Poker Challenge Update

216

Keeping The Pot Small

Jennifer Harman

March 2nd, 2010

Poker is a game of decisions. Some decisions are very easy to make, while others will keep you awake all night if you choose poorly. In my experience, the larger the pot size, the harder the decision you’ll be faced with.

On the other hand, the smaller the pot is, the easier the decision. Which is why, especially in tournament play, you want to keep the pot small when you’re holding a marginal hand. You don’t want to be facing a decision for all of your chips in a situation where all you’ve got is something like top pair with a medium-strength kicker. You want to avoid that scenario as much as possible. It’s better to keep the pot small by checking and calling rather than building a huge pot, even if you do hold an advantage in that hand.

Let me give you an example from a hand I played at a World Series of Poker event last year. We were still fairly early in the tournament, and I was in the cut-off (the seat before the button) holding K-J. The action folded around to me, I put in a raise and was called by the button. Both blinds folded, and we were heads-up going to the flop.

The flop came J-9-3 with two diamonds. Yes, I had top pair with a strong kicker, but with straight and flush draws on the board I was in no mood to go crazy with my hand. So I checked, and the button bet about two-thirds of the pot.

A check could also tempt my opponent to bluff in this spot, especially if he put me on something like A-K or A-Q. With a bluff or a drawing hand being the button’s most likely holding, I made the call.

The turn was a harmless 5, not a diamond, and very unlikely to help out the button in any way. Once again, I decided to control the size of the pot and keep it small by checking. If I’d bet and the button had a monster draw, there’s a good chance he’d come over the top of my bet to try and push me off the pot. I liked my hand there, just not enough to go broke with it.

After I checked, the button put in another bet, which I called. The river was a non-diamond 2, meaning that neither the flush draw or the straight draw got there. Confident that I had the best hand at this point, I still decided to check the river.

Why? Well, there was a small chance the button had made a set or two pair somewhere along the way, and it’s better to check-call in that spot rather than face a tough decision for a lot of chips if he raises. Also, if he did have nothing but air, checking might induce a bluff on the river.

As it turned out, the button checked behind me and I took down the pot with my K-J. I didn’t win a big pot with that hand, but I also didn’t lose a huge pot. The decisions I faced on each street were made much easier by the fact that I kept the pot small.

Starting Hands in Small Ball Poker -- Part 1

Starting Hands in Small Ball Poker -- Part 1

by Daniel Negreanu

The world’s most successful tournament competitors, like me, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Phil Hellmuth and countless others, like to play small ball poker.  It’s a style that we use to steadily increase our stacks in no limit hold’em tournaments without having to assume significant risk.
The first thing you’ll notice when you watch a player who uses the small ball approach is that he appears to be in total control of the table, yet at the same time, seems to be playing with reckless abandon.  It also might appear as if he’s giving little thought to the strength of his own starting hand.
Indeed, that is the case.
That’s because the theory of small ball poker dictates that you need to focus more on what your opponent doesn’t have rather than the strength of your own hand.
That being said, let’s take a look at some basic starting hand guidelines that should be considered before entering a pot.
Obviously, you’ll want to play big pairs like aces, kings, queens or jacks from any position.  Also note that pocket aces and kings are good enough to play for all of your chips.
That’s not necessarily the case with pocket queens or jacks, though.  Play these hands a bit more cautiously before the flop.  Don’t feel compelled to reraise with these hands, either, especially against a player who already raised from early position.
Playing middle pairs like 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, and 7-7 can be difficult but only if you overvalue them and mistakenly play them as you would premium hands. 
If you are the first to enter the pot with any of these hands, make a standard small ball raise – that is, bet slightly less in hopes of winning a lot more.  Your goal with middle pairs is to win a big pot by flopping a set.  Use caution, though, if you miss on the flop.  In that case, be prepared to muck your middle pair if the action gets too hot and heavy.
Treat small pairs much the same way as middle pairs.  Some players like to reraise with these hands before the flop because it suits their style.  That, however, is not what small ball players do.
Now, A-K and A-Q might be sights for sore eyes in low buy-in, fast-paced tournaments but not in big money, deep-stack events.
While Big Slick is clearly more powerful than A-Q, trust me, you still don’t want to get all your money in pre-flop with this hand.  More often than not, you’ll be on the wrong end of a coin toss.  You can certainly raise pre-flop with A-K but it’s just not the type of hand that plays very well after the flop.
Suppose the flop comes A-9-6 and you bet your A-K.  Frankly, you don’t want even one caller!  Any player who tosses in chips could easily have A-9, A-6, 9-9 or 6-6, and you’d be dead on arrival.  Unsuited A-K is simply a hand that will win small pots but is generally a dog if there is any significant action.
A-Q is much worse in every way possible.  Not only are you almost certainly beat if you decide to play a big pot before the flop, there’s even more to worry about if you do get to see the flop.  You’ll have the same worries you’d have with A-K except, in this case, you’ll have to worry about an opponent’s A-K too!
Stay tuned as I’ll cover additional small ball starting hands in upcoming columns including aces and paint, ace-rag suited, king-rag and queen-rag suited, suited connectors and trash hands. 

 

© 2010 Card Shark Media.  All rights reserved.

 

Poker Books

Shut up donk! Poker is a skill game!

Shut up donk! Poker is a skill game!
      
          I have been playing poker since 2004, I have been playing poker full time since 2005. I play all kinds of poker, hold em, horse, razz, stud, badugi, Omaha, 8 game. I have played hundreds of hours in ring games, and thousands of tournaments and sit and gos.

          I have encountered thousands of bad beats, I have encountered thousands of good plays. Each day playing poker is different from the next. Some days I run good, some days I run bad. Some days I bluff a lot, and some days I do not.

        One thing that remains the same each and every time I play poker is, the skill it takes to play. I am so sick of people saying poker is a game of chance, a game of luck. If it were a game of chance and luck, would I be able to make plays based on numbers and math? Would I be able to read my opponents and determine what my next move is based on them?

      Luck will only get you so far in poker, you have to have skill, you have to be able to make the big decisions when it really counts. Being able to pull the trigger, go all in with a hand that is weak, that takes skill, and some guts. There is no easy decision in poker, and that is because of the real skill involved. If poker was a luck game, there would be no poker pros.

   Going all in with 63 suited and going up against AA and winning. The skill involved in that is being able to push with the 63 not winning with it.

This is is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill”

Dancing with JC Tran

Dancing with JC Tran

JC Tran is truly a great poker player. In fact, I'd call him a natural-born Texas Hold'em player. He's a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and was the World Poker Tour Season Five Player of the Year.

In my opinion, there just aren't that many Hold'em players of his caliber among the top professionals in the world today. Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch of natural talents in the game today, but many of those specialize in other games, like Seven Card Stud or Pot Limit Omaha. For some reason, Texas Hold'em just doesn't come that easy to those other guys.

So, here's this week's hand.

JC and I were playing in the Premiere League IV playoff tournament in Las Vegas last week. We were facing off against each other in our second heat when this sick hand came up.

With six players remaining and the blinds at $3,000/$6,000, JC limped in with 5s-4s. Two other players folded and I made it $30,000 to go with 10-2 offsuit from the small blind.

Let me digress for a moment. It's important to note that there had been some recent playing history between JC and me.

First, I had reraised JC four times with absolutely nothing within the prior twenty minutes and never once showed a single bluff. Second, JC had reraised me only a few minutes earlier. Third, I had raised or reraised eight out of the last ten hands that were dealt. And fourth, JC and I both started this hand with around $300,000 in chips.

Okay, back to the hand.

JC called my raise with his 5s-4s and the flop came Ad-9h-2s. I bet $35,000 and JC called.

The 7h fell on the turn and I bet out $48,000. JC, following through with his bluff, calmly counted out a big raise to $109,000.

I paused for a while, considering all my options. I was thinking that there were no draws on the flop so he probably had me beat. I also had a vague feeling that he could have had a hand like J-10, in which case I had him beat, but I couldn't beat any sort of real hand. One more thing, he had another $150,000 remaining in his stack.

My conclusion: I had to either move all-in or fold. I decided to fold.

Believe it or not, I don't really mind the way I played this hand although it could be argued that a more conservative approach would have been better. When I busted out in sixth place and received a mere three points in the league standings, I certainly had to reconsider my super-aggressive play.

I could have easily ramped down my aggression and cruised into at least a fifth place finish but that's not what I decided to do.

I like my $35,000 bet on the flop and I like my $48,000 bet on the turn. The turn bet should have forced JC to fold - it would have worked against 97% of the players in the world, but not JC. I give him a ton of credit for his strong play in this hand. No wonder he's the defending Premiere League Champion.

If I had thought that JC was capable of making such an aggressive raise at the end, perhaps I would have made the super-hero move and shoved all-in over the top which would have forced JC to fold his hand. Now that would have been an amazing personal highlight reel play!

The fact is, either JC or I could have won this hand. It was just a matter of who blinked first -- and this time it was me!

-Phil Hellmuth

I am hosting a Full tilt Poker tournament

214

Cashout Tournament Strategies

Eric Froehlich

February 16th, 2010

Full Tilt Poker’s Cashout Tournaments provide players the option to leave the tournament at any time before the final table and get the cash value of what their stack is worth. With the options of cashing out part of your chip stack or your entire stack and exiting a tournament, we players are presented with a whole new variety of options to consider.
In Cashout Tournaments, half of the buy-in goes into the Cashout prize pool, and the other half into the tournament prize pool. The ability to cash out in 10% increments of the starting stack (for example, if you start with 3,000 chips, you can cash out as little as 300 chips and keep cashing out in increments of 300) can drastically alter the way you approach these tournaments. With most pros, the goal in a tournament is first place. Cashing in a tournament or lowering variance is not a major concern the vast majority of the time. If that’s your only goal, removing chips from your stack is not going to be an option you employ very often. For most players, however, while first place is certainly always going to be the number one goal, there are other factors involved.
Often times, the best opportunity to cash out is going to be early in the tournament. You can get back some of the money you put up in the buy-in and navigate a slightly shorter stack while the blinds are still small and chip away to get back to where you started and beyond. The real key to knowing when to implement the Cashout option is how much the money means to you. There’s certainly a real advantage in a poker tournament when you triple up very early and have that bigger stack, but for a lot of players, securing that automatic Freeroll in a tournament is going to be even more advantageous (remember that with the 3,000 chip starting stack, should you increase your stack to 9,000, each 300 chips will allow you to cash out for 10% of what you put into the Cashout pool – 6,000 chips will get your full buy-in back and still leave you with a starting stack!). The ability to give peace of mind, guaranteeing that you can’t lose any money in the tournament, might allow you to play a stronger game as you go on.
The Cashout Tournaments also provide a few other opportunities poker players have never seen before. There isn’t a player out there who hasn’t been playing their tournament and just had something “come up” or something they absolutely had to do. Maybe you were already on a time crunch with just a few free hours to spare and were looking to play a little poker. I would advise any player in this position to join a Cashout Tournament rather than risk running out of time in another MTT. The full Cashout option allows you to play and still get money out of the work you did, even if you can’t complete the whole thing!
My strategy going into Cashout Tournaments would be to cash out little by little. I might take a little off the top here and there, while trying to retain a relatively decent stack. I always like to have the biggest stack at the table so I can get maximum value out of my hands, but in the cases where I have quite a bit more chips than anyone else, getting a little bit of money for my chips becomes quite appealing. Later on in the tournament, I would consider cashing out a little bit here and there, while still trying to keep my stack above 15 big blinds, and preferably above 20 big blinds. Maintaining this stack size makes sure that I’m not so short that my hand is forced while still having enough chips to re-raise all-in and have enough chips that someone can fold.
The full Cashout option is one I would reserve for mostly emergencies and other such events that come up unexpectedly. Tournament life is such a valuable thing that I would never give up my last chip in a Cashout Tournament unless I had to leave, but cashing down to a shorter stack and trying to double up can be highly effective and fun as well. Many people like to start with short stacks in cash games and take away a lot of the decision work. Cashing out to 10 big blinds or less and beginning to play shove or fold poker is something many people hate, but many others love.
One final tip to keep in mind is that you will also have the ability to practice valuable tournament skills by utilizing the Cashout option. If you need more experience playing a shorter stack effectively, you can cash out a portion of your stack. This allows you to make additional money without having to actually dump off chips, and you can work on improving that portion of your poker game, as well.

A Nub plays rush poker 3 - FINAL

Pokerticians

213

Two High-Stakes Pokerticians

Jim McManus

February 9th, 2010

A year before Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign, a reporter asked him if he had a hidden talent. “I’m a pretty good poker player,” he said. That talent, nurtured by his maternal grandfather and then in a low-stakes weekly game with Illinois politicians, is one Obama shares with a host of previous presidents. Yet, only two of them played for serious money, and both were remarkably successful.
Dwight Eisenhower played Stud and Draw for sizable stakes as a young army officer because he needed the money. But he got so good that by the time he reached the higher echelons of the military, he decided to give up the game because he was leaving so many of his tablemates broke.
Eisenhower had learned to play as an eight-year-old in Abilene, Kansas during hunting trips with a guide named Bob Davis, who made him memorize the odds of completing various draws. “He dinned percentages into my head night after night around a campfire,” Ike recalled, “using a greasy pack of nicked cards that must have been a dozen years old. We played for matches and whenever my box of matches was exhausted, I’d have to roll in my blankets and go to sleep.” As an upperclassman at West Point in 1915, he attended “cadet dances only now and then, preferring to devote my time to poker.” He used poker winnings to pay for his dress uniform as well as gifts for Mamie Dowd, a wealthy Denver debutante. Those gifts included her engagement ring, which she accepted on Valentine’s Day, 1916.
Eisenhower was not only a strong player, he was dedicated to keeping the game honest. While stationed at Camp Colt in Pennsylvania, he learned that a well-connected junior officer had used a marked deck in a Stud game. Capt. Eisenhower told him to resign or face a court-martial. When the cheater’s father and Congressman requested that he be allowed to transfer to another unit, Eisenhower firmly explained that no officer could be effective in the field without personal integrity. Even though a more senior officer eventually greased the way for the transfer, Eisenhower never backed down.
While stationed at Fort Meade under Col. George Patton, Capt. Eisenhower continued to dominate the action among his fellow officers. Their highest-stakes game was reserved for bachelors and married men who could comfortably afford to lose. One player who ignored this rule wound up losing so much to Ike that he was forced to cash in his wife’s war bonds to make good on his I.O.U. Eisenhower reluctantly accepted payment, but he felt so guilty afterward that he conspired with others in the game to lose the money back to the man. “This was not achieved easily,” said Eisenhower. “One of the hardest things known to man is to make a fellow win in poker who plays as if bent on losing every nickel.” He then persuaded Col. Patton to ban poker at the fort, if only to keep the same fellow from squandering any more money. The sour experience was enough to convince Eisenhower that, as an officer, “I had to quit playing. It was not because I didn’t enjoy the excitement of the game – I really love to play. But it had become clear that it was no game to play in the Army.”
Any kind of gambling was an anathema in East Whittier, the Quaker suburb of Los Angeles where Richard Nixon grew up. But it didn’t take long for Nixon to become a ruthless poker player when he joined the Navy in World War II. “I found playing poker instructive as well as entertaining and profitable,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I learned that people who have the cards are usually the ones who talk the least and the softest; those who are bluffing tend to talk loudly and give themselves away.”
While serving in the Solomon Islands, Lt. Nixon was invited to a small dinner party for the celebrity pilot Charles Lindbergh, who was testing prototype planes for the Air Force. Instead, he attended a poker game he had previously agreed to host. “In the intense loneliness and boredom of the South Pacific, our poker games were more than idle pastimes,” he wrote, “and the etiquette surrounding them was taken very seriously.”
Nixon liked to compare notes with other strong players, and persuaded one expert, Jim Stewart, to coach him on Five-Card Draw strategy. Nixon’s term for such preparations was “war-gaming.” He began to make serious money playing tight-aggressive poker. He was “as good a poker player as, if not better than, anyone we had ever seen,” said one fellow officer. “I once saw him bluff a Lieutenant Commander out of $1,500 with a pair of deuces.”
By the end of the war, Nixon had won $8,000, a genuinely whopping haul in the forties. Upon discharge, he used it to bankroll his first congressional campaign. In November 1946, he defeated the popular Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis, in part by accusing him of being a draft-dodging communist. Four years later, he defeated Helen Gahagan Douglas, a three-term congresswoman, in a mudslinging race for the U.S. Senate. After Nixon claimed the attractive former actress was “pink right down to her underwear,” she retorted with a nickname that stuck: “Tricky Dick;” an unfortunate handle for a politician, of course, but one that any poker stud would be proud of.

A Nub plays rush poker 2

A Nub plays rush poker

212

The Basics Of Rush Poker*

Howard Lederer

February 2nd, 2010

Full Tilt Poker recently released a revolutionary new form of online poker: Rush Poker*. If you’re not familiar with the game, I encourage you to give it a try. Instead of the players sitting in a 6 or 9-handed game, they are seated in a game that has up to 2,000 players in it. All players are seated at a normal table, but as soon as you decide to fold, instead of waiting for the hand to finish and playing the next hand against the same players, you are immediately seated with a different group of players and play your next hand. This allows players to play around 300 hands per hour instead of the usual 80.

The excitement level isn’t the only thing that makes this game different than normal online poker. Playing against a different group of players each hand means you will need to make a few other adjustments to your normal ring-game strategy to succeed at Rush Poker*.

One big mistake that is tempting to make is to play too tight, waiting for only premium hands. It easy to find yourself folding any marginal hand, as you will have a chance to get a monster the next hand with no waiting. But, you must not forget that you’re still paying blinds. And if you tighten up your starting requirements too much, those blinds with eat away at your stack. In fact, I would suggest that opening a few speculative hands (like suited connectors in middle to late positions) is a good way to try to steal a few blinds. However, you should give any 3-bet a lot of respect. Players won’t be as likely to 3-bet light when a new hand is just seconds away.

One habit that is harder to break is playing off a table image. In Rush Poker*, you don’t have one. Just because you have stolen a few blinds lately, doesn’t mean you should be worried your opponents are aware of it. In fact, they have no way of knowing, as they weren’t seated with you when you were making those steals. If you just slow played a big pair, don’t be afraid to try it again next time. Instead of worrying about protecting your table image, you should be ruthlessly exploiting basic strategy and punishing what should be the more predictable hand ranges of your opponents.

Playing good poker is all about making the proper adjustments to your strategy, given different playing conditions. Rush Poker* presents very different conditions than a regular ring game, so making the proper adjustments will be a must. Make those adjustments, and you’ll find yourself having a lot of success while you have loads of fun playing the fastest game on the Internet.

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

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