Poker bankroll management, building and strategy – online poker guide

Trash talking – is it really worth it?

Thursday, February 12th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | 5 Comments

This article belongs to the Poker Rules series.

Last night I finally had the opportunity to sit down and play a $10+1 6-person SNG on Mansion. It had been the first time since Sunday I got to play, I know not that long between sessions but still long enough for me.

Before a hand could even be played, a player named SHERWHYNOT was already being very belligerent to the other players, that by the sounds of it, he/she just played against in another SNG game. I just ignored him, as I mostly do with those type of players. First hand gets played down to the river where 2 players show their cards. I was not in the hand, but I was paying attention in hopes of picking up some information on the players. The player that won had bet a flush draw down to the river with A2 and hit, while the other player had played his flopped top pair weak kicker very weak by calling bets down to the river. Great, got some info on both. After the hand was done, SHERWHYNOT started to let loose on the player who lost, by commenting on how poorly they played their hand. He continued this for a while to the point where it was getting annoying.

The problem with this is there’s really no point in trying to teach someone how they should play their hands, especially by criticizing them, or calling them names. If a player wants to get better they should be reviewing their hands after each session to see where they made mistakes and where they can improve. Personally, I want the weak players to continue to play weak hands out of position, so that I may exploit them for all their chips. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made some questionable calls from good and bad positions, and I will continue to do so once in a while as I keep learning this game. When I do, whether someone calls me on it or not, I take the time after the game to review my actions and try to learn from my mistakes, with hopes of becoming a better player. What I don’t want is for some idiot to play teacher to those who don’t know better and make them  better players, as this will lead me, and others, to eventually lose some money to them.

To make things even more interesting, a while later I was in a hand with SHERWHYNOT where I had raised pre-flop from the BTN, only to have him/her move all-in from the SB. In all honesty, I was tired and really didn’t feel like playing any more, so I made the call with 87s! Not a great hand to be calling an all-in with (I was, he had some back), but in reality I was just a little under a coin flip behind and I spiked an 8 on the turn to take it down. Yeah, odds played in my favour. This tilted him, and he proceeded to criticize everything about me. I then proceeded to comment on how I knew an 8 would hit. Super Tilt now! My buddy was railing me and we were having a good laugh about it on the side. A few hands later, I again pick up 87s (different suit), this time from the SB and push the BB (SHERWHYNOT) all-in (he was very short stacked and I was the big stack). He calls with A5 and I hit a 7 on the flop to knock him/her out. Huge TILT now and for the next few minutes, we at the table had to listen to him/her rant on how bad I play. I admit my first call was donkey-ish, but my second was not as I had him chip dominated and I was first to push (I would push 99% of time from that position with those cards under those circumstances). After the game (I finished 2nd BTW) I didn’t get the chance to review my play or to see what % I was ahead/behind in those situations, but plan to eventually (yes I’m a slacker/donkey somethings when it comes to learning from my mistakes).

The next time you are at a table and you see some questionable calls/raises/moves/whatever, instead of trying to point out the mistakes, make a note of it (all sites have note taking capabilities associated to the player) and use these notes to exploit this player every time you play against him. Bottom line is sit down, shut up, observe, and take it down for all it’s worth.

Good luck at the tables.

McTap03

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Poker etiquette and karma

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | 8 Comments

I found myself in a very interesting situation the other night that really made me think so I thought I’d share it here and hope to get some response form other players. I also figure it might be a good thing for beginners to think about, so hopefully some of them will read this post as well.

During the past week I have been on a bit of a heater, finishing first in 6 straight $5 6 player tournaments and finishing second a few times. For the most part my week has gone the opposite of last week’s post, if you recall last week I was lamenting about players who were calling me weak and sucking out on me. I haven’t changed my play, it’s just that my hands have been holding up for some reason, and although that’s not the point of this post I thought I would mention it as it is a good reminder that if you’re playing well and losing keep at it. Now on to the point of today’s post, poker etiquette … and karma.

The other night I found myself on the bubble (these 6 player tourneys I play pay 2 spots) blinds were 200/400 and I had about 1,700 chips, the big stack (who really was not a good player) had 6,500 chips and the person to my right had about 800 chips, and he was sitting out – had been since about the third hand after he won a pot of around 400 chips. The chip leader got there by calling a pre flop all in earlier that was most of her chips with 45 and hit a straight and later called a significant all in with K2 and won that hand as well. She basically never folded and that was alright, if I could just get heads up against her I figured I’d have a decent chance of wining. As for the guy sitting out, some people get angry when players sit out but I could never understand that, first of all, I have started a tournament only to have something really important come up and had to leave the game so I never assume why the person is sitting out and besides, if he is giving us his chips uncontested why would I care?

I was on the button for our very first hand three-handed and folded a decent hand thinking she can steal his big blind and I will steal his small blinds and in 2 orbits he’s done and we’re heads up. I think that’s the way you play this situation regardless of the hand you are dealt and regardless of the chip count of either of the remaining players, and believe me I have been on both sides of this situation. What does the big stack do? She folds! Raise and he folds automatically and steals 400 from him, but no, she gives him another 200 so he now has 1000.

I send her a note saying let’s get rid if this guy. She responds by saying she’s the “big chips” so you 2 are playing for second (seriously that is the expression she used) I’ve heard of big stack, chip leader and other expression but never big chips, more proof that she has no concept. On the next hand I am in the big blind and she raises me all in so I fold. I’m still sending her messages trying to convince her that getting rid of him is the right thing to do, but she wants nothing to do with it and truly does not understand. Had she proven she had any concept of the game I might have played her straight up but she has no concept and I don’t want this to turn into me raising with a solid hand and getting called by her garbage and going out on the bubble with a player sitting out.

This went on for a while, at one point I folded on the button and she called (called the guy sitting out) then get this …. checked it down to the river (any bet and he auto folds) sitting out guy wins the pot. Alright now, this is getting more than a little ridiculous. I keep trying to explain the situation to her and finally when he is down to 200 chips and on the button she says, “Let’s get rid of him, since he’s sitting out”. No kidding! We took him out, I was seriously depleted and shoved the next hand and won with garbage, tried to grind it out to take her down but she hit a legit hand against my semi-legit hand and I was done.

Like I said, I have been on both sides of this situation and I play it straight and get rid of the person sitting out, as I think do most players who know what they are doing. Look, I understand that poker is a competitive game where you don’t do your opponents any favors, but now I have tagged her with a note so the next time we see each other at a table I might not play nice, karma is a funny thing.

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Poker starting hand strategy

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | 4 Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Rules series.

Step 4: Learning which starting hands to play:

Starting hand selection is one of the fundamental skills of Texas Hold’em No Limit, so take your time with this step. The concept of position is closely tied to hand selection and thus needs explaining before we can move on. In my previous post I described the Texas Hold’em No Limit gameplay and the role of the Big Blind, The Small Blind and the dealer. The dealer in Texas Hold’em has the best position on the entire table, since he/she is the third last player to act in the first betting round and the last player to act in all the subsequent betting rounds. Being the last player to act is a major advantage in Texas Hold’em. You won’t be betting blindly into a pot without knowing what players after you will do, and being last to act you gain a great deal of information on which cards the other players might have from their betting patterns. In addition you will know exactly what your pot odds (I will explain this concept in a following post) are for calling and therefore make correct decisions every time.

Due to the importance of position, the range of starting hands you should play changes according to your placement on the table relative to the dealer button. Generally speaking you will have a much tighter hand selection when you are in early position (Small Blind, Big Blind, UTG (“under the gun”; the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind), UTG+1) as compared to middle position (UTG+2, UTG+3, UTG+4, TB-2 (“The Button”; the position of the dealer) and late position (TB-1, TB). I am a conservative player which is reflected in the following hand selection suggestions. If you are an agressive player you will play your opponents more than your cards, but since this is not my style of play I will not write about it here.

Early Position:

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK (suited or unsuited), AQ (suited)

Middle Position:

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK (suited or unsuited), AQ (suited), 99, 88, AQ (unsuited), AJ (suited or unsuited), KQ (suited or unsuited)

Late Position:

Raise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK (suited or unsuited), AQ (suited), 99, 88, AQ (unsuited), AJ (suited or unsuited), KQ (suited or unsuited), 77, ace-x, QJ (suited), J10 (suited)

The hand selection listed above, applies in the situation where all players before you have folded of if you have very few callers. In my next post I will give a more detailed explanation of how your hand selection and betting patterns should change according to the action before you.

This post belong to the following series:

• Easy to follow guide for online poker beginners
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No limit step2
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step3
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step4

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Poker big blind and small blind explanation

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | 1 Comment

This article is a part of the Poker Rules series.

Step 3: The Texas Hold’em No Limit Gameplay:

In my previous post in this series I described the different Texas Hold’em hands and how they rank against each other. We are now ready to move on to the actual Texas Hold’em game and how it’s played. In Texas Hold’em two players – the Big Blind and the Small Blind – are required to place bets (known as blinds) in the pot (the amount of money to be won in any single completed hand) before any cards are dealt. This means that in Texas Hold’em there will always be money to win in a hand. The dealer button rotates clockwise after each completed hand, and is used to represent the player holding the dealer position. The position of the dealer button also determines the position of the Big and Small Blind as the Small Blind is the player to the immediate left of the dealer and the Big Blind is the player to the left of the Small Blind (see the figure below). In online poker you don’t have to worry about the position of the dealer and Big and Small Blinds since this is all taken care of automatically by the poker software.

A Texas Hold’em hand begins with the dealer dealing one card face down in a clockwise manner to all the players at the table starting with the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind. Then the dealer deals one more card to each player in the same way.

When all players have two face down cards (known as hole or pocket cards) the first betting round (also known as the preflop betting round) begins, starting with the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind and continuing clockwise around the table. In No Limit Hold’Em the smallest possible bet is the same size as the Big Blind; there is no upper limit to bets. When it’s your turn to bet and you are not the Big Blind you have 3 options: Call, Raise or Fold.

• By calling you bet the same amount as the biggest bet made by the players acting before you.
• By raising you call the biggest bet made by the players acting before you and then place an additional bet over the top.
• By folding you choose not to continue playing your pocket cards, and you will be out of the game until the next hand starts.

When you are the Big Blind in the first betting round and nobody has made a bet larger than you big blind you can choose to Check, Raise or Fold. By checking you simply pass on the turn to the next player without making any bet. This is possible since you have already paid the Big Blind into the pot.

When the big blind has completed his/hers turn, the first three community cards – known as the flop- are dealt face up in the middle of the table. The second betting round then starts with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still playing the hand and continues clockwise. The second betting round ends with the dealer.

The next and 4th community card – known as the turn or the 4th street – is dealt face up and a third betting round follows in the same manner as the second betting round.

Finally the 5th and last community card – known as the river or the 5th street – is dealt face up and a fourth betting round follows in the same manner as the second and third betting rounds. If a player bets during the fourth betting round and all the other players remaining fold then he or she wins the pot without having to show his/hers pocket cards. If one or more players call then a showdown, where all remaining players reveal their pocket cards, determines the winner of the pot according to the hand ranking scheme I described earlier. So there you have it, the Texas Hold’em No Limit gameplay in all its simplicity. There are a couple of extra subtle details regarding special circumstances that may occur during the game, but I will go more into detail with these later.

My next post in this series will deal with choosing which starting hands to play depending on which position you are in relative to the dealer button.

This post belong to the following series:

• Easy to follow guide for online poker beginners
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No limit step2
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step3
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step4

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Poker rules for beginners

Thursday, June 12th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | No Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Rules series.

In this post I will give a more detailed description of each of the poker hands I listed in my previous post, but first a couple of introductory remarks. In Texas Hold’em and most other poker variants a hand consists of 5 cards. The player with the best 5 cards wins the pot. Here are some additional general rules:

· Suits (e.g. Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades ) have no value. This means for example that a flush in hearts is just as good as a flush in spades

Here’s the more detailed description of the individual possible poker hands:

An ace-high straight [A-K-Q-J-10] with all cards being the same suit, this is the mother of all poker hands. The probability of getting a royal flush is 0,00015%. In other words a royal flush comes along once in 649740 hands! Many poker sites offer significant bonuses to players who get royal flushes.

Straight Flush

5 cards in a sequence [for example 10-9-8-7-6] with all cards being the same suit. As with the regular straight a king-high straight flush [K-Q-J-10-9] beats a queen-high straight flush [Q-J-10-9-8] which beats a jack-high straight flush and so on. The probability of getting a straight flush is 0,0015% which means that you can expect to see one once every 64974 hands.

Four of a Kind

Also known as quads. As usual the indivual card ranks determine the winning quads. If two players share the same quads, the fifth card (the kicker) will decide who wins the pot, the bigger card the better. The probability of getting quads is 0,024% so you will only have to wait 4061 hands to see one.

Full house

Also known as full boat or simply boat. A full house consists of 3 matching cards with one rank together with 2 matching cards of another rank (for example 7-7-7-6-6 which is known as a full house “sevens over sixes”). The hand with the highest set of three wins; 8-8-8-2-2 beats 5-5-5-A-A. If two players share the same set of three, the player with the higher pair wins. The probability of getting a full house is 0,14% which makes it a less than “one in a thousand hand” (1 in 694 to be precise)

Flush

A flush is made up of any 5 cards with the same suit. The highest of the 5 cards gives the flush its name (e.g. queen-high flush, ace-high flush etc.). Determining the winning hand between the players holding flushes with the same high card can be tricky, so pay attention:-). If both hands have the same highest card, then the second-highest ranking card is compared, and so on until a difference is found. If the two flushes contain the same five ranks of cards, they are tied. The probability of getting a flush is only slightly better than a full house, namely 0,20% or 1 in 509.

Straight

A straight is 5 cards in sequential rank but in more than one suit (otherwise it would be a straight flush). As mentioned before, straights are described by their highest card as in a “9-high straight” [9-8-7-6-5]. A straight cannot made from both sides of an ace as in [Q-K-A-2-3]. This means that the lowest straight is A-2-3-4-5 and the highest straight is 10-J-Q-K-A. The probability of getting a straight is 0,39% or 1 in 255.

Three of a kind

Also known as trips or a set. In Texas Hold’em the set refers to the combination of a pocket pair (two hole cards of the same rank) and a third card of the same rank among the community cards (more about community and hole cards in “Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em_Part 3″). If two players share the same three of a kind, the remaining two cards (the kicker’s) determine the winner; [3-3-3-A-2] beats [3-3-3-K-Q] which beats [3-3-3-K-J] and so on. Three of a kind is the first hand with a probability over 1%, namely 2,1% or 1 in 47.

Two pair

Two pairs consist of two cards with the same rank together with two more cards of the same rank (but not the same rank as the first pair, in this case you have quads). When comparing two two pair hands, the two pair hand with the highest pair wins. If two players share the same high pair, the player with the highest low pair wins. If two players share the same two pairs, the remaining card determines the winner; [3-3-5-5-K] beats [3-3-5-5-10] which beats [3-3-5-5-6] and so on. The probability of getting two pairs is 4,75% or 1 in 21.

One pair

Not much need for explanation on this one. One pair is two cards of the same rank. In a showdown the highest pair wins. As usual if two players share the same pair, it’s down to the kickers to determine the winner. Most poker hands are won with one pair outranking another. The probability of getting one pair is 42,26% or just under 1 in 2.

High Card

High card is basically 5 cards that do not match in any way to form any of the hands explained above. However, you will be surprised how many showdowns are won with the best high card hand. When comparing two high card hands you start by comparing the highest card. If both hands have the same highest card, then the second-highest ranking card is compared, and so on until a difference is found

In my next post I will start explaining the specific gameplay of Texas Hold’em

· When determining the winning hand, hands are first ranked by category; then by individual card ranks. Thus a full house will always beat a flush no matter how good the flush is.

This post belong to the following series:

• Easy to follow guide for online poker beginners
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No limit step2
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step3
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step4

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | No Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Rules series.

Step1a: Learning Hand Rankings

Before you start playing online poker with your own real money it is crucial that you know the poker Hand Rankings. You need to know when you have the best possible hand (“the nuts”) to be able to win as much money as possible from your opponents. On the other hand you also need to know which possible hands are better than yours in order to lose as little money as possible. The following list shows the possible poker hands starting with the strongest hand first. In other words, a Royal Flush beats a Straight Flush which beats Four of a kind and so on. In my following post I will give an individual description of each hand listed below.

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This post belong to the following series:

• Easy to follow guide for online poker beginners
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No limit step2
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step3
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step4

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You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

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Mark, Wednesday the 4^th of June

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules

Poker guide for beginners

Saturday, May 31st, 2008 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | No Comments

This article is a part of the Poker Rules series.

I have written an easy to follow guide for online poker beginners which I will share with you in my upcoming posts.

This guide will describe step by step how you get started playing online poker including the general Texas Hold Em poker rules. It will not make you a winning player though since this takes a lot of practice and commitment.

Before you get started please investigate whether people from your country are allowed to play online poker (f. ex there are special laws for American players) and register for an internet banking account.

Texas Hold’em No Limit is by far the most popular online poker game with the widest selection of tables and limits so I recommend you start your learning process here. It is possible to acquire detailed information on Texas Hold’em concepts and poker rules online, but having said that you will still benefit a great deal by reading books on poker. My three favorite books on poker are:

• “Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big with Expert Play” by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth

This book will become your online poker bible for a long time. It explains both beginner and advanced concepts in a straightforward manner. Read it, and then read it again…and again.

Buy “Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big with Expert Play” here

• “Harrington on Hold’em I, II and III” by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie

A must read I you want to improve your tournament skills (and poker skills in general). The books explain every tournament concept you will need to know about with great examples.

Buy “Harrington on Hold’em I, II and III” here

• “Winning Low Limit HOLDEM” by Lee Jones.

A great book for all you Limit Poker fans

Buy “Winning Low Limit HOLDEM” here

My next posts will give a more in depth description of the Texas Hold’em basics and rules

• Easy to follow guide for online poker beginners
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step1
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No limit step2
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step3
• Learning the poker rules and how to play Texas Hold’em No Limit step4

You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.

Want to play poker? Read the in-depth Betsson Poker Review

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Rules