When an ace hits the flop, players tend to focus on the immediate danger it poses and forget that the ace can play as a low card as well. For example if you see a flop like: Ah 9c 2s you immediately wonder if someone is holding an ace. You don't see a straight draw or a flush draw. If you have an ace yourself you wonder if you kicker is good. If you are lucky enough to have pocket 9's, you are praying someone else has AK and will pay you off. If the turn brings a 5, many players, particularly if they are holding a set or two pair, may not realize that anyone holding 3 4 has just made a straight. They bet pocket aces as if it is the nuts - and if the board doesn't pair on the river you will get ALL of their chips.
The ace-to-five straight, commonly known as "the wheel" is one of the sneakiest hands to hold. people just don't always see it coming, and they are less likely to see it coming when they are excited about their own hand.
Play the wheel draw aggressively - particularly if you have a tight table image. People will not put you on this hand. The element of surprise will be on your side.
I like playing 2 3 and 3 4 and 2 5. If I am first to act, I will often enter with a raise. My tight image has won me several uncontested pots this way - everyone thinks I'm holding a big hand and folds to me. When I do get a caller, I can be pretty sure they have either a "strong" ace (that is an ace with a big kicker) or a pocket pair- the exact hands that can fall victim to the wheel.
If I am in late position, I might also call with 3 4 pre-flop, particularly if their are many players in the hand. The more people that see the flop, the more likely someone will catch a piece of it and, hopefully, pay me off if I get there.
2 3 is an easy hand to fold to flops like K Q 10. I like playing hands that are easy to fold. Remember: in no-limit the plan is to lose small pots and win big ones.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Muddleheaded
I lost $200 at the poker room yesterday, but even worse than the financial hit is the fact that I can't figure out what happened. If you are playing within proper bankroll limits, then losing a stake to single session is not the end of the world. But it is troubling when make drunk-guy mistakes when stone-cold sober.
The red flag that I should have been paying attention to was that I was simply confused as to what cards were making the best hands. Several times it seemed to me that the dealer was pushing the pot to the wrong player. One guy might "win" with two pair, but wait! Doesn't that other guy have a straight!? No I guess he must not or someone else would have said something and the board is mucked before I can confirm what I think.
This keeps happening all session long. One time, when I was sure the dealer was making a mistake and pushing the pot to the wrong guy, I cried out "No, wait!" and everyone looked at me while I tried to make sense of the board. No, that straight I thought was there wasn't there. How could I be so stupid? I apologized to the table and never questioned the dealer again, even when he gave the pot to someone else when I thought I won it.
What was wrong with me? I tried to force myself to focus, but it wasn't any good. It was like I was playing in a parallel universe to the rest of the table - one where the rules of poker were slightly different. One where an ace that comes on the flop can turn into a four if you look twice.
Is it surprising that I lost all my money?
Is it surprising that I'm worried about my mental state?
The red flag that I should have been paying attention to was that I was simply confused as to what cards were making the best hands. Several times it seemed to me that the dealer was pushing the pot to the wrong player. One guy might "win" with two pair, but wait! Doesn't that other guy have a straight!? No I guess he must not or someone else would have said something and the board is mucked before I can confirm what I think.
This keeps happening all session long. One time, when I was sure the dealer was making a mistake and pushing the pot to the wrong guy, I cried out "No, wait!" and everyone looked at me while I tried to make sense of the board. No, that straight I thought was there wasn't there. How could I be so stupid? I apologized to the table and never questioned the dealer again, even when he gave the pot to someone else when I thought I won it.
What was wrong with me? I tried to force myself to focus, but it wasn't any good. It was like I was playing in a parallel universe to the rest of the table - one where the rules of poker were slightly different. One where an ace that comes on the flop can turn into a four if you look twice.
Is it surprising that I lost all my money?
Is it surprising that I'm worried about my mental state?
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
An Embarassing Win
About two months ago I did something really dumb and somehow didn't lose a large amount of money. I've told my friends about it, but I never got around to writing about until now. I don't know if it serves any educational purpose to relate it, but it was very weird. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned about paying attention.
I had been playing $1/$2 no limit for about two hours and had grown my stack from $200 to around $320 - playing my usual tight game. Buddy on my left was pretty loose, and I'd taken a few pots when he called when he should have folded.
Then this happened:
I was in late position when Lucky-Short-Stack (middle position) raised $15 pre-flop with only around $80 in chips in front of him. I looked down at J9o and made what can only be described as a very bad call. Why I did this I can't say - against a short stack it seems a very bad play because even if I hit, I'm not going to get a huge pay-off. It was dumb and inexplicable as up to that point I'd been playing smart poker. Anyway Buddy-On-my-Left also calls so three of us see the flop: Ks Qd 5h
Okay, I've got an open-ended straight draw. That's a 1-in-3 shot to complete if I can stick around to the river right? There's about $40 in the pot. Lucky is the first to act and he fires half of his stack - $40 - into the middle. I'm getting pot odds to call, so I do. Buddy calls too. With a $160 pot the three of us see the turn. The board now looks like this: Ks Qd 5h 2s.
Lucky puts his last $40 in. Praying I hit my straight, I call. Now the pot is $280, with Lucky all in. Buddy calls as well.
The river brings an 8h! I hit my straight! Whoopee! Now I'm gonna clean out Buddy here for all his chips! There is no way he can escape! I just check, not wanting to scare him away. Just as I expected he put in a bet - but only $100, much to my disappointment. I hemmed and hawed a bit to sell it, then pushed all-in - a $200 re-raise.
And then it hit me: I don't have a straight. In fact, I don't have anything at all. I just put all my chips into a pot without so much as a pair. Even though I suddenly felt like puking, I somehow managed to keep my face from betraying me. After about two minutes (It felt like twenty) Buddy folds - showing that he had A K. I guess he was convinced by my tight play that top-pair top-kicker wasn't good enough to beat me. The side pot was mine.
I would have mucked my hand, except I was also in the main pot with Lucky-Short-Stack, so I had to show. "I got nothing." I said as I flip my cards over. Buddy, as you might expect, is a little put out. Lucky-Short-Stack, can't believe it - all he has is a pair of queens, but since I pushed out Buddy (who says he folded kings) he goes from getting busted to tripling up.
For all my incredible risk taking, I only made about $20 in total because I lost the main pot. Still it could have been - should have been- a disaster for me.
I ended up $140 up on the day when I left about an hour later. What can you learn from this? Nothing except that sometimes lady luck smiles even on idiots.
I had been playing $1/$2 no limit for about two hours and had grown my stack from $200 to around $320 - playing my usual tight game. Buddy on my left was pretty loose, and I'd taken a few pots when he called when he should have folded.
Then this happened:
I was in late position when Lucky-Short-Stack (middle position) raised $15 pre-flop with only around $80 in chips in front of him. I looked down at J9o and made what can only be described as a very bad call. Why I did this I can't say - against a short stack it seems a very bad play because even if I hit, I'm not going to get a huge pay-off. It was dumb and inexplicable as up to that point I'd been playing smart poker. Anyway Buddy-On-my-Left also calls so three of us see the flop: Ks Qd 5h
Okay, I've got an open-ended straight draw. That's a 1-in-3 shot to complete if I can stick around to the river right? There's about $40 in the pot. Lucky is the first to act and he fires half of his stack - $40 - into the middle. I'm getting pot odds to call, so I do. Buddy calls too. With a $160 pot the three of us see the turn. The board now looks like this: Ks Qd 5h 2s.
Lucky puts his last $40 in. Praying I hit my straight, I call. Now the pot is $280, with Lucky all in. Buddy calls as well.
The river brings an 8h! I hit my straight! Whoopee! Now I'm gonna clean out Buddy here for all his chips! There is no way he can escape! I just check, not wanting to scare him away. Just as I expected he put in a bet - but only $100, much to my disappointment. I hemmed and hawed a bit to sell it, then pushed all-in - a $200 re-raise.
And then it hit me: I don't have a straight. In fact, I don't have anything at all. I just put all my chips into a pot without so much as a pair. Even though I suddenly felt like puking, I somehow managed to keep my face from betraying me. After about two minutes (It felt like twenty) Buddy folds - showing that he had A K. I guess he was convinced by my tight play that top-pair top-kicker wasn't good enough to beat me. The side pot was mine.
I would have mucked my hand, except I was also in the main pot with Lucky-Short-Stack, so I had to show. "I got nothing." I said as I flip my cards over. Buddy, as you might expect, is a little put out. Lucky-Short-Stack, can't believe it - all he has is a pair of queens, but since I pushed out Buddy (who says he folded kings) he goes from getting busted to tripling up.
For all my incredible risk taking, I only made about $20 in total because I lost the main pot. Still it could have been - should have been- a disaster for me.
I ended up $140 up on the day when I left about an hour later. What can you learn from this? Nothing except that sometimes lady luck smiles even on idiots.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Fun Factor
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the detrimental effect fear will have on your game. Yesterday, while playing in a live tournament, it suddenly struck me that having fun at the poker table actually helps you win.
My epiphany came as I sat with a hot Asian chick on my left who obviously was enjoying herself, kibbitzing and teasing, not taking the game like it was life and death. On my right sat Bad Luck Schleprock, a miserable grumbler who had his own personal rain-cloud hovering over him. There was another happy-go-lucky fellow at the table too, and this guy seemed to be unbeatable. He was playing every second or third pot and winning more than his fair share of them. Sure enough Schleprock's stack soon dwindled to nothing while Mr.Fun and Glamour Girl ran over the rest of us.
Does winning at poker make you happy? It seems like the answer should be an obvious yes, but I'm not so sure. What I am more confident in saying is that being happy makes you more likely to win at poker. Poker is, after all, a game. The playful mind sees possibilities where the grumpy mind sees foolishness. Furthermore a happy-go-lucky demeanour can put the grouches on tilt, the grouch is convinced Mr. Happy is not good but lucky, and they let this perception influence their decisions.
I once heard someone say you should play poker with a loose body and a tight mind. Maybe "happy" is too general a word for this "loose body" state I am referring to. It is a concept that I am still trying to understand. Any insights you would care to share would be appreciated.
My epiphany came as I sat with a hot Asian chick on my left who obviously was enjoying herself, kibbitzing and teasing, not taking the game like it was life and death. On my right sat Bad Luck Schleprock, a miserable grumbler who had his own personal rain-cloud hovering over him. There was another happy-go-lucky fellow at the table too, and this guy seemed to be unbeatable. He was playing every second or third pot and winning more than his fair share of them. Sure enough Schleprock's stack soon dwindled to nothing while Mr.Fun and Glamour Girl ran over the rest of us.
Does winning at poker make you happy? It seems like the answer should be an obvious yes, but I'm not so sure. What I am more confident in saying is that being happy makes you more likely to win at poker. Poker is, after all, a game. The playful mind sees possibilities where the grumpy mind sees foolishness. Furthermore a happy-go-lucky demeanour can put the grouches on tilt, the grouch is convinced Mr. Happy is not good but lucky, and they let this perception influence their decisions.
I once heard someone say you should play poker with a loose body and a tight mind. Maybe "happy" is too general a word for this "loose body" state I am referring to. It is a concept that I am still trying to understand. Any insights you would care to share would be appreciated.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Confessions of a Nit
A few years ago I started hearing the word "nit" applied to a particular type of player- one who is extremely tight and cautious (I like the word "cautious" but you could also use the word "passive"). Being called a nit is kind of an insult. A lot of players equate a nit to a chicken-shit - a player who is simply afraid to take chances. Some dislike nits because it is so difficult to win big pots off them. Some players like to insult the nits in hopes it will make them play more recklessly.
The truth (and of course I'm generalizing) is that playing like a nit is profitable at low-stakes games. Why is that? I think it's because at $1/$2 NLHE, players generally make bigger bets in relation to the blind. It is not uncommon, in my experience, to see guys make $20 pre-flop bets. $20 doesn't seem like a lot of money, but when you view it as a bet that is 10 times the big blind, it is quite a lot. In a $10/$20 game, you would very rarely see a $200 pre-flop bet. Because the blinds are low at the $1/$2 level, lots of players are very loose with their starting hand requirements and want to see a lot of flops. By playing fewer hands, the nit has the advantage of usually holding the better starting hand, and only winning a few pots can be profitable because they are generally large compared to the blinds.
The big disadvantage to being a nit is that your opponents will quickly target you as a guy who can be pushed off hands. You can turn this to your advantage, however. The prejudice against the nit is that they have neither courage nor imagination - therefore when you do bet you will be given credit for having a legitimate hand. You can steal pots. as long as you don't do it so frequently as to endanger your nit status. If you have established yourself as a nit, when a bully tries to bluff you, you can bluff him back, and because at the low stakes these pots are usually several times the big blind, you only have to scoop a few to have a winning session. Let yourself be pushed off a lot of pots; you only have to scoop one here and there to stay in the positive. Don't get greedy.
Playing tight for the first couple of hours at the poker table has two advantages. 1) You develop a nit image which you can turn to your favour later on. 2) You can focus on trying to identify which of your opponents are the most likely to try to take advantage of you; these are not necessarily the most aggressive players, but the ones you think have pegged you for a nit. These are the ones you have to try to isolate and attack later on.
If this style of play appeals to you, you can do certain things to develop a nit image. When you are the only person at the table not to enter a "family pot", especially when you are in late position, it is so obvious that you are tight that even the dullest opponent will take note. Once I refused to enter an unraised family pot when I was in the small blind. This fold is so rare, particularly at the low-limit games, that the dealer remarked, "Everyone's in...except for one incredible tight-ass." I got away with murder for hours after that!
Remember, often what your opponent thinks you are holding is much more important than what you are actually holding.
The truth (and of course I'm generalizing) is that playing like a nit is profitable at low-stakes games. Why is that? I think it's because at $1/$2 NLHE, players generally make bigger bets in relation to the blind. It is not uncommon, in my experience, to see guys make $20 pre-flop bets. $20 doesn't seem like a lot of money, but when you view it as a bet that is 10 times the big blind, it is quite a lot. In a $10/$20 game, you would very rarely see a $200 pre-flop bet. Because the blinds are low at the $1/$2 level, lots of players are very loose with their starting hand requirements and want to see a lot of flops. By playing fewer hands, the nit has the advantage of usually holding the better starting hand, and only winning a few pots can be profitable because they are generally large compared to the blinds.
The big disadvantage to being a nit is that your opponents will quickly target you as a guy who can be pushed off hands. You can turn this to your advantage, however. The prejudice against the nit is that they have neither courage nor imagination - therefore when you do bet you will be given credit for having a legitimate hand. You can steal pots. as long as you don't do it so frequently as to endanger your nit status. If you have established yourself as a nit, when a bully tries to bluff you, you can bluff him back, and because at the low stakes these pots are usually several times the big blind, you only have to scoop a few to have a winning session. Let yourself be pushed off a lot of pots; you only have to scoop one here and there to stay in the positive. Don't get greedy.
Playing tight for the first couple of hours at the poker table has two advantages. 1) You develop a nit image which you can turn to your favour later on. 2) You can focus on trying to identify which of your opponents are the most likely to try to take advantage of you; these are not necessarily the most aggressive players, but the ones you think have pegged you for a nit. These are the ones you have to try to isolate and attack later on.
If this style of play appeals to you, you can do certain things to develop a nit image. When you are the only person at the table not to enter a "family pot", especially when you are in late position, it is so obvious that you are tight that even the dullest opponent will take note. Once I refused to enter an unraised family pot when I was in the small blind. This fold is so rare, particularly at the low-limit games, that the dealer remarked, "Everyone's in...except for one incredible tight-ass." I got away with murder for hours after that!
Remember, often what your opponent thinks you are holding is much more important than what you are actually holding.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
The moment 2012 began I was holding A7 off. I missed the flop when the hand was suspended while everyone at the party hugged and kissed and wished each other all the best for the new year. My first poker act of the year was a fold.
What better way to ring in a new year than playing poker with your friends and family? In my case it was a very informal tournament-style game with my wife, my sister-in-law Liz, and friends Lee and Wally. It broke up at around 2 a.m. with Liz and I agreeing to split the pot. My share of the winnings included a scratch-n-win lotto ticket worth $9.
May 2012 be a great year for you at the poker table, but more importantly I wish you a healthy, happy year in which poker is just one part of your balanced life. Remember the important things; friends, family, and not calling all-in bets with just a gut-shot draw....Not that I'm bitter about that particular bad beat. That was last year, after all.
My best to you all. I hope we can help each other become better players this year.
Peace.
What better way to ring in a new year than playing poker with your friends and family? In my case it was a very informal tournament-style game with my wife, my sister-in-law Liz, and friends Lee and Wally. It broke up at around 2 a.m. with Liz and I agreeing to split the pot. My share of the winnings included a scratch-n-win lotto ticket worth $9.
May 2012 be a great year for you at the poker table, but more importantly I wish you a healthy, happy year in which poker is just one part of your balanced life. Remember the important things; friends, family, and not calling all-in bets with just a gut-shot draw....Not that I'm bitter about that particular bad beat. That was last year, after all.
My best to you all. I hope we can help each other become better players this year.
Peace.
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