There are really only three or four ways to select your bet. You can base your bet on the size of the blinds - many tournament players enter the pot preflop with a raise of 3-4 x Big Blind. The size of the pot, all or a portion, (in many cases 3-4 x BB is a pot sized bet), and finally you may base your bet or raise on stack sizes. Which method you select really depends on the situation, and you may even elect to change during a hand.

The major advantage of NL over Limit is the ability to manipulate the pot odds. So it only follows that the best basis for sizing the bet is to bet the size of the pot. In its simplest form, recommended by some experts, simply bet the size of the pot. If you bet the size if the pot, you are always offering a single opponent 2:1 on his money. Betting "pot-size" regardless of your hand disguises your hand and builds the pot. Using this approach has varied play built in and is excellent for the beginner who should only be peddling the nuts and not trying miracle plays.

Betting a percentage of the pot ranging from 30% to 200% of the pot is a good adaptation of the pot sized bet. You can bluff, bet your draw, for a smaller amount, and use call-able value bets with the nuts. You can actually manipulate the pot size to give yourself the proper pot odds for your hand. If you have a good hand you use pot sized or slightly larger bets to punish everyone on a draw since the pot size bet offers them only 2:1. If you elect to use this methodd of bet sizing you must make a conscious effort to vary. You can actually manipulate the pot size to give yourself the proper pot odds for your hand. If you have a good hand you use , since  your play or you can easily fall into a pattern, detectable by your opponents. When you bet the pot every time your play is varied automatically because you bet every hand exactly the same way. 

Hand	Pot	<1/2 Pot	>3/4 Pot	>5/4 Pot
8 out draw	50%	35%	14%	1%
12 out draw	25%	50%	20%	5%
Made hand	10%	20%	50%	10%
Nuts	*	20%	60%	20%
Bluff		40%	50%	10%

 

 

 

when stack sizes are very large compared to the pot size and implied odds have become more important than pot odds. If both you and your opponent have stacks of $1000 and the pot is only $5, a pot sized bet is insignificant for a good drawing hand. You also need a good read on your opponent, or you need to hold the nuts. When you have the nuts, your goal should be, to get 100% of your opponent's stack.

 

 

Hand	Call	<15% stack	~50% stack	>75% stack
8 out draw	85%	10%	5%	0%
12 out draw	75%	15%	5%	5%
Made hand	10%	30%	20%	10%
Nuts		20%	60%	20%
Bluff		60%	35%	5%

 

 

More than just Texas Holdem....

I know the main focus of this blog is No Limit Hold'em but I have recently grown fond of the other, older variations of poker. In the early years of the game, the preferred form of the game was 7 card STUD. A player receives 7 cards 4 of which are open for the table to see, and 3 are face down.
One of my favourites, because of its fast pace and hand strengths is Omaha this is split into Hi and Hi/Lo... Hi being the best hand wins and Lo where the worst possible hand.
This including Hold'em have 3 limits: Pot limit, fix limit and No Limit. Furthermore, the same hand hierarchy is used.

However, there are other variations of the game that use a different form of hand hierarchy. Example being 'Razz', a player receives 7 cards and needs to make the lowest possible hand A,2,3,4 being the best possible hand. This form of the game much like stud a player receives 7cards four of which are face up.

A very similar version of Razz, Badugi, which is a Chinese game also consists of 4 cards and drawing rounds. However the its abit more difficult than Razz becoz the four cards need to be of different suit. Example: Ac.2s.3h.4d. I have really grown to enjoy the challenge and placed 180/4000 in a freeroll on Pokerstars a few nights ago.

The reason I learnt how to play all these different variations is because I read some where that it is important to be able to participate in more than just NLH in the WSOP. An event that I'm focusing on is H.O.R.S.E (holdem, omaha hi/lo, razz, stud and holdem). Owing to the fact that it tests a players skill in all four variations as well as the ability to adjust between required styles.

Professional players like Phil Hellmuth play in all these events at the WSOP. In his book, Play like the Pros he explains strategies for all forms of the game...
So maybe shuffle up and deal a new variation at your next poker night!

WCOOP 2011

Even though I never got the opportunity to participate in the series of tournaments of all variations, I watched ever one of them, I followed my felt idol Daniel Negreanu mailto:%7B@KidPoker}. The man is a legend live and online and he proved it this year. He managed to cash 15times over the 62 tournaments. (He never played in all of them obviously). I have him on twitter as well, reading his tweets kept me updated on what was happening while I wasn't near a PC.

Negreanus results:
768 WCOOP-03: $215 NL Hold'em
107 WCOOP-06: $215+R NL Hold'em
72 WCOOP-08: $215 Triple Stud
89 WCOOP-11: $320 NL Hold'em
362 WCOOP-14: $265 NL Hold'em
62 WCOOP-25: $215 PL Omaha
95 WCOOP-30: $530 NL Hold'em
4 WCOOP-41: $10,300 NL Hold'em
17 WCOOP-44: $320 NL Hold'em
23 WCOOP-50: $215 NL Hold'em
21 WCOOP-51: $320 PL Omaha H/L
104 WCOOP-52: $320 NL Hold'em
34 WCOOP-53: $530+R NL Hold'em
183 WCOOP-60: $215 NL Hold'em
5 WCOOP-61: $10,300 8-Game

The World Championship of Online Poker was established in 2002 and attracts large numbers of players from all over the world, much more than a Live tournament could because this is from the convenience of your own space. It was interesting to see that despite the online poker laws passed in the USA there were still many US players.
I would really like to be involved in the tournaments next year, as i have learnt a lot from observing. Mainly that even though some of these players are seasoned professionals they are not immune to fatigue and mistakes. Some of the tournaments are over 10 hours long.
*Now that is called grinding
Players like 2010 WSOP winner, Johnathan Duhamel. played from the time they woke up till late at night, non stop online poker, now that is work.
Important things to take into consideration when playing these marathon long tournaments is that its important to stay hydrated and fed snacking and several cups of coffee will keep the body and mind active enough to keep focus.
In conclusion, here are a few tips on how to be successful in big online tournaments: Use all the online statistics that are available, with it there are stats on every opponent online what tournaments they play, how often even how many flops they generally see. In addition while playing an event continuous NOTE making will make decision easier. History sometimes becomes habit...

I will be trying to participate in way more big online poker events rather than small cash games. Struggling to find rhythm in online cash games. I am also targeting a recently published book by  Bertrand Grospellier (ELKY), Raiser's Edge as it focus on advanced tournament strategies.

Until next time - Keep up the Grind!!!

Grinding till the river*

The latest word that's been widely used amongst my poker playing friends is "grind". Tonight I tried it and it all most paid! I was invited to the weekly high stakes poker night. There was a 8 seated table... Started the night off dry, card dead. Could even hit the flop. So I stuck it out for the 1st hour n a bit... Till I came down to about R75. Got K5 suited and pushed! Hit the board hard, full house 5s over Ks (triple up)...
I tried to keep it tight, until I wobbled down to R140 got pocket 5s and pushed. 4callers hit a set on the flop!!!
*You can see grinding was working out too well for me, I decided to loosen up, go big or go home... I made a few solid bluffs and big raises with bottom n middle pairs, it paid off managed to expand to about R800...
-then I get dealt JJ. Raise preflop. Board 7 9 Q... Bet on flop (one caller), turn 3. Push all in. He folds... Have about R1400!

Now this is where it gets intense... I go on a card hot streak: QQ, AK, 10s all winning preflop. Takes me 2 about R2100... I get Ac8d I raise. Two callers, including big stack. Flop comes [Kd 4d As]... He bets R200. I push the remaining R1400 all in. Other player gets out the way! Big stack tanks for 5minutes. And makes the call with (5d3d). Turn 6h. Rivers a diamond. Pot was roughly 4k...
-> Insane! I am still replaying the hand in my head... I couldn't of played it any other way. Yes, maybe I could of kept it cheap with my Ace. But that allows him 2 wait for the Diamond, where as now I made him earn it... (He had about 11outs including the straight draw). I still feel that was a sick call...

I consulted the hand with a few poker colleagues and they agree I did all I could... Will have to wait a while before I can take some revenge.
He had about 40% chance on the flop though.

However, tonight reminded me an important lesson. Even if you are card dead for hours, the cards will come in dozens eventually. Stay positive n be patient.

Anyway, hopefully I can sleep and the hand doesn't haunt me tonight. I will catch you on the flop side!!

In The Zone

I havent been playing much poker because of University, but this week was my vacation and I wanted to get as much play time in as possible. Tuesday I decided to purchase some online credit and spend the evening playing online poker.
> Started off like a house on fire, it felt as if I couldn't lose a hand. The cards were coming hard and fast, so fast that I can't even call my style of play TIGHT. I sat down with a R50 on the R1/R2 table. After about an hour of play I had R300, after an hour and a half R500.
*I experienced something that I've never even witnessed before. I get KK on the button two players push ALL IN preflop, the pot is about R400!! so I send R200 of my stack both players flip over JJ (drawing dead!)....
By the end of the evening I had about R750. Unfortunately, being greedy and a tad out of control I had set a target of R1000 for the day. As I'm sure you already guessed I crashed it all. Made a ridiculous strategic mistake in that i move to the R20/R40 table and got bullied by players with over R3000 in front of them.

My confidence took a bit of a hammering, but I kept positive and erased the negative part of the evening from memory. Then, last night I decided to go with two Buddy's to the casino. Sitting at the R10/R20 table with a R1000. The players that a casino poker table attract is very diverse and require a lot of skill if one is to be successful in the long run.
- My table  had a girl on my right that from what I could observed was a regular and played a pretty tight style. There was a serious guy next to me, a player that has a belief ACEs hold up 100% of the time. (they don't) He was pretty lose though. Then two elderly guys one super tight named Paul, and Mike, Mike was lose and loved throwing money into the middle - by the end of the night his name was 9.5 off suit. Mid way through the session a seasoned PRO, an Englishman, I really wish I got his name but I have seen him many a time on TV. And then my two friends.

The night never started that great, never got any hands and when I did I never hit the board or a flush or straight draw was on deck. My R1000 quickly depleted to R200 where I was the short stack at the table. A brave push on the Straight draw with 10.9 off suit landed on the turn - I doubled up and it started the momentum!
There were so many hands that I got involved in, too many to recall because I treated each hand as a separate one so as not to tilt when the run of good cards dried up.
There were two hands however that I will discuss: First, I straddled (UTG) and received [Qd.3c] three callers but once the action got to me I bumped it up 3x POT SIZE. Only one caller the English pro! Flop comes [Qs.Ad.7c], he checks I bet 1/2 pot size. He raises to pot size. I push ALL IN. Roughly R700 on top. After a long tank he folds. And shows me [Q.5]. He was beating me, and after I showed him my hand his response was "You have a quite a bag of tricks up your sleeve".
-That hand was both good and bad, in that my table appearance loosened up making my opponents cautious and more aggressive when they up against me.

The final hand I was involved in, I receive [9c.9s] in early position and bump the action to 11x BB (R220). one caller! Paul, the super tight player. the flop comes down [10s.10d.5s] I bet R300 and get re-raised to R700. I considered the flat call but I decide its all or nothing and Re-Raise ALL IN to about R2000 and odd. Paul tanks for about 5minutes before laying down JJ face up.
The table including the pro was pretty impressed with the way I built back up from R200 all the way to R4400...

know when to throw in the towel..

Poker is a ridiculously exciting and addictive game as I am sure you have already found out. I learn my lesson the hard way everytime. I find myself absorbed into the game after starting a strong run of form, I told my friend "when I start winning I can get out of hand and just want all the chips at the table".
Over the past few days I have hit an expensive bad run of form both online and at the casino. My luck online has been atrocious, I played the R1/R2 blinds until I took my R50 to R300. Then moved to the R3/R6 table where I built it up to R1200 and finally the R5/10 blinds. To many making R1150 is a remarkable achievement, but for some reason because I was running so strongly I wanted to make R5000 before I called it a night. This obviously wasn't the case else I would obviously have made a different title to this post. I lost all of the R1200. Even though at one point I raked up approximately R2000 in front of me...
The hand went like this I'm dealt [Kc5c] board comes [Ac3c4c]... I have the NUT FLUSH. Bet about a third of my stack, one caller. Turn [3d]. I bet the 2nd third of my stack. River brings a Queen... I push all in and get a snap call from this calling station. He shows. [Qs3s] for the full boat... In complete and utter disgust I logged off! I'm still replaying the hand in my head, its incredibly confusing as to his motive behind the calls.

Then tonight myself and a buddy decide to spend some time at the casino, now honestly I'm not a fan of cash games at the casino because of the type of player it attracts - the rich money doesn't matter player, who will call just because they can afford it. Anyway, we play. For about 2hours I receive absolutely nothing better than [87]suited... Eventually I get 10s. Push all in, get called by 3 players with AJ, A7 and KQ. An Ace on the river won it of course. My summary: the poker gods were not watching over me. Not only was I card dead, but when I did receive cards they struggled to hold up.
At least my mate made a substantial profit for the night which made it worth the trip.

There's nothing I can really do about this run of poor luck and bad decision making. Its essential that I regroup by regaining my focus, confidence and maintaining my playing style. Know that it works, it merely needs support from the deck to be profitable....

Etiquette at the table

I'm a pretty keen golfer so I know all about sport etiquette, there is an acceptable behavior in everything from the sports field to the dinner table. It is confusing that many fail to abide to the respectable etiquette. After noticing many things from both the World Series and this months poker games I have played I wanted to expand on some behaviors that need to be enforced.
Speaking at the table, yes poker is a card game and banter is acceptable but not talking over the game. Its ridiculously annoying when players that aren't involved in the hand have a gigantic conversation while another player is tanking. What is worse is when they are discussing the hand that is in progress. Everything that is said can disperse valuable information to all the players involved in the hand. Imagine one player says after the board comes down [J.Q.Q] - "s**t, I just folded a Q...
I don't know if this is an official thing but last night I told a player that he can't force someone on tilt. He was saying after he lost a hand that the player who beat him is weak and plays too many weak hands. Its is pretty probable that by aggravating a player, his more likely to 'target'.

Your only tool at the poker table is your style of play. Maybe its just my opinion but having players ask what did you fold after every hand is somewhat of an invasion of your style.
During the last poker night after I raised on the flop my opponent was about to fold and asked if I would show my cards.
So I told him "if you call me on the flop, I will show you on the turn"... By exposing your cards at anytime in the hand you are relaying unnecessary information to your opponents at the table.

Earphones, I have never tried listening to music while I play. I can understand when players want to get into their own worlds blocking out the world, narrowing it down to them, music and the cards they see. However, I don't respect players who pump the volume up to unbearable. Poker is a very involved game, continuous information and directions are required so it is required of you to listen to what's happening around you and most importantly at the table...
However, I have been considered experimenting with my ipod at the next poker table. I have questioned what to listen to, does the genre, volume or tempo have any influence on your style, behavior and mood.

In conclusion, treat the poker table and the people around it with "competitive respect", they are your opponents however the way you treat them is the way you will get treated. If you remain positive, technically correct in both style and mannerism you are more likely to have a successful and more importantly good time on the velvet.

Finally, shaking hands and commenting on your opponents play can benefit you without your opponent even knowing. There are subconscious effects on your opponent. Always remember to acknowledge a 'classy performance', because when your on the receiving end of the acknowledgment you can pocket it to confidence. Now your thinking, why would I want to boost the confidence of my opponent. Yes you are, but you will be taking more out of it than they do. You're subconsciously making a mental note of the hand how it was played and this gives additional information on your opponents hand. Another thing being friendly at the table will help with is the way in which people bet against you, earning the respect that the bets aren't going to be 'targeting'