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Posts Tagged ‘poker strategy’

Not long ago Joe Cada won the WSOP Main Event becoming the youngest winner in World Series of Poker (WSOP) history beating out 46 year old Darvin Moon a logger from Maryland.

With the youngsters win I expected there would be an influx of “young’ns” flocking to online poker sites to learn how to play poker. Most new players will likely be around Joe Cada’s age and at some point will end up playing in a brick and mortar poker room very soon. Many of them won’t know the first thing about table etiquette so hopefully this list will help. Even more important for those that have been playing for some time now, I hope this list helps you stinky effers out there that just don’t have a clue. Please take this as your clue and be observant and try washing your ass once in awhile.

1. Take a shower

Please take a shower before you go to the poker room. Just using a quick swipe of deodorant on those sticky pits that you haven’t washed in 3 days will not last very long. You may not realize it but you stink and everyone around you knows it’s you. Wash your hairy ass too, you got poop stuck in it.

2. Do Something About that Stench in Your Mouth

Smokers AND Non-Smokers. Smokers bring a tub of mints with you and use them after your smoke break the while tables smells you when you come back. Non-Smokers you too!! Most of you think that because you don’t smoke your breath can’t possibly smell. However after you’ve had your mouth closed for so long that disgusting pit becomes a cannon of shit vapor every time you open it. Don’t talk to me and if you need to please do so from the next room.

3. Brush Yo Damn Toof

So you’ve showered and you think you’re ready to go play some poker right after you have a glass of chocolate milk andeat the rest of mama’s homemade pasta from last night. You know that pasta that she loads up with garlic when she’s cooking it? Taste soooo goood!! Guess what? What you ate last night is seeping through your pores right now as well as still permeating from that cave a death. Wait don’t worry about brushing your teeth, brush that tongue because it smells like you’ve been licking your ass with it.

4. Don’t Fart/Burp

Ok so everyone has to pass some gas or burp after awhile. It’s understandable but when you have to try stepping away from the table and allow that fart to spread at someone elses table before coming back to ours. If you have to burp at the very least turn your head all the way around like your Linda Blair and away from the table. Let it all out before turning baclk around.

5. Wash Your Hands

Go to the bathroom wash your freakn hands dude when you’re done. You’ve been touching chips that everyone else has been touching then you gotta go touch your junk and comeback to the table. The last thing I want to do after smelling you is touch your dirty penis as I’m stacking your chips.

6. Don’t Crowd Your Neighbor

Look fatso you’ve taken up enough room you don’t need and you cannot have more room from me AND I don’t want to smell your stinky ass anymore. Be considerate.

7. Don’t Be the Table Captain

So you’ve played more online tournaments than anyone at your table or you’re so damn old that that none of us will ever see as many hands as you have in a whole lifetime. Not everyone plays as bad as….wait…..not everyone plays like you and it’s not your job, nor do you have the right to tell anyone how to play. Shut up!

8. It’s Not The Dealers Fault

Just because you got beat by a 2 or 4 outter does not mean the dealer did it to you on purpose. In fact most dealers cannot stack a deck on you even if they tried too. Most of the time the cards are scrambled and shuffled a couple of times then thrown into an automatic card shuffler, cut and then the dealt to the table. Be patient, keep your mouth shut and wait for the donkey that just slammed you to make a mistake. You wanted that call, it just didn’t work out.

9. Don’t Tap The Tank

Speaking of being patient and waiting for others to make a mistake don’t berate another player because they made the bad call of the decade and got lucky. Don’t tell them how they should have played it. It’s their hand not yours and once again you want them to make these calls, that’s how you get paid. Congratulate them and a well played and then tuck yourself back in kelp and wait for that fish to come back, then eat him alive.

10. Show Your Damn Cards

If you were the last aggressor don’t play the “you show first game” it’s stupid and holds the game up. If you bet out show your damn cards, if you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar everyone will know anyway.

Short Version: Don’t Be The Ass That You Are

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Andy Bloch on Semi-Bluffing

Andy Bloch

The semi-bluff is one of the most powerful weapons in any poker player?s arsenal. If there?s a decent chance you can steal a pot by semi-bluffing, you should usually take it. But, as with any play you make at the table, the semi-bluff is always most effective when you use it at the correct time in the correct situation. Semi-bluff too much and your opponents will know when you?re on the draw; semi-bluff too little and your opponents will know to fold whenever you bet. The key to semi-bluffing is to always mix things up and never become too predictable with your betting patterns.

Let?s say that you?ve flopped the nut flush draw and are pretty certain your opponent has connected with the flop in some way, be it top pair or maybe even a set. A lot of players like to check-raise as a semi-bluff in this spot. There are a couple of problems with this play: first, if you always check-raise in this spot then your opponent will be able to put you on a draw very easily. Second, if your opponent really does have a hand, there?s no need to check-raise here because there?s no way he?s folding and there?s a good chance he?ll pay you off anyway if you hit your hand.

A better move in this spot might be not semi-bluffing and just calling instead. This way, if you hit your flush on the turn, your options are wide open ? checking, calling or raising are all viable plays ? and your opponent won?t be able to put you on a hand quite as easily. By not semi-bluffing, you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot when your opponent actually has a strong hand. There are players out there who?ll assume you?re not on the draw if you don?t semi-bluff, so use that to your advantage.

Now, if you don?t think that your opponent has a strong hand or your draw isn?t that strong (say a low flush draw), this is the perfect time for a semi-bluff. The semi-bluff should be used as a tool to steal pots when the opportunity arises, not as a means of building big pots.

Another good way to mix up your semi-bluffing game plan is to wait until the turn to semi-bluff rather than always doing it on the flop. This can be a dangerous play because you?ve only got one card to come on the turn and you?re not getting the same odds. But it also means that your opponent is less likely to think that you?re semi-bluffing and put you on the draw. It looks pretty strong if you call on the flop and then raise on the turn; your opponent might think you?ve flopped the nuts and throw away a pretty strong hand.

Another advantage to semi-bluffing on the turn rather than the flop is that you could pick up additional outs on the turn. Say you have a gut-shot straight draw on the flop and then pick up a flush draw on the turn. You?ve just gone from four outs to about 12, which might be worth a shot at taking down the pot right then and there. A lot of players will also have trouble putting you on the flush draw in this spot; it?s just harder to see that flush draw on the turn than it is on the flop.

Once again, the key to a good semi-bluff is picking the right spot to pull it off. Choose poorly and you could stand to lose a good portion of your stack; choose well and you could throw your opponents off balance and hit them where it hurts when you make your hand.

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I would laugh and call FullTilt Poker a joke but they really have had some of their pros put out some good and really helpful articles on playing poker.

However they have now thoroughly confused me with this “tip” by Phil Gordon. I suppose maybe they needed him to actually do some work for what they pay him. Too bad Phil Gordon failed.

Phil I’d like to give you a good kick in the nuts if you were serious when submitting this to FullTilt. Do you really not think poker players run this through their head? It’s soooo basic that even a beginner will do this. Phil Gordon you are a joke.

The Script

Phil Gordon

April 4, 2005

In an effort to simplify my decisions, every single time it’s my turn to act, I try to run through the same script in my head:

Are my opponents playing conservatively? Aggressively? Tentatively?

What are some of the hands my opponents are likely to hold?

What do my opponents think I have?

Once I have the answer to the first question, and feel confident about my range of answers for the second and third questions, I move on to the most important question:

Should I bet or raise?

If I think I have the best hand, I nearly always answer “Yes” and I bet or raise.

If I think I can force weak opponents out of the pot with this bet or with future bets, I nearly always answer “Yes” and I bet or raise.

If I don’t think betting or raising is the right decision, I move on to the last question:

Should I check (or fold)?

If I think I have the worst hand, I nearly always answer “Yes” and I check or fold. If I think my opponents are strong, I nearly always answer “Yes” and check or fold. After a careful analysis, if I’m not sure if I should raise and I’m not sure I should fold, I feel confident that calling a bet (or checking) is correct.

I find that even in straight-forward and obvious situations, by running through the script I often find opportunities that other players might miss. And by asking the “raise” question before the “fold” and “call” question, I ensure that I am playing aggressive, winning poker.

Try using this script next time you sit down at the table, and see if simplifying your inner dialog forces your opponents into making more complicated decisions.

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I copied this a long time ago from another site, wish I could remember which one as I would be happy to give them credit.

This brief poker strategy guide is aimed towards beginning players who know the rules of Texas Hold?em, but have little or no knowledge of actual poker strategy.? This guide is targeted towards those playing low limit poker.? No limit is an entirely different game and in my opinion, should only be approached after having mastered limit.? It?s much easier on the emotions to have a bad losing session of limit than it is to have one at no limit where you could potentially lose several buy-ins within an hour or less.

The starting hand chart is designed for the specific purpose of helping new players to? tighten up and not lose their poker bankrolls right off the bat.? If you follow the chart, you will play far less hands than you are probably used to.? This is intentional, as one of the purposes of the starting hand chart is to teach players to tighten up their play.? Many beginning or uninformed players play more than 75% of the hands dealt to them, and then become discouraged when they realize they?ve just blown $200 in one sitting.? Especially at the beginning, you should never play more than 30% of the hands dealt to you.? The chart is in some cases overly conservative and is meant to be used as a learning tool.? After you have studied and understand the basics of pre-flop strategy, you will want to loosen up in some cases based upon the type of game and the players you?re facing.? The starting hand chart was put together based on data gathered from thousands of hands played by an advanced player.? This guide is in no way complete.? I would strongly suggest further reading and study once you understand the basics of limit Hold?em.

Playing solid poker is about making good decisions more frequently than poor ones, even when it seems like all you?re doing is losing money.? You might fold A9 offsuit from early position and then see a flop of AA9, and then kick yourself because by your thinking, you messed up big time.? Well, you didn?t screw up.? Although it?s painful to watch a big pot slip away that you think you should have won, you need to realize that playing good, solid poker? isn?t about receiving gratification right now.? It also isn?t about feeling good.? It?s about winning more than you lose, over the long run.? It?s about making correct choices more often than incorrect ones, even if in the short run it appears that you?re losing money.

This is one of the things I love about poker.? It?s strange at times.? You can play technically perfect poker, and lose.? Or you can play lousy poker and win big.? That?s what keeps poor players coming back.? If poor players never got lucky, then the only people left playing would be good players.? And that?s a horrible thing to contemplate!? Poor players remember fondly the time they got lucky with 5-2 offsuit and hit their runner runner straight on the river.? People have selective memories.? They?ll remember the few times they hit their straight and choose to ignore the 100 other times their hand lost them money.

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