Here’s the deal.

Large No Limit tournament. $50 buy in, with more than half the field gone.

Dealt to me, and I limp in for 100. K Q

Here’s the flop… T Q 3 $200 in the pot plus blinds.

I have top pair, plus a good kicker. I bet $450. The other single player in the game calls. I figure he has a flush draw, and doesn’t understand pot odds.

The turn is 9 .

Possible straight on the board at this point. I go all in because I think I have it. He didn’t call my $450 on a straight draw, given the flop. I didn’t think so, anyway.

He calls my “all in.”

River… 2 .

What’s he have in the hole??? T 9 .

His 2 pair took my entire stack. Why? I started the hand with $1515. He started the hand with $5500.

Why did this happen? IMO, it’s because he could afford to take the risk. Lesson: A big stack will call some crap on you, just to see what happens. In this case, his crap happened. Would I play that hand differerently? Probably not.

Posted by as admin at 3:40 AM UTC

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First of all, you must have an understanding of pot odds before you even care about implied odds.

Here’s a quick example of implied odds.

You’re dealt 6 6 .

No Limit Game. You’re in a late position. There are two raises ahead of you. Let’s say it’s the first hand. Two people raise for 125 chips. Since you’re in a late position, you run little risk of that getting pumped higher. Do you call? Maybe.

You’re likely beat by one of those raisers, already.

If you run little risk of the pot being inflated, here’s why you call. Your chances of flopping the set are roughly 1 in 8.

Your dream flop is a 6 4 . Why? You just flopped your set. One of the raisers also probably hit their ace. So, you have an opportunity to take their entire stack, or possibly 2 entire stacks.

That is one thing people talk about when they talk about implied odds. If you hit, you have a much bigger payoff, bigger than the 8-1. If you don’t flop your set, and have nothing else, exit at your first opportunity. This is also something you shouldn’t do when you feel the pot might get inflated. You don’t want to be in a 3 way all in race with a 66, and you don’t want to lose your 125 without seeing a flop. So, thinking about implied odds in an early position is riskier.

Posted by as admin at 10:18 PM UTC

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I advocate playing limit poker for sophisticated players who pay attention. Those are ring games I talk about, mostly because you have time to watch and evaluate. I like 6 player more than 10 player. With 10 player, you still have to play really tight.

With a big holdem tourney, you need luck. I call a big tournament 400+ people. You also need patience. You also need to understand that most players playing large limit tournaments are also fish.

So, when you have the hand, you push it. Here’s an example.

Table #69

Dealt to me: 10 10

Flop: 10 4 8

So, I just flopped my set. Also, highest posible set, given the board. No flushes, no straights. What do I do with 900 players left?

Bet, bet, bet. Big tourney… high card 10 as far as anyone knows, so the fish are biting. The board paired eights on the turn.

At the end, it was a huge pot because someone caught a full house, fours full of eights. It made for a nice pot, and the fish kept biting.

In a small tournament, I might have slowplayed that. In a big tournament, you have to bet, bet, bet when you know you have the nuts.

Nope, I didn’t even place in the money in the tournament. But that one hand put me in a position where I had a chance. It’s a big field, so you have to pick your spots.

Posted by as admin at 9:52 PM UTC

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As I said in an earlier post… with NL holdem, it often turns out that you made a big mistake, or watched someone else make a big mistake.

You can keep all of the notes you like, but the dummies run out of money, and the smart guys will clock you if you’ve only met them once and caught them making a dumb move.

With limit holdem, you usually play with the same people for an hour or so, sometimes more. You get a better read on them. Are they savvy and got a bad beat? Are they dumb and deserved it? Either way,they probably both have some money left.

The savvy ones… do you know what they play? You can exploit that. The dumb ones… do you know what they play? You can exploit that.

Did you just see someone get a really bad beat? Do you assume that they are a little tilted? If you have a good hand, you exploit that too.

If you’re a watcher, then limit poker is your game. If you’re a bulldog, then you’ll find that NL poker is your game, or you’ll go broke fast. Either way, you have to know the odds, and you have to know the pot odds. We’ll cover those later. The point here is to play to your strength personality-wise.

Posted by as admin at 7:26 AM UTC

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I’m playing a $50 SNG, with 10 players. 3 hands into the game, I took two people out. Suddenly, I have 3000+ chips and everyone else has 1000 or less.

We all know that big stacks bully little stacks. When I’m the little stack, I see that as a nice opportunity.

When I’m the big stack… and in this case… it’s a big stack. You should tighten up and protect it. Don’t bully.

Someone is waiting on you to try to bully them, and you’ll find your big stack becomes average stack.

Likewise, it’s ok to take a few chances when the blinds are small and you can sneak in. That might leave you with a little luck and a bigger stack. Once your stack is small, you need to tighten up and pick your spots.

When you’ve earned (or become lucky) and have a big stack… don’t get reckless.

I won the SNG. Carefully watch what others think are good hands… but that’s a different post.

Of course… the strategy changes when you’re playing $200 SNGs or $20 SNGs.

One of the biggest problems with no limit games is this: By the time you know someone is dumb, they’re gone. By the time someone totally outplays you, you’re gone. That’s why you both protect, and take very calculated risks when playing NL poker, at any level.

Posted by as admin at 7:01 AM UTC

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If you are a regular reader you know Doyle Brunson opened up a poker room called Doyle’s Room. Doyle’s has lots of cool and innovative stuff like weekly knock out tournaments where you can win extra cash for knocking out Doyle, his son and WSOP champion Ted, and the mad genius Mike Caro. Knock out all 3 for some extra bonus money!

BOUNTY TOURNAMENT UPDATE

For the 9/23 Bounty Tournament: VICTIMLESSG knocked out “the Robin Hood of Poker,” Barry Greenstein and won the $250 bounty. PAPYNO captured “The Mad Genius,” Mike Caro for the other $250 bounty. No one claimed the $10,000 prize for knocking out both Barry Greenstein and Mike Caro.

On the 9/29 Bounty Tournament: KGILBERT13 knocked out Todd Brunson and cashed in the $250 bounty. DANNYV73 won $250 for capturing Doyle and JJALL-N knocked out Mike Caro for the last bounty.

Congratulations to all the bounty winners! Be there this week for even more Bounty excitement!

New in October
Doyle’s usually has a special bonus hand. If you win a hand with those whole cards you win an extra bonus. This month they’re adding another bonus.

Hit a royal straight flush in any of their real money games (ring games) and receive a special bonus! They’re calling this a progressive bonus, which implies that if no one hits a hand the pot will grow!

Check out Doyles Room if you are looking for a new place to play poker (and because its Doyle, you’ll probably find a lot of newbies that are attracted to the place just because it’s run by the legendary Doyle Brunson & Mike Caro.

- Fittsy

Posted by as admin at 8:06 AM UTC

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I hear this complaint a lot!

I can’t play poker stars on a Macintosh!

While it certainly is true, pokerstars does not have a version for the Macintosh; pokerstars is not the only choice in online poker! There are several online poker rooms that allow you to play on your Mac!

Looking for Macintosh Poker? Try these sites.

Hollywood Poker - Play their online version over the web. Works for Windows, Mac, and Linux too! 500% first deposit bonus! Play in special celebrity knock out tournaments! Very cool site.

Bugsys Club - is one of my favorite sites and they recently added support for Mac OS X. They offer some pretty cool features such as Poker Leagues where you can measure your skills against other players and win extra cash every week. Plus they offer small satellites for the WPT, WSOP, and EPT. I really dig this site and you will see me playing here as all the time.

Poker School Online - now has a Macintosh Poker Version. Plus you can play at Bugsys Club with the same software!

Poker Room - You’ve seen the advertisements on TV. Did you know they have a web based version of their software? This software works for Macintosh, Linux, and PC users!

So Macintosh users quit complaining about not having Mac Poker versions! And start playing poker!
- Fittsy

Posted by as admin at 6:25 PM UTC

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I post these articles every week. They come courtesy of the Full Tilt Poker newsletter. Phil Gordon is one of the Poker Pros at Full Tilt Poker. You can get great tips like these every week simply by downloading their software and becoming a member. Plus its a great site!

Phil Gordon Presents Texture Isn’t Just For Fabric

When I’m thinking about my actions after the flop or turn, I look to the “texture” of the board - i.e., what cards are in play, and how might they interact with my opponents’ likely starting hands - to help determine if and how much I will bet.

My normal post-flop betting range is one third of the pot to the full size of the pot. The texture of the board dictates where in that range I choose to bet, and I determine that based on the following four factors:

1. How strong is my hand with respect to all of the likely hands for my opponents?

If I have a very strong hand with respect to all of the likely starting hands for my opponents, I’ll usually go for the lower end of the spectrum, betting around 1/3 of the pot. I want my opponents to call.

If I have a moderate strength hand with respect to all of the likely starting hands for my opponents, I’ll likely bet 2/3 of the pot. I want my opponents to fold some hands that are better than my hand and call with some hands that are worse than my hand.

If I have a weak hand with respect to all of the likely starting hands for my opponents and I want to bet, I’ll bet the pot. I want my opponents to fold hands that are better than my hand.

2. How likely is my hand to improve?

If my hand is unlikely to improve, I tend to bet more than 2/3 of the pot. I want to take this pot now.

If my hand is somewhat likely to improve, say about 15% to 20% of the time, I am more apt to bet 2/3 of the pot.

If my hand is very likely to improve (about 34% of the time or more), I am more apt to bet 1/2 of the pot.

3. How likely is my opponent to have “hit the flop” and have a pair or better?

If my opponent is unlikely to have hit the flop and have top pair or better, I tend to bet 1/3 of the pot whether I think I have the best hand or not.

If my opponent is likely to have flopped exactly one pair, and I think I have the best hand, I tend to bet 2/3 of the pot.

If my opponent is likely to have flopped two pair or better and I think I have the best hand, I tend to bet the size of the pot. If I don’t think I have the best hand, I’ll almost never bet.

4. How likely is my opponent to have a primary draw? (That is, a draw to the best possible hand on the board, like a straight or a flush.)

If I think my opponent is likely to have a primary draw and I think I have the best hand, I’m likely to bet the size of the pot.

If I think my opponent has a primary draw and there is a good chance I don’t have the best hand, I’ll almost never bet.

When the four factors above lead to different conclusions about how much to bet, I average the recommendations and bet that amount.

Over time, you’ll develop a more immediate sense of the “texture” of the board, and the amount to bet based on that will become almost automatic. Then, you can spend less time calculating your actions and more time observing your opponents.

This lesson is from Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book : Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold’em, published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Full Tilt Poker Pro

Posted by as admin at 7:30 PM UTC

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