Poker bankroll management, building and strategy – online poker guide

Top 10 turn and river moves from Mitchell Cogert’s Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves

Sunday, October 25th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Top 10 Lists, Poker Tournament | No Comments

In this series of top 10 lists I have selected top moves from Mitchell Cogert’s “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves”. I believe these moves have the largest probability of improving your chances of winning low to medium stakes online poker tournaments.

Top 10 lists in this series:

Top 10 preflop moves

Top 10 flop moves

Top 10 turn and river moves

Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” It is the only reference book to reveal the plays the Pros use to win a poker tournament. These plays are based on reviewing 20 years worth of tournament poker strategies and by actual play against Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, David Pham and other top pros. The book is available on Amazon and rated 5 out of 5 stars by customers. Find out more about Mitchell Cogert by visiting Tournament Poker or his website APokerExpert.

Top 10 turn and river moves

Stack sizes are one of the most important factors to consider when deciding whether or not to make a move on the turn or the river. If the opponent you are up against has a large stack compared to yours and the blinds in general he is more likely to call any bet you make. Similarly, if your opponent has a significantly smaller stack than yours he will most likely be pot committed to call your bets. The best spot for making moves is when both you and your opponent have similar stack sizes that are significantly larger than the current size of the big blind. In my opinion, significantly larger in this context are stack sizes above 20 times the big blind.

• The delayed continuation bet

You raise preflop with two high cards but don’t hit a pair on the flop. By checking the flop behind your opponents you raise suspicion in their minds. They were expecting a standard continuation bet, but instead you checked. Could you be slow playing a monster hand? When a harmless turn card hits you are now in a great position to steal the pot.

• The Action-Inducing bet

If you hit the nuts or another great hand on the turn then making a small bet compared to the size of the pot will give your opponents the impression that you are weak. This will sometimes lure them into making a large re raise or even pushing all in.

• The blocking bet

The blocking bet can be used on the turn as well as on the flop. I already mentioned the blocking bet in my previous list of top 10 flop moves. Here’s what I wrote:

Say you called a preflop raiser out of position with a drawing hand such as 89 suited. The flop comes A J 7 with one card in your suit. You have an inside straight draw and a backdoor flush opportunity. By making a small blocking bet as the first to act on the flop, you aim to slow down your opponent and either get a cheap turn card or if you’re lucky make your opponent fold. If he raised preflop with pocket 10’s, pocket Q’s or even pocket K’s, he might interpret your blocking bet as if you have hit your Ace and aim to suck some chips out of him. Your defensive blocking bet has a better chance of succeeding if your opponents have seen you make the same size bet earlier when you have hit a big hand.

When you make a blocking bet on the turn you are aiming to slow down your opponent and see a cheap river card. Sometimes you get lucky and your blocking bet wins you the pot.

• Firing the Second Barrel

Don’t be afraid to bet again on the turn as the preflop raiser if your opponent called your flop bet. He might be on a draw, have a middle pair or he might be floating and hoping to steal the pot if you show weakness on the turn. Be wary  of firing the second barrel if a scare card such as a flush card or a straight card hits.

• Bet when opponents are weak

If your opponents have checked the flop and check to you on the turn as well they are most likely weak. Bet to pick up the pot.

• Bet when a scare card appears

If a scare card hits on the turn you can use it to your advantage to steal the pot by betting or re-raising your opponent. Depending on the texture of the flop, any Ace, King, straight or flush card may be a card you can use to win the pot. I would only use this move if you are up against one opponent. Betting when a scare card hits requires both skill and courage. Skill, because you need to be able to put your opponent on a hand range in order to determine what cards might be scare cards. Courage, because you are representing a strong hand which you do not have and if you misread the situation you could look like a fool.

• The naked Ace bluff

If you hold an Ace in the same suit as a suited board you can use this information to represent the nut flush. You can do this by checking the flop and raising any bet on the turn. Since no one else has the Ace they will have a hard time calling with top pair or a lower flush. If they do call you still have outs to win the hand.

• When you hold a pair and get raised on the turn think fold

Usually players will not raise a bet on the turn if they cannot beat top pair (unless of course they are betting due to a scare card hitting). If you have top pair, your flop bet has been called and your turn bet is raised you are most likely either beat or have run into an opponent with big cojones. Remember that a good fold is a good thing. However, if you suspect you have been outplayed make a note about your opponent and pay attention to his future betting patterns.

• When folding is clearly the right play

Don’t fall in love with big pairs. If you raise preflop, get three callers and they all call your bet on the flop alarm bells should be ringing inside your head. If a scare card hits on the turn you can be sure that one of your three opponents hit his draw.

• The River value bet

Poker in a nutshell is to get your opponents to call you with worse hands and fold with better hands. Keep this in mind when deciding what bet size to use on the river. If you are convinced you are ahead choose a bet size which you feel confident your opponent will call. If you are not sure you are ahead go for a small blocking/value bet.

• Getting paid off on the river

When you have the nuts on the river do not expect that a small bet is more likely to be called than a larger bet. Your opponents will be expecting you to make a small bet if you have the nuts. Instead try making a big bet or moving all in. To some opponents this will signal that you are trying to steal the pot     and make them call your bet if they have a piece of the board.
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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Top 10 Lists, Poker Tournament

Top 10 flop moves from Mitchell Cogert’s Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves

Sunday, September 27th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Top 10 Lists, Poker Tournament | 2 Comments

In this series of top 10 lists I have selected top moves from Mitchell Cogert’s “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves”. I believe these moves have the largest probability of improving your chances of winning low to medium stakes online poker tournaments.

Top 10 lists in this series:

Top 10 preflop moves

Top 10 flop moves

Top 10 turn and river moves

Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” It is the only reference book to reveal the plays the Pros use to win a poker tournament. These plays are based on reviewing 20 years worth of tournament poker strategies and by actual play against Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, David Pham and other top pros. The book is available on Amazon and rated 5 out of 5 stars by customers. Find out more about Mitchell Cogert by visiting Tournament Poker or his website APokerExpert.

Top 10 flop moves

The flop moves listed below are mostly bluff and semi bluff moves designed to win pots on flops you haven’t caught a piece of. Since you will often represent a hand you don’t have, it is of the utmost importance that your betting history in the hand and general table image tell a convincing story. In addition you have to choose your flops and opponents carefully. Ideally you want to be up against a maximum of 2-3 opponents who will be able to lay down their hands depending on the move you choose. Needless to say flop moves require a lot more skill and experience to master as compared to preflop moves.

• Bet the rainbow “Steal flop”

Some flops contain low cards of different suits (rainbow) and in addition are uncoordinated meaning that there is little chance that one of your opponents has picked up a draw. An example of such a flop could be 2 (h) 4(c) 9 (d). Say you enter a pot with Q10 suited without raising and have 2 opponents on a rainbow “Steal flop”. You should make a more than half sized pot bet both if you are first to act and if the action is checked to you.

• Bet at flops with pairs

If the flop comes with a pair and is uncoordinated (no flush draws and obvious straight draws) you should bet if you are first to act or the action is checked to you. Take advantage of your opponent’s fear of facing trips. If you get called on the flop you need to consider whether you want to bet the turn or not. Your opponent could have hit trips but the probability is small since there are only two cards in the deck that could give him this hand. Your opponent could also be planning to steal the pot from you on the turn if you show weakness and check. Notice how poker player level thinking really comes into play when considering what to do on the flop, turn and river.

• Bet at flops with the same suit

When you are up against few opponents, flops with the same suit are a good opportunity to steal the pot. Your opponents may not believe you have hit the flop, but they know that they need a flush to win. They will have to fold if they don’t have any cards in the same suit or one low card in the same suit.

• The continuation bet

Most of you probably already know the continuation bet, but it is an important move to include in your arsenal, which is why I mention it here. If you take the lead preflop and raise with say AJ suited, you continue showing that your hand is strong by making a 50-75% pot bet on the flop (the continuation bet). You make this bet even if the flop did not improve your hand. If you are up against a couple of opponents the chances are high that they will fold. If you get called, you face a tough decision on the turn. Did your opponent hit the flop or is he defending against your continuation bet by calling the flop aiming to steal the pot from you on the turn if you show weakness and check? In these situations you have to evaluate both the texture of the flop and put your opponent on a range of possible hands.

• The probe bet

The aim of the probe bet is to find out if you have the best hand after the flop without risking too many of your chips. Say you call a preflop raiser with J10 and the flop comes J 7 2. If you are first to act you can make a small bet of less than half the pot to find out where you stand and if you’re lucky take down the pot. If you get reraised you can fold your hand without having risked too many chips. As with all the other bluff and steal moves, the probe bet works best when you are up against only a few opponents.

• The blocking bet

Say you called a preflop raiser out of position with a drawing hand such as 89 suited. The flop comes A J 7 with one card in your suit. You have an inside straight draw and a backdoor flush opportunity. By making a small blocking bet as the first to act on the flop, you aim to slow down your opponent and either get a cheap turn card or if you’re lucky make your opponent fold. If he raised preflop with pocket 10′s, pocket Q’s or even pocket K’s, he might interpret your blocking bet as if you have hit your Ace and aim to suck some chips out of him. Your defensive blocking bet has a better chance of succeeding if your opponents have seen you make the same size bet earlier when you have hit a big hand.

• Leading out

If you are up against two or less opponents you need to be aggressive if you hand caught any piece of the flop such as middle pair. This is true also if you are out of position. Remember that you hitting the flop means that your opponents are less likely to have hit the flop. Try a probe bet if you are first to act and if the action is checked to you bet to take down the pot.

• Bet when you hit a set or full house

Bet bet bet when you hit a set. Don’t check and try to trap your opponent. You want to build big pots with your made hands. If your opponent folds he was going to do so anyway. Avoid check raising the flop as it shows a lot of strength and will slow down your opponent on the following streets.

• Bet if the action is checked to you

Bet when you are last to act after the flop and the action is checked to you. Your opponents have shown weakness and you should react to this. Fold if you are check raised and don’t have a hand that can improve on the turn. Make a note on the opponent who check raised you so you remember him the next time you are in a pot together.

• When to move all in

Move all in on the flop if you have raised preflop and the potsize on the flop is roughly the same size as your chip stack. It doesn’t matter if the flop missed you. You need to accumulate chips and this is done by taking risks. Late in tournaments and during heads-up play this move should be almost automatic.

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Top 10 preflop moves from Mitchell Cogert’s Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves

Sunday, September 13th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Top 10 Lists, Poker Tournament | 3 Comments

In this series of top 10 lists I have selected top moves from Mitchell Cogert’s “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves”. I believe these moves have the largest probability of improving your chances of winning low to medium stakes online poker tournaments.

Top 10 lists in this series:

Top 10 preflop moves

Top 10 flop moves

Top 10 turn and river moves

Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” It is the only reference book to reveal the plays the Pros use to win a poker tournament. These plays are based on reviewing 20 years worth of tournament poker strategies and by actual play against Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, David Pham and other top pros. The book is available on Amazon and rated 5 out of 5 stars by customers. Find out more about Mitchell Cogert by visiting Tournament Poker or his website APokerExpert.

Top 10 preflop moves

The following preflop moves are intended to either set you up to win all your opponent’s chips, win blinds and limps uncontested or make sure you don’t bleed out your stack to the ever increasing blinds.

• Early in the event limp with pocket Aces

When you are dealt pocket Aces early in an event you don’t want to settle with merely picking up the blinds. Limping with pocket Aces is risky business but could win you a larger pot compared to the standard play of raising with Aces. You want to be up against a maximum of 3 opponents when you limp with pocket Aces. In addition, the flop should optimally contain only one card in the playing zone (any card from 9s to Aces). If you limp with pocket Aces, get two additional callers and the flop is K (h) 8 (c) 2(d) that’s a great situation for you if one of your opponents has hit a pair of Kings. However, if you instead get 7 callers and the flop is K (h) J (h) 3 (c) you should have the discipline to fold your Aces since you will have almost no chance of winning the hand.

• The under-the-gun steal raise

Use this move later in tournaments to pick up the blinds uncontested. You don’t need a playable hand to make this move; you will be taking advantage of your position at the table since a 2 or 3xBB raise under-the-gun represents a strong hand. The move has a higher chance of succeeding if your overall table image is tight.

• The position power raise

The position power raise is intended to win both the blinds and the additional money in the pot from previous limpers. It works best during the middle or later stages of low stakes online multi-table tournaments where a raise represents a significant amount of your opponent’s stacks. If your hand is good enough to limp with, then it is also good enough to raise strongly to 4xBB with the goal of making the other players fold. If a player calls your hand can still improve on the flop. Make sure the opponents you want to fold have stack sizes comparable to yours. If they are low stacked they might push all in to your raise and if they are big stacked they are more likely to call you.

• The leave something behind re-raise

In the middle to late stages of an online tournament you need to seize every opportunity you can to accumulate chips. Say you hold a medium hand in the big blind such as A8 suited and an opponent in the cut off position with a medium stack size similar to yours raises 3xBB. Your opponent could be using his position to steal the blinds so this might be a good spot to re-raise him to get him to fold. But what is the optimal re-raise amount? If you re-raise your opponent all in, you put maximum pressure on him, but the all in re-raise is often perceived as a move and might lead your opponent to call. However if you re-raise your opponent with two thirds or more of your stack, this signals you have a premium hand. By leaving something behind you are telling your opponent that you are prepared to go all the way with your hand.

• Be aggressive near the bubble

You did not enter the tournament to finish in the money. You entered the tournament to win it! Keeping this in mind is especially important near the bubble. Most of your opponents will tighten up near the bubble looking to secure that prize money finish to justify the time and investment they have made in the tournament. Don’t be like your opponents. Take advantage of their tight play by stepping up your aggression level and loosening up your starting hand requirements. Bubble play is a great phase in a tournament to accumulate chips and increase your chances of making the final table.

• Move all in preflop as the first raiser when your stack is less than 9xBB

If your chip stack has declined to less than 9xBB your only remaining play is all in. When you pick your spot to go all in, it is more important that you are the first preflop raiser than what starting hand you have. Being the first preflop raiser you have a good chance of picking up the blinds and antes uncontested. Look to go all in as the first preflop raiser with any pocket pair, any Ace, any two face cards, any suited connectors and medium hands such as K10, Q10, J9 etc..

• Move all in with your good hands when you have 8 times or less than the initial raisers bet

You need to take risks to win an online multi table tournament. Obviously it is best to take risks when you have a good hand such as medium or high pocket pairs or face cards such as AJ suited or higher. When facing a preflop raise, look to double your stack or win a big pot uncontested by moving all in with your good hands when your chip stack is less than 8 times as big as the initial preflop raise.

• Moving all in when you are the BB and there are multiple callers

Consider moving all in to win a big pot during the middle or late stages of a tournament if you have a playable hand in the BB in a pot with many limpers. Often you will succeed and win the pot uncontested. Sometimes however, players will limp with high pocket pairs just waiting for a player to make a move like yours. In this case you will have to pray to the poker gods that you get lucky. Keep in mind that the stack sizes of your limping opponents should be comparable to your medium stack. If one of the limpers is either short or big stacked, the probability of winning the pot uncontested drops significantly.

• The stop and go

I like this move a lot. If you find yourself short stacked during the middle or late stages of a tournament and pick up a hand which you are prepared to go all the way with, consider using the stop and go move to increase your chances of winning the hand. The stop and go is an alternative to pushing all in preflop with your good hands when facing a preflop raiser. Simply call the initial raisers raise and push all in on the flop no matter what. 68% of times your opponent will have missed his hand on the flop and you have just presented him with a good reason to fold. If you had pushed all in preflop, the initial raiser would have most likely called leaving the outcome of the hand in the hands of the poker gods. With the stop and go move you still have some influence on the outcome of the hand.

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Top 10 Lists, Poker Tournament

Top 10 PokerBRB Freeroll League features

Thursday, August 27th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | No Comments

• Leaderboard displaying both monthly points, monthly $, total points, total $ and the 5 best tournament results you have in each month.

• Article database with the best articles from the Poker Bankroll Blog.

• Poker room overview of the poker sites participating in our league with all the information you need about the great rakeback and promotion deals we have put together.

• Automated leaderboard updates (we have a cool database system which I am very proud of )

• Log-in functionality so you can check and modify the information you submit on the sign up page.

• A database interface where you can check all the freeroll and tournament results we have on file for your profile at any given time during a monthly competition.

• Exclusive monthly finals for the top 20 players on the leaderboard.

• A poker forum where you can interact, share and learn from other players.

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists

Top 10 accessories and prerequisites when playing online multi table tournaments

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | 5 Comments

• Bad beat water bottle to crush instead of your mouse, monitor or computer

• Rested and focused mind

• Full stomach + snacks ready for later

• As much time available as it will take to win the tournament

• A girlfriend / wife who is occupied with other things

• An activated adult filter on your computer. Online adult entertainment is a huge distraction when playing online multi table tournaments. Focus man focus!!!!

• Fully hydrated system and additional fluids readily available

• A plan for which tournaments you will play and the discipline to stick to your plan

• Comfortable clothes, a good chair and good luck charms

• Good lighting (you will fall asleep otherwise)

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists

Top 10 reasons for joining the PokerBRB Freeroll League

Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | 7 Comments

• It’s free!!

• It adds value to freerolls you would be playing anyway.

• You will improve your online multi table tournament skills

• You will get to know other freeroll players and learn from them.

• You will get the opportunity to knock me out of a tournament.

• As the league grows you will win bigger and bigger prizes.

• You will get great rakeback and promotion offers

• Did I mention it’s free?!!!

• You will gain the necessary experience, and perhaps initial capital, to start building your own bankroll.

• It’s fun (at least we think it is )

If any of the above caught your interest, check out the PokerBRB Freeroll League site.

Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists

Top 10 reasons that motivate me to play online poker tournaments

Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | No Comments

• To develop my game to the point where I reach final tables in low stakes tournaments (20$ buyin or below) on a regular basis that exceeds the probability of winning an online poker tournament.

• To start winning enough money to pay for vacations and buyins to larger tournaments.

• To be able to buy a really cool car (for some reason I get the urge to play poker whenever I see a sweet looking car pass me on the street).

• The fact that the game changes nature throughout the tournament and that you have to adapt to these changes.

• The chance of winning big with a small initial investments.

• The feeling of accomplishment when you reach a final table having beaten a large field of players.

• The feeling of accomplishment when you outplay an opponent.

• The fact that playing tournaments can be seen as stand-alone events with an upper time limit as compared to grinding SNGs or cash game tables which are ongoing events without time limits. IMO this makes tournament play less obligating.

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists

Top 10 tips to avoid tilt and going broke in poker

Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | 7 Comments

• Keep your bankroll on Neteller (or some equivalent Internet bank) and restrict yourself to depositing your daily playing limit to the poker room in question. Withdraw any winnings above your daily playing limit back to Neteller

• Keep preflop winning percentages in mind if you lose an all in against an opponent. If for example you are all in pre flop with 88 vs. QK suited, hit a set on the flop but lose to a runner runner straight this is NOT a bad beat. You only had a roughly 50% chance of winning preflop and your opponent’s runner runner flush is just one of the hands included in his 50% chance of winning.

• If you bust out of a tournament or lose a large pot to an opponent who makes the worst call ever and hits his magic card on the river it often helps to blow off some steam by entering a small stakes tournament and go all in on every hand.

• If you feel angry, frustrated or robbed take a break until you feel ready to play again. Ready to play means that you are able to write “nh” in the chat without feeling any resentment towards an opponent who busts you out with a hand that was clearly not nice.

• Realize that poker is a game of variance. If you are 80% favorite to win a hand, you will lose 1 out of 5 times. The are the mathematical facts of the game. The best you can do is get your money in as a favorite

• Have a water bottle next to your computer. If you have a tendency to take your anger out on things surrounding you, squeeze the water bottle instead. It will save you money in the long run.

• You remember the times your opponent’s beat you as underdog, but forget the times you win as underdog. Keep track of your hands using the different poker software applications available. This way you will be able to quantify your lond term winning percentages and convince yourself that the universe is not against you.

• If you are a good player you will exit most tournaments / lose most pots as a favorite. Get used to it!

• Learn to recognize the signs of tilt such as calling to fast without thinking through the situation, chasing draws against the pot odds, calling river bets in frustration when you know you are beat etc….Have the discipline to stop playing whenever you spot these signs.

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

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Tags: Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists