Learn to Beat Poker

Omaha Great for Winning Money

2008-03-02T01:33:00.001-08:00

Most of my poker experience has been with Texas Hold'em, and I have been making decent, steady money.

Some time ago I tried to sign up for PokerStars.com but could not because I'm a US resident. Recently they sent out a free $5 credit to people who signed up but never funded their accounts, so I decided to use the credit to try my hand at Omaha.

In preparation I purchased Ken Warren's great book Winner's Guide to Omaha Poker. It provides all of the basic strategy you need to blow away low-limit competition. To put that to the test, I decided to take the $5 and hit the $0.01/$0.02 pot limit Omaha High/Low table.

So far I sat down to 5 play sessions with only $2 of my bankroll. All of the sessions were winning sessions, and my total is now up over $17.

In Texas Hold'em, starting card selection is important but there's much more to the game than that. In Omaha, the game is structurally different - starting card selection accounts for 90% of winning, while knowing when to bet hard or fold after the flop makes up most of the remaining 10%. Bluffing is almost impossible, so it's all about knowing what the best possible hand is for a given board and either having (or drawing) to it, or folding.

Best of all (if you're in it for the money), most Omaha players are in the game because they CAN play quite a few hands. Since Winner's Guide to Omaha Poker teaches you which hands you SHOULD play, you will have quite a large winning expectation each hand you play.

If you're looking for a straight forward game with little finesse and great winning potentials, Omaha is for you.

How to Fleece a Maniac

2008-02-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

I had a bad run of cards today and was down about 25% of my stack. Then, a gentleman sat down two seats to my left. He raised the first hand he was dealt, then raised the flop. When he bet the turn, everyone folded. He did this a few more times, and his stack grew. After a few hands, I smiled on the inside and knew I would soon be back in the green. I had a maniac in the game, and I was in a great position to exploit him.

A maniac is a player who has loose starting requirements (will play many hands) and plays them very aggressively. Such players will experience wild swings in their chip stack, and will generally leave the table broke.

It's very easy to be the one they leave the majority of their chips with. Simply tighten up your play a bit, and play very aggressively when you get a good pocket and hit the flop. You will have to cut back on marginal hands because the maniac will raise many pots, making it expensive for you when the marginal hands don't come in. The last thing you want to do is lose your bankroll on random fluctuations before you have a chance to fleece your sheep.

When you do get a good pocket and/or hit a great flop, use your maniac to push your edge. He likes to bet, so let him. If you hit a great flop but it's vulnerable (for example you have top pair but there's possible straight or flush draws), check-raise. Maniacs by definition raise often, so there's a pretty good chance that he'll bet after you check. Best of all, if he's to your left, his initial bet won't be respected by other players in the hand, so they are likely to call and put more money in the pot before you raise.

If you hit a hand that's likely to stand up after the turn (e.g. you hit top pair or two pair with a rainbow flop with no straight on the board, or better yet you flop the nuts), you might consider check-calling the flop and waiting until the turn (when bets double) to pounce with the check-raise. Even that check-raise on the turn might not scare off your maniac. I played against one tonight who got check-raised on the turn AND on the river - some people never learn.

If you're sitting to the left of the maniac rather than to the right, the strategy is similar. Instead of check-raising your great hands, you'll raise and re-raise them.

One final word of caution - your maniac plays ALL hands aggressively. Usually he'll have an inferior hand, but sometimes he'll have a great hand. Be prepared for the times he either does have great starting cards or hits a miracle flop, turn or river. It will happen, but the odds will be with you. In the long run, his chips will end up in your stack.

Happy fleecing!

Playing the Ladies

2008-02-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

No doubt, pocket Queens is a great hand! Play it wrong, though, and it can be very expensive.

About 69% of the time, the flop won't have an Ace or King in it. When the flop is good, your chances to win the pot are excellent. However, that 31% of the time that an overcard flops is when you stand to lose quite a bit of money if you don't pay careful attention to what's going on. I have seen quite a few players bet and raise with Queens after a bad flop. If the other player DOES hit an overcard, you realistically need another Queen to win. Since there are only two more in the deck, the chances of hitting one on the turn is just 2/47. If you miss the turn, you have a 2/46 chance of getting your third Queen on the river. If the other guy DOES have a paired King or Ace, he's going to make you pay quite a bit of chips to try and beat him. Even if you hit your third queen, there's about a 10% chance that the opponent had KK or AA and alraedy has you beat with better trips.

So how can you maximize your winnings with this hand?

First of all, it's important to chase A-anything hands out of the pot. Especially at low limits, many players will play any ace. Their A-6 offsuit could ruin your great hand if they get lucky. You raise. If you're in early position, this will hopefully knock out the bad hands since they have to call two bets. If you're in late position, pretty much everyone who already was in for one bet will call the second bet. However, since you're the favorite to win at this point, you're getting more money into a pot you can reasonably expect to win.

If the flop comes up all Queens or lower, bet and raise. Be careful though if you're re-raised. Someone could have hit two pair or trips. If that happens you will have to use your judgement and decide whether the re-raiser would play that aggressively without a great hand. Some players will, especially if they flop top pair with a great kicker.

If the flop comes up with an Ace, and there are still a few players in the game, watch out! Many players will see the flop with a wide range of pockets that include an Ace, even against a raise. If you're in early position, you can bet for information. If you're raised, you will have to fold unless you pickup a tell that the raiser is bluffing. If you're called, be very careful about betting the turn. It's probably best to check and fold the turn if you don't hit one of the other two Queens.

If the flop comes up with a King, it's less clear-cut how to proceed. Players who will stay in with hands like AJ, AT, A9 are much less likely to stay in with KJ, KT, K9 against your raise IF THEY WERE BEHIND YOU WHEN YOU RAISED and had to cold-call two bets. So if your raise was from early position, you're only really worried about hands like AK, KK - hands that probably would have raise during the first round of betting anyway, giving you a clue to their strength. Even if you raised in late position, and most players called your raise, it's less likely that hands with a King stayed in compared to hands with an Ace.

Queens are a great hand you would be glad to get over and over. You will make money with these cards in your pocket. Following the advice in this blog will help you avoid losing when the flop doesn't favor your great starting cards.

Low-Stakes Online Tournaments

2008-02-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

When the stakes aren't huge, your opponents can become very unpredictable. Low-stakes online poker is a great example.

If you play in the smaller online tournaments, you're very familiar with the routine. In the first round, 2-4 people per table seem to go all-in. Sometims one of them will have a great hand, but often enough you see people with A6 or KJ risk their whole stack.

Is this a good strategy? The thinking seems to go "it's cheap anyhow, so I'll take a gamble and try to get ahead." In a game with 3000 or so players, risking everything to double- or triple-up really isn't wise. On average the final table players will have perhaps 300x their starting stack. An all-or-nothing ploy with so-so cards to get to 2x is just a bad bet.

So what is a good strategy?

First of all, realize that lots of players will take themselves out of the competition in the early-going at no risk to you. Then realize that an early chip lead doesn't matter very much, at least not if you take unnecessary chances to get it. Often the early leader gets to that point because he takes lots of risks and wins. Think about it, if you have 1500 players (half the field) taking lots of risks, SOME of them will have to win and end up with large stacks. What usually happens, though, is that the tight-aggressive players bide their time until they have a great hand, then they take monster-size bites out of the loose-aggressive players. Pretty soon many of the early leaders are gone.

What you should do:

Early On (2/3 or more of players still in)

Almost never play a hand in the first few rounds of play (even your AA can get drawn out on, but I would still play that one, even all-in)
Only play your very best cards from early position until 1/3 of the players have been eliminated. For me this means AA, KK, QQ and AKs.
In later positions you can play a few more hands because the chance of someone going all-in behind you are smaller.
Drawing hands like 87s or 66 will usually just cost you money early on because someone will overbet their hands and wreck the pot odds for you.
Never bluff. Some fool will call you.

Mid Game (2/3 gone but not close to the money)

Start to play more hands, especially drawing hands like 87s or 66 when you get the proper pot odds (lots of players in the hand without much raising).
Bluff now and then.
Try to steal the blinds now and then.

Late Game (close to the money)

DON'T GET ELIMINATED. Nothing worse than making 102nd place in a tournament that pays the top 100.
Play very tight poker. Play only your best hands, and only continue after the flop if you connect solidly.
Use all time you are alotted to think about your hand - even if the decision is clear. Let some other guy get knocked out on another table while you "think".
Some people will intentionally disconnect from the network because most sites will give some time to reconnect. I don't do this because I consider it cheating, but I want you to be aware so you'll know what's going on if it happens.

The Final Table

If you have a large stack, try to push around the people with small stacks by betting at them and sealing their blinds.
If you have a short stack, avoid going heads-up with a large stack. They will push you around.
If you have lots of chips compared to the size of the blinds, wait for good cards.
If you have few chips compared to the size of the blinds, you will have to take more chances.
As the field gets smaller, you don't need as good of a hand to win. Heads-up, Ace-anything is favored to win.

Another Way to Play AA

2008-02-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

Pretty much any poker book will say to raise or reraise on the initial betting round with pocket aces.

In my experience that's not always the best way to play.

Many of the games I have are full of people who play very marginal hands. That's where most of my profit comes from.

If I play the aces strongly right from the beginning, I'm likely to chase out many of those weak hands that would otherwise see the flop for one bet. Sometimes I play according to the books, but sometimes I simply call. Letting lots of players see the flop cheaply has a downside: They might hit a lucky flop and crack your aces... they might hit a lucky flop. However, the odds are way against them. Most of the time the flop will not improve them far enough to beat your aces, and there will be much more money in the pot so your probable win is much larger.

Here's an example of where I recently applied that strategy:

AA from middle position
Person to my right raised, I call.

Flop: AJ7

Looking good! Trips!

The other player bet the flop, I called.

The turn came

AJ7T

Oopps, there was a possible straight (or more likely straight draw) on the board. The first player bet, I raised. He called. Until now, there were several other players in the (now very large) pot.

Now for the river:

AJ7TA

Wow! I hit quad aces. Slow playing the aces left me with the absolute nuts in a huge pot. Lots of other players contributed to the pot without much chance of winning because I let them in with weak hands.

Don't follow this strategy against tight players because the odds will turn against you. Against typical loose, low-limit players, it can be a great way to mix up your play.

Finding a Good Casino Game

2008-01-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Casinos and card rooms are filled with sheep and sharks. Sitting down at the right table makes all the difference between getting cleaned out and going home a big winner. If you seek out the table with the best players, you might prove that you're a good player too, but you won't maximize your winnings. If you sit down at a table with the worst players, on average you can expect to take home a nice payday.

So how do you find the sheep?

The size of the blinds is certainly your first guide. Smaller blinds attract weaker players. Still, if the bets are smaller, potential winnings are smaller as well. The trick is to find the biggest game where you are significantly more skilled than the average at the table.

If you play in the same place often, you already have an advantage. Keep a notebook to track the players you play against. Really, I'm serious. This is one of the better investments you can make. Write down which players are calling stations, which play deceptively (check-raising, bluffing), which play aggressively, etc. Note who can be bluffed off of a pot and who will call to the river even with average cards. When you see a table with several non-deceptive calling stations it's time to sit down.

Some players come to the table to win, others just want to have fun. If you see a player (or better yet a group of players) who are drinking and laughing it up, that's a great sign that you found a good table. If they are playing as loose as they act, sit down and bring an extra rack to carry home their chips.

Some players just can't get enough, and will play all day and late into the night. Many of the best games can be found when the competition is beaten down from countless hours of play. If you're a night owl, consider showing up at the casino very late fresh and rested. Look for signs that players are weary and see if their play is as tired as they are.

When you find your sheep, remember to keep playing your A-Game. Don't be lulled into playing a loose game just because everyone else is. Wait for a really premium hand, and then play it hard.

A table full of sheep will certainly attract a few sharks (you're not the only one!) Unless you have great cards, it's probably wise to stay out of their way if they really go after a hand. After all, they are doing the same thing you are - waiting for a great hand and playing it hard.

PS - If you're playing at one table and see a better one, you can ask the dealer or the floor person to arrange a table change for you. They will seat you at your desired table as soon as there is an opening. If there's a board waiting for your game, the person on that wait list will get your old seat.

Finding a Good Online Game

2008-01-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

Your profits don't depend on your skill... the depend on the DIFFERENCE between your skill and your opponent's skill. If you are a great player playing against world-class players, you will lose money. If you are a bad player playing against terrible players, you will make money.

The secret of making money in poker is finding "good" games - games where the average skill level is lower than yours. The bigger the difference, the more money you will make.

In a card room, it can be hard to figure out where the best game is (but see my next blog post for tips). Online, you have great tools at your disposal.

Most online poker websites let you observe a table. Further, they will show you the hand history of that table, whether or not you played in the game. At Full Tilt, I like to open up 4-5 tables at the stakes I want to play and just let them run. I can answer email, get a cup of coffee, or whatever for about 15 minutes while the tables are played. Then, I come back and look at the hands that played while I was away. Usually you'll get about 20 hands per game. Flip through the hand history, looking at:

The cards people saw the flop with. Do they have the same high starting requirements you have? Pay attention to whether they were in the blinds. If they were big blind and played 5-2, that might not be a bad thing (you could look at the chat window in the hand history to see if they stayed in with a raised pot, but it's usually not worth that much effort).
Watch how they played after the flop. If they won with 5's full of 2's, was the flop 5-5-2 (obviously good to stay in with 5-2) or A-K-2 (pretty stupid to stay in with 5-2)

With a tiny amount of up-front effort, you can find that really profitable game that can add a bunch to your bankroll.

The Bad End of Good Cards

2008-01-15T23:33:00.000-08:00

Hands like a straight, flush or full house are rare. That's why they are high-ranking hands.

For a given flop, though, it can happen that more than one player makes similar big hands. Unfortunately if you don't pay attention, it's easy to get the "idiot" end of one of those hands.

Let's say you are in the blinds and play 76. The flop comes 89T. Great, you have just flopped a straight! But wait a minute... If anyone has QJ, they suddenly have a better straight than you do. You have the "idiot" end because it looks promising but is bound to fail.

It's not that unlikely that someone is playing QJ. After all, good players tend to play higher-ranking cards. Let's say you bet out your straight and just get called. Chances are decent that you have the best hand at the moment. Now the turn comes Q, for a board of:

89TQ

Hold the phone, now ANYONE holding a J has you beat. If another player starts to bet heavily, chances are pretty good you are beat.

Flushes made with low cards are vulneralbe in a similar way. Let's say you play medium suited connectors:

7h 8h

The flop comes down

3h 9h Qh

Great! You made your flush. If any other player holds two hearts, one of which has to be the Th, Kh, or Ah, you are beat. That's not too likely.

Now the turn comes

5h

Now it only takes one heart biggern than your 8h to beat you. Look out for this kind of situation where you have made your flush, only to lose it when another flush card comes. A great way to protect against someone drawing to a higher flush is to make a fairly large bet.

Finally, it can happen that your full house loses to a higher full house.

Let's say you hold

QQ

with a flop of

AAQ

Wow, you flopped Queens full of Aces, great hand!. There are exactly two hands that have you beat at this point, AA and AQ. AA makes 4 of a kind, while AQ makes Aces full of Queens (beating your Queens full of Aces). There is only a 1-in-110 chance that a given opponent has one of these two hands, but if he starts to raise and reraise you, seriously consider the possibility. It has happened to me, and it was expensive.

Be Happy!

2008-01-11T00:18:00.000-08:00

People play poker in all sorts of frames of mind. Some are very concentrated, some are playing for fun, some are playing above their means, some are partying or even drunk, some seem angry about the cards or perhaps something from the world outside the poker room.

My frame of mind is different in each game as well.

There's one thing I noticed studying my good games and my bad games: When I sit down at the table in a HAPPY mood, I'm much more likely to do well.

There are very good reasons for that:

- If you're in a bad mood, a run of poor cards is much more likey to put you on tilt.
- If you are worried because the stakes in this game are high, the good players will quickly realize it. They will push you around. You will fail to push small edges, you will not maximize good opportunities, and you will fold to aggressive betting much too often.
- If you are happy, you will seem confident to your opponents. You will have an easier time managing them.

Play poker when you are well-rested and in a good mood. Avoid games when you are tired, stressed, or upset. This simple rule will greatly increase your enjoyment of the game, and add to your bottom line as well.

The River Giveth, and the River Taketh Away

2007-12-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

Professional poker players constantly evaluate their cards, the cards on the board, the chances of having or drawing to the best hand, and the odds of ending up with the best hand compared to the bet required to keep playing a hand. They will make a rational decision to continue or fold based on all of those factors.

Low-limit players don't usually play that way.

They will keep drawing "on a hunch", or perhaps just in ignorance of the odds against them. Many players complain that they are always getting drawn out on, with the opponent hitting a miracle card on the river. In fact, that happened to me just last night.

I played JJ, and got another J on the flop of 5JK. I bet my trips, knocking out all but one player. One player called my bet. The turn was a Q. I began to worry about the other guy having AT for a straight. Still, I bet and he called. He didn't think he had me beat (or he would have raised) but didn't want to fold either. Then the river showed an A for a board of:

5JKQA

Any T would make a straight, beating my trips. I bet, and he raised. He could have been bluffing so I called, but asked "You have the ten?" to which he showed TT.

After the flop, with two overcards to his TT and a bet out, he should reasonably have assumed he's behind at that point. Only two cards could reasonably improve his hand, the other tens. There were 6 small bets (= 3 big bets) in the pot before the flop. After the flop, I made a small bet (total of 7 small bets). He had to call 1 small bet to continue. So, the pot odds for him were

7:1 pot odds

To improve his hand, he needed one of the remaining tens: 45 non-helpful cards remaining and 2 helpful cards remaining, so the odds of hitting a helpful card was 45:2, or

22.5:1 improvement odds

He was not getting nearly large enough pot odds to compensate for the 22.5:1 chance of improving his hand. Even if he thought there was a 50% chance I was bluffing, and he had the best cards, the odds against him were still 11.25:1.

When the turn hit, the math changed (remember... pros evaluate the profitability of a situation every time it changes). After his flop call, there were 8 small bets, or 4 big bets, in the pot. I made another big bet. He had to call one big bet to win 5 big bets

5:1 pot odds

My bet made a call for him relatively less profitable for him than after the flop. However, the "lucky" card gave him 4 more outs, the four aces. 46 cards remain, 40 are not helpful and 6 are helpful. This yields 40:6 or about

6.67:1 improvement odds

Although less of a longshot than after the flop, if he would repeat the situation 1000 times over and over, he would lose money in the long run.

In this case he did get lucky and hit a winning hand on the river. Did this upset me?

NO!

In fact, this is EXACTLY what I like to see. The math is simple, for every dollar I lose to a lucky draw-out, I make more than one dollar in profit when that miracle card doesn't come on the river. I love playing in games where I occasionally get beaten like this, because it means the other players don't understand when it's in their best interest to keep betting, and when it's best for them to fold.

Understanding Pot Odds

Let's say we're betting at "coin flip." I flip a quarter. If it comes up heads, I pay you $1. If it comes up tails, you pay me $1. This is an even game, and if we play for a long time, most likely neither of us will be up much.

Now let's change the game to "die roll." I roll a die. If it comes up 6, I pay you $1. If it comes up any other number, you pay me $1. This game is unbalanced, and if we play for a long time, you will go broke.

This is the same situation as when your opponent keeps drawing to miracle cards. Just like you can't roll enough 6's to break even in "die roll", they can't hit enough miracle cards to break even against you.

If they want to keep drawing against the odds, be happy. If you want to play "die roll" leave me a note here ;-)

Heads-up!

2007-12-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered the heads-up mini tournaments on Full Tilt and am enjoying them greatly - and profiting in the process.

In any regular tournament or sit-and-go, you eventually have to play one-on-one to win first place. Playing with just a few players in the game is very different than playing at a full table. Full Tilt (and I suspect other poker websites) have put together a special one-on-one, winner-take-all tournament format. Each player starts with 1500 chips, and the one to take all chips wins the entire prize pool.

The game has been profitable for me because most players I encounter don't adjust their strategy for the heads-up game. In a normal game, it makes sense to wait for a good starting hand. Heads-up, if you try to wait for good cards the blinds will eat you up (since you post either the small bline or big blind every hand). It pays to play otherwise marginal hands strongly, and to bluff quite a bit.

I found that it works well to fold a few poor hands early on to give the other guy the feeling that it's OK to fold and that you are a soft player. Then, once that trap is set, I bet most hands pretty aggressively at least to the flop. If the other guy calls or raises you often, you will have to stop being quite so aggressive with poor hands. However, most players I meet online are intimidated and fold often enough for the bluff opening bets to be very profitable.

At first I had trouble getting people to call my bigger bets when I hit a really good hand. It turns out using their own aggressive tendencies against them works best for me. I simply let them bet when I have a really good hand, calling them down to the river where I suddenly reraise. This works well when I hit a straight or flush. I have also used the tactic with trips, but letting things go to the river sometimes backfires if they hit a straight or flush. Watch the board, and if there's a possibility of a straight or flush draw, bet trips hard to make the other guy's draw as expensive as possible.

Heads-up is an interesting way to play poker, one that replaces patience with heart-pounding aggression on amost every hand. Give it a try!

Player Type: Aggressor

2007-12-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

When I join a new table, I am very careful about the hands I play. If dealt a top hand like AA or KK I'll certainly jump on, but otherwise I like to observe a hand or two to see how the other player's act.

Last time I played, one player stood out after just a few rounds. He raised and reraised most pots aggressively, with what turned out to be mediocre cards. Many of the players at the table were intimidated, and his stake tripled in a few hours.

Every table except for me contributed to his growing chip stack.

I adjusted my strategy to play even a bit tighter than normal, folding marginal hands I might otherwise play and only seeing the turn if the flop fit my hand well. When I did hit my hand, I reraised his raises and capped his reraises. I won several large pots from him before too long. After a while, he figured out what was happening, and I started to be able to get him out of pots by playing aggressively myself. Once he began to fold to my counter-aggression, that put me in a position to begin to bluff him with lesser hands.

Although the loose aggressive player did well against the other passive players at the table, my tight aggressive play consistently took money from his growing pile.

Know your Foe (Part 2)

2007-12-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes great starting hands don't look so wonderful after the flop. Even great pockets often must be folded if the flop doesn't help them out. This notion is summed up in the saying "Fit or Fold".

Sometimes, knowing your opponents gives you an opportunity to win in spite less-than-stellar flop.

I recently went to a local poker room with a friend who is getting started at the game. We played a $2-$4 game. I noticed that many players would play with very marginal hands: Things like A2, K9, QT and so forth. I also noticed that several players would call to the river in the hopes of hitting their hand.

In one particular hand, I held AK in second-to-last position. One of the early position players bet, and a middle position player raised. His raise put him all-in, so I considered the possibility that he didn't have a great hand, but rather was using his last few chips to try and force a few people out. Given that line of reasoning, I reraised. This caused the button to fold (rather than call 3 bets), leaving me on the button. This strategy is known as "buying the button".

The flop came 379 rainbow (three different suits). Now, there's a chance that one of the blinds could have been playing 68 or 8T for a straight draw. If there would have been two or three of the same suit (especially if I didn't have that suit) there would have been a great chance that someone was on a flush draw. Playing overcards that miss the flop often isn't a good idea in this case. For example, if there were a heart flush draw on the board, the ace or king of hearts would help my opponents much more than they would help my AK pocket.

Even though it's often not a great strategy to play overcards that miss the flop, I had two things going for me: I was in last position (so I could see what the other guys did before I had to act), and I had a great read on several of the people still in the hand.

By "great read" I mean I could recognize a combination of body language and betting patterns that reveal how strong their hands are. Most of the people still in the hand would check and call to try and improve their hands, but none of them had check-raised in the time I was at the table. They also tended to bet as soon as they made a hand.

I watched each player pause for a moment, then check to me. It seemed that perhaps someone was on a draw, but no one had a made hand. Rather than allow any drawers a free card, I bet out from last position and all called.

The turn brought a J. Now I thought, given these players, it was more than possible that one of them had a jack. However, all checked to me again. Their body language told me they were still trying to hit a card, and their betting patterns (learned from previous hands) reinforced that opinion.

The river was another J. Now, if they had not hit the J on the turn, the J on the river likely didn't help either. There was a possibility that someone did hit a pair of J's on the turn and wasn't confident that it was a winner given MY betting, so given the small chance of a check-raise on the river, I simply checked as well (against different players the chances of a check-raise would have been much higher).

My AK stood up and I took down a substantial pot. I was only able to play that far and ultimately win because I had carefully observed how my opponents behave, both in terms of body language and in terms of betting patterns. Without that knowledge, I would have had to fold AK after the flop.

The Short and the Long of it

2007-11-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

Poker is a game of short-term luck and of long-term skill.

Your results can fluctuate quite a bit over a session, or even over several sessions. However, over time your profit depends on the difference between your skill and the skill of your opponents. Cards average out in the long run.

It hit me this afternoon how strongly short-term luck can impact your game. I had a fairly rare losing session today, even though I'm pretty sure I didn't make any major errors. I kept getting cards like 85, 73, A2, Q3 and folding them as proper strategy dictates. With astounding regularity, I would have flopped two pair or better had I held the bad cards (I would have flopped a straight with the A2). Does that mean I should have adjusted my play based on that "streak"? NO WAY. It was just a run of unusual events. The cards are dealt perfectly randomly and I still would have the same low chance of winning with a pocket like 85 that I would have any other night.

The few big hands I got reinforced tonight's lesson. I hit the nut straight on the turn, only to lose to a flush on the river. I hit a king-high flush, only to lose to a full house. Just before I left, my K9 lost a kicker war to KQ (meaning we both had KK, and his Q was higher than my 9). Should I have folded my ut straight or king-high flush? NO WAY. I just got unlucky. It happens.

One of the players at the table raised AK before the flop and held on all the way to the river, even though the board showed T8754. She remarked "the book says to raise that pocket." Should she have not raised before the flop? NO WAY. Sometimes you lose with great starting cards (and sometimes you need to fold them when the flop completely misses you, even if you raised before the flop).

Keep working on your skill, and don't sweat the fluctuations that are part of the game of poker.

From Texas to Omaha

2007-11-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

I grew up playing 5 card draw, but then went off to college and a career and didn't play for years. In the last few years my friends got me interested in Texas Hold'em, which I learned to play well enough to win consistently. Before yesterday, I had never played Omaha and had only a vague idea of how to play. The rest of this post will show why one basic poker concept is so important, and how they apply to most any form of poker.

Early Thanksgiving morning, I was just waking up and decided to play a bit of poker to wake up. There is always a game available online, so I pulled up my laptop and logged into Full Tilt. A tournament caught my eye: A freeroll (free to play) tournament with a $100 prize pool. 2700 people can play for free and the top 9 split the prize money. Groggy from just waking up, I figured a free tournament was just the right thing for me. There was a catch though: After signing up, I noticed the tournament was for Omaha Hold'em (did I mention I was groggy? :-)

With 25 minutes to go before he start, I googled the rules and basic strategy. Since I had only a short time to prepare, and had never played before, I only played the very best starting hands.

And I kept rising in the standings.

Many hands came along that I could not decide whether or not to play.

And I kept rising in the standings.

Some hands came along that were clearly excellent hands. I played them very aggressively.

And I kept rising in the standings.

A few hours into the tournament, only 81 of the original 2700 players were still in the tournament.

And I had the chip lead!

Ignorance of all but the most basic points of strategy forced me to play very tightly, and very aggressively. It's certainly not the most fun way to play, after all I watched many hands play out without me. But it was a very effective way to play.

This experience reinforced for me the importance of one of the most important rules of winning poker: Play only the very best hands, and take no prisoners when you do.

The tournament encouraged me to experiment with other forms of poker. Even if I do play mostly my traditional Texas variety, playing other games gives insight into poker that you would not otherwise gain. In Omaha, you get four cards in your pocket and must play the board with exactly two of those cards. Playing Omaha, you basically see every flop with the equivalent of six different pocket pairs each hand (since there are six ways to combine four cards). That gives great insight into how different pocket pairs can play the same flop.

Why do four cards make six pockets?

Call the cards A, B, C and D. The ways you can combine them are:
AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, and CD.

So how well did I place in the tournament? I came in 30th. However, I'll never know how well I could have done. Thanksgiving dinner was served when the tournament was down to 30 players, so I withdrew. After all, family is more important than poker. Right?

Know your Foe

2007-11-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Once you get past the basics, Poker is much more a game of people than a game of cards. By knowing how your opponents act in a given situation, you can make a good guess about when to lay off and when to lay into them.

When I play in a casino or card room, I take a small journal with me to record useful facts about the game. I write down the date, the stakes I am playing, how well I did, etc. The most important think I record, though, is the people I played against. Their mannerisms, tells, and play style are all important to remember from session to session. Just writing down the information seems to be enough for me to remember it for next time. Of course if needed I can always pull out the journal and look at it (preferably while I'm on a break).

Online play allows for even greater analysis of opponents. Most online games let you record your hand history in a file on your computer. You can then use shareware programs to analyze the hand history and present a portrait of the opponents you're playing against right now (assuming you have played against them in the past). I use Poker Tracker but there are many others out there (just google poker tracker).

Here's a trick to get more intel about your online opponents: Most sites will let you observe games without playing in them. You can add the hand history from observed games to your opponent database.

Remember, poker is a game of people played with cards. Know your foe.

Trips

2007-11-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Usually trips means having three cards of the same rank. Today, for me, it means having three children.

Please join me in welcoming Sydney, Alexis and Ryan to the world!

This week is dedicated to mom and babies. See you back here next week.

Aggression

2007-11-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

I returned to the casino with my friend, having helped him fix the first major leak in his game (a leak is something about the way you play that causes you to lose chips you should have won). His big leak was playing too many hands, and going too far after the flop.

This time around, he played far fewer hands, and also did much better. He still did not come out on top, though. This time the biggest issue I noticed was aggression: How he responded to it in other players, and how he projected it himself.

In his first major hand, he was in late position with QT. One fellow raised from middle position, my friend called the raise as did most other players. The flop came Qxy (x and y are small cards). The previous raiser bet, and my friend called for a small bet. After all, he had top pair. The only likely way for him to be beat at this stage is if the raiser has AA, KK or maybe AQ (the game is generally passive, meaning people generally raise pre-flop only with very strong starting cards). The turn came and was a "junk" card (small card that could not help with a flush or straight). The previous raiser bet again, and I watched in frustration as my friend folded top pair, with no straight or flush draws on the board, with a huge pot. Then a Q came on the river, which would have made QQQ for him. Even without that queen, my friend would have won. The heavy bettor turned out to have JJ. My friend COULD have been beaten. The raiser/better could have held AA, KK, AQ or a small pocket pair that hit for a set. However, it was far from certain, and the pot was quite large. In that situation, it's better to risk losing a bet than risk losing a large pot. If there's a reasonable chance you could still win, call the last bet on the river if the pot is large.

That's an example of an aggressive player running you over and stealing a pot. You can also get into trouble when YOU are not aggressive when you should be.

Again my friend had good starting cards and the flop fit well, KK and a good kicker. The only other guy in the hand checked the flop, so my friend did too. Then came the turn, which did not help anyone. Again both players checked. Then came the river, and the other guy completed a straight draw against my friend's top pair. My friend gave it away. By not betting, the other guy got "free cards." If you have the best hand, or the probable best hand, bet it. Make the other guy pay if he wants to try to complete a drawing hand (straight or flush).

The leaks fixed in this playing session are:

If you have a good chance to win the pot, stay in for one last bet on the river.
If you have the probable best hand, bet it hard and make the other guy pay to stay in against you.

Tilt!

2007-10-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

I heard about it, read about it, and laughed about it. Now I did it.

I'm talking about going on tilt.

What's Tilt?

For those who don't know, "going on tilt" means letting the flow of the game, or perhaps other players in the game, upset you to the point where you don't play the way you know you should.

What Happened

In my case, I was playing online and lost a series of hands on the river. When the cards were turned up, I couldn't fathom why the other guy had stayed in to luck out at the end. Once I had KK, and a guy with A3 offsuit kept calling my bets and got an A on the river. Another time I had a draw to a flush, gutshot straight or an overcard - basically lots of cards could have given me the probable best hand. My draws didn't come in, and when the cards were turned up on the river, it turned out I was beat by a pair of 2's - and the guy was playing 52 offsuit!

There were several more similar hands in a short period of time.

I concluded two things: A) I want my money back!; B) These guys play really poorly, and I can outplay them.

What a bad combination of thoughts. I lowered my standards for starting cards, and lowered my standards for continuing after the flop. And lost more money, and still more. Before I pulled the plug I had lost about 50 big bets. Ouch!

Recovering

The next day I decided to get my money back, but to do it smartly. I have a setup with two monitors, so opened up three online games at Full Tilt. I raised my standards for getting involved in a hand, and in continuing, to where I would only play the highest percentage games. When a good hand did come, I moved the game window onto my main monitor and put the other games on the second monitor. Within about an hour I had recovered about half the money I lost the previous day, with my chip stack in each game consistently growing.

I'll "rinse and repeat" this evening and try and make up for my first (and last!?) tilt.

Lesson Learned

If you find you're not playing your usual game for any reason, but are pushing mediocre cards too far, just get up and walk away from the game for a while. If you're in a casino, take a break for a meal or walk around outside for a bit. Online, turn off the computer and walk the dog. Refocus. Reflect on how you usually play. Then hit the tables again with a knowledge that the right game play always succeeds in the long run.

Absolute Poker a Fraud?

2007-10-21T23:33:00.001-07:00

There are concerns that Absolute Poker, a popular online poker site, may have been compromised by a combination of poor system design and a rogue programmer.

http://www.egamingtoday.com/Article/AbsolutePoker/Rogue.html

Or in the New York Times

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/the-absolute-poker-cheating-scandal-blown-wide-open/#more-1986

Update: MSN now has a video article about the fraud:

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&vid=207fa45c-964a-4942-8286-c1018efc4b06&from=imbot_men3549

A Game of People Played with Cards

2007-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

Most people consider poker to be a game of cards, played with people. Actually, the opposite is more accurate. Poker is really a game of people, played with cards.

Certainly you need to master the basics of good play. If you're just getting started, that will be your focus. Get a few good books and work through them carefully. Practice online at the lowest-stakes tables.

Once you know what cards to play when, all things being equal, realize that all things are seldom equal. "Equal" in this case means you have no idea what cards your opponent might have, except by observing his bets. If you know what to look for, you have much more information available to you. In poker, that information is known as tells.

If you think tells are rare, think again. Even the pro's have tells that are routinely exploited by their competition. The first few times I played poker, I was so focused on the new environment and on correct basic play that I didn't spot a single tell. In fact, I was probably sending out my own tells like a searchlight. Then it happened. A young marine next to me looked at his pocket cards, and his hand went straight for his chips and actually began to shake. I realized this is a sign of uncontrolled excitement and wondered if I had seen my first tell. When he turned over pocket kings and raked in a large pile of chips, I knew I had.

Old pro's claim poker is 30% cards and 70% people. I couldn't agree more. A single poker book opened my eyes to how this works. It's not a book about cards, it's a book about people. Written by a former FBI profiler who now consults to the top Poker pro's. If you buy any one poker book, make it a good book on how to play your cards right. But if you buy a second book, get Read Them and Reap. After you master the basics of the game, learning its lessons will improve your bottom line substantially.

As a closing anecdote, let me relate a hand I played a few weeks back. There was a young player at the table who must have fancied himself a WPT pro. He had the hooded sweatshirt and fashionable sunglasses, the practiced stone face, and an aggressive betting style. I was dealt KQ of spades. The flop added the J6 of spades and one garbage card, giving me a draw to the second-best flush. I perked up and gladly called his raise. The came the flop, the A of spades. I had the "nut" (best) flush. Excited, I turned toward the table, leaned in, eagerly reached for my chips every time I could bet, raised and reraised like there's no tomorrow, and sent off every other signal in the book that I had a good hand. Then came the river, and with it the T of spades. I had a Royal Flush! There was no way I could lose this hand, and I was practically jumping out of my seat when he raised me and I reraised. It has never been more thrilling to turn over my pocket cards. And I was extremely thankful that my opponent had not read the book I'm recommending to you. If he had, he would have known that he was beat long before he lost around $100 to me in one hand.

Don't Come "Ready to Play"

2007-10-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a friend to the local card room for the first time. While waiting for our table, we reviewed what to expect when the game starts, and some of the most important strategy tips. The game we selected was limit Texas Hold'em $3/$6, the lowest limit running at the time. We were lucky enough to both be seated at the same time and both started to play.

I struck up a casual conversation with a few players at the table waiting for a premium hand. I also used the opportunity to observe the other players as they got good hands, bad hands, and flops that either helped or hurt their hand. A few of the players were hard for me to read, but a few were open books after about 20 minutes.

While I was waiting, I watched as my friend's chip stack slowly, and sometimes quickly, dwindled. He was engaged in too many hands, playing many of them at least to the flop. He's a smart guy, he knew it on some level. After the game, when we started to debrief what had happened, the first words out of his mouth where "I know, I played too many hands."

Many players come "ready to play." They're at the card table because they are out to have a fun, enjoyable time playing cards. They play hands they really shouldn't because they want to be involved. After all, any starting hand can win. The problem is, most starting hands don't win often enough to make up for all the times they lose.

Come to the table ready to win, not ready to play. Exercise patience. When you're not in the hand, watch how the other's play. Do they get involved with poor starting hands? Do they go too far with their hand just to see the river card? Do they have tells that can tip you off to the strength of their hand? Do these things, and poker is a fun and involving game even when you're not playing a hand.

To quote Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell, "Patience is a virtue."

As for my friend: He's a sharp guy and is studying the game systematically. He'll be a winning player before very long.

Play the Odds

2007-10-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

I just lost a hand with pocket aces to a guy who had pocket queens, and hung around to the river in spite of my heavy betting... and caught a third queen on the river. Actually, the first 6 times I played pocket aces, I lost. This is NOT a probable outcome, but that's the thing about poker. Your short-term results can give you a false impression.

Pocket aces win about 40% of the time. My initial experience could have taught me never to play pocket aces, which would be a very bad lesson indeed.

Remain aware that you can have a run of bad (or good) luck with certain cards. Do not draw your own conclusions based on this short experience. Learn what is PROBABLE. In the long run, everything evens out and you will only win by playing the hands with a good probability of winning.

Playing multiple online hands

2007-10-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

I just read a book by an expert online poker pro. I'm sure he's a much better poker player than I am, but I do know something about technology that he doesn't.

Once you become good enough, you can make more money online playing two games at once. He recommends switching back and forth between the two games on a single screen.

The fact is, it doesn't cost very much money to setup TWO monitors these days. All you need is a computer graphics card with two monitor outputs, and two monitors. I got my card for under $100, and plugged in my current monitor and an old one I had sitting around. Be careful because their are two different kinds of outputs, regular VGA as well as newer DVI. Be sure the outputs you get match the plugs on your monitors. Ask at the computer store if you're not sure.

With this setup, you can easily play two online games at the same time, without flipping back and forth between two monitors.

Concentration

2007-10-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

It almost goes without saying that you should be ready to concentrate when you play poker... almost.

I decided, since I only play good starting hands, that it would be OK to run a Full Tilt poker game in one window while I do some work in another window. My reasoning was that I would just wait for one of the good hands I like to play, then switch gears and earn some money.

The insidious thing is... it worked. At least at first. I quickly won 20 big bets. Then the downside of this plan kicked in. I didn't watch the other players in the other games, so I didn't know who only plays good cards, who only raises with a great hand, and who either bluffs or just plays a bad hand to the showdown. And it cost me. I lost an ace-high flush to a full house, lost two pair to a straight, and just kept on losing. Soon I was down 20 big bets instead of up by that much.

Lesson learned - only play poker when you're prepared to focus on what you are doing. Use the hands that you don't play to learn about your opponents.

People learn differently

2007-10-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Some people learn well by listening, while others need to see pictures and diagrams. Still other folks need to touch and feel to learn well. It's no different with poker. There are some really great books on poker theory out there. They break down the game in a structured manner. Those who are good at learning concepts do well by studying them.

Then there are people who aren't good at book learning, or just plain find it boring. If that's you, I have an awesome book for you! The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em by Dennis Purdy is more a picture book than a text book. It illustrates 150 hands that represent many common poker situations, and asks you what you would do before explaining what the author would do and why. It's great visual learning. I just kept flipping the pages and had a great time trying to solve the situations presented.

If you're more of a visual learner, get The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em (or the NO LIMIT version).

The First Casino Visit

2007-09-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

If you're new to Texas Hold'em, or perhaps just play at home or online, it might seem intimidating to play in a casino or card room for the first time. Read this post to learn what it's like.

Arrival

When you go to the poker room in a casino, the first think you want to do is check in. Seating is assigned. They either seat you if your game is available, or will take your name and put you on a list if it's full. Some casinos have computer monitors setup where you can see where you are on the list, while others will call your name when it's your turn to be seated.

How much money should I bring?

Games are ranked in terms of the betting limits. For example, in a $2/$4 game the first two rounds of betting have $2 bets (and $2 raises), while the final three betting rounds have $4 bets and raises.

A good rule of thumb is to get about 30 big bets worthof chips. In a $2/$4 game the big bet is $4, so buy about $4x30 = $120 worth of chips.

Tipping

When you win a pot, it's customary to tip the dealer. At lower limits, e.g. $3/$6, the tips are usually $1, or $2 for a big pot.

Seating

You often won't have a choice in where you're seated. If it's busy, you will get the first available seat. If you do have a choice, I don't recommend sitting directly to one side of the dealer. You won't have a very good view of the table. If someone leaves, feel free to ask the dealer if you can move to their seat.

Turn $0 into $10,000

2007-09-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

I came across this and thought it's ideal to share with anyone getting started in Poker.

Professional poker player Chris "Jesus" Ferguson took on a challenge from Full Tilt Poker to turn $0 into $10,000. He started with "Freeroll" tournaments (a sort of promotion where you can play for free and the winner gets some real money). Then he played at the lowest-limit tables, working his way up. The key is Bankroll Management.

Read about it at FullTiltPoker.com

PS - If you sign up to play for real money at Full Tilt, please use the promotion code AAA99. That will help me out.

Losing? Here's Why.

2007-09-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Even though you can consistently win at poker by learning to play well, 19 of 20 players lose money in the long run. Many players, even at medium-stake games, make basic mistakes that cost big money. If you don't consistently win at poker, chances are great that you make the same mistakes.

Playing too many hands

You can win at poker with any starting hand. You can win. But with many starting hands, you won't win consistently enough to make up for the times you lose with that same starting hand.

In Texas Hold'em, your starting hand is the two secret cards you receive at the beginning of each hand (the "pocket").

Different authors recommend different starting hands.

I'll post a few book reviews with great advice for starting hands in a few days. For now, here's my personal list of starting hands that should be pretty safe to play most of the time.

AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, AQs, AQ, AJs, TT, 99, 88

T stands for ten. "s" as in AKs means that the two cards are suited (have the same suit, e.g. both hearts or both spades).

All things being equal, you should win in the long run if you restrict yourself to that set of starting hands, play against players that have lower standards for starting hands, and play reasonably well after the flop (which is the subject of future blogs).

You can win more, and play more hands, using more advanced starting hand strategies that take other factors into account such as position (see below). My favorite book for starting hand strategy is Internet Texas Hold'em by Matthew Hilger (it's also great for offline games).

I'm playing online poker as I write this post using the starting hands in that book. So far I have tripled the money I sat down with.

Playing out of position

It matters quite a bit how far to the left of the dealer (or dealer button) you sit in a hand. The person just to the left of the dealer is first to act. Simply put, if you are first to act, you have to decide what you will do before anyone else decides what they will do. On the other hand, if you are last to act, you can see what everyone else did before you (call, raise, fold) before you make up your mind what you want to do.

Only play the very best starting hands from early position.

Going too far with your cards

"Fit or fold" is a lesson that cost me quite a bit of money. Learn it now, and save yourself the expensive lesson.

Simply put, if the flop doesn't fit the cards you hold in your pocket, fold your hand. For example, K-Q is a good starting hand. However, if the flop comes A-A-J and there's lots of betting before it gets to you, chances are you are already beaten. The betting tells you someone likely has an ace for three of a kind, or maybe even A-J for a full house. Fold your good starting cards and wait for a better hand.

Learn to Beat Poker

2007-09-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

Poker is an extremely popular card game. Unlike most forms of gambling, it is a game of skill. By studying the game a little, you can eliminate common mistakes that cost money. By studying the game a lot, you can expect to CONSISTENTLY win money at poker.

I'm not an expert player. In fact, I just started playing recently. However, I'm already a WINNING player.

By reading this blog, you will learn two main things:

Key concepts for beginning and intermediate players
The must-have books for your poker bookshelf

With some study and effort, you can become a winning player, too!

- Eric

PS - I started with today's most popular game, Texas Hold'em. For now, the posts in this blog apply to that form of poker. Still, many of the general concepts are true for any poker game.