Poker Articles
Which starting hands to play in poker?
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy | No Comments
Submitted by Matthew Tonge this article about which starting hands to play in poker belongs to the Poker Strategy Series.
Matthew wrote an article series about 5 steps you can implement in your poker game to go from beginner to winner. The first step is about which starting hands to play in poker and how a more strict poker hand selection will improve your win-rate.
Overview of the entire article series
- Which starting hands to play in poker
- Poker hand strength
- Bet sizing in poker
- Aggression in poker
- Position in poker
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1. Which starting hands to play in poker?
Summary: Don’t waste chips on weak hands!
So, you’ve learned the rules of No-limit Texas Hold ‘em – you know the difference between a blind and an ante, and that a flush beats a straight. But there’s a lot more to the game than mere rules. Make these 5 changes to your game and you’ll go from a beginner to a competent poker player in no time!
Play fewer hands. One of the biggest giveaways as to which players are beginners and which are more advanced is the number of hands they play. A beginner will play far too many hands. King-7 suited, Jack-Ten off suit, Ace-6 suited. Almost any two cards can seem playable to the novice. But the more advanced player realizes that too many chips are lost by playing these weak hands.
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If you are playing a tournament, then the blinds increase at regular intervals, meaning that even more chips are wasted the later in the tournament you are. Also, other players will realize that you play too many hands, and will know that most of the time you have trash. There are, of course, instances where these cards can be played – namely when in late position when the action has been folded to you (see number 2), but, in general, learn to fold, save some chips, and wait for a stronger hand.
Matthew Tonge
For free poker tutorial videos, please visit my YouTube page at you tube.com/unkempt27
Erica Schoenberg
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
For a long time Erica Schoenberg has been regarded as the hottest female poker player and she’s talented to boot. Just how talented will be revealed once I finish this article.
Erica Schoenberg is becoming one of the most recognized players in professional poker. Her stunning good looks are certainly part of the appeal. Her devastatingly accurate play is even more engaging. She has appeared on a number of televised events and her credentials are much more impressive and diverse than many would expect.
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The Early Years
Erica caught the gambling bug from her parents. They met at the Santa Anita racetrack in California. After marrying, they moved to Akron Ohio where Erica was born in 1978. The family often played quite a bit of cards at home and Erica learned about handicapping by accompanying her father to the local racetrack. She developed her math skills early with help of her parents and quite a lot of proposition betting. Occasionally there would be pocket money involved but more often than not, Erica was betting she wouldn’t be doing the dishes or mowing the lawn.
In 1991 she demonstrated how well she learned these early math lessons by placing 1st at the Knox County Math Championship. She was just 13 years old at the time. In college she studied theater and began a career in modeling shortly after graduation. It wasn’t long before her competitive spirit took her into a brief stint as a professional volleyball player. She also spent some time as a personal trainer and kickboxing instructor before her affinity for math brought her back to cards.
Finding Her Place In The Universe
She applied her innate math skills to blackjack had a very successful run. She fell in with members of the MIT Blackjack Team and under their tutelage she increased her winning percentages significantly. In 2005 she appeared on the GSN’s World Series of Blackjack and finished 2nd on her episode. The next year she participated in CBS’s Ultimate Blackjack Tour. She quickly became known simply as “Blackjack Babe.”
During this time she started to nurture a passion for Texas Hold’em. She played in home games that featured players like World Series of Poker champion Phil Helmuth. In 2006 she cashed in the Five-Star World Poker Classic. This 16th place finish demonstrated that she had the makings of a successful poker and Mansion Poker quickly signed her as their first spokesperson. In 2007 she won a World Poker Tour no-limit hold’em event at Mandalay Bay.
In short order, Erica’s nickname transformed from “Blackjack Babe” to “Poker Babe.” She has cashed many times in both WSOP events and WPT events around the world. Today she is one of the notable Full Tilt Pro’s. Anybody looking to match wits with her across the electronic felt should look for her at the 25 50 no limit tables. She can also be found occasionally playing at Mansion Poker under the nameStr8flushiiin.
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Balancing Life And Poker
While poker is her chosen profession, it does not consume her every waking moment. Just follow her on Twitter where her handle is @thehitwoman. A quick review of her tweets reveals she spends as much time thinking about food as she does about poker. As a self confessed foodie, her passion for a good meal is quite evident as she tweets restaurant reviews and even contemplates what she plans to fix herself for lunch.
Erica treats poker like any other job and tries to limit herself to 40 hours a week. She admits to putting in overtime during major events like the WSOP. Despite not being as active as most pros, she has career tournament earnings of $802,344. Combine that with what she takes down in cash games and online play and she is clearly doing quite well for herself.
With all the free time she leaves for herself, she continues to stay fit by playing beach volleyball and enjoys spending time with her dogs. Like many American poker professionals, she now calls Las Vegas home.
When she’s not getting excited about new gadgets, Britney Baker writes about prepaid cell phones for PrepaidCellphones.net.
Liv Boeree
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
Liv Boeree is one of the newest members of Team PokerStars and she looks great on pictures….what more could you ask for? I wonder if Liv Boeree has a boyfriend? No wonder “Liv Boeree picture” and “Liv Boeree boyfriend” are some of the most searched poker keywords in Google. In this article I will attempt to give an overview of Liv Boeree’s poker career. If you asked a non-poker playing person to describe what they thought a stereotypical poker player looked like then I can 100% guarantee that they would not paint a picture of someone who looked like the delectable Liv Boeree.
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Liv Boeree’s early gambling days
Born in Kent in 1984, Boeree never considered becoming a poker player, in fact she did not discover the game until she was 25-years old. She was one of five contestants chosen to appear on a reality television show that resulted in her being taught poker by the likes of Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott and ten-time WSOP poker bracelet winner Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Boeree developed a passion for the game and set about studying it intently, much like she had done during her time at Manchester University where she studied astrophysics.
He first recorded cash in a live poker tournament came back in 2007 when she placed 7th in a $10,000 freeroll to celebrate the opening of the Loose Cannon Sports Club in London for a mere $400. The following year she really put herself on the map when she beat Lenna Martyak heads up in the $2,000 buy-in European Ladies Championships for $42,000. This gave her the bankroll boost needed to play in a number of World Series of Poker events, though she is yet to have a major score in the eight times she has cashed.
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Liv Boeree’s major tournament wins
A number of relatively small cashes followed her success in the European Ladies Championships but in April 2010 she had an absolutely amazing result that will mean she will not need to use any 2011 WSOP qualifiers as she became a millionaire overnight. The San Remo stop of the European Poker Tour saw a record field of 1,240 pay the €5,000 entry fee, creating a prizepool of €6,014,000 shared out amongst the top 184 players. After playing some exceptional poker over the course of the tournament, Boeree found herself heads-up against Sweden’s Jakob Carlsson. She eventually beat him to claim the massive €1,250,000 ($1,698,300) first place prize and a place in poker history.
Liv Boeree’s other interests
Apart from being a millionaire astrophysicist, Boeree is also a huge heavy metal fan and an accomplished rock guitarist! What more could you want from a women? Poker, money, loves rock music and is rather pleasing on the eye! I guess Miss Boeree proves there must be a God!
Joe Cada winner of the 2009 world series
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
This article is about Joe Cada, winner of the 2009 world series.
Joe Cada made his name in poker by winning the 2009 World Series of Poker main event at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas. Cada has established a reputation as one of poker’s most personable and intelligent stars as well as one of the game’s leading tournament players.
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Personal Background
Cada was born on November 18, 1987, in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, approximately 30 miles north of Detroit. He resides in nearby Chesterfield Township, Michigan, and he has said he is considering purchasing a second home in Las Vegas.
Online Nickname
Cada plays online poker at several sites using the screen nicknames jcada99 and JCADA99, obvious takeoffs on his real name. Cada is sponsored by the online site PokerStars.
Poker Background
Cada comes from a family of card players, but he made his first serious venture into competitive poker in 2003 when he set up an online poker account with his brother Jerome. The brothers ran up an initial deposit of $25 to $250 before Joe lost the entire bankroll in one night. Cada began legally playing casino poker at the age of 19 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the river from Detroit.
Tournament Winnings
Cada had compiled a total of $9,215,654 in poker tournament winnings as of March 2011, with five major tournament titles and 34 cashes in major tournaments. Of the total winnings, $8,546,435 came from his first-place finish in the 2009 World Series of Poker championship event.
Major Victories
Cada finished atop of field of 6,494 entrants to win the 2009 World Series of Poker main event. Each player paid $10,000 to enter the tournament, in which no-limit Texas hold ‘em is played throughout the event.
At the final table of the tournament, Cada participated in several memorable hands, including two in which he went all-in before the flop with a pocket pair only to find he was up against his opponent’s higher pocket pair. In the first of these key hands, Cada held pocket 3s against pocket jacks, and in the second he had pocket 2s against pocket queens. Each time, Cada hit a “set,” or three of a kind, on the flop and held on to win the hand.
When the final table had been pared to the final two players, Cada had a chip lead of $135 million in tournament chips to the $58 million in tournament chips held by his opponent, Darvin Moon. The heads-up portion of the tournament lasted 88 hands. On the final hand, Cada’s pocket 9s held up against Moon’s queen-jack of diamonds.
At age 21, Cada became the youngest player to win the World Series main event.
Two months before his World Series victory, Cada had earned $128,872 by winning an online no-limit hold ‘em tournament on PokerStars that carried a $1,050 entry.
Other Achievements
Cada has had several other major scores besides his World Series championship. In January 2008 he won an online tournament at Full Tilt Poker for $147,488. In January 2010 he placed 11th in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller Championship for $51,450. In October 2008 Cada won $49,590 by winning a Full Tilt tournament, and in July 2009 he placed second in another Full Tilt event for $45,221.
Other Interests
Cada considers himself an ambassador for the game of poker and a spokesman for the widespread legalization of online poker, which he views as an intellectual pursuit based on logic and mathematical concepts rather than pure gambling. Cada is an enthusiast of indoor soccer and has said he is interested in becoming the proprietor of a bar. If he does open a bar, Cada said, he plans to give it a basic name such as “Cada’s” rather than a name with poker or gambling connotations such as “Double Down.”
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Life at Home
Cada invites more than a dozen friends to his house on Sundays, where they all compete in online poker tournaments.
When she’s not getting excited about new gadgets, Britney Baker writes about prepaid cell phones for PrepaidCellphones.net. Her latest article took a look at the GoPhone from AT&T.
Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates is one of the hottest online NLHE poker players today and the following article will give you some more information on his great success on the online felt.
Many poker players start their careers whilst studying at university but the vast majority either fall by the wayside or continue to play only in an amateur capacity whilst their studies and then career take over. One player who discovered the game of poker whilst studying for an economics degree at the University of Maryland, USA was Daniel Cates, someone who most certainly has not become one of poker’s forgotten men.
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Back in 2008, the year the first Betfair GSOP Gold Hunt took place, Cates created an online poker account with the alias “jungleman12” and began playing heads-up no limit Hold’em with blinds of $0.25/$0.50. By the end of the year he had turned a profit of $100,000 and had made the jump into the $10/$20 games. The following year he managed to progress to the $25/$50 games and win close to $1,100,000 and was starting to be considered as one of the top ten heads up players in the world. Not bad for a student!
The Jungleman12 in 2010
Last year was most certainly the year of Cates after he completely obliterated all that dared to take him on at stakes of $25/$50 and even at $300/$600 and the nosebleed $500/$1,000. By the end of 2010 Cates had won more than $5,500,000, meaning he could quite easily afford to pay out the prizes awarded for scoring a Betfair GSOP 6 Hattrick. Despite his huge success at the cash tables Cates still grinds online poker in the basement of his parent’s house in Maryland, where he is still studying for a degree in economics, of which he has around a year of studying left. Although he has almost completed his education Cates admits that poker is and will continue to be his main focus for years to come.
What makes Cates’ success even greater is the fact he did not just play weak players instead he took the fight to the likes of Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Phil Ivey and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, the latter widely regarded as the best online poker player in the business. Cates has even taken Dwan up on his so called “Durrrr Challenge,” which will see him play 50,000 hands of heads up no limit Hold’em with stakes of $200/$400 over four tables and should Cates finish at least $1 in profit he will win $1,500,000 from Dwan but if the 50,000 hand mark is reached and he is not in profit then he has to pay Dwan $500,000! At time of writing Dwan and Cates have played 17,108 hands of the allotted amount and Cates leads by $819,213.50, though they have not played since January 4 when Cates won $319,103.50 from his opponent over 2,918 hands!
Although known as a cash game specialist, Cates has had some success in online poker tournaments with his two largest scores of his career so far topping the scales at $64,438 and $25,075, although he has not had a cash since October 2010. That said he rarely plays online tournaments these days and why should he when his time is probably best spent raking in pots worth $100,000+ at a time!
Daniel Cates and live tournaments
Cates turned 21 on November 14, 2010 and is now legally allowed to play in Las Vegas casinos and already has his sights set on the 2011 World Series of Poker, though he still says his mainly be found at the cash tables, saying, “Tournaments are significantly higher variance than cash games, so it is especially frustrating to make a living playing only tournaments”
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Daniel Cates’ other interests
Outside of poker Cates is a video game fanatic and, like many of his fellow high stakes poker players, enjoys playing Starcraft. He often struggles to get his friends to play with him though as he admits to being extremely competitive and always seems to beat them at video games and other games such as chess. On the whole, Cates is very private person and tries to stay away from the limelight the best he can, which is very unlike many other 21-year old millionaires!
If you are sat there wishing you could learn from a player who is now thought of as the best heads-up player in the world well you can. The only stumbling block may be the $1,250 to $2,500 per hour he currently charges!
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond is an upcoming poker superstar and is often seen on the highest stake tables on Full Tilt and PokerStars.
Phil “omgclayaiken” Galfond
As young poker players come they don’t come much more inspirational and aspirational than Phil “omgclayaiken” Galfond.
Born in 1985, this twenty-something poker player is the poster boy for poker wannabes across the world, causing online poker hopefuls of all ages to cash in their Party Poker discount codes in the hopes of attaining a level that might mimic his mighty achievements.
Originally from North Potomac in Maryland, USA Galfond started his poker career in the online poker rooms making him an icon for those who hope to rise through the poker ranks in this way.
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Phil Galfond Shook the Poker World
Operating under the poker nickname of “omgclayaiken” Galfond quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the big money stakes. Starting with sit and go games online, Galfond honed his skills to a level, before beginning his forays into cash games – where his studies of disciplines including psychology and probability soon paid off, pushing him to the top of the tables and earning him a seat on some ultra high stakes games. The young pretender shook the poker world by taking his first ever WSOP bracelet aged just 23.
Why is Phil Galfond Called “Omgclayaiken”?
Explaining his somewhat incongruous choice of nick, the manly young poker champion told pundits that he had wanted to opt for a moniker that would in some way unnerve his opponents. He explained that he felt the decidedly non-macho reference to the popular singer/songwriter who rose to fame in the reality show American Idol and later confirmed his homosexuality, coupled with the girlish acronym OMG (which means “Oh My God!”) would give him the edge, since losing to such a non-alpha male seeming player would likely prove a psychological hurdle to other players.
Phil also plays under the nick of MrSweets28 on certain poker sites.
How Much Money Has Phil Galfond Won?
Currently living in New York, USA, Galfond’s publicly known poker earnings from live totalled $996,000 in 2010, while the man’s own website confirms that he has broken the magic million dollar mark many times over in his short career. Winnings amassed from tournament play include a 817,781 purse from the Pot Limit Omaha tournament, 39,570 for a 70th place finish in the 2008 World Poker Tour and an 18th place finish in the 2006 WSOP event earning him $22,895. Certainly the man is a multi-millionaire with no need to continue to play, which may be why he eschews the limelight of live tournaments most of the time, choosing instead to ply his poker in the online area where his career began.
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Phil Galfond Shares His Poker Skills Online
Still playing poker both in person and online, Phil “omgclayaiken” Galfond is now also an online businessman running his own poker training concern at BlueFirePoker.com. The site, which offers aspiring “OMG”s an insight into the game play and strategy that got Galfond onto those top tables in the first place and Galfond himself oversees all the online content as well as handpicking the players tat offer advice through this online resource.
Matt Affleck
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
Matt Affleck is a rising poker star and deserves mentioning on this blog.
Hailing from Mill Creek, Washington Matt Affleck got in on the game early. Hosting poker tournaments for his friends in high school, Matt collected $5 dollar entry fees when he first started his poker nights. He raised the price to $20 an entry as his poker nights became more popular with his buddies and their acquaintances, and Matt was hooked on the game ever since. Matt Affleck built up his career playing successfully in online poker tournaments, making a name for himself as he won enough money to quit his job during his time at the University of Washington. He continued his education and received a degree from the University of Washington in finance, and went on to continue to play poker in amateur tournaments.
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Matt Affleck’s live tournament winnings
Matt remains an avid player of online poker, but he’s had some big wins in poker tournaments all over the country. He’s earned a total of $972,517 off of his poker career, just a few tens of thousands beneath a million dollar winout.I n 2009, Affleck won big with the SCOOP PokerStars tournament, raking in $470,000 off of the no-limit Texas hold’em tournament. This drove Affleck’s poker career into the limelight, and he became one of the most well-known new entrants into the world of online poker, winning sponsorships from PokerStars and other companies worldwide. Matt Affleck won again after buying in to a $5,000 poker tournament in the California State Championship Main Event. He brought another astonishing $125,000 win out of the tournament drawing more attention from the old pros who examined his career.
Matt Affleck’s future career
With two first place finishes, Affleck is still relatively new on the street. Still in his prime, Matt Affleck plays online and live games full-time as his career, and doesn’t want to think about stopping anytime soon. Affleck can expect to play against more of the legends of poker, and many wins and losses lay ahead of the young aspirant. Avid players are confident that Matt Affleck’s name will forever be cemented into the history of poker, and few disagree. As one of the youngest and biggest winners of all time, Affleck’s career represents a bridge between two generations of poker. His success shows that a lot of money can be made off of kick-starting a poker career with online poker games, and PokerStars has been more than supportive.
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Other interests
Matt is a huge fan of the Seattle Mariners, and spoke fondly of the team, sporting their trademark jersey in several poker tournaments to show off his state pride. Affleck has truly never forgotten where he’s come from. He’s a self-proclaimed homebody and loves Washington State. In addition to the Mariners and Poker, Matt also loves traveling the world and updating his Twitter.
Britney Baker is a freelance writer who normally reviews prepaid wireless phones at PrepaidCellphones.net.
Di “Urindanger” Dang
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Pro | No Comments
Despite his presence on the online poker scene since 2007, not much is publicized about the
background of Di “Urindanger” Dang.
Urindanger Fitting Poker Nick
While his poker nick, used in online poker rooms, where he plays the majority of his games, may seem a little nonsensical at first, a second glance reveals that the name is in fact a contracted text- speak version of “You’re in Danger”. The name is a good one, considering Dang’s track record for wins, which has seen him net almost five million dollars in the games that have been tracked by poker analysis software – enough to send any young poker wannabe dashing to cash in their party poker bonus codes.
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Di Dang in Top Five Online Earners
Playing mostly online, Di “Urindanger” Dang has quickly climbed into the top five online poker-playing earners, where he is joined by his brother Hac “trex313”Dang. The brothers, who live together in the US, are the subject of a lot of controversy on poker boards, with players across the world questioning whether they play as a team and discussing the ethics of that if it is in fact the case, although all signs would seem to point to the brothers being two distinct players in their own rights. Di “urindanger” Dang has so far shunned the big poker tournament scene, to the disappointment of fans who would love to see him compete in competitions such as the WSOP and WPT.
Di Dang “Not Good in Person”?
However, Di “urindanger” Dang has himself questioned whether his poker skills translate adequately to a face to face format after a trip to Macau to play like poker resulted in a loss of around $1.2million playing games at around a $500,000 buy in.
Speaking in an interview with Poker Static after his return, Di “Urindanger” Dang admitted that what had been planned as a weekend visit to the Chinese principality ended up with him spending three weeks at the tables before heading home with a significantly lighter bank balance. He said simply: “Maybe I’m not good in person.”
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Cash Games Win Di Dang $1.7m in One Month
With his favoured format being cash games, Di “Urindanger” Dang had already netted $1.7 million by the end of January this year in tracked games, playing both Omaha and Texas Hold ‘Em. While Di “Urindanger” Dang is believed to prefer Hold ‘Em his many wins mean that he can find it hard to find people willing to pit their money against his in the game, forcing him to switch to Omaha at times.
One of the complaints that have been made against him by other players is that he is a protective player, who will quit out of a cash game when he starts to lose, protecting his cash assets. While this may have helped him to keep his winnings level at a nosebleed high, it has also reduced his pool of possible opponents who dislike not being offered the opportunity to win back their chips when their luck turns.
AA vs TT – odds and probability for the poker hands AA vs TT
Friday, January 21st, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | No Comments
AA vs TT
Pocket tens are one of my favorite hands in no limit Texas Hold’em mainly because I have won some of my biggest ever pots with them after flopping sets but also because I like the fact they are the only Hold’em starting hand ranked in the top ten that does not have a face card. I think it must be the rebellious streak in me or the love of the underdog! In this short post, the topic of odds and probability for the hands AA vs TT will be explored.
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Odds and probability of AA vs TT happening
Although pocket tens are a very useful hand they, like all pocket pairs, are extremely vulnerable when facing larger pairs, something that will happen to pocket tens 16.37% of the time, or roughly once every five times at a full ring table, more often than you would like to believe. Of all the pairs of kings down to tens, the latter fairs best when it comes up against the dreaded pocket aces, but an AA vs TT clash will still see the tens lose 80.75% of the time.
Those focusing on the betfair offers now and then might be able to tell you that it is quite rare to see AA vs TT confrontations taking place unless the player with aces is getting tricky and slow playing or the player with the tens is short-stacked and moves all in. This is because most people who are holding a pair of tens will not go too far with them if they face a lot of heat preflop and will generally proceed with caution if they do finish up seeing a flop.
Odds of winning when you have AA vs TT
If you find yourself in an AA vs TT situation when you fail to improve on a dry flop such as Jd-7c-3h, your tens are now in horrible shape with exactly 10% chance of winning. However, if you do manage to flop a set you will go from a massive underdog to being more than a 91% favorite, a great position to be in. Those studying the latest betfair promo should note that one type of flop that often gives players too much optimism is a draw heavy one such as Ks-Qs-Jd as it looks like you have outs to a straight but you will still be a 75.5% underdog in this situation so be warned!
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Famous AA vs TT confrontations
The beauty of tens is when they do flop a set or suck out on a higher pair it is usually for a substantial pot as shown by the following hand from last year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. In the hand Denise Molloy and John Monnette had entered a raising war preflop that resulted in the former being all in. She was in bad shape as she was in the worst possible AA vs TT battle, her TsTd were up against AsAd so she would not be able to make an unlikely flush, lowering her chances of winning by a couple of percent. The dealer put the flop out and she flopped a set of tens but her joy was short-lived as Monnette also flopped a set with the board reading Ah-Th-9d, making her a 96% underdog. The 3c on the turn meant she was drawing to a single out, the ten of clubs, and by some miracle the 2% shot came in on the river to win her the 124,500 pot. Try not to rely on narrow odds when you are holding tens, try to avoid AA vs TT situations as much as you possibly can!
AA vs J10 – odds and probability for the poker hands AA vs J10
Thursday, January 20th, 2011 | Poker Articles, Poker Rules | No Comments
AA vs J10
One of the most fun hands to play in Texas Hold’em is jack-ten, especially in suited guise. Although a rather marginal hand in most respects it can yield big rewards but playing it also has major downfalls too.The aim of this post is to give you an overview of odds and probability for the poker hands AA vs J10.
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Odds and probability of AA vs 10J happening
You will be dealt suited jack-ten once every 332 hands, jack-ten offsuit every 111 hands and any J10 every 83 hands, the same odds of being deal a hand such as ace-king. When suited, jack-ten is ranked as the 16th best starting hand in Hold’em, ranked higher than pocket nines, king-queen offsuit and even ace-queen offsuit! However, when unsuited its strength is greatly diminished and it drops to a ranking of 47 making it worse than pocket fives and even queen-eight suited!
Jack-ten suited is the best suited connector you can play because whenever you make a straight using both of your hole cards it was always be the nut straight so you never have to worry about drawing to an expensive second-best hand. The hand is also very simple to play because you will either hit the flop hard or completely miss it, meaning you will have straightforward decisions to make post-flop. Another of jack-ten’s strengths is when it finds itself in a dreaded AA vs J10 situation.
Odds of winning when you have AA vs 10J
Whether focusing on Betfair Freerolls or not, no hand stands up well against pocket aces but jack-ten suited comes off better in an AA vs J10 situation than queens, kings or ace-king does. Whilst aces will beat kings at least 81.95% of the time, they will only win 78.84% of the time against suited jack-ten. This is because suited jack-ten has the advantage of being able to make straights and flushes more easily than a pocket pair.
Whilst those looking to Betfair Poker Live will acknowledge that it is rare to find AA vs J10 going against each other all in preflop (unless one player is short-stacked) you will quite often see the money going in on a draw heavy flop. As an example imagine you raise with JdTd from the cutoff and the big blind three-bets you. You call and flop a monster draw on a Kd-Qd-7s board. In this situation you will still be an underdog but only 52.172% making it a virtual coinflip to win. Plus, if you make it to the turn and the turn is an ace there is no way that your opponent is folding his set whilst you sit there with the nuts and 78% equity! It is this scenario where J10 suited comes into its element.
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Good times with 10J vs AA
J10 is one of my favorite hands in heads-up games and recently won me a substantial pot when I found myself in an AA vs J10 confrontation. My opponent had been playing pretty straightforward but was running really well until this particular hand. With blinds of $0.50/$1 he raised to $4 from the button and I called with JcTc. The flop was a pretty marvelous looking 7c-8c-9h, which not only gave me the nuts but a re-draw to the flush. I checked, my opponent bet $6 and I simply called. The turn was the ace of diamonds I bet out $12 hoping the ace had helped my opponent and it appeared it had as he quickly raised to $65! I then moved all in and he snap-called, turning over black aces. The river was the ten of diamonds and I raked in a nice pot.
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