Knowing when to Hold 'Em

On my way to the challenge

One of my first posts mentions a challenge - An interesting challenge. Too summarize, one starts with a small stake, and slowly works ones way up to playing larger stakes.

On UB I started with $100. After several weeks of alternately doing well, and then tilting, I decided to take this challenge. I was down to around $50. At that time I started focusing on $.25/.50 Texas Hold 'Em. Over about a week I stated to learn the things I had read. One should generally start with quality. Bet strong hands early. Slow play judiciously. Fold when you are likely beat.

I slowly started building my bankroll to the point that I could move up to $.50/1. Once I got to $100 I was ready. Then one day I had a few hours to enter a multi-table Omaha 8/b tourney (64 players) for $10+1. I really love playing this game, and believe that generally I am a bit better at Omaha and Hold 'Em. Tournament play requires great patience as you must wait for good cards and fold often after the flop.

I got on a nice run and made the final table. Unfortunately, I had to get to the airport at 5:30 to pick someone up. The tourney started at 2:00 and I thought it would finish on time. So when we get to 3 players left (and I have a huge chip lead) I go on conscious tilt - either I would win or lose quickly. I lost, but still won $86! That and a few excellent Hold 'Em days brought me over $200 - the breakpoint for playing $1/2. So now I am a $1/2 player. I am playing some SNGs, and hope to play a multi later this week. I still play some Omaha 8/b as a great alternative game.

So what have I learned thus far (oh - my bankroll is up to $379 this morning) -

• Read, read and then reread - most articles and books have great pearls of wisdom. We however must take the time to understand what we read. Learn a few lessons, and then practice those lessons. Go into each session with a game plan.
• Patience - let the game come to you. Whenever impatience takes over, I become a Big Fish!!!
• You will win some hands on the river; you will lose some hands on the river. Poker still has luck involved. Skill puts you into position to have good luck
• Play on UB and always check to see what you opponents had in the hole when they get to the river. UB makes this easier than Party Poker (you have to ask for email to see hole cards on Party). Knowing the river cards allows you to better gauge your opponents. As you accumulate knowledge, you will better understand their betting patterns.
• Read, read and then try to learn

And if you want to open an account on UB, please email me for the referral. One reader did, and I publicly thank him profusely!!

Both players win in the long run - or how I won a suck out

AQ offsuited. 4 players see one raise (not from me). Flop comes 2,4,5 (rainbow). One player bets, two fold, I see the bet.

Playing 1/2 Hold 'EM on UB. Next card is another 5. My single opponent now bets, I call.

So what am I thinking? I raise this question because I do win the hand and my opponent is aggravated.

If you have been following the hand, there was $10 in the pot prior to the turn. My opponent bet $2, thus I have 6:1 pot odds. Once we have figured out the pot odds, we must figure out my odds of drawing a winning card. I figured that I probably had 10 outs. How did I figure that?

I was guessing that both the A and Q were overcards (if my opponent even had a pair). This was a reasonably loose game, and I had seen him raise the blind with high cards only. Each of the A and Q were worth 3 outs, making 6. My opponent only saw those outs. However, I reminded him that I had a gunshot straight draw (a 3 would give me a straight). This added 4 outs, giving me a total of 4 more outs. Thus I had 10 outs and 36 losers - or 3.6 :1. Since the pot odds exceeded my odds against, seeing the bet made complete sense. In fact, the river was a Q and I won a nice pot.

Looking at the hand from my opponents view, did his bet on the turn make sense? Absolutely, if I see his bet he has the same 6:1 pot odds. He has a major advantage in the hand, and will clearly win more money than he loses.

You can calculate expected values in this hand, and we both are long term winners. Sometimes that occurs in poker.

Think about this analysis carefully the next time you are the victim of a "suck out". They happen on a regular basis. As long as we make consistent logical bets, we should not worry about these losses. They make poker interesting, anxiety provoking and even fun. For more on "suck outs" check out the two links that I have added in the references. I have been studying these articles. They are helping me make good decisions about seeing bets on the turn.

More on playing like Phil Ivey

Comments to my last post suggested that taking time was not relevant to the internet - the time should be spent prior to sitting down at the monitor. Your honor, I object.

I know generally what I want to do, however, I have not thought through every variation that I have seen thus far. Sometimes, a short pause for reflection of what has transpired prior to my bet helps me make a better decision.

These are not necessarily tremendously difficult decisions, rather I find that taking a few seconds keeps me from becoming a maniac (it is always more fun to call or bet than to fold). At this stage of my poker development I must continue to remember that you want to minimize your losses and maximize your winnings. You should fold unless you have a good defendable reason to call or bet. I must remind myself of this truism regularly. Developing the discipline to think before clicking on a button helps me make better decisions.

Play more like Phil Ivey!

I was watching my tape of the WPT finals this weekend. The commentors (who were generally annoying) made a cogent observation on Phil Ivey. He never rushes to bet or check. His discipline is beautiful. Prior to making a decision he obviously thinks!!

Over the past few days I have tried to emulate his deliberations. I have noticed that when I do, my decision making quality improves dramatically. Most of my bad decisions are fast ones.

When I get impatient and start clicking the automatic buttons, I sometimes make mistakes. Poker is not a process that requires rushing. Playing deliberately is not necessarily playing slowly.

Sometimes I do get into a groove where I actually think carefully prior to each decision. At those times I do quite well. But when I do not think, then my game suffers.

So when I next sit at the computer to play, I must remember to play like Phil Ivey and think before I act.

More on Omaha 8/b

A very nice essay on Omaha 8/b - Introduction to Omaha Holdem Strategy. Now I need to study some more.

Hold 'Em and Omaha 8/b

I have been playing both - about 2/3 hold 'em and 1/3 omaha. Most poker blogs talk a lot about hold 'em. So today I plan to open some thinking about omaha 8/b.

One thing that attracts me to this game is the increased number of possibilities. As one of my buddies said when we were playing the other day - I like this game - you have to think!

Simply considered, omaha 8/b gives you 6 hold 'em possibilities playing both high and low. The permutations and combinations are greatly increased. Because of this, the game generally gets more action. Many hands go to the river - many hands!

You expect a much higher rate of seeing the flop. The flops gives you so many possibilities and so much heartache. I have seen it written that good omaha 8/b players can do much better than hold 'em pros.

I am still learning the game but would offer these tips.

• Winning high breaks down to 25% boats, 25% flushes and 25% straights - therefore if one of those is possible (in a low limit game) you must assume someone has it!
• Low hands are only possible 40% of the time. Therefore, even the coveted A2 is a shaky bet before the flop. You often have to pay to the river only to see your low get burned.
• Therefore, you want a high possibility on most hands. Flushes are desirable - so you love 2 suited hands, e.g., As6s2cQc gives you 2 good flush opportunities and a good low opportunity.
• Pairs are good - not great. If you flop a set, then you still will lose often to a straight or a flush - unless you make a boat.

I recommend trying this game online as an alternative. It does help you think and better concentrate on reading the board. Start with free play or very low stakes because it is very different.

Knowing when to fold

On the BB I get dealt pocket 3s. Of course I limp in - I've read 1 in 7.5 times you flop a set. So I flop a set - K 3 8 - rainbow suits.

I bet and 2 players (of a 6 person ring) call. Next card is an 8. Great I have a boat! Time to float. The opponents are fairly loose. I am hoping they have Ks each. I bet and they both call.

This is a big one. I'm all ready to reel them in. The river is a third 8!. I assume someone has me beat. I check, the next bettor bets out, and then the button raises. I fold, the first bettor has the King, and the button has the 4th 8! At least I did not waste the last 2 big bets!

Party and mucked hands

I am trying to understand why I had two intelligent comments that you could see what cards players see the river with on Party. I had hands emailed to me - and sure enough I could see what hands they lost with. However, in playing, when you click on hand history you get this instead.

** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]
ratchethead bets [15].
Kokomo23 raises [65].
JFMWD calls [65].
ratchethead calls [50].
Kokomo23 shows a flush, king high.
JFMWD doesn't show.
ratchethead doesn't show.
Kokomo23 wins 405 chips from the main pot with a flush, king high.

So I have to have an email sent of the hand to see what cards they did not show. On UB you can see in the hand history window.

So my original post on this is slightly mistake, but not totally inaccurate.

UB could upgrade their hand history email procedures - that is a weakness - especially for those who use Poker Tracker (which I should start using)>

Low Limit Hold 'Em

Maybe I'm finally learning. I seem to be a bit dense.

I have played on UB and Party for the past month. I have experimented with different games - hold 'em and Omaha 8/b - different table sizes - 10 ring and 6 ring - and different stakes. I have tried SNGs with modest success.

I realized the other night that to be successful I needed a clear plan. This plan should not waver. The plan would need a consistent method that fit the information which I had gleaned from all my readings and experience.

So I chose 6 handed ring 0.25/0.50 hold 'em on UB. I developed the following game plan -

• Fold weak starting hands - sure we all know that, but in play I (and many of you) get sucked in to calling to see the flop. I am mostly using the information from Abdul Jalib to pick starting hands - Hold'em Preflop Strategy According to Abdul
• Quickly fold when the opening hand is good (not great) and there is aggressive raising (unless the raisers are clearly maniacs)
• Liberal use of check raise when the flop is great
• Almost never raising until the turn (higher bets) - unless I am trying to drive everyone out, i.e. betting a strong pair to prevent flush and straight draws
• Calculating straight and flush draws after the flop and committing to a two round draw or not right then - the key here is that even with decent odds, it is rarely a good bet when you are head up with another player who is betting strong
• Deciding to play the occasional "flyer" hand - 10-7, 9-8, knowing that I will fold unless I get a great flop
• Occasionally letting me opponents know when I have played junk

Over the past 3 days I have done extremely well (average 10 or more BB/ hr.). Now admittedly I am playing a very low limit game with questionable players. I have had the fortune of running into enough maniacs that my deliberate style has had great success.

Of course I might just be lucky. This could be my rush. I will continue at this level for at least a week. If all goes well - then I will proceed to the .50/1 tables.

I do enjoy 6 handed better, as it gives me enough playing action so that I avoid boredom. Playing on the internet is generally much more boring than in a casino. I do better in this faster game because of attention span and it is much easier to peg ones opponents quickly.

More on Party and UB

I just considered another major advantage of UB. On Party losers muck their cards even if they see the bets on the river (unlike the rules in any B&M casino). If you look at the hand histories you do not see what they held.

UB does give you their cards if they see the bets on the river.

This is important if you are trying to understand your opponents. What kinds of hands do they play? How much are they bluffing; how much did you just have a slightly better hand?

I use the hand histories on UB because they are much more informative. IMHO this is a major weakness of Party!

Remember, if you want to join UB email me and get the "friend" referral bonus (disclosure - I win also). I will give you my UB name to receive the bonus.