1: Poker is a game of luck

You shouldn’t play poker because if you’re as unlucky as me, you will never win in the long run. Poker is almost entirely a game of luck which means that you will be better off spending your money on the lottery….or saving it up.

2: Online poker is rigged

You shouldn’t play online poker because it’s extremely rigged. The only people winning in the long run are those who work for the poker sites.

3: Sitting down is bad for your health

You shouldn’t play poker because 1 hour of sitting in front of your computer each day, increases your risk of heart disease by 7%. Your time is much better spent going for a run or spending quality time with your girlfriend

4: Poker isn’t cool

You shouldn’t play poker because being a pro poker player isn’t cool at all. It will never work as a pick up line in bars. If you’ve seen any kind of televised live poker you’ll know I’m right. The average male poker player has not been blessed by good looks. Do you really want to be associated with these people?

5: You are destined to become a poker blogger

You shouldn’t play poker because you will probably start blogging about it to compensate for you lack of success at the tables. Poker bloggers are a despicable breed of attention hungry, greedy and essentially boring people who’s only goal is to sign you up to rakeback deals.

6: You will become a porn addict

You shouldn’t play poker because it will turn you into a porn addict. Let’s face it, the only really interesting thing to do while waiting for your turn is to watch porn.

7: No social life

You shouldn’t play poker because your social life during weekends will be screwed. You will spend your weekends grinding cash tables and MTTs.

8: Decision making from a BB/hour perspective

You shouldn’t play poker because you’ll develop an annoying tendency to base decisions on a BB/hour vs time spent comparison. Yes, I could get a sandwich myself or I could have a taxi pick one up to avoid leaving my tables. You might also start relieving yourself in a bottle. Disgusting!

9: Depression

You shouldn’t play poker because the human mind tends to remember bad beats and bad decisions and forget the times you were lucky or did something right. As a result you will constantly feel unlucky and question your skills.

10: Lack of respect

You shouldn’t play poker because the people close to you will eventually lose all respect for you. Time and time again you will proclaim that you’re never playing poker again only to reinstall your poker clients and start up a new game the next day.

As for me, look for the nick pokerbrb, mepusia or pokerbrbblog and you’ll find a mentally unstable player who doesn’t have the willpower to quit and won’t commit the time to advance from his current level of mediocracy.

This is the second article in an article series where Cory sums up the top 10 most important limit poker cash game strategy tips. Enjoy! If you haven’t read the first article yet, go to top 10 limit poker cash game strategy tips.

Tip #6.  Counting all of your outs.

Most people when they have a draw only count outs to their primary draw.  Since limit hold ‘em is based so much on the math, we’ll need to be a little more precise.  In this example we have AD KD and the flop is QD, 8D, 3S.  Most people will easily see that we have a nut flush draw, but we also have a backdoor straight draw and two over cards to make top pair.

We have the nine outs for our flush draw, but we also have six over card outs and a running jack ten.  However, our over card outs don’t give us the nuts, so we can’t count them as full outs as we could easily lose to two pair, so count them as half outs, we have three outs to make top pair.  Counting a back door straight draw works like this.  If you have an open ended backdoor straight draw, 8, 9, T, or 5, 6, 7, count that as one and a half outs.  If you have a one gapper like 4, 5, 7 count it as one out.  If you have a two gapper like A, K, Q, like in our above example, you need exactly J, T, count it as half an out.  So in our example with AD KD we have nine flush outs, three outs to top pair and half an out to a backdoor Broadway straight, for a total of twelve and a half outs.  Counting all of your outs can transfer a marginally correct fold to a marginally correct call and remember limit is all about precision.

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Tip #7.  Big pots, long shot hand.

If the pot is very small we are losing money by calling with weak draws.  Since we don’t have the implied odds of a big bet game, gut shots and backdoor draws are sucker hands in a small pot.  However, when the pot is very large and multi-way, we can allow ourselves to call with a very low likelihood of winning as long as our draw is to the nuts.

Let’s have the AD KD hand again and the flop comes QS, TC, 6D.  We capped it for four bets pre-flop against three opponents putting sixteen small bets in the pot.  The first person bets and both other players call adding three more small bets making a pot of nineteen small bets, we’re getting 19:1 with 2 overs, a gut shot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw.  Our straight will make us the nuts and our backdoor flush will make us the nuts, so we’re raising here for value.  We’re making up a very small percentage of the pot with a hand that has about a 9% chance to make the nuts on the turn, but if the turn is another diamond we’ll be close to 25% to make the nuts on the river.  We can stay aggressive on this flop, we’ll have the odds to call on the turn, even if the turn eliminates our flush draw.  We won’t win this pot often, but on the few occasions we do, we’ll win more than enough to pay for all the times we called and missed.  When the pot is very large, see the next card with any chance of making a nut hand.

Tip #8. If you call on the turn be prepared to show down.

The vast majority of the time, if our hand is strong enough to call a bet on the turn, we’ll be almost forced by the pot odds to call on the river.  So remember, when we’re deciding if we can really call this bet on the turn our real decision is if we can call a bet on the turn and on the river.  The only reasons to call the turn and fold the river really is if we have a draw that missed and we don’t think our hand has showdown value, or if the worst possible card comes.  An example of this would be if we have AS AC and the flop comes 9H, 8H, 2D.  We’re betting and raising this flop.  The turn is a 3H and our opponent leads.  We’re at least calling or maybe even raising here  planning to call down on the river if our opponent leads, but then the river is the 7H and he leads again.  We can’t beat anything our opponent could have, so we’ll probably have to fold our AA.

However, these are rare cases and most times that call on the turn means a call on the river.  Don’t forget this when you’ve bluff check raised the flop and lead the turn.  If we’re bluffing and don’t improve if our opponent calls a bet on the turn, he’s probably calling a bet on the river, so we shouldn’t dig ourselves in too deep of a hole by bluffing.  If our opponent suspects we’re bluffing he knows exactly how much he’ll need to pay to call down and it isn’t much, so be careful.

Tip #9.  Getting max value and getting thin value.

Getting value in no limit games is often pretty easy.  Make bets that your opponent can justify calling with a hand weaker than yours.  In a limit game getting maximum value on your hand can be a little tough.  This is why check raising the flop is important, or in position we might just call a bet on the flop with a very strong hand since our opponent is likely to keep control of the hand by betting on the turn, then we can raise the turn.  If we’d have raised the flop, our opponent is probably going to check the turn and even if he calls our turn bet, we’ve still lost one small bet that we would have won by calling the flop in position.

Getting thin value is betting on the river with a weak hand hoping that the pot is big enough to induce an even weaker hand to call.  Here is where we need to talk about a play that is the best friend of all low stakes limit hold ‘em players and it comes in to play mostly on the turn and river.  It’s betting out hoping for thin value and folding if our opponent raises.  The thinking is, our opponent could call down with a hand weaker than ours, but most low stakes players aren’t putting in a raise on the turn or river without a pretty big hand.  So we bet for value, but our opponent’s raise alerts us that we’re beat and we can fold, saving ourselves two small bets, the bet we’d have to call now and the bet that pot odds would require us to call on the river.

Most times if we have the betting lead in the hand and at least some showdown value, we’ll want to maintain the betting lead, but be ready to give up the hand if our opponent takes it away from us, especially on the last two streets.  Most low stakes players are much more comfortable just calling on the big bet streets.
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Tip #10. Keeping it in perspective.

Most no limit players hate limit because they can never force a hand to fold.  They can never push anyone off a pot, so they think it’s impossible to win.  This is just simply silly thinking.  If we have a hand that is a statistical favorite to win, we want a call.  Even if our opponent draws out sometimes, we still want the call over the long run.  Sometimes though, when we get a case of the run bads it seems like we’re always getting drawn out on, no matter how big a favorite we are.  We need to keep this in perspective, limit hold ‘em might make us want to throw up sometimes, but just think about how profitable our plays are when opponents are calling down with the worst of it just to hit a lucky two pair or trips on the river.  Don’t let yourself get discouraged even though it’s tough sometimes.  Just play solid, remember that every hand is just one hand, every session is just a small part of a poker career and dropping thirty big bets getting it in good isn’t fun, but if our opponents never drew out, we could never get a game going.

Ok, now you’ve got ten tips to help you begin your limit hold ‘em journey.  Have fun, don’t worry about getting drawn out on.  If you play better than your opponents, especially post flop, you’ll start to win.  Next we’ll talk about how to transfer some of the limit hold ‘em skills to no limit games.

In this article series, Cory sums up the top 10 most important limit poker cash game strategy tips. Enjoy!

In the last article we talked about learning limit hold ‘em cash games before jumping in to no limit cash games.  I hope you all understand why this is really a good idea and are ready to start the min-bet craziness.  If so, here are ten tips I’ve gather to get you started on a successful journey to beating low stakes limit hold ‘em.  Of course, this isn’t everything, but, it’s a good start.  If you just learn these things you should be turning a profit at the $.25-$.50 cent on line, or any $3-$6 live game you might jump in to at a casino.  Have fun.

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Tip #1.  Pre-flop hand selection is important, but…

It’s not the be-all and end-all of winning limit hold ‘em.  Too many books focus on starting hand charts and how you should always play tight aggressive no matter what.  A tight aggressive style might be your best bet to putting yourself in a position to win low stakes limit poker, but pre-flop is just one round of betting; it’s also a round of small bets, so the most you’re going to lose due to a pre-flop mistake is four small bets or two big bets.  Of course you don’t want to be making mistakes for four small bets, but making a mistake on the turn for four big bets will eat away your bankroll much faster.

So no, I’m not going to give a stupid starting hand chart.  This is what you need to know about pre-flop limit games.  Big cards are more valuable in limit games than in no limit games.  That is because top pair good kicker can go to showdown a lot cheaper and you can draw to a Broadway straight a lot cheaper.  However, small pairs and suited connectors go down in value because limit hold ‘em is more of a pot odds game than an implied odds game.  So in no limit a hand like KJS from UTG is an easy throw-away, in a limit game it sounds like two bets to me.  In a no limit game when you’re 100BBS deep and an opponent raises to 3X, calling with 22 is pretty standard.  In a limit game, often times you’ll be folding the 22 because you can’t stack him if you hit a set.  Play big cards more aggressively and try to get heads up.  The only time you’re playing suited connectors is on the cheap in a multi-way pot.

#2.  Creating dead money and buying some outs.

This is a very important concept both pre-flop and on the flop.  Let’s say we’re on the button with 55 and the cut off raises and makes it two bets to go.  We could call with position, but we’re pricing in both blinds and we’re allowing four more over cards to take a flop against us.  We can generally assume that the cutoff has 2 overs to our hand, so we could take this flop hoping to hit a set or dodge six overs, or we could raise hoping the blinds will fold to three bets and take a flop against just one opponent with only two overs against us.

This is also important on the flop.  The other night I was playing $3-$6 hold ‘em when I called one more bet from the big blind with AS 5S.  The flop came down 4S, TS, 2H.  We’re four handed and I check.  The original raiser checks and someone in later position bets.  When it gets back to me I raise to two bets and got the original raiser to fold what he told me later was A J.  This means I just created dead money and bought extra outs.  Before I made it two bets my Ace was dominated, so hitting a pair of aces would have been bad for my hand.  I had 12 outs to win the pot.  By forcing the bigger Ace out I turned my hand from a 12 out draw to a 14 out draw.  If I would have lead out at this flop with my big draw everyone would have called for one more small bet and I wouldn’t have gotten those extra two outs.

Tip #3.  Pay attention to the texture of the flop and play your hand accordingly.

I can’t say enough about board texture in both limit and no limit hold ‘em.  In limit though it’s one of the best ways to make sense out of your opponent’s bets.  For example let’s say we have AD KD and we’re out of position.  The flop is AH, 9H, 3S.  We lead at this flop and our opponent makes it two bets.  This can mean a few different things.  Either he’s drawing and is trying to induce us to check to him on the turn, he’s got a hand that he thinks is good like A Q, or A J, or he’s got a set or two pair like Aces and nines.  We’ve just narrowed down his range a lot.

Now let’s take another example where we have AD, KD and the flop is AH, QS, JC.  This board has a few more scary combinations out there if we get two bet on the flop.  He obviously can’t have a flush draw, but AQ, AJ and QJ as well as, QQ and JJ are all easily in his range, not to mention KT.  We could be in a lot of trouble on this flop.

For a more extreme example, we have AD TD and the flop is TH, 9H, 8H.  We still have top pair top kicker, but four pocket pairs still beat us, we could be drawing very slim up against a flop straight or flush or dead against a straight flush.  Not to mention that 12 different over cards could hit the turn that are likely to improve our opponent’s hand, but don’t improve ours.  Our relative hand strength is terrible.

Tip #4.  Free card for sale, learn to buy it.

In the last section you remember we talked about someone trying to induce a check on the turn with a flush draw by making it two bets on the flop.  This is called the free card play and it can be extremely effective against low stakes limit hold ‘em players.  Here’s how it works.

We have AD, KD in position and the flop is QD, 8D, 2C.  We have a flush draw and our opponent bets in to us.  We could call to see the turn and maybe our flush comes home, but if it doesn’t our opponent, who already has the lead in the hand is likely going to maintain the lead by betting the turn.  We can save ourselves one small bet by making it two bets on the flop and taking the lead ourselves.  Most players adopt a check to the raiser mentality without even realizing it, so since we took the last aggressive action on the flop, our opponent is going to be far more likely to check to us on the turn.  When the turn comes and does not complete our draw, we can check behind and we get to see the river for free for a net savings of one small bet.  However, if our draw comes home we can go ahead and bet out at it since our opponent is already expecting us to bet since we had the last aggressive action.  We can also bet if we spike a pair.

Tip #5.  Check raising for value, check raising to bluff and defending against the check raise.

You probably recall me saying that check raising is over rated in no limit hold ‘em, but it’s essential to winning at limit hold ‘em.  Here is why.

Check raising is most often used for value.  In this example we’re in the big blind and the button opens for two bets.  We defend with JS TS and the flop is JH, 9S, 4S.  If we go ahead and lead out with this hand, we’re probably only going to get the button to commit one bet on the flop and he very well might fold on the turn and we have top pair, a flush draw and a back door straight draw.  We want action on this hand.  Our better play is to check, since the button had the last aggressive action, he’s likely to try and maintain the lead in the hand by continuation betting then we can raise and low stakes players are rarely folding in this spot even if they completely missed the flop.  We’ve just doubled our money by check raising.

If you notice a player continuation betting every time he gets heads up, you can also check raise bluff if you’re out of position.  The reason this works so well is he’s likely to have a very wide range and while he might not fold on the flop, he’s folding the turn a very high percentage of the time.  So sometimes, in the right situation, with absolutely nothing you can check raise the flop and lead at the turn and against the right opponent you will get a lot of folds and take down pots without a showdown.  You can really only do this heads up against players who continuation bet the flop by default.

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If you’re the one getting check raised too much you’ll need to learn how to defend against it.  The first thing you can do is don’t automatically continuation bet against someone who check raises a lot, or when you hit the flop, or feel you have the best hand, go ahead and bet and when your opponent check raises, just call.  Remember, his default play is to try and bluff you off the pot with a bet on the turn if you let him have the last aggressive action on the flop.  When he bets the turn expecting you to fold, raise.  If you use this play against someone enough they’ll think twice before bluff check raising you.

Double or Nothing SNGs are a special type of SNG where you either double your money or walk away with nothing. If you want to know more, I recently wrote an article covering the basics of DoN SNGs.

I have made a list of the top facts and tips I have found when it comes to playing sit and goes such as Double or Nothing.

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1: Practice yourself identifying the regulars at the tables. This is very important since your tactics against the regulars will be very different as compared to random players who do not know about the Independent Chip Model. In addition, you should avoid playing Double or Nothing sit and goes against too many regulars as this will dilute the edge you have. A good way of spotting regulars is to check out the poker lobby as a new DoN SNG starts up. Chances are that the players who register first are regulars.

2: Don’t worry too much about the rake. If there’s always a bad player who gets knocked out before you, then according to the ICM model, the increase in value of your chips almost covers the rake.

3. Practice good bankroll management. This means you should have roughly 25 buyins in your bankroll compared to the level you’re playing on.

4. If you’re a grinder, sit and goes such as Double or Nothing are perfect for you. The fluctuations are lower as compared to other SNGs and the games take much shorter time to play. This also means that you will be able to generate rakeback at a quicker pace.

5. Double or Nothing SNGs are still relatively new. As a results, there’s a limited amount of available literature on correct DoN strategy and as a consequence a lot of players do not play them correctly. This gives you a huge advantage providing of course you have a good grasp of the correct strategy to apply. So start practicing now!!

6. SNGs such as Double or Nothing are great for players who finish in third place more than 1st place in regular SNGs. If you make it to the money on a regular basis but do not take 1st place that often, your playing style is most likely very suitable for success in DoN SNGs. On the other hand, ff you’re a regular 1st place finisher, you should continue playing your current game.

7. Double or Nothing SNGs are very easy to multitable. The reason being, that if played correctly, you will be entering very few hands per game.

8. If you become a good DoN player, you will also have an edge in Multitable Tournament satellites. The winning strategies are very similar in these games.

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There are thousands of poker hands on Youtube, but the 5 poker hands below are definitely spectacular enough to belong on a top 5 poker hands on Youtube list.

James Akenhead vs Grant Hinkle
This hand takes place at the heads-up stage of a $1,500 No-limit Hold’em event at the 2008 and see England’s James Akenhead locking horns with America’s Grant Hinkle.

Akenhead had been much the better player heads-up and Hinkle was starting to feel the pressure and made a preflop raise to 350,000 holding the lowly hand of Td4d. Akenhead looked down and found AcKh and made it $1,200,000 to play, prompting Hinkle to move all-in on a bluff. Akenhead instantly called and was in good shape to take a 10:1 chip lead.

However, the flop completely changed that as it came down ThTs4h, giving Hinkle a full house. To make matters worse the turn was the last ten in the deck, giving Hinkle quad tens, the win and $831,279. Akenhead had to make do with the $520,219 runner-up prize money.

Phil Ivey vs Paul Jackson

This hand shows the great hand reading skills of Phil Ivey, arguably the best poker player ever. The hand takes place at the heads-up stage of the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions and sees Ivey hold a 4:1 chip lead over Paul Jackson.

Jackson open-limps on the button with 6s5d and Ivey raises to 60,000 with Qh8h, which Jackson calls. The flop of JcJh7c misses both players but they both decide they want the pot and start bluffing at each other. Ivey starts proceedings by firing out 80,000, prompting Jackson to make it 170,000. Not to be outdone, Ivey makes another raise, this time to 320,000 but amazingly Jackson does not give up, instead makes it 470,000 to play!

Ivey goes into the tank for a minute or so before announcing he is all-in, causing Jackson to quickly release his hand. A truly remarkable hand.

Isaac Haxton vs Ryan Daut

After fighting his way back from a 3:1 chip disadvantage to lead by 2:1 at the Caribbean Adventure, Ryan Daut – who is a coach for one of the leaders in online poker tutorials- completed in the small blind with 7c5s and his opponent, Isaac Haxton checked with the second worst heads-up hand possible, 3d2d.

The flop missed both players completely and Haxton check/called a 300,000 bet from Daut. The turn brought the King of diamonds, making the board Qh4hAcKd and both players checked. But when the Qc arrived on the river both players thought they were entitled to the already substantial pot.

Haxton attempted to buy the pot by betting 700,000 but Daut quickly made it 2,000,000 to go. Haxton hung his head on the table and thought for around 90 seconds before announcing he was all in. There was no way Daut could call with his seven-high and he quickly mucked before being shown the extraordinary bluff from Haxton.

Oliver Hudson vs Sammy Farha

Oliver Hudson, son of actress Goldie Hawn, was eliminated on the very first hand of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event at the hands of Sammy Farha.

Farha opened to 200 holding AhTd and Hudson, liking his black tens, made it 450, a bet that Farha called. The flop was an unbelievable AcAdTh giving both players a full house! Both elected to slowplay their hand and check but the fireworks started with the arrival of the Qc on the turn.

First Hudson lead out for 300, Farha quickly raised to 1,300 and Hudson moved all-in. Farha instantly called and when both players revealed their hands it was apparent Hudson was drawing completely dead. $10,000 wasted in less than five minutes!

Jennifer Harman vs Corey Zeidman

Corey Zeidman inflicted a true bad beat on Jennifer Harman during the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Harman raised preflop to 200 holding QdQc and was called by Zeidman with 9d8d and Davis with As6d.

The flop came down TsJdQh, giving Harman a set of queens and Zeidman a flopped straight. Davis checked then folded after seeing Harman bet 500, Zeidman raise to 2,000 and Harman call. The turn was the ten of diamonds, filling Harman’s set into a full house and making her an almost certain winner in the hand. Zeidman lead out for 1,000 and Harman raised to 3,000. After much deliberation Zeidman called, not knowing he only had one card that could win him the pot.

Amazingly it arrives on the river in the shape of the 7d, giving him a straight flush! Harman bet 3,000 which was enough to put her opponent all-in, and he obviously quickly called and showed the nuts, prompting Harman to leave her seat at the table in disbelief.

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I’ve tried to put together a list of my top 10 “not to do” when it comes to poker bankroll building. If you disagree or have anything to add (perhaps you have your own recipe for building a poker bankroll) please feel free to add a comment.

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Do not start your poker bankroll building project without a plan

Planning is crucial in order for any project to become a success (I should know since I work as a project manager for a living). When it comes to poker bankroll building you need to lay out the foundation before you start. Are you aiming to copy Chris Ferguson, starting with 0$ and grinding it out in freerolls and micro limit SNGs or No limit Hold’em? Chris Ferguson succeeded in building a 10000$ bankroll this way. Are you going to build your bankroll through cash games, MTT tournaments or SNGs? What is your plan? You need to have this sorted out before you start.

Do not play out of your profit zone

Your profit zone is the limit where you can comfortably grind it out and make a regular profit (e.g. 5$ 10 max SNGs, 0,25$/0,50$ 6 max NL Hold’em etc…). If you’ve never played poker before you don’t know yet what your profit zone is and hopefully it will move up in limits as you get better. If you’ve played poker before you probably have a pretty good idea what your profit zone is. Here’s my point when it comes to poker bankroll building projects. If possible start up your poker bankroll building project in your profit zone as this will give you the best start. If you start out below your profit zone you run the risk of getting bored and if you start out above your profit zone you run a serious risk of loosing your bankroll.

Keep in mind that people play in games beyond their skill level, buy-in level and outside their profit zone because:

• They are attracted to the potential of the one big pay off
• They think they’re a better poker player than they really are
• They think anyone can get lucky once
• They figure the fastest way to re coop money lost at the lower levels is to win one big game
• They think poker is a game of pure chance
• They think they play better when up against better opponents (i.e. fewer donkeys)
• They have more money than brains

Don’t be one of these people!

Do not start your poker bankroll building project without (realistic, but at the same time ambitious) goals.

Setting goals for your poker bankroll building project is equally as important as the initial planning. Without goals you’re destined for failure. They are what will keep your motivation up and give direction and meaning to your projects. Be ambitious but realistic when setting your goals. Building a large enough bankroll to pay for your dream holiday for example, is in my opinion an ambitious but realistic goal. Make sure that the goal is something you really want. Often this is not the actual money itself but the stuff we can buy from it.

Do not carry out your poker bankroll building project without motivation

If you take care with your planning and choice of goals you should not experience long periods with lack of motivation during your poker bankroll building project. Short spells of low motivation however are unavoidable. I have often found that blogging about my poker bankroll building projects has helped me keep my motivation high. Therefore consider starting your own blog about your project or find a forum with equal minded poker players to share your ups and downs with.

Do not carry out your poker bankroll building project without discipline

Here’s a great definition of the concept discipline:

…..persistently act in the direction of a goal regardless of external adversity or internal state.

Many associate discipline with pushing yourself hard to achieve a certain goal. But this is not the way to succeed in the long run with any challenge especially Bankroll Management. To succeed it is essential to maintain the joy of playing poker. Discipline in this context is the ability to persistently act in the direction of a goal regardless of adversity and the emotional state while keeping in mind that you are doing it because it’s fun.

Discipline is what will keep you on track in your poker bankroll building project with regards to bankroll managements and avoiding tilt. In my opinion you will never succeed in a poker bankroll building project if you do not have discipline.

Do not carry out your poker bankroll building project without proper bankroll management

Bankroll management can be defined as:

………the continuous adjustment of your playing limit according to the size of your Bankroll while factoring in your poker skills and the level of risk you are willing to take.

Obviously this is important. Without proper bankroll management you run a high risk of ruin. In addition if you do not use bankroll management you might not realize that your bankroll is large enough to move up in limits.

There are a few rules of thumb regarding bankroll management, but I recommend you do your own research here because there are a lot of different opinions on this subject.

• For No limit cash games your bankroll should be 20-50 times the maximum table buyin on the limit you play.
• For SNG’s I would say your bankroll should be 40-100 times the buyin you’re playing
• For MTTs (multi table tournaments) you will need more than 100 times the buyin you’re playing (the reason for this, is that you due to the large playing fields in MTTs will not win them nearly as often as SNGs

Do not play at a poker room without a rakeback or bonus deal

Having a rakeback or bonus deal while you play will add $$ to your bankroll building project while you play. So there’s really no reason not to sign up through a rakeback site and get this added value. If you’re a break even player against the opponents on your limit, a rakeback or bonus deal will ensure that your bankroll continuously increases. Since anyone can become an affiliate of a poker site and start promoting rakeback and bonus deals, there is almost no end to the number of online poker rakeback pages available today. If you decide to get a rakeback or bonus deal for your poker bankroll building project, I recommend you check out PokerBRB.com. Here you’ll get better than average deals and the added benefit of a free online poker tournament and freeroll league.

Do not play poker outside your poker bankroll building project

This point on my list might sound strange to some of you, and I’m not even sure I agree with it My thought was that if you lime me play poker with your friends once in a while, chances are the stakes will probably be higher compared to your poker bankroll building game. I have a poker buddy and during our poker weekends I usually spend more $ in tournament buyins than I would during two months, when I just play alone. If you’ve just paid 200$ to play in one of the large Sunday tournaments, won’t the transition back to 5$ SNGs be difficult? As I wrote earlier, I’m not sure about this one, so any input from you guys reading this article would be greatly appreciated.

Do not go on tilt

This is a no-brainer. You tilt, you loose. So don’t do it. There are thousands of online articles giving good advice on how to avoid tilt. I like to throw my water bottle through our living room, but I don’t know if that will work for everyone.

If you go broke do not start a new poker bankroll building project before you’ve analyzed what went wrong in you first attempt

Did you play outside your profit zone? Did you lack poker skills in the games you played? Did you lose motivation?

Find out what you did wrong and learn from it so your next poker bankroll building project has a higher chance of success.

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Thanks to Anders and JGiles for providing some of the material for the list.

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Queen High (1930)

Two women own a garden centre and have a hard time agreeing on pretty much everything. They ask their lawyer for advice when they want to go their separate ways and he suggests a game of poker. The loser agrees to wait on the winner for an entire year. A supposedly very entertaining movie

Sunset Trail (1939)

A classical good against evil movie. Hopalong Cassidy is the hero and Keller is the villain who buys a rancher’s cattle, kills him and steals back the money. Hopalong learns about this and pretends to be a rookie player in order to get in contact with Keller’s daughter. In the end the villain is defeated in a game of poker.

Loaded pistols (1948)

Gene Autry and Barbara Britton play the leading roles in this movie about a poker/murder mystery. Britton’s younger brother is wrongfully accused of a murder taking place during a poker game. Gene hides the boy and recreates the game to find the true murderer.

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

New Orleans. The Kid is in town to beat the infamous poker legend Lancy Howard (Edward G. Robinson). With the help from an old friend and card dealer, the Kid ends up in a life changing high stakes game. The good stuff is in the exiting poker final. Unfortunately there’s a lot of romantic dribble and mediocre acting before getting there.

Big hand for a little lady (1966)

A family moves to a new town and the husband decides to play in a high-stakes poker game. He loses almost everything until he very conveniently has a heart attack. His wife, never having played poker before, takes over in an attempt to win back the money.

Kaleidoscope (1966)

Barney is a devious player and hustler who aims to keep his title as “The luckiest poker player ever” in a prestigious game. Warren Beatty’s game is very realistic in this movie.

Maverick (1994)

The scene is set in the old South. Mel Gibson is 3000$ short of being able to compete in the upcoming “winner takes it all” tournament. After meeting the female poker player /femme fatale, Jody Foster, he finds himself in a ton of problems while playing to win the tournament.

Rounders (1998)

Possibly the most popular poker movie ever made. Some say this movie started the online poker boom. Matt Damon’s character is forced back into the poker world to win enough money to pay for his friend’s (played by Edward Norton) gambling debt.

Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels (1998)

Four regular guys rally together to back up their friend in an insane high stakes game against a local gangster. When they lose, they are forced into crime in an attempt to get back on track.

Luckytown (2000)

On a journey to find a her father, an infamous poker player, Kirsten Dunst picks up an employee in a video store who has an ambition to become the greatest poker player of all time. Together they head off to Las Vegas to find fortune and her father. The movie is full of action and good gambling scenes.

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

Check out our Poker Freeroll and Tournament League.

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

Check out our Poker Freeroll and Tournament League.

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.

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

Check out our Poker Freeroll and Tournament League.

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.

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

Check out our Poker Freeroll and Tournament League.