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 A poker Essay i have written......
i have written the following essay for a friend who wants to lean poker. Please let me know what you think (some of it talks about downloading, beccause it is going to be availavle for download in the future):
Complete Internet No-Limit Hold’em Strategy and Game play Guide
By Stephen Grocott
Introduction
First and Foremost, I would like to thank you for downloading this Guide, and I will personally Promise you will not regret it. Now that you have downloaded this guide you will learn all of the secrets of No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker. You will learn how to do almost everything at the poker table. From Blind Stealing to Check-Raising!
Not only will you find this guide the most fascinating document you have ever Read, you will be able to apply the knowledge you gain into a real life poker game. And Hopefully walk away with more than you sat down with.
Quick Jump
If you are in a Hurry to access a specific Section of this document, then you will find this short, Quick Jump Section a Godsend. Below is a, table of contents with all of the names and Numbers of the different Sections within this document listed in order. To jump to your desired Destination. Press Ctrl + F and The copy the item name into the Box that appears. The hit Enter and you will be whisked away to where you want to go. (E.g. How to play)
1. Introduction
2. Playing the Game
I. Basic Idea of the game
II. How to play
3. Basic Hand Rankings
4. Types of Opponent
I. Tight passive
II. Tight aggressive
III. Loose passive
IV. Loose aggressive
5. Simple/Basic Strategy
I. Slow Play
II. Your Outs
III. How to bet (Basics)
IV. Showdown Percentages
V. Types of Hands to play
6. Advanced Strategy
I. Pot Odds
II. Realizing the differences between Limit and No-Limit
III. Aggression
IV. Quick Adjustment
V. Reading Skills
VI. Psychology and Traps
7. NL Multi Table Tournament Play
8. Bluffing
9. Test Yourself
10. Poker Glossary
11. Further Help + Contact
Playing The Game
Just being able to play this amazing game is an art in itself. It sounds very hard whilst learning but after playing you will find that it is actually a piece of cake. (For the Basics at least.)
Basic Idea of the Game
The basic idea of No-Limit Texas Hold’em is to play your hand without giving any Hint as to what you may be holding. And then win the pot by Aggressively pushing your Opponent(s) out of the pot, or Winning at a showdown.
How to play
Playing poker is like playing a well-played game of chess. You must outwit your opponents and then checkmate them to steal their chips. First of all I Suggest that you look at the following words in the Glossary before reading this section:
· Button
· Big Blind
· Small Blind
· Flop
· Turn
· River
· Community
· Action
· Dealer
· Pocket
· Bet
· Check
· Fold
Now that you are aware of the basic Terminology, you will be able to learn first hand how to play the game.
Game play Starts with a small White ‘Puck’ with the letter ‘D’ Marked on it. This indicates that the player with this token is the Hypothetical Dealer for this hand, the player to the left of the dealer gets the first card. (After each hand the Button mover Clockwise 1 position.) The player to the immediate Left of the dealer has to pay a forced amount of money, called the Small Blind. And the person to the left of the small blind has to pay the Big Blind. The blinds are set amounts of money that have to be paid each hand to ensure that there is money in the pot to be won. Play then starts with the person left to the Big Blind (BB.) They can either: Check, Raise or Fold their cards, depending on the strength of their Pocket cards.
The betting, calling, checking and folding goes round in a clockwise manor until all of the players have called to the same amount.
EXAMPLE: there are 5 players
Player 1 Bets 300
Player 2 Folds
Player 3 Calls
Player 4 raises an extra 500
Player 5 folds
Now it goes back to player 1 who has to decide if he wants to call the extra amount of money or fold has cards. In this case player 1 and player 3 both call and it goes to the flop.
On the flop the same thing happens again. Accept this time the player to the left of the dealer makes the first play. (If they are still in the pot, if not in the pot it goes to the next person and so forth.)
Now comes the turn, followed by the river. With a round of betting in between.
If there are still 2 or more people in the pot. You flip your Hole cards to see who wins the pot. The winner is the person with the best 5-Card Poker hand. All of the 5-Card poker hand rankings are listed below. Strongest to Weakest.
Basic Hand Rankings
There are 52 cards in the pack, and the ranking of the individual cards, from high to low, is Ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace (the ace can be used as a one when making a straight or a straight flush, A - 5)
Each poker hand consists of five cards. The categories of hand, from highest to lowest, are listed below. Between hands in the same category the rank of the individual cards decides which is better, as described in more detail below.
Poker ranks are always based on a group of five cards only. Below are the 10 Different 5 card poker hands
Royal Flush
This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, and ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal.
Straight Flush
Five cards of the same suit in order - such as 7- 6- 5- 4- 3. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 5- 4- 3- 2- A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. 4- 3- 2- A- K is not valid. Because it goes off one end of the scale and comes back on another.
Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as four Sevens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as quads, between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. This can’t happen in Hold’em though.
Full House
This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three kings and two jacks. When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A.If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.
Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K- J- 9- 3- 2 beats K- J- 7- 6- 5 because the nine beats the seven.
Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q- J- 10- 9- 8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher-ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.
Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better. So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q. If you have to compare two threes of a kind where the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.
Two Pairs
A pair is two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.
Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest-ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.
High Card
Five cards, which do not form any of the combinations, listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
In Hold’em poker there is no ranking of suits. If two hands are identical apart from the suits of the cards then they count as equal. In standard poker, if there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is split between them.
Types of Opponent
Generally, people speak of four types of players: Tight passive, tight aggressive, loose passive and loose aggressive. The first modifier characterizes the number of hands the person plays while the second describes the player's betting style. I think for No-Limit hold’em, loose aggressive should be divided into two parts: action-seekers and solid players. Let's go through each of these types of players.
Tight-passives: These people do fine in a limit game, but they won't make much in a No-Limit game. The only way these people will win is when they pick off bluffs, otherwise they won't get the value out of their hands that they should. When against these players:
1. Bluff at the flop a lot. Put in a raise preflop and bet at the flop no matter what calls
2. Fold when they represent a hand. If they bet a little, they're probably on a draw. So stick with your hand if you got something. If they bet a lot, they got something good.
3. Take advantage of your control. Don't go wild with your bluffs though. Fold preflop when you have nothing. But raise when you have a good hand and go for the kill at the flop. If you miss the kill, give up. But when you have something, milk him for everything it is worth.
Essentially, you can quickly tame these players into being calling/folding stations. And if he is making money against you while being a calling/folding station, you are doing something seriously wrong. These players are common, and you will certainly play against quite a few.
Loose passives: They have to hope that people continually bluff into them because these people will call frequently with the second best hand. Calling with the second best hand is a recipe for disaster at No-Limit. You don't see too many of these loose-passive players at No-Limit games because they lose so quickly and run to Limit games.
Maniac loose aggressive: These guys will buy a fair share of pots, but then will get themselves trapped by another aggressive player and will lose their stacks in one or two hands. What separates these from good loose aggressive is that they lack discipline? They love the action of No-Limit so much that they get themselves trapped too easily. These players are even rarer than loose-passives in my experience.
Strong loose aggressive: These guys seem like they are horrible maniacs, but in reality, they are a very dangerous form of player. These guys will certainly lose a lot of money in pots, but they also will buy a lot of pots and will win huge ones. The way these types of players win is mainly by getting a good read on the opponent and then making a well-timed bet.
My main tactic against these players is to trap them in their own game. I generally try to avoid having the pot escalate too much preflop unless I have aces or kings, and I generally try to not let them buy every pot. In other words, when I put in the raise preflop, I'll still often make a stab at the pot at the flop.
More importantly though, the way I beat these guys is to take them down at one big pot. Since these guys will play a lot of hands, especially short-handed, they'll often play hands that lend themselves to be second best hands. Once I catch them in this situation, I just have to make sure I don't let them go too easily.
Tight aggressive: this is my style and the style and the strategy that I'll teach. The tight aggressive main problems are that he may get chased out of a lot of flops early and that he may be too easily read. If I were to play against a clone of myself, I would hope to trickle him down bit-by-bit and hope to throw him off balance by doing so.
Simple/Basic Strategy
Now that you have learned to play poker, you will need a various number of different strategies to outwit your opponent. If you do not take advantage of having the knowledge go how to play Strategically then you will soon loose your money. In this section, each Strategy has its own Number (E.g. 1, 2, 3,)
If you want to succeed in poker apply all of the information you receive form this section to your Game. But only apply other sections when necessary.
1. Slow Play
Slow playing is one of the most common, aspects of poker. When you slow play, you are pretending that you do not have a hand. This can be applied if you are scared of an opponent backing out of a pot when you are sure you have the best hand, and you want to take as many chips as possible before the end of the hand. The blow is just one of the situations n which you could take advantage of slow playing.
Example:
You are in the Big Blind, therefore last to make a move on the first round of betting. You are player 3.
Player 4 Folds
Player 5 Calls the blind
Player 6 Calls The blind
Player 7 calls the blind
Player 8 Folds
Player 9 Folds
Player 1 Folds
Player 2 Calls in the small blind
Player 3 (You) are holding Pocket Aces (AA, the best 2 pocket cards possible in poker. You are the most likely to win the hand.)
If you are in this position and you don’t want to scare all of the players off, being as the more in the pot, the more money to be made, simply Check in the Big Blind and see the flop.
The flop Comes Jd 5s Ah
BINGO! You have how got the Nuts! That is the best 5 possible cards combining the flop with your pocket cards, it is impossible for you to be beaten at this moment. Now it is up to you to decide weather to bet and hope some people call, or just check and wait for the others to bet into you. And then on the last move. Re-Raise them. By this point they are likely to be pot-committed and call you. Leaving you with a big Payday.
Turn Comes Qd
More bets, you just call them don’t raise. YET!
River Comes Qs
The only possible hand that could now beat you is if someone has pocket QQ in their pocket cards, the odds of this are 221 to 1 so you should be okay. You now have the best hand. Wait for them to bet at you and then come back over the top of them with a raise. And whala you win the pot.
You should apply slow playing To many situations but don’t do it all the time or else people will being to realise what you are doing.
2. Your Outs
It will come in useful when thinking of how to play a hand if you know about your Outs. Your outs are the number of the cards in the deck that, if come out would make your hand. (Example: You have 67 in the pocket and flop comes 4, 5, K there would be 8 outs because there are 8 cards that could give you your straight.)
It is recommended that you memorise as much as possible of the table below.
Number of Outs Percentage of Hitting on either Turn or River
1 4.4
2 8.4
3 12.5
4 16.5
5 20.3
6 24.1
7 27.8
8 31.5
9 35.0
10 38.4
11 41.7
12 45.0
13 48.1
14 51.2
15 54.1
16 57.0
17 59.8
18 62.4
Number of Outs Percentage of Hitting on River
1 2.2
2 4.3
3 6.5
4 8.7
5 10.9
6 13.0
7 15.2
8 17.4
9 19.6
10 21.7
11 23.9
12 26.1
13 28.3
14 30.4
15 32.6
16 34.8
17 37.0
18 39.1
3. How to Bet (Basics)
Many novice No-Limit players simply don't know how much to bet. Well, the concept is simple. You want extract as much money from people who have made hands but are probably losing to you, you want to punish draws, but at the same time you don't want to be trapping yourself.
Example: Suppose you have 99, flop is A89. You are pretty sure he doesn't have 10J.
You want to put in about pot size bets here. Reason being: He either has a straight draw or pair of aces. If he has a straight, you don't want him to draw on the cheap, and if he has pair of aces, he probably won't let go of them so take as much as you can.
Example: You hold KQ of spades, flop is A95, A5 are of spades.
Bet into this flop. But don't bet too much, just enough to make people fold if they don't have an ace but enough to maybe make an AQ just freeze up and call. A 1/2-size pot bet would be good. This way you draw relatively cheaply and can punish if you hit your flush.
4. Showdown Percentages
Before diving into a real money game. Do what is said below. It will help you.
This is a critical concept in No-Limit. Since No-Limit lends itself to bluffing, one can make a lot of money simply by stealing pots if your opponents are very passive. However, this strategy obviously fails if everyone shows you down to the river!
Generally, before I play in a high-stakes game, I pay attention to the number of hands going to showdowns. This is really easy to do on the internet because you don't even need to watch the game. You just leave the window open, go eat a snack, go to the bathroom, whatever. Come back twenty minutes later and see what sort of game you are about to dive in. All you have to do is scroll through the chat box and see how many hands went to showdowns and how big the pots tend to be getting
All things being equal, the more showdowns the better. While it is impossible to bluff if everyone will call you down, you stand to make a lot more money if people will call you with tenuous holdings. The best way to make money at no-limit games is to simply sell your hand when you have it. If people tend to call down a lot, you will be able to extract a lot of money from about pot-sized bets or more when you hit a premium holding (such as a flush or set).
5. Types of hands to play
The types of hands you play in No-Limit differ than those in most other poker games. This is because of implied odds. Hands like KQ off suit go down in value because they cannot withstand much pressure. Even if you hit a K with this type of hand, you still may be losing to a set, two pair, AK, or may lose eventually to a draw. Thus, with big cards, you generally want to take down the pot at the flop. The exception to this is if you think you have someone out kicked (say AK vs. KJ with a K on the board), or if you hit the flop hard (like KK3 when you hold AK). In these cases, you generally want to extract money from your opponent bit by bit.
The types of hands that go up in value or ones that you can bet with confidence: pocket pairs and suited connectors (strong draws in general). Pocket pairs do well because they are sneaky and can often withhold pressure. With pocket pairs, you can bet hard if you have a set or an overpair, which are hands that people generally don't expect. Suited connectors go up in value for several reasons. First, if the flop comes weird, you generally will be paid off. For example, if you hold 76, you'll get paid off a lot more if flop is A76 (against an AK) than you would pay off an AK if the flop were A72. Furthermore, you can take down pots and disguise your hand with semi-bluffing. If you hold 76 and the flop comes 45J. People will probably put you on a jack if you bet. They will then either fold or will probably call. Thus, you will either take down the pot at the flop or will be drawing to a hand that people don't expect. If the next two cards are 8 and A and your opponent holds AJ, expect a huge reward.
Advanced Strategies
According to famous poker player and author Doyle Brunson, No-Limit hold’em is the Cadillac of all poker games. The skill involved with No-Limit games is tremendous, even seasoned professionals admit that they still have a lot to learn at No-Limit hold’em. However, don't let this scare you; No-Limit hold’em is, in my opinion, the most fun of all poker games as well. It can also be profitable, sometimes even for beginners.
After playing No-Limit extensively on the net, I've noticed that the keys to winning No-Limit are one's knowledge of the game and his ability to adapt to his opponents' knowledge. You must know what your skills are at No-Limit; what stages of the game you have mastered. Once you realize how you are good at No-Limit, you must then apply this to how badly others at your table play No-Limit.
Fewer Examples are now being used because you now know what you need to know about poker. And it is time to Fine Tune your game. If you need more guidance on these subjects then please do not hesitate to contact me [email protected]
For the sake of simplicity. I have divided the Strategies of No-Limit into several stages. After mastering each of these stages, one can expect your profit potential at No-Limit to increase.
1. Pot odds
You must understand what odds you are getting if you call a bet with a draw. Since you can determine the size of the bet (it's not fixed), you should know if you are getting or giving good odds to someone.
For example, calling an unraised pot preflop with 55 is good odds. If you hit a set, you can expect to make a lot of money (people will not expect it so they will call with top pair). However, let's say it's on the turn and you have a flush draw. The pot is $10 and someone bets $20 all-in, you are getting horrible odds. You have roughly a 1 in 5 shot of hitting, and you would be betting $20 to win $50.
As basic as this may be, many No-Limit players have not even mastered this stage! So if you are still insecure about pot odds, don't worry. Many others are too and often they don't even realize it.
2. Realizing the differences between Limit and No-Limit
Check raising for value is far less valuable in No-Limit than Limit because you may be giving your opponent's a deadly free card. In Limit poker, if you have the second best hand, you will lose a little bit. In No-Limit, you could lose your entire stack.
3. Aggression
Betting is far better than calling in No-Limit. When you bet, you can win if you have the better hand or if your opponent folds. If you call, you can only win if you have your opponent beaten. If you bet, you determine the bet size. You determine the pot odds. If you call, you are accepting someone else's odds.
If you bet, you force people to pay off when you have a good hand. If you are a caller, you have to hope someone else will willingly pay you off. The importance of aggression is why tight-passive players can win a lot more at Limit than No-Limit.
4. Quick Adjustment
Different types of games require different amounts of aggression. Shorter games require one to be looser and more aggressive. However, if your up against many loose opponents, you must tighten up and wait until you have a strong hand. Generally, the opposite of what the game is does well. If the game is very loose, tighten up. If the game is very tight, take advantage and steal pots.
You also must adjust to your opponent's quality. If you are up against weak players, simply giving them bad pot odds and taking money from them bit by bit works well. If you are against better players, you must set some traps.
5. Reading skills
Getting an idea of your opponent's cards is very important. This takes time and experience. However, a way to improve your reading skills is what I call the 'three question technique.' Always ask yourself these three questions when someone makes or calls a bet:
What does he have?
What does he think I have?
What does he think I think he has?
6. Psychology and Traps
Once you hold the whopper and your opponent also has a good hand, what's the best way to double through him? Learning to get out of and set traps is very difficult and only experience will help in this department.
Fundamentally, game psychology and traps are used to manipulate the three questions mentioned earlier. For example, if you over bet the pot with a flush draw and then check when you hold the flush, either your opponent will fall for the trap, thinking you had top pair or will realize the trap and check-fold to you on river. The slow play was used to manipulate the variable: what does he think I have?
Generally, this sort of game psychology is to only be used on good players (players that have mastered the first 4 steps). Against weaker players, you should just build a good hand and extract money out of them bit by bit. Weaker plays just play their hand; they don't think about what you have.
NL Multi Table Tournament Play
The popularity of No-Limit Hold'em tournaments is booming. Fuelled by the WSOP (World Series of Poker) and the World Poker Tour, many people are intrigued by these competitions and enter for a chance to win a 'big score.' In fact, most No-Limit Hold'em is played in tournament form nowadays (which upsets someone like me whose favourite poker game is a No-Limit Hold'em ring game).
While No-Limit hold'em ring games offer the lowest variation for a consistent winner (I probably win 80-90% of the times I enter a No-Limit ring game), No-Limit Hold'em tournaments have crazy variance. This is because all the money gets shoved in preflop on near coin-flip odds at the end of the tournament. For example, AK versus a pocket pair is a very, very common battle late in a No-Limit tournament.
I'm not saying you shouldn't play No-Limit tournaments, but please don't think that these tournaments are all skill and no luck. The famous quote from Rounders, "The same five guys make it to the final table every year at the WSOP" is the opposite of the truth. You must be lucky to win a No-Limit tournament because you must win more than your fair share of coin-flip battles.
Strategy
That's enough preaching about No-Limit tournaments. In terms of strategy, No-Limit tournaments are very different from No-Limit ring games. You simply can't bluff as much because people's stacks tend to be smaller in relation to the size of the pot. Also, since the amount of chips you win from a bluff is worth less than the amount you stand to lose, bluffing loses a lot of 'value.'
Now, many of you may be confused. Suppose you bluff 1000 chips at a 1000 pot and figure you have a 50-60% chance of taking it down. Many of you would think it's worth it to take that risk. However, those 1000 chips you win are worth less than those 1000 chips you stand to lose. If you have a 2000 stack, getting knocked down to 1000 has much more negative value than the positive value of getting up to 3000. The 1000 chips do not represent money. The only monetary value in the tournament is either losing all of your chips or winning them all (and losing them all is more important because you do get a prize if you lose them all in the late stages of the tournament). Losing those 1000 chips knocks you half the way out, but winning those 1000 doesn't do squat for winning.
This is not to imply that you can simply fold your way into the money. The blinds will eat you alive. You must win pots so you don't get knocked out most of the time. Towards the end of the tournament, you can think of winning pots to win the whole tournament. However, most of the time you must win pots simply so you don't lose!
Thus, in the early stages of the tournament, you should avoid gambling much. Generally, the amount you win isn't worth the gamble. If you can see the flop for cheap with a suited connector or someone goes all-in preflop and you have AA, by all means go for it. However, I wouldn't suggest bluffing all-in. In the early stages, you want to win a huge pot here and there because you hold the nuts. Target a bad player and make him pay you off.
Towards the middle of the tournament, you need to switch gears. Since the blinds get bigger, stealing the blinds will help you stay alive. Here, the 'gap' concept becomes more important. It takes a much weaker hand than usual to raise to steal the blind, but a stronger hand than usual to call a raise. The middle rounds introduce the 'survival mode' concept.
Again, most of the time you will be looking just to survive and increase your stack bit by bit in the middle rounds. You want to avoid confrontation without the nuts and just take down some small pots without controversy.
However, if you are a large chip stack (or even just a medium one), you may want to take advantage of this survival mode. Take control of the game by raising and frequently putting other people at a decision for all of their chips. After all, if they go all-in, they're risking it all but you aren't because you can lose the pot and still keep on fighting. However, don't do this too much. Steal some pots, but don't be so obvious that people will call you all-in with top or even second pair. Also, don't do this against very bad players. They will call everything.
Towards the end of the tournament is when the coin-flip decisions become very important. Frequently, the blinds are so high it makes sense for a player with a low or moderate stack to go all-in preflop. Generally, when you go all-in you want to have A(good kicker) or a pocket pair. If you have A(good kicker) you are an advantage to all non pocket pairs and may even have someone dominated. If you have a pocket pair, you are a small advantage against all non pocket pairs and at a huge advantage/disadvantage against other pocket pairs (depending on their size).
Generally, if you have one of these marginal hands, it's best to just shove all of your chips in preflop. When you are a low stack, you cannot afford to be blinded away anymore. Once the flop comes, chances are it's not going to be perfect. By shoving in all of your chips preflop, you have the added chance of stealing the blinds and can avoid being bluffed out.
Bluffing
Bluffing can be a useful tool, when used correctly. The whole key in playing Texas Hold'em is to force as many people out of the hand as you can, without them having to turn over their cards. The less people that are turning over their cards after the river comes down, the greater you have a chance of winning. You can practise your bluffing strategy at Pacific Poker against real people.
Bluffing should be used sparingly; if you bluff all of the time, eventually people will know that you are bluffing, and stay in the hand. The ideal time to bluff is when you won the previous hand. Let's say that there are three people left in the hand, and you have just won the previous two hands. You could just have a pair of 2's, but if you bluff and continue to bet strong, the other two players are going to have serious doubts about staying in the hand. In this situation, based on experience, at least one of the players will drop out and fold, and probably both will, unless they are setting on something like a flush or a full house. Bluffing success comes with success in the game; people will only fold if they think you are holding something. If you have played weak all game, then they will think that you are just bluffing.
When it comes to showing your cards, mix it up and be smart. I am talking about when you bluff successfully, and the other players lay down their cards. Some people will say, don't show them your cards, make them think that you had a monster hand. Well, on the other hand, if you show them that you had no cards and were bluffing, then you can use this to your advantage in the future. If you actually have a monster hand and are betting big, you can draw them into a trap, if they think that you are bluffing. If you are setting on a straight and they have a pair of 10's, and you are betting big, they may think that you are bluffing, and match your bets. The key is to just mix it up.
Making Yourself a Better player
If you which to teach more about poker, and whish it make yourself a better player. Then I suggest buying some poker books. Or even visit the site www.flopturnriver.com it is full of useful poker-related information. Or you could just e-mail me at, [email protected].
Test Yourself
Questions:
1. You are playing NL hold'em with $1-2 blinds. There is an $8 raise to you and you hold A9 off suit, what do you do?
2. You are playing NL hold'em and everyone has called the big blind. You hold 65 of hearts on the button, what do you do?
3. You are playing NL hold'em. You hold 96 off suit in early position, what do you do?
4. You are playing NL hold'em. You hold QT off suit in late position, two people have called a small raise. What do you do?
5. You are playing shorthand NL, you are one off the button and hold 88, first to act. What do you do?
6. You are playing shorthand NL, you are one off the button and hold KQ, two have called before you. What do you do?
7. You raised preflop with AK and the flop comes Qxx. You have position. What do you do?
8. You have AK and the flop comes K83, K8 of spades. What do you do?
9. You have 99 and were raised preflop by an aggressive player. You put him on AK. The flop comes a rainbow K94. What do you do?
10. The flop comes AK7, with K7 of spades. You hold 54 of spades. Your opponent makes a bet about 1/3 the size of the pot, what should you do?
Answers:
1. Fold, AK, AQ, AJ dominate you, AT.
2. Call. This is a good drawing hand.
3. Fold, This is not a good hand.
4. Fold. You are dominated and your drawing prospects are weak. The raise indicates that other high cards may be against you, such as KQ and AQ.
5. Raise to about 4 times the big blind. Hopefully you can take all the blinds, if not, you may be able to take the pot on the flop.
6. Just call. KQ is pretty good but not that great. If no one hits a pair you are losing to Ax and AK, AQ, dominates you.
7. Sometimes make a pot-size bet and sometimes-just check. You want to pick up this pot if your opponents have nothing. Even if they have a Q, you still have 6 outs on the turn and river, if they fail to raise you on the flop then you may luck out. If they do raise you, you should probably fold.
8. Bet the pot size or larger, you need to knock out the flush draw here.
9. Bet small into the raiser with the intent to reraise. If you bet out too strong the other player might just fold if he has nothing. But if you bet small you might draw a bluff out of him. Even if he just calls your small bet he may hit something on the turn and then you can go for the kill.
10. Call. You have about 18% chance of hitting flush on the turn, so you need 4:1 odds on your call, which is exactly what you are getting. The other option, if you think your opponent is bluffing or weak, is to reraise as a semi bluff. You're hoping he'll fold immediately but if he calls you may hit your flush on the turn.
Poker Glossary
Action
Action is when Bets and raises take place.
Ante
A small portion of a bet contributed by each player to seed the pot at the beginning of a poker hand. Most Hold’em games do not have an ante; they use "blinds" to get initial money into the pot.
All-In
To run out of chips while betting or calling. In table stakes games, a player may not go into his pocket for more money during a hand. If he runs out, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. However, he can still win the pot for which he had the chips. Example: "Poor Bob - he made quads against the big full house, but he was all-in on the second bet."
Backdoor
Catching both the turn and river card to make a drawing hand. For instance, suppose you have As- 7s. The flop comes Ad-6c-4s. You bet and are called. The turn is the Ts, which everybody checks, and then the river is the Js. You have made a "backdoor" nut flush.
Bad Beat
To have a hand that is a large underdog beat a heavily favoured hand. It is generally used to imply that the winner of the pot had no business being in the pot at all, and it was the wildest of luck that he managed to catch the one card in the deck that would win the pot. We won't give any examples; you will hear plenty of them during your poker career.
Blank
A board card that doesn't seem to affect the standings in the hand. If the flop is As-Jd-Ts, then a turn card of 2h would be considered a blank. On the other hand, the 2s would not be.
Blind
A forced bet (or partial bet) put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. Typically, players immediately to the left of the button put in blinds.
Board
All the community cards in a Hold’em game - the flop, turn, and river cards together.
Bottom Pair
A pair with the lowest card on the flop. If you have As-6s, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped bottom pair.
Burn
To discard the top card from the deck, face down. This is done between each betting round before putting out the next community card(s). It is security against any player recognizing or glimpsing the next card to be used on the board.
Button
A white acrylic disk to indicate who is the (nominal) dealer. Also used to refer to the player on the button. Example: "Oh, the button raised."
Buy
(1) As in "buy the pot." To bluff, hoping to "buy" the pot without being called.
(2) As in "buy the button." To bet or raise, hoping to make players between you and the button fold, thus allowing you to act last on subsequent betting rounds.
Calling Station
A weak-passive player who calls a lot, but doesn't raise or fold much. This is the kind of player you like to have in your game.
Cap
To put in the last raise permitted on a betting round. This is typically the third or fourth raise. Dealers in California are fond of saying "Capitola" or "Cappuccino".
Case
The last card of a certain rank in the deck. Example: "The flop came J-8-3; I've got pocket jacks, he's got pocket 8's, and then the case eight falls on the river and he beats my full house."
Centre Pot
The first pot created during a poker hand. This is as opposed to one or more "side" pots that are created if one or more players goes all-in. Also "main pot."
Check
(1) To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equivalent to betting zero dollars.
(2) Another word for "chip", as in poker chip.
Check Raise
To check and then raise when a player behind you bets. Occasionally you will hear people say this is not fair or ethical poker. Piffle. Almost all casinos permit check raising, and it is an important poker tactic. It is particularly useful in low-limit Hold’em where you need extra strength to narrow the field when you have the best hand.
Cold Call
To call more than one bet in a single action. For instance, suppose the first player to act after the big blind raises. Now any player acting after him must call two bets "cold." This is different from calling a single bet and then calling a subsequent raise.
Come Hand
A drawing hand (probably from the craps term).
Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five cards - a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or straight flush.
Connector
A Hold’em starting hand in which the two cards are one apart in rank. Examples: KQs, 76.
Counterfeit
To make your hand less valuable because of board cards that duplicates it. Example: you have 87 and the flop comes 9-T-J, so you have a straight. Now an 8 comes on the turn. This has counterfeited your hand and made it almost worthless.
Crack
To beat a hand - typically a big hand. You hear this most often used to apply to pocket aces: "Third time tonight I've had pocket aces cracked."
Cripple
As in to cripple the deck. Meaning that you have most or all of the cards that somebody would want to have with the current board. If you have pocket kings, and the other two kings flop, you have crippled the deck.
Dominated Hand
Hands that will almost always lose to a better hand that people usually play. For instance, K3 is "dominated" by KQ. With the exception of strange flops (e.g. 3-3-x, K-3-x), it will always lose to KQ.
Draw Dead
Try to make a hand that, even if made, will not win the pot. If you're drawing to make a flush, and your opponent already has a full house, you are "drawing dead". Of course, this is a bad condition to be in.
Equity
Your "rightful" share of a pot. If the pot contains $80, and you have a 50% chance of winning it, you have $40 equity in the pot. This term is somewhat fanciful since you will either win $80 or $0, but it gives you an idea of how much you can "expect" to win.
Expectation
(1) A term referring to the amount of you expects to gain on average if you make a certain play. For instance, suppose you put $10 into a $50 pot to draw at a hand that you will make 25% of the time, and it will win every time you make it. Three out of four times, you do not make your draw, and lose $10 each time for a total of $30. The fourth time, you will make your draw, winning $50. Your total gain over those four average hands is $50-$30 = $20, an average of $5 per hand. Thus calling the $10 has a positive expectation of $5.
(2) The amount you expect to make at the poker table in a specific time period. Perhaps in 100 hours play, you have won $527. Then your expectation is $5.27/hr. Of course, you won't make that exact amount each hour (and some hours you will lose), but it's one measure of your anticipated earnings.
Family Pot
A pot in which all (or almost all) of the players call before the flop.
Fast
As in "play fast." To play a hand aggressively, betting and raising as much as possible. Example: "When you flop a set but there's a flush draw possible, you have to play it fast."
Flop
The first three community cards, put out face up, all together.
Foul
A hand, which may not be played for one reason or another. A player with a foul hand may not make any claim on any portion of the pot. Example: "He ended up with three cards after the flop, so the dealer declared his hand foul."
Free Card
A turn or river card on which you don't have to call a bet because of play earlier in the hand (or a reputation which you have with your opponents). For instance, if you are on the button and raise when you flop a flush draw, your opponents may check to you on the turn. If you make your flush on the turn, you can bet. However, if you don't get it on the turn, you can check as well - seeing the river card for "free."
Free Roll
A type of tournament that costs no Real Money to participate in.
Gutshot Straight
An straight filled "inside". If you have 9s-8s, the flop comes 7c-5h-2d, and the turn is the 6c, you've made your gutshot straight.
Heads Up
A pot that is being contested by only two players - "It was heads up by the turn."
Hit
As in "the flop hit me." It means the flop contained cards that help your hand. If you have AK, and the flop comes K-7-2, it hit you.
House
The establishment running the game. Example: "The $2 you put on the button goes to the house."
Implied Odds
Pot odds that do not exist at the moment, but may be included in your calculations because of bets you expect to win if you hit your hand. For instance, you might call with a flush draw on the turn even though the pot isn't offering you quite 4:1 odds (your chance of making the flush) because you're sure you can win a bet from your opponent on the river if you make your flush.
Jackpot
A special bonus paid to the loser of a hand if he gets a very good hand beaten. In Hold’em, the "loser" must typically get aces full or better beaten. In some of the large southern California card clubs, the jackpots have gotten over $50,000. Of course, the jackpot is funded with money removed from the game as part of the rake.
Kicker
An unpaired card used to determine the better of two near-equivalent hands. For instance, suppose you have AK and your opponent has AQ. If the flop has an ace in it, you both have a pair of aces, but you have a king kicker. Kickers can be vitally important in Hold’em.
Live Blind
A forced bet put in by one or more players before any cards are dealt. The "live" means those players still have the option of raising when the action gets back around to them.
Maniac
A player who does a lot of hyper-aggressive raising, betting, and bluffing. A true maniac is not a good player, but is simply doing a lot of gambling. However, a player who occasionally acts like a maniac and confuses his opponents is quite dangerous.
Muck
The pile of folded and burned cards in front of the dealer. Example: "His hand hit the muck so the dealer ruled it folded even though the guy wanted to get his cards back." Also used as a verb - "He didn't have any outs so he mucked his hand."
No-Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet any amount of chips (up to the number in front of him) whenever it is his turn to act. It is a very different game than limit poker. The best treatise on no-limit poker is in Doyle Brunson's Super/System.
Nuts
The best possible hand given the board. If the board is Ks-Jd-Ts-4s-2h, then As-Xs is the nuts. You will occasionally hear the term applied to the best possible hand of a certain category, even though it isn't the overall nuts. For the above example, somebody with Ah-Qc in the above hand might say they had the "nut straight".
Off suit
A Hold’em starting hand in which the two cards are of different suits.
One-Gap
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are two apart in rank. Examples: J9s, 64.
Out
A card that will make your hand win. Normally heard in the plural. Example: "Any spade will make my flush, so I have nine outs."
Outrun
To beat. Example: "Susie outran my set when her flush card hit on the river."
Overcall
To call a bet after one or more others players have already called.
Overcard
A card higher than any card on the board. For instance, if you have AQ and the flop comes J-7-3, you don't have a pair, but you have two overcards.
Overpair
A pocket pair higher than any card on the flop. If you have QQ and the flop comes J-8-3, you have an overpair.
Pay Off
To call a bet where the bettor is representing a hand that you can't beat, but the pot is sufficiently large to justify a call anyway. Example: "He played it exactly like he made the flush, but I had top set so I paid him off."
Play the Board
To show down a hand in hold'em when your cards don't make a hand any better than is shown on the board. For instance, if you have 22, and the board is 4-4-9-9-A (no flush possible), then you must "play the board" - the best possible hand you can make doesn't use any of your cards. Note that if you play the board, the best you can do is to split the pot with all remaining players.
Pocket
Your unique cards that only you can see. For instance, "He had pocket sixes" (a pair of sixes), or "I had ace-king in the pocket."
Post
To put in a blind bet, generally required when you first sit down in a card room game. You may also be required to post a blind if you change seats at the table in a way that moves you away from the blinds.
Pot Limit
A version of poker in which a player may bet up to the amount of money in the pot whenever it is his turn to act. Like no-limit, this is a very different game from limit poker.
Pot Odds
The amount of money in the pot compared to the amount you must put in the pot to continue playing. For example, suppose there is $60 in the pot. Somebody bets $6, so the pot now contains $66. It costs you $6 to call, so your pot odds are 11:1. If your chance of having the best hand is at least one out of twelve, you should call. Pot odds also apply to draws. For instance, suppose you have a draw to the nut flush with one card left to come. In this case, you are about a 4:1 underdog to make your flush. If it costs you $8 to call the bet, then there must be about $32 in the pot (including the most recent bet) to make your call correct.
Price
The pot odds you are getting for a draw or call. Example: "The pot was laying me a high enough price, so I stayed in with my gutshot straight draw."
Protect
(1) To keep your hand or a chip on your cards. This prevents them from being fouled by a discarded hand, or accidentally mucked by the dealer.
(2) To invest more money in a pot so blind money that you've already put in isn't "wasted." Example: "He'll always protect his blinds, no matter how bad his cards are."
Quads
Four of a kind.
Ragged
A flop (or board) that doesn't appear to help anybody very much. A flop that came down Jd-6h-2c would look ragged.
Rainbow
A flop that contains three different suits, thus no flush can be made on the turn. Can also mean a complete five card board that has no more than two of any suit, thus no flush is possible.
Rake
An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer - this is the card room’s income.
Rank
The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit). Example: "jack," "seven."
Represent
To play as if you hold a certain hand. For instance, if you raised before the flop, and then raised again when the flop came ace high, you would be representing at least an ace with a good kicker.
Ring Game
A regular poker game as opposed to a tournament. Also referred to as a "live" game since actual money is in play instead of tournament chips.
River
The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fifth street". Metaphors involving the river are some of poker's most treasured cliches - e.g. "He drowned in the river."
Rock
A player who plays very tight, not very creatively. He raises only with the best hands. A real rock is fairly predictable - if he raises you on the end, you can throw away just about anything but the nuts.
Runner
Typically said "runner-runner" to describe a hand which was made only by catching the correct cards on both the turn and the river - "He made a runner-runner flush to beat my trips." See also "Backdoor."
Scare Card
A card which may well turn the best hand into trash. If you have Tc-8c and the flop comes Qd- Jd-9s, you almost assuredly have the best hand. However, a turn card of Td would be very scary because it would almost guarantee that you are now beaten.
Second Pair
A pair with the second highest card on the flop. If you have As-Ts, and the flop comes Kd-Th-6c, you have flopped second pair.
Sell
As in "sell a hand". In a spread limit game, this means to bet less than the maximum when you have a very strong hand, hoping players will call whereas they would not have called a maximum bet.
Semi-bluff
A powerful concept first discussed by David Sklansky. It is a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but you have some outs if it is. A semi-bluff may be correct when betting for value is not correct, a pure bluff is not correct, but the combination of the two may be a positive expectation play.
Set
Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.
Short Stack
A number of chips that is not very many compared to the other players at the table. If you have $10 in front of you, and everybody else at the table has over $100, you are playing on a short stack.
Showdown
The point at which all players remaining in the hand turn their cards over and determine who has the best hand - i.e. after the fourth round of betting is completed. Of course, if a final bet or raise is not called, there is no showdown.
Side Pot
A pot created in which a player has no interest because he has run out of chips. Example: Al bets $6, Beth calls the $6, and Carl calls, but he has only $2 left. An $8 side pot is created that either Al or Beth can win, but not Carl. Furthermore, any more bets that Al and Beth make go into that side pot. Carl, however, can still win all the money in the original or "center" pot.
Slow Play
To play a strong hand weakly so more players will stay in the pot.
Split Pot
A pot which is shared by two or more players because they have equivalent hands.
Split Two Pair
A two pair hand in which one of each of your cards' ranks appears on the board as well. Example: you have T9, the flop is T-9-5, you have a split two pair. This is in comparison to two pair where there is a pair on the board. Example: you have T9, the flop is 9-5-5.
Spread Limit
A betting structure in which a player may bet any amount in a range on every betting round. A typical spread limit structure is $2-$6, where a player may bet as little as $2 or as much as $6 on every betting round.
Straddle
An optional extra blind bet, typically made by the player one to the left of the big blind, equal to twice the big blind. This is effectively a raise, and forces any player who wants to play to pay two bets. Furthermore, the straddler acts last before the flop, and may "re-raise."
String Bet
A bet (more typically a raise) in which a player doesn't get all the chips required for the raise into the pot in one motion. Unless he verbally declared the raise, he can be forced to withdraw it and just call. This prevents the unethical play of putting out enough chips to call, seeing what effect that had, and then possibly raising.
Structured
Used to apply to a certain betting structure in "flop" games such as hold'em. The typical definition of a structured game is a fixed amount for bets and raises before the flop and on the flop, and then twice that amount on the turn and river. Example: a $2-$4 structured hold'em game - bets and raises of $2 before the flop and on the flop; $4 bets and raises on the turn and river.
Suited
A hold'em starting hand in which the two cards are the same suit. Example: "I had to play J-3 - it was suited."
Table Stakes
A rule in a poker game meaning that a player may not go into his pocket for money during a hand. He may only invest the amount of money in front of him into the current pot. If he runs out of chips during the hand, a side pot is created in which he has no interest. All casino poker is played table stakes. The definition sometimes also includes the rule that a player may not remove chips from the table during a game. While this rule might not be referred to as "table stakes", it is enforced almost universally in public poker games.
Tell
A clue or hint that a player unknowingly gives about the strength of his hand, his next action, etc. May originally be from "telegraph" or the obvious use that he "tells" you what he's going to do before he does it.
Tilt
To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc.
Time
(1) A request by a player to suspend play while he decides what he's going to do. Simply, "Time please!" If a player doesn't request time and there is a substantial amount of action behind him, the dealer may rule that the player has folded.
(2) An amount of money collected either on the button or every half hour by the cardroom. This is another way for the house to make its money (see "rake").
Toke
A small amount of money (typically $.50 or $1.00) given to the dealer by the winner of a pot. Quite often, tokes represent the great majority of a dealer's income.
Top Pair
A pair with the highest card on the flop. If you have As-Qs, and the flop comes Qd-Th-6c, you have flopped top pair.
Trips
Three of a kind.
Turn
The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. Also known as "fourth street."
Under the gun
The position of the player who acts first on a betting round. For instance, if you are one to the left of the big blind, you are under the gun before the flop.
Underdog
A person or hand who is not mathematically favored to win a pot. For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush, you are not quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the river (that is, you will make your flush about one in three times).
Value
As in "bet for value." This means that you would actually like your opponents to call your bet (as opposed to a bluff). Generally it's because you have the best hand. However, it can also be a draw which, given enough callers, has a positive expectation.
Variance
A measure of the up and down swings your bankroll goes through. Variance is not necessarily a measure of how well you play. However, the higher your variance, the wider swings you'll see in your bankroll.
Further Help + Contact
Thank you for reading this Large Essay, and I hope you have enjoyed your time reading. If there is anything that you feel we have missed out, or anything extra that you would be interested in knowing. Please do not hesitate to contact us. Free of charge.
You can E-mail Me: [email protected]
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In poker rooms I am known as Stokenut
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