you make a bet of ½ to 1/3 the size of the pot. This flop bet would be called a continuation bet, because you are continuing your preflop aggression. There are basically two situations when you’ll use a continuation bet, and we’ll discuss both:

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Top 5 Texas Hold'em Tips

MPC admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:32:28 +0000

No Limit Texas Hold’em is easily the most popular poker game in the world, both live and online. Every live casino fills their poker room with Texas Hold’em tables, and every online poker site bases their marketing efforts on recruiting No Limit Hold’em players. If you decide to play poker, you’re likely to end up playing Hold’em, so we’ll provide you with some quick strategy tactics to help you beat the Hold’em tables. Here are our top 5 no limit Hold’em tips:

Texas Hold’em Tip #1 – Start out Small

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Basic Heads Up Texas Hold em Strategy

MPC admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:30:27 +0000

You can learn as much no limit Texas Hold em strategy as you like, but nothing fully prepares you for playing heads up Poker. The fact that you only have to worry about one opponent means that you are not going to be able to rely on basic Hold em strategy and mathematics to carry you through, as you now need to be able to outsmart your opponent to walk away from the table as the winner at the end of the day.

Even if you do not regularly play heads up Texas Hold em cash games, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the style of play, so that you can take the experience and use it to improve your overall game. Furthermore, if you are a tournament player, you should brush up on your heads up poker game as you will need it if you intend on finishing first more times than you finish second.

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Heads-Up Poker Strategy

MPC admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:23:08 +0000

A good Heads-Up poker strategy is not only needed if you want to make a lot of money in this form of Texas Holdem; it’s a great deal of fun to master. In Heads-Up poker, there are two players playing one-on-one poker. This might be a freeze-out tournament, or it may be the situation remaining when there are just two people left in a particular pot. As you might imagine, this can be intense, and it can be very much fun to watch–not to mention very educational for the poker student. Heads-Up poker strategy involves every aspect of the game of poker: The power of aggression; great bluffing; the importance of highly accurate pot-odds calculations; the skill with which excellent players mask their tells; knowing when to Texas fold’em!; understanding the probable winning hands; trapping…it’s all here. When Heads-Up poker situations arise or will be featured at the World Series of Poker, they are heavily promoted.

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Common Hold’em Misconceptions for Beginners

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:58:18 +0000

Texas Hold’em is a fun game that is easy to learn and very popular. Because of this, the game has been filled with throngs of new players both young and old who sometimes don’t understand the game to its fullest extent. That being said, it can take years to truly understand and master the game, and mastery is very elusive. This elementary taking to the game has been cause for some common misconceptions. It is best that you don’t buy into them if you really want to be successful at the game. This article will cover some of the common misconceptions about the game and the reasons you need to forget about them.

Poker Myth – My aces never win

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Good Poker Bluffs in Low Limit Holdem

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:57:13 +0000

Generally speaking, poker bluffs in low limit Texas Hold’em really isn’t all that necessary. While the absolute best players will use some deception and poker bluffs to increase profits, most players over use it, rendering it a horrible game decision. There are a few situations in low limit games that provide excellent opportunities to bluff. Next time you are playing Texas Hold’em, rather then simply trying to bully someone out of the pot with a bluff, look for the situations outlined below to make your attempts at deception truly profitable.

The whole table checks

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Low Stakes No Limit Hold'em – Completing The Small Blind

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:56:05 +0000

In this article we will discuss why you should “complete” from the small blind less often, and why it’s a major leak the bankroll of most low stakes cash game players.

Winning at low stakes no limit hold’em is tougher than a lot of poker players realize – the average low stakes game online is tougher than your local home game. Most online poker experts would agree that the skill level at Full Tilt .05 / .10 no limit full ring games are about as tough as a brick and mortar casino $1/$2 game, and many would argue that the online games are actually tougher. That said, the $1 / $2 no limit cash games at my local casino are very soft – so let’s discuss a crucial concept that can help you adapt and beat the low stakes online ring games.

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Turbo Sit and Go Strategy

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:54:11 +0000

If you like to live life in the fast lane then the Turbo Sit and Go (SNG) was tailored just for you. Offered at sites such as Full Tilt Poker, Turbo SNG’s are just like regular single table tournaments with the added excitement of shorter rounds. To be a long term winner at Turbo SNG’s requires changes to poker strategy. In fact, some of the tips that you’ve read in the older poker strategy books will have to be completely tossed out! We’ll dive into the reasons why later in this article.

Turbo Sit and Go Strategy

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Playing Flush Draws

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:51:02 +0000

Believe it or not, but as a poker player one of the things that frustrated me the most was to be on a flush draw. That’s because I played them wrong and I’d loose money on them. I was able to learn from my mistakes, and now I want to share the secret to successfully playing flush draws with you.

First, I have to tell you that I don’t play flush draws in a generic way, meaning I play them differently depending on what situation I am in. What I’d like to do is explain a few typical scenarios where people get caught up in there flush draws and make bad plays.

The first scenario is being faced with a raise when you have your flush draw. Let’s be honest, the odds that you will hit the flush draw are no in your favor. The first thing to do here is calculate pot odds. If you don’t know how that works, see this article on calculating pot odds. Now here’s what you need to consider:

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How to Play Ace-King When You Miss on the Flop

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:48:05 +0000

Here is a typical situation in a no limit poker tournament. You are dealt the best drawing starting hand, Ace-King. You raise and get one or more callers. The flop comes and it misses your hand, as there is no Ace or King on the flop.

What should you do when you have Ace King and you miss on the flop?

First, you need to realize that Ace King is a drawing hand. This means that your Ace-King hand needs to improve to be a made hand; a hand with at least one pair.

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Making Money in Bounty Poker Tournaments

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:44:18 +0000

Bounty tournaments, where you get paid to knock out other players, are getting more and more popular with online poker players. The top poker rooms are starting to offer this tournament format because players seem to love them. These tournaments are fun to play, and they require a different poker strategy than you would use in non bounty tournaments. I’d like to suggest a few tips that will make you money in bounty tournaments.

For the purposes of this article, I’ll use a 27 player bounty tournament with a $10+1 buy-in and where bounty prize pool is %50 of the buy-in fee. In this case, this means that each player is worth $5 in bounty and the remaining $5 of your buy-in goes towards the position prize pool.

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Questions and Answers with Mitchell Cogert

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:28:42 +0000

Mitchell Cogert is a successful strategist to Fortune 500 companies. His first poker book “Play Razz Poker to Win” was selected by PokerStars IntelliPoker to be translated and used on their international website. Mitchell has recently launched a brand new book called “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves” and it is simply awesome!

I recently read “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves” and I was very impressed with the quality of the information, and with Mitchell’s writing style. He writes in a way that keeps you interested and wanting more, which is difficult to do when writing about poker strategy (it is a dry subject after all!). Please pick up Mitchell’s book from Amazon.com today. It’s a quality product and it’s reasonably priced at $19.50.

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Texas Hold'em Starting Hands: Playing Rags

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:22:52 +0000

Most players know that the best way to start off in Texas Holdem is by playing premium cards. Hands where both cards are paired or are higher than ten are more appealing than other combinations. However, it is not uncommon to see players on television holding some very unusual hands. Is it ever okay to play two bad cards, or “rags”?

When Not to Play Rags in Poker

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Pair Odds in Texas Holdem Poker

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:45:54 +0000

Pairs in Texas holdem poker are good hands to get, and the bigger the pair, the better. However, just how good are they? Understanding the odds in Texas holdem with respect to pairs may give you a better understanding of the game and how to play those pairs when you get them.

Holding Aces in Texas Holdem Poker

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Analyzing Flop Structure In No-limit Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:43:51 +0000

No limit Texas hold’em is a complex game that requires a variety of strategies and decisions on every turn of a card. Each distinct betting round – from pre-flop to the flop, turn and river – requires thought and adjustments in order to make the proper decisions. And in Texas Holdem online, you’re decisions are solely based on betting and flop structure and not physical tells.

Some of today’s players found on various poker sites are afraid of the flop. They would be all too happy to end the hand pre-flop when they are dealt a pair, especially a high one. However to be a long-term successful player at no limit Texas hold’em you really do learn have to play flops. Part of learning to play flops is learning to analyze the structure of the flop.

Holdem Flop Structure

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Trouble Hands in Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:42:38 +0000

Just as there are many hands in Texas Holdem that will win you a lot of money, there are a number of deceptive hands that may lead you into believing that they are profitable when in real fact they will often lose you decent sums of money from your bankroll. The sooner that you learn about the hands that are costing you dearly, the sooner you can start saving yourself from losing money. This article will address the most common hands that novices play with and highlight the reasons as to why they can be dangerous hands to play.

Chasing a flush in Texas Holdem Poker

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The Squeeze Play in No Limit Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:40:11 +0000

Most tournament players these days know the name Dan Harrington. He is a World Series of Poker main event champion and a World Poker Tour champion. He has made the final table of the WSOP main event three times. He has also written some of the best books on no limit Texas Holdem tournaments around, collectively entitled “Harrington on Holdem.” In one of these volumes, he refers to a very useful tournament concept known as the squeeze play.

How Does the Squeeze Play Work in No Limit Holdem?

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Semi-Bluffing With A Flush Draw In No Limit Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:33:08 +0000

An important and vital weapon in the no-limit Texas holdem games is the semi-bluff. The most popular time to semi-bluff is when a player has a flush draw.

When used correctly, the semi-bluff with a flush draw can be a very effective tool. When overused, it can be costly. This is the subject of many poker strategy articles, including this one.

What is a Semi-Bluff with a Flush Draw?

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Bluffing to Cover up a Mistake

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:55:36 +0000

Bluffing is a tactic that is generally used in poker in order to represent strength so that your opponents will fold and you will win the pot. A good bluff is an intentional ploy that is often set up before the hands are even dealt out. However, sometimes an improvised bluff can get you out of a jam as well.

Mistakes in poker

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Texas Hold'em Strategy: Hand Selection

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:47:12 +0000

If you’re new to Texas holdem poker, having a keen grasp of some of the basic strategy elements of the game will help you compete with some of your more experienced opponents. One of the best ways to close the gap is by understanding the concept of hand selection.

Texas Hold’em Poker Hand Selection: Why Be Selective?

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Mastering Aggression in Texas Hold em

MPC admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:40:04 +0000

You may have heard it before: An aggressive player is a winning player. This is true in all forms of poker, but especially true in Texas hold em, particularly no-limit Texas hold em. This article talks about what is aggression, why is it so important, and how can you develop the aggression you need to become a winning poker player.

What is aggression in texas hold em poker?

Aggression essentially refers to how willing you are to initiate putting chips into the pot. A player who limps his or her way to the river, just calling any bet made, is not an aggressive player.

An aggressive player is one who wants to come out firing at all times, who would rather bet than check, would rather raise than call. He or she wants to dictate the action, not have it dictated to him or her.

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Reading Suggestion

MPC admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:24:09 +0000

A great book to pick up is Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play. This is the first of three books in this series and they are simply brilliant. It’s is comprehensive and complete and it will help you improve your poker game.

User reviews at amazon are very positive. Here are some of the things people are saying about this book:

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Bluffing In Limit Texas Holdem Poker

MPC admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:22:31 +0000

The art of the bluff, it is truly an art. Someone should frame and hang a proper bluff in a museum. It is ironic: That’s sort of how a player feels when someone has bluffed them. They feel framed, set up and bamboozled. However, that’s how the cookie crumbles, especially when dealing with a player who is familiar with the bluff.

The use of the bluff is more popular in No-Limit Texas Holdem because the bets are a lot higher compared to the pot size. A player is less likely to call a bluff will cost them all of their chips. In no-limit holdem, the bluff move is extremely important.

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Playing Hold em in a Casino for the First Time

MPC admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:04:30 +0000

While internet texas hold em poker is readily available to practically anyone, a lot of us don’t have easy access to an actual casino. Unfortunately, the concept of “distance” in our 3d world often prevents a lot of people from playing in a casino regularly. People like me who love Texas Holdem with a passion will eventually overcome the distance and play poker in a real Casino at some point in their lives. Trust me, it’s worth the trip! When you do make that trip, here are a few things you should know.

Sign up for the free membership card

All casinos offer some sort of reward program, and this program is offered at no cost to you. When ever you gamble at a machine, you slid your card in it it keeps track of how much you put in. When ever you sit at a table to play poker, blackjack, or any game, someone will take your card and keep track of how much cash you put down on the table. Overtime, you accumulate points that can be traded in for a surprisingly wide range of goods and services such as discount/free hotel rooms, free food, free limo service, tickets for shows, etc. Often, just by signing up, you get a discount on your room for your next visit, regardless of how much money you actually gambled. Casinos don’t make piles of money with hotel rooms, they make it when you gamble. Free or discounted rooms are a common strategy used by casinos to lure you back at a future date.

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Poker Books You Should Read

MPC admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:58:48 +0000

Occasionally, I’ll be recommending some quality reading material you should look into. My first pick is Phil Gordon’s Poker Box set, which is a must have for any poker player. The three books from this set are simply brilliant. You’ll get the following books:

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No limit Texas Hold'em: Playing the Pot Odd

MPC admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:53:47 +0000

While playing Texas Hold’em poker, you may have heard someone say “I don’t have a great hand, but I like the pot odds,” or “I love my draw, but I don’t have the odds to call.” If you don’t know what the phrase pot odds means, you need to learn right now if you are going to be successful in Texas No Limit Hold’em. If you do know, you should be thinking about how to put your knowledge into practice in your games.

Pot odds are the amount of money the pot is laying you if you win the hand. For example, if you are facing a $10 bet and there is $40 in the pot, you asked to risk $10 to win $40, giving you 40 to 10, or 4 to 1, pot odds. This means if you win this situation once every four times, you will break even, as you will put up your 10 four times for a total of -40, and win the 40 pot once for a total of +40.

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Strategy for Short Handed Turbo Sit and Go’s

MPC admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:40:42 +0000

Forget about everything you’ve read about general Texas Holdem strategies because when it comes to short handed turbo poker tournaments, it’s a whole different game. In this article, I want to teach you about playing a 6 person sit and go game (no limit). These types of games provide a good way to earn money steadily without putting too much of your poker bankroll at risk. To win these games, you have to apply reverse poker psychology.

What do I mean by reverse poker psychology? Well, in traditional games where the blinds go slow and when you have 10 opponents at the table, most websites will offer poker tips such as playing tight in early positions, to raise with strong hands, and to fold frequently. In a turbo setting with only 6 players at the table, things are different. With blinds going up every two minutes, you have to be aggressive.

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Short Handed No Limit Texas Hold'em

MPC admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:52:32 +0000

What is Short-handed? Simply put, it means that there are fewer players actively playing then there are spots at the table. For example, in a tournament where a table can normally accommodate 10 players, you may have situations where some players are moved to another table but not yet replaced by new players, some people are sitting out, and some people just lost all their chips. So you may end up facing 6 players for a few hands even if the table allows for 10 players. Read on to see how this impacts your poker strategy.

Tournament Play: Stack Size

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Heads Up Requires Patience

MPC admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:12:32 +0000

Playing head’s up against tight players can be challenging for a lot of us. I often see aggressive players loose to them because they don’t adapt to the style of their opponent. In this article, we’ll examine what aggressive player can do when facing a tight player in a heads up situation.

Tight players are easy to bluff. They are easy to push around. That in itself can be problematic in the sense that the aggressive player often scares them away too early and the pots won are not very significant. The aggressive player doesn’t get a lot of mileage out of his hands.

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Sit and Go Strategy: Avoiding Loose Play

MPC admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:11:11 +0000

In a sit-and-go, especially ones where the buy in is relatively low in comparison to your bankroll, it is tempting to play loose. After all, the whole point of a sit-and-go is to play right away. Folding hand after hand is never any fun and with the blinds so low to start, it’s tempting to take a shot with Q5 suited and see what happens. However, the reality is that this type of loose play is unlikely to win you more of your share of sit-and-gos. Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering playing loose.

Every Eliminated Player Increases Your Equity in a Sit-and-Go

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Flopping Two Pair in No Limit Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:08:39 +0000

Two pair is one of the trickiest hands to play in No Limit Texas Holdem. Amateurs tend to make one of two mistakes when it comes to two pair. They either highly overrate or highly underrate the value of their hand. The reason for this is that two pair in Texas No Limit Holdem is a hand that is both likely to be the best on the flop, and extremely vulnerable. Here are some examples to illustrate what this means.

Keep in mind that when we talk about flopping two pair in Texas No Limit Holdem poker we mean that both of your hole cards pair. If you hold 8 9 on a board of T T 9 you technically have two pair, but it is not a “true” two pair, since you share one of the pairs with all your opponents.
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Flopping Top Pair

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:01:09 +0000

A lot of new texas holdem poker players think top pair is a good hand and they often put to much money on that hand. Top pair is not a bad hand, but depending on the cards on the table, it may be worthless, even with a great kicker.

Reading the Board

Playing top pair is really about your ability to recognize a safe board from dangerous one. Pre-flop, the game plan is usually simple: Limp in or raise with a strong hand. After the flop, and when you have top pair, don’t get excited just yet. Take the time to look at what’s out there first.

Let’s say you had Jh-10d in your hand and the flop was Js-7h-6s. Although you have top pair, there are risks associated with this particular flop. First, someone could have a flush draw, someone could have two pairs, someone could have a straight draw, and someone could had trips. And of course, someone could have top pair with a better kicker. The more players that are involved in the hand, the greater the risks. If everyone was allowed to limp in, consider that it’s quite possible that opponents got a cheap flop with a bad hand, and that a band hand can actually turn out to be a pretty good hand with a flop such as this one. If a lot of people limped in, beware. If someone has a flush draw or a straight draw, beware.
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Pre-Flop Betting

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:50:46 +0000

In Texas Holdem, the first betting round is critical. This is where you get to decide if you’ll invest in a hand or not, and your play will contributes to your table image. This article will cover two main topics: how to interpret the bets of your opponents, and how to react accordingly.

Situation #1: With nine players at the table, you are in early position, meaning you are one of the first three individuals to act.

In this situation, you don’t get the opportunity to obtain much information from other players, but you get to give them information by checking or folding, by placing an opening bet, or by raising the stakes. What factors do you need to consider before making your decision? The more obvious factor is your cards, but that’s not the most critical factor. Start by considering blind levels, especially if you are playing a tournament/sit and go. You have to decide if you’ll try stealing the blinds on this hand or not. Early in the game, blinds are so small that they are not worth stealing. The amount of money you have to put at risk far outweighs the benefit you’ll get in return.

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No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker: How to Advertise

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:48:30 +0000

There are a couple of different scenarios you’ll find when you sit down to play No-Limit Texas Holdem. Much depends on your opponents. Sometimes, you just won’t have to get complicated. You’ll be sitting at a table with rank, unobservant amateurs, that hardly even know the Texas Hold em rules and plain-old solid, straightforward play will win. That’s it. Other times, though, you’ll have to rely on more sophisticated tactics. You’ll be up against experienced, observant, tough players and you’ll have to go the extra mile to trip them up.

One of the most effective ways to do this: Advertising.

What it is

What do you do when you want everyone to know about something? You advertise. Texas Holdem is no exception.

Advertising in Texas Holdem poker is simply making a play designed to give your opponents a false impression, so you can take advantage of it later.

What Do I Need to Know?

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Managing Your Poker Bankroll

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:46:44 +0000

This article is complementary to one of my previous article entitled Responsible Poker and Planning. I strongly urge you to read first as I will refer to it throughout this article.

From Poker Hobby to Poker Profits

When we first start playing poker, we usually just play for fun once in a while. We play online or with friends in home games, and we’re not that concern about money, and we tend to play low stake games when ever we feel like it. In essence, we play for the pleasure of playing. Some of us however do develop a passion for poker and realize that if we play our cards right, we can actually profit from poker. In fact, it can be so lucrative that some people quit their day jobs to play poker full time.

Establishing Your First Poker Brankroll

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Importance of Table Position

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:44:34 +0000

Table position is one of the most overlooked and underestimated parts of texas hold’em poker. I was stunned at the difference in my play when I first started taking position into account. Table position is basically where in the order of play your turn is. Why is it so important? Well one of the most basic examples of the importance of position comes in the game of baseball. The home team always has the advantage because they get to bat last.

Poker is no different. The later you are to act in the hand the more of an advantage you have because, you already know how most of the players at the table have acted, whether they have called, raised, or folded. Playing position can literally take you from a losing player to a marginally winning player, it is THAT IMPORTANT

Poker Starting Hand

The most important aspect of your position is in choosing your starting hands. When in early position you really want to be careful about the hands you get involved in, while in late position you can play a wider range of hands, and make more lucrative calls. Now your position is determined by your spot in relation to the dealer. Play goes clockwise from the dealer, so if you are 1 or 2 seats to the left of the dealer(the blinds), this is considered early position. If you are 1 or 2 seats to the right of the dealer, you are one of the last players to act, and thus are considered late position. Everything in between is considered middle position.

Opponent’s Player Position Matters

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Big Blind Play in Limit Hold 'em

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:43:15 +0000

In Limit Hold ‘em, the big blind is one of the toughest position to play. You’re out of position, and that’s never a good thing, but usually, you’ll be getting excellent odds to continue with the hand. Against a single opponent who has raised, you’ll be getting better than 3 to 1 and, in most hands, you’re no more than a 2 to 1 dog. The problem is, you’ll often find yourself going into the flop with shaky cards and, at that point, you’re sure to face some tough decisions.

Before I talk about some tricky situations that develop in the big blind, I want to note that you can make your life a little easier by folding some hands pre-flop. If you’re holding a medium Ace and you’re facing an early position raise from a player who you know plays only good cards up front, then fold. It may seem like you’re getting a nice price to continue, but in this spot, you’re only going to get into trouble. When you miss the flop completely, it’s going to be tough to continue and, if you hit an Ace, you may lose a lot to a hand that has you dominated. I’d rather play 6-7 against an early position raise from a tight player than A-7.

There are some hole cards that are just hopeless. If I’m facing a raise from any position and I find something like J-2, T-3, or 9-4. I’m going to surrender the hand.

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Playing in Loose Low Limit Holdem Games

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:33:55 +0000

When you start out playing Texas Holdem, you’ll probably begin playing at a low limit. Even if you have a large bankroll, it’s a good idea to start out playing at a limit fairly low relative to the amount you have, as it will give you a chance to get a feel for the game without mistakes becoming too costly.

What you may be surprised to find if you are new to Texas Holdem and have been studying principles for correct play, is that the games are often shockingly loose. A loose poker game is one where many opponents are seeing the flop, and opponents seem almost careless with their money. In fact, since the stakes are so low, this may often be the case.

What Does a Loose Texas Holdem Game Mean to You?

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Short Handed No-Limit Strategy – Unrestricted Buy-in Games

MPC admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:29:53 +0000

Short-handed no limit hold’em poker is considered by many players to be a dream come true. They get lots of action and can concentrate on beating just a few players, rather than having to focus on a full eight or nine opponents. A type of short-handed no limit Texas hold’em that can be extremely lucrative but also very dangerous is the unrestricted buy-in game.

An unrestricted buy-in game means that you can buy-in for as much money as you want. The level of the game is determined by the size of the blinds. You can play an unrestricted buy-in game with blinds of $1/$2 or with blinds of $10/$20, and sit down with the same $1000 in either game, if you so choose. These types of games are easy to find at most online poker sites, in both full ring game form and short-handed. These are two very different types of games though, with different strategies to keep in mind.

Play Lots of Hands

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Draws in Pot Limit Holdem

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:38:29 +0000

Pot limit holdem is a variation of Texas holdem with a betting structure that is a little different from the one you may be used to. Unlike in no limit holdem where you can bet all the chips you have on the table at any time, in pot limit holdem, you can only bet an amount up to what is in the pot. This calls for some slight variations in your Texas holdem strategy. One issue you will have to deal with in pot limit holdem games is how to handle draws.

A draw is a situation when you flop a hand that is close to becoming a flush or straight but is not quite there yet. For example, you have Ah 5h and the flop comes Kh 8h 3s. You have the nut flush draw, as any heart that does not pair the board will give you an unbeatable flush, although right now you have nothing. If you have the 9d Tc and the board comes Js Qd 4h, you have an open ended straight draw, as any of the four kings or four eights will give you a winning straight. Note that if the 8 comes you have the nut straight, but if the king comes you could still lose to AT.

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Small Blind Play in No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:36:29 +0000

Position play is a vital part of no limit Texas hold’em poker. Where you act in the hand will determine much of how you act. A position in no limit Texas hold’em where you are most vulnerable is when you are in the small blind, and you need to know how to play from the small blind to be successful.

What is the Small Blind?

In a game like seven card stud, the initial pot is built up by the presence of antes, forced bets that each player must put into the pot before the hand begins. In Texas hold’em, instead of antes, the action is driven by blinds, forced bets that players must put in to start the game. The first player to the left of the dealer puts in a set amount, usually equivalent to half a standard bet, and the player to his left puts in a full bet. This first player is called the small blind, the second player is the big blind. The action then starts with the first player to the left of the big blind, and goes around until it reaches the small blind, who may call a raise, complete the bet if there has been no raise, raise himself, or fold.

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Implied Pot Odds

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:35:07 +0000

A lot of poker players know about pot odds. If you are not familiar with the concept, please read our Calculating Pot Odds article. Fewer players know about implied pot odds so this article will explain what they are.

What are Implied Pot Odds?

Implied pot odds are similar to regular pot odds in the mathematical sense, with the exception that you add another variable in the formula. This new variable is the amount of bets you expect to win from your opponents. In other words, implied pot odds include what’s in the pot and what you bet right now, plus any future amounts that you think could be added following your action. To clarify, the implied pot odds is based on amount in the pot and the amount that you think you’ll win from your opponents should you hit your hand (compared to the bets required to play the hand).

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Playing Non Premium Hands in No Limit Texas Holdem Poker

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:17:42 +0000

If you’ve picked up a good book on Texas Holdem poker, you probably have read about the importance of playing premium hands. In limit games, you should try to play these types of hands almost exclusively, as it is often the case that the times you hit with weaker hands you cannot make the pot large enough to make up for all the times you miss with these types of hands. In no limit Texas Hold em poker however, there is a little more flexibility in the kinds of hands you can play, since the amount you can win when you hit a non-premium hand is limited only by the number of chips you have in front of you.

What Is a Non-Premium Hand?

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High Stakes No Limit Holdem – New Players

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:16:21 +0000

It may seem hard to believe now if you are a low to middle stakes no-limit Texas holdem player, but you may someday suddenly find yourself engaging in online poker or live casino poker battles at high stakes. Maybe you'll pull down a big tournament win, like Jamie Gold did when he won the main event of the 2006 WSOP. Or maybe you'll be cruising your favorite online poker site and realize that the best game available for you is the $25/$50 no-limit. Everyone is a new player at the high stakes poker table at one time or another. Here's what might happen when you are that new player.

You May Become a Target

There are usually so many low and middle stakes players in a game that nobody notices when a player has moved up to join them. However, at higher stakes, especially in live casinos, the player pools tend to be smaller. In addition, professionals at the high stakes games tend to want to stay out of each other's way and focus on the new blood. Either way, you may well be sized up by your opposition more carefully than ever before.

This does not mean you should expect that the other players are all going to try to run you over, although if your play is too tentative, this may happen. Many players at this level are professionals, and they understand there is more to beating a vulnerable opponent than simply rampant aggression.

Expect that your opponents may analyze your poker strategy carefully, looking for weaknesses and tendencies in your particular playing style that they can exploit. Whatever your style is, you will need to play in confidently, unpredictably, and be ready to make adjustments if things aren't working.

You May Feel Out of Place

If you've been playing at lower limits, playing for pots that are worth a small car or a year's rent may seem surreal. However, if you've arrived at the high stakes table honestly, by tracking your results until you are confident you are ready for the game, you should stick with it if your bankroll allows, even if you don't start winning right away. Once you know how much you are going to buy in for and how many rebuys you will allow yourself for that session, you need to stop thinking of the absolute value of the poker chips and think only of their value in the game. However, if you see real indicators that the game is too tough for you, there's no shame in dropping down to a more profitable level.

You May Be Tempted to Change Your Lifestyle

Big wins at high stakes poker games can literally be life changing money. Before you run out and spend it all, make sure the win reflects a legitimate win rate, and not a lucky streak. If you can really beat the high stakes game, you want to make sure your bankroll stays large enough to weather the inevitable swings that will come. Once you are confident in your win expectancy, it may be time to take a chunk of that money out of the poker economy and spend it on yourself.

How Table Position Affects Your Game (Part 2)

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:51:16 +0000

In part one of this article, I talked about playing in early position, now let’s look at how playing in a late position completely changes your game. I’ll base this article as if I was playing in the button position, which is the best table position you can be at. The button position is the seat immediately before the blinds. Let’s look at some plays you can make from this seat!

First, let’s get an understanding of why the button is considered to be best table position. Here are the benefits:

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Number of Players in Texas Hold'em No Limit Poker

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:49:37 +0000

One of the unique things about Texas Hold'em No Limit poker is that the game changes as you move from having a full table of players to 4 or 5 and then just one other player on the table. This variable changes the texture of the game of Texas Hold'em No Limit poker, and the style of play which you may wish to adopt.

Consider this: Take a deck of cards and deal them out face-up as if there are 10 players playing. Then deal the 5 community cards out. Observe that the strength of the cards required to win a round may tend to be a 5 card combination like a full house or a flush, and at the very least a two pair. Often, at least one or two players will have strong cards at the pre-flop stage like a pocket pair or two picture cards.

Compare this to dealing cards for 2 players and then dealing the 5 community cards. You may find any pair may be sufficient, or otherwise the round boils down to a high card. Having understood how this affects the texture of the game, here are just 3 examples of how best you may wish to deal with this variable in Texas Hold'em No Limit poker:

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Reading the Board Cards in Texas Hold'em

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:47:41 +0000

As a person starting out in Texas Hold’em No Limit poker, one of the best things you can do for yourself, whether playing live or online poker, is to learn to read your opponents and their cards.
The first step towards this may be to learn to read the community cards – the board cards that all players can see and use to make their best 5 out of 7 cards.

Indeed, when playing in online poker rooms where you cannot see your opponents, this is one of the best preliminary pieces of information you will have to decipher how your hand stacks up against your opponents.

Analysis of your Holdem Hole Cards

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No Limit Poker: Location, Location, Location

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:39:49 +0000

One of the best basic rules of Texas Hold'em No Limit poker you can learn is the principle of location. Essentially, he who acts last profits from the most amount of information. Information, you will find, is critical to your decision making in Texas Hold'em No Limit poker. As such it is advantageous indeed to be 'on the button' as they say, or to have the dealer button positioned on you as this means you are the last to act. This rule applies whether you are playing Texas Hold'em No Limit poker live or online at one of the many online poker rooms available on the internet.

Oftentimes, examples are the best way to illustrate the principle of location in Texas Hold'em No Limit poker. Here are just 3 of the best available examples we can provide to consider the benefits of location in Texas Hold'em No Limit poker:

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How Table Position Affects Your Game (Part 1)

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:35:31 +0000

Your table position alone constitutes an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on where you sit. Table position is a very important component of poker strategy. That means you should adjust your play style according to your table position. If you don’t, you’ll often throw away some money and that is not what you want to do. In this article, I will tell you about playing in first position. Part two of this article will cover the last positions.

The worse position you can find yourself in is the 1st position, immediately to the left of the big blind. This position is nicknamed “under the gun” and here’s why it’s a bad spot:

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How to Play Small Pairs Pre-flop in Early Position

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:31:07 +0000

Small pairs can really cause you headaches sometimes, but they can also turn out to be huge hands so ideally, you want to play them. They’re great for making three of a kind hands, and even full houses sometimes. When this happens, you can be very dangerous, and very sneaky! But what’s the best approach to play the small pairs? It’s all contextual play so there is not one absolute way. Let’s look at some possible scenarios.

In early position, there are really two options available for you. Well, three if you consider folding immediatly, but I won’t talk about that.

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What is your poker IQ?

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:28:31 +0000

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a well designed online poker test. If you have 20 minutes to kill and want to see where your stand, what your strengths and weaknesses are, take the time to do this test. It’s not the absolute truth, but the questions are well presented and you are provided with enough situation data to figure out the best answer for that context. The test will analyze your results and provided you with various analysis of your performance, such as the breakdown shown in the graph below.

A detailed explanation of each category from the above image is provided here.

Your test results are provided to you via e-mail. Try it out, it’s a lot of fun!

Click here to take the test

No Limit Holdem – Suited Connectors

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:21:56 +0000

Middle-stakes, no limit Texas holdem poker games, with blinds from around $2/$4 to $10/$20 and buy-ins typically ranging from one or two hundred to one or two thousand dollars, provide some great action and opportunities for poker success, both in live casinos and on poker sites. One type of hand that is very popular among middle-stakes, no limit holdem players is the suited connectors hand.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson, winner of two consecutive World Series of Poker main events and author of the seminal poker book Super/System, made small suited connectors famous. Suited connectors are consecutive cards of the same suit, such as Jd Td or 9c 8c. A small-suited connector hand would be one like 4h 5h or 5s 6s. Doyle and many other players like these kinds of hands because when they flop strongly, that strength is well disguised, and when they do not, the hand can be abandoned relatively cheaply. This can be extremely important in middle stakes no limit holdem game when the right flop can win you a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars on the spot from opponents who overplay their big cards. Here are a few things to remember about suited connectors.

Their Value Comes From Flopping Big Hands or Big Draws

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Short Handed No Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament Play: Stack Size

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:16:15 +0000

Short-handed situations come up quite frequently in no limit texas holdem tournaments both at online poker sites and in live poker games. You may be playing a short-handed no limit hold’em tournament to begin with, be in a Sit and Go that has lost a few players, or you may even, if you are skilled and fortunate, be at the final table of a multi-table tournament. In all of these cases, you will need to understand what your stack size means for the short-handed situation, as this is an important part of your overall texas holdem poker strategy.

Short-handed Tournament Play: Big Stack

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Draws in Middle Stakes No Limit Hold'em Poker

MPC admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:14:13 +0000

If you’re a no limit Texas holdem cash game player, it’s fairly likely that you’ve gotten involved in some middle stakes no limit poker games, where the blinds are usually anywhere from $2/$4 to $10/$20, and typical buy ins may be one or two hundred dollars or one or two thousand, depending on the player and situation. If you do play these types of games, you may have generated some thoughts about drawing hands, hands that have high straight or flush potential, such as As 5s or Jd Th. Here are some considerations to take into account about drawing hands in your middle stakes no limit Texas holdem poker games.

Should You Play Drawing Hands in Middle Stakes No Limit Holdem?

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Cash Games: Choosing the Right Poker Table

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:08:13 +0000

Once you’ve establish what game you want to play, and what stakes you’ll play, you have one more important decision to make: Which table to join. Let’s say you’re playing $5 – $10 no limit holdem and you have a choice of 20 tables you can join, which should you pick? Poker table selection is very important. There are things to consider and I’ll list them for you.

First, decide what your strategy is going to be. Are you looking to join an aggressive table so you can sit tight and try to double up against a risk taker with a big stack, or do you want to find a tight table were you can bluff and push people around?

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General Holdem Tournament Strategy

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:55:25 +0000

In this article, I will present general strategies you can use in big poker pournaments where there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of players, such as freeroll tournaments for example. These strategies apply to "normal pace" tournaments. By that, I mean a typical structure found in tournaments where the blinds start low, and the blind increments from level to level are not excessively steep. Also, the total time between level increases is average (10-12 minutes or so is common). These strategies do not apply to "turbo" tournaments where the blinds increase very quickly and by a lot.

Starting Strategy

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Straight Draws in No-Limit Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:31:18 +0000

One aspect of post-flop no-limit Texas holdem play is how to handle the straight draw. Straight draws can occur whether you limit yourself to only high cards or whether you frequently play unusual hands. The point is that when your straight draw comes, you need to know how to handle it.

What is a Straight Draw?

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Playing Big Unsuited Connectors

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:55:58 +0000

One kind of hand you have to consider in Texas Hold em is a hand with connecting cards. Connecting cards are consecutive cards like 9, T or J, Q, and their value comes in that they offer the best opportunity to make a straight. Hands with one gap like J, 9 or even two like T, 7 can also make a straight, but it is much harder for them to connect with the flop. For example on a flop of 4, 7, 8, a player holding 9, T has eight chances to make his straight, the four Sixes and the four Jacks, whereas the player with J, 9 can only make his straight with one of the four remaining Tens.

A big-card poker game

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The Right Time To Chase A Straight

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:52:52 +0000

Chasing straights and flush draws will BURN you… there’s no doubt about it. The term “chasing” means you stay in the hand… hoping to catch a certain card (or cards) that will complete your straight. The problem with chasing is that the ODDS ARE AGAINST YOU. And as you know, successful Texas Holdem poker is all about
keeping the odds in your favor.

This column is provided free of charge by www.RoyRounder.com

“Roy Rounder” is the pen name of a successful professional poker player and author. To skyrocket your Texas Holdem winnings, join his free newsletter. Just click here.

Sometimes chasing a straight IS the right thing to do.

SOMETIMES.

Let me explain…

First off, let’s look at the two different types of straight draws:

1. GUTSHOT – This is when you’re trying to make an INSIDE straight… like if you have 4-5-6-8 and you need the 7.

2. OPEN-ENDED – This is when TWO cards can “make” your straight… like if you have 4-5-6-7 and need EITHER the 3 or the 8.

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Betting out of Position – By Gus Hansen

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:46:14 +0000

Every Hold ‘em strategy guide talks about the importance of positional advantage. The standard thinking is that the player who acts last has more information than his opponents, so he’ll have a better sense of where he stands in a hand and can, therefore, make better decisions. There’s no doubt that this is true, but it’s important to understand that the power that comes with position is often granted to the late-position player by the early-position player.

To see what I mean, consider a pretty typical No-Limit hold ‘em hand. Say that I’m in the big blind with 7s-8s – a nice, flop-worthy hand. The player on the button raises to three times the big blind and I decide to call. Many players would check the flop under almost any circumstances. But, by checking, you give control to the late-position player. He can bet whether or not he has a hand, putting you in a tough spot if you don’t get a piece of the flop.

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Calculating Pot Odds

MPC admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:36:46 +0000

What are poker pot odds? To put it simply, it’s a formula that helps determine the ratio between the level of risk involved in a hand compared to the potential reward. Pot odds is something any serious Hold’em player should be familiar with because it helps you make critical decisions and it will improve your game. It expresses a ratio, like 4 to 1, between the size of the bet you need to call versus the total pot value based on increments of your bets. It may sound confusing, but it’s quite simple. I’ll show you how to calculate pot odds when you are playing heads up. And remember that this calculation method applies to all poker sites you play on.

An Example to Calculate Pot Odds

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General Betting Strategy

MPC admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:00:49 +0000

There’s nothing more important in Texas Hold’em than to make the right bet at the right time. That’s what the game is all about. Maybe you have the best hand, maybe you want to trap someone into raising you, maybe you have nothing. If you can’t make the right betting decision, it doesn’t matter. If you pick up two aces, and everyone at the table folds as a result of a bad bet on your behalf, then your two aces didn’t count for anything and were wasted. This article will provide you with guidelines on how you should bet when faced with certain situations. Remember:Texas Holdem strategy is very complex. It’s not as simple as a casino card game strategy, like let it ride poker strategy for instance.

What Should You Bet?

Normally, you determine the amount of your bet based on a ration between either the current value of the blinds, or the current pot size. Betting position will also influence your strategy. Normally, the first round of betting is based on the blinds, while the remaining betting rounds are based on pot size.

If you have nothing in your hands, and you are in a bad betting position, meaning you are one of the first players to place a bet before the majority of the remaining players, then you have a two decision to make: First, do you want to play this hand or not. Second, if I play do I want to bluff. Personally, I don’t like to bluff in this situation because the risks are greater, and the rewards isn’t that exciting.

In any Poker Games, Consider What You can Win and What You Can Loose

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Playing Head's Up

MPC admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:47:40 +0000

It’s down to you and another player. The only thing that separates you from victory is your opponent’s chips. No problem! Let’s get those chips!

Although the rules of Texas Hold’em stay the same when you play Heads Up, the way you play the game is much different. Heads up is the time where players will be most aggressive, and this happens for two reasons. First, only two players are left so an average hand when you’re playing against 8 people is a good hand when you’re playing against one. You can take greater risks because only one opponent can defeat you, if they dare to call you! You’ll find that a lot of hands are won at Head’s Up without any of he players having to show their cards. The second reason why aggressive play is important is because by the time you eliminate other players and reach a Head’s Up situation, the blinds are often costly, and they’re only going to get more expensive.

The ability to read your opponent is key when playing heads up. This is the part of the game where there’s usually more bluffs than real good hands so you want to know when to call, when to raise, when to go all in, and when to fold. How you play varies on the size of your stack, on the cost of the blinds, and on the play style of your opponent. A great place to play heads tournaments is at fulltiltpoker.com because of the good traffic this room has.

If you have the Big Stack: Use it!

Don’t let your opponent see a flop for free, no matter what you have in your hands. Always raise on the first betting round. Sometimes, you’ll raise with a hand to back it up, sometimes you’ll raise with a really bad hand. It doesn’t matter. Your opponent knows this. What your opponent doesn’t know however is when you have something and when you don’t. That is why it is imperative to consistently raise, and often raise in the same proportion based on the blinds. I usually like to open with a bet that is three times the amount of the Big Blind. So if the BB is 400, then I bet 1200. Now, your opponent must decide if they will call, fold, or raise. If they are playing super conservative, unless they have cards, they fold 90% of the times. That means you only win the opponent’s blinds. But with conservative players, the strategy is often to gradually take their chips. If you are playing with a supper aggressive player, they’ll often raise you back because they know you don’t have anything half the time. They’ll want to test your nerves. They’ll try to outbid you and steal your chips from you. These are the players you need to worry about the most because they are unpredictable. When they re-raise you, you can either fold, call, or re-raise. Depending on how far ahead you are in terms of chip counts, reraising the opponent by the size of the total pot will usually give the message that you are not fooling around. This puts the pressure back on the opponent. If they had tried to make a move on you, they’ll often fold at this stage. If they call, then they probably have a hand, but not a great hand. If your opponent had a great hand, they would have gone all in at this point. Reading your opponent is done by evaluating the betting patterns. If you’re leading by 5 to 1 or more, meaning you have five times the amount of chips your opponent has, then you can afford to be very aggressive. The worse that can happen is that you go all in and you double up your opponent. If you do, then you’re still in the lead, but you have a lot more work ahead of you. Keep in mind that when the opponent has a short stack, he’ll be more aggressive than usual, especially when the blinds are increasing.

If you have the Small Stack: Attack!

There’s only two ways you’re going to win this game. By bluffing or by having the best hand. If you are the short stack, you want to try and see some flops for free whenever you have a crappy starting hand. However, if you do pick up two nice cards, then raise right away. A good example of when you want to see a flop for free, or for very little, is if you have two suited connectors in your hand, like a 2 and 3 of spades. It doesn’t look like much now, but if you happen to get a straight or a flush on the flop, or at least the possibility of one, then your hand has the potential of causing serious damage. Time to bet! Start with a nice raise (3 times the BB or more) to see how your opponent reacts. There’s no point in going all in just yet. If your opponent folds, then you got some of their chips at least. If they call, then probably fishing for cards. If they re-raise, then they either have something, or they are using the power of the Big Stack to put some pressure on. If you have a descent hand already, then by all means call them down. If you think you have the wining hand, then go all in. If you have nothing, then fold or go all in. There’s no other option. You either give up now, or you fight to the end (and possibly die trying…). This decision is based on your ability to read your opponent. Remember that when you have the Small Stack, you’re only purpose is to double up which can only happen if you go all in. Don’t rely solely on luck. Go all in when you have cards to back it up, or if you feel like you can bluff and get away with it. Beware… If you over do the all in bluff, you’ll get called down eventually when your opponent has the hand to beat you. It’s a super risky tactic, but one that is important to consider any how. If you get to the point where your total stack is about 10 times the size of the blinds, then you’re really in bad shape and it’s time to double up or else the blinds will eat you up fast. As soon as you get an Ace, go all in. It doesn’t matter what the second card is. You probably want to consider going all in with a King-ten or King and something else higher then 10.

Aggressive Play in Texas Hold’em

MPC admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:40:07 +0000

There are many different styles of play when it comes to Texas Hold’em. I want to teach you a style that works quit well for me. Whether you are playing with your friends or playing online, this playing style works well for a lot of people and it doesn’t have anything to do with how aggressive you should play, but with when you should be aggressive. That is the key.

A common mistake in poker is using the wrong level of aggressiveness at the wrong time. A lot of beginners play too aggressively and think they can bluff anyone anytime, or they have zero aggressiveness and fold all the time. Sometimes, playing super aggressive is good, other times, conservative play is best. The key is to know when to switch gears. As a general rule, you gradually turn up the aggressive play when:

Players get eliminated from the table. If you want to "buy the pot" on a stone cold bluff, the odds that someone actually has a hand to call you (and to beat you) is much greater when there are more players at the table than when there are just 3 players left. Does that mean you should never be aggressive early in the game? Not at all. See the next situation.

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The Continuation Bet in No Limit Texas Holdem

MPC admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:14:19 +0000

The continuation bet in Texas holdem is a very popular bet. A continuation bet is when a player bets before the flop and then bets after the flop, regardless if they caught a good hand or not. It shows a commitment to the hand and forces other players who have nothing out of the hand.

The downside of a continuation bet is that it might not intimidate other players. It could lead to trouble, especially if it’s a technique a player often uses. The continuation bet is easy to isolate if other players are paying attention, and if they are bluffing, they may eventually falter because of its constant use.

As a Semi-Bluff

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