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 Learn Poker, Tips from Poker Pros at 7:30 PM BST

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I post these articles every week. They come courtesy of the Full Tilt Poker newsletter. Paul Wolfe 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!

Paul Wolfe Presents: Know Your Opponent; Own Your Opponent

I was at my first World Series of Poker in 2002, talking to a player who had made the final table the year before. He told me something I’ve never forgotten, and it’s helped me ever since.

I had raised pre-flop with A-K and he called from the button. The flop came all small cards. I checked and he fired a pot-sized bet. I looked at him and said, “You must have a good hand.” His reply caught me off guard; “It doesn’t matter what cards I have if I know what cards you have.”

At first I thought I might have a tell – maybe I hummed when I missed the flop, or I looked away from my chips. It was later that I realized I did have a tell, but it had nothing to do with my physical demeanor. It was the way I played my cards.

Poker is often not so much about the cards you have, but knowing the way your opponent plays. Keeping track of which hands your opponent raises with - and the position from which he raises with them - is a large part of the game.

In a live game, it is hard to remember exactly what cards your opponent has raised with over the years and, if they’re good players, those hands will change from time to time. But many poker players are creatures of habit, playing the style they are most familiar with. Online, there is no excuse not to have this knowledge at your fingertips.

While playing on Full Tilt Poker, I get to write notes on players and it is a great help. I am always referencing my notes, and they will often tell me which hands an opponent has played in the past. The color-coding makes it even easier for me. I use one color to mark the players who only bet when they have a strong hand, and another color to mark the action players.

When I see a player marked with a certain color, I can safely assume that he’s going to overplay his hands. This is a guy I am more willing to call with a hand that might be a little weaker, or a drawing hand after the flop. Why? Because I know that if I hit my hand, he’s going to pay me off; I have implied odds to call. With another player, I’ll play a little tighter because not getting paid off means my implied odds aren’t there. This one bit of information has both increased my winnings and minimized my losses.

Self-awareness is an important part of any endeavor. But in poker, knowing your opponent is just as important as knowing yourself.

Full Tilt Poker

Posted by as Learn Poker, Tips from Poker Pros at 6:01 PM BST

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Did you learn to play Poker watching Poker tournaments on TV?

Mike Caro the esteemed poker pro and one of the best known poker authors wrote an awesome article about people who learn poker watching tv.

He points out that the television shows take an hour or even a few hours of a tournament that lasted several days. The television producers have simply pulled up the most interesting hands and edited them together. This means that they may edit out dozens of hands between the hands that air on tv. For example you may have missed the player folding weak hands or even folding large hands because he felt he was beaten. The hands that air on tv are typically hands where people go all in, or where people suck out because they are the most interesting hands to watch.

The problem becomes that this show isn’t a good lesson on “How to play poker”. Instead it is a show on what makes for interesting poker.

What really happens is that professional players vary their play. They may play it tight 80% of the time, but 20% of the time they have to play loose to put their opponents off. By varying their play they can fool their opponents and sometimes get a few extra bets out of them when they have the nuts, or get them to fold when they have nothing but rags.

Poker on TV is often only showing you that 20% where the player is playing loose. New players often see professionals playing weak hands. They don’t see the hundreds of times a player has to fold over the course of a day. Instead they show things like Doyle Brunson winning with the hammer (7,2) . After watching this they think this hand is cool or fun to play when in fact it is the WEAKEST hand in all of Texas Hold Em.

Check out Mike Caro’s article. It is worth a read.

- Fittsy

Mike Caro is a professional player. He has earned the nickname the “Mad Genius of Poker”. He has written 8 books on poker and is considered to be the worlds foremost authority of poker strategy. Mike has joined Doyle Brunson to create Doyle’s Room. Doyle’s is a cool new poker room which has regular “knockout” tournaments where you can play against Doyle Brunson, Ted Brunson (Doyle’s son and 2005 WSOP champion), and Mike Caro.

Posted by as Learn Poker, How to Play Poker, Tips from Poker Pros at 6:36 AM BST

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I post these articles every week. They come courtesy of the Full Tilt Poker newsletter. Perry Friedman 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!

Third Street In Seven Stud

For those of you who are unfamiliar with seven-card stud, there are some betting quirks in the game that you should understand. During the opening round of betting (also called “third street”), the player with the lowest up card is forced to act first. There are two choices: Bet the “bring-in” amount (which is usually one-third of the full bet) or “complete” the bet (make it a full bet). If the player chooses to bet the bring-in amount, another player has the option of completing the bet. Note that this is not considered a raise, because it is only increasing the initial bet to one full bet. This means there is still a bet and three remaining raises allowed during the opening round.

You should almost never bring in for a completion in Stud Hi, except in very rare tournament situations. There are a number of reasons for this, including the need to conceal the strength of your hand and the desire to keep your options open later in the round.

If you make it a habit only to bring in for a completion when you have a good hand, an astute player will pick up on this and will steal from you every time you don’t complete the bring-in. Conversely, if you always complete the bet, you are throwing away money when you are forced in, which is usually when you have a bad hand since you already have the lowest up card.

Furthermore, bringing in for a completion limits your betting options. If you bring in for the minimum and someone else completes the bet, you can raise back for a full bet, whereas your opponent can only complete for a partial bet. You can also decide to slow play your hand if someone completes. Completing the bet exposes you to being raised back a full bet. By always bringing in for the minimum, you do not give away the strength of your hand and leave your options open on third street.

When playing in a live ring game, I will seldom even look at my down cards when I am the bring-in. Whether or not you look at your cards first is a matter of personal preference, but by not looking, you can’t give a tell. However, one of the important aspects of stud is being aware of what cards have already been dealt out to your opponents. If you decide not to look at your hole cards, you should still peruse the table and take inventory of what cards are already out.

For some people, cataloguing all the upcards may be a tedious and exhausting process, and they will prefer to look at their downcards first so that they immediately know which key cards will improve their hand, or if they even have a playable hand at all. The only flaw with this shortcut is that when you do have a playable hand, you need to be aware of what your key cards are and know which cards will help or hurt your opponents. I recommend getting in the habit of always mentally keeping track of all of the up cards.

In heads-up play, keeping track of the cards is much simpler; they are always there to see and you don’t need to remember who folded which cards. This makes it even less important to check your down cards before acting.

In online play, you will always be aware of your down cards, but you should still get in the practice of tracking your opponents’ cards. One way to keep the game interesting - and to work on your skills at the same time - is to track all the cards even when you are out of the hand. As the hand progresses, try to figure out what hands your opponents are likely playing. At the showdown, you can see how well your reading skills are coming along.

Stud can be a very enjoyable and interesting game, but it relies less on intuition and more on keeping your mind focused and your eyes open.

- Perry Friedman

Posted by as Learn Poker, 7 Card Stud, Tips from Poker Pros at 7:12 PM BST

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PokerStars is one of the biggest and best online sites for playing Poker. The 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker winners won there way in by playing in satellite tournaments at Poker Stars.

Right now as we play in the World Championship of ONLINE Poker several professionals are playing with us over at Poker Stars. How cool is that? You can test your mettle against some of the best players in the world.

So far I have sighted:

crazyplayer - Barry Greenstein
evybabee - Evelyn Eng
fossilman - Greg Raymer
money800 - Chris Moneymaker
No Mercy - Isabelle Mercier

And Two more from BenB at The Poker Blog:
Rug Doctor - David Williams
Bigglesworth - Thomas “Thunder” Keller

And celebrity poker blogger
Wil Wheaton - as himself

Want to play with us? Go over to Poker Stars and download their free software. You can make a deposit for as little as $50 and start playing with us over there. I’m “Lassiter”.

See you in the World Championship of Online Poker!
Fittsy

Posted by as Learn Poker, Cool Poker Sites, Tips from Poker Pros at 11:56 AM BST

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I post these articles every week. They come courtesy of the Full Tilt Poker newsletter. Richard Brodie 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!

Richard “Quiet Lion” Brodie Presents Flopping a Monster

When I started playing poker, I would get so excited when I flopped a big hand that I forgot my main goal: Win as many chips as possible. When I had marginal hands, I would think hard about what my opponent had and whether I could beat it. But when I had a big hand, I just wanted to get all my chips in the middle.

Big mistake.

Big hands can mean big pots. But, with a big hand, it’s even more important to strategize and figure out how strong your opponent is. If you think he’s weak, you can slow play the hand, perhaps getting him to call a bet thinking you’re bluffing or, better yet, inducing him to bluff himself. If you think he’s strong, you can let him bet your hand for you, raising on the turn or river to extract maximum value.

In the 2003 Borgata Poker Open, I mixed it up with a small under-the-gun raise with Ten-Nine of Diamonds. I got two callers, including Bobby Thompson in the small blind. The flop came Eight-Seven-Six, giving me the nut straight. Bobby led out with a pot-sized bet and we both called. The turn was an Ace and he bet again. I still had the nuts and, with my inexperience, didn’t think enough about what my opponents could have. Instead, I got greedy and just called again, hoping to get a call from the third player.

If I had thought about it, I would have put Bobby on at least two pair and the third player on a straight draw with something like Jack-Ten. I should have moved in at that point, pricing out the straight draw and figuring Bobby would have to call. Instead, I just called and the third player folded. When a second Ace came on the river and Bobby pushed in, I had a very tough decision and ended up putting my chips in dead as he turned over pocket Sixes for the full house.

Lessons From the Pros

If I had put my money in on the turn, the results may have been different. By putting Bobby to the tough decision to call an all-in, I might have priced him out of the hand.

The next year in the same event, I had the very aggressive Jimmy-Jimmy Cha on my right. He made a late-position raise and I re-raised with pocket Tens. He called and we were heads-up. The flop came Ten high with two Spades, once again giving me the nuts. This time, though, I thought about what he might have. Nines, Jacks, and Queens were definite possibilities. If not, he could easily have over cards. Jimmy checked - not an unusual play given that I had taken the lead before the flop. I decided because he was so aggressive, I’d go ahead and bet the hand rather than slow play it. Sure enough, he check-raised me all in and I called. This time I went broke the right way, with all my chips in as a three-to-one favorite against his flush draw.

Then there’s always the chance you’re beat with an even bigger hand. In a televised tournament at the Plaza, I raised with pocket Tens and got called by the big blind. The flop came Queen-Queen-Ten, giving me a full house. But my opponent check-called my flop bet with such a Hollywood act that I put him on at least a Queen. A King came on the turn and he check-raised me. I could beat Ace-Queen or Queen-Jack but not King-Queen or Queen-Ten, so I slowed down and just called. When he made a small bet on the river I just called, suspecting I was beat and, sure enough, he turned over Queen-Ten for a bigger full house. I had flopped a monster and was drawing dead! By analyzing his play and getting a read, I saved valuable chips and went on to the final table.

So don’t let the excitement of flopping a monster make you forget about putting your opponent on a hand. A lot of chips move around during these hands and you want them moving into your stack.

Richard Brodie

Posted by as Learn Poker, Tips from Poker Pros at 7:36 AM BST

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I post these articles every week. They come courtesy of the Full Tilt Poker newsletter. Andy Bloch 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!

Andy Bloch Presents “No-limit by the Numbers”

I get asked a lot of poker strategy questions, from beginner to advanced. Some are easy, but some involve the kind of math I can’t always do off the top of my head. When that happens, I rely on one of a number of free tools to calculate the probability of winning the hand.

Here’s an example based on a hand posted on a website I run:

Our hero was playing at a small stakes No-Limit table online, with $.25-$.50 blinds. At the start of the hand, he had $44. He was dealt Ad-Td and raised to $2. Both blinds called. The flop was Kd-Jd-2c, giving our hero a royal flush draw. The big blind bet $2, hero raised $2 more, the next player called, and the big blind (with more chips than our hero) re-raised all-in.

Should our hero call with his last $38? Let’s assume the third player will fold. If our hero were to call and win, he’d be up to $94 (the $18 in the pot, plus his $38 and his opponent’s $38). If he wins the hand four times out of 10, on the average he’d have $37.60 after the hand ($94 multiplied by four, and divided by 10). In poker, it’s the long run that matters, so he should only call if his probability of winning is greater than 40%. Now he needs to figure out the probability he’d win the hand.

The first step is to put his opponent on a range of hands. Sometimes, you can figure out exactly what your opponent must have by the betting or tells. Most of the time, you’re left to guess a little. In this situation, the other player probably has a very strong hand, but there’s a chance he’s bluffing or even semi-bluffing.

The strongest hand our hero could be facing is three kings. He has 11 outs to win the pot - every diamond but the 2d, and three queens. But even if our hero makes his flush or straight, his opponent could still win by making a full house or quads on the last card. I could calculate the probability by hand, but I don’t need to.

Lessons From the Pros

Instead, I head to the Internet and one of the many free poker odds calculators, such as the one at twodimes.net. Enter “Kd Jd 2c” in the box labeled “Board” and “Ad Td” and “Ks Kc” under “Hands”, and click submit. The result says that Ad-Td wins under 34% of the time - less than the 40+% that would make a call the right play. If our hero knows that his opponent had three kings, he should fold. The probabilities for the other possible three-of-a-kinds are the same.

But what if he’s up against two pair - kings and jacks? Using the poker calculator again, his probability of winning would be 44%. That’s enough to make calling correct. Our hero might also be against other two pairs, which he’d beat a little less often (42%), or A-K (46%). He might even already be ahead if he’s against an aggressive player who would semi-bluff with something like Q-T (81%) or Qd-9d (82%).

Having calculated the probabilities of winning, our hero is now left with the subjective part of the answer, guessing the probabilities of what the other player has. I would guess that it’s more than twice as likely that the player has two pair, or A-K, or even some weaker hand than that he has three of a kind. And I would guess that maybe 5% to 10% of the time, Ad-Td is actually ahead. I told our hero that, based on the numbers, I would have called.

Our hero did call, and the other player had K-J, giving our hero a 44% chance of winning the hand. The turn card was the 2d, but the river was a jack and our hero’s flush lost to a full house. The river card was a tough break, but playing by the numbers, he still made the right play.

It’s good to know the numbers, but it’s equally important to know how to get them. And if you use the available tools whenever you aren’t sure, you’ll start to remember them when they come up at the table. In poker, every tool in your toolbox brings you one step closer to mastery of the game.

Andy Bloch

Posted by as Learn Poker, Tips from Poker Pros at 5:44 PM BST

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I post these articles every week. They come courtesy of the Full Tilt Poker newsletter. Aaron Bartley 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!

Aaron “GambleAB” Bartley Presents “Holding On To Your Winnings”

One of the most important poker lessons has nothing to do with how to play Aces in late position or how to adjust for the maniac in seat three. It’s how to manage your money in a way that will make it grow as quickly as possible with minimal risk.

Some of the most highly skilled players in the game have gone broke (repeatedly) simply because they played too high, too fast, too often. How can we make sure this problem never happens to us? It isn’t a matter of smarts, but rather, one of discipline.

The most important step is to be honest with yourself. You should know your relative skill level at all times. Suppose you’re a $1/$2 No-Limit Hold ‘em player who’s had a great night, and you’re toying with taking a shot at the $5/$10 game. Your bankroll is up to $1,500, but you would need to bring at least $500 to the table in order to play comfortably at the higher level.

Why would you risk putting a third of your bankroll on the table to play in the $5/$10 game? For starters, your bankroll isn’t big enough for the stake; more importantly, you also need to consider that the skill level of the $5/$10 players is greater than the competition you’re used to. (That’s not always true, of course. There are some very skilled $1/$2 players and some weak $5/$10 players, but it’s not unreasonable to assume that the higher-level games are filled with better players.)

This is where self-control comes in. One slip-up can spell disaster for a bankroll, and watching six months of hard work disappear in six hours of foolish play is enough to crush anyone’s spirits.

Lessons From the Pros

The safest course of action is to continue doing what you’re doing. You’re beating the $1/$2 game for a tidy profit every week - stay right where you are. Continue proving that you can beat the game. While you’re doing that, your bankroll should grow accordingly. Beating a game for six days is proof of very little. Beating the same game for six months is better evidence that you are a winning player.

Start tracking your results. You can buy tracking software or easily create a database of your own. Put in all of your information after each time you play - limits, time at the tables, profits/losses. Go over your information every few weeks, both for your recent play and for your entire poker lifetime. Try to spot bad trends before they get out of hand. If you’ve been playing well at a certain level over a long period of time, only then should you consider moving up to the next highest level.

Above all, know where your money is at all times and how it is being used. Ask yourself, “Is this too much risk for me considering my current bankroll?” If the answer is yes, do the responsible thing and change tables. Months later, you’ll be thankful you did.

Aaron “GambleAB” Bartley

Play Online Poker

Posted by as Learn Poker, Tips from Poker Pros at 3:19 PM BST

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