Beginner

Considering the Payout Structure

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Beginner Lesson | No Comments

How the prize pool is distributed is different from site to site with 2 main differences in the percentage awarded. For the past 30 years the payouts have been about the same style known as the regular payout and some people prefer a flat payout structure.

What is the difference?  Which do you prefer? › Continue reading

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Hole Cards in a Race HU

Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | Beginner Lesson | 3 Comments

We have all been in the situation where we are either calling off our stack or making the push all-in.  This entry is about the math and winning percentages of heads up.

Think of your favorite pocket pair and lets see how well it really does in the long term.

You might be surprised to see some of the numbers that follow. › Continue reading

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Stud Poker How to

Friday, June 12th, 2009 | Beginner Lesson | 2 Comments

Stud Poker is where players are dealt a mix of cards face down and face up with multiple betting rounds.  There are many different types of Stud Poker the most common would be 5 and 7 Card Stud.  The game H.O.R.S.E uses 3 different variants of stud poker;  Razz, Seven card Stud, and Seven card Stud Eight or better.

Shuffle Up and Deal

Each player has placed their ante to receive cards
Two cards dealt face down to each player, one card dealt face up to each player around clockwise. When using a ‘bring in’ which is a forced bet (kinda like blinds) the player with the lowest card showing of the up faced cards is required to put in chips.

› Continue reading

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Profit Focus in SnG

Friday, May 15th, 2009 | Tournament Lesson | 2 Comments

Hi all its WyldBillH

Since the site is already loaded with tons of great information regarding specific poker strategy, be it ring games, mt tourneys, or SnG’s, I thought I might give some food for thought regarding simple mindset as it applies to being profitable at sit and goes.

Let’s call it “profit focus”...I know this should be the focus of everyone’s play, but I wanted to demonstrate how easy it is to be unprofitable by even making even just a few errors.


The Bottom Line
Much has been said regarding how winning poker is about eliminating, or limiting mistakes.  In sit and goes this is especially true.  My most common game is 6 seater turbos of  six and  twelve dollar buy-ins.  In six seaters, because of the small starting stacks and rapid blind increases one mistake is almost always fatal; even having to fold to a re raise after continuation betting in an early pot can put you in serious jeopardy.  So at sit n go’s, mistakes will definitely affect your bottom line.

Suck outs are everyone’s least favorite part of the game, but they happen.  There are ways to limit your exposure to them; this is something you can seek help from Assistanc3 about.  Regardless,  they do happen, and they will also chew away at your profits.

Margin of Errors
So if we make mistakes we lose money, if we get sucked out on we lose money.  That doesn’t leave any room at all for loss of profit focus, or what I like the call the “F#%k-it factor.”  This is all those times when you say “f#%k-it, I call”  or “f#%k-it, I’m all in” or my personal favorite: “F#%k it, I know I’ve had too many beers but I think I’ll play one more sit n go, and while I’m at it, why not move up a level?”

Now some numbers to prove two things: one: what a great poker player I am, and two: why there is no room whatsoever for a loss of focus in profitable sit n go poker.
After a good cash in the cake 10K last Sunday, I took it easy this week and played only eleven sit n goes at Cake.

The Results

So, I finish the week with seven out of eleven cashes.  I would summarize my play as solid.  I remember making a bad play in one heads up that cost me the win.  I remember getting screwed twice in heads up that cost me wins.  I remember getting sucked out on in at least two of the no cashes, and the others I have easily forgotten, as I try to do with all my losses.  All in all a pretty standard week for me; would have preferred more firsts as that’s where the real money is, but in turbo 6 seaters the blinds are often pretty high by the time you get to heads up, so there’s a fair amount of luck involved.

Let’s look how easy this week can be a money loser.  Let’s remove one $24 second place due to a suck out 3 handed.  Change a $24 win to $12 second.  Easy enough to happen, and we’re still cashing in over half our tourneys, so it seems like we’re playing ok, but we’re barely floating: we’ve put almost 92.00 in play and have profited barely more than 4 dollars.  Now for the part that makes me right.  These tourneys probably totaled around 600 hands.  A player, not focusing on profit and his/her game will have said f#%k-it at least once in 600 hands and will have cashed in one less tourney, and voila…a losing player.  The moral of the story: The more you say f#%k it, the more you will lose.

Conclusion
In all seriousness though, the point I’m trying to make is that a consistently profitable player is just that: consistent.  As you can see from the example above, it’s a fine line between profit, floating, and losing, and so there is little or no room for sub par play in any of your games.  And don’t forget, there are plenty of other players out there who are trying just as hard to improve, play well and be profitable.  So between suck-outs, the occasional mistake, solid play by an opponent, and those games where you just don’t catch the cards, I’m sure you’ll agree there is no room in profitable poker for “f#%k it.”

written by WyldBillH

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My 5 Tips to Better Poker

Monday, April 27th, 2009 | Beginner Lesson | 3 Comments

ivey-patient imagePatience

The hardest part of poker is not playing when you have chips in front of you. When you have chips and dealt cards we feel we should be playing but we need to learn that we can’t play every hand simply because it is not winning strategy. Even tho any two cards dealt can win, we need to be patient and look for the right opportunities. If you look at my stats from most of the games I play you can see how patient I am and how it rewards me.


Bankroll Management

I’ve seen and heard a number of times, a player cashes out in a big tournament so they move up to a higher buyin level and blow their bankroll in a short time. Some of these players are skilled enough to play at that level, but could not afford to take downswings when they don’t catch any decent hands or a break “ONE TIME”. Stick to the levels you can afford to lose at and you will over time, playing winning poker will eventually move up and enjoy sessions at the bigger buyins.


Don’t Over Play a Hand

It is nice to get good cards and bet with them but sometimes the flop is not what you really wanted to see to fire out a bigger bet to increase and take down a monster pot. There should be times where you will fold the best hand, the game would be to easy if we didn’t. We should be looking for the right opportunities at every street (flop / turn / river) where we can get rewarded, and at times we need to let go of a hand because it becomes risky. Over playing ace king is a hand that comes to mind when I talk about over playing a hand.


Image

Many players at the low levels don’t know it or use it. Everyone at the higher levels abuse it. A poker players image is a screen shot of their playing style at the moment. If a player is playing tight you should pick up on that. Think of the places and opportunities where you can take advantage, the stealing of blinds, check raising and turn betting comes to mind.



Play Poker

Most poker players are not what they say they are…. they are mostly holdem players. To be a poker player you really should be playing more then just one game type considering how many their are. I often do a weekly session of Omaha where I will only play that poker variant that day. It is good for the mind and spirit to be a poker player, but you can’t just play holdem to be one so go learn another game. Knowing the other variants will help you understand and better your holdem game.

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When Good Poker Runs Bad

Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | Beginner Lesson | 2 Comments

We have all been at a dry spell of wining when we are playing poker, and when I talk about playing poker I mean playing good poker.  AA constantly gets cracked, sets losing to full house and top pair is never enough.  It gets you to the point where you want to give up or cry, well don’t. › Continue reading

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Do What You Did When Your Winning

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 | Beginner Lesson, Poker Lessons | 4 Comments

You ever get that feeling when your playing, when it just feels sooooooo good?  Even when your not getting good hands, or even wining big pots, but you get that feeling your doing good.

Last night, although it was no huge payday or anything, felt really good to play.  Really it started the evening before while doing a coaching session with Pinky, then followed that up with a prosperous session with Twinsie…

While talking with Dan, not that he needs the coaching, (so he thinks lol, jk) just talking about doing the right things is what the mind needs.  It is like a retraining or refresher course.  Often I tell people that are on a down swing, go back over what you know.  Go back over the things you did right when you were wining.

Being good at poker, is not hard to do.  Staying good is.

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Playing from Small Blind

Monday, June 30th, 2008 | Beginner Lesson | No Comments

Playing from the small blind can be tricky, as your already putting in money
(small blind = 1/2 the big blind) and your first to act on every street…
on the flop, turn and river, meaning your out of position.

There are a few ways of playing the small blind

With No Callers
You can choose to fold, raise or call. Sounds simple eh?
Well don’t get to cute when playing blind vs blind if your not a post flop player
(someone that try’s to out play their opponent on the flop or after)
A raise from the SB more often then not looks like a steal because it is positive expected value to raise in this situation. Personally I would try to play off of image, and mix up play but 90% of the time just fold that very weak hand instead of trying to steal.

One Caller
With one caller, could actually be the trickiest time to be in the small blind.
Holding a marginal hand, say Q9c your will probably smooth call and try to peel a flop and hope the BB doesn’t raise. The reason this could be trickiest time to peel a flop is because of flops like QXX, where your in first position to act so your going to lead out or check raise to see where you are at. This is usually where you get owned by a set or AA KK, or that draw sneaks out on you.

Limpers
You should be calling to see a flop with almost every hand, and defiantly call the BB if everyone limps in, even if your holding a very weak hand. The pot odds are extremely high and it is highly probably the big blind will simply just check.

Raised Pot
Should only be playing premium hands with a raise in front of you, your position is only going to get you in trouble. I personally prefer to raise from the small blind then call a raise. Then I can check the flop and do a check raise or possibly see 4 four or even 5 cards free. (check down with 77)

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Starting Hands

Saturday, June 28th, 2008 | Ring Table Lesson | No Comments

Here is the fun part of playing the micro limits, your starting hand selection.  Much discussions have been made over what your requirements should be, either its “groups” or by position.

Guess what, they are all wrong. We already know that when your holding pocket rockets, it really doesn’t matter how much you raise in a micro game, someone is going to call………..maybe two or three will call your x4-x8 BB.

and no I am not saying fold the Aces, more or less saying be more careful on how much you bet, being a loose table, opening with that large of a bet, could send your table on loose aggressive in a second, and we don’t want that.

The ideal hand selection are still the ‘premium hands’ but with a twist. Those small pocket pairs and low suited connectors, will make you more money in the long run. How so ?

Well, when you do get Aces and you bet big to maximize your hole card odds, those odds plummet with everyone who calls. Your aces now have little room to improve, potentially being called by Ace rag or some donkeys calling with low and medium pocket pairs who likely will hit trips on the flop, as you stare at top pair.

Ever played Limit Hold’em ? If not you really should.
It will help you learn the best starting hand selection for micro no limit hold’em.

Those starting hands in limit, that do well, the med pocket pairs, suited connectors let you draw better hands and its hit or miss in limit. So unlike when holding pocket Aces or Kings, where you feel you need to hit trips to know you have the nuts, gives you little comfort when drawing to the showdown. Difference is in no limit, you could be all in by the showdown, still holding 1 pair.

So let me repeat.
The best starting hands in no limit micro tables are drawing hands. Hit or Miss

You still will be calling the usually donkey hands like JJ and KQ with x2 BB with 3-4 callers,
those are just to hard to let go right?

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Table Selection

Saturday, June 28th, 2008 | Ring Table Lesson | No Comments

Picking the right table is just as important as playing the right cards.
At the low limit micro tables, picking up some fast cash with smaller risks yields are greater return.

Often players, not just new players, find themselves playing at tables below their skill level, and that is what you should be doing, that is how you make winning sessions. If you play at a table with 1/2 the players better, and half worse then yourself, your chance to win money is the same as losing money….break even.

You want to sit down at a table where you are the best player there. It shouldn’t be to hard to find one. Join a game room, two or three in fact, and just watch for 5-10mins before sitting down. Already you will be able to pick out a couple of weak players. And those are the players you will exploit when you do sit down.

Just as important, you will see if there are any players who try to play fancy, raising 72o and everyone folds, and they show their cards. Maybe you spot a player who try’s to steal blinds. Even better, you find a player who plays any two cards and plays Ace rag to the river.

On the low limit tables, you do want to sit at a loose table, the only time you really want to sit at a tight table, is when its short handed. Ideally you want to be at a loose passive table. Players who do play alot of hands, and do call with draws.

If your playing at an aggressive table, and even worse, a loose aggressive table, your chips will always be at risk on any given hand. Reduces the chances that jeopradizes your bankroll. If your a good player, and know the odds, why sit at a high risk table?

Just remember, you do not need to play every hand with these players, and if you do suffer a bad beat, do not tighten up or loosen up, play the game the way it suppose to be, and you will profit with the proper table selection and hole card selection. If the table becomes wild, sit out for a few hands, with that 1 less player in the pot, maybe they will settledown, or someone may get busted. Then you can return to playing. If the table does not chill out, leave.

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