Happy New Year! I hope everyone is having a great time and has a safe holiday.
In researching new material for this blog (hey, I can't write all the articles myself), I stumbled on a great resource. They have graciously allowed me to use some of their content for this blog. Please see the link at the end of this article to check them out for yourself.
Getting Paid Off
In the Olympics, second place wins a silver medal. In no-limit hold'em,
second place loses large sums of money.
Many players who cross over from limit hold'em to no-limit hold'em have
a hard time understanding this important concept. If you hold AK and
flop top pair in limit hold'em, rarely will you be folding your hand.
After all, your hand will win most of the time, and you do not lose too
much if your hand ends up placing second. However, if you are not
careful at no-limit hold'em, these types of hands will quickly cost you
your entire stack.
There are six types of hands in no-limit hold'em:
1. Hands that have no value. They cannot even beat a bluff.
2. Hands that can beat a bluff. For example, middle pair.
3. Top pair.
4. Overpair.
5. Strong hands (that are not quite the nuts).
6. Nuts or near-nuts.
Understanding these hand types means understanding how large a pot each
hand type can win. Hands of lesser value are generally only able to win
smaller pots, because the hands they can beat will not call large bets.
For example, suppose you hold AK and the board is AJ4. Someone with KJ
is simply not going to pay you off that much in this situation.
However, if you hold AK and the board is A9652, you will likely pay off
someone who holds 87. Again, the stronger the hand, the more likely
someone is to pay off.
Obviously, any hand is capable of being a nut hand: 72os is the nuts
with a 77753 board. Nevertheless, certain starting hands lend
themselves more to certain categories.
High Pocket Pairs (AA, KK, etc.): These hands are typically overpairs.
If you are fortunate to hit a set with them, then it is unlikely that
you will be paid off. Why? Suppose you hold AA with a board of A87. It
is unlikely that someone else will have top pair, because there is only
one other ace in the deck. So you are left with relatively few strong
hands that you can beat except draws to a hand that beats you.
Big Unpaired Cards (AK, AQ, etc.): These hands are likely to become top
pair. It is possible to hit straights with these hands, too. However,
most of the time you form a hand, it will be top pair.
Small Pocket Pairs (33, 77, etc): They will generally form either
category 2, 5, or 6 hands. For example, if you hold pocket sixes,
chances are good that the flop will bring you a bunch of overcards or
it will make you a set. Thus, your hand will either be weak or
extremely strong.
Suited Connectors (T9s, 64s): These hands tend to be category 1, 2, 5,
or 6. What is nice about these hands is that you generally know your
place in the pot, because these hands are either very strong or very
weak.
As the rank of a hand increases, the potential risks and rewards of
that hand increases as well. Obviously, a trash hand will not win a pot
(except with a bluff), but it will not pay off as well.
It gets tricky as you get into top pairs and overpairs. These
hands really cannot beat very many hands. Someone with middle pair will
not call you down for big bets unless they think you are bluffing.
However, players holding top pair often pay off to people who have
stronger hands.
This is why top pair and overpair tend to be less reliable in no-limit than
they are in fixed-limit. In fixed-limit, the bets are very small in
relation to the pot. Because they are so small, people with category 2
hands will pay off, because it is worth risking a small amount of money
if there is a decent chance one's opponent is bluffing. So there are a
lot of hands that will pay off to top pair.
In no-limit, the bets tend to be large in relation to the pot.
Thus, there are much fewer hands that will pay off to top pair, because
people would be risking a lot more money to call down with hands that
really can only beat bluffs. The hands that pay off top pair are not
worth pot-sized bets. However, for many people, top pair and overpair
are worth paying off other people with pot-sized bets.
This is not to say that top pair is a trash hand in no-limit. It
certainly can win a fair share of pots. However, it generally is not
able to win huge pots in relation to the blinds. This is why top pair
tends to be better if a person has a short stack, rather than a large
stack.
I hope you found this article as informative as I did. My thanks to PokerTips.org for allowing me to use this article.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Start Winning with Sit-N-Go Tournaments
We've all seen the tournaments on TV. Playing for "life changing" money. If you are even a casual player you have probably wondered if it's really skilled play or if besting a field of hundreds is all a matter of luck.
The fact is, most average people never have the chance to find out. Let's face it, how many of us have an "extra" 5-10 grand lying around?
The good news is, there is another way. Sit-n-Go's are "fixed field" tournaments with usually less than 100 players. You can get started for much less money and, unlike the mega tournaments, there are specific strategies you can use to greatly increase your winning percentage.
Poker Pro John Rothman reveals the exact system he uses to consistently win up to, and over, $1200 per night in Sit-N-Go Pro
My personal favorite strategy with the single-table SNG is to play very tight at the beginning of play. You can't win the tourney on the first hand, but you can sure lose it. At the lower buy-ins many players are excessively loose and aggressive. The best way to take advantage of them is to play only premium cards.
For example, early in the tournament I'll only come into a pot with hands like AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ (although it's ok to limp in with lesser hands if you're in the blinds). The reason being that other hands are very vulnerable to getting out-drawn. Particularly in multi-way pots with more than 2 or 3 players.
As play winds down, keep in mind that the top 3 make the money (in a single table event). You can use this fact to your advantage when you get down to 5-and 4-handed play. If you've played tight so far, you should have a table image as a "rock", or solid player. Now is the time to open up your game and play a wider range of starting hands, as well as to be more aggressive in your betting patterns. When nearing the "bubble", many players will tighten up and start playing "not to lose". Taking advantage of this is a good way to steal the blinds and antes.
When you make it to the money, take a look at the pay ladder. What is the difference in pay between 3rd and 2nd, and 3rd and 1st? How is your stack in relation to your opponents? If you're not the chip leader, maybe it's time to really start pushing with a lot of allin's. You've already made a profit, now go for the title!
The fact is, most average people never have the chance to find out. Let's face it, how many of us have an "extra" 5-10 grand lying around?
The good news is, there is another way. Sit-n-Go's are "fixed field" tournaments with usually less than 100 players. You can get started for much less money and, unlike the mega tournaments, there are specific strategies you can use to greatly increase your winning percentage.
Poker Pro John Rothman reveals the exact system he uses to consistently win up to, and over, $1200 per night in Sit-N-Go Pro
My personal favorite strategy with the single-table SNG is to play very tight at the beginning of play. You can't win the tourney on the first hand, but you can sure lose it. At the lower buy-ins many players are excessively loose and aggressive. The best way to take advantage of them is to play only premium cards.
For example, early in the tournament I'll only come into a pot with hands like AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ (although it's ok to limp in with lesser hands if you're in the blinds). The reason being that other hands are very vulnerable to getting out-drawn. Particularly in multi-way pots with more than 2 or 3 players.
As play winds down, keep in mind that the top 3 make the money (in a single table event). You can use this fact to your advantage when you get down to 5-and 4-handed play. If you've played tight so far, you should have a table image as a "rock", or solid player. Now is the time to open up your game and play a wider range of starting hands, as well as to be more aggressive in your betting patterns. When nearing the "bubble", many players will tighten up and start playing "not to lose". Taking advantage of this is a good way to steal the blinds and antes.
When you make it to the money, take a look at the pay ladder. What is the difference in pay between 3rd and 2nd, and 3rd and 1st? How is your stack in relation to your opponents? If you're not the chip leader, maybe it's time to really start pushing with a lot of allin's. You've already made a profit, now go for the title!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Poker Strategies: Comfort Zones
Poker Strategies: Make your opponents UN-comfortable.
Ever wonder just how it is that a professional poker player can sometimes make more with a "junk" hand than you can with AA? How they can force a player with the better hand to lay it down? Here's one possible answer:
Watch how your opponents play, whether they're loose/aggressive, tight/passive, etc. When you have identified the players who seem to be the most cautious, keep an eye on their chip stacks. Most players have their "comfort zones" and these zones will move during the course of a tournament. What you need to do is to identify specific "break" points in order to attack these comfort zones.
Most people tend to want to segregate things into groups, be it groups of 5's, 10's, 100's, etc. This is also true of many poker players and their chip stacks. If you are observant, you may notice a player who seems to "tighten up" whenever his stack breaks new ground; say, the first time he gets over 10K, 25K, 50K, etc. These players may be vulnerable to folding when calling a particular bet or raise has the potential to put them back under that newly established level.
Example:
Let's say you are on the button with a marginal hand such as pocket 6's or 7's. The blinds are at 500/1000 Ante 50 and the BB (big blind) has just gotten over the 25K mark for the first time (27,500), and action has been folded around to you. If you have identified him/her as the type who hates to lose ground, a bet of 4-5 times the blind should get them to fold any but a premium hand such as AK, AQ, or any pair higher than 10's. If so, you can pick up the blinds and antes for a tidy 1950. If they do call, you will have "position" and you will have gained valuable information on the probable strength of their hand.
Always pay attention to your opponents. The more information you have, the easier (and better) your decisions will be.
For more tips and strategies for playing winning poker, Click Here!
Play Online Poker
Ever wonder just how it is that a professional poker player can sometimes make more with a "junk" hand than you can with AA? How they can force a player with the better hand to lay it down? Here's one possible answer:
Watch how your opponents play, whether they're loose/aggressive, tight/passive, etc. When you have identified the players who seem to be the most cautious, keep an eye on their chip stacks. Most players have their "comfort zones" and these zones will move during the course of a tournament. What you need to do is to identify specific "break" points in order to attack these comfort zones.
Most people tend to want to segregate things into groups, be it groups of 5's, 10's, 100's, etc. This is also true of many poker players and their chip stacks. If you are observant, you may notice a player who seems to "tighten up" whenever his stack breaks new ground; say, the first time he gets over 10K, 25K, 50K, etc. These players may be vulnerable to folding when calling a particular bet or raise has the potential to put them back under that newly established level.
Example:
Let's say you are on the button with a marginal hand such as pocket 6's or 7's. The blinds are at 500/1000 Ante 50 and the BB (big blind) has just gotten over the 25K mark for the first time (27,500), and action has been folded around to you. If you have identified him/her as the type who hates to lose ground, a bet of 4-5 times the blind should get them to fold any but a premium hand such as AK, AQ, or any pair higher than 10's. If so, you can pick up the blinds and antes for a tidy 1950. If they do call, you will have "position" and you will have gained valuable information on the probable strength of their hand.
Always pay attention to your opponents. The more information you have, the easier (and better) your decisions will be.
For more tips and strategies for playing winning poker, Click Here!
Play Online Poker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
