211

The Importance of Keeping Records

Kristy Gazes

January 27th, 2010

It’s not a sexy subject, but we all know how vital bankroll management is to your poker career. A great way to help out with managing your roll is to keep records of your play.
Accurate records not only help you keep track of how you’re doing, they also allow you to analyze your game and keep you honest with yourself. We all like to believe that we’re winning players, but that’s not always the case.
Here are a few key categories/stats to keep track of every time you play:

• Overall bankroll (so you never play over your head in games that are too big)
• How long you played
• What game/limit you played
• How much you made (how many big blinds or big bets won per hour)

Keeping records of these basic elements really helps put your game in perspective. Personally, I like to dive in even deeper, so I keep track of my emotions as I play. How you feel when you play and what frame of mind you’re in are vital to the outcome of your session – don’t ignore these factors.
Keep track of things like when you get tired and how long into a session you are when you start to get tired. When you play bad or below your standards and make mistakes with your play, note when they happened and what factors contributed to these mistakes. Whether you admit it or not, poker is a game of emotion; it literally pays to keep track of yours – and hopefully keep them in check.
Keep these records on a daily basis and go back through them each month to analyze your play. Be honest with yourself about what you see. You’re looking for patterns: I lost again while playing this game at this limit for this many hours; I lost again when I played for an hour too long or I won more than normal when I played a shorter session.
If you notice a pattern and see that you’re losing at one particular game or limit, ask yourself: “What am I doing wrong here?” The truth hurts sometimes, but don’t let your ego get in the way of becoming a winning player. When the records show that you’re not doing well, it’s time to move down to a lower limit, reassess your game and start over again.
Seeing these records laid out in front of you allows you to be honest about yourself as a poker player. The numbers never lie, and that’s why it’s so important to keep accurate records of your play.

When Pot Odds Aren't Good Enough

When Pot Odds Aren't Good Enough

by Daniel Negreanu

In tournament play, it’s generally advisable to avoid risking large sums of chips in coin flip situations, like pocket sixes versus A-K. After all, the pocket pair is only a very slight heads-up favorite. Why risk your tournament life on a near 50/50 proposition?

 

Let’s look at an example that illustrates this concept.

 

Two tables of six players each remain in a $10,000 buy-in tournament. You are the chip leader with 2.8 million chips. The blinds are 40,000-80,000 with a 10,000 ante.

 

From late position, you raise to 210,000 with 6d-4d hoping to steal the blinds and antes. An excellent player in the small blind, however, reraises all-in for a total of 635,000 in chips.

 

What do you do?

First, figure out the pot odds. There’s 985,000 in the pot already: 635,000 from your opponent and the 210,000 you bet, plus the 80,000 big blind and 60,000 in antes. It’s an additional 425,000 for you to call the reraise. 

 

Calculate the pot odds by dividing 985,000 by 425,000, or in this case, about 2.3-to-1.

Next, figure out the range of hands your opponent might be playing.

 

You can rule out the possibility that he’s bluffing. Why? Well, he’s on a short stack plus he knows that you’d probably call an additional 425,000 bet given that you’ve already invested 210,000 in the pot. No bluff here.

 

So, he’s either got a pocket pair, probably sixes or higher, or a hand like A-K or A-Q.

 

Your 6d-4d is an underdog against any of those hands but that doesn’t mean you should necessarily fold. Say it would only cost an additional 200,000 to call. In that case, you’d be getting close to 4-1 pot odds; it would be an easy call. You’d be getting the right price even if your opponent does have a high pocket pair.

Okay, getting back to our example, though, you’re only getting 2.3-to-1 odds to make the call.

 

Now, that’s about the right price against a hand like A-K, but what if you are up against a high pocket pair? The pot odds would be too low. You’d be taking too much risk to continue with the hand.

 

The correct play would be to fold your hand and conserve your chips. Many tournament players, however, make the mistake of calling in this situation. They think they’re getting about 2-to-1 pot odds as a 2-to-1 underdog but that’s actually the best case scenario.

 

They fail to consider that it’s only an even money proposition if and only if they truly are a 2-to-1 underdog and not worse!

Look, in tournament poker, a big chip stack is something that should be protected and not gambled away. There’s just no need to risk a big chip stack in a 50/50 coin flip situation. 

Another important consideration is that it’s best to avoid giving a tough opponent any opportunity to double up his short stack, especially when he has the power of position over you. It’s much better to leave him short-stacked and crippled than it is to play a big pot against him when he probably has you beat.

The ability to perform basic math calculations is certainly an integral part of playing fundamental poker. But in tournament poker, it’s equally important to understand that survival often trumps mathematics in coin flip situations.

 

In our example, go ahead and fold your 6d-4d. Save the 425,000 chips for later when you can again try to aggressively attack the blinds. Also, play big pots only when you believe that you’re in a favorable situation with a winnable hand.

 

© 2010 Card Shark Media.  All rights reserved.

Layne Flack

Layne Flack at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic

Two years ago, at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, pro player Layne Flack was playing a $1,500 buy-in, No Limit event with 471 other players.

With the blinds at $500/$1,000 plus a $200 ante, fellow pro Nick Binger made it $3,600 to go with A-J. Flack, sitting in the big blind with Qs-8s, called for $2,600 more.

The flop came Q-8-2. Both players checked.

The 10d fell on the turn and Layne led out for $9,000. Binger studied for a while then moved all-in for $30,000. Layne quickly called. Binger needed a nine or a king to complete his straight. Indeed, the river card was a king.

Binger's opening raise of $3,600 with A-J was standard. Flack's call with Qs-8s was a bit loose for my taste but a player of his caliber has enough talent to overcome a few loose calls.

I like both players' checks on the flop.

On the turn, Layne had to ponder poker's eternal question: Do I bet or check my super-strong hand? Too often, a bet in this situation causes everyone else to fold so you don't get full value out of your hand. Conversely, checking can cause you to lose the pot when an opponent outdraws you for free.

I like Layneís $9,000 overbet on the turn as it protects his hand against an opponent with a drawing hand. Had Layne checked instead, Binger might have been induced to make a bet of his own.

I donít like Binger's all-in bet for $30,000 but I do recognize that it was a judgment call on his part. If he strongly believed that Layne couldnít call a big raise, then Iíd agree that it was the correct play.

Otherwise, Binger should have folded his hand because he wasn't getting the right odds to call. Why risk $30,000 chips -- an above-average stack -- on a bluff against a great player like Layne Flack?

Another interesting hand played out two deals later.

Binger opened for $3,500 with 7h-6h. Flack called with A-10 and pro player James Van Alstyne called with 10-10 in the big blind.

The flop came 9h-7s-3h. Flack and Van Alstyne both checked and Binger bet $9,000. Flack folded. Van Alstyne studied for a long time and then moved all-in for $59,000.

Binger called. The turn card was no help to Nick but the river was the 5h and he had his flush.

Binger's pre-flop raise with 7h-6h was fine. Hold 'em is like martial arts -- you never want to be pushed around. Thatís why an occasional raise with 7h-6h might be considered an acceptable play. Calling a raise with 7h-6h, however, is not advised.

Both Flack's call with A-10 and Van Alstyne's call with 10-10 were reasonable although it would have been more like Van Alstyne to reraise with pocket tens, which, by the way, would have worked perfectly.

I like Flack's and Van Alstyne's checks on the flop and also like Binger's $9,000 bet.

Alternatively, Binger could have checked the flop but that would have given his opponents a chance to outdraw him. Also, by checking in this situation, Binger would have given himself a free shot to hit his drawing hand without risking all of his chips on a possible reraise.

Van Alstyne's $49,000 raise was a solid play. He correctly reasoned that Binger didn't have an overpair or trips. Of course, if Binger did have A-A, K-K or Q-Q, Van Alstyne's raise would have been horrendous. But it was simply a strong read by Van Alstyne, and a strong read like that can easily justify a lot of marginal plays.

Karmakrazy13

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Strong or Weak, Bet the Flop!

Strong or Weak, Bet the Flop!

The flop bet is a useful tactic for both old-school and new-school players because it can be effective if you are strong, weak, or somewhere in between. Betting out weak on a bluff can allow you to pick up an uncontested pot while betting out strong gives you the opportunity to control the size of the pot.

Top-notch, new-school pro player Tom "Durrr" Dwan bets a ton of flops and it doesn't matter if he's strong or weak. In fact, it's not unusual for Durrr to win pots with a flop bet when he has absolutely nothing at all.

How does Durrr induce his opponents to fold? Well, his flop bets put his opponents in tough spots.

Say, for example, a player raises pre-flop with pocket tens. The next two players call and Durrr also calls from the big blind with J-8.

The flop comes Q-9-2. Durrr bets out which puts the player with tens in the middle. He cannot easily call Durrr's bet because he has to worry about the other two players that called his own pre-flop raise. He also has to worry about an almost certain bet from Durrr on the turn as a call by any player on the flop shows weakness.

The player with pocket tens really has to ask himself how much money he is willing to commit with a queen onboard. That's why Durrr's well-timed bet will cause the player with 10-10 to fold more often than not.

Part of the effectiveness of Durrr's flop bet is that it enables him to gauge his opponents' strength. If he senses weakness, he'll pounce with another big bluff. And when he actually does have a strong hand, like A-Q in our example, his flop bet gives him the chance to bet both the turn and the river, enabling him to determine exactly how much money he wins.

Betting the flop is a particularly valuable lesson for me. I've played way too passively on the flop for too long now and it shows. I've just been winning too little with my strong hands. By taking the lead on the flop, I can give myself opportunities to win more money when I am strong and pick up some uncontested pots when I'm not.

Old-school pro player Mike "The Mouth" Matusow likes to bet out on the flop when he has a strong hand like top pair or a set. Why? He thinks it looks weak when he bets the flop so his bet might induce an aggressive opponent to raise. Also, he knows that a flop bet will enable him to control the size of the pot when someone does call his bet.

I sometimes disagree with Mike's use of this tactic because he doesn't follow it up with flop bet bluffs often enough. As a result, when he fires out with a strong hand, he'll too often win the minimum because his opponents will simply fold. On the other hand, he'll check-fold too often on the flop when he's weak.

I typically don't bet out on the flop because I've been in the business of trapping my ultra-aggressive opponents so much that I've simply forgotten the benefits of a simple flop bet!

Setting a trap for my opponents can result in them making a continuation bet that I wouldn't have received had I bet out myself. But now that I'm famous for trapping, my opponents will routinely check behind me when they flop top pair so I'll win the minimum when I have K-Q against their Q-J on a Q-9-2 flop.

-Phil Hellmuth

171

How to Play the Early Stages of Turbo MTTs

Michael Craig

22nd December 2008

When playing a turbo Multi-Table Tournament online, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is overcompensating for the fact that it’s a turbo by playing too fast and loose during the first several rounds. Because the levels are shorter and the starting stacks smaller, you’ll see players rushing to get all their chips into the pot with a hand like A-9 or pocket 5s. Since these tournaments actually play like normal tournaments during the first few levels, it’s important to remain patient and wait for big hands.
In the first 15 or 20 minutes of a turbo tournament you should play the same way you would in the first hour or hour and a half of a regular tournament. You should be looking to play quality hands aggressively from late position, but if you meet any resistance you need to pull back. At this point in the tournament it’s not worth losing all your chips with A-J offsuit or pocket 5s if an opponent comes over the top of your raise.
There’s also very little point in trying to steal the blinds in the early stages because they’re so small relative to the size of the starting chip stacks. Stealing the blinds becomes much more important in the later rounds after the antes have kicked in. The other argument against trying to steal the blinds early on is that you’re more likely than usual to get called because players tend to play faster in turbos. The big blind will be looking for a reason to call your raise from late position, and he might even make a move, pushing all in with a marginal hand. As a result, trying to steal the blinds becomes much less profitable than usual.
What you should be looking for in the early stages are opportunities to play small hands that could become big hands. When you’re in good position, you should be looking to see as many flops as possible with small pocket pairs and suited connectors because these are the types of hands that can win big pots. If I have a hand like pocket 6s, I’ll rarely fold to a raise before the flop because I know that one time in eight I’ll catch a 6 on the flop and double up off a player who can’t let go of his big pair.
If you do choose to call a raise before the flop with a small pocket pair, it’s important that you make sure your opponent has a large enough chip stack to justify the eight-to-one odds of you hitting a set. Ideally, you should be looking to make this call against a player who has at least twenty times the size of the preflop raise. If your opponent only has five times the size of the raise in his chip stack, you can’t win enough to make the call mathematically correct.
Another important difference between turbo and regular tournaments is that in a regular tournament I’ll be a little more aggressive in the early stages, trying to project a certain image. I’ll often raise with hands like J-9 suited or Q-8 suited in late position, but that tactic doesn’t work as well in turbo tournaments. In turbos I’ll often pass up opportunities to make an opening raise with these sorts of hands because I don’t want to put myself in the difficult position of having to play a big pot with such a weak hand.
Let your opponents be the ones to overplay their weak hands early on because they almost certainly will. They’ll raise or call raises before the flop with hands like pocket fours, and even if the flop comes Q-J-7 they’ll keep on pushing. Such players also tend to overplay strong hands like A-K. After raising before the flop with that hand, many players will refuse to let it go after getting check-raised on a flop like J-7-4. Even though they’re obviously behind, they’ll call a big bet, hoping to catch an Ace or King on the turn.
Some players will even push all their chips into the middle in this situation. All they have are two overcards, but I guess they figure that after raising before the flop and betting on the flop they’ve already invested a healthy chunk of their chip stack and they might as well go all the way with the hand. They’re impatient because of the nature of turbo tournaments − starting with smaller chip stacks and playing quicker levels − but this is obviously a huge mistake.
The most important thing to remember in the early stages of an online turbo tournament is stay patient and wait for big hands. Too many players overcompensate for the fact that it’s a turbo and make foolish moves that cost them half their stacks. Don’t be one of those players.

Come Play In My FreeRoll

My Holiday Poker Game in Madison

My Holiday Poker Game in Madison

My Holiday Poker Game is an annual tradition in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. This year it was a $1,000 buy-in $5-$5 blind Pot Limit Hold'em event. The game got started around 4:00 PM. By 2:00 AM, over $50,000 was on the table.

With stacks so deep, you can play forty percent of the hands dealt and still make money. Playing that many hands, though, requires the right mix of guts, heart, bluffing skills, and the ability to play fast and slow.

Late in the game, I played this hand with the UltimateBet.com pro known as Poker Ho.

With the live $10 blind on, Poker Ho and Jon Green limped into the pot. I called with Js-6s on the button.

The flop came J-5-2 rainbow. Ho bet $50, Green called, and I decided to pot it - bet the size of the pot. The players in the blinds folded and Ho fired $520 into the pot, a $310 reraise. Green folded and I called Ho's reraise.

The turn card was an eight. Ho bet the pot and I quickly laid down my hand. Good thing, too. Ho told me later that he had flopped a set of fives.

Let's review the hand.

I love Ho's $50 bet into a $60 pot with three fives. His other option was to slow play his super-powerful hand and bet $20, or even check on the flop, but then he probably would have given up any chance to win a huge pot.

Checking on the flop would have been the worst option for Ho as it would have denied any of the three players in the blinds the chance to check-raise the pot, potentially costing Ho a lot of action.

If one of the blinds had attempted a check-raise with, say, J-2, J-5, 5-2, or K-J, and it then checked around, any player in the blinds might fear that his hand was no longer good, and would be less willing to put more money in on the turn. Also, a six, four, three, or an ace would limit Ho's action as he'd have to fear that an opponent had made a straight.

Ho's other reasonable option was to make a smaller bet on the flop. On the plus side, a $20 bet would have given an opponent in the blinds the chance to check-raise, or lure in another player with a pair of deuces or an ace-high hand. But a small bet also might have attracted a call from a player with an inside straight draw (6-4, 6-3, A-4, or A-3) who would be staring at a huge payday if they completed their straight.

Bottom line: I like the $50 bet more than the $20 bet. Checking would have been a bad play.

My $260 bet on the flop was reasonable. I made the pot-sized raise because I thought I probably had the best hand at the time and wanted to determine exactly where I stood in the hand.

I really love Ho's $310 reraise, especially because he did it at lightning speed - it left me a bit confused.

I hate my $310 call. I raised on the flop to see where I stood and Ho's reraise told me that I was beat -- but I called anyway! Nice playing, Phil.

I don't like Ho's pot-sized bet on the turn. Why let me out of the hand when he was so powerful?

I know why he made the pot-sized bet, though. He was making sure I didn't call with 4-3 which would have busted him with a lucky ace or six on the river. His big bet gave me the easy opportunity to get away from my marginal hand.

-Phil Hellmuth

Learn more about me at PhilHellmuth.com

Check out my webstore, including the new book I just published with Phil Ivey,
"Deal Me In" at PokerBrat.com

How To Multi Table: Part 3 Karmakrazy13

How To Multi Table: Part 2 Karmakrazy13

Poker After Dark

Poker After Dark with The Girls

One of my favorite poker shows on television is Poker After Dark. I remember a great PAD match that featured well-known Danish poker pro Gus Hansen and The Girls - that is, Clonie Gowen, Erica Schoenberg, Vanessa Rousso, J.J. Liu and Beth Shak.

With the blinds at $100/$200, Beth Shak opened for $600 under the gun with A-J offsuit. Erica Schoenberg called from second position with 9c-8c and everyone else folded.

The flop came Q-Q-8 and Shak bet out $1,200. Schoenberg called immediately.

A five hit on the turn and Shak fired out a $2,500 bet. This time, Schoenberg took some time before eventually making the call.

The river card was a nine. Shak quickly shoved $5,000 into the middle. Schoenberg assessed the situation, let out a sigh, and finally folded her hand.

Let's break down this hand.

Shak's first-position opening bet of $600 was the standard play.

Schoenberg's second-position call with 9c-8c wasn't necessarily a bad play but I would have folded in this situation. Why? Well, first off, she was in bad position. If any of the four remaining players had reraised before the flop, she would have been forced to fold her hand. Also, deciding to play a hand like 9-8 puts pressure on your reading ability. If the flop comes 10-8-2 or Q-Q-8, you have to decide whether your hand is winnable or not.

I like Shak's $1,200 bet on the flop. It was aggressive and gave her a chance to win the pot right there if Schoenberg calls with a hand like A-10 or K-J. And it gives her a chance to win the pot with the worst hand, too, if Schoenberg is playing a small pocket pair.

Schoenberg's $1,200 call was the natural play.

On the turn, Shak really stepped up her playing aggression. Beth's $2,500 bet was a pure bluff! She probably sensed that Schoenberg had the best hand at the time but also must have realized that Schoenberg wasn't that strong, either. All in all, that was a good situation to attempt a bluff.

And though I do like Shak's bet, I probably would have just given up and checked. But Shak's bet gets the nod because it enabled her to fire the $5,000 third bullet bluff bet on the river.

Schoenberg's $2,500 call on the turn was standard.

Now, Shak's $5,000 bet on the river was a great play albeit a bit too risky for my taste. It's just so rare to see a player with the courage to bluff three times in one hand.

Beth Shak has guts!

I don't mind Schoenberg's fold on the river. She either thought that Shak indeed had bluffed three times, or had a pocket pair higher than eights, or that the nine on the river had improved her hand, or she had three queens.

Over the years, much has been written about the ability to fire the mythical third bullet on a bluff. That, in fact, is one of the traits that separated the late, great poker pro Stu Ungar from the rest of us mere mortals.

Most sane poker pros (me included) are simply too timid to fire the third bullet. It's tough to do when you just know you're going to get called. So why risk your chips in a hopeless situation?

Look, this hand wasn't played during the WSOP Main Event but you still have to give Beth Shak credit for playing so courageously on Poker After Dark.

Firing out three bullets on a bluff -- wow!

-Phil Hellmuth

209

Making the Second All-In Call

Jon 'Pearljammed' Turner

December 29th, 2009

When a short-stack moves all in and you have him comfortably out-chipped, your decision is usually straight-forward. You consider what range of hands he could have, gauge the likelihood that your hand is best, do some quick pot-odds math, and either call or fold.
However, when another player who is not quite so short-stacked calls in front of you, your decision becomes infinitely more complicated. Suddenly a hand you were dying to call the original all-in bet with becomes marginal at best. And with the pot having swollen substantially, your decision becomes even more pivotal.
I recently played in a No-Limit Hold ’em tournament where I found myself in this extremely tricky position. The blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante, and I had one of the larger stacks at the table, about 25,000 in chips. I was in second position with pocket Kings and raised it up to 750.
A player in middle position, the button and the big blind called my raise. So we went four-way to the flop, and it came J-8-2 with two hearts. I felt good about my hand, especially considering I had the King of hearts. The big blind checked, and even though I figured my hand was best, I checked for several reasons. The stack behind me was very deep, and I didn't want to play a big pot against him out of position. Also, I had recently been seen checking flops and giving up on pots after raising pre-flop, so I chose to mix my play up here to add deception to my game. After the player to my left and I both checked, the button moved all in for 6,300.
It was a great spot for me because I highly doubted that he had my Kings beat. But it stopped being such a great spot for me when the big blind called the 6,300, leaving himself with about 9,000 chips behind his call.
The big blind was a tight player who generally thought through every decision carefully and rationally. I thought about the hands he might have, and I figured A-J was possible, as was a set. I doubted he would make that call with the nut flush draw. So I studied him for about two minutes, doing my best to try to get a read on him. I don’t study someone like that very often, but this was a case where I desperately wanted to look for signs of whether he did or did not want me to re-shove and put him all in. I tried to determine if he was comfortable enough with his hand to play for his whole stack. And finally I reached the conclusion that I didn’t believe he was. Rather, I believed he made the call knowing that he would fold if either of the two players behind him shoved.
So I shoved, the player behind me folded, and then the big blind showed me the A-J as he folded it. The button turned over Q-J, and my Kings held up.
I had a difficult decision, trying to determine if the big blind flat-called because he was hoping someone else would push all in, or if he flat-called because he wasn’t willing to put all of his chips at risk. In the end, I made the correct read and the correct decision. But I only made that decision after thinking the situation through extremely carefully, which is how you have to handle spots like that if you’re going to succeed in No-Limit Hold ’em tournaments.

Don’t Do Anything Stupid!

Don’t Do Anything Stupid!

by Daniel Negreanu

 

Some of the best poker advice I ever received came from someone who didn’t even play the game.

 

You see, after a tournament I think about what went wrong. Perhaps I’d played well, consistently increasing my chip stack when -- boom -- I made a stupid play and blew most of my chips.

 

That’s the exact scenario I discussed with my friend. I told her I was playing my usual game, staying within my system, and then inexplicably veered from that approach and entered a big pot in a risky situation.

 

Her response was simple yet powerful: “Don’t do anything stupid!”

 

That comment really resonated with me. To this day, when I play in big poker tournaments and find myself considering a potentially stupid move, I hear her voice and usually let go of the hand. 

 

So, what defines a stupid play in tournament poker? It’s generally when you do one of three things: bluff in a situation when you shouldn’t, call a large bet with a weak hand hoping to catch an opponent on a bluff, or gamble in a coin flip situation for a large percentage of your chips.

 

Here are a few tips to avoid making stupid plays.

 

When you play in big dollar buy-in poker tournaments, pay attention to the pace at which blinds escalate and the amount of starting chips you receive. In most high-stakes tournaments, there’s ample time to play patiently so there’s no excuse to make risky blunders early on.

 

Perhaps the tournament starts with 20,000 chips each and blinds of 50-100 increasing every 90 minutes. With that structure, don’t force the action; there’s no need to take excessive risk. Save those risky plays until later when they may be needed. For example, say your stack gets low in relation to the blinds. That’s when you might be forced to make a risky all-in move in an attempt to steal the blinds, even with a marginal hand like A-7.

 

Taking excessive risks early in a tournament is a common mistake made by many amateur players. Beginners push the panic button too soon. That’s just a stupid play, particularly in big buy-in events that offer so much reward for patient play.

 

Consider this example.

 

Blinds are 200-400 with a 50 ante. You’re dealt A-7 in first position and have 15,000 in chips. Sure, others in the tournament have more chips than you and you’re way below average in chip count, but it’s too early to make a desperation play.

 

Bide your time. Wait for a better hand. Wait until you have better position. In this situation, fold the A-7 and avoid the risk of going broke.

 

Another error commonly made by amateurs is that they take unnecessary risks when the game is progressing smoothly and they’re nicely building a sizable stack. Too often, these players will either attempt an ill-timed bluff or they’ll gamble all their chips in a coin flip situation that could have easily been avoided.

 

Listen to my friend’s advice and don’t do anything stupid.

 

Remember, it’s important to consider the tournament structure. In a smaller $300 buy-in event, for example, you might start with 3,000 chips and blinds at 25-50 and increasing rapidly.

 

In this situation, you simply can’t play patient poker. Inevitably, you’ll be forced into all kinds of risky moves. Luck plays a bigger role in these smaller buy-in tournaments so risky play is actually rewarded.

 

No matter how you cut it, playing stupid poker is a recipe for disaster. Sharks will always be lurking at your table. They’re waiting to feed on stupid mistakes made by all players no matter what their skill level.

© 2009 Card Shark Media.  All rights reserved.