surviving a tough beat, eliminating opponents, and staying ahead

Last night's Monday tournament was a good one for me. I haven't won it in a few weeks, and I was more than glad to do so, collecting a first place prize payout padded by my must-win bet against Dale.

I was playing really well overall, and got my money in good in a lot of spots. The addition of the ante into the game at the fourth level created some great opportunities for chipping up via well timed preflop aggression combined with continuation-type bets on the flops. However, one pot developed early on in the tournament in which I went broke when all my chips went into the pot on the flop in the following hand:

Marc: KK
Me: TT

Flop: Q 6 T
Turn: 9
River: J

Marc caught runners to the straight! Even worse, Chip folded two jacks on the flop when Marc shoved all-in and I insta-called, making his hit on the river even more painful. I rebought, and began aggressing more than usual preflop, as it was more important to steal the blinds given my short stack. After taking down four pots in a row, I three-bet Chris all-in and doubled up when my tens held up against his eights. I now had about what I'd had before Marc took me out earlier.

Marc had huge chips at this point, and was playing his usual any-two-are-good-to-see-a-flop-with-even-if-it's-raised strategy. Unfortunately for him, the escalating blinds meant that he was calling off 2 or 3 bucks each hand, which was eroding his stack. A little while into the fourth or fifth level of blinds, I limped one off the button with the 8 5 of hearts, and Chris called in the small blind. The big blind checked. The flop was gin for me - 5 8 5. He bet $1 on the flop, which I flat-called. The turn brought a 6, and he made the same bet, which I again elected to just call. The river came off an offsuit 9, and he now bet $5. I raised all-in, having him covered. He called, showed ace-5, and was out of the tournament.

A while later, I picked off an all-in play that Marc made with second pair on a board of T 8 5 when I held the 10 3. The turn brought a 3, the river a ten, and we were heads-up. The heads-up match between Eric and I lasted a little less than an hour, and finally the following hand came up:

I had $80.25 in chips, Eric had $84. Blinds were $1/$2 with a 25 cent ante, and I was on the big blind. Eric called, and I looked down at ace-deuce. I had been playing fast in heads-up, raising nearly every hand from the button, and I decided to step out and raise $4 more from the big blind, which he called. The flop brought A 2 K with two clubs. Normally, I'd try to trap here, but (A) I got the sense that Eric was sick of my constant betting/raising, and (B) I wanted to shut out the possible draws. I led for $8.50, and Eric thought for a while before calling. The turn brought a ten of spades, which wasn't that threatening since I didn't think Eric would make the call there with a queen-jack. Ideally, he'd have king-ten and I could stack him. I made another bet, this time of $40. Eric tanked for a long time before raising all-in. I instantaneously called for my last $25.50 , and he showed K 8. The river brought another ace, and having only $3.75 left in his stack, Eric conceded the match.

an interesting heads-up match

tonight I played a heads-up game with Dale for ten bucks, because we had nothing to do and couldn't get a game together. There were two interesting hands. We began the hand fairly even in chips, though he was up a little. He limped the button, and I checked my option with the ace of spades and the four of hearts. The flop came down 2 5 9, all spades. I checked my nut flush draw/inside wheel draw, and dale bet 75 cents (three quarters of the pot, since blinds were 25/50. We had started with $35 in chips each.). I check-raised him to $3.25, and he thought about it for a while before eventually making it 4 more on top of that. Feeling that he was weak, I decided to go all-in (debatable, but I knew I had a gazillion outs and two cards coming). Dale decided to call, showing the ace of clubs and the seven of spades!!! By the way, I hate this call. As it turns out, even though his high cards were better than mine, I was a favorite to win the pot.
A five of clubs peeled off, pairing the board. Still, I was a favorite to win it (check the math yourself on Cardplayer.com's odds calculator). However, the nine of clubs came on the river and we split it with nines and fives, ace kicker.

The other interesting hand came when Dale made it $1.50 from the button. Holding ace-ten offsuit, I decided there was a good chance my hand was good and made it $5 to go. Dale (fairly quickly) went all-in. I had a good amount of chips left, about $20 or $25, but there was $10 in the pot. I thought it was possible he had a better ace than me, but it was likely I was up against a pair lower than my tens, or something like KQ suited. After some deliberation, I decided that Dale just wouldn't have played it that way if he had a monster, and I made the call. He showed king-ten, which meant I was a 4:1 favorite to win the pot. It looked good when the flop came down 5 2 4 with two spades, but the king of diamonds turned and I was unable to redraw against him on the river, thus ending our match.

Though neither of these hands ended up the way I liked, I feel I played them well, and that's what really matters to me in a game like that, especially with the stakes as low as they were. Anyway, you have to take the good with the bad, and I got my money in good, which is really the object of poker.

Incidentally, as a quick aside on the Monday night tournaments, I'm ahead in the points still, by fifty. I have 195 against Chip's 145, which makes me feel pretty damned confident I can win this thing. There are twelve or thirteen games left in the year, and I'd really like to win at least two of them. Cashing is fine, and staying consistently in the points is good, too, but I feel I can win the individual tournaments as well. At any rate, enough bad beat stories and gloating about the Monday points. I'll keep everyone updated as best I can.

cold-decked, but not too upset

As the reader can probably infer from the title, I didn't end up winning the Monday tournament tonight! However, I'm not too upset with my play, and I'm still the big points leader. After a brutal stack-off to Andrew early on, I scraped my way back for a while. One of the players had to leave the game and his stack was just sitting there getting blinded off.

However, I was in a tricky spot! There were six players left, including an absent Chris, and both he, Dale, and I were on short money. I tried to think about whether it made more sense to go for the aggressive, marginal all-in short stack strategy, or to simply try to wait Chris out in order to place in the points. A points finish was strategically significant to me, since if I went out with no points and Chip won, he could gain nine points on me, which I would have been far from comfortable with. Fortunately, I picked up a pretty good run of cards and was able to take down the blinds uncontested quite a few times, allowing me a little bit of breathing room. Chris eventually was blinded out, and I had made at least five points. Thus, I had guaranteed that even if Chip won the tournament (he actually came in second), he could gain at most four points against me.

The final hand for me came when it folded to Andrew on the button and he doubled the bet to $3. Eric folded his small blind and I went all-in on the big blind with AK of clubs for $13.50 on top of Andrew's $3. He decided to call me with the ace-jack, which I was excited about until the board came 8 3 Q J Q and I was out of chips and out of the tournament in fifth place. Still, I got my money in pretty good throughout the night and just got into some unavoidable cold-deck situations. To give you an idea, here's tonight's bad beat story:

Me : 99
Andrew: K5

Flop: 5 9 5
Turn: 6
River: 5

It was the second time in this year's Monday tournament that I'd flopped nines full against Andrew's trips, and he hit a sick one-outer to make quads. Pretty frustrating! What's worse is that after the flop came out, there's no way I could have made him fold his hand. He was destined to hit his quads on the river, since there's no way a player who plays loose poker is folding trips in that situation. Oh, well!

Still, Chip gained only three points on me, and there are now only sixteen or seventeen Monday tournaments left in the year. Ideally, I'll be mostly gaining points on Chip, or allowing him only small gains those nights when I'm less fortunate. Here are the updated points for the tournament:

Me (171 pts.)
Chip (139 pts.)
Lee (121 pts.)
Chris (120 pts.)
Marc (107 pts.)
Eric (99 pts.)
Jake (92 pts.)
Dale (88 pts.)
Andrew (75 pts.)
Lori (65 pts.)
Justin (14 pts.)
Daniel & Brent (11 pts. each)
Mark (9 pts.)
Randy (8 pts.)
Jesse (6 pts.)

As you can see, those players below tenth place in points are for all intents and purposes out of the running at this point. It would take not only consistent wins, but also consistently bad results for almost everyone else playing - pretty much an impossibility, especially since a lot of the players at the bottom end of the spectrum aren't regulars. It pays to play.

prepare yourself

Well, I'm off to work for a short three-hour shift, and then it's Monday night game time. I've had to walk a careful line in the tournaments, balancing between playing for first place in each game with the need for consistent in-the-points finishes so that I can be sure to take down the big share of the jackpot in December.

I'm ready for it tonight, though, I believe. Plus, my opponents in that game have huge leaks, especially with regard to hand selection. Some of them are calling raises with hands like queen-five! It is going to be an uphill battle for them if they continue playing this way, but there will always be the element of luck involved, so it's not impossible to lose to them given a couple of bad beats. At any rate, I hope to get my chips in with the best of it! Results to follow. . .

the end of august

An interesting game last night. As has been the trend for me the last few Fridays, I went down in chips early on, the reloaded, found my rhythm and scored a decent profit. Perhaps my biggest mistake last night was to try an ill-timed, multi-barrel bluff against Marc, who can be a bit of a calling station.

However, since I knew Marc's strategy was to take a lot of small shots (nearly every hand, he raised preflop and bet the flop), I knew a lot of the time he'd be in there with total air. I managed to make a big call on the river against him with nothing but an ace-jack high, which turned out to be the best hand. This pot definitely helped restore my confidence and set my game back on track.

Also, I stacked Andrew no less than three times in the game, and though he was using a short buy-in strategy, the pots added up nicely. I flopped a set of eights against his aces, hit a straight against his top-pair-top-kicker AK, and picked off a preflop all-in bluff with two sevens (he had the nine-deuce offsuit!!).

Marc, maybe by sheer virtue of being in almost every pot, was hitting a lot of boards hard for the first half of the night. He was getting especially lucky against John, putting him on tilt. In one pot, John held pocket kings and flopped top trips, only to have Marc hit a four-outer straight on the turn against him. However, he made much of the money back when he and Marc both held top pair of queens on the flop and improved to trips on the river. John's AQ outkicked Marc's KQ, and he raked in a nice pot.

Last Monday's tournament had some interesting pots as well. The key hand in the early stages of the tournament came for me when a three-way all-in pot happened between Lori (queen-high), Justin (KK), and me (AA). This pot gave me the chip stack I needed to make my way to the endgame and therefore the points and money. Eric, who ended up winning the tournament, got his early chip lead when he made a tough all-in call on the river against Andrew on a dangerous board with a lot of possible straights holding only top pair with a weak kicker.

It got down to three-handed play, and Eric had the decisive chip lead. Eric folded the button, and Justin called in the small blind (we were at $0.75/$1.50). I looked down at QT of clubs and raised it $9 on top. Justin called after a lot of deliberation, leaving himself $12.25 in chips, which he promptly shipped into the pot on the flop, which came jack-ten-nine. Having hit too much of the board to possibly fold even if I knew he had the jack, I called and he showed down two fours. My hand held up and we went into two-handed play. Despite this pick-up, I went into heads-up at about a 4:1 chip disadvantage, and eventually the final hand occurred. Eric raised from the button and I reraised all-in with the ace-ten. He thought about it for a while and called with two deuces. The board bricked out, and my tournament was over.

Fortunately, my second-place finish allowed me a further extension of my first-place points on the leader board. With August coming to a close, I'm excited to go into the final third of the year with a fairly solid lead over the rest of the field. Still, placing outside of the points on any given night when there are a lot of players playing could allow players like Chip to gain ground. Barring any cosmic mishaps, though, that won't happen.

lesson four: stack size and pot size dictate the right play

A lot of times, what decision you should make on a given betting round is determined by how many chips you or your opponents have in their stacks. This principle is true in cash games, of course, but magnified in tournament situations when you can't rebuy and the blinds continually go up. This is true not just in relation to whether to bet in a given situation, but also how to size a bet you might make.

A pot that played out during the Monday night game this week illustrates this principle quite well:

It was the $0.25/0.50 blinds level, which is the first level after the rebuy period. Eric was second to act with $12.25 in his stack, and looked down at pocket eights after a fold from Marc under the gun. There were seven players at the table at this point, and he elected to limp. I like limping or raising here, but given Eric's chips, it didn't cost him too much to limp into the hand and adopt a wait-and-see approach to the hand. If he raised to something like $2, he could potentially have trouble getting away from the hand and end up playing for all of his chips in a "coinflip at best" situation.

He elected to just call. Chip called in middle position with pocket sixes, and it folded to me in the small blind. I looked down at the pocket fives. There was no way I was going to fold here. With a pocket pair, and $1.75 in the pot, it cost me only $0.25 to see the flop if Chris checked in the big blind (which he was likely to do). I had about $35 or $40 in chips at the time, so I could have raised and then gotten away from the hand without doing serious damage, but there wasn't any real reason to do so: I'd be building a big pot out of position in which I pretty much needed to spike a five on the flop to stay around, plus, I didn't want to be confronted by a reraise from the other players. Specifically, if Eric shoved all of his chips in, I'd have a tough decision. Interestingly, if I had raised, Eric would most likely have been forced to go all-in against me. I'd be most likely making it $2.50 or so to go, so if he just called, the pot would be $6 and his stack would be $9.75. With a hand like a pair of eights, which is likely to be best preflop, it'd be much better for him to shove than to see a flop and possibly have to fold for that much of his stack when overcards hit the board (even though they may have missed his opponent). Therefore, I completed the blind, and Chris checked. The board came five of spades, seven of spades, five of hearts.

Since I had flopped four fives, a basically unbeatable hand, I elected to check. I didn't want to bet yet and force out the possible flush and straight draws that could be out against me. Chris checked, and Eric went all-in for $11.75. Chip thought for a long time, and eventually folded. When he did this, Chris folded without waiting for me to act. I said "wait a minute, it's on me. I call - quads." and showed down my hand, eliminating Eric when my quads held up (he would have needed both of the remaining eights on the turn and river).

The biggest mistake made in the hand, in my view, is Eric's all-in bet on the flop. Since it wasn't raised preflop, there are several things wrong with raising here. First of all, since it was limped around, the pot was small. There was $2 in the pot when he bet $11.75. If he had bet a lesser amount, say something in the $1.75-$2.50 range, he could find out if his hand was best, and maybe fold his hand to a raise. Given his stack, it didn't make sense to make that bet. It's true he was short-stacked, but he's risking way too much to win too little in that spot.

Think about it. The pot is two dollars, and your opponent bets $11.75 and is all-in. With a board of 5 7 5, what hands would you be willing to call that bet with? In my opinion, nearly all of the hands that can call that bet can beat pocket eights. The only hand that can call maybe and be behind the eights is ace-seven. Any five calls, and overpairs may call too (and they all beat eights). Therefore, he's putting himself in a situation where there are only two outcomes possible: either he takes down the $2 in the pot because no one has anything (which would've happened if he'd bet a smaller amount, anyway), or a hand that beats him makes the call and he gets eliminated.

Here's another approach that could've been taken - raising rather than limping preflop. Eric still would've been stacked in the hand, but his decisions would have been much easier. Assuming he makes it $2 preflop and Chip calls, I'm probably calling too, not to get Eric's stack, but to get at Chip's (he had me covered). Getting a great price, Chris probably calls here too and we see a flop four-handed still. This time, however, the pot would be $8 and Eric's stack would be $10. He would have to move at that pot with the overpair. He'd still get called by better hands, but he might also get called by flush or straight draws, and definitely the ace-seven. More importantly, though, the times when his eights are best, and no one else has anything, he's taking down $8, rather than $2. This represents almost a 50% increase in his stack. The odds no one has anything make it a common sense play against three opponents in a tournament, especially when you're on a shortish stack. You just have to consider the risk-to-reward ratio. Is it worth risking X for a shot at Y? How likely are my opponents to fold, etc.? This is how good poker decisions are made.

As a last note, if Eric had begun the hand with $6 rather than $12, limping becomes entirely too speculative, as he is risking too big a portion of his stack to just see a flop. Again, it is just too likely a bad flop will come off and he will have let players with overcards come into the pot and beat him. Therefore he'll either have to fold, or commit the rest of his chips with only a 9% or so shot of winning the pot and staying alive in the tournament. With a stack that small, and a hand that is likely to be best preflop, it's much better to go ahead and shove the chips in. If everyone folds, he picks up the blinds, increasing his stack by more than 10%, and is thus enabled to wait another round for a hand to move all-in with.

read 'em and weep

Unfortunately, the first August post comes late in the month, as things have been rather hectic the past couple of weeks. After winning several weeks ago in the Monday night game, I had a couple of tough exits, placing out of the points for two weeks in a row. One time, Chip also placed outside of the points, which was good for me, but a week ago, he won it (bastard!). Last night though, I rallied and took one down after playing Chip heads-up for over an hour.

In fact, all told, the tournament lasted about nine hours, which is pretty grueling since the rebuy period ended 2 hours 15 minutes into the game. I'd say that the three-handed and heads-up portion of the game took up about that much time when put together. All in all, though, I was totally satisfied. The prize pool was decent considering there had been about eight or so total rebuys from the players in the game (not bad, that's almost one per person). This, plus hitting my must-win bet with Dale again, padded my win nicely.

Currently, the points break down like this:

Me - 158 pts.
Chip - 125 pts.
Lee - 121 pts.
Chris - 120 pts.
Marc - 107 pts.
Jake - 92 pts.
Eric - 83 pts.
Dale - 82 pts.
Andrew - 66 pts.
Lori - 62 pts.

a must-win bet, and a hot streak

Yet another win on Monday night. Chip went out outside of the points and I am now forty-one points ahead of him. Added to that was the fact that Dale and I had a $20 must-win bet on the game. A must-win bet means that one of the two of us had to come in first place in the tournament to collect, otherwise the bet was a tie. I gave Dale 3 to 2 odds, meaning that if he won I'd have to have given him $30. Interestingly, he held the chip lead for most of the game.

If there was a theme to the tournament for me, it was definitely the big pots I played with the ace-king. It seems like almost all of the larger pots I was in tonight, that was the hand I held. In fact, I held the ace-king the last hand of the tournament, and was all-in in a pot with it at least four or five times. Perhaps the biggest pot with it happened when we were three-handed, and Marc and I held most of the chips. Marc raised it up to $3 from the small blind, and I came over the top from the big blind with the AK of diamonds, making it $8.50. Marc called, and the flop came 6 3 6. Marc checked to me, and I thought about it for a while, and then bet $12. Rather quickly, Marc went all-in. I thought about it for a while, and made the call. Marc showed me the ace-queen! I eliminated him, and gathered what was probably the largest pot of the night.

Unfortunately for Lee, he ran into some tough luck during the tournament, getting eliminated twice when his pocket jacks ran into pocket queens. However, for me it was a good night, as I earned chips in three places: from winning the tournament, from a small win in the cash game afterwards, and from collecting on my must-win.

Perhaps best of all, though, is the fact that this is my third consecutive first place finish in the Monday night game this year, a feat which I also accomplished in 2007, but no other player in the game has done so far. On one hand, I'd like to see another player do that well out there so that I can feel like I've got real competition, but on the other (more important) hand, I'd rather win it myself.

mountains of chips

Another win tonight in the Monday game! It was particularly a fun tournament to play for me, since I was an early chip leader and hung on to a large stack throughout the entire game.

It all began in one key pot. Blinds were in the first level, $0.05/$0.10 (It was a short-handed tournament and there were six total players). Lee limped one off the button. Looking at the queen-ten offsuit, I limped the button. Andrew completed the small blind and Chris checked in the big blind.

The flop came down four of diamonds, queen of hearts, five of diamonds. I had flopped top pair with no real kicker to speak of. Still, the action had been limped preflop and there was a pretty good chance I had it on the flop. Andrew and Chris both checked it over to Lee who fired $0.30 into the pot. Wanting to thin the field, as well as try to get a better read on Lee's hand, I raised it up to a dollar straight. The blinds both folded, and Lee raised me to $3.75 on top. Now it was time for me to do some thinking.

The board allowed for straight and flush draws, and it wasn't entirely unlikely that Lee held something like ace-x of diamonds, maybe a suited wheel draw or something like that. I didn't think it was likely he had a better queen than me, unless it was queen-jack (though he might've raised that preflop, too). I figure with AQ or KQ he would've raised. So, the only hands that really make sense here are trip fours, trip fives, a nut flush draw (possibly with a straight draw), or a worse queen than me with a flush draw.

Deciding that I was likely to be ahead, even despite my mediocre kicker, I put all of my chips in the middle, making the total bet $8.80. Lee made the call and showed queen-eight of diamonds. The turn came 6 of hearts, the river a deuce of clubs, and I doubled up early. Interestingly enough, we were almost exactly even money on the flop. According to the CardPlayer.com odds calculator, we were both 46.67% to win and 6.67% to tie.

After that pot, which was of course well within the rebuy period, I went on to win several more big ones. In one pot, Lee raised all-in preflop with ace-jack, only to run into my pocket kings. When the flop was dealt, the ace was the first card off (the door card), but I spiked my king, leaving Lee drawing very slim with two cards left to go.

Meanwhile, we were still at $0.05/$0.10. Andrew had rebought a few times and was on ultra-tilt, shoving all-in in three consecutive pots, having lost about half his stack. I was dealt pocket sevens on the button and decided to limp it after everyone folded it to me. Andrew pushed all his chips in the middle, for $5.30 total. Chris folded the big blind. I knew I was getting essentially even money on a call, since the raise was so much more than the pot. However, my hand rated to be good in this spot given all of Andrew's reckless shoving. I called and he turned over the ace-six. Again, a flop came which both gave my opponent their pair of aces and gave me my set of trips: The board came queen, ace, seven five, eight, and I took his stack.

The rest of the tournament went well, and I don't think I misplayed anything too serious. In reality, I know I outplayed my opponents in several spots, including the heads-up match between Eric and I, which started somewhat evenly in chips. I'm glad to have picked up another win and extended my lead. A points update follows:

Me 139
Chip 108
Chris 102
Lee 96
Marc 84
Dale 70
Jake 68
Eric 67
Lori 60
Andrew 57

off to defend my lead

. . . so wish me luck, geniuses!

In the trenches

The cash games over the past few days have been pretty intense, with eleven players total playing in last night's Friday game. Fortunately for me, that just makes the tight/aggressive style that much more profitable in that game.

I had not done well two days before Friday's game, probably because I built big pots in situations where I really shouldn't have, and by the time my opponents stuck the chips in I was forced to call because of pot odds, knowing my hand was probably second-best. However, I came back and then some last night. About two hours into the game, I hit a pretty incredible rush. At this point, we weren't eleven-handed yet, more like seven or eight at the most. People were doing a lot of limping and many pots were multi-way, so after Andrew limped in under the gun, I limped my king-jack (a questionable move - I probably should fold here. Again, though, I thought there was a good chance of me seeing a flop for $0.50, with many many times that in the pot. Also I trusted my ability to fold here.). It folded over to Eric, who made it $2.50 straight. Two players called, Andrew called, and getting five to one pot odds, I called the extra $2.

Miracle flop: King, Deuce, Jack. Andrew led out for $10, and I raised him to $25. Eric then went into the tank for a little bit, and shipped his stack in the middle - he had everyone covered. As the other players were thinking, then folding around to me, I thought: "Can he have trips here?" I figured that with the KJ on board and the KJ I had in the hole, it was next to impossible for him to have KK or JJ, so if he had trips, deuces were the most (mathematically) likely hand he could hold. But would he raise the deuces like that preflop with so many players yet to act? I didn't think so.

I looked at him, and asked him, "Do you have three kings?" but of course I got no answer. Deciding my hand had to be best, I shrugged, and said "I call."
Eric looked at me and said "I don't have three kings."
"Three deuces?" I asked him,
"No," he replied. "I don't have trips."
This relieved me, since it meant that either we had the same hand (unlikely) or that I had him beat. He flipped over two red aces.
"Hold'em, dealer!" I shouted.

Jesse, the dealer and also a player in the game, burned and turned the last two and my kings and jacks held up as I scooped in a large pot.

Initially, I had bought in for fifty dollars: twenty in $1 blue chips, $5 in 25-cent white chips, and twenty-five in one dollar bills, all bundled together, folded in half and rubber banded. Unfortunately I had lost about $25 of it to Marc in a pot where he called a bet and raise with second pair, no kicker and got there on the turn (I misplayed the hand somewhat, and can't blame him totally for my loss of it. Still, it did depend on him getting lucky on fourth street.). I added $40 in chips, so by the time that big pot with Eric came down I was in for almost $100, about the amount I had lost Wednesday playing a cash game out there. Therefore, I was really glad to win that pot, which put my chip total near $200. That hand was only the beginning of a three-hand rush for me. A few hands later, I held pocket treys one off the button. There was a live one dollar straddle in play, and several players had limped. I called with my 33 and the straddler checked his option. In all, there were seven players taking the flop.

Miracle flop #2: trey of diamonds, deuce of hearts, deuce of diamonds.

With all of the limping and my opponents' reckless hand selection, I felt this flop should have given at least someone a draw (to a second-best hand, of course). Therefore, when it checked around to me, I decided to bet my full house. I went for a near half pot-sized bet of four dollars. Lee, the small blind in the hand, called, and the other players went out. There was now $15 in the pot.

The turn was the king of spades. Lee checked, and I quickly checked behind him. I knew that the king couldn't have completed any of the possible draws he might be on, and I wanted to get more money in the pot. I felt like a bet here would make him fold, so we went to the river. It was the ace of diamonds. Bingo for Lee, apparently, as he led out for $15 (the full size of the pot). If I just called the pot would've been $45, but since there's no way I thought I was beat I raised it up thirty more.

Lee said, "if you have a full house, I'm paying you off," and threw it in there, after some internal debate.
I turned over my two treys, showing him my full house. He showed five-four, for a rivered straight.

On the third big hand, I limped in late position with AJ of hearts, and the flop came A8J (miracle flop #3). Andrew shipped $16.25 in there (an all-in bet) and I called. He showed J6, which, of course, was no good.

These hands pretty much defined the evening for me. It's interesting how long you can sit at a poker table during a session, and you never know when a big decision is coming up. Last night, I played very few hands, but these key pots happened all inside of a 30 minute time frame. The rest of the time I was mostly folding, taking an occasional stab at a small pot. A couple of times I tried to mix it up, raising in position with hands like 97 suited, etc. but I mostly got shut down my reraises or by not catching any sort of draw on the flop, etc.

The point is, it's important to pay attention despite the fact that you might've been folding for an hour and a half, because any hand could be a good one, and any hand is a potential mine of information on your opponents.

a serious comeback

Monday night, I was almost out of the game when I decided to make a risky rebuy right as the rebuy period was ending. Blinds were $0.25/0.50 and I had a stack of only $10 (twenty big blinds!), but Chip, second in points, was rebuying also, and I had to try to outlast him and squeeze my way into the points, or at least hope for a scenario in which neither of us placed.

I was already $21 deep into the tournament in buy-ins, a limit I try never to exceed in that tournament (it is a small-stakes tournament. $21 is a buy in and two rebuys. The actual dollar amount doesn't go into consideration in this self-imposed buy-in limit.), but I knew that first place was awarded 11 points that night, and the difference between sixth and fifth place was seven points. I was only about 14 points ahead of Chip, so I didn't want him to gain seven points on me if I busted out and he crept into fifth place. I decided that thwarting him was worth the additional five bucks. To my left was Lee, then Eric, Lori, Dale, Chip, and Jake on my right. I managed to double my chips up and was doing well at shoving in and picking up small pots (small to the bigger-stacked players, yet consequential to me). This allowed me to stay afloat, even increase my chips, while Dale and Chip's short stacks eroded. After a while, Chip busted out (yes! now to try to beat Dale into the points and increase my lead on Chip by another seven plus points. . .).

A key hand occurred soon thereafter: I found myself on the big blind, and Lee raised it under the gun to $4.50. Blinds were $0.50/$1 at this point, and I would have $22 left if I called. I looked down at two sixes, and shoved my stack into the middle. Lee thought for a while, and called with the ace-jack of clubs. On the flop, he caught his ace, but I sucked out on the river, hitting trips. At this point, I now had a reasonable chip stack and was in position to attack the weaker players and try to actually win the thing.

I had about fifty bucks in my stack, and Lee had about thirty or forty. Eric had about half that. Lori and Jake were about even with me, with about forty or fifty each. Dale was in the red zone with about ten bucks. He eventually shoved in, and I called with king-ten, while Eric called with the ace-king. We checked it down and Dale showed the ace-jack, meaning that Eric's high cards were good and five players remained. I was guaranteed now to extend my lead on Chip, which made me feel pretty confident. Also, I had a lot of Chips, and I felt that Lee, who would ordinarily be somewhat of a threat in this situation, was on tilt because of the two-outer beat I put on him earlier with my pocket sixes.

I went into aggressive raising mode, trying to attack the blinds and isolate Jake and Lori in pots. After taking down several small pots during five-handed play, it was clear I had momentum, having gone from $8 or $9 to around $50 or $60 now. In one pot, Lee raised it under the gun, to $4.50. Eric folded, Lori called, Jake called, and I called with the jack-ten of diamonds. The flop was a great one for me: Nine, eight, trey, with two diamonds. I isolated Jake in the pot and ended up hitting the flush on the river, only to have him lead out by going all-in against me! I called, Jake went out, and I collected another $30 or $40.

Just three or four hands later during four-handed play, I raised it under the gun with the jack-nine of clubs, exploiting my large chip stack, my position should Lee fold, and the deceptive suited/connected value of the hand. Lee and Eric folded, and Lori called in the big blind. The flop came down queen of clubs, ten of clubs, seven of spades. I had flopped an up-and-down straight flush draw. I was ready to get the money in if I had to at this point.

Lori led out for $3, and I raised her to $10.50, which she called. The turn card, the six of clubs, made my hand. I had a jack-high flush, which I was fairly confident was the best hand at this point. She checked it over to me. I had her well covered, and it looked like she had about forty dollars or so in her stack. I bet a little over half of that, twenty-two bucks. She thought for a second, then went all-in for eighteen more dollars. I called, and she showed queen-ten offsuit for top two pair. The river bricked and I eliminated my second opponent with a jack-high flush inside of one round of the button. At this point, I held a massive chip lead over my two remaining opponents, and was able to take it down, extending my first place points lead by eleven.

simplified points update

1 -Me- 133
2 -Chip- 108
3 -Chris- 100
4 -Lee- 92
5 -Marc- 84
6 -Dale- 70
7 -Jake- 65
8 -Eric- 62
9 -Lori- 60
10 -Andrew- 57


A win this week! Also, Chip ended up busting out outside of the points, which allowed me to extend my lead over him by another eleven points. I almost went out prior to the points as well when I was called all-in by Lee who held AJ of clubs against my 66. He flopped an ace and turned a flush draw, but I hit my miracle two-outer on the river to double through him. I think he could have folded the hand preflop, but that isn't the point. After this unbelievable reversal, I was now no longer that short on chips. I proceeded to get my chips in good in a few places, and before long I was in solid contention, about third in chips.

In two key pots, I stacked Jake, then Lori when I made flushes against them. In one pot, the flop came down with a QT of clubs and an eight of spades. I held the J9 of clubs for the open-ended straight flush draw. Lori bet out $3 and I raised her to $10.50. She called, and the turn card came 6 of clubs (bingo.). She checked to me, and I bet $22. She raised all-in for about $18 more, and I made the call. She showed QT for two pair and my flush held up, giving me a massive chip lead.

points update

Not much has changed in the overall points standings since last week:

Me (122 pts.)

Chip (108 pts.)

Chris (100 pts.)

Marc (84 pts.)

Lee (83 pts.)

that one crucial hand

In tournaments, it's often true that a single mistake or even a single unlucky board card can send you to the rail. This is the reason that in order to win tournaments in the long run, you not only have to play a little better than the competition, you have to have your hands hold up, and you have to get a little lucky.

I think I played it pretty well last night, but I took three tough beats in significant spots, which made it tough for me to finish better than I did (third). In two of the pots, I got all-in in domination situations against my opponents but they got there on the flop. In fact, in one of the hands, I held A9 of spades versus the T9 of diamonds, and the flop came 83 of diamonds, T of spades, which is a total nightmare board. This was a critical hand, in fact, because if I won it, I would have placed second, eliminating Chip.

The blinds at the time were $1/$2, and we were three-handed. I raised to $6 from the button with the A9 of spades, with about a $30 stack to begin the hand. Chris, who had me covered, folded the small blind. Chip, on the big blind, went all-in, for only $4 more. I was pot-committed here, and in fact was a huge favorite, but it wasn't in the cards.

Still, Chip gained only a point on me and that means I'm in the lead by fourteen points.

the history of the world series of poker

The main event of the World Series of Poker is going on as we speak, and there are some 6500 entrants, each of whom put up $10,000 to play. This is a huge amount, and first place will be over $9.1 million. However, though the stakes at the WSOP have always been high, it began as a much smaller tournament of Texas road gamblers.

Since the World Series events began this year, CardPlayer.com has had articles on the history of the WSOP, one concerning each year of the event. If anyone is interested in checking these articles out, they can be found at:

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/4607/wsop-history-1997-recap

They're on 1997 right now, but at the bottom of the page you can find all the previous articles, back to 1970 (and a "preludes" article as well). They're pretty informative for those interested in that sort of thing.

getting better all the time

After some cold cards, and a couple of small losses in the ledger, things are turning around. Not only as far as the hands I've been receiving, but also with reference to my play.

I think every poker player who is really interested in actually learning the game can feel when they've reached turning points. It takes a lot to actually learn the concepts you need to win, but it takes the experience of playing the game while considering the concepts to actually see them work. I've been reading some literature about cash games recently, and there's a universal principle that it's super important to understand: Don't go broke with top pair.

This is a tough thing to do, since top pair is often the best hand, especially against weaker opposition. However, the fact is that if the stacks are even remotely deep, top pair's probably not going to end up being good if you're forced to go all-in with it. A couple of authors have different ways of stating this.

Here's how Dan Harrington, 1995 World Champion put it in vol. II of Harrington on Cash Games:

If you have shown consistent strength throughout the hand, and on the turn your opponent either bets into you or raises your bet, top pair is very unlikely to be good. Let the hand go.

Put more mathematically, you need to be shorter on chips or the pot needs to be unusually large for you to be pot-committed with top pair or an overpair. The book Professional No-Limit Hold'em advises that ideal stack/preflop pot size for hands that are likely to make top pair hands ideal is 4:1. In other words, if you have $100 in your stack, the pot needs to be $25 or more when the flop is dealt before you can think about pot-committing with top pair top kicker, etc.

Otherwise, you're probably going to get shown trips and have to ship your stack across the table.

points standings

Another tough tournament, ending with a quick exit for me. Still, Chip scored no points and the overall landscape of the leaderboard hasn't changed much. Jesse played in the tournament for the first time, finishing in fifth place. However, he made enough in the cash games afterwards to compensate for the lost buy-ins.





Here's the current top five:

Me (117 pts.)

Chip (102 pts.)

Chris (93 pts.)

Marc (84 pts.)

Lee (80 pts.)

. . . and the remaining rundown is:

Dale - 70

Jake - 58

Andrew - 57

Lori & Eric - 52

Daniel & Brent - 11

Randy - 8

Jesse - 6

big pots

The Friday night game went on for longer than usual last night, from eight or 8:30 until just after five in the morning. It was a game with unusually large swings for me, as I won and lost several large pots.

I actually got stacked for my 1st $50 buy-in in a pot against Marc (of all people. argh!). However, I rebought and began to rework myself toward even. I won a couple of medium to large sized pots from Dale, which was primarily what helped me. At about two in the morning when a big hand played out. We knew it was going to be Lee's last hand because he had said earlier he was done at 2 A.M. He folded, and I looked down on the button at the ten-eight of spades. I elected to raise it up to $2, and Dale was my only caller. The flop came down giving me a gutshot, and I led out when Dale checked it to me. He called, and I filled in when the nine came down on fourth street. Dale led out this time, for a big bet, and I flat-called. When a blank came on the river, he checked, I bet, he raised, and I went all-in, and doubled through him for a huge pot.

Unfortunately, I lost about $100 in a pot against Jesse when I was dealt KK on the button vs. his AA in the small blind, and the flop came three small cards. This is a classic cooler, and I'm not too beat-up about the way I played it . I perhaps could have folded the flop, but it would have been tough. At any rate, I still came out about $100 ahead for the session, and with the possible exception of that pocket kings hand I'm fairly satisfied. I picked up a lot more small pots than I usually do, which is nice, as it helped me to gain chips while we were shorthanded, padding the blow a bit on the end when I doubled Jesse up.

monday night game leaderboard

Me (117 pts.)










Chip (102 pts.)








Chris (93 pts.)









Marc (84 pts.)








Lee (80 pts.)
Dale (60 pts.)
Jake (58 pts.)
Andrew (49 pts.)
Lori (45 pts.)
Eric (43 pts.)
Daniel & Brent (11 pts. each)

Mark (9 pts.)

Randy (8 pts.)

turning a sixty dollar straight

At this week's Friday night game, I hovered around my initial $40 buy-in (within $10 up or down) for several hours before winning a big pot. I was one off the button and, after two limpers, I decided to enter the pot with the 98 offsuit. Eric, on the button, raised to $1.50, and the blinds folded. The limpers called, and I called. Since there was $5.75 out there and it cost me only a dollar, this was an easy call for me.

The flop came down 6Q7, rainbow. This was just the sort of flop I'd wanted, but there was no reason to bet into the field here. I had plenty of outs, and so when it checked to me, I checked, as well. Eric then decided to bet $2.50. One limper folded, and one called, and I made the call, hoping that if I hit I'd be able to double through Eric, who was playing really aggressively, and has trouble backing away from the big pots with me.

Lo and behold, the ten of diamonds slid off. The first limper checked, and I decided it was time to bet. The pot was about fourteen bucks at this point, and I elected to make a pot-sized bet, mostly because the pot was getting large, and I felt Eric had a strong hand from the way the action came down on the first two rounds.

I bet $12. Eric thought for about 30 seconds, then tossed a $25 bundle of rubber-banded one dollar bills into the pot. Our remaining opponent folded, and it was to me. This was a dream-come-true scenario for me. I had the best possible hand at the time, and my opponent had shown aggression on all three streets, so far, indicating what was probably a big hand (maybe QT? QA? a set?). Not only that, but my bet didn't slow him down. I had bet, and he had raised me back. Still, before I just announced "all in," I wanted to do some calculating. Would I get called for the rest of my chips if I shoved here? was it better to just call and then shove on the river?

well, I had $48.50 in my stack, meaning that if I called, I'd have $35.50 left (or, that would be the amount of my raise). I added up the size of the pot. 75 cents dead money from the blinds. a $1.50 bet and three calls preflop makes $6.75. A $2.50 bet and two calls on the flop makes $14.25. My twelve and Eric's $25 makes $51.25. If I call, the pot's $64.25 and I have $35 left. Can I fold on the river? probably not. Will I get called by a worse hand if I shove now? chances point to yes. I announce "$35.50 more" and put my chips in. Eric made the call, and I said "I have the nuts" as I turned up my nine-eight. Eric doesn't like to give anything away, so since it's a cash game and he's not obliged to show his cards unless he can beat me, he kept his hand concealed. The ace of spades came on the river, and he mucked.

no money, but an extended lead

Tonight in the Monday night game, I placed fourth (of nine) without rebuying. I made no money, but since Chip went out in seventh place, I advanced on him in points. Going into the tournament, I had 103 to his 102 pts., and have added six more to that lead, which will make it tough for him to catch up unless I get a zero.

I survived a couple of brutal beats along the way, including losing a pot in which I flopped top set of queens and my opponent caught running straight cards. Fortunately, the only player I'm mildly concerned with gaining points on me was Lee, who placed third. Andrew and Jake played heads-up, but at this point I don't think they'll be much of a threat to take down the end-of-the-year jackpot.

Which, by the way, is getting good. I know that a lot of the Monday night regulars have contributed quite a bit to it thus far, myself included. The great thing about it being such a gradual build is that the dead money doesn't know it until the end, and by then, they have to put in or they get no action since they agreed to the (completely fair) rules at the beginning of the year. I bet there's at least $200 in there by now, and we're only halfway through, which means over $100 for both first and second at the end of the year, most likely. As long as I can continue doing what I've been doing, I should be pretty much a lock to take down one of those two prizes.

Plus, let's assume that the total jackpot is $400 at the end of the year - a dollar per week of that was mine to begin with, and at the end of the year that'll be around $50. I can't give that up, can I?

a limit hold 'em hand

Here's a hand of $0.50-$1 limit hold'em I played online tonight.

incidentally, what could my opponent have been thinking getting four bets in on the river? I mean, the best flush he could have is 10-high, or the third nuts. There's no reason to put that much money in with all of the cards out when you're so likely beaten.

Runners!

I played in a four-handed $0.25/0.50 game last night and suffered several devastating beats, but the last one was the toughest (though I had already lost to a runner-flush earlier in the night). Eric opened on the button for $1.50, and Dale called in the small blind. I looked down at QJ of diamonds and made the call. When the flop came, Dale checked. I knew Eric was going to bet if he had any piece (he had a lot of chips and was playing aggressively. Plus, he was the preflop raiser), and odds were he didn't have a bigger piece than me, since it came J95, giving me top pair. I decided to try for a check-raise. When Eric bet $4.50, I came over the top of him for $15 total. He asked me how much I had left ($17.75), and then moved all-in. Still believing I had the best hand (but pot-committed now anyway), I made the call. This is how it came down:



Although this was only one of the losses I sustained tonight, I still feel okay about it, for two reasons. One, I am still up pretty big from Friday night's cash game, in which I was the biggest overall winner this week. Two (most importantly), I got cold-decked in a lot of spots, and I think that most of my opponents would have lost more than I did if they had been playing the cards I held tonight. In this particular pot, I was not a huge favorite on the flop, but I did bet in a way that should have forced the pair of nines to fold on the flop. Plus, when all the money went in, I had the best hand and was a three to one favorite to win the hand (65% preflop, 75% on the flop, 68% on the turn).

Back in first place

Monday night went pretty well. It was a small game, but there were lots of rebuys in there (fortunately, none of them came from me). I stacked Eric more than four times, in fact (twice with pocket eights).

However, though I came in first place in the tournament, I had to survive a few tough hands to get there. In one pot, I held the and made a tough call when Eric check-raised all in on a flop of . He showed the ! I had him out-kicked! When the ace of diamonds fell on fourth street, I was going to win the pot with any card other than a five, and split with a four or trey. However, though the turn was an irrelevant , the river came , and after cursing my bad luck, I had some focusing to do to avoid tilt after taking the three-outer beat on the river.

Later, I was able to stack Chip and force him out in third place. This was good for me since I came into Monday night one point behind him in the overall jackpot standings. I think a big leak in Chip's game is the way that he plays the short stack. He sacrifices way too much of his stack, and doesn't go all-in enough to steal the blinds. At the $0.75 / 1.50 level of blinds, he had only $4.50 left after posting his big blind. I had about $50 in chips, and so when Chris folded his button to me, I raised chip all-in with the 84 offsuit. Chip called with a jack high, and we both hit a pair on the flop, but the 8 came off on 4th street giving me two pair and knocking him out.

what you should be looking for as soon as you sit down

There's a lot of information you can get about the game you're playing in right away, before you sit through several rounds of the button and watch a lot of hands play out. This information can give you an edge right away to help you make correct decisions against your opponents, and increase your potential opportunity for profit.

First, as Mike Caro would say, look for the general demeanor of the game. If it looks like the players are laughing and having a good time, that's way better than if the table is playing quiet lockdown poker - people are gambling. Also, take notice of where the chips are - who has what amounts, where they are seated, etc. Pay special attention to the way in which players have their chips stacked, and if any chip stacks are exceptionally neat or messy, that probably indicates tight and loose play, respectively (of course this doesn't apply to messy stacks of players who have just won a big pot and haven't had a chance to add it to their stack yet).

One thing though, that you always want to notice in the first few hands is the rate of calling versus raising preflop, and how many players are entering each pot and staying in for the flop. If there's a lot of calling by a lot of players, and not very much raising, you are in good territory. You are most likely facing a lot of calling stations.

In Doyle Brunson's Super/System, he has the following to say about playing against this type of player:

"The perfect opponent to face is the Calling Station. He's similar to a loose-drunk player, but he rarely bets. Most of the time, he just checks and calls. And if you can't beat a man who always checks to you. . .you can't beat anyone.

Timid players don't win in high-stakes poker."

You have to notice your opponent's tendencies. This is a must because it's correct to play each opponent differently, and in general you want to tighten up at loose tables and loosen up at tighter ones. There are concrete reasons.

Consider this: What, by definition, does an exceptionally tight player do wrong? He/She calls too much. Similarly, a too-loose player calls too much. If your opponents are making habitual mistakes, encourage it. The tight player folds all the time, so you may as well agress against the tight player. Let him/her keep folding. They'll be doing it when they have you beat. Let the loose player pay you off. And if you're up against a player who bets and raises all the time, you'll have to call more, because on average he/she has a weaker hand. Also, against this type of player, it is enormous to have a monster hand, since in many cases they will do the betting for you, and if you have the nuts you can stick in a huge raise on the river, hopefully after they've pot-committed themselves by betting all the way down.

Sometimes, if your loose-aggressive opponent is in position against you, you are presented with more opportunities for check-raise rebluffs. This is a risky move, as it essentially risks two bets rather than one. However, with knowledge of your opponents and careful timing, it can be done. In order to try, however, I'd have to be extremely sure my opponent was capable of folding.

Of course, you can still be check-raising with the good hands that warrant it as well. In fact, I suppose more hands require a check-raise when facing a super-aggressive player out of position vs. a normal one, since they'll bet when checked to much more often.

However, you still would much prefer to have the loose players to your right so that you can avoid being out of position against them. Particularly if they have a lot of chips.

the worst beat I've taken in a long time

last night's Monday tournament went pretty well for me, as I was able to make back some ground after a few weeks of mediocre showings out there. Though I've been doing well in the cash games, I had lost some ground in the tournament and was behind Chip by eleven points. However, Chip was eliminated with no points last night, and I was able to score 8 points, narrowing his lead to a mere three.

However, a chunk of my profit for taking second place in the tournament was liquidated in the following brutal hand:

ME
99

ANDREW:
Q6

FLOP:
696

TURN:
6

RIVER:
not a 9

Of course, I checked on the flop. I was on the button, and against three opponents. Also, I had the deck crippled with the nines full, and there was a need to let someone hit a flush or some other hand that might be able to pay off some bets on 4th or 5th street. When the 6 hit on fourth street, it made it very mathematically unlikely for an opponent to hold the last 6 in the deck for quads. If they didn't, I still had the immutable nuts in this hand. Unfortunately, when the raising war went down on the turn and the smoke cleared, I got shown the six.

The Friday night game is like a dream come true

seriously. There is a lot of questionable play going on out there. We played for about six or six and a half hours on Friday night, and over the course of that time ten people played. About an hour or so before we quit, there were only four players remaining, and everyone who had already left did so with no chips at all. In a cash game, this is unusual (well, at least in the Friday night game, it is.).

However, a lot of the players who went broke simply didn't have to. For instance, if there have been two, maybe three raises before the flop already and it's on you with the AJ suited, you should almost always fold if the stacks are deep.

Wait a minute, ace-jack suited is a fold, you say? In a word, yes. Think about it. If an opponent raises before the flop, it's possible you have them beat with AJ. A lot of players will bet with worse hands preflop. However, if it's been bet and raised, what could your opponents have? most likely, it's no worse than ace ten. So, if your opponent is reraising with ace ten, plus, AJ, AQ, AK, and every pair, you're best to fold the AJ. you're only a favorite against one of the hands he could be holding. AJ is a tie, you're a coin flip against the pairs 2's through 10's, you're 30% against jacks, and you're a 4 to 1 dog against QQ, KK, AA, AQ, and AQ. Save your money, and wait for a better opportunity, preferably when you can be the aggressor, rather than the caller.

This brings me to the next idea, which is this: Many weak players think only about their cards. This has been said zillions of times before, but let me put it another way. Many weak players ignore things that should be totally obvious, because they are blinded by the (seeming) strength of their hole cards. Players ignore their opponents' actions, and also ignore threatening boards that may signify that their hands are beat.

For example, in a pot from the Friday night game, one of the players flopped top set (three kings) on a QKJ flop with two spades. One of his opponents led out, and he raised. He was called in two spots, putting the original bettor all-in, leaving him heads up for the side pot. However, the turn was a red ace, and after he bet, his opponent raised all-in. He insta-called, saying, "well, I know I have Jake (the short stacked player) beat." I said, "probably not, unless you have the same hand (meaning ace ten for the straight)." He said "no, that's not possible," to which I replied, "well, then you don't have him beat, because he has ace ten. There's ace king queen jack out there." and then he groans and goes "oh, well that screws me then."
At this point, I was seriously shocked. From his body language, and the way our little conversation went, I could tell. He had no idea, and in fact hadn't even considered, that his opponents could possibly have him beat. Even though four parts of Broadway (the ace high straight) were clearly on board, he wasn't thinking about it. He didn't even know a straight was possible, probably. But the thing is, he's not going to get raised all in on fourth street if his opponent doesn't have a ten. Of course, Jake showed him the AT, and his other opponent the T4 of spades, and the two straights chopped his money when the board didn't pair on the river.

In poker, we have to strive not just to win a lot when we have the best of it, but also to lose the minimum when we have the worst of it. Saving and earning money are two hand-in-hand components.

The lesson here is just because they're pocket kings doesn't mean they are good no matter what the betting is and what the board is. You always have to think about what your opponents might have, especially on dangerous boards. In this hand, the KK improved to top set on the flop. Sometimes top set is no good. In fact, here, it was already beat on the flop. What is a set when there are four cards to a straight out there and two opponents have gone all in? It's a fold, that's what it is.

lesson three: body language and focus

In poker, the player who makes the most correct decisions compared with their opponents will tend to win. One of the ways that players help themselves to make correct decisions is the observation of tells.

Tells are the subconscious clues that your opponents give out through their body language, voice, the way they handle their chips, etc. that "tell" you something about the strength of their hand. In Caro's Book of Poker Tells, author Mike Caro mentions several tells which are extremely valuable, including whether an opponent is looking at or away from you after a bet, or the classic "look at the hole cards then quickly glance at the chip stack" tell (a huge indicator of strength, generally).

I think that one tell that's really important to be on the lookout for is your opponents' level of focus. In almost every card game, the players' attention is divided between the game itself, and everything that's going on around them, such as the table conversation. It's important to figure out to what degree a player's paying attention to the game strategic vs. social/environmental factors, as this can often give you big clues as to their holdings. Here are some examples of some things I've observed.

The "start paying more attention suddenly" move:
Sometimes, during a hand, a player will abruptly seem to become more emotionally invested in a hand, either becoming quieter or more focused-looking. This often happens after a certain card comes out, or after a player makes a bet. In general, I've found that if you see a player do this on more than a couple of occasions, they're not faking their body language, and that's generally a big sign of strength.

The conversation bluff:
As a preface, I don't know if this one applies to as many players as the increased focus tell, but I've definitely observed it in a couple of the guys in my game. For one of them in particular, I'd say this tell is close to 90% reliable, every time. He likes to bluff a lot, betting and raising with air in many hands. Sometimes, though, he'll make a big bet (or raise), and while I'm taking my time thinking about my decision, he'll stop being focused, and often start comfortably talking with the other players, or in other words he becomes emotionally divested from the game to a degree. This rarely seems to happen to him when he wants a call, and I've reraised him with air and taken it down on several occasions. He'll appear focused for a while, but if you make him sit for a minute, pondering your decision, he'll (I suppose) get bored of looking focused.

I also think there's something worthwhile in paying attention to what your opponents do with their hole cards after they look at them, as far as placement, use of a card protector, etc. Do they do it differently in different hands? Do they protect/not protect (place their hand on top of) their face-down hole cards during a hand? Do they double-check them?

Do your opponents always announce their bets the same way, or is it different each time? It may seem picky, but I believe there is a difference between saying "raise" while tossing in 35 more in chips, and saying "I raise 35 more."

Of course, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to catch every subtle thing that goes on at a poker table. But knowing what you're looking for allows your antennae to be up, at any rate, meaning you're catching things at a higher rate than your opponents. Plus, the more practice you get, the better you'll become at it.

a great call

In poker, you need to avoid being focused on the immediate outcome. If you lose a hand, take a step back and analyze the way you played the hand. Were all of your decisions correct when you made them? In poker, we can make the correct move sometimes, and not get rewarded for it. You need to recognize that fact and adjust your expectations. Sometimes you will play beautifully and lose. Sometimes you will play horribly and win. In the long run though, only good play will get the money.


Say you folded a flush draw with one card to come because you weren't getting the right price to chase. Now, the hand's over, but someone at the table says "Hey (to the dealer), can we see what the last one would've been?" and the dealer shows a card that would've made your flush. Did you make a mistake? Was it a bad decision because, as it turns out, the flush was coming? No, because you couldn't have known that.


Here's a hand from last night's Monday tournament that I went bust on that I think illustrates my point pretty well. At the beginning stages of a tournament, when the blinds are relatively low vis-a-vis everyone's chip stacks, you don't have to risk much to play a pot. You can speculate with the right hands when in position, but basically you are looking for a good spot to double up early, if you can find one. I didn't know it when the hand began, but I was about to be presented with one of those opportunities.

In the second ($.10-.20) level of the tournament, I had $10.10 in chips after posting my big blind, which is basically the starting stack. Jake, under the gun, limped, and the players all folded around to Marc in the small blind, who called. I knew Marc would call with almost any hand in that position, and that Jake's limp probably represented weakness rather than a trap. I looked down at my hole cards.

ME:

I decided I needed to raise it up here, to see if I could eliminate a player (or two), and to better define my situation. I made it $0.80 to go. Jake and Marc both called. Marc's call seemed almost impulsive, or rather stubborn. I felt like he didn't have much, but had decided he wasn't going to be pushed off the hand. I actually got a small feeling a bluff might be coming up. The flop got put out:

FLOP:

This looked like a pretty raggedy flop, but Marc quickly bet $1.20 into the pot. Again, I sensed weakness. The quickness of his bet, combined with the fact that I noticed that he seemed not to be fully invested with his attention in the hand, made me feel this way. I thought about it for a while, and decided to do something risky. If I were to raise it, I might be able to get Jake, who's a generally passive player, to lay down something that's beating me, leaving only Marc to contend with. I made it $4.25 to go, and Jake thought about it for a while. However, as soon as Jake folded, Marc announced, "all in."

I had only $5.25 left in my stack. I had him covered by ten cents. I agonized over it for a while. If he held a hand like two overcards, he was likely to make this kind of bluff, and I was getting something like 3 to 1 on my money. If he had AK, I was in trouble, and if he had an 8 or a 9, I'd hopefully have two streets to suck out at 3 to 1. However, given my preflop read on Marc, and my knowledge of him as a loose/aggressive player, I felt strongly that my hand was good. I thought for a while longer and said "I'm probably gonna look silly, but I call." I turned over my ace high and Marc showed his hand.

MARC:

!!! For jack high, with backdoor straight and flush potential. Imagine, then, my disappointment when the jack of diamonds peeled off on the river, leaving me with only ten cents.

However, that's the whole point of the story. It doesn't matter what the turn and river cards were. It matters what was out there when the chips went in, and whether I had the best of it or not. The fact is, no other player who was at the game Monday night could have made the call with the AQ in that spot, and that fact alone is worth sustaining a loss in a tournament one night. If I'm able to play better than my opponents, I know I'll get the money in the end.

a good friday night game, and a tough hand online

Well, Friday's game went pretty well, as I made a $66 profit, surviving three tough beats early in the game. Today, however, I played a $5 + $0.50 sit n' go online in which I limped in early position with pocket fours (not a conventionally wise move). I did this because there had been a lot of limping in the tournament so far, and if I had to pay any more without a set I could just dump it. However, a fairly good flop came out for me. Here's the hand history, transcribed from the internet:

PokerStars Game #17356311263: Tournament #87979159, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/05/11 - 14:16:22 (ET)
Table '87979159 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: HomeyT-34C (1646 in chips)
Seat 2: d-nice_954 (1065 in chips)
Seat 3: bruno_judite (1727 in chips)
Seat 4: rhcp99 (1170 in chips)
Seat 5: Brixton Guns [that's me] (1830 in chips)
Seat 6: Steve1107 (1250 in chips)
Seat 7: leetpiet (2775 in chips)
Seat 8: RyanG84 (1420 in chips)
Seat 9: flicken84 (617 in chips)
bruno_judite: posts small blind 25
rhcp99: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Brixton Guns [4h 4s]
Brixton Guns: calls 50
Steve1107: calls 50
leetpiet: folds
RyanG84: folds
flicken84: folds
HomeyT-34C: folds
d-nice_954: folds
bruno_judite: calls 25
rhcp99: checks
*** FLOP *** [4c Ac 5h]
bruno_judite: checks
rhcp99: checks
Brixton Guns: bets 150
Steve1107: raises 250 to 400
bruno_judite: calls 400
rhcp99: folds
Brixton Guns: raises 1380 to 1780 and is all-in
Steve1107: folds
bruno_judite: calls 1277 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (103) returned to Brixton Guns
*** TURN *** [4c Ac 5h] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [4c Ac 5h Qh] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bruno_judite: shows [Qc 8c] (a flush, Ace high)
Brixton Guns: shows [4h 4s] (three of a kind, Fours)
bruno_judite collected 3954 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3954
Rake 0
Board [4c Ac 5h Qh 7c]
Seat 1: HomeyT-34C folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: d-nice_954 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: bruno_judite (small blind) showed [Qc 8c] and won (3954) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: rhcp99 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: Brixton Guns showed [4h 4s] and lost with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 6: Steve1107 folded on the Flop
Seat 7: leetpiet folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: RyanG84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: flicken84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Tough way to go out (actually, I went out the next hand , as I was on the big blind and had only 100 in chips). Still, had I won the pot, I would have had a clear chip lead and been in ideal position to win the tournament, so I think it was okay to get the money in here. Here's a breakdown of the odds to win during the hand

Preflop, we would've tied about .82% of the time, I'd win 50.03%, and bruno_judite would win 49.15%.

After the flop comes down 4c Ac 5h, things change and I become a favorite to win. It's now 73.54% win for me, 25.56% for him, and still less than 1 percent to tie. He's still beating me one out of four times, but I'm in great shape on this flop.

On fourth street, he has only one more chance to hit his hand, since he missed here. Now it's 81.82% for me to win, 18.18% for him, and no chance of a tie. He beats me almost once in five times on average here.

Unfortunately this was one of those times, but I'm confident that if I keep getting my chips in when I'm in spots like these, that I'll be able to succeed in these tournaments.