A week had past since my last visit to the Casino. It had been a bad week so I was really looking forward to playing poker and not thinking about the negative things that had been happening. When I got to poker room I noticed that a guest book was laid out on a table with some pictures beside it. Going up to take a look I saw that one of the dealers had died five days earlier. I was shocked because the guy was so young - the dates listed beside his picture told me he was only 29 years old. I found out from the House Lady that it had been an accidental overdose. I didn't know the guy very well but he was always friendly and smiling. Full of life. It is, of course, a terrible thing. I don't know his story, whether he made a particularly bad decision or if he just got unlucky or some combination of things. I think he was a good person.
The game itself went horribly. I could not make a right move. Twice I lost with pocket aces. Once I had pocket kings, bet heavy and had four callers only to see an ace hit the flop. I threw my kings away - the right move- and kissed my chips good bye. I hit a set and lost to a backdoor flush. The final straw was hitting a flush that lost to a full house. It took about three hours and I lost all the money I had brought. I fought off the urge to get more money. My day was over.
I think my negativity had followed me into the card room. If something is causing you problems in your life, it is likely to cause you problems a the poker table as well. I think I need to stop playing for a little while - at least a month - to get my life back into balance. I hope once I do so I can return to the game with positive attitude and positive results.
Please excuse me, but I'm going to take a month off from the blog as well.
Take care of yourself, whoever you are. Life can be short and there are more important things to do with it than playing cards.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Playing Big Slick Properly
It's been awhile, but to make it up to you all I've written today's post with lovely footnotes!
Last week I went bust when I over bet AK pre-flop and couldn't get away from my hand when I flopped two pair. You can read all about that fiasco in my last post: Over Betting Big Slick. This week my trip to the card room had a much happier ending for me and it was due largely to playing AK much more intelligently.
I had been at the table for about two hours and was up about $100 when I was dealt AK under the gun and I just limped in* hoping someone would raise behind me. Sure enough a loose guy raised it to $15 (on a $2 big blind). The guy on my right called, I called, and so three of us saw the flop: A 9 5 rainbow, giving me top pair with the best kicker. Being first to act in a position like this is, in my opinion, not such a bad thing. Continuation bets are common and if you bet, say, half the pot in a situation like this it doesn't necessarily tell your opponents you have a strong hand. So I bet half the pot.** The original better folds and the guy on my right calls. What could he have? Could be a set, but that is unlikely enough that I think I'm probably ahead here. It is much more likely that my opponent doesn't think I'm very strong,*** so he could very well still be in this hand with a weaker Ace than mine. I think I'm ahead. The turn is a 10. I bet $100 and he folds whatever he was playing.
Okay, I over bet the turn there...but up until that point I played it well - representing a weaker hand than the one I had until I went nuts and bet too much on the turn. Still, a nice pot.
The second time I caught AK was about an hour later. Again I was in early position, again I just limped in, and again someone after me raised it to $15. Just like in the first example there were three players including myself who saw the flop, but this time the flop was a bunch of rags no one was likely to connect with. Acting first I made my half the pot bet^ and this time both opponents called me. Believe it or not, I was not unhappy with this situation. Sure I only had two overcards, but I thought it was likely that my opponents didn't connect with this flop either and were in no better shape than I was. My plan was to check if I hit the turn or bluff if I didn't. The turn brought another rag and I fired out $100 (which was the wrong bet in the first hand, but the right bet here) and my opponents folded.
So there you are; two instances where I caught AK and managed to take down good pots with them. You will notice that the hands I won with, a pair and ace high, were both very weak hands compared with the two pair I lost a bundle with last week. This just shows that it is not the absolute strength of your cards that matter - it is the relative strength.
Footnotes:
* Alright, I know I've written that you really shouldn't limp, but this was a pretty aggressive table and I felt the chances were good someone would raise behind me and I could passively call. This would put the focus on the raiser (and take it off me) as likely having good cards. If an Ace or King came on the flop it would be less likely my opponent would think I hit. This is more or less the way it worked out.
**HALF THE POT. That's is how much you should bet when you are first to act and you have flopped top pair with top kicker. I would like everyone in the class to repeat that aloud three times: "Half-the-pot. Half-the-pot. Half-the-pot." Why? Betting half the pot allows people with weaker hands to call you, and if anyone has a better hand than you it helps to limit your losses. Don't over bet any pair, even a pair of aces. Remember my folly last week?
***Remember my original limp? How I just called pre-flop? Signs of weakness my savvy opponent picked up on. My half-pot post-flop bet wasn't exactly frightening either.
^ It is a good idea to make your bets the same size regardless if you are holding the nuts or stone cold bluffing. Experienced players will quickly pick up on any betting patterns you have, so you won't give away information if your bets are consistent.
Last week I went bust when I over bet AK pre-flop and couldn't get away from my hand when I flopped two pair. You can read all about that fiasco in my last post: Over Betting Big Slick. This week my trip to the card room had a much happier ending for me and it was due largely to playing AK much more intelligently.
I had been at the table for about two hours and was up about $100 when I was dealt AK under the gun and I just limped in* hoping someone would raise behind me. Sure enough a loose guy raised it to $15 (on a $2 big blind). The guy on my right called, I called, and so three of us saw the flop: A 9 5 rainbow, giving me top pair with the best kicker. Being first to act in a position like this is, in my opinion, not such a bad thing. Continuation bets are common and if you bet, say, half the pot in a situation like this it doesn't necessarily tell your opponents you have a strong hand. So I bet half the pot.** The original better folds and the guy on my right calls. What could he have? Could be a set, but that is unlikely enough that I think I'm probably ahead here. It is much more likely that my opponent doesn't think I'm very strong,*** so he could very well still be in this hand with a weaker Ace than mine. I think I'm ahead. The turn is a 10. I bet $100 and he folds whatever he was playing.
Okay, I over bet the turn there...but up until that point I played it well - representing a weaker hand than the one I had until I went nuts and bet too much on the turn. Still, a nice pot.
The second time I caught AK was about an hour later. Again I was in early position, again I just limped in, and again someone after me raised it to $15. Just like in the first example there were three players including myself who saw the flop, but this time the flop was a bunch of rags no one was likely to connect with. Acting first I made my half the pot bet^ and this time both opponents called me. Believe it or not, I was not unhappy with this situation. Sure I only had two overcards, but I thought it was likely that my opponents didn't connect with this flop either and were in no better shape than I was. My plan was to check if I hit the turn or bluff if I didn't. The turn brought another rag and I fired out $100 (which was the wrong bet in the first hand, but the right bet here) and my opponents folded.
So there you are; two instances where I caught AK and managed to take down good pots with them. You will notice that the hands I won with, a pair and ace high, were both very weak hands compared with the two pair I lost a bundle with last week. This just shows that it is not the absolute strength of your cards that matter - it is the relative strength.
Footnotes:
* Alright, I know I've written that you really shouldn't limp, but this was a pretty aggressive table and I felt the chances were good someone would raise behind me and I could passively call. This would put the focus on the raiser (and take it off me) as likely having good cards. If an Ace or King came on the flop it would be less likely my opponent would think I hit. This is more or less the way it worked out.
**HALF THE POT. That's is how much you should bet when you are first to act and you have flopped top pair with top kicker. I would like everyone in the class to repeat that aloud three times: "Half-the-pot. Half-the-pot. Half-the-pot." Why? Betting half the pot allows people with weaker hands to call you, and if anyone has a better hand than you it helps to limit your losses. Don't over bet any pair, even a pair of aces. Remember my folly last week?
***Remember my original limp? How I just called pre-flop? Signs of weakness my savvy opponent picked up on. My half-pot post-flop bet wasn't exactly frightening either.
^ It is a good idea to make your bets the same size regardless if you are holding the nuts or stone cold bluffing. Experienced players will quickly pick up on any betting patterns you have, so you won't give away information if your bets are consistent.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Over Betting Big Slick
I lost a fair bit of money today when I made a common mistake - over betting AK.
While AK is a premium hand, it's still an underdog to any pair. A pair of pocket two's heads-up against AK will win slightly more than half the time. Knowing this, many players, myself included will bet AK heavy before the flop to chase away smaller pairs. Some people even go all in with AK, to make sure they see all five board cards. The problem with doing this is that you also chase away weaker aces - the very hands you want to get heads up against. Another problem is that you might get called by a big pair, like AA or KK, and find yourself in a world of trouble.
This is what happened to me today. I made a classic mistake of over valuing Big Slick. I had been playing for about four hours and was down $100, when I was dealt AK in middle position. I wanted to win a hand so badly I stomped on the gas pedal. I raised 5 times the big blind and the big blind re-raised me. Now if I had been thinking, I should have put the guy on a premium hand like AA, KK, QQ or AK like me - but I was just so happy to get some action I didn't think at all. When the flop came A K 4 I was cooked - there was no way I wasn't getting all my chips into the middle with the top two pair. I checked, he bet, I moved all-in, he called and showed me KK for a set of kings. The miracle ace did not come to save me and I lost all my chips.
Dumb, dumb, dumb!
Sometimes you get so excited about what you have that you don't stop to think about what the other guy has and the results can be disastrous. This mistake cost me a bundle but if you can learn from my stupidity maybe you can avoid making this error.
While AK is a premium hand, it's still an underdog to any pair. A pair of pocket two's heads-up against AK will win slightly more than half the time. Knowing this, many players, myself included will bet AK heavy before the flop to chase away smaller pairs. Some people even go all in with AK, to make sure they see all five board cards. The problem with doing this is that you also chase away weaker aces - the very hands you want to get heads up against. Another problem is that you might get called by a big pair, like AA or KK, and find yourself in a world of trouble.
This is what happened to me today. I made a classic mistake of over valuing Big Slick. I had been playing for about four hours and was down $100, when I was dealt AK in middle position. I wanted to win a hand so badly I stomped on the gas pedal. I raised 5 times the big blind and the big blind re-raised me. Now if I had been thinking, I should have put the guy on a premium hand like AA, KK, QQ or AK like me - but I was just so happy to get some action I didn't think at all. When the flop came A K 4 I was cooked - there was no way I wasn't getting all my chips into the middle with the top two pair. I checked, he bet, I moved all-in, he called and showed me KK for a set of kings. The miracle ace did not come to save me and I lost all my chips.
Dumb, dumb, dumb!
Sometimes you get so excited about what you have that you don't stop to think about what the other guy has and the results can be disastrous. This mistake cost me a bundle but if you can learn from my stupidity maybe you can avoid making this error.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Two Cute Moves
Some guys are always trying "cute" moves - little tricks to fool opponents. I generally dislike such play but once in a blue moon I pull a cute move out of my bag. Cute moves tend to work in a negative correlation to how often you use them: if you almost never try these little stunts then your opponents are much more likely to fall for them.
Cute move #1: I think you are bluffing. You can use this one either at the real tables or on-line. It actually seems to work best on-line, where players make decisions faster. Beware that anyone who has been around the block a few times has probably seen it before. Think of it like the four move checkmate in chess and don't pull it out unless you are playing relative newbies.
You flop (or turn) a monster and someone makes a big raise at you. Stare intently at you opponent, try to look intimidating and mean (admittedly hard to do on-line). Growl (or type) something like "You hit that?" or "Trying to push me out, huh?". Take a little time to ponder and then just call. More often than not, your opponent will not back down on the next street but will make an even bigger raise. Your act will convince your opponent you are vulnerable (if you weren't vulnerable, why did you try to intimidate?) - very basic reverse psychology that almost always works against inexperienced players.
Cute move #2: What did you say? The best cute moves just come to you out of the blue. The poker muse touches you and you don't think but just act. I'm sure I didn't invent this cute move, but it came to me in a flash and it worked to perfection. This works best if your table image is a little loose or, as was the case with me, you just sat down and are an unknown quantity.
Like in move #1, you flop (or turn) a monster. In my case I was playing pocket 5's against three opponents and the flop was 5 4 5 - giving me quads. I was pretending to be engrossed in something else when the guy before me bet $25 (about half the pot), I shook my attention back to the table and asked "How much to call?" (a beautiful question! It assumes that I'm not even considering a raise!) "$25" said the dealer and I feign relief, "Oh, I thought he said $95! I call."...and I went on to make about $150 on the hand.
Obviously both these moves can only be pulled out when the situation is absolutely perfect. Don't go into your next session with the idea of trying one out because you can't plan to be cute - it just doesn't work. For me a cute move only comes once in a thousand hands, so you have to be very patient and when you feel the time is right, don't think. Just act.
Cute move #1: I think you are bluffing. You can use this one either at the real tables or on-line. It actually seems to work best on-line, where players make decisions faster. Beware that anyone who has been around the block a few times has probably seen it before. Think of it like the four move checkmate in chess and don't pull it out unless you are playing relative newbies.
You flop (or turn) a monster and someone makes a big raise at you. Stare intently at you opponent, try to look intimidating and mean (admittedly hard to do on-line). Growl (or type) something like "You hit that?" or "Trying to push me out, huh?". Take a little time to ponder and then just call. More often than not, your opponent will not back down on the next street but will make an even bigger raise. Your act will convince your opponent you are vulnerable (if you weren't vulnerable, why did you try to intimidate?) - very basic reverse psychology that almost always works against inexperienced players.
Cute move #2: What did you say? The best cute moves just come to you out of the blue. The poker muse touches you and you don't think but just act. I'm sure I didn't invent this cute move, but it came to me in a flash and it worked to perfection. This works best if your table image is a little loose or, as was the case with me, you just sat down and are an unknown quantity.
Like in move #1, you flop (or turn) a monster. In my case I was playing pocket 5's against three opponents and the flop was 5 4 5 - giving me quads. I was pretending to be engrossed in something else when the guy before me bet $25 (about half the pot), I shook my attention back to the table and asked "How much to call?" (a beautiful question! It assumes that I'm not even considering a raise!) "$25" said the dealer and I feign relief, "Oh, I thought he said $95! I call."...and I went on to make about $150 on the hand.
Obviously both these moves can only be pulled out when the situation is absolutely perfect. Don't go into your next session with the idea of trying one out because you can't plan to be cute - it just doesn't work. For me a cute move only comes once in a thousand hands, so you have to be very patient and when you feel the time is right, don't think. Just act.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Wishing You a Great 2011
A New Year brings a sense of a fresh start and I wish that you, whoever you are, will fulfill your dreams and goals for 2011. I have only been at this blog for a few months but I have enjoyed writing these posts immensely and I hope that you have read something in these pages that has been beneficial to you.
On of the cool things about the Blogger website is that I have access to statistics about who has visited my blog, and I am pleased that people from all over the world have somehow stumbled into my little corner of cyberspace. I am realistic enough to know that most have found me by accident one time and have not found my site interesting enough to return to, but I am very pleased to see repeat visits from certain countries. I can only assume there are a few people out there who like my blog enough to look at it regularly, and if you are one of these folks then I want to thank you. It makes me happy to think that folks in Russia, Malaysia, Serbia and even the Isle of Man are reading JFON. If you have any comments or questions, I'd be happy to hear from you. You can reach me at:
mondaywingnut@hotmail.com
So, whoever you are, have a great 2011. Do all you can to make it the best poker year it can be.
On of the cool things about the Blogger website is that I have access to statistics about who has visited my blog, and I am pleased that people from all over the world have somehow stumbled into my little corner of cyberspace. I am realistic enough to know that most have found me by accident one time and have not found my site interesting enough to return to, but I am very pleased to see repeat visits from certain countries. I can only assume there are a few people out there who like my blog enough to look at it regularly, and if you are one of these folks then I want to thank you. It makes me happy to think that folks in Russia, Malaysia, Serbia and even the Isle of Man are reading JFON. If you have any comments or questions, I'd be happy to hear from you. You can reach me at:
mondaywingnut@hotmail.com
So, whoever you are, have a great 2011. Do all you can to make it the best poker year it can be.
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