One of the players who came to me was actually quite an experienced player but he had a flaw in his game that simply needed correcting if he had any chance whatsoever of moving up.

The hand went like this, the game was a $2-$4 no limit hold’em six max game and it was folded around to our hero in the cut-off who open raised to $12 and it was folded around to the big blind who called. Our hero held the Jc-10s and the flop came down Jd-7s-3c and the big blind led out with a bet of $18 and our hero called the $18. Both these players had $400 stacks at the outset of the hand. The turn card was the 2h and the big blind led out again for $46 and our hero called again.

The river card was the 2c that made a final board of Jd-7s-3c-2h-2c and the big blind fired out again on the river and bet $130 and with top pair, our hero called the $130 bet. The cards were revealed and the big blind had 7d-7h for a flopped set and they had simply bet out all the way and been paid off. Our hero lost over half of his stack and was forced to top up his stack with a re-buy.

I then asked him why he had played the hand in this way and I have provided a broad version of his response here.

“I had seen this guy bluff at the pot several times and I had top pair and did not want to concede the pot. My hand is not that strong and I did not want to escalate the pot. I figured that if I was ahead then I could simply let them bluff their money off and I was controlling the pot size so that it did not get out of hand”.

I see this type of thinking all the time and in my mind, it is perhaps one of the biggest faults of intermediate poker players who have reached a certain level. But they are looking at the situation wrongly if they think that they are controlling the pot when they play like this. There are so many flaws with this type of thinking that it is difficult to know where to start.

The first thing to remember is that when you have adopted a “pot control” call down stance like this that you are in fact letting your opponent control the betting. They are firing out on every street and you are merely responding.

What this means is that your opponent can choose whether to bet out on the next round or not and you are far from guaranteed to make any more money off them even if you are ahead and stay ahead. Look out for part two of this article coming soon.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Author – “Winning Cash Game Poker”
Come and try the new and improved poker software on bwin.

There is a benefit to helping other players. Poker can make you feel isolated due to the dog eat dog nature of it. Everyone wants your money and are prepared to lie, cheat and manipulate you in the various options available in poker to get it. The problem with poker is the long term winners tend to get all of the money. If you help players improve or look to improve then you can keep them in the game and increase your chances of winning. It can also lead to other opportunities.

Players look back to the days in 2004 – 2007 when there were thousands of new players and money was easier to win playing online poker and wish the online poker environment was similar today. They miss the fact that losing players will not keep playing bad poker forever. They will improve, seek lessons or simply stop playing after the pain and suffering of being a losing player for many years suddenly leads to an epiphany that they are not cut out for poker and they seek different, more profitable endeavours with which to dedicate their time and money. If they stop playing poker you stop being able to profit from them, so helping people can help you.

Helping a player learn keeps them playing when the despair of not understanding the concepts leads them to consider not playing. Even if they are a winning poker overall you may still hold an advantage over them so do not feel guilty in offering advice. Never encourage people to gamble and be ethical in the advice you do give. Do not say, “Keep playing you are a great player” when they are clearly not such a good player. Do say “You made a few mistakes tonight if you want a few pointers I might be able to help you improve a little”. Read the last quote carefully and offer any help after a poker game has finished.

Not every player who wants to learn goes away and puts in the necessary time and effort top become a great player no matter what help they get so you will not start producing unbeatable opponents just because you coach or help them. Poker coaching can be a nice additional stream of poker income that can boost your bankroll.

Away from the table having a successful poker website or series of articles regarding online poker sells you as a person of knowledge and authority on the principles of poker. This can help you approach a website for sponsorship. Some of the better known players get paid up to $35,000 per month to play poker. They are told to buy into events and promote the sites. Would that suit your lifestyle? A recent thread on a poker forum I participate we were all universally agreed that each of us would love this sort of opportunity.

As your status rises in the poker world opponents recognise you can play the game and this can help your poker strategy for getting through poker tournaments and acquiring chips. Would you feel good if Durrrr sat at your table online and started to play cash game pots with you? Most poker players would be a little worried when Tom sat down. As you are recognised as someone who understands the game despite the fact you offer advice when asked people realise that you know what you are doing. They will respect you and this gives you the advantage.

By Malcolm Clarke

In a certain no limit tournament, we were down to 5 players from actually 20 players. As far as as I can remember, we were two there who have almost the same number of chips.

Well, I had 85 of clubs back then. Fortunately, I was given the chance to see the flop for free from the big blind before the flop came, which was 4s 5s 6h.

Because I was in first position, I acted first and placed a bet. For some reason, the smaller stack folded and the other chip leader called it as a result. Then the turn came 4s 5s 6h 7d. As a strategy, I placed him on a set. I feel I had the best hand so I placed him all in.

Quite unexpectedly, he called. And then to my surprise, the river came being 4s 5s 6h 7d 7c. In general, do you think I played very aggressively? Or else I was just unlucky?

Personally, I thought it was absurd, that the guy was so confident to call me but then later on, I realized what he did makes sense in a way because of the amount of cards he had back then that eventually could have given him full house.

By the way, do you think, the result could have been much better if I just simply bet it hard again? How about if I’ve taken the risk and then double up, what do you think might have happen?

Your insight/s please?

Thanks a lot.

Denver

Denver,

At the point you moved all-in, you had the best hand. While he had 10 outs to catch his hand, he was only 20% to win the hand. You got unlucky. However, that happens in poker. You played as well as you could given the circumstances.

I play no limit poker. Oftentimes, I win. Typically, I just win enough but at least on a regular basis.

In general, I consider myself as an analytical player who is usually bothered psychologically. Over the years, I’ve tried to change this by increasing my skills or the like. I’ve also tried to discuss some related matters over my mind.

At a certain point, I question myself about the reasons why should I call rather than fold or raise post flop. Well, there’s no problem when I am into a full game, most especially in a multi-way pot. But unfortunately, not in short handed games, specifically when there is a heads up confrontation.

Any piece of advice? Do you have any idea about calling a bet on the flop in cases where ordinarily a player would either fold a marginal hand or re-raise with a hand that is more or less ahead?

I’m not sure to say this, and I also don’t want to sound defensive but the thing is short handed poker is the hardest to master for an analytical player like me. Well, I’m not sure but this is what I feel.

Thanks for your time.

Allie

Allie,

Short handed and heads up confrontations are situations where marginal hands and draws tend to pick up value. As far as calling as opposed to raising, I would continue to raise if I were you when you are ahead. Otherwise you are inviting players to outdraw you regularly. In relation to calling as opposed to folding, you will need to probably look into staying in with your marginal hands that connect in some way or with your draws more in a short handed game.

First, congrats for having a very helpful, nice site! I really love it! And it’s been a great help to me lately, particularly in my search for some solid strategies for a ring no limit player.

For my question, well, it’s something about AQ. I’m wondering if how can you play AQ in early position?

Once, I’ve tried to raise 15 preflop in a 100 no limit game then right after limped in as a mini raise. But then I realized, that was of no help. I haven’t yet found the effective way to play AQ preflop. There was a lot of stuff to consider.

Hope to hear from you very soon.

Thanks!

Brent

Brent,

A-Q is a hand that is usually a loser to play in early position. If you do play it, try to play it suited. You must hit and ace or queen on the flop to really feel in any ways comfortable to continue with the hand. The best way to play this hand is in middle to late position with a raise.

Before anything, I would like first to share that I love your site. It’s been very helpful.

Well, I used to play no-limit Texas holdem tournaments. Because of this, I’ve got the chance to learn a lot of betting styles to varying degrees of success. However, I’m still clueless, I don’t know how do you bet when you flop to the ignorant end of a straight. And take note, you are at a table full of people who pay to the river on most hands.

Another thing, I’ve heard that from Mike Sexton, it’s advisable to bet 3-5 times the big blind almost without exception once you have the hand. How true is this? And about aggressive betting style, many have said that this style is very helpful. Is it true?

Well, in my opinion it is as you can actually blow the first two types of players off the table. By the way, in every pre-flop there are three types of players; the “folds”, the “calls”, and the “raises”. It’s also a similar thing in post flop. It’s helpful to be aggressive.

But I’m wondering. I don’t know if how many ways can I win now if I bet aggressively. Any idea?

By the way, I’ve also heard that it’s vital that you watch out for paint in the flop. Does this makes sense? Please, any idea will do.

Thank you.

All the best,
Hanz Crew

Hanz,

When you flop the low end of the straight, also known as the sucker end, how you bet it depends on your read of your opponent and also the flop itself. If you came in holding 4-5 and the flop came 6-7-8, the odds that your opponent is holding 9-5 or 9-10 are usually pretty long. Adversely, if you flop 8-9-10, and you hold 6-7, you may be against a player with Q-J.

An aggressive betting style is good for putting fear into your opponents and for stealing blinds and antes in tournaments and forcing weaker players out. The downside is that when you are beat, you will lose money. Betting aggressively gives you an additional way of winning by forcing your opponent to fold. When you just check or just bet small, it invites players to stay in the pot.

Watching for paint on the flop refers to watching for face cards, such as kings, queens, or jacks. I don’t know of any tip that recommends that you watch specifically for that, but you do need to be aware of potential hands at all times.

Well, just several weeks ago, I tried a $1-$2 no limit cash game. It was actually my first time back then. Unfortunately, I messed up at some rounds because of some hands, but the whole time just about $100. At a certain point, I held J-Q offsuit in the big blind and there were 3-4 callers, so I checked. A number of players then limped in, followed by a $10-$15 raise.

Finally, the flop came 2-J-J. I thought it was a good thing therefore placed $15 as a bet. Some folded but one has called my bet. Then the following card was a 10 with no flush draw and so I checked. Then, he placed $25 as his bet and I called as a reaction to his action.

The river came and it was a 7. By the way, there were no straight flush or straight probabilities back then.

Then because of position, I checked once again. At that time, the player has enough bets to put me all in, by which I called actually. I thought I had him trapped, he turned over 7-7 then. Well, I realized I just allowed him to have a full house on the river. Too bad it was already late.

Do you think if I have check-raised all in on the turn, results may have sided to me? And till the river, have I made the right plays up? How about if he continued to bet the river, do you think I would eventually realize that he had a hand that could knock me down?

Thanks again! Keep up the good work!

Bruce

Bruce,

You checked in the wrong spot. When you flopped your set of jacks, this was the point to slow play your hand and hope to induce a bet. You then call him and lead out on the turn. Betting out was not a bad play but checking the turn and just calling his bet was. If you checked there, you needed to check raise. If he calls your bet there and catches, then you are just unlucky. The way things turned out, you let him get there.

At some point, everyone folded except a middle position player with about $5000 stack size making it $1800 to go. Well, I’ve been playing very tight since the start of the s&g, while he was occupied with quite some hands on the flip side. To mention, he was leading earlier with about $10000 chips, but eventually his chips melted down to about $5000.

Confidently, I called the $1800. Then the flop came 9d 3h 6d. He placed a bet all in ($3200) with $4200 in the pot. As a result, I placed over him an overpair, not so much trips.

At that point, I don’t believe he had aces as the preflop raise appeared very high. I thought actually that he might just be bluffing preflop, or hitting a pair on the flop instead.

But what do you think, should I just have called his bet considering that I might share the lead with roughly $10000?

Thanks!

Hunter

Hunter,

Let’s look at this from an odds standpoint. You had to call 3,200 to win a pot 7,400. You bet call would represent 42% of the pot. Now let’s look at your outs. You have 9 outs to make a flush. If you assume that your opponent does not have aces, this adds 3 more outs to your hands. You have at least 12 outs. This gives you a 48% chance to make your hand at the river. If your opponent has a lower pair such as 10’s or jacks, then you have 3 queens as outs too. This would give you 15 out with at 60% chance to make your hand by the river.

You either had a 48% chance or a 60% chance to hit your hand and it would only cost a bet of 42% of the pot. You had pot odds in this case. You should have called.

I have a question about pushing or calling all in with a draw. Hope you can help me with this one.

For an instance, I was at .25/50c no limit cash table online and I was dealt A/8H. Then, I was given the chance to limp in. Finally, the flop came 9s/ 5h / 7h. Well, the first player to act raised $2 and so as I result I re-raised him to $4. Then, he opted to have all in for my last $12 or more.

For a reason, I called and for the nut flush rivered the 3h. Well, eventually, I took down a nice little pot. What do you think, did I played well or just fair enough?

Thank you.

Ryan

Ryan,

You had a few more outs here than you give yourself credit for. My guess is your opponent called you with either top pair or an over pair, such as kings. On the flop, you had 9 outs for the flush, 4 outs for a gutshot straight, and if my assumption was right, 3 outs to catch an ace to make a better pair. With 16 outs, you had an 80% chance to catch a winning hand by the river. Your $12 call represented 70% of the pot. Believe it or not, you had pot odds. You made a good call and it paid off.

Well, I drop by again because of some more questions about NL cash game and tournament questions.

1. Just few days, ago I noticed some people in no limit cash games love buying in with less than the maximum. Say for an instance, in NL100, people are buying in with $10, $15, $20 or even may be $40. To some extent, I understand that playing the short stack has some advantages, but I’m wondering, how should I play with them when I have a full buy in?

Assume that I limp in with 88 in the early positions. Then with only 20 all folded to a short stack at middle position. A certain guy raised to $4 and everyone else even the small blind and big blind folded. My turn came and I don’t know what to do. I am sure either of the two, call or re-raise, won’t bring in positive result so I just thought of folding. Am I correct with this one?

By the way, do you have any idea about short stack specialist? Any helpful advice about it?

2. At times, I play NL tournaments. Well, I believe NL tournaments are far different from cash games. As my chips are limited, if I keep calling a raise with small pocket pairs, I would spend much chips before I hit my set in NL tournaments. On the other hand, I can always reload, and always have the opportunity to win back the money in cash games.

Well, in NL tournaments, I always find some ways to balance everything. However, I can’t still get the hang of some stuff. I don’t know how can I accumulate lots of chips and then proceed to the final table all the way. Also, I don’t know what kind of hands should I play. Can you help me?

3. I like GSN’s High Stakes Poker a lot. One thing I noticed in most of their games is that pros typically play loosely. Say someone raises with A4o, unexpectedly someone calls with K9s. And when flop hits a 9, player with K9s would assume he got only the best hand and nothing else follows. Well, I don’t totally understand what’s going on. Please, I need clarity on this.

Thank you.

Regards,
Carter

Carter,

1. Short stack specialists are trying to find a hand to pretty much double up with right away. Your best bet in playing these type of specialists is to pick a strong hand or pick a hand and hurt them when you flop well. The pocket eights you mentioned above is a good hand to hurt a short stacked specialist with. Call their bet and see a flop. If you hit your set, chances are you are going to extract bets out of them. Your best bet with a short stacked specialist is to play small pots and see cheap flops. Don’t put yourself in a spot to double them up.
2. The key to long term success in tournaments is being able to steal blinds and antes on a regular basis and use position to your advantage. Most tournaments do not begin until the antes kick in. Once that happens, the person that can successfully steal blinds on a regular basis in addition to catching some hands is a person that can go deep in tourneys.
3. You need to remember that these players are the best in the world and they spend their entire lives dedicated almost exclusively to poker. These players are mixing up playing hands with being able to play the player as well. If you watch closely, each player has their own unique styles. Just as a word of advice, watch very closely how Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, and David Benyamine play when they are on there. You will see a little more sensible play. Benyamine and Ivey right now are 1 and 2 in the world in amount of money won in cash games online.