The Gambling Weblog

Let’s talk about positioning in Texas Hold’m for a bit. Position is more important in Hold’em than any other form of poker. The later you are to act, the better. The value you gain from watching all your opponents act before you can greatly influence your decisions. Let’s say you hold suited connectors, 7-8 suited, and the player under the gun raises the pot pre-flop only to be re-raised by the player to his left. The next three players fold and now your eighth to act with your suited connectors. They sure don’t look as attractive as they did 30 seconds ago. In a regular nine-handed game the blinds, player under the gun and the fourth player to act are in early position, players 5-7 are in middle position and the eighth player and button are in late position. Hands you would fold in early position become hands you can raise with in late position.

The power of position is only compounded by the fact that there are four betting rounds in hold’em. In last position you get the advantage of information exposed by your opponent’s actions on every round of betting. Drawing hands become profitable if enough players have limped in, you can give yourself a free card, you can raise with out the fear of being check-raised. When in doubt about a starting hand make sure you factor in all the advantages of late position and the disadvantages of early position into your decision.

You played solid starting cards, hit enough of the flop to continue and no help came on the turn. This is a sticky situation, what should you do? This is where the information obtained by observing everything going on at the table is a major advantage. If you haven’t improved you’ll most likely hold a draw with the right amount of opponents, a big pocket pair in the hole that you believe will hold up or absolutely nothing, but you believe you can bluff and pick up the pot.

A lot of time when you flop an open-ended straight draw or a four-flush you will not improve on the turn. If you have two or more opponents you can call a bet and give it one last shot on the river. Watch out for a lot of action on the turn though. If there’s a bet and raise ahead of you, be wary. Make sure the board is not paired so that you’re not drawing dead to a full-house.

If folding is the superior play to checking with your hand, it might be the most profitable to bluff against your opponents. The turn is a good place to do so, if the action leading up to it is passive. This will require that you pull in all the information from the hand to pick a good situation to pull it off. If everyone has checked on the flop, then you have a good chance of pulling off a bluff on the turn from early position, especially if a blank card has fallen.

On most hands you’ll never see the turn, but when you do make it to this turning point in the action without much hope, know when you can correctly continue to the murky waters of the river and when you should fold.

You played solid starting cards, received good news on the flop and once again improved on the turn, or you had a strong hand on the flop and the turn was an inconsequential blank card. What now? Pour on the aggression! Betting or raising is a far superior play to calling or checking on the turn. You set the tone for the rest of the hand and run the show. If you call here, you better have a good reason to have done so, either to set someone up for a play on the river or if you have the correct odds to continue a draw.

The general rule of thumb is, if you have top two pair and an opponent bets into you, fire out a raise that separates the contenders from the pretenders. You want to build the pot and knock out the opponents on draws. In late position bet if no one has already done so and only check in early position if you’re absolutely sure someone will bet and allow you to check-raise. As always, before you blindly rush in with guns blazing double-check the board for connecting, suited or paired cards that could put you in the path of raises and re-raises.

A lot more weapons are available in your strategy toolbox once the flop is dealt. Don’t waste all these weapons by making your play mechanical and predictable. Never become so tight or loose that your opponents can predict what you hold with some degree of accuracy. Have an overall plan with every play you make to deceive the table. This will also help you remain patient by keeping the game exciting.

You want to deceive your opponents whenever you can; act weak when you are strong with slowplays and check-raises and strong when you are weak with bluffs and semi-bluffs to throw them off track. Show your hole cards every once in a while when your caught bluffing. Start out playing tight then change gears to loose play, and vice versa. Make it so your opponents always have a little voice in their head second-guessing what you hold when they are in a pot against you.

Pre-flop play is just the tip of the iceberg. Post-flop play is where it gets creative and where winning players truly establish themselves. To become a winning player you need to use all the plays available to you and mix them up to make the most money you can off your opponents. Be observant and you’ll notice the right situations to make these plays. Never stop thinking about your opponents and all the information available to you. Remember, the part of the iceberg concealed beneath the water is usually what sinks the ship, not the part that’s visible. Have a plan so that your opponent only observes the small part of your play you want them to see while you formulate a master plan to sink them with deception.

In poker, most especially in Texas Holdem, the term slow play refers to a tactic where you try to lure your opponents into making a big bet so that you can then trap them and eventually win a big pot. slow play is most commonly used with a good pre-flop hand like pocket Aces on Kings. The tactic is, instead of betting big, the player will sit back and just either call or check like he has a hand that is not worth anything and just praying that the opponent has lower cards and that he will cover it by putting in a big bet.

This is a classic poker maneuver that is quite effective and has resulted in players winning big. But lately this tactic has not been as effective because of the simple reason that almost all players are now using the slow playing tactic on their big hands that it has become a very expected maneuver.

But you can still use the slow playing tactic to your advantage.

When you get a big hand, you should start betting. But instead of trying to lure your opponents to make the move, you should bet yourself. Amateurs think this is just a waste of a big hand because the rest of the table will likely fold. But in reality you will normally get some betting action from a player.

Performing this tactic is effectively like double bluffing especially since most of your opponents would do a slow play. Your opponents will think that you are bluffing and thus will get some betting action. This would in turn result in you winning more money.

Let’s say you’re down to a short stack of chips in a poker game. “What do I have to lose?” you think, “might as well go all in.” Famous last words.First of all, if you’ve got just a small amount of chips, the other players are likely to call your bet, especially if they’ve got a large stack of chips they can afford to part with. They reason that the risk of losing a little money is outweighed by the chance to clean you out and kick you out of the game. So do not even think about plonking your remaining chips on the table without an almost unbeatable hand. But if you’re dead certain you’ve got them beaten, then risk it: if they call you, and you win, then you triple your money or even higher.

Of course, do not just sit on your chips and let them dribble way with the blinds. If you are going to go all in, do it when you still have a chance to win the pot and rejoin the game.

If another person beats you to the move, the best thing to do is to call a re raise. This has to advantages. Firstly, it scares away all but the most fearless and more educated. Second, this list can help you assess your risk. What’s his playing style? How many chips doe he have left? Is this a bully tactic? Think it over several times before going all in—and once you do, it doesn’t hurt to whisper a short prayer to the Gambling Gods that be.

They say you should not put all your eggs in one basket, or in the case of poker, all chips in one pot. But if Lady Luck is on your side, you can go “all in”: essentially, a do or die move that can bring big winnings, or a complete and sweeping loss,“All in” poker games require a great deal of daring, and a good dose of sense. Unfortunately, many players who try this strategy miss the point of the move, and thus don’t take full advantage of the opportunities it creates.

One thing you have to avoid is to have such a predictable playing style that your opponents can practically read the cards you have from your behavior at the table. If you only go “all in” when you’ve got the nuts, they’ll just fold. Not exactly the effect you wanted.

All in bets are also more powerful when you’re making it, rather than calling it. By taking the initiative, you can win the hand just by betting when you are more or less sure that your opponent will fold. (The game, therefore, becomes a matter of guessing that he has bad cards rather than you having good cards.)

All in bets are also effective when you have the most chips at the table. It forces other players to lose what they do have, forcing them out of the game. That is a risk worth taking if you can afford to lose more chips, since you outstack them anyway.

However, do not completely throw reason out the window and ride on a pure cold bluff. You may not have the most fantastic hand, but you should at compute if you’ve got a fighting chance with the cards that have not yet been dealt. Call it a safety neck. Call it common sense.

Bluffing is an integral part of the poker game, and is one reason why the game is so interesting. So it’s important to develop this skill if you want to win against the better players, or even to put a little color and excitement at the low limit tables. After all, without bluffing, you’ll be a predictable player—which means you won’t win very much, or win large amounts of money. People will be able to tell when you’ve got a good or bad hand, and make their decisions as risk-free as if you’d put everything face up on the table.But it’s also important not to bluff too much, as you can lose large amounts of money (or get a reputation for being a bluffer, which is just as bad as being known for someone who never does).

Bluffs are usually more successful when you are playing against one opponent. Do not do it in a game with three or more players. Another factor to consider is other players’ perception. If you are known as a loose player, your bluff will be less believable. You should also consider the element of reverse psychology. If you were recently caught bluffing, they won’t think that you’d dare bluff again. Well, surprise them.

How far should you bluff? It depends on your skills at reading other players. If you read them well, you will be able to sense when to bluff. You should also look at the board. The best bluffing opportunities present themselves when there are not that many draws or hands that can improve your opponents’ hands. If there is a scare card that you can pretend to have, that’s also a good opportunity to bluff.

Also, bluff when you are in the late position, since the information you got on other’s hands can help you assess the risks involved.

Limit Texas Holdem is not, as people a think, a game where you can just sit and call down the hands according to pot odds. You have to pay attention to the players, and apply a very tight and aggressive game, especially when you are playing against experienced opponents.The first rule of thumb is to only play very good starting hands, seeing no more than 20 to 25% of the flops. Choose tables well, avoiding the very volatile and low profit games, as well as any “top” players who can read you instantly. The best ones are loose games with those who flop on average and overplay their hands.

As for how you play, always ensure that you have pot odds when you raw, and call a bet according to the pot. And always, always analyze your hand vis a vis what the other opponents may have, observing the table for more information. This includes looking at the hands and the styles of your opponents.

If you consistently run into particular players, watch them for their playing habits. What kinds of hands do they raise with, and re raise with? How do they react when they have weak hands—do they call all the way? What do they do with pocket pairs? How do they play their draw? What kinds of hands lead them to call or raise when they are in the early position? What makes them check raise? Then, avoid revealing too much of your playing style by varying the way you play.

Anyone who’s played Limit Texas Holdem has been stuck in a situation where you’re on the flop with just two overcards. The problem is that this is a weak hand, and if you draw incorrectly, it can kill your game (even if you hit your hand).The simplest solution, of course, would be to always fold overcards. But this is not perfect poker, and to be a truly good player, you should be able to know the conditions that would allow you to draw to overcards.

Against sets, two pairs, or overpairs, you are drawing dead. If there is a chance that one of your outs could be what your opponent needs to complete a flush or two pair (particularly if one of your overcards is an ace), then draw. In fact, many smart poker players will play when they hold an ace as their side-card.

Draw when one of your outs may give an opponent the same pair but with a better kicker than yours, if it will give him the set, or complete a straight or flush which will end up outdrawing you on the river.

On those occasions when you choose to draw, you must have some degree of certainty that you are drawing to the best hand and that the pot justifies calling a bet.

The best flops for overcards are rainbow flops of all rags, like 8-5-2, 9-7-3, 7-3-2, and the like. But if you have connected flops, suited flops, or those containing a high pair (or full of high cards), then back off: these are danger signals. This strategy also works best if you are playing against less opponents.