I'd Rather Be a Raiser than a Caller by Full Tilt Pro Roy Winston

Unless you have a monster draw or are slow playing a big hand, calling is often the wrong play at the table. In fact, it often times takes a stronger hand to make a call than it does to make a raise.

"You raised with that?" is a question I hear a lot after showing down a hand. You can make a raise with any two cards (sometimes less than that), but it takes a real hand to make a call.

When I’m in late position in an unopened pot and someone in front of me puts in a raise, I’ll always say to myself, "Hey, I was going to do that!" The fact is opening a pot with a raise is a good idea because it puts you in control, while cold-calling a raise is not a great option for a variety of reasons.

First of all is the realization that I am probably behind. I have lost the ability to take the lead and be the aggressor, and perhaps represent a wide range of hands. Re-raising in position is always an option. However, if the initial raiser was pretty strong, I could wind up facing a re-raise, which could mean a decision for a lot of chips. I have now put myself in a bad position and made the first of perhaps many mistakes in the hand.

Now, I’m not saying there aren’t hands I like to call with pre-flop. For instance, I’ll limp with hands like ace-rag suited (because you can make the nuts), small pocket pairs (looking to flop a set), sometimes big pocket pairs (to camouflage the strength of my hand) and suited connectors in position. But, making a bad call is almost always worse than making a bad fold.

When in doubt, listen to that little voice in your head saying "fold, fold, fold." Even if it turns out you were ahead in the hand when you folded, it’s still better than making a bad call and losing even more chips.

It takes a great player to make great lay-downs; you have to occasionally fold a winning hand. If you’re not sure what to do with a hand, ask yourself whether or not this is a good place to get your chips in the pot.

A combination of smart and aggressive play will help you to improve your results. And personally, I’d rather be a raiser than a caller...

WSOP 2009: Even Daniel Negreanu can lose with AA

Fold Equity by Full Tilt Pro Andy Bloch

During the final table of Event #1 at the 2008 WSOP, the $10K Pot-Limit Hold ‘em Championship, I encountered a hand where I had a very tough decision to make. We were about midway through the final table with the blinds at $20K/$40K. I had about $2.2 million in chips when I picked up pocket 10s in middle position. I raised the pot to $110K and was called from one of the blinds by Mike Sexton, who had about $100K less in chips than I did.

The flop came 8-6-2 rainbow, Mike checked and I bet $125K with my over-pair and gut-shot straight-draw. He called, and the turn brought a 7. After thinking for a moment, Mike bet out $365K, and I was left with a very difficult choice. He could have me beat with a bigger over-pair like pocket Jacks or two pair even, or he could just have a draw or something like pocket 9s. So what should I do in this situation? Do I just call now and be faced with another big decision on the river if he bets out again? Do I get away from the hand altogether and fold? The real question is this: if I raise, is there any chance he’ll fold his hand?

All of which brings me to the concept of fold equity. For our purposes, equity can be defined as your chance of winning the pot, or how much you expect to make out of the pot. Therefore, fold equity is the chance you could win the pot because your opponent will fold.

A classic example of fold equity is really any time you attempt a semi-bluff. Say you have a flush draw and one over-card on the flop. Your opponent might not call you without top pair or better, but there’s a good chance that you’re nothing more than a coin flip against almost anything he’s holding. In this case, moving all-in gives you fold equity because you know that your opponent is only going to call you part of the time. Semi-bluffs are so powerful because of fold equity.

You also have a lot of fold equity when you play aggressively pre-flop. Some novice players don't like to raise pre-flop with a hand that they won't call a re-raise with, but an expert player will be raising (and sometimes re-raising) with many hands that aren't a favorite to be best when re-raised. The fold equity can make these marginal hands profitable. Keep in mind, there will be situations where you should fold some of these same hands if there's little chance that you can steal the pot.

Fold equity is also an extremely important concept in tournament play, especially as you approach the bubble. A lot of players tend to play way too tight as they wait for the bubble to burst; many will just try to fold their way into the money. At this point, there may be enough fold equity to play any two cards because your opponents are going to fold such a high percentage of their hands. This concept also applies once you’re in the money (though to a lesser extent), and people are playing tight as they try to make their way up the money ladder to a bigger payday.

This brings us back to my hand against Mike Sexton at the final table of Event #1. Do I call, fold, or raise? Calling will most likely lead me to the same tough spot on the river if he bets out again, especially if an over-card hits. Folding doesn’t seem like the best option because there’s a good chance that I’m actually ahead in the hand (Mike could have a pair with a straight-draw), and even if I’m not ahead I have a decent number of outs and I’m getting better than 2-1 pot odds to make the call. I'm only in really bad shape if I'm up against a straight. If I'm against an over-pair or set, I have 6 outs. If I'm against two-pair, I have 12 outs. So because this is a tournament, because he probably doesn’t want to go broke in this spot, because it’s a very aggressive play with a good amount of fold equity, I decided to move all in. And it worked. After thinking about it for a long while, Mike decided to fold his hand.

Mike made it sound afterwards like he had my hand beat, and I found out later that he did indeed make two pair on the turn with his 7-6. I knew I couldn’t make that play if there was no chance he would fold. If that were the case, I probably would’ve just called or folded. But this bet had a lot of fold equity, so it was a move I just couldn’t pass up.

Fold equity is a very important concept in both ring games and tournaments, but especially in tournament situations like the one I just described. When you consider the fold equity you have in any given hand, you can really start to play some power poker.

How about Quads

She called too fast on the flop....

Bluffing In Big Pots by Full Tilt Pro Brandon Adams

The ability to bluff big pots effectively is one of the key skills that separate good players from great players. It is no accident that the games played at the highest stakes feature some of the most daring bluffs: big bluffs are a central part of the game.

Most players mix up their play well for small bets – they’ll bet out or raise with nothing on the flop with about the right frequency – but most players don’t mix up their play well on big bets. Some players never mess around when they put in really big money on the turn or river. Other players can never resist the big bluff when they see a lot of money in the middle. Striking the right balance between value bets and bluffs when you are putting big money in the pot is crucial to playing top-level poker.

When you are playing against world-class competition, bluffing too often is a bigger mistake than not bluffing enough. You will get called very often and you will look to everyone like you are spewing chips. You will wonder why they are calling you so often, but the reason will be somewhat simple: your opponents will be getting 2:1 odds on a call (if you are betting the size of the pot) and they will infer based on your betting frequency that you’re bluffing more often than that.

How can they infer that you are bluffing too often? Roughly speaking, if you are balancing your big bluffs properly, you will be betting for value about two-thirds of the time and you will be betting as a bluff about one-third of the time. Hands that you will bet big for value on the turn or river come up quite rarely. It’s not often that you make a straight, a flush, a set, or some other huge hand that merits a big bet on the river for value. If you’re betting big on the turn and river very often, your opponents will correctly guess that you’re bluffing too often.

Bluffing too often can be a huge mistake, but I think that not bluffing often enough in the truly big spots is one thing that prevents great players from becoming world-class. You’ll never hear someone say of Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan or Patrik Antonius "he’s never messing around in that spot." They can be bluffing in any spot. As the pot gets very big, their bluffs will be less frequent, as they will be trying to represent very thin ranges, but their bluffing frequency will never be zero in any spot (other than some trivial ones where it’s only appropriate to raise with the nuts).

Most of your big bluffs will occur when you have position on an opponent. This is especially true for big moves on the river. If an opponent checks to you on the river, it’s likely not a check of strength. With one pair hands, people will often call on the flop and turn, but not on the river. Their "check-call, check-call, check" line often tells you that they have a big pair but no better. Some inexperienced players will fold to a pot-sized bluff way too often in this spot, and will not adjust their behavior even when they begin to suspect that you are bluffing them often. Against these players, you are obligated to keep stealing until they adjust.

Once again, the ability to pull off a big bluff is a crucial element in poker. Do so with the correct frequency, and you’ll raise your game to the next level.

Nice Full Tilt commercial

AWH Invitational Freeroll

INVITATIONAL FREEROLL - 5th May 2010 at 19.30GMT

No deposit required
Texas Holdem
Prizes: 600€

10 minutes blinds (with antes)
2000 starting chips
15 Paid places

Password needed

.

After Registering on the AWH banner located on the right column or here, then send and email to aboutholdempoker@hotmail.com and i will send you the password for the event.

Unfortunetly, US citizens are not allowed to this poker Room.

Isildur1 song

Isildur1 in Action

One of the biggest online Poker Pots....

Largest Pot in TV Poker History

Whats the Gin Card ?

In Gin Rummy card game, the "Gin card" is the perfect card, it's the one that gives you the game.

It's the same in poker, getting a perfect card, whether that fills your flush, or gives you a boat (while someone else catches a flush).

Regards

Daniel Enjoying himself

Dark Tunnel Bluff

A dark tunnel bluff is a repeated bet that is made as a response to the feeling that you must bet, without thinking about what the opposition are doing or why they have stayed in the hand.

It doesn't have to be a pure bluff, rather it refers to unneccessarily adding to the pot, often with a marginal hand with which a player doesn't know where he stands. Such bets do not have the desired effect of the opposition laying down their hands.

Typical dark tunnel bluffs are hands in which beginners raise with a good starting hand that doesn't improve in any street, but they cannot bring themselves to stop betting.

This situation tends to happen when a player is on tilt.

Great Laydown

Great Lay down by Phil. Can we say ihe is not good ?

Keeping the Pot Small By Full Tilt Pro Jennifer Harman

Poker is a game of decisions. Some decisions are very easy to make, while others will keep you awake all night if you choose poorly. In my experience, the larger the pot size, the harder the decision you’ll be faced with.

On the other hand, the smaller the pot is, the easier the decision. Which is why, especially in tournament play, you want to keep the pot small when you’re holding a marginal hand. You don’t want to be facing a decision for all of your chips in a situation where all you’ve got is something like top pair with a medium-strength kicker. You want to avoid that scenario as much as possible.

It’s better to keep the pot small by checking and calling rather than building a huge pot, even if you do hold an advantage in that hand.

Let me give you an example from a hand I played at a World Series of Poker event last year. We were still fairly early in the tournament, and I was in the cut-off (the seat before the button) holding K-J. The action folded around to me, I put in a raise and was called by the button. Both blinds folded, and we were heads-up going to the flop.

The flop came J-9-3 with two diamonds. Yes, I had top pair with a strong kicker, but with straight and flush draws on the board I was in no mood to go crazy with my hand. So I checked, and the button bet about two-thirds of the pot.

A check could also tempt my opponent to bluff in this spot, especially if he put me on something like A-K or A-Q. With a bluff or a drawing hand being the button’s most likely holding, I made the call.

The turn was a harmless 5, not a diamond, and very unlikely to help out the button in any way. Once again, I decided to control the size of the pot and keep it small by checking. If I’d bet and the button had a monster draw, there’s a good chance he’d come over the top of my bet to try and push me off the pot. I liked my hand there, just not enough to go broke with it.

After I checked, the button put in another bet, which I called. The river was a non-diamond 2, meaning that neither the flush draw or the straight draw got there. Confident that I had the best hand at this point, I still decided to check the river.

Why? Well, there was a small chance the button had made a set or two pair somewhere along the way, and it’s better to check-call in that spot rather than face a tough decision for a lot of chips if he raises. Also, if he did have nothing but air, checking might induce a bluff on the river.
As it turned out, the button checked behind me and I took down the pot with my K-J. I didn’t win a big pot with that hand, but I also didn’t lose a huge pot. The decisions I faced on each street were made much easier by the fact that I kept the pot small.

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How do you do this ?

Run 2 or 3 ?

Jamie Gold is Sooo Lucky !

Invitational Freeroll

INVITATIONAL FREEROLL - 7th April 2010 at 19.30 GMT

No deposit required
Texas Holdem
Prizes: 600€

10 minutes blinds (with antes)
2000 starting chips
15 Paid places

Password needed

.

After Registering on the AWH banner located on the right column or here, then send and email to aboutholdempoker@hotmail.com and i will send you the password for the event.

Unfortunetly, US citizens are not allowed to this poker Room.

Nothing is sure before the river

Ouch, It hurted me also...

Online Poker Tells - The Time to Take Actions

Every online poker room has a set number of seconds that each player has to respond before he is declared either all-in or folded. Sometimes, due to internet issues, a player's actions will almost always be slow and laggy. However, often, the speed of play can be a good “tell.” Typically, a quick bet is a sign of weakness, and a delayed action is a sign of strength, as the player is calculating his strategy with what he percieves to be a huge hand. Watch how much time it takes the other players to make their action, and mentally make a note of it. If you get a chance to see their cards at showdown, see if you can determine what they “slow bet” with and what they “fast bet” with.

The golden rule of tells is that a strong opponent will try to act weak, while a weak opponent will try to act strong.

Long pause, followed by a raise (very strong):

The whole logic behind this play screams strength, because people usually only do it when there is a big possible hand on the table, like a flush or straight. You bet, your opponent pauses for about 10-15 seconds and then raises you. He might as well be saying: "Hmm... there's a flush possibility on the table and you've bet into it. Man, I really have to think about this because you might have a really strong hand! Oh well, I think I'm beat, but I *guess* I'll raise...". Don't fall for this. Sometimes, a player legitimately thinks you're bluffing the river or whatever so he's raising you back, but most of the time he's got a big hand.

Instant automatic raise (usually very strong):

This is used by maniacs and bluffers, most of the time it's used by a player who is so sure of his hand that he is willing to bet or raise regardless of the action. This usually means that you want to tread carefully and consider folding or check-calling this down. It should always raise a big warning sign at the very least.

Instant automatic check (weak or folding hand):

This is a pretty straight-forward tell, as almost every player uses the auto-check button only when they are willing to fold their hand. Sometimes players will be willing to call after auto-checking, but it's incredibly rare to see someone check-raise with the auto-check button. So, when you're in a small field and it's auto-checked to you, you can often take down the pot right then and there.

Opponent quickly calls your bet (moderate to semi-weak hand):
Usually when someone is chasing you or has a marginal hand, they'll make a fast call to look as if they're not scared of your bet. With reverse psychology, you can figure out that this is an intimidation ploy, because if they did have a strong hand, they'd be raising your bet instead of flat calling. In this situation, you can often continue to bet as normal. That said, some players on tilt or experienced players will often make quick calls, as they really do intend on calling to the river.

The Slow Check-Call (Very Strong Hand)

A Good situation is when you don't have to start the betting yourself. This is one of my favorite online moves that works time and time again. Instead of trying to check-raise your opponent into paying you off when you've got the nuts, try the slow check-call. From my experiences, this can be a very effective move that will make you more money than declaring your hand strength immediately. A note of caution: don't try this with a vulnerable hand or you'll be giving your opponent a great chance to draw out on you.

Waiting for the Big Blind

When you sit down at a Hold 'em table, many times you'll have the option of “waiting on the big blind“ to get to you, or you can post a matching big blind and start playing immediately. This a good tell on how patient and online player will be. If he is not patient enough to wait on the big blind to get around to him, he might not be very patient about waiting on good starting hands. Expect him to be a loose player. The opposite holds true for players who do wait on the big blind. Either they are patient or cheap. Both are pretty good qualities to have if you are playing online poker. Cheap players, even when they are not especially skilled will tend to wait on better hands since they are loathe to throw away their bets!

You will see many of these types of situations in your online poker career. Make an effort to observe them in other players, while avoiding them yourself.

Whose the bad player ?

It was suited!

Good Metaphor

Gus Sick hand

Gus surrounded by beautiful players gets a sick hand!!!

Double check your Hole cards

Semi-Bluffing by Full Tilt Pro 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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The Ten Commandments of Poker

Freeroll

INVITATIONAL FREEROLL - 3rd March at 19.30GMT

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Texas Holdem
Prizes 600€

10 minutes blinds (with antes)
2000 starting chips
15 Paid places

After Registering on the AWH banner located on the right column or here, important: After registering, send me an email so you can get the password for the event.

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Sick Call

Would you have made this call?

Full Tilt Academy

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Full Tilt Poker Academy offers a unique interactive experience that allows you to learn from members of Team Full Tilt including Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon. You'll use a library of multimedia content - including video, podcasts, hand replayers, quizzes and tests - which is updated daily and suitable for players of every skill level.

You can begin with Lessons on key strategies and techniques, view live Sessions to see the theory in action, take a Pro Challenge online at Full Tilt Poker or put your knowledge to the test with an interactive Sit-N-Learn.

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Darvin Moon vs. Billy Kopp - Meltdown

Is this the worst play in the history of poker?

Playing Aces in PLO - By Full Tilt Pro Andy Black

Players who are new to Pot-Limit Omaha tend to make more mistakes with Aces than with any other hand. They get themselves into really tough situations - ones where they can lose a lot of money. Avoiding these spots is one of the keys to playing PLO profitably.
Here's the kind of situation that newer PLO players sometimes find themselves in. Say it's a $2/$5 game where all the players have about $500 in front of them. There's an early position raise to $15 and a player in middle position with A-A-x-x re-raises to $50. Four players call the $50. Now the flop comes down J-7-2, rainbow.
The Aces might be good here, or they might not. It's very hard to know. This is the kind of spot where it's very easy to make a big mistake - either by putting in a lot of money while a huge underdog, or by folding the best hand.
Novice PLO players get in this sort of trouble because they don't really understand how Omaha differs from Hold 'em. In Hold 'em, if you start with a big pair like Kings or Aces, you know you're a big favorite before the flop. But this isn't the case with Omaha. For example, pre-flop, Ac-Ad-4s-7h will win only 51 percent of the time when heads up against Js-Ts-9h-8h. Throw a couple of other hands in the mix, and Aces become extremely vulnerable.
Because so many hands are so evenly matched, Omaha is a game where what you catch with the community cards is usually more important than what you start with. You're looking to make big hands - nut straights, nut flushes, and big sets.
Still, hands that contain Aces are usually a decent favorite when played heads up. And, with Aces, you always have the opportunity to make top set or, if you're suited, a nut flush. So you're going to want to play these hands, but you often want to be more cautious pre-flop.
If there's a raise in early position, you don't have to re-raise with A-A-x-x, especially if that re-raise would commit you for only a small portion of your stack. When all the players have deep stacks, a few will be happy to call your bet and see a flop. Then you're likely to find yourself in the sort of situation described at the beginning of this tip. You won't know if your hand has held up on most flops. And when you do hit your set of Aces, you're not likely to get a lot of action, as your opponents won't have much difficulty putting you on a hand.
However, there are some occasions when you want to play Aces aggressively pre-flop. When there's been a lot of action and a raise will allow you to get about three-quarters of your stack in before the flop, go ahead and make that big bet. At that point, you're looking to force some folds and, hopefully, play heads up. With that much money committed, you know the rest of your stack will be going in on the flop no matter what comes.
Of course, once you're in the hand, your Aces can lead to some very profitable post-flop situations. You might catch top set while an opponent makes a lower one or your nut flush might take a big pot from someone who made a lower flush.
So slow down with your Aces pre-flop in PLO. Your deceptive play will win you some big pots when you make a big hand. Plus, you'll avoid losing a lot when the board doesn't fall your way.

Play Online Poker

Dont play like this !

Cashout Tournament Strategies By Full Tilt Pro Eric Froehlich

Full Tilt Poker’s Cashout Tournaments provide players the option to leave the tournament at any time before the final table and get the cash value of what their stack is worth. With the options of cashing out part of your chip stack or your entire stack and exiting a tournament, we players are presented with a whole new variety of options to consider.

In Cashout Tournaments, half of the buy-in goes into the Cashout prize pool, and the other half into the tournament prize pool. The ability to cash out in 10% increments of the starting stack (for example, if you start with 3,000 chips, you can cash out as little as 300 chips and keep cashing out in increments of 300) can drastically alter the way you approach these tournaments. With most pros, the goal in a tournament is first place. Cashing in a tournament or lowering variance is not a major concern the vast majority of the time. If that’s your only goal, removing chips from your stack is not going to be an option you employ very often. For most players, however, while first place is certainly always going to be the number one goal, there are other factors involved.

Often times, the best opportunity to cash out is going to be early in the tournament. You can get back some of the money you put up in the buy-in and navigate a slightly shorter stack while the blinds are still small and chip away to get back to where you started and beyond. The real key to knowing when to implement the Cashout option is how much the money means to you. There’s certainly a real advantage in a poker tournament when you triple up very early and have that bigger stack, but for a lot of players, securing that automatic Freeroll in a tournament is going to be even more advantageous (remember that with the 3,000 chip starting stack, should you increase your stack to 9,000, each 300 chips will allow you to cash out for 10% of what you put into the Cashout pool – 6,000 chips will get your full buy-in back and still leave you with a starting stack!). The ability to give peace of mind, guaranteeing that you can’t lose any money in the tournament, might allow you to play a stronger game as you go on.

The Cashout Tournaments also provide a few other opportunities poker players have never seen before. There isn’t a player out there who hasn’t been playing their tournament and just had something “come up” or something they absolutely had to do. Maybe you were already on a time crunch with just a few free hours to spare and were looking to play a little poker. I would advise any player in this position to join a Cashout Tournament rather than risk running out of time in another MTT. The full Cashout option allows you to play and still get money out of the work you did, even if you can’t complete the whole thing!

My strategy going into Cashout Tournaments would be to cash out little by little. I might take a little off the top here and there, while trying to retain a relatively decent stack. I always like to have the biggest stack at the table so I can get maximum value out of my hands, but in the cases where I have quite a bit more chips than anyone else, getting a little bit of money for my chips becomes quite appealing. Later on in the tournament, I would consider cashing out a little bit here and there, while still trying to keep my stack above 15 big blinds, and preferably above 20 big blinds. Maintaining this stack size makes sure that I’m not so short that my hand is forced while still having enough chips to re-raise all-in and have enough chips that someone can fold.

The full Cashout option is one I would reserve for mostly emergencies and other such events that come up unexpectedly. Tournament life is such a valuable thing that I would never give up my last chip in a Cashout Tournament unless I had to leave, but cashing down to a shorter stack and trying to double up can be highly effective and fun as well. Many people like to start with short stacks in cash games and take away a lot of the decision work. Cashing out to 10 big blinds or less and beginning to play shove or fold poker is something many people hate, but many others love.

One final tip to keep in mind is that you will also have the ability to practice valuable tournament skills by utilizing the Cashout option. If you need more experience playing a shorter stack effectively, you can cash out a portion of your stack. This allows you to make additional money without having to actually dump off chips, and you can work on improving that portion of your poker game, as well.

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Very nice Negreanu read

Isn't Durrr one of the best ?

These bluff is now my favourite bluff. Even better than the caribean adventure one that i posted before.



Real Genius !

Coin Flips - By Full Tilt Pro Ben Roberts

Whether or not you decide to get into a coin flip situation in poker really depends upon what type of game you're playing. I'm far more likely to take on one of these challenges when I'm playing in a cash game than when I'm playing in a tournament, and I'm also more likely to do so when I'm playing in a live game as opposed to online.
If you're playing in a cash game, getting into a 50-50 race can occasionally produce greater results beyond simply winning the hand. If you win a race, you can often expect your opponent to become a worse player almost immediately after the hand is over. This will give you the opportunity to take even more money from him over the course of the next several hours. Therefore, I'm more willing to get into a coin flip situation with players who have less control over their emotions after losing a big hand this way.
Conversely, if my opponent wins the hand, he's not going to get rewarded as much since I'm not going to play any differently after losing a big hand in this manner. Although winning is extremely important to me, I believe people put too high a premium on winning in the short-term, for example, over the course of a session or two. When they fail to win, they become possessed with a sense of shame and depression, but I believe poker is supposed to be a journey of joy and fun.
Beyond my opponent's demeanor, one of the biggest factors in deciding whether or not I'm willing to get into a race is the amount of money I've invested in the hand. If I've already put some money into the pot and I'm sure it's a 50-50 situation, then no matter how much my opponent raises he won't be able to get rid of me. If I folded, I would be literally throwing away the money I already put in there, and I'm not in the habit of doing that.
Here's an example of a coin flip situation after the flop. Let's say you have A-K of clubs, and the flop comes 9-8-2 with two clubs. Because you have two overcards and a flush draw, this is a nice spot to go on the offensive if somebody makes a bet. If your opponent has made top pair with a hand like 10-9, it's about a 50-50 situation, but you have plenty of outs to justify your aggression.
However, if you raise and your opponent comes over the top of you, you have to suspect that he has a set and you can no longer depend on a king or an ace being an out. At this point, all you have is flush draw and it's no longer a coin flip situation. Unless you're both deep-stacked and think your opponent will pay you off if you do hit your flush, you should back off and wait for a better situation. But don't lose your initiative and remember to keep playing aggressively.
Now let's turn it around. The flop is the same, but now you have pocket jacks and your opponent is the one who has two overcards and a flush draw. You bet, and your opponent raises. How you proceed really depends upon what sort of player you're up against.
Because of situations like this one, I prefer live games to online games. I tend to make more accurate decisions in live games. Most of the time I can get a read on my opponent, and I can capitalize on that. If I feel like he only has two overcards because he just called my raise before the flop, I'll call and see what the turn brings. But if I raised before the flop and he reraised me, then I'll throw my jacks away because he could very well have a bigger pair than mine.
My rationale completely changes in a tournament. In the latter stages of a tournament your chips are worth more than they were at the beginning so your first concern should be protecting them, which often means avoiding coin flip situations. After the money bubble bursts, you get financially rewarded whenever a player gets knocked out so quite often the smartest move is to avoid getting into coin flip situations and waiting for a better spot.
Like many aspects of poker, the decision of whether or not to get into a coin flip situation depends on a variety of factors, the most important of which are the type of game you're playing and the demeanor of the opponent you're playing against.

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Phil Ivey BLUFFING again

Full house vs Full House

I LOVE Gus comment on the end....

Perfect Timing

Did Joe Cada got lucky ??? Nahh.....

Longball

Playing longball strategy means to play for a few big pots with a few good hands instead of going for many, smaller pots with marginal hands, called smallball strategy. The longball player waits for a good hand and then play them very aggressively.


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Online Poker Operator of the Year!

PKR has won the "Online Poker Operator of the Year" award.

Well not a lot at all according to the judges at last week’s International Gaming Awards who named PKR.com as the Online Poker Operator of the Year. A host of poker rooms were judged on their originality, growth and scale, usability and payment processing.

The judging panel obviously liked what they saw at the 3D poker room as PKR saw off stiff competition from Pokerstars, Full Tilt, Partypoker, Betfair, Ladbrokes and 888.com to take the gong.

PKR CEO Malcolm Graham said, “It is a wonderful achievement for us to be named Online Poker Operator of the Year. We are absolutely delighted to be honoured by the International Gaming Awards in this way.”

If you’re yet to try out PKR then what are you waiting for? PKR have gone down a different path to the traditional sites with stunning real-time 3D graphics featuring a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker. PKR is especially popular with the casual players from a gaming background, which means the games are very soft so there’s plenty of value to be found.

Developed by some of the brightest stars in the video games and poker industries, PKR continues to be one of the most innovative poker rooms in the world.

Chat Acronyms - Player Types

Player Types

L - Loose
LAG - Loose aggressive.
LAP - Loose aggressive preflop.

T - Tight.
TAG/TA - Tight aggressive.
TP - Tight passive.

P - Passive.
A - Aggressive.

LPP - Loose passive preflop.
Donk - Donkey, fish, bad player.

Regards

Awesome bluff

This is my favourite bluff:

Dont Try this at home

So sick ! Dont try this method because you will lose tremendously

What not to say at a poker awards ceremony

The quality is not so good but the video is very funny.

Datamining

So what is data mining?

Basically, it’s the process of acquiring information about your potential opponents through the use of automated tools that record hand histories. Think of it as the online equivalent of scouting a live game from the rail, except you get to scout dozens of games at once without having to do much more than opening a few windows. What’s the point of data mining? By collecting and analyzing hand histories, you make it easier to identify soft games and avoid tough ones, you improve your decision making in marginal situations and you save some bets that you’d otherwise use to acquire information from your opponents.

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Bad beat poker

Rigged ?

Mentality

Don't get too upset/mad when you lose to a bad beat because in the long run you'll end up in profit. Don't start playing more hands to make up for a loss, take a deep breath and carry on. If you are still mad then take a break and came back later.Also if your winning don't get cocky and start playing weak hands, bluffing to much or as above move up stakes too fast- it could end in tears.


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Don't tell me you have bad beats !!!

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Rush Poker - the World’s Fastest Poker Game !!

Play Rush Poker* – the World’s Fastest Poker Game!

Warning: Rush Poker* is extremely fast paced – prepare yourself for the most intense poker action in the world!

Available exclusively at Full Tilt Poker, Rush Poker* is the ultimate high-speed poker experience.



This new poker format is designed to minimize your wait time between hands and keep you in the action. You’ll join a large player pool and face a different table of opponents every hand you play. When you fold your hand, you’ll be rushed to another table for a new hand right away.

To play even faster, use the Quick Fold button to move to a new table for the next hand immediately. It is Awesome !!!

REGISTER BY PRESSING THE BANNER

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Invitational Freeroll

INVITATIONAL FREEROLL - 3rd February at 19.30GMT

No deposit required
Texas Holdem
Prizes: 600€

10 minutes blinds (with antes)
2000 starting chips
15 Paid places
Password needed

.

After Registering on the AWH banner located on the right column or here, then send and email to aboutholdempoker@hotmail.com and i will send you the password for the event.

Unfortunetly, US citizens are not allowed to this poker Room.

It is a hard Life

World Cup Freeroll Series

€5000 World Cup Freeroll Series

With the Football World Cup taking place this July, AWHPOKER is offering all of their players a chance to take part in the fantastic €5,000 World Cup FREEROLL series.

Their World Cup Final Tournament is on Sunday July 4th 8pm GMT, but to qualify for the final you must first get to the semi-finals.

The Semi-finals, which run on 27th June and 28th June, will be 2 tournaments with ONLY 32 players in each.

You have 2 ways of getting to the semi-finals :

36 Players can enter the semi-finals via one of the 18 Satellites, which run every Sunday starting 21st February 8pm GMT. The top 2 players in each satellite will qualify for a seat in the semi-finals.
OR
28 Players can enter the semi-finals via a lottery TICKET. The first 16 people to rake €1000 every month, between February and June WILL get a TICKET. The 28 names will be randomly selected from the players who have TICKETS.
The seats for the SEMI-FINALS will be randomly assigned from the Satellite Qualifiers and the ticket winners

The FINAL tournament will have ONLY 32 players.

Only the first 16 players from each of the 2 Semi-finals will be entered into the FINAL Tournament.

PRIZES

Each of the 18 qualifying Freerolls has a prize-pool of €100, the prize-pool which will be shared between the first 2 players only
The 2 Semi-Final Freerolls have a prize-pool of €600 each, which will be shared between the first 2 players only

The WORLD CUP FINAL FREEROLL has a prize-pool of €2,000 which will be shared between the first 2 players only
The 18 qualifying Freerolls start on Sunday 21st February at 8pm GMT and run on every consecutive Sunday ending on 20th June.

Register here

Unfortunetly, US citizens are not allowed to this poker Room.

Do you have guts to make this ?

This may be the one hand of poker that changed poker forever.

Chat Acronyms - Statistics and Analysis

Statistics and Analysis

AF - Aggression factor.
EV - Expected value (plus or minus).
BB/100Hands - Big blind won per 100 hands.
BR - Bankroll.
HR - Hourly rate.
ROI - Return on investment.
HUD - Heads-up display.
WR - Win rate.
WSD - Went to showdown.
W$SD - Combined win at showdown. We check if player is a winner or loser.
VP$IP - Money voluntarilly put in pot.
PT - PokerTracker.

Regards

The Squeeze - Play by Full Tilt Pro Lee Markholt

In tournaments, you should always be looking for ways to pick up chips. You can’t just sit around waiting for Aces or Kings and hope to double up when you do. One of the best and most popular ways for adding chips to your stack is by implementing what’s known as the squeeze play.

A typical squeeze play works like this: an active and aggressive player raises in late position, and he’s called by another player on the button. You’re in the blinds and you have to decide what to do.

There’s no real indication yet that anyone has a particularly strong hand. The aggressive player could be raising with a wide range of hands, and the call from the button could mean a lot of things. He may have a medium strength hand, or he may be pretty weak and just looking to play post-flop with favorable position.

At this point, a big re-raise from the blinds effectively squeezes the original raiser who is between you and the player on the button. Your aggressive re-raise gives you a great chance of taking down the pot right there.

It used to be that good players used the squeeze play occasionally. It was just one of the many tools they used from time to time. But recently, the squeeze play has become extremely popular. Sometimes it seems that pretty much any time there’s a raise and a call, there’s a player in the blinds looking to squeeze.

I prefer to be a little more selective when initiating a squeeze. I like to have a hand that can hit a flop if I run into a decent hand and get called. In my experience, suited connectors are good hands to squeeze with.

I think the squeeze is most effective when you have a tight table image. When you’ve been playing actively and aggressively the other players at the table are less likely to give you credit for a big hand and will call you down.

You can try the squeeze in ring games, but it’s really most effective in tournaments. When players have to fear for their tournament lives, they’re far more likely to fold in marginal situations.

If you haven’t been using the squeeze play, you should try working it into your tournament game. Start out by squeezing selectively and wait for opportunities where the players, cards and your table image give you the best chance of winning the pot.

You can Learn more about this game at the academy. Just register

Unreal combination

Is it possible ?

Regards

Chat Acronyms - Game Types

Games

LHE - Limit Texas Holdem.
NLHE - No-limit Texas Holdem.
OM8 - Omaha Hi-low 8 or better.
O8B - Omaha Hi-low 8 or better.
PLO - Pot-limit Omaha.
2-7 - Triple draw deuce-to-seven.
A-5 - Triple draw ace-to-five.
7CS - 7 Card Stud.
7HL - 7 Card Stud Hi-low 8 or better.
HORSE - Game of Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Eight-or-better Stud.

Regards

Do you have a Mac ?

In Past, Mac users had difficulties to play online poker, but in the last 2 years, things have changed and Mac users have sites where players can wager real money against real opponents. Each site’s Mac poker software is nearly identical to their Windows software. The download is free. FullTilt worked hard on their native Mac download and it shows in the quality of their software. They wanted to position themselves as the number one online poker room for Macs and I think that they have become pretty close. Do you have a Mac ?


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Good Luck at the tables...

Bankroll Management (Full ring)

Rules for Limit holdem, No limit Holdem and tournaments.

The rule for an appropriate Limit holdem bankroll is to have at least 300 BB for the limit you’re playing. With a $60 bankroll you should be playing no higher then 0,10/0,20 limit. By having 300 big bets you should be able to handle the short term swings and have minimal chances of going broke.

For No limit Holdem , your minimum bankroll should be 20 buy-ins. With a $200 bankroll you’d have 20 buy-ins for $10 NL holdem (usually .05/.10 blinds). The next step would be $20NL holdem, but you’ll first have to reach a $400 bankroll before playing that limit.

For Tournaments it is recommended that you have a bankroll that will give you 40 buy-ins to the level that you wish to play at. Therefore if you want to play at the $1+$0,1 Sit n Go’s you should have a bankroll of (at least) $44.
If you intend to make money from playing poker, it is essential that you exercise good bankroll management skills. If you do not, then you are setting yourself up for frequent losses that you will find hard to prevent, no matter how good you may be at poker.

You should be ready to drop down a limit when your bankroll no longer justifies the stakes you’re playing. It’s not a big deal; you just have to build yourself back up. Sometimes good players will be stubborn and refuse to go down a limit. Sometimes it works out, and other times they’ll lose a lot more money or even bust.
Gamblers will come and go, but in the long run the players controling their bankroll correctly will always come out ahead...

Bluff vs Bluff (sick)

Happy new year !!!