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Check-shoving with a Flush Draw Knowing You’ll Get Called

February 26th, 2010

A flush draw is one of the trickiest poker online hands in NL Texas Holdem poker online . Here’s a strange fact: once you have a flush draw Texas Holdem poker, it is easier to catch than a straight draw (which is a more common hand with a lesser value). So the flush is Texas Holdem is a very sought after hand, with the exception of one thing; it’s obvious. Unlike a set, where your hand is completely disguised, when a player has a flush in this game, three cards of the same suit must be displayed on the board, which makes suited boards scary. When you see a suited board you either become uncomfortable with your (one pair-type) hand, or you are excited with your draw or even just the possibility of representing the draw. Essentially, if no one has the flush then the advantage of a suited flop goes to the player with less doubt. If that flush makes it and you have the confidence to bet, there is a good chance of winning the pot and getting a better hand to fold. By the same token, if you actually do hit your flush draw, it is sometimes so obvious that your opponent will not pay off any further betting. So, in a 5-table tournament I was playing, we were short handed at 3 tables and I was faced with all of these thoughts when I flopped a flush draw. My stack was just under 4,000 and the blinds were 100/200. I had about 20 big blinds and was in the big blind. A middle position player made a small raise to 550 and the button called. This made it only 350 more to me to call into a pot of 1400. Even though I’m out of position, this is worthwhile. I will still have about 17 BB’s if I miss the flop and will be behind the blinds after one hand. So, I call. The horror strikes when I flop my flush draw. The flop is 8d-As-3d. The pot is 1650 and I have about 3400. I’m assuming someone had me beat with the ace. I have a few options. If I lead out with a bet, I risked getting flat called. The reason I say risk is because with my draw, I don’t really want to see the cards come one at a time. If I miss on the turn, I’m pretty pot committed to a hand that I now only have a less than 20% chance at winning. Conversely if I hit my draw, the players behind me might get wise to the possible flush out there and slow down or give up. In this case, my flush draw has no implied odds, I can only expect to win what’s in the pot.

Sit Back

February 2nd, 2010

The key isn’t necessarily gathering your chips, but it’s really a matter of taking care of the chips that you have. One of the most common misconceptions is that you need to gather all of your chips from your other opponents throughout the game. While your aim is to end up with all the chips eventually, your first goal in a poker online tournament should be to finish in the money. Basically, you’re just trying to outlast your opponents. If third place pays out $300, you get $300 whether you knocked out all of your opponents or you let everyone else do the dirty work.

It’s not always recommended, but if you aren’t being dealt the cards that you want don’t freak out and play desperation hands. Just sit back and let everyone else do the work for you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that everyone’s playing against you. Everyone is playing against everyone, so if you don’t have winning cards, sit back, relax, and watch everyone play against each other. If you’re lucky, one or two poker opponents will get knocked out, and if you’re attentive, you might just learn a little something about how your opponents play their cards. Remember this when you play poker online.

The Bet-Fold

January 14th, 2010

It almost sounds like a paradoxical poker play, but in many situations the bet/fold can be one of your strongest allies.

In order to understand this concept, try to think of the bet fold as a defensive move rather than an offensive weapon. It’s essentially the antithesis of a checkraise.

With that out of the way, let’s look at how the bet/fold move can help you in a theoretic sense. There are three main reasons to bet/fold, and all three of them lead to the same conclusion.

If you have a made poker online hand, say second pair top kicker, or top pair weak kicker, and you see a board that presents danger to your hand (i.e. a flush board or a straight board), and you simply check and get bet at, you’re losing the opportunity for pot control as well as losing any information you may gain about your poker online opponents hand. In this case a bet will show that you have some strength. And if you get bet back at, you end up not losing as much as you would if you checked, called, got a decent turn card, and ended up check calling again. A bet fold, saves you the second bet you’d have to wager if you called after a second checkback.

Concluding, that same conclusion that all three situations have in common is simply that the bet/fold gives you pot control while at the same time giving you initative. Thus, any response your opponent gives you is more clearly defined, and you can fold more comfortably when your aggression is met with more aggression rather than having to counter their aggression with passivity.

Oh the mind games we play.

Bbq Pal Chinese Lanterns

September 20th, 2009

Here Comes Summer! Time to unwind with pairs and enjoy some tasty food and great music. The Squad at Chinese Lanterns want to help you throw a summer barbeque that your friends and colleagues will remember. Here is 4 must have’s to help you make the most of the weather 1. To A Greater Extent than just beer, barbequed food and beats a fresh rising take is to use Chinese Lanterns. most people gets a real charge from setting these lanterns into the evening sky and they look striking let off in a group. Lighting them just after the sun has set is highly commended over the horizon for an extra magical experience.2. Boom, Shake Shake Shake the Room! Or garden patio as the example may be. Plug in your iPod loaded with your favourite play list and let the Alesis Transactive wow your crew with a great 12 hours off battery power and significant 20W amp.Truly portable with some brilliant sound this one is a must have. Warning, karaoke function although addictive may not necessarily result in a call-up for the next American Idol contest. 3. Stop, dont get out of your seat.With one of these minikegs you can revel icy cool beer without having to move more than your drinking arm.. You may still have to make the occasional toilet stop! 4.

Playing Limit for Profit

July 9th, 2009

With the popularity of no limit online poker among today’s casino pros, many may not realize the vast difference of the game when switching from no limit to limit. Whereas in no limit, a player can isolate with a big preflop hand and narrow the field of competition to his liking, in limit there is much less room for preflop power to be wielded up front. The limit game is more about what a hand becomes, and because the pot odds are often there for draws, can be much more difficult for the traditionally coveted preflop no limit hands (like aces, kings, queens) to hold up. Much more frequently in poker online limit, pots will be multiway. The value of big pairs then, while still favorites preflop, go down significantly against the larger number of draws on the table. Players should be much more prepared to let their unimproved big hands go over scary boards and in the face of aggression. On the same coin, pot odds dictating when to raise and when to fold become much more a matter of math and patience. Where as with no limit the hand can change quickly and the odds, especially in deep stack poker, may dictate a certain way of playing, in limit, you often have to make the goods, as it is harder to get people to fold, and it is harder to win with smaller holdings.

Poker’s Popularity Continues to Grow

December 16th, 2008

Poker, traditionally considered the All-American card game, is now popular all over the world. In this year’s World Series of Poker, the top two winners, Peter Eastgate in first place and Ivan Demidov in second, were respectively from Denmark and Russia. Their top place finishes and huge winnings are sure to spur new entrants into the game worldwide.

The global growth of poker popularity is truly astounding. In 2004, there were 24 players from different countries registered in the WSOP Main Event. In 2007, 87 different countries were represented and the final table featured players from five different countries - the U.S., Canada, England, Russia and South Africa. The winner, Jerry Yang, is a US immigrant from Laos.

This year’s WSOP drew players from 118 countries, with two Canadian players and two Korean-American contestants making the final table along with Eastgate and Demidov.

The ever-growing popularity of poker is verified by the numbers of U.S. television viewers who tuned in to watch the 2008 WSOP final table in November. Viewership had declined in the preceding two years, but rebounded in 2008. The 30 episodes broadcast by ESPN had a six percent larger audience than in 2007. The shows featuring the final 27 players had more viewers than 2007’s final table episode, and it is estimated that over 1.5 million households watched the Final Table action.

Sound Poker Strategy

August 22nd, 2008

poker, as with most gambling, is a game of luck and strategy. While there is little someone playing poker can do about luck, there is quite a bit a poker player can do about strategy. In fact a good solid poker strategy will do a great deal of good for any poker player that wants to see success at the poker table. While each form of poker needs to have some unique approaches to the poker game, there are some basic poker strategies that are good to know no matter what kind of poker you are playing. If these basic strategies are executed well, then chances are you will have some success in your poker game.

The first basic strategy someone who wants to do well at poker needs to learn is when to bet and when to fold. Sure this may mean giving up a few hands but the idea is to maximize the good while shedding off the bad. After the first cards are dealt if you don’t have a potential of at least a three of a kind or better hand, chances are you should fold. After all trying to play a weak hand can get you in trouble quickly. Sure its going to hurt if you happen to hold an ace, but if the best you have is an ace 7 combination than just pitch it in and hope for better the next hand.