Watch Out for the Royal Flush

Today I lost with pocket aces early in a tournament (with a nut flush draw). Then I watched this hand unfold online... it was pretty cool. I haven't seen a Royal Flush in about 18 months

Review this old video. Last night I tripped up on a similar board. There was not as much percentage in the pot but basically the same action. Preflop raise-reraise etc. Pot odds were not as good for me as for Daniel, but I tripped on middle pair just like him and the same action (raise-reraise, etc). I thought about this showdown - and I really put the guy on higher trips... not a straight or quads. turned out he had the same hand as on this video. I did not call all-in, and I wonder if Daniel regrets this hand. Maybe wishes he still had the money, but I would guess he would stand by his play. I'm sure he would. He's lost more than that on a single par 5, so maybe it wasn't that bad.......... However, put this hand in front of Doyle or Caro or Hellmuth... what do you think they would do? I honestly would like their commentary - let me know what you think they would say?

Since the video is copywrited, it has been taken down. Daniel spikes trips and has to call when he rightly suspects his opponent to have higher trips.

Beginners - Starting Hands and Texas Hold'Em Basics

Click to enlarge - reference is at bottom

INTERMEDIATE PLAYERS, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME READING THIS PARTICULAR POST.


I've been asked to provide the beginner with an idea of what they keep and what they throw away before the flop. I simply Googled it and found a wikipedia page that will work, so I'm posting it here for reference. Note - if you are only going to play Hellmuth's top ten hole card possibilities, then you need to be raising/reraising pre-flop most of the time and knowing exactly what to do after the flop to get more information. I'll post something on aggressive play, or preferrable play as I like to call it, in a subsequent post. In meantime, I hope this helps my beginners.

If you are a beginner - don't play anything other than these cards and you will fare better. I would suggest learning how to play the top 15 cards well before adding any others.

The reference for the above images is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hold_'em_starting_hands

Here is an easy to understand video for the first-time player just learning the rules.

Dave "Devilfish' UIliot and the Incredible Read

Online poker doesn't provide much opportunity to REALLY read players well. But I keep very careful notes on my opponents and often run hand histories through a program to get player profiles - especially with the limit players I play with every night - it's often a lot of the same guys.

See diagram (click to enlarge) for an unorthodox strategy that is rarely to be used.

There was a player I was after in a recent game, and I would raise regardless of what I had. Not much - but post raise action was almost exactly the same every time with this player after the flop. If he showed weakness at all... he was truly weak and would fold every time - at least six times that I saw.

My example comes from a guy many people don't like - but we are going to stay away from a personality discussion here. Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott is a classic example of someone who reads opponents like a book (he read an opponent's straight flush in a WSOP tournament and laid down quads). He's also known for playing hole cards like 7-2 offsuit if he's on someone at his table. He read Hellmuth flawlessly throughout one particular tournament, but Hellmuth kept "sucking out" and catching cards. Hellmuth, ironically, later criticized his play in one of his books - but gave Ulliott some credit for being a great player - just not someone to emulate.

Here's an example from a game I used this method very carefully in. You should probably never do this in an online game, but it was just too obvious for me to NOT take advantage of it and I ended up getting about 1000 in chips from him. Once I was busted, I quit and lost only about 200 for a total gain of 800. Then I used this table image, played tight and agressive, and really boosted my stack.

(sorry woodster - I just needed this shot for the example of the earlier game)

Stealing the blinds. The only purpose of the bet here is to steal the blinds and lower the stack size of my opponent. Eventually, she blinded out and I went on to win 1st here. The perfect time to do this is right before everyone is "in the money" or "on the bubble." You can blind steal at other times, but try to keep it to decent hands like suited connectors - ones you could play if there had been a raise - Daniel Negraneau does this sometimes but he also knows exactly what to do when he does and does not hit the flop... and it may change based on his read of his opponent. If you are a beginner... you can steal blinds on the bubble - good tournament strategy... but stay away from it at other times. Be attentive to other players doing this and watch how many times they raise on the button or right before... and you may catch them off guard if you slowplay some kings and trap them at the right time.

Misplaying the Bubble? A Sad Story.

Few long-time poker players have avoided missing the payout by one or two positions.... could have won $400 for 29th place but won nothing for 30th place.

Last night I played very well and made some money at a cash "ring game." However, I had bought into a $10 NLHE Tournament, too. Only the top 5 players "made the money," which is a rarity when it comes to tournaments with a lot of players. We got down to 6 players. I was sitting in second place and was stealing blinds/antes back and forth with first place. She was sitting behind me and I was big blind... she was on the button. She raised before the two blinds and I sensed a steal - the small blind folded. I had 10-10 and I reraised about 1/3 of my chips to call her out on the steal and I had a decent hand to take her down. She reraised me all-in over the top. Now - if I win, I win a huge pot and coast to a very likely first place win. If I lose... I lose everything and miss the money (a loss of about $100 for 5th place in this rebuy tournament - and I had not rebought OR added-on). I called and she showed QQ. I went from nearly being chip leader to getting knocked out in 6th and missing the money.

Was it a good play? Well.........see the comments

Playing Middle Pairs

I'm a big believer in raising middle pairs. Let's say you have a 77 or 88. These two hands, when taken out of suited connector equations, are in the TOP TEN POSSIBLE hands of poker! Suited connectors, while so valuable, only go so far.

At a 2/4 table tonight I drew 88. I was raised - two to go - so I reraised making it three to go. The raiser reraised and I called. The flop came K 3 6. My opponent bet into me to which I reraised. She folded and I picked up a 27 some-odd sized pot. Next hand I drew 77. I reraised making it 3 to go and there was a second caller. Flop - Q 4 6. Both checked to me, and I bet 2 - and was check raised. I called. The turn card was a K. The two before me bet and called. I left the hand having spent $10. This is very typical in Limit Hold'em and in these two situations... one good and one bad... I came out ahead by nearly $20. Now imagine if the second would have hit trips!!!!!

Stuffing the Pot and Folding on a Bad Turn

This is my first post and I'm excited to share some of my personal poker lessons, especially for players who know how to play hold'em but aren't at a level where they find themselves either at the final table in your local tournament often, or not making as much money online or at the casino as you wish. I'm not a professional player, but I'm ok - and this blog with your feedback will help us all get better.

Last night I had a disappointing hand but I cut my losses at the appropriate time and you should, too. I was playing $3/$6 Limit online. I'm on the button (dealer position) and get KK as my pocket cards. When this happens, you want to stuff the pot, raise as much as you can and get as much on the table as you can (unless you are an advanced player and know exactly what you are doing with softcalling, slowplaying, or trapping with your kings). Two players in front of me bet, raised, and reraised my raise to make it a $12 per person pot - around $36 (the blinds folded).

Flop comes 444 - a GREAT flop for my pocket kings! The chances of either of my opponents holding a 4 is VERY low and since they are all fours - they are all different suits, cutting the chances of a flush dramatically. I raise and am reraised, and we max out the pot again - so we have around a $72 pot... so far the betting has been loose, so I'm guessing I'll rake in $200 or more in this one hand!

The river, or fourth street, drops... it's another 4 - making four of a kind 4's and my heart drops and I vomit a little. First to act bets ($6), the other player simply calls. Here I am with Kings, but the chance of one of my opponents having an ace, based on their past starting hands (and the bets of the better player staying in with what I guess is Ax suited), is very high - and any card combination with an A has my two Kings beat - I'm basically drawing dead. I figure I have about a 1 in 200 of actually having the high hand at this point, and I quickly fold.

The river comes K (which wouldn't even help my pocket KK) - the opponents raise and reraise to max out the pot. They show cards - one has AQ suited (as I'd guessed) and the other has KQ suited. I put the KQ suited player in my notes and may take advantage of him later. The AQ suited wins the huge pot and a ton of the KQ's money, and I got out only loosing $24 (less than half of what the KQ lost) - an easy loss compared to the mistake I would have made had I stayed in the hand with my very good looking KK and heavy preflop and flop betting rounds.

(an alternate play would be to raise on the turn, because my stronger opponent could have had a pocket pair and I could have won the pot with a little investment. This could be an acceptable play in some cases but my instincts said otherwise)

Remember, minimize your losses... but don't let anyone push you around in the process.