Posts Tagged ‘poker’

Check-Raising

Hello,

I’ve been into poker for so long. I actually learned the game as a kid more or less 50 years ago. Well, for me, a weekend home game of 5-7 players was fairly common. Players I remember were mostly middle-aged or older and actually were immigrants. While the games, well mostly draw or 5 or 7 stud, and hi-low.

If I remember it right, check-raising in those games was forbidden. Back then, check-raising was something unethical. Bluffing on the other hand, though sounds ironic, was okay if you don’t do it that much.

As of the moment, I believe check-raising adds to strategy as well as to the enjoyment and fairness of the game. Your thoughts?

Thanks a bunch,
Lowell
Lowell,

Check raising used to be frowned upon and even outlawed in a lot of card rooms. Today, the move is considered a normal part of strategy. In fact, it is a skill that every poker player should utilize in order to make more money.

Sharing Information With Players Outside the Game

Hi,

I’ve been into poker for some time now and I’ve already played in 3 various poker situations, casino, online and with friends in home games. Amongst the 3, I found playing with friends the most exciting.

Well, ever since, I have a group of about 12 men that get together and play. I believe because we are only 12, most of us can easily pick up habits of each other and then remember them quickly.

Now, do you think it is fair or ethical to discuss one’s tell, tendencies, habits, etc. with other guys not up for playing?

Thanks a bunch!

All the best,
Vincent
Vincent,

As long as you are not doing it during a hand, there is no problem with this. Actually, it may help you improve as a player as you are analyzing others play and your own. I encourage you to do so.

About Betting Etiquette

Hi,

I have something to ask about betting etiquette. Just the other day, I saw on TV that Daniel Negreanu was on heads up against an amateur. Back then, blind/antes were relatively low. At some point, Daniel placed $600 bet while his opponent went all in with $40,000. After a while, Daniel went on a bit upset due to the all in move. I remember he even said something like “What’s going on here? You move all in against my $800 bet. Last time this other guy raises to $10,000 after a $100 bet.” His opponent then said “Well, that’s poker.” Daniel then answered back with “I don’t know what kind of poker you play, but THAT’S not poker!” Announcers at the event then noticed that Daniel was already a bit frustrated with the amateurs.

Now, because of what I saw on TV, I want to know if there’s any etiquette to be considered when moving all in or else making a huge bet, any idea? Do you think, you can actually make a very huge bet or move all in with lots of money?

Thanks a ton!

Regards,
Andie
Andie,

Daniel’s frustration wasn’t due to any sort of ethical violation. It was due to the fact that players are laying such a huge price. By this I mean, they are raising unrealistic amounts to win a small amount. As Annie Duke said one time, these players that lay these huge prices will only get called by players that can beat them. At this point they are eliminated.

You can bet as much as you want at any time as long as it’s your turn to bet. Just know that when you bet an insane amount to win a little amount, when you get called, you will likely lose.

When to Draw

Hi,

I’ve been into poker for some time now but for some reasons I still don’t when I’m supposed to draw. Any thoughts? For an instance I have a four flush on the flop and someone bets big, do you think I should call fold? Or if not, raise?

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Warm regards,
Romeo
Romeo,

You should only draw to a straight or flush when you have the proper odds to do so. The simplest way to figure this out is first to determine what outs you have. Say you have 9 outs to hit your hand after the flop. Multiply this by 4 and you have your percentage to hit your hand. If you are on the turn, multiply by 2. Next, divide the amount that you must call in the pot, by the current pot size. This will give you the percentage of the pot that your call represents. If the percentage of your hitting the hand is greater than or equal to the percentage of the pot that you must call, then you should draw. If not, then fold.

About Expected Value

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your immediate response last time. I have again some questions to ask. I hope you don’t mind.

First, what is expected value? Second, how do you calculate your expected value and if +/-? Third and last one, how relevant is such concept in no limit holdem?

Thank you in advance!

Regards,
Jimmy
Jimmy,

Expected value is a number that describes the results of a number of actions. It is an average determining what should happen if a certain condition repeats itself. To calculate it you compare your mathematical chances or winning and losing over a particular set of attempts.

Poker is fluid and situational. People that are into EV are basically trying to make an assumption based on the past. The bad part about this assumption is that poker is not static. It changes constantly. While many variables repeat often, many do not. I don’t put a lot of stock into EV for No Limit.

Pot Odds and the Cost to See Fourth Street

Hi,

I actually have two questions to ask but before I lay them down let me first share a bit of myself and my poker experience. Well, I am a beginner who play for small amounts with other couples. For the last 6 months, I’ve played online and lost for many times. The bad beats just actually ended when I started following your advices, tips, etc. Thanks to you!

Now here are my questions:

1. How do you quickly figure how much is in the pot when figuring pot odds? Do you normally keep track of it as you go or just make an estimation when it is already your time to make a move?
2. Say I have Ace 8 h and the flop is queen h 5h 3d. Then my outs are 9 h’s and 3 aces for a total of 12 outs. Later to hit 4th street I have around 24% chance and to the river I have around 48%. At such point, pot size is $100 and for me to stay it will cost me $25 or less. But I wonder, what if it will cost me $75 to stay to see 4th street? Will it be worth it?

Thanks in advance!

Warm regards,
James
James,

1. You need to either track it yourself or get good at estimating the pot size by sight.
   
2. A $75 bet is 42% of the pot. Since you have a 48% chance on the flop to hit your hand by the river, you have odds and should call.

Math and Poker

Hello,

I have some questions to ask. But if I may just say it, I’m not actually into poker. My name is Matthew and I’m just in my eighth grade. I actually have a project that has something to do with math and maybe with poker as well. I need to find questions that are math related.

Now, here are my questions:

1. In Texas Holdem, what’s the probability of getting pocket aces?
2. What are the dimensions of a poker card in regular size?
3. What’s the maximum number of players allowed in Texas Holdem?
4. What’s the probability percentage of getting a royal flush?

Thanks in advance. Your help will be much appreciated!

Again,
Matthew
Matthew

1. Odds of getting pocket aces is 220 to 1.
2. Dimension of most poker card are 3.5″ high and 2.5″wide.
3. Theoretically 22 players can play a single hand of holdem. Typical games are 9 or 10 handed.
4. The odds of making a royal flush is 1 in 649740 or around .0032%.

Poker “Bots” and Legitimacy

Hi,

I heard from some columnists that some online poker sites use “bots”. Unfortunately, I don’t understand what are they and what their purpose is. All I know is that the sites being mentioned weren’t random.

I’ve been into poker for years now and I know the game is usually more on tough beats, and bad players getting lucky. On my experience, well, there were moments when no matter how I seem to play, the other guy catches the only card to save them, or I will miss what seems like 20 draws. There was also one instance where I’ve caught the only card in the deck that could have helped me. However, all these don’t seem random to me.

Another thing I don’t understand is how will I know if a site is legitimate or not. Any thoughts? Please don’t forget about the “bots”.

All the best,
Tim
Tim,

Poker sites do not use “bots” as players. Sites monitor their users to prevent poker playing bots from being run on their system. Most online sites are also monitored by different organizations to ensure proper operations and to prevent users from being taken advantage of.

Algorithm Issue

Hi,

I’ve been playing poker for more or less 35 years now but in an on and off basis. For many years I haven’t played in high limit pots and haven’t shuffled a deck of cards. Just recently, I tried playing online particularly at Ultimatebet.com. Well, I notice that most of the freerolls at the said site do have 800 or more players and I’ve come in in the top 10 for several times and luckily won twice. Now I feel I’m ready to move up but I’m bothered of playing against computer generated cards. Also, I noticed something days ago, it was about the site’s algorithm. Whenever I have an open end straight on the flop the turn is either one card away from completing my straight or else it pairs a card of the flop. For an instance, I have 9/10 and flop is 8/J/3, turn is 6, K or pair the 8, J or 3. In case one tracks such open ends straights, it will be revealed 81 of 100 hands. At times river follows this trend if the turn paired a flopped card and will be one from completing my straight.

Any thoughts?

Thanks a ton!

All the best,
Dave
Dave,

All poker players at one time or another have noticed the abnormalities that you speak of. It is usually explained away by the fact that you see many more cards an hour online than you do live. However, there are times that things tend to run too much in a pattern to seem random. If at any time you don’t feel comfortable with the way a site is run or how the software handles, you do have the option of going to another site.

Upcoming Poker League

Hello,

I’ve been hosting tournaments for some time now and also been playing at casinos and online. Just recently, my wife also decided to try poker and then later on thought of a social event that we could both host. Well, I believe her idea is okay but the problem is that the tournaments I hold are actually with 4+ table. I can’t see my wife throughout the night with such set up.

The other day, we finally came up with a poker league that goes like this:

• 5 couples, 10 players to 1 table.
• 1  night every week for 5 weeks. Every couple must share a place and there’ll be a pot-luck dinner with the hosting couple serving the main course.
• League fees are $5 per person per week.
• Every league night, one can get 10,000 in chips. Blinds raise every 15 minutes.
• Player who’ll get the first place will have 10 points while player who’ll get the tenth place will get 1 point. Each week, max points will be 50 while the least will be 5.
• On the sixth week, there’ll be a tournament of champions with all 10 players. We haven’t yet decided if it will be a winner take all or pay out to 3rd place or even all the way to 10th getting something like $5. But one thing we’re sure, a player will get 5,000 in chips plus 1,000 chips for each point.

If I may just share, I play not just because of money. I love the intellectual challenge of poker so I also play because of the thrill and all.

Any thoughts?

Hope to hear from you in no time.

Best regards,
Sam
Sam,

I like your setup. It sounds like it will be fun. I would get feedback from your players too and see what they like and dislike and look into ways to change things. This will make them feel a part of the process and make the game seem like their own. You will keep players longer this way and hopefully make more money. Good luck to you.

Poker and the Law

Hello,

I’ve started playing poker just recently. First I tried playing at poker rooms that offer free play. Right now I want to start playing online for real money but I’m bothered about the law, particularly about declaring my winnings. I know I look like paranoid and sound silly but I just don’t want to have any headache specially if related to taxes and all. Your thoughts?

Thank you.

Best regards,
Justin
Justin,

If you are a winning player, then you might want to consider hiring an accountant to do your taxes in regards to declaring your gambling winnings. By law, if you win more than $400 in a year, you must declare your winnings. Now, you can declare gambling losses against your wins, but only up to the amount of your wins.

Couple of Questions

Hello,

I’m here to ask couple of questions. But before I lay them down let me first thank you for creating and maintaining a site like this one. It has been a great help to me and to many others. Keep up the good work!

Now, here are my two questions:

1. You once said that the odds of a pair pre-flop are 6% but the odds of AA or KK preflop are 9%. Why is this so? Is there any difference?
2. Why do you think poker is getting more and more popular? Do you think the Rounders movie has something to do with this? How about the power of television?

Thanks in advance!

All the best,
James
James,

1. The odds of being dealt a preflop pair are around 6%. The odds of being dealt Aces or Kings is no different than being dealt deuces.
   
2. The popularity of poker has been mainly due to ESPN’s World Series of Poker and Chris Moneymakers win in 2003. Rounders is a great movie, but only helped make Holdem popular in a small way. Thank Chris Moneymaker for the current poker boom.

On Randomness of Poker Sites

Hello,

First, I’ll start by sharing that I’m just new to poker. I started two months ago and before that I had no experience with poker but had gambled a lot in different ways. I am into no limit and limit.

Just a background, my poker adventure began with friendly game invites from various groups of buddies. And because I had no idea back then as to what I should do when on play, I attached myself to poker sites, books, and the like. Proud to say I was able to understand basic poker concepts, rules, feel, and even strategies. But of course as a starting player I guess it’s just normal that despite of everything, my mind is still clouded with some questions.

Some of the questions are actually below.

1. In a game, who is required to show his hand? And in what order should the hands be shown? In case you fold, I know you don’t have to show your hand, but what if everyone has called the bets?
2. I always here some players moaning about how online poker sites seem to juice the pot to later increase the rake from pot. I also here them say the juicing never happens in real brick and mortar games. Well, I have some thoughts on this, they’re about three-fold.

a. In an online game, the randomness is closer to true randomness than a brick and mortar game as it takes 57 and a half shuffles to finally randomize a deck of cards completely. Similarly, online poker is closer to true randomness than a home game.
b. Trends are more pronounced and the probability for everyone having a good hand at one instance is increased as players play and see more hands online than they actually do in brick and more games.
c. More or less, they are just sore losers and just like the players who claimed cheated or rigged in brick and mortar games.

Any thoughts?

By the way, the card shuffling statistical analysis I made has actually a basis. I took up a statistics course in a certain university so I know I’m capable of making stats.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Dense
Dense,

1. The last player to make an aggressive action (bet or raise) is the first person to show the hand. Only players that have their bet at the river are required to show their hands.
   
2. They are likely just complaining. Online sites such as Full Tilt and Pokerstars don’t need to juice the tables. They have so many players, they can make plenty of money from the normal rake. At any one time, they have 10,000 or more tables going. That’s a lot of rake.

Quite Unusual Holdem Tables

Hello,

I believe most casinos in Atlantic City now have holdem tables similar to black jack. What I know is that you have to play against the 2 hole cards of the dealers and there’s an upfront bet you place for your 2 cards. In the event you want to go on to the flop, you must bet again. Same thing for the turn as well as river except the bet is doubled if you want to go on. Later part, dealer will show his cards and of course better hand wins.

In case I play at the tables above, is there any strategy I should apply? What hands should I be playing and how do you think such tables be played?

Many thanks,
Michael
Michael,

You are not playing normal Texas Holdem here. You are playing a table game of Texas Holdem that is setup for the casino to make money similar to blackjack. Basically, you are playing against the dealer only. Unless I have a hand such as AK or AK or AJ, I usually get out the hand if I don’t hit a pair on the flop, unless I have a draw. Also, this game pays bonuses based on certain pocket cards etc.

This is something you can play for fun, but don’t go into this thinking you are playing normal poker. You are not. This is a house game and the advantage is with the house.

Had Fun!

Hello,

I’ve been playing for two or three months now. I just arrived from the bowls club. One thing I can’t forget, I pulled $900 out of the button mashers. Well, I used to play the mashers, $2/300 every month.

To keep this short, I’m actually here to share you something, Five guys and me, no 2k for the first one. I admit I was a little nervous to start out as I’ve been far in terms of everything. Well, I could read on “TG” however after some performances I wasn’t so sure then. Big clincher for me then was that the chips finally arrived via courier. Much later, we started playing $1/2 with $32.50 each. There were some young girls present at the room. One girl ended up with $47 odd. There were also some guys and one ended with $44 odd. Hero a crunched $20 odd. Queen, a busted up $13odd.

It was actually a game of play money but it was one of my best poker games where I learned some golden lessons.

Now, next game’s coming. Finally real stuff came and started at 7pm and finished at 4am. My opponent had $48 up and able to turn around and go sleep in my own bed.

If I try to look back, all I can see is the need for me to move up to $1/2 soon. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks a ton!

Best regards,
Francis
Francis,

This really doesn’t give me much of an idea of your overall playing ability. What I will say is that starting out you will want to probably play a tight aggressive style until you determine how the other players are playing and then adjust accordingly. Be careful about playing speculative hands for raises and push your advantages when you have them.

About Revealing Hands and Computer Opponents

Hi,

I’m just a newbie so I don’t know if I am actually allowed to tell other players what I have. Any thoughts?

Another thing, is there any computer type or version that is far superior than human player, say in chess?

By the way, your site is so nice and helpful. Keep up the good work!

Best regards,
Jonas
Jonas,

If you are in a hand, you are not permitted to tell the truth about your hand. You can lie, but you are not permitted to tell the truth.

Normally a computer is not superior to a human in Poker. A research group has created one computer named POLARIS that did win a poker match against a couple of professional poker players. This is an experimental computer and not one you will face in real life. Most poker bots are predictable.

Winning Player Percentage

Hello,

Any idea as to what % of players play profitable poker? At Party Poker, players there might say break even or win a little. However in reality I know that can’t be true. A player who bets always claim to win.

If I’ll be asked, maybe my answer will be 20% win, 20% lose and 60% break even. However I have nothing substantial to support my answer. Any thoughts?

All the best,
Trenz
Trenz,

To give you an idea, less than 5% of people that start out to play poker as a profession are truly successful. Most either end up break even players or go broke. I would venture a guess that maybe 20% of players online are truly winning players, about 20% break even, and the rest losing players.

How Many Hands to Play

Hello,

I don’t know how many hands one should exactly play. Well, a tight one will play approximately 20-25% of the hands they are dealt. By the way, play here means the hands that see the flop.

In case you calculate the percentage, will you include the percentage of times you saw the flop from the big blind position? I tried deducting the big blind from the total to get the percent of hands that I do play and I got approximately 30-40%. Is my percentage good enough?

Since I started playing poker, I’ve been earning fairly. Maybe if I tighten up a bit, I might earn more. I’ve been playing limit holdem (not exceeding .25/.50), however I’m oftentimes short in bankroll. At times cleaned the house and other instances ended a loser.

I’ve tried to play right. Quit when there’s a need to do so. At times if I started with $20 and make $10 then I will quit for a while. Any thoughts?

Your help will be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Richard
Richard,

The 20% or so rule usually applies to No Limit Holdem and is for a solid tight-aggressive player. A loose player will obviously see many more flops.

I Don’t Have Enough Discipline

Hi,

I’ve been into poker for quite some time now. As of the moment, I consider myself a good player. I believe I can be like a pro if I just work on some of my weak areas like discipline.

Most of the time, I play online. And because I don’t have much money I oftentimes play in 25 and 50 dollar NL tables. I heard your three stages and they sound really interesting to me. Well, I believe I’m in the third stage but I don’t have enough discipline. Almost every time I find myself falling in love with trash hands, suited connectors especially from bad position.

Now, I want to know if you have any advice for me. And about trash hands and one or two gap connectors, is it worth the risk to play such hands and possibly go on hoping to break someone and eventually build a table image?

Thanks a lot!

Best regards,
Devrick
Devrick,

As far as discipline, you need to go back to a tight strategy for a while. The only way to fix this is to develop a plan and stick to it. Being disciplined requires making correct choices and sticking with them.

Bluffing Weak Players

For more than 20 years now, I’ve been playing poker for more than 20 hours a week, mainly online. I play well in $2/4 6max NL holdem but then just recently I decided to try my luck in other level and so I moved up to $3/6NL.

I’ve tried to read some poker books and visit some forums and for several times I’ve encountered the idea about AT-AQ, and KT-KQ being a crap. And is true that tight-aggressive poker can be a winning poker and bluffing weak players is the dumbest thing one could do?

Before, I used to fire three bullets with over cards, typically would call raises with AJ out of position. I would also play unusually and would bluff a lot. I usually win with such kind of approach, normally win between $600-1000 a day. I was then considered as one of the most aggressive and best short handed players on my site. However, after I started the reading and all, some things have changed.

As of the moment, I’m having a trouble with regards to winning at $.10/.20 full ring games. I believe the golden rules below have something to do with my problem.

• Don’t play loose, tight poker is winning poker 2. Don’t bluff weak players, they simply won’t fold
• Don’t be weak/tight, be aggressive!
• Don’t call raises out of position with weak hands

I tried the Super System before and I would typically raise preflop with ATo then get called by the big blind. Flop would appear and would bring something like 9c7h2c. BB then would check and I would bet the pot. BB then would call and then turn would bring in something as 4s. BB would check and then I would place BB on a flush draw and then would bet the pot one more time. BB would call and river would be something like Jh. BB then would check and I would push all in, BB would fold. I would then win lots of money.

Right now, I played differently and winning is already an impossible thing. Many things are troubling me and my aggressive style before doesn’t work anymore. It doesn’t scare people like it used to. Please, I need your help.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks and more power to you!

Regards,
King
King,

Tight poker is winning poker and at lower limits, it’s nearly impossible to bluff. Your style will work better at more reasonable limits.

Choosing 6 7 Over Pocket Aces

Hello,

One time you said you’d prefer to play with 6,7 than pocket aces. Honestly, I can’t believe you you’d prefer playing with 6,7. Maybe you are into something. Maybe you want others to be worse in playing poker so you can destroy them. Well, if your intention was somewhat like that congratulations as you succeeded. Some players now believe calling a big bet pre-flop is okay with 6,7.

I’m sorry but I don’t mean to offend you or what. I know what you mean by saying you would rather play 6,7 however not everyone will understand what you are trying to imply. Also there’s a great possibility that some players will really choose 6, 7 than poker aces though it will lead them to horrible calls and cost them a lot of money.

Any thoughts?

Regards,
Beeler
Beeler,

I’m wondering if this is being taken out of context with something else. However, I wouldn’t call a big raise with 6-7. Some will in order to try and crack aces. If you are trying to crack aces, 9-10 is a much better ace cracking hand due to the array of straights it can make.

On Calling Stations

Hello,

I’ve been into poker for a year or two now. Well, I love playing online. In a reasonable span of time, I was able to familiarize myself about position and odds.

Just recently, I introduced some of my friends to poker and as of now we are planning to be into regular events. But there’s a problem. All of them seriously want to call stations and so I believe my online style won’t be effective.

For an instance in middle position I had ace queen and then for four times the BB I raised. Four callers appeared. Maybe I’ll think of tightening up and wait for premium hands however I know I have to consider first if my premium is strong enough to fight hard in case the field just can’t be narrowed to one opponent. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Regards,
Vinze
Vinze,

You can also try and play small ball poker where you see a lot of cheap flops with them and when you connect strong with the flop, punish them with extra bets.

Small and Big Blinds Going Up

Hello,

I love watching poker of all kinds over the Net and television. But though I’m already used to watching, I still can’t figure out when, why and for how much do the small and big blinds go up in no limit and limit games. Any idea on this one?

Thank you so much.

Regards,
Jinn
Jinn,

The blinds go up at the end of a level. The length of the level is determined by whomever designs the particular tournaments. It varies from tournament to tournament. At the World Series of Poker, most events have 60 minute levels. The amount they go up depends on the structure picked for the particular event. Blind levels vary from tournament to tournament.

Meaning of “Kill”

Hello there!

I have a simple question. The term “kill”, what does it mean? I often encounter such term in poker books and sites.

By the way, your site is so helpful. Thanks!

Yours truly,
Steve Stewart
Steve,

There term “kill” refers to a pot where the stakes are double the prior hand. In some cash games in a casino, if the pot gets to a certain amount, the next hand is a kill pot. This means stakes are double the prior hand. The person that won the prior hand gets a kill button and posts the small kill bet amount. In a 3-6 game, the stakes would now be 6-12 and the kill button would post $6.