Texas Hold ‘em is known as the Cadillac of poker; it takes a moment to learn and a lifetime to master. I bet you have heard that before, but it really is true. One of the quickest emerging markets in the world at the moment is Australia and lots of Aussie poker players are finding their home at bwin.com. I pointed this out to one of my friends that said there was no point in playing poker because there were no new players coming into the game that he could beat. He suggested I should wake up very early in the morning to play them and I might just do that.

There are lots of new players coming onto bwin.com to play poker but you need to sign up quickly because they have the help at hand to improve via the bwin.com poker school tuition. At bwin.com there is even an EV calculator so you can analyse the real strength of certain hands against a certain amount of players in any position. Running a few hands through this calculator will really help you improve in the fundamental math that lies behind every hand and every decision you make. I plan on running a few hands through this calculator as I play more poker and seeing if my knowledge of when to play a hand hard is correct. If your math is right, your profits tend to follow over time because the math never lies.

It is important to have a structure and plan to your poker playing. I have found this incredibly important for me personally and I am sure others feel the same. I want to know the time spent in front of the computer is worthwhile which is why I would advocate playing in an office setting or in a particular timetabled way so you feel this is “your job” for this time. If you simply play every so often you can feel removed from the world and a little isolated. Poker is something that demands full concentration and when I am thinking about what I am not doing whilst sitting at the poker table this makes me play less than optimal poker strategy and is probably a major reason why I have not done a lot better at the cash game tables.

I have made most of the big decisions. I will play at bwin.com over four tables for a minimum of two hours per day and a maximum of three hours. I use poker tracker for my stats which automatically stores my hand histories for me to agonise over later and eliminate the errors that I will make in the beginning. I have a thirty unit bankroll and will drop down in limits if I get to less than twenty buy-ins and I will move up in limits when I get to 25 buy-ins for the next level up, again moving down if my taking a shot fails by five buy-ins. This seems sensible. I have no stop loss in mind but if I feel I am playing really badly I will stop playing, but I will push myself to do the two hours where possible.

Wish me luck! I will report on my website and in these articles how I am getting on. You will have some interesting and self-deprecating and some self-rewarding hand history articles to look forward to on this site as my challenge progresses.

By Malcolm Clarke

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You must appreciate that family and friends who get concerned about online poker and gambling usually do not know how to play poker and because they care about you they get concerned. Whilst you appreciate bankroll management and understand the potential dangers associated with irresponsible poker playing they just see a family member gambling. It looks scary to them.

I work hard to maintain balance between my everyday life and playing poker. I maintain a poker website and I also do hospital radio at my local hospital. My whole life does not revolve around poker and I would be worried if it did. That does not mean that I do not work hard at reviewing hand histories and working on my game as poker is a large part of my life. I love my website and writing about poker and following the news. When I play poker I enjoy my time at the table, if I was playing over twelve hours a day I imagine I would get bored and resentful of poker very quickly.

Many young men between the ages of thirteen and sixteen become obsessed with football and train everyday with their friends hoping to make their fortune as a professional footballer. Because football is not about wagering or betting this activity is generally encouraged by parents. The only time it becomes a problem is when they begin to neglect their studies towards important exams to pursue their sporting dreams. People usually do not have a problem with things you do in balance. One way to avoid hassle from family, partners or friends is to purposefully balance what you do so engaging in a variety of activities so when you do play poker you can enjoy it without resentful comments or worry from your close family and friends.

From a poker strategy perspective being obsessive about the game is a positive thing. I would favour a player who had his head in “Theory of Poker” by Sklansky or “Super System” by Brunson over a player who searches for a deck of cards or online poker game and starts playing. If you are going to play a lot of poker then you want to be winning when you play. Most of us play poker to win money we just happen to enjoy playing the game aswell. Being able to show yourself that you can win the game will give you a reason to keep playing and will make you feel good too.

Anyone who constantly loses and may be a bad player needs to think carefully before continuing to pass their bankrolls to better players. Hopefully by reading the articles on this site and others you will develop your online poker skills to a point where winning is expected and not merely hoped for.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Most of Isildur1’s profit has come from thrashing Durrrr. The Internet forum have been following this match closely and although people estimate that Durrrr’s bankroll is in the region of $15 million cash this sort of loss has got to be affecting the young poker player. He has suffered big swings in his online poker sessions over the last two months. Railbirds and commentators are wondering if the excellent deal he has signed with Full Tilt has made the player too comfortable and instantly affected his game. The real speculation, however, is focused solely on the highly profitable Isildur1.

This is reminiscent of the impact Martonas had during August and September. Both Isildur1 and Martonas have their location marked as Sweden. There is no reason for disbelieving this as many young online poker pros willing to mix it at the highest level of poker are resident in Scandinavia. Many EPT live poker tournaments have final tables littered with young Scandinavian players from Norway, Denmark and Sweden that were previously unknown but freakishly talented. Because of the excellent play involved, it is rumoured that Isildur1 is a collection of players pooling their bankrolls in an attempt to beat the top bankrolled players, but nobody knows for sure. Whatever their poker strategy, it is working at the moment.

The largest pot contested this week was a $694,954 pot between Isiur1 and Durrrr with Durrrr’s AK trailing to the AA of Isildur1. There was no help on the flop, turn or river for Dwan and Isildur1 took another monster pot to pad out their rapidly inflating poker bankroll. A look on pokertableratings.com suggests that six of the eight biggest pots have been played and won by Isildur1 this week. This player is happy to live and die by the sword in regards to their poker success it appears.

Martonas enjoyed a similar run only for variance to show its familiar face and see the pros get all of their money back and a little more. Isildur1 is certainly being taken seriously now having raked around 85,000 poker hands, more than enough for a bad player to be held to account. Even the great Phil Ivey has not tangled too much with this anonymous Swedish poker player, but surely it is only a matter of time before he wades into the action. He will be biding his time after his WSOP final table disappointment and if there is one player that Isildur1 cannot bust it is Phil Ivey!

The poker railbirds have been treated to monumental high stakes poker action in the last week. Durrrr has publicly invited Isildur1 to London for his live Durrrr Challenge but has received no confirmation that Isildur1 will appear. The intrigue of such players is their anonymity and he may not want to give that up so easily. Durrrr is a fantastic poker player and meeting him may hand him the advantage that Isildur1 retains by being elusive. This suggests we may not get a live version of the Durrrr versus Isildur1 challenge but it looks very likely the amazing cash game action will continue. If Isildur1 does start to lose a few sessions, watch all of the sharks reappear to try and capture all of the money he has won so far.

By Malcolm Clarke

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More traditional poker players still have a special place in their heart for Limit Hold’em and there are still high stakes games happening right now online. Limit Hold’em poker has set blinds and poker betting limits which dictates exactly what you can call with and exactly what you must raise to. This removes from the game bet sizing considerations. But does this make it easier?

Rather than one game being easier than another it is obvious that there is far more advice available on No Limit Holdem than there is on Limit Hold ‘em. More people play No Limit, so obviously demand ensures that information supply is higher for this game to cater for the needs and wishes of the large player pool. We are not likely to see a poker room dedicated to one discipline over the other and like many poker rooms and websites we recommend that players enjoy the full range of pokers delights by playing games like Omaha Poker, Stud, Razz and the other games available.

Limit Poker is actually a very swingy game. The variance is down to the fact that most hands offer opponents pot odds to continue due to the fixed bet sizes and many times your opponent will hit the card they need so often to beat you, you cannot help feeling you have upset a higher power or committed an evil deed the Universe is intent on punishing you for. For a No Limit player crossing to Limit, this type of variance may come as a surprise. They are used to making bets that do not allow for players drawing to beat them (unless they do so in error thus making the situation +EV). In Limit you cannot bet your opponents from a hand so knowing about hand strengths in relation to the flop is very important. As with all types of poker, the important facets of each game do help an overall understanding of the general theory of poker.

Bluffing is far harder to do in Limit. You must be able to make an opponent fold when they are getting odds, so finding a good player to bluff is essential. Far too many players call all the way to the river regardless of your bluff attempts, so the ability to bluff requires real skill and accurate player observation during a Limit session. The ability to simply make a big bet is enough to chase away even mediocre players at No Limit. Learning limit poker will help you gain an understanding of showdown value and value betting as the game is all about earning those extra few bets, rather than having the edge in a big pot situation common in No Limit.

For a good player of one of the variations of poker learning the other will hold numerous obstacles. If you are good at the deceptive parts of No Limit like bluffing or semi-bluffing then playing your hands more straightforwardly when playing Limit is likely to take some time to master. Similarly, you need to be able to bluff when playing No Limit so the Limit player’s tightness and straightforward play needs to be loosened up and speculative but well calculated plays introduced. Both forms of Texas Hold ‘em are beatable, but both are difficult to master and it depends on your own style which is the best game for you to play.

By Malcolm Clarke

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I wonder what went wrong and then analyze things up. That’s when I figured out that there are some things I am bothered of but just ignored them and just continued playing. These things I’ve ignored might be the reason why I have some degrading losses.

The first in line is actually the many players who consistently either flat call preflop raises with AA or KK to eventually trap players particularly those who raise themselves only on a minimal amount preflop to make some bluffs. Maybe these players are the reason why I lost a lot of money. Does running for these players really bad?

The next one is about being me considered as a rock by the entire table. Personally, I don’t like this because I won’t benefit from it. I can’t normally catch a good preflop hand because of being a rock. I also muck hand after hand usually and players notice this easily. In a way, do you understand my frustration?
Then finally, and perhaps the biggest flaw I’ve discovered, is something about going for a draw. Of course I always want to win the pot either on the flop or on the turn when the pot is big enough, but oftentimes things don’t stand in parallel with what I wanted. For many times, I was broke because I placed everything at risk when later on somebody just sitting near me holds a set or two pair, thus leading me to be just sorry for my draw.

I know this is already a long one, considering that I would just like to get some advises on how to effectively play on poker. Thanks for reading by the way. At least now, I’m much better. Finally, I was able to release all the bad beats and bad experiences I’ve gained while on table.

Thanks again!
Andy

Andy!

1. Players that are trapping Aces or Kings are setting themselves up to have their hand outdrawn on at times. This is not an optimum play, but sometimes works. It’s just another way of them mixing up their play. Without knowing more about the specific situations, it is hard for me to comment otherwise.
2. If you are perceived as a rock, then do some things to counteract that image. Play with some varying hands in position. Get caught with a bluff, etc. I am a somewhat tight player, but I like playing a Q-9. There are times where certain flops come with a Q, a nine, or a potential straight with the two that I will bluff at the pot. They figure I’m on Q-9 and fold. Then when I do actually play Q-9 and hit, there are times people will call down with an overpair thinking I’m weak and I’ll have two pair or a straight. Tricks like that will give you a looser image.
3. In regards for going to a draw, if you are getting the proper odds to go after a draw, don’t beat yourself up over it. A draw is not a made hand and will miss a decent percent of the time. When you hit, and you have been playing draws per pot odds, then the wins will make up for the losses long term.

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Well, I don’t know if I’d be a having a sound inquiry for I know poker and most card games are about mathematical odds. But for me, unfortunately, is totally different. Black cloud seems to follow me when I’m gambling or playing cards.

Whenever I play for high card, figuring out dealer in a home game, I often get a 2 or a queen and a player who is two ahead of me will pick a k. Never in my entire playing moments I have ever pulled a high card.

And I don’t know if you will believe this but as I’m writing this, I’m playing 3 hands online. Every instance I try to flop two pair, I am always rivered by all three hands. I actually started with not so bad hands, pocket q’s(lost to j5 suited, k-q suited, flopped 2 pair, lost to a straight on the river, last hand was pocket a’s, raised it a lot, person called with a 9 10, flopped 2 pair and beat me) but the odds, they really haunt me.

I know the odds thing, in a way, sounds really absurd. But this is not a joke, and I’m not exaggerating anything or overreacting. I know I can and do win at poker. But the way to winning is always unusual for me. I’m not a good, skillful poker but I’m not a bad player either. I’ve also made some efforts before, researched, made excel sheets, etc. but I can’t figure out what’s wrong with how I play. Was everything because of bad luck? And is there a way to avoid this and eventually earn big bucks?

I know, at some point, my concern is quite silly for poker is mainly about math and not about luck or the like.

Thanks for your time reading this. Hope to hear some advise from you.

John

John,

While poker is a game of odds, there are times where the variance is plain silly. One night I played 5 heads-up tournaments. I was all-in with A-Q vs K-9, A-A against 6-6, 9-7 vs A-A, Q-Q vs 6-5, and J-J against 10-9. The only hand that won was 9-7 vs A-A. While I was head in the other four, they were all outdraw.

This type of variance happens. Sadly, sometimes bad runs of cards seem ridiculous. At the same time, when you go on a really good run, sometime you have just as ridiculous runs.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with your play. You are just in the middle of a bad run.

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I know you are richer than me when it comes to Poker experience so I’m sure you can answer my question. For an extended length of time, what’s the average that I can run bad cards?

As of now, I’m going through a patch with regards to my last 35 pocket pairs (I knew it because of Poker Tracker); exactly zero times, I hit a set. For two times, I got KK only to have an ace flop. I also got AA but only to have two kings fall on the flop. There was a hand I didn’t play that was supposed to be my only hope. Then, I called a raise of $1.75 preflop with 44, suddenly only to have the BB raise it to $9 with his JJ at a .25/.50 table. Sure enough, I couldn’t call that raise instead just watched two fours flop.
I don’ know why but the only “good” hand I had was AJ and flopping a straight, but later on to only to chop it with another AJ. Maybe it was just not my lucky day. I’ve been through a lot of bad runs of cards before, but this one is different.

But of course, I never allowed luck or even fate to come in between my success and failure. I started to work on, called the raises, etc.

Just an information, this run of bad cards began exactly the very day I withdrew some money that I’d won before. But I hope this has nothing to do with any bad luck or the like. As of now, I’m just playing smaller sessions. And for the record, I’m still winning money at the site but to some extent, I still need to withdraw.

Any advise will be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Josef

Josef,

You are asking a question most players ask. As far as running bad, it is random as the cards. Some players can run a long time in either direction. For example, Bill Edler had a fantastic run in tournament poker in 2007. It lasted most of the year.

Adversely, he has ran really bad so far in 2008. I have seen players go months at a time losing every day. On average, a good player should expect to win 7 out of 10 sessions. At the same time, the same good player may lose 30 sessions in a row.

Part of this depends obviously on the person’s play. The other part depends entirely on luck. Doyle Brunson is quoted as saying, “It doesn’t matter how good you are. It all changes once those cards hit the table.”

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By the way I’m a certified neophyte in the world of poker. In fact, I just started playing 3 weeks ago. And because of being a neophyte, I guess it’s natural to have some questions in mind. I’m sure you can help me out because as far as I can see, you always provide sensible answers and advises to everyone asking here.

Well, my first question is about some of the players that rush to tables with a girl/boy friend, brother, best friend, etc. sitting next to each other, and basically observing and even helping each other. To some extent, there’s nothing wrong with this objectively, but sometimes this also becomes distracting for other players. Do you think it’s rude to separate couples or partners?

For my second question, well, it concerns about me coming down with the same person over and over again. The game always almost end up between me and that person. I’ve tried to observe his moves, strategies, etc. and I actually found out he got all the good stuff. Do you think I can crack him out though he’s that good?

Finally, my third question, is something about money management and limits. Honestly, I can’t afford to play in a casino or card room but I I really want to be a more well rounded poker through proper education. But I can’t do it because I don’t have the bankroll nor the social skills. Can you give me some advice on how to find a game, web sites that can help me out?

Thanks in advance!

Gino

Gino,

Most casinos it is acceptable for couples to sit together, unless they are helping each other. If that occurs, call the floor man and put a stop to it.

As far as your heads-up opponent, of course you can beat him. You will just have to devise your own strategy to beat him with. Your best bet would either to play small pot poker with him and crush him when you flop strong or to really push your advantages.

You can play on most online poker room at various limits. Pokerstars.com has real money games starting as low as .01-.02 and .10 sit-n-go tournaments. I would try that site first.

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Thanks in advance for any suggestion.

Randy Sandler

Randy,

PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker will allow this option. You will need to contact the support department of the sites to try and setup the game.

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By the way, before anything else, I would like to share something about myself and my game. I’m a player fond of texas holdem for a year now. And I have already read 4 books and done a lot of research on the net for some additional knowledge, strategies, etc.

Usually, I play cash games at the casino at a ´2/2 No Limit table where min buy-in is 50-200. So far, I have played about 15 times all in all and somehow this is a total surprise!

My results are:
▪ +6
▪ +120
▪ -100
▪ +84
▪ +92
▪ +142
▪ +293
▪ +158
▪ -34
▪ -70
▪ -120
▪ +25

My question now is about whether I really have the edge and potential of a good poker player or I was just lucky at all. Can I possibly find this out the cheapest way or another way around?

I play with not so much action actually and just like the typical way – playing on average better starting hands, keeping bluffs at a minimum and considering pot odds as well as playing according to the amount of money at the table. But this seems to really work, fortunately. Normally, most players lose back all their winnings and even much more, but with me, it’s so much different.

Do I have the edge for long term?

Thanks, Ryan

Ryan,

You seem to have a solid game plan for the games you are playing, but this is really not a long enough stretch to determine if you are playing well or just having a decent run. The best way to determine is to go for a period of 3 to 6 months and see how your numbers turn out. If you are a player that play just once a week, then you probably need to expand that around 6 months to a year. You need a long range of data to allow for variance.

From what you told me, you will do ok in most average and weak games, but against better players, you may find difficulty. I would keep track of your stats and work on your game and then reevaluate.

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