Full Tilt Poker Learn From The Pros Lesson 164

164
Betting out to control pot size
Kelly Kim
October 30th, 2008
Intuitively, it would seem that checking and calling is the best way to keep a pot small when you’re uncertain as to whether or not you have the best hand. And often, that’s the case. But believe it or not, betting out can sometimes allow you to get to the showdown cheaper than checking. If your goal is to control the size of the pot, sometimes voluntarily putting chips in will actually keep the pot smaller than passively putting chips in only after your opponent does.
Here’s an example from a hand that I played during this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event that will illustrate this tactic. The blinds were 12,000/24,000 and I opened for 60,000 on the button. Usually when you open for 2 1/2 big blinds like that, especially on the button, it portrays some strength. In this case, I only had Q-J of hearts. The small blind called and the big blind folded.
The flop came A-10-rag; he checked, I bet 65,000 and he called. The turn card was a Queen – making me second pair – and he checked. This was the key moment in the hand. I decided to bet 100,000. I did this for pot control: I didn’t want to call a bet of 150,000 or 200,000 on the river, so I made a smaller bet at that point expecting it to freeze him on the river with most hands.
Let’s say my opponent had A-3. My small bet on the turn made it look like I had a strong hand and was milking him, wanting him to call. There was no way he could bet on the river with an Ace and no kicker; he was just as happy as I was to see a free showdown at that point.
It’s also important to note our stack sizes. I started the hand with about 600,000 in chips and he was deep, with about 1.5 million. By betting 100,000 on the turn, meaning I had committed more than one-third of my stack, he couldn’t try a bluff raise because it was too likely that I was pot-committed. On top of this, I had established a tight image and he had to respect the likelihood that I had a real hand. If he had come over the top, I would have found out that I was beat for a relatively cheap price.
The main goal of the turn bet was to get me to the showdown for 100,000 instead of a larger amount. If I’d checked there, with about 280,000 in the pot, he could very well have had Ace-baby, and my check would have told him that I didn’t have an Ace. He then could have easily bet about 150,000-200,000 on the river to extract value from me. He was looking for an amount that I might have paid off with a Queen or what looked like a bluff. If he had Ace-baby and opted for the 200,000-chip bet, I would have saved 100,000 by betting out on the turn.
Obviously, he could have thrown a wrinkle into the plan by moving all in on the river. Again, this is a situation where you have to incorporate image, and I’d been playing real tight to that point – he was just as scared of me as I was of him.
What if I did have him beat with the Queen? Let’s say he had J-10 or K-10; he would have been priced in to call, and I wanted him to – I needed to pick up the extra 100,000 for my stack. I was willing to take the risk of seeing the river because he only had five or six outs.
Against other players who are capable of seeing the river card and just moving in, I might have tried a different strategy, like playing real small ball and checking the turn while being prepared to pay off 175,000 on the river. But against this guy, I knew for sure he was going to check the river unless he made trips or a straight.
As it turned out, I never saw his hand. He checked the river, I checked behind. He was disgusted when I showed him the Queen, so it was obvious that he had a 10 and I turned him. But he couldn’t have just had a 10. For him to have called with a 10 on the turn he needed to have a straight card there – he either had to be holding J-10 or K-10. And that was exactly the hand I wanted to be up against on the turn.
This situation was very circumstantial because it was based on stack size and image, which are very important in live tournaments. Because of the size of my chip stack, I was playing really tight and couldn’t afford to get out of line. I couldn’t see many flops. I played with this opponent for a while to set up this play, and I knew it was the perfect situation for it. I wanted to get to a showdown because I thought queens could have been the best hand, but didn’t want to pay 200,000 in the end to find out.

When to Reraise in a Tournament

In tournament play, the best players in the world usually won’t reraise a bet before the flop. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t certain situations where it’s appropriate to do just that. It’s okay, for example, to reraise when you’re short-stacked. This is the most obvious situation for a pre-flop reraise. In this case, you’ll likely be reraising for all of your chips when you do. If your opponent folds, you’ll probably increase your stack size significantly, and that’s not a bad result.A reraise in this situation is effective because it limits the field. With any luck, you’ll get to play the hand heads-up; that will increase your odds of tournament survival. Remember, even with a hand as strong as pocket queens, you’d much prefer having just one opponent to beat.You can also reraise when you’re out of position with a strong hand. In no limit Hold’em, position equals power. One sure way to neutralize an opponent’s positional advantage is by reraising before the flop.For example, say a player from late position raises when you hold pocket jacks in the small blind. A reraise here is often better than a call. That’s because pocket jacks are tough to play after the flop and even more difficult to play if you have to act first. By making an appropriately large pre-flop reraise, the hand becomes easier to play since you’ll likely be committed to the pot regardless of the flop. Now, if the flop comes A-K-10, you’d obviously have to consider laying down the jacks. If the flop came Q-6-2, however, you’d want to continue to bet after the flop even though there’s an overcard on the board.It’s also a good idea to reraise against bad players who tend to overplay hands like J-J, A-Q, or even A-K. While you should occasionally slowplay big pairs like pocket aces or kings in deep-stack tournaments, it’s simply unnecessary and not recommended when playing against bad players. Go ahead and reraise your big pocket pairs against these players. A weak player who raises with A-K will probably respond to your reraise by shoving all of his chips in before the flop -- with the worse hand.You can also reraise pre-flop when you have position and want to define an opponent’s hand, particularly if there’s an aggressive player at the table.Say you’re sitting on the button with a not-so-strong K-J and an aggressive player raises. Reraising pre-flop in this situation will help you take control of the hand and will reveal information about the strength of your opponent’s hand.If he folds, he was trying to steal. If he reraises, he’s probably got you dominated. If he calls, assume he’s got a relatively strong hand, something like pocket eights or A-Q. Finally, consider reraising before the flop if you have a solid table image. At some point, your opponents will see that you rarely reraise before the flop. That observation provides the perfect opportunity to bluff by reraising with a trash hand. Even a hand as weak as 7-2 offsuit can be a winner if you make a pre-flop reraise. But you’ve got to have a rock-solid poker image to make this play work.Important: Don’t overuse this play. When you do, be prepared to abort mission if you get any resistance at all. And only try this play if it won’t put at risk a large percentage of your chips.Learn more at PokerVT.

Bankroll Management By Craig Marquis

163

Bankroll Management

Craig Marquis

October 24th, 2008

When I first started playing poker, I had no idea what bankroll management was. I just sat in whichever games were open at the stakes I wanted to play, even if I barely had enough money in my bankroll to cover the buy-in. I worked my way up the ranks by jumping to the next level as soon as I had enough money to pay for a single buy-in. This strategy worked amazingly well for a while, but once I reached stakes where the quality of play was much higher than I was used to, my lack of bankroll management almost proved disastrous.

After playing thousands of hands and building a bankroll large enough to play in almost any game I wanted, I managed to lose almost all of it in the span of a few days. Many professional poker players end up going broke multiple times in their careers, and this is almost always due to a lack of bankroll management. The players who will be around forever are the ones who have learned this lesson.

Although painful, some good did come from these experiences: I learned the importance of bankroll management. Now instead of playing at the highest limits that my bankroll allows, I play in lower stakes games where I still feel like I’m playing for a significant amount of money. Playing as low as $2/$4, $3/$6, and $5/$10 No-Limit, I’m able to play a completely objective game. Because I’m not afraid to lose a $1,000 in a single hand, I can make a lot of moves that I probably wouldn’t make at higher stakes and if I fail the loss hardly affects me. This gives me an enormous advantage over opponents who would be devastated by a $1,000 loss.

There’s an old saying that goes "scared money is dead money," and it’s true. You simply can’t consistently win at poker if you’re playing with money you’re afraid to lose. To combat this, I like to play in games with buy-ins 40 to 50 times smaller than the size of my bankroll. Ten buy-in downswings are common in poker, and it’s comforting to be prepared for such variance.

By observing proper bankroll management and playing at stakes your bankroll can handle, you’ll be able to limit the impact variance has on your game. You’ll be able to endure a ten buy-in downswing without going on tilt and you won’t be crushed when you hit the cashier button and see that your balance has dropped dramatically.

One of the biggest problems with playing at stakes that are too high for your bankroll is not being able to minimize the impact of variance. If you choose to play in a game that could wipe out your entire bankroll by losing four buy-ins, you’re not going to be able to get involved in many situations where you only have a slight edge. Playing with this sort of restraint isn’t good for a poker player.

In an attempt to lower variance, poker players who are under rolled for the game they’re in give up a lot of their EV because they’re playing scared. If you happen to spot one of these players, you can easily exploit their fear.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. I recently played heads up against a player who was obviously playing with scared money. He was one of those players looking for an excuse to fold unless he could show the nuts. Taking advantage of his tendency to fold all but the very best hands, I picked every marginal situation I could find and attacked. Any time I found a spot where I believed he thought I couldn’t possibly be bluffing, I would do just that.

In one such hand he bet $150 on the river when the board showed a pair and three cards to a flush. There was $300 in the pot, and I moved all in for my last $300. It was only $150 more for him to call, but he folded because it was a spot where he must have thought there was no possible way I could be bluffing. Discovering this weakness in his game made for a very profitable session for me, but I wouldn’t have discovered it if I hadn’t been willing to shove all my chips into the middle in marginal situations – I never would have done that if the stakes had been higher or I had a smaller bankroll.

If you are properly bankrolled for whichever game you choose to play, you’ll be able to make the optimal play in any situation that might occur without having to decide if it’s a high-variance move or not. By playing in games where the loss of ten buy-ins in a row would hardly put a dent in your bankroll, you’ll be able to maximize your EV, enjoy less dramatic swings in your bankroll, and celebrate an increase in your win rate, which in poker is a recipe for success.

Online Timing Tells

Tips from the Pros

162

Online Timing Tells

Taylor Caby

October 15th, 2008

When playing poker online, one of the most important pieces of information you can pick up on is the "timing tell." Whenever one of your opponents gets involved in a big hand, you should always pay attention to how long it takes him to make his decision because it will often give you a clue about the strength of his hand.

Here’s an example of how important a timing tell can be. Let’s say you’re playing in a $1/$2 No-Limit Hold ’em cash game, and everyone folds to you on the button. You raise with A-8 suited, and the big blind calls. The flop comes 8-7-2, and your opponent quickly checks. You have top pair with top kicker, which is a very good hand heads up, so you check behind, hoping to get some value out of the hand on the turn and the river.

A 4 falls on the turn, and your opponent checks quickly once again. You bet $10 into the $14 pot. Previously your opponent has acted very quickly, calling and checking within a second or two, but now he takes his time making a decision. This should be like an alarm bell going off in your head, telling you that he has made a big hand.

After letting his time bank nearly run all the way down, your opponent decides to raise, but only for a small amount. This is another indication that he has a big hand and is hoping to get paid off, but it was the timing tell that should have tipped you off first. By taking so long to make a decision on the turn, he deviated from the normal timing of his actions. He was obviously thinking about much more than whether he should call, raise, or fold; he was trying to decide the best way to extract the most money from you. Now you know that your opponent has a big hand, most likely a set or a straight, and you’d be wise to fold.

Now let’s say you’re at the same table, and a player limps in under the gun. Everyone folds, and you have J-4 in the big blind. This isn’t much of a hand, but you should still take your time before checking. By acting like you are possibly considering putting in a raise, you are disguising the strength, or, in this case, the weakness of your hand.

The flop comes 9-6-3, completely missing your hand, but once again you should take your time before checking. If your opponent instantly fires a bet at the pot, that should tell you he was planning on betting no matter what the flop brought because he couldn’t possibly have had enough time to think about the flop and decide what he was going to do. Because of the speed of his bet and the nature of the flop, there’s a good chance your opponent failed to improve his hand, making this a good spot to put in a large raise. Even though you have nothing, there’s a good chance your opponent also has nothing and will fold.

Another timing tell you should be aware of has to do with the auto check/fold option. Players who use this option are giving their opponents information about the type of cards they’re likely to have and the way they play certain hands. By using the auto check/fold option, these players are telling you that they usually play their hands in a straightforward manner. Such players are more likely to play their hands based solely on the strength of the cards dealt to them, rather than taking into account all the other factors involved in a poker hand.

As important as it is to pick up on these timing tells when you’re playing online, it’s equally important to avoid giving off such tells yourself. Oftentimes you will know instantly whether you want to bet or call with a certain hand, but you should always wait a few seconds before acting. By doing this when you don’t have a hand you like, it will allow you in the future to take a little more time to consider the best way to play a hand you do like without tipping off your opponents.

It’s also important to note that some advanced online players will give off reverse timing tells in order to mislead their opponents. Therefore, before giving too much credence to an opponent’s timing tell, you should determine what kind of player he is, an inexperienced player who is genuinely perplexed by the decision he needs to make or a cagey professional trying to set a trap.

A Powerful Tell

Success at poker is ultimately the result of solid fundamentals and the ability to read your opponents’ betting patterns. This is especially true when playing online. But playing live poker is a completely different animal. In this venue, the presence of physical tells can not be overlooked.Picking up a tell -- a hint that a player unknowingly gives that reveals the strength of his hand -- often means the difference between winning and losing a big pot.Most physical tells, however, are notoriously unreliable. What might signify a bluff from one player just might indicate a full house from another. That’s why it’s wrong to generalize physical tells by adhering to profound-sounding statements like, “When a player throws his chips in forcefully, it’s a bluff.” It’s simply not true in all cases.There are, however, some tells that are more reliable than others. One in particular is the habit of glancing at one’s chip stack. It’s powerful because so many players aren’t even aware that they’re doing it. Let me explain.Some players will immediately glance at their chips as soon as the thought of making a bet crosses their mind. Say a player is holdingpocket threes and another three hits on the flop. That player will often take a quick glance at his chip stack as soon as the flop is revealed. It’s like hearing a voice inside your head saying, “Oh, three of a kind. Next step is to bet. Where are my chips?”That’s when you’ll notice the quick glance. Once you find a player who has this habit, it will be the most reliable tell you will ever spot.Now, a player with this tendency might also look at the flop with a blank stare, never once glancing at his chips. That is a tell, too! Since you know that he glances at his chips when he wants to bet, you can infer that when he doesn’t, he has no intention of continuing with the hand. The pot is yours for the taking with a bet.Here’s an example of how picking up on this particular tell can help you avoid being trapped.You make a pre-flop raise with 8c-10c. The player in the big blind calls. The flop comes Jc-7d-3s and your opponent checks to you. With an inside straight draw, you might decide to bluff at the pot. However, you realize that your opponent could be considering a check-raise. Knowing that, the better option is to check, take a free card, and hope to catch a nine to complete your straight. This play would eliminate the worst case scenario where you bet, get check-raised, and then have to fold, potentially costing yourself a huge pot.Here’s where the chip-glancing tell is most valuable.Watch your opponent’s eyes as he sees the flop. If he glanced at his chips before he announced check -- beware! There’s something he likes about that flop. He probably won’t fold to any bet you make. Just check and try to catch a card on the turn.On the other hand, if you are facing a player who habitually glances at his chips when he likes a flop, but doesn’t do it this time -- bet! Chances are he missed the flop. Take the pot right away. Don’t give him a chance to catch a winning card on the turn.The art of reading physical tells isn’t an exact science. But of all the tells you’ll encounter at the poker table, you can pretty much call this one “Old Faithful.”

Continuation Betting

160

Choose the right time for Continuation Betting

Jon 'Pearljammed' Turner

September 17th, 2008

Continuation betting has become so common in No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments that many players no longer give it any respect. They will often call your bet on the flop, whether or not they actually have anything, just to see what you'll do on the turn. Because continuation bets have lost so much value, you should be wary of making this bet if you don't have much of a hand, and, even if you do have a hand, you should occasionally check behind just to mix up your play.

When deciding whether or not you should follow up a preflop raise with a bet on the flop, you should consider a variety of factors, including the texture of the flop, the number of players involved in the hand and the tendencies of those players, but here I want to talk about how your use of the continuation bet needs to change as a tournament progresses.

In the early stages of a tournament, you should be much more willing to make a continuation bet on the flop because you generally won't be risking as high a percentage of your chip stack as you will in later rounds. Losing an extra 80 chips when the blinds are 10/20 and you have 3,000 isn't going to hurt you all that much. You should be especially willing to make this bet after flopping a set or top two pair because in these situations you really want to build a pot.

However, if you flop a medium-strength hand like top pair with an average kicker you need to employ much more caution. Let's say you raise before the flop with J-10 suited, and the flop comes J-7-3. If your opponent checks to you, you should also check. You don't want to build a big pot in this situation because your opponent could easily have K-J or Q-J, just the sort of hands weaker players like to play early on in tournaments.

Checking behind your opponent will also disguise the strength of your hand, allowing you to extract value from it on later streets. If your opponent has a medium pocket pair like 6s or 10s and you check behind on a J-7-3 flop, you're more likely to get a call out of him if you bet the turn and, if a scare card hits the board, you can simply check behind once again.

Another advantage of checking behind your opponent after flopping top pair is that in the future it will allow you to check behind on flops that don't connect with your hand without giving away the fact that you're weak. Doing this will also keep the pot small enough that you won't feel committed to it if your opponent plays back at you on the turn.

If you do make a continuation bet on the flop in this situation and your opponent check-raises you and you call and he bets the turn, you've helped build a large pot when all you have is a medium-strength hand. Calling your opponent down could cost you half your stack, if not more, and the only hand you can really beat is a total bluff.

The way you should play this hand will change after the antes have come into play in the latter stages of the tournament. If you've flopped top pair with J-10, you're up against a single opponent, and you have less than 25 big blinds in your chip stack, you're going to want to follow up your preflop aggression with a bet on the flop for two reasons.

First, you don't want to give a free card to somebody who might be holding a hand like A-Q or K-Q. Second, some players will think you're making a continuation bet with nothing, and if they've got a medium pocket pair they might check-raise you all-in, giving you an excellent chance to double up. Just remember that if you're going to make a continuation bet in this spot, you have to be willing to go all the way with your hand because your bet is going to commit you to the pot.

In general, the further along you get in a tournament the more caution you need to use when making a continuation bet, but even in the early stages you want to be careful because many players will try to bluff you off your hand with a large check-raise. Checking the flop will allow you to avoid this trap and, if you have a medium-strength hand like top pair, often proves to be a more profitable play in the long run.

158

Saving Chips in HORSE

Chip Jett

September 4th, 2008

The $50,000 HORSE tournament at the World Series of Poker is one of the most prestigious events in all of poker, but the structure does not allow room for mistakes. Typically, over 80 percent of the field is still alive halfway through the second day, but none of those players have enough chips to play more than two big hands. Everyone is in danger of going broke. In fact, it’s the same in nearly every HORSE tournament I’ve ever played in, which means it’s crucial that you never waste a single bet.

In no-limit tournaments a few players usually break out from the pack and acquire huge chip leads early on. The blinds and antes only become an issue for them towards the very end of the tournament, but that almost never happens in HORSE tournaments because you’re playing limit poker. The blinds and antes are an issue the entire time so saving chips whenever you can is vital.

In a HORSE tournament it’s particularly important to hold on to your chips in the Stud games because there’s an extra round of betting compared to the flop games, Hold ’em and Omaha. That’s why I think it’s best to play conservatively on Third Street in the Stud games.

For example, let’s say you have A-2 in the hole and a 5 up in Razz. This is one of the best starting hands you can have in Razz so you should definitely open for a raise. But a player showing a 6 re-raises you. For him to reraise you, it’s almost 99 percent certain he has two wheel cards in the hole. He has a very good starting hand, but, of course, your hand is still better.

If this were a cash game, you would want to re-raise him. However, in a HORSE tournament you should just call because you’re only a small favorite at this point in the hand. Not re-raising here is kind of like staying away from coin flip situations in No-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments. You’re avoiding a situation where you’re not a huge favorite. In a HORSE tournament you don’t want to push too hard when you only have a slight advantage.

If you put in three bets on Third Street and get two or more callers, pots odds are going to force you to stay in the hand no matter what you catch on Fourth Street. Playing this way, you might win a big pot, but you might also lose one. You simply can’t afford to play this way in a HORSE tournament because losing one or two such hands can cost you your entire stack.

I’d recommend seeing what falls on Fourth Street before committing any more of your chips because you will have a much better idea where you are at in the hand. If you and your opponent both catch good cards on Fourth Street, you become a much bigger favorite to win the hand than you were on Third Street. Now instead of being just a 52 percent favorite you might be as much as a 65 percent favorite, and you can start raising and re-raising to protect that advantage.

If you catch a bad card on Fourth Street, it will be much easier to muck your cards if you didn’t put in three or four bets on Third Street. For example, if you catch a jack and your opponent catches a 4, you’re going to be happy you didn’t cap the betting on Third Street because now you’re behind in the hand.

Another advantage to just calling a reraise on Third Street with the best hand is deception. If you and your opponent both catch good cards on Fourth Street your opponent is going to think he still has the better hand. You are in effect slowplaying your hand, and it could pay off handsomely because the size of the bets has now doubled.

Because every player in a HORSE tournament is just one or two hands away from going broke, it’s extremely important to save your chips whenever you can. Playing more conservatively on Third Street during the Stud games is a great way to accomplish this.

159

Coin Flips

Ben Roberts

September 10th, 2008

Whether or not you decide to get into a coin flip situation in poker really depends upon what type of game you're playing. I'm far more likely to take on one of these challenges when I'm playing in a cash game than when I'm playing in a tournament, and I'm also more likely to do so when I'm playing in a live game as opposed to online.

If you're playing in a cash game, getting into a 50-50 race can occasionally produce greater results beyond simply winning the hand. If you win a race, you can often expect your opponent to become a worse player almost immediately after the hand is over. This will give you the opportunity to take even more money from him over the course of the next several hours. Therefore, I'm more willing to get into a coin flip situation with players who have less control over their emotions after losing a big hand this way.

Conversely, if my opponent wins the hand, he's not going to get rewarded as much since I'm not going to play any differently after losing a big hand in this manner. Although winning is extremely important to me, I believe people put too high a premium on winning in the short-term, for example, over the course of a session or two. When they fail to win, they become possessed with a sense of shame and depression, but I believe poker is supposed to be a journey of joy and fun.

Beyond my opponent's demeanor, one of the biggest factors in deciding whether or not I'm willing to get into a race is the amount of money I've invested in the hand. If I've already put some money into the pot and I'm sure it's a 50-50 situation, then no matter how much my opponent raises he won't be able to get rid of me. If I folded, I would be literally throwing away the money I already put in there, and I'm not in the habit of doing that.

Here's an example of a coin flip situation after the flop. Let's say you have A-K of clubs, and the flop comes 9-8-2 with two clubs. Because you have two overcards and a flush draw, this is a nice spot to go on the offensive if somebody makes a bet. If your opponent has made top pair with a hand like 10-9, it's about a 50-50 situation, but you have plenty of outs to justify your aggression.

However, if you raise and your opponent comes over the top of you, you have to suspect that he has a set and you can no longer depend on a king or an ace being an out. At this point, all you have is flush draw and it's no longer a coin flip situation. Unless you're both deep-stacked and think your opponent will pay you off if you do hit your flush, you should back off and wait for a better situation. But don't lose your initiative and remember to keep playing aggressively.

Now let's turn it around. The flop is the same, but now you have pocket jacks and your opponent is the one who has two overcards and a flush draw. You bet, and your opponent raises. How you proceed really depends upon what sort of player you're up against.

Because of situations like this one, I prefer live games to online games. I tend to make more accurate decisions in live games. Most of the time I can get a read on my opponent, and I can capitalize on that. If I feel like he only has two overcards because he just called my raise before the flop, I'll call and see what the turn brings. But if I raised before the flop and he reraised me, then I'll throw my jacks away because he could very well have a bigger pair than mine.

My rationale completely changes in a tournament. In the latter stages of a tournament your chips are worth more than they were at the beginning so your first concern should be protecting them, which often means avoiding coin flip situations. After the money bubble bursts, you get financially rewarded whenever a player gets knocked out so quite often the smartest move is to avoid getting into coin flip situations and waiting for a better spot.

Like many aspects of poker, the decision of whether or not to get into a coin flip situation depends on a variety of factors, the most important of which are the type of game you're playing and the demeanor of the opponent you're playing against.

Panthers stun Chargers 26-24 as time expires

SAN DIEGO (AP)—Jake Delhomme came back with a jolt that the San Diego Chargers won’t soon forget.

Delhomme threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dante Rosaraio as time expired to lift the Carolina Panthers to a shocking 26-24 win over the Chargers on Sunday.

It was a heart-stopping capper to a game that swung wildly with a big defensive play by each team in the second half.

After Philip Rivers rallied San Diego with his third TD pass of the game, Delhomme moved the Panthers to the San Diego 14-yard line with 2 seconds left before calling his final timeout.

Delhomme dropped back on fourth down, scrambled and then found Rosario in the back of the end zone to give Carolina a 25-24 lead. Carolina coach John Fox raised his arms and clenched his fists as the offensive players mobbed each other between the goal posts and the stands.

John Kasay, who had four field goals, added the extra point to set the final score.

Delhomme returned after missing all but three games last season with an elbow injury that required reconstructive surgery.

He was 8-of-11 for 68 yards on the final drive.

LETS GO PANTHERS!!! WE JUST SHOWED THE WORLD!!!

This Journey is fun!

Having a lot more fun this time around, mixing in lots of different buy ins and game types.
#39 26TH/45 Lost A Race
#40 14TH/45 Super Card Dead
#41 12TH/45 Blind Vs Blind Gone Wrong
#42 10TH/45 Had to push, Got Unlucky
#43 4TH/9 SUPER SICK BAD BEAT
#44 16TH/45 I got in with 1 live card
#45 17TH/45 I Had To Call
#46 7TH/45 +$12.00
#47 5TH/45 +$44.00

Current Bankroll:$200

This is so much fun!!!

#33 3RD/6
#34 5TH/6
#35 8TH/9 LOST A RACE
#36 8TH/18 UNLUCKY I WAS DOMINATED
#37 9TH/45 UNLUCKY DOMINATED AGAIN!!
#38 2ND/45 +$60.00


Played 2 5 card draw games and got no cash :( But made it deep in 2 45 player games, got unlucky twice and that sums up the day so far for me, be sure to check here daily for updates!
CURRENT BANKROLL:$187

Bankroll Journey Update 8/28/08

Starting Bankroll: $130.00 Current Roll: $268.35 - $68.00 Cashout Bankroll = $200.35
#26 2ND/6 $4.20
#27 18TH/45 2 Live
#28 10TH/45 Lost A Race
#29 14TH/45 UNLUCKY!
#30 18TH/45 SICK FUCKING BEAT!
#31 12TH/45 LOST A RACE
#32 2ND/45 $110.00

Mix And Match

Mixed some other games into my playing, but still having the most success at the 45 player turbos.
Current Bankroll:$214
#1 30th/45 BAD BEAT
#2 19th/45 BEST HAND LOST
#3 2ND/45 +$60.00
#4 3RD/45 +$42.00
#5 25TH/45 LOST A RACE
#6 29TH/45 HORRIBLE BEAT
#7 17TH/45 BEST HAND LOST
#8 3RD/45 +$42.00
#9 26TH/45 LOST A RACE
#10 17TH/45 LOST A RACE
#11 7TH/45 +$12.00
#12 19TH/45 Bad move on my part
#13 34TH/45 BET HAND LOST
#14 26TH/45 BAD BEAT
#15 19TH/45 SUPER CARD DEAD
#16 15TH/45 UNLUCKY
#17 7TH/9 SICK BAD BEAT
#18 23RD/45 2 TERRIBLE BEATS
#19 11TH/18 NASTY BAD BEAT
#20 1ST/6 +$23.40
#21 10TH/18 HORRIBLE SICK BAD BEAT/ LOST A RACE
#22 4TH/6 BLIND VS BLIND
#23 5TH/9 I WAS DOMINATED
#24 2ND/45 +$60.00
#25 433/458 UNLUCKY

$208

Played 12 $6.50 turbo 45 players so far and here are the results:
#1 30th/45
#2 19th/45
#3 2ND/45 +$60.00
#4 3RD/45 +$42.00
#5 25TH/45
#6 29TH/45
#7 17TH/45
#8 3RD/45 +$42.00
#9 26TH/45
#10 17TH/45
#11 7TH/45 +$12.00
#12 19TH/45

$130...To???

Today I start a new quest to turn $130 into something big. I will be playing a mix of sit and gos maybe a few MTT's thrown into the mix as well. Keep check daily for updates.

Tips For Multi Tabling

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008

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Five Tips for Better Multi-Tabling

Online rulers like James "mig.com" Mackey will ask the same question: Why play one table when you can play 10?

By Daniel Skolovy

User rating: ( 9 votes )

Why play one table when you can play 10? That's what I always ask live-poker nits. Multi-tabling is probably the best thing about playing online.

Well, that and you can avoid dealing with the three S's of live poker: slow games, sloppy dealing and stinky degenerates.

But I digress. If you aren't multi-tabling now, you better start learning because if you're not, you're simply throwing money away.

For a more detailed look at multi-tabling, you can read a full article here. However, here are five quick tips to get you pointed in the right direction:

1) Use a four-color deck. The four-color deck is easily the most important option for multi-tabling. Red hearts, black spades, green clubs and blue diamonds. Sounds weird at first, but you'll get used to it quickly.

At first glance you can tell which flush draws got there and which missed. Two-colored decks are for grandpas and live poker. Get with the times.

2) Stick to the simplest themes. Many online poker rooms have several different themes for you to choose from, but you shouldn't try and use all the bells and whistles they have when you're multi-tabling.

Get rid of the distractions. PokerStars' hyper-simple theme is a great example of a nice table setup perfect for multi-tabling.

3) Take notes. Even if you can't pay attention to every single hand going on, make sure you watch the big ones and take detailed notes.

These notes will stay with the player and whenever you run into that player again you can refer to them. Try and make them short and sweet and informative; "Check-raises flop with combo draw" is a lot better than "Jackass sucks out with flush."

4) Figure out a system for organizing your tables. Some people stack the tables; others tile. Find out what works for you so you can quickly refer to whichever table the action is on.

A personal tip if you are multi-tabling tournaments: When I play 12 or more tables I will sort my tournaments by blind level.

Bad_IP: Multi-table master.

Highest blinds go in the top left with the rest of the tables sorted toward the smallest blinds in the bottom right.

5) Sit in the same seat. A lot of poker sites have options where you can always sit in the same seat and the software will just rotate the table around you.

This option is invaluable to a massive multi-tabler. Finding where you are sitting on all tables when you have to make split-second decisions can be a daunting task.

If, however, you are always in the same seat you know exactly where to look when the action is on you.

Unexpected

BANKROLL:$19.86
#57 Tournament #102337753/18TH/CARD DEAD!!!!
#58 Tournament #102338112/10TH/WOW!/HOW COULD I NOT HIT!!!/WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BANKROLL:$6.86
#59 Tournament #102357831/19TH/THE ONLY HAND I GOT THE WHOLE SNG
Ending Bankroll:$0.00

I played a 20 game series of $6.50 45 player turbos a week ago, that is what inspired me to do this, in that series I got 1ST place 2 times. In this journey 1ST 0 times, and 2ND only once.
I got deep a lot but just not deep enough.
I know I was playing outside of bankroll mangement but I took 18 buy ins and stretched it 10 59. I am proud of myself for getting this far, disappointed it is over. Thanks for being there, and thank you for the support, Good luck and see you at the tables!!!

Did the journey end???

#54 Tournament #102321345/34TH/I WAS DOMINATED
#55 Tournament #102321713/20TH/GOT IN WITH THE BEST LOST A RACE
#56 Tournament #102322021/6TH $18.00/ MY KK LOSES TO Q4 OFF/MY STRAIGHT LOSES TO A TIE/MY KK LOSES TO Q9SUITED /IN THE END CARD DEAD...VERY UNLUCKY SIT AND GO I AM SUPRISED I GOT 6TH
BANKROLL:$19.86

Going deep but not deep enough

#49 Tournament #102273802/20TH/BEST HAND LOST
#50 Tournament #102274267/4TH $30.00/CARD DEAD AT FINAL TABLE
#51 Tournament #102286291/32ND/LOST A RACE
#52 Tournament #102285887/17TH/2 LIVE CARDS FAIL
#53 Tournament #102285313/13TH/SUPER CARD DEAD BEST HAND LOSES
BREAK TIME $21 ROLL

Todays Progress

#38 Tournament #102081052/25TH/BUST
#39 Tournament #102084421/45TH/LOST A RACE
#40 Tournament #102081454/5TH $24.00/BUST
#41 Tournament #102087857/40TH/BUST
#42 Tournament #102088335/18TH/BUST
#43 Tournament #102088815/13TH/BUST
$55 Roll. BREAK TIME

Bankroll Journey Update

$70 ROLL. Break Time
#29 Tournament #101886466/12TH/OUTKICKED
#30 Tournament #101889512/39TH/OUTKICKED
#31 Tournament #101886732/BEST HAND LOST/LOST A RACE
BREAK
#32 Tournament #101940273/27TH/BUST
#33 Tournament #101940663/8TH/BEST HAND LOSE CARD DEAD BUBBLE BOY
#34 Tournament #101946131/18TH/THE BEST HAND I SAW ALL GAME
$31.50 ROLL. BREAK TIME
#32 Tournament #101989127/27TH/DOMINATED
#33 Tournament #101988705/6TH $18.00/BUST
#34 Tournament #101997536/17TH/LOST ANOTHER RACE
#35 Tournament #101997896/2ND $60.00/CLOSE
#36 Tournament #102012990/30TH/BUST
#37 Tournament #102012557/8TH/BUBBLE LOST A RACE

Finally made a big cash, but I am still getting deep and not making enough money.$71 in the roll going to sleep now will resume the journey in the morning.

$120 Roll

Starting with $120 playing $6.50 45 player turbos. When I reach $200 I am going to play $12 45 player turbos. If the bankroll hits $65 I will play $6.50 45 player turbos again until $200. Started on 8/10/08 3:00pm EST.
Here is my results so far.
8/10/08
Starting bankroll:$120.00
Tournament ID/ Place/ Cash
#1 Tournament #101341498/11TH/BUST
#2 Tournament #101341266/19TH/BUST
#3 Tournament #101359164/25TH/BUST
#4 Tournament #101358791/7TH $12.00/BUST
$106 Roll
#5 Tournament #101397031/16TH/BUST
#6 Tournament #101396756/15TH/BUST
#7 Tournament #101404320/19TH/BUST
#8 Tournament #101404662/8TH/BUBBLE BOY
$80 Roll Sleep, Resume in the morning.

1ST Day Of August

157

Early Tournament Strategies

Allen Cunningham

July 30th, 2008

Many players' first exposure to poker comes from watching WSOP and WPT tournaments on TV, and I think that's great. It's entertaining and you'll see some interesting plays, but viewers have to understand that they shouldn't model their games based on the action they see on TV.

Why? The answer is simple - what you're seeing is unrealistic and edited for television. Players in these televised tournaments often start with very deep stacks (sometimes 10,000 chips or more) and, most of the time, all you'll see on the broadcast is action from the final table where the blinds are high and play is fast. In contrast, the majority of the low buy-in ($1 to $20) tournaments you'll encounter online usually start with stacks of 1,500 and blinds of 10/20.

Because your approach to the early stages of these tournaments is key to whether you'll make the final table, the question is, what should your strategy be?

I suggest adopting a simple approach, especially if you're not a very experienced tournament player. Try not to play too many hands and aim to see a few cheap flops with small/medium pairs if possible because these can provide some the best chances for you to double or even triple up during the first couple of levels. There are many times when you may be able to put in 5% of your stack or less to see a flop and try and hit your set. You're 7-to-1 to flop a set, but you may be getting 20-to-1 implied odds early on since a flopped set will often be the best hand, and you'll have a good chance to double up against weaker players who may overplay top pair.

If you are expecting a few callers, you might want to limp with these hands pre-flop. You may also just want to flat call with these hands if there are already a couple of people in for a small raise when the action gets to you. But, if the action is folded to you in late position, you definitely want to raise and take down the blinds. If you want to play conservatively, you can safely throw away small pairs in early position. As I said previously, you don't want to commit more than about 5% of your stack pre-flop with small and medium pairs (maybe 6% or 7% max), and when you play from early position there's no guarantee that's going to happen.

Of course you also want to be playing your monsters like AA and KK, and other hands like QQ, JJ, AK and AQ. Remember early on when stacks are deep, you're not going to get a lot of action for all of your chips unless you're up against a pretty strong hand.

There are no concrete rules as to how fast you should try to build your stack in the early going, but the main thing you don't want to do is go broke by playing too loose. In smaller online tourneys you will either be in the money or close to the money without having to win too many pots if you can just play tight and hang around for a couple of hours. If you speculate too much or take too many coin-flips when you don't need to early on, chances are that you'll end up on the rail and miss that opportunity.

Even if you make it to the fourth or fifth level with just a little above starting stack, you'll usually be in good enough shape to take a run at the money. Remember, getting into the money and beyond is what counts - so learn how to start your tournaments the right way and give yourself the best chance to be the last player standing at the end.

3 Betting

156

Three Betting in Omaha Hi/Lo

John Cernuto

July 23, 2008

Even though Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is often considered to be a post-flop game, winning tournament players know that it’s important to regularly raise and three-bet their opponents before the flop, especially as the blinds and antes increase.

Why? Because applying pre-flop pressure against weaker opponents lets you create better post-flop situations and, on occasion, even lets you steal the blinds and antes with little resistance. With this in mind, the question then becomes, how often should you three bet? My answer is, as often as you possibly can without worrying about becoming short stacked.

Say you’re sitting on somewhere between 40 and 50 big blinds. This is the time when you should be accumulating chips, which means opening up your game and three betting the table in order to create heads up, post-flop situations. Your stack size is very important here because you want to make sure you can comfortably three-bet without becoming crippled if you have to give up on the hand after the flop. If you’re sitting on 35 big blinds or less, I’d recommend slowing down on the three-bet strategy unless you’re holding a monster hand like A-A-2-X.

Of course, there’s more to three betting than just throwing in an extra raise before the flop - you want to be smart about when you decide to pump up the pot. Let’s say a player in middle position puts in a raise and you’re sitting in late position with a hand like As-Qs-Jh-3d or Ad-Kc-Jh-2c. I don’t like flat calling with these kinds of hands here because I’m giving the players in the blinds better odds to follow suit and am creating a spot where four or five people could end up seeing the flop. That’s a lot of bullets to dodge.

Since these hands have a good chance of taking the high end of the pot, I think a better play in this position is to three bet in order to try and force the blinds out of the picture and to get heads up with the original raiser. (Read Perry Friedman’s tip on Omaha Hi/Lo Strategies to learn more about the importance of playing for the high end of the pot.) Once I’ve done this, I’m going to continuation bet after the flop every time, whether I connect or not. If my opponent plays back, I’m going to slow down since he’s almost certainly connected and may be well ahead. But, on the times he folds to my bet, I’m going to take down a nice sized pot.

Because of my aggressive approach in PLO Hi/Lo, I often get asked how to play back at opponents who, like me, try to three bet whenever possible. My answer is to call their extra bets pre-flop, assuming I have a playable hand, and hope to outplay them after the flop. The key is not to obsess about trying to see "cheap" flops because if you’re stealing enough blinds and antes with your own raises, you can afford to make calls that less aggressive players won’t.

Remember, even though post-flop play is arguably the most important aspect of PLO Hi/Lo, well timed pre-flop aggression can be a great way to pick up some extra chips on the way to the win.

Coin Flips

155

Two Sides to Every Coin (flip)

Team Full Tilt

July 16th, 2008

Poker is a game of choices. Some of these choices are fairly straight forward and simple while others take a lot of thought. The thing is that when all is said and done, there may not be just one correct path to winning a given hand; it's all up to you to decide what road to travel.

With that in mind, we asked Team Full Tilt's Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson to share their thoughts on one of poker's trickiest decisions – the coin flip. Should players be willing to put everything on the line in a coin flip situation? Here are two different sides to the coin flip question:

Chris Says:

For the most part, coin flips are something that I tend to avoid. You never want to take on a negative EV proposition, so you can pretty easily fold a hand like A-K when you're certain your opponent is holding a high pocket pair like Jacks or Queens. Some players are willing to take a negative EV coin flip early on in a big tournament in order to accumulate chips, but this is an incorrect decision (unless you're trying to catch an early flight or make like Ivey to the golf course).

Of course, there are a couple of situations where pressing a coin flip can be the right move. For example, if you think your opponents are better players than you, then it might be correct to take a coin flip. When you're outclassed in a game and are certain that you'll be outplayed after the flop, taking a coin flip can help even the playing field.

By that same token, you should be willing to press a coin flip situation every chance you get against a player who thinks he's better than you. Make him avoid taking the coin flip by raising and putting a lot of pressure on him to make that decision. If he really thinks of himself as the superior player, he'll want to avoid that situation and keep folding until he gets the chance to try and outplay you after the flop. He may think he's the better player, but if you put a lot of pressure on him, you may end up outplaying him.

Howard Says:

I think people try to avoid them too much, especially after they've already committed chips to the pot. If the pot has 1,000 in it and you have to put your last 500 chips in to make the call, you're getting 2-1 on your money – yet people dodge this situation all the time. It's just wrong; you should love to take 2-1 on a coin flip even if you only have a 48% chance of winning.

When you have a hand like A-K and you could be running into Aces or Kings, committing chips to a coin flip is obviously not something you should be looking to do. But at the same time, when you're getting 2-1 on your money in a likely coin flip situation, I think its right to take the flip. It's a pretty big disaster if you're holding Jacks and don't want to flip against something like A-K, but it turns out your opponent has pocket 9s.

The whole point of a coin flip is that yes, sometimes you have the classic A-K versus Queens race. But what about all the times you have A-K and the other player has A-Q. When you have a hand where you aren't in a coin flip, you likely have your opponent dominated, and you should take that proposition every time.

With that said, there are obviously times when you should not be looking to take a coin flip. When you're in a situation where you have a lot more chips than your opponent, this is a good time not to take that flip. The more of an advantage you have over the other player, the less willing you should be to take the coin flip. Avoid that situation by not committing too many chips to the pot and waiting until after the flop to outplay the competition.

As you can see, there's no one right way to approach a coin flip situation. There are always two sides to every coin.

154

Sealing the Win

Nenad Medic

July 9th, 2008

If you don't think poker is a competitive sport, chances are you've never made it to the late stages of a major tournament where the only thing higher than the blinds is the pressure of playing for thousands - or even millions - of dollars in prize money.

As a former basketball player, I can compare the pressure of a WSOP final table to the final minutes of a playoff game where every play is crucial and any mistake can mean the difference between walking away a champion or a runner-up. From the crowds on the rails to the lights, TV cameras and reporters running around the floor, everything around you is amplified. Let the pressure and the circus atmosphere distract you, and you can easily watch your tournament slip away.

Pros who have been in these situations before - whether they're athletes on the court or players on the felt - understand the key to wining in this atmosphere is to maintain focus on the task at hand and to block out everything else that doesn't matter. TV cameras? Forget 'em. Railbirds? Block them out. Bear down and play, and let the rest take care of itself.

Unlike other sports, poker has one more X factor that you have to learn to deal with - the money ladder where finishing just one spot higher can mean thousands or even hundreds of thousands of additional dollars in prize money. For players who haven't gone deep in major tournaments, thinking about the short-term money jumps can be just as distracting as any TV camera. Succeeding at this stage takes focus on a single goal. For me, that goal is winning.

In my experience, tournaments can be divided into two distinct parts; in the money and out of the money. Before the bubble, my goal is to make the money. I want to cash and, hopefully, put myself in a position to win. After the bubble breaks, I aim to win. For me, and many other pros, the real tournament doesn't start until after we've reached the money and its here where I really try to concentrate on making the smartest long-term strategic decisions I can in order to secure a win.

A hand from Event #1 of this year's WSOP illustrates my point. We had reached four-handed play where the difference in finishing first and fourth was more than $500,000 when I got involved in a pot with Andy Bloch. I was holding pocket 7s and led out at a flop of Q-Q-3 only to have Andy make a pot-sized raise behind me. Though I don't know what Andy was holding, I'm guessing that he may have had over-cards and, possibly, a flush draw. While my two pair of 7s and Queens may have very well been good, it would cost me my entire stack on what was essentially a coin flip in order to find out. In the end, I laid my hand down and looked for a better spot.

Why, you may ask. Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, I had a big enough stack at this point that I wasn't committed to continuing with the hand and, while folding to Andy cost me some chips, I could still fold and sit comfortably in second chip position at the table. Secondly, and even more importantly, even if I was ahead of Andy on the flop, my read gave him 13 outs (approximately, a 40% chance) to make his hand. With my tournament life on the line if I called, I just wasn't getting the odds to gamble.

While making the tough hero call in front of friends, family and the ESPN cameras may have been a great poker moment that earned me a few minutes of glory, I did my best to block all of that out of my mind and concentrate on the task at hand - winning the tournament. By focusing on the game plan I devised earlier, I was able to walk away from a marginal situation with only a small loss and move onto the next hand.

In the end, my decision to pass on the possible short-term gain I could have realized in this hand paid off, as I went on to defeat Andy after we reached heads-up play. I'll take a WSOP bracelet over a few minutes of television glory any day.

Online To Live Play

153

Moving from Online to Live Play

Jordan 'iMsoLucky0' Morgan

July 3rd, 2008

After honing their games online for awhile, many players decide to take the next step and test their skills in a live poker room. For some, the transition comes easily but, for others, the differences between playing at a computer and at a live table can be difficult to overcome.

For many online players, one of the hardest adjustments to make is to the speed – or slowness – of live play. Where you may easily see 50, 60 or more hands an hour if you multi-table at home, you’ll be lucky to see 20 or more hands during an hour of live play. The game just doesn’t move as fast. Some players adjust to the “boredom” of live play by listening to music and zoning out while they’re not involved in a hand.

While I don’t personally object to listening to music at the table, I prefer to chat with some of the players seated near me during the game. First of all, there’s a nice social aspect to playing live – if you have a good table – that you just don’t get online. Secondly, chatting with your fellow tablemates may help you to determine what kind of players they are. Is the guy next to you just killing time at a $5/$10 table while he’s waiting for a bigger game? Is he in town on vacation and just playing a little poker for the fun of it? Is he a regular?

These little bits of information can help you categorize your opponents and determine what kinds of players they might be; serious, casual, aggressive, etc. Remember, the more information you can gather, the better decisions you’ll be able to make when you’re involved in a big hand. This brings me to another important distinction between online and live play – focusing on your opponent.

When you’re playing online, you’re working with a much more limited amount of information than you are live. Sure, you may be able to calculate how often a player raises or re-raises from the button and keep track of their statistics, but when you get right down to it, you’re playing your game based on your two hole cards and the patterns you can establish about your opponents. When you’re playing live poker, on the other hand, you have a lot more information that you can factor into your decisions.

How is your opponent betting or sitting at the table? Are they confident? Do they look scared? Does your opponent’s demeanor change when they’re involved in a hand? Do they talk more? Less? Are they tilting? Drunk? Loose? Because of all of the extra information available to you at a live game, I believe it’s much easier to make reads on your opponents and, in turn, to put them on a very specific range of hands – or hand – if you’re really paying attention to what’s going on at the table. One of the biggest mistakes I see many online players make when they first start playing live is that they overlook this extra information and play a very “general” game rather than focusing in on a specific opponent.

My advice for these players is simple; slow down, focus, think. While you don’t want to take two minutes to contemplate every single play, there’s nothing wrong with going into the tank every once in awhile during a live game or tournament. If you’re paying attention to the action and your opponents, there’s a lot more information that you have to process and this sometimes takes some time. Think about how the hand has played out – and about how your opponent has played the hand – and you’ll find that your game will improve.

FTOPS IX

Get ready to go for the gold and play for FTOPS glory.

FTOPS IX is bringing you 25 pro-hosted events with a guaranteed prize pool of more than $15 million, including:

• The $2,500 Two-Day tournament on Saturday, August 16th
• The massive $2.5 Million Guarantee Main Event on Sunday, August 17th
• Four other tournaments, each with at least $1 Million in guaranteed prize money

The excitement kicks off on Wednesday, August 6th, at 21:00 ET with Event #1, a $1million guaranteed No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. You can buy in to this – or any other tournament – directly or satellite your way in for as little as $1 or just 50 Full Tilt Points.

Make sure to come back to Full Tilt Poker throughout the series for video highlights and commentary from the final table of each event.

Check out the full schedule to make sure that you don’t miss out on any of the action of FTOPS IX.

Iron Man

Have you got the determination to become an Iron Man?

If you've got what it takes to earn Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Iron status, you'll be rewarded with Iron Man Medals. Use your medals in the Iron Man Store to get satellite tokens, Full Tilt Points, exclusive Full Tilt Poker Iron Man gear, and even cash bonuses.

That’s not all. Players who qualify for Iron Man will have the opportunity to play in an exclusive Freeroll worth up to $30,000, depending on your Iron Man status. Take down a Freeroll and you'll be entered into a four-person, winner-take-all shootout for an additional $5,000.

If you win that shootout, you'll have the opportunity to play three Full Tilt Poker pros heads up for up to $100K in extra prize money! So prove your dedication and take Iron Man Challenge today.

Kenny Tran Is The Man

152

Overcards in Early Position

Kenny Tran

June 25th, 2008

Recently, Andy Bloch wrote about the perils and pitfalls of playing big cards - A-K, A-Q, etc. - when they don't connect with the flop. Like Andy, I think learning to play these kinds of hands well, adds an important weapon to any player's arsenal. Of course, like any weapon, you have to approach these hands carefully to ensure that they don't blow up in your face.

One of the most important safety tips I can give in regards to "big" hands is to be especially cautious when you're playing them from early position. I believe in this so strongly in fact that I won't even play A-Q unsuited from under the gun at a full table. It's just too easy to get into trouble with this hand and cost yourself valuable chips.

In my opinion, the smartest thing you can do with hands like A-K in early position is mix up your play as much as possible. That means you're going to sometimes want to raise with these hands and, at other times, you're going to want to limp with them. Why? Because by mixing up how you play in early position, you'll make it harder for your opponents to figure out what kinds of hands you really are playing. Of course, there are some other things to keep in mind when adopting this strategy, the most important of which is that if you're going to limp with big hands in early position, you also need to limp with small hands like 6-7 suited.

By the same token, if you're going to be raising with hands like A-K, you also need to sometimes raise with your smaller hands. Of course, you don't want to play complete garbage from under the gun, but you shouldn't be scared to sometimes pop the pot with a less than premium holding. If you get called, you may hit something like two pair on the flop and, if you get re-raised before the flop, you can easily throw your hand away without costing yourself too many chips. Again, it comes down to keeping your opponents off-guard.

While some players argue that you should always raise your big hands, I think limping with something like A-K in early position provides another potential benefit. For example, let's say I limp from under the gun and three other players limp behind me before the button puts in a raise. Because of the amount of money in the pot, it's likely that the button is raising with a very wide range of hands. Depending on my read, I might just flat-call his raise and try to out-play him after the flop or I might even re-raise before the flop and try to take down a substantial pot right then and there.

If I had raised with my A-K in this position, chances are that none of the limpers would have put any chips in the pot and I might only get flat called by the player on the button. By limping with my hand, I can get some extra money in the pot and put myself in a position to re-raise pre-flop. If the button was just trying to steal from position, he's likely to lay down and let me take the pot. If he calls, I can play the hand cautiously if I miss the flop and, possibly, take a down a monster pot if I connect.

Of course, there's no "right" way to play a hand like A-K from early position. Instead, look around your table and determine what kind of opponents you're facing, and how aggressively you want to play against them. Mix up your game and you should be able to make your big hands pay off at crucial times.

Control

151

Control Your Environment

Scott Fischman

June 19th, 2008

We've all had moments in good old fashioned brick and mortar casinos where our senses become overwhelmed by an environment that we have no control over. From uncomfortable chairs to overflowing A/C to the guy sitting next to you who obviously hasn't bathed since the last time the Cleveland Indians won the Series, playing live poker can be a less than pleasant experience at times. That's why one of the biggest advantages of playing online poker versus live poker is the ability to control your environment. By standardizing all the variables of game play and setting your poker playing environment to your liking, you can maximize your focus and take that next step toward becoming a winning player.

So how do you control your environment? Well, let's start at the beginning. If you're anything like me, you're going to be very anal about your poker playing environment. That means you turn off your phone and shut down whatever program you use for instant messaging. Even if you're just playing for fun, you should still be taking poker seriously (unless you're just looking to flip away your roll). Along those same lines, make sure to turn off the TV, stop surfing the web and answering emails. This is about minimizing distraction in an effort to maximize focus, and one of the pitfalls of online poker is all the readily available procrastination devices at your fingertips.

Now that you're distraction free, tune the other variables in the house to your liking. Is the temperature in the house comfortable? Check. Do you have water and soda within reach and a tasty meal ready to go in the fridge? Check. What about music? I always like to have some music going in the background, but nothing too loud or distracting (if you're singing along with the lyrics, it means you're not focusing on poker).

So you've got all the peripherals taken care of, now comes the game play itself. Go through the options in the game lobby and set everything to your liking. Most of it is up to you, but personally, I like to roll with the animation off (so the game runs smoother) and “highlight bet amount” turned on. For those of you who don't know, when you turn on “highlight bet amount” it makes it so the bet amount is always highlighted when it's your turn to act. That means all you have to do is type in the amount you'd like to bet when it's your turn − no having to manually highlight the number yourself or fumble around with the bet slider. I also like to set the game background to plain brown, especially when you've played down to the final table. That bright blue “hockey rink” final table background can be distracting, so I always switch it off.

Once again, you're doing all of this because it's to your advantage, not just because you're a control freak. By controlling your environment, you give yourself the best chance to maximize your focus on the game and be a winning player. This is far and away one of the biggest assets available to all online poker players.

150

Playing Over-Cards

Andy Bloch

June 11th, 2008

For many players, there's nothing prettier than peeking at their hole cards and seeing paint. A-K. K-Q. Q-J. They're all big hands and, often times, very playable ones, especially in position. Sometimes though, your masterpiece of a starting hand can lead to a very ugly result.

The fact is over-cards can be some of the trickiest hands to play well if they don't connect with the board. So how do you avoid going broke when you whiff with your overs? In the words of Kenny Rogers, "you gotta know when to hold 'em and you gotta know when to fold 'em."

Let's say you're in late position or in the blinds with over-cards and are facing an all-in bet after seeing a ragged flop like 8-5-3 rainbow. What do you do? The answer is an unequivocal "It depends". First of all, what could your opponent possibly be betting here? Top pair? An over-pair? A set? Your read of your opponent's hand should greatly influence your decision because if he's holding anything but a set, you may have odds to call.

That brings me to the next question: how much is he betting? If your opponent's all-in bet is worth half the pot or less, I think you have to call with any two over-cards so long as you think they're still live. Over-cards give you six potential outs to the board, meaning that you're only about a 3-1 dog against top pair if you have no straight or flush draw possibilities. Your over-cards may even be ahead if you think your opponent is pushing all-in on his own draw or is bluffing at the pot.

In situations where you're not facing an all-in bet, the decision becomes a little harder because you must not only consider the size of your opponent's current bet, but also the size of his next potential bet. If you're both deep stacked and you call on the flop, you could find yourself facing a sizable bet on the turn. In this situation, I believe mucking your hand and looking for a better spot is the preferred option.

Another thing to consider in this type of situation is your position relative to your opponent. If you're playing from position, you may want to consider staying in the hand even if you miss the flop – especially if you can do so cheaply. For one thing, calling a cheap bet on the flop might let you hit one of your overs, giving you what may likely be the best hand. For another thing, being in position can let you try and steal the pot away on the turn or river if your opponent shows further weakness on those streets.

Facing this same situation out of position is much riskier as your opponent has control of the hand and gets to act behind you on every street. I'm much more likely to throw my over-cards away here and look to play a better hand later on.

While position can be a key factor in determining if you carry on with your over-cards, the texture of the board is also something to be considered. On a flop like the one earlier – 8-5-3 rainbow – I'm much more likely to at least see the turn with my two over-cards than I am if the flop is more coordinated, like 9-8-7 or something that brings flush or straight draw possibilities. Why? Because unless my opponent is holding a pocket pair, it's just as likely that he missed the flop the same way I did. On a more coordinated flop, there are more ways for my opponent to connect and, even if I hit one of my cards, I could be drawing dead against a flush or straight.

If I'm in a pot with multiple opponents, I'm even more likely to play my over-cards conservatively because there are that many more hands that can easily beat me. Where I might try to continuation bet the flop against a single player, I'll almost certainly check against multiple players because I don't want to give someone the chance to raise behind me and force me to give up chips I don't need to waste.

If someone does bet and another player calls, I can very easily give up my hand without having lost too much. If, on the other hand, someone else bets and the action folds back to me, I can determine whether I want to fold, call or possibly even raise in an attempt to steal the pot myself.

When all is said and done, the key to playing over-cards successfully is not to fall in love with your starting hand no matter how pretty it may first appear. Play your hand smart after the flop and you can avoid an ugly result.

149

The Dreaded Min-Check-Raise

Aaron Bartley

June 5th, 2008

There are a lot of potentially horrendous moves to be made in No-Limit Hold ‘em: playing out of position with a marginal hand, chasing down a draw without the correct odds, overplaying (or underplaying) the nuts. All of these are horrible, horrible plays. But in my opinion, the worst play that you can make (and I see made far too often) is the min-check-raise.

I’ve never seen this play used correctly. In fact, I don’t think it’s even possible to use it correctly. If you min-check-raise a hand it means one of two things: either you have an incredibly strong hand and don’t want to scare off your opponents, or you have a draw but absolutely no idea of how to play it.

The first instance I can almost live with − you have the absolute nuts and are just trying to milk the minimum amount of money out of your opponents with a bet so small that they’re forced to call. The flipside to that thought process is that if one of your opponents actually has a hand that he thinks is good, wouldn’t he possibly call a bigger bet? You might think that you’re slow playing, but you’re going about it the wrong way. While you might win an extra bet with the min-check-raise here, most of the time you’re just costing yourself more chips later in the hand by not getting a little more creative with your play.

The second instance of the min-check-raise is what really gets to me. You’re on a draw and hope that min-check-raising is going to accomplish something. I guess these players think that they are semi-bluffing, but they’re a little mixed up. The point of the semi-bluff is to take the pot down right then and there (with the potential to make the best hand later on if your opponent calls), but if you min-check-raise in that position, your opponent is priced in to the pot and there’s no way he’s folding anything better than 8 high.

This exact situation occurred recently while I was playing in a tournament. I was in middle position with K-6 of spades and one limper in the pot. I put in a pot-sized raise with the intention of stealing the pot. If worse came to worst and someone called me, I knew they’d probably be out of position during the hand. As expected, everyone folded – except, of course, the limper.

The flop came A-8-8 with two diamonds. A complete whiff for me – I had King high. There’s no reason to believe I had anything but the worst hand, so I had to proceed with caution. The limper checked to me and since there was no way I’d win this hand if it went to a showdown, I bet just over half the pot in an attempt to pick it up. The limper responded by min-check-raising me. Hmm? At this point I have two options: get away from the hand unscathed or make the call to see what he would do on the turn. He could have a monster hand here or he could simply be on the flush draw – the turn would give me the information I needed. Since it wouldn’t hurt my stack to find out, I decided to call.

The turn brought a blank. If he came out betting he obviously has a strong hand because there was no reason for him to bluff after I called his raise on the flop. He checked. There was a slight chance he was trying to play his hand super tricky, but it was unlikely.

People who min-check-raise either want to protect or get value from their hand, and will usually come out betting the next street. His check told me that he was most likely on the draw, so I decided to bet about half of my entire stack. This showed him I wasn’t folding to anything and the only way he could raise was if he was extremely confident he had the best hand. I had raised pre-flop, called his raise on the flop, and bet out on the turn – signifying to him that I had a very strong hand. His min-check-raise had worked against him and he was forced to fold his hand because he wasn’t getting priced in.

This player lost a lot of chips because he tried to get cute and put in a min-check-raise. Learn from his mistake and avoid falling into the trap of the dreaded min-check-raise.

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148

The Real Value of Tournament Chips

Bill Edler

May 28th, 2008

Whenever you’re talking about poker strategies, you’ll find people who make no distinction between tournament play and ring game play. In fact, I know some top players who believe that both should be played exactly the same. Even though some of them have been extremely successful with this approach, I couldn’t disagree with them more.

The basic problem is that in a tournament setting, all chips are not of equal value. In most cases, the chips you lose are going to be worth a lot more than the ones you win. While losing a hand to a marginal call in a ring game might cost you, the same marginal call in a tournament can send you to the rail. Given the nature of tournaments, it’s extremely difficult to rebound from a loss that could have been avoided in the first place. Because of this, what might be an acceptable call in a ring game should probably be a fold in a tournament.

Think about this in terms of playing the first hand in a tournament: you wouldn’t take a coin-flip for your whole stack and risk busting for what is likely a 50% chance of doubling up. Why? Because doubling your stack – especially early on in a tournament - doesn’t double your equity. If you think of yourself as a winning player, your goal should be to win the entire tournament – not just the first hand. Looking at it like this, the limited potential for this short-term gain doesn’t justify the risk of getting knocked out immediately.

The same concept also holds true later on in a tournament. Let’s say I have 50K in chips in the middle stages and I find myself in a potential coin-flip situation for 20K. Obviously, if I win, I go up to 70K and if, I lose, I go down to 30K. I’m risking 40% of my stack for a potential gain of 20% and the advantage gained by winning those extra chips isn’t nearly enough to justify the risk of dropping to 30K. If that happens, I’ve put myself at a serious disadvantage that would be extremely difficult to recover from. There are plenty of players who would probably just go for it and take the flip, but there’s rarely ever going to be a situation where I would. This reward just isn’t worth the risk.

Given what I’ve just said, I’m not telling you that you should lay down your hand every time someone shoves their entire stack into the pot. There are going to be plenty of times when the EV is there and you’re justified in calling someone’s all-in bet. Let’s say you’re holding A-K and you’ve already put your opponent on a weak Ace. In that situation, you might have induced a bluff and calling is justified. But when we’re talking about situations where you’re likely to be flipping, you don’t want to be that caller. While it’s true that you can’t always escape flip situations, I think it’s best to do everything that you can to avoid ending up in that spot.

I think that these examples clearly illustrate the huge difference between how winning or losing the same amount of chips affects you. Some people might disagree with me in specific situations, but I’ve never heard a single good player disagree with that basic idea. To me, the concept that the chips you stand to lose are a lot more valuable than those you stand to win in marginal situations is fundamental to tournament play. If you avoid these situations, it will put you that much closer to victory.

147

Stealing the Blinds

Allen Cunningham

May 21st, 2008

The middle stages of a poker tournament can be a tortuous and tedious experience for even the most seasoned pro. The long trek toward the money, combined with a variety of potentially tricky scenarios you may face along the way, make it difficult to come up with one sure-fire strategy to help you through. That said, one aspect of mid-tourney play that’s extremely important is picking up pots pre-flop.

If you’ve been card dead in the first few levels you may only have as many chips as what you started with, or you may have been lucky enough to double or triple up early on. You may be minutes or hours away from making the money, depending on the number of entrants, and the average chip stack may be 20, 30 or even 40BB, based on the structure.

No matter what the situation is, however, it’s important to remember that once the blinds start to represent a decent percentage of your stack, you want to steal as much as possible. Raising the blinds a fair amount also balances your play and gets your big hands paid off more often. You’ll lose a few of your raises with speculative hands when people come over the top of you or call, but you’ll win a few as well, and raising will convince people to play back at you on those times when you happen to have big hands.

Bear in mind it’s still important to pick your spots. Continue to play tight from early position – stick to big pairs and AK – but from late position, start to attack the blinds with a variety of playable hands. At this stage of the tournament, if you’re going to play a hand, you should be coming into the pot with a raise every single time.

From the cutoff or hijack, for example, I’m going to open with hands like 9Ts, any Ax suited, all pairs, two picture cards, and even looser hands than that from the button. If I’m in late position and facing a raise, I’m either going to want to smooth-call with a really good hand or re-raise bluff them to pick up the pot pre-flop.

If somebody makes a pre-flop raise that’s more than 10% of my stack and I have a hand I want to play, I’ll consider moving all-in over the top of them. Any smaller re-raise commits me to the hand and flat-calling gives me no idea of where I’m at. If I smooth-call, my opponent is likely to bet first after the flop and without top pair or an over-pair, I’m going to be forced to either fold the best hand or, possibly, move all-in with the worst hand.

For example, let’s say somebody opens in mid-to-late position for 300 and you’re on the button with T-T and 2,000 in chips. In this situation, I would assume the raiser is opening with any two picture cards, any pair or suited Aces, so a hand like T-T is definitely strong enough to play against their range.

I think the best play here is to move all-in. This will put some pressure on your opponent if they don’t have a very good hand and they’ll be likely to fold. This move also helps you avoid the trouble you might face if you just smooth-call the raise and over-cards come on the flop. If you’re holding T-T and the flop comes Jack or King high, you really have no idea what your opponent has if they lead out, which means you will probably have to fold.

I’d recommend moving all-in with 8-8 or 9-9 in this situation too because you’ll get more action pre-flop and maximize the value from your coin flips. If someone raises pre-flop with A-Q and you elect to just call with a mid-pocket pair, they’re likely to miss the flop and check-fold. However, if you go all-in over the top and they call, you have a good chance to take their whole stack and set yourself up for the rest of the tournament.

By moving all-in with hands like A-K, A-Q, 9-9 and T-T in these situations, you’re giving yourself more opportunities to win pots by either getting your opponents to lay down marginal hands, or to make calls that put them in coin-flip situations. By mixing up your game a little and making these moves with monsters every once in awhile, you can also get your opponents to make some calls where they’re huge dogs.

Remember, the first goal of tournament poker is to make it into the money. By aggressively attacking blinds and antes when you think you’re likely to be a favorite in the hand, you can build a stack that will help carry you through the tough patches you may face in the middle stages, and put you in position to play for the win once the bubble bursts.

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