Poker Book Club

If there is one game that puts the brain into an exercise, it has got to be Poker. Nothing jogs the gray matter better than a card game that requires deft skill and slick style. While some variations of the game relies more on luck and good fortune, poker remains to be a thinking game. Only the most brilliant – or imaginative – minds can truly triumph and claim the title “master of the game”.

While many players have won a game or two on the table, they are no match for the following individuals, who have declared victory almost every time the cards were dealt in front of them. With their many winnings and rich experience that only gets better each day; they have rightfully earned the right to be proclaimed as some of the world’s best poker players.

Phil Hellmuth – Phil proves that one need not be old in order to become a seasoned player. He bagged the top prize at the Time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Championship at the age of 24, making him the youngest player to ever become a World Champion. Phil has a record of nine gold bracelets (comparable to a gold medal) to his name, on top of the big cash winnings that he took home. To date, he is a best-selling author of poker-themed books such as Playing like the Pros, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws. He is also one of the featured writers of Card Player Magazine, a testimonial to his expertise of the game.

Daniel Negreanu – Kid Poker may be his name on the playing tables but he definitely plays like a pro. He has already tucked more than 35 victories under his belt which is why it comes as no surprise that he was hailed as the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and Card Player Magazine Player of the Year. And as if the laurels were not enough, Daniel also bagged the 2004 Player of the Year Runner Up title. Because of his obvious passion and proficiency of the game, Daniel now reaches out to a wider audience as a writer for the Canadian Saturday Night Magazine and a spot on ESPN News.

Antonio Esfandiari – Antonio surely lives up to his moniker – “The Magician”. A magician by profession, it is no wonder that Antonio became famous for his captivating dance moves and magic tricks on the playing table. Aside from bagging the first place at the LA Poker Classic No Limit Hold’ Em Championship, he made three WPT Final Table appearances. One of the bad boys of poker, Antonio’s showcase of talent was featured in one of the DVD’s of the Going All in Poker DVD set.

Gus Hansen – Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, Gus, nicknamed “The Great Dane”, is a very lethal opponent to have. He showcases a very aggressive playing style that has won him three World Poker Tour events and a spot in the Inaugural WPT Walk of Fame. His victories come as no wonder, though, as Gus is also a champion Backgammon player. Like Antonio, Gus’ expert moves and plays was featured in the Going All in DVD collection.

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The Texas Hold’em poker phenomenon has taken the country by storm. There are reportedly over 100 million active poker players worldwide. Poker‘s popularity is largely the byproduct of technology and several recent trends: 1) online gaming, where players engage and socialize in real-time over the Internet, and 2) the broad publicity created by high profile TV shows like the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour.

With all the poker-mania, there’s an amazing shortage of quality information to help people learn how to play properly and become great players quickly. This is the first in a series of Texas Holdem strategy articles aimed at helping players learn how to win at Texas Hold’em poker. Tournament play is a popular, fun sport. These articles will help players understand how to approach tournaments, which differ greatly from regular “ring game” play.

This installment deals with the most-asked question: “How do I deal effectively with aggressive players?” Many players struggle against “maniacs”, the aggressive, wild players who play most every hand, somehow seem to pull cards out of thin air, and often manage to dominate the table.

Here’s what actually happened in a recent poker tournament. I entered a tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, about 20 minutes from my home in South Florida. This weekly $300 entry-fee tournament fills the poker room with 220 players every Monday night.

The blinds start at 50/100 and go up every 15 minutes. I spent the first 30 minutes just hanging out and occasionally limping in to see a flop. The reason for “treading water” was to study my opponents and their playing patterns very closely. There were a number of solid poker players, but right away I spotted the aggressive ones.

I was sitting in the middle, directly across from the dealer. There were two “wild men” to my right. These two participated in most every hand, and agonized with themselves whenever they had to throw a hand away. This was hilarious to me, and it was also very telling. I knew these dudes were doomed from the onset, yet they were extremely dangerous if they caught something with one of their trash hands. These types are great targets, but only when you know how to play them correctly. If you do, you’ll end up with most or all of their chips in your stack. The key is to get to their chips before someone else does.

There were some squeaky-tight and solid players, as usual. Finally, there were two other players to my left who knew one another very well and spoke what sounded like Russian. These two played very aggressively. They rarely called or checked. They would bet or raise the pot significantly, so if they played a hand, you knew they were going to bet it big and you’d better be prepared to push a bunch of your chips into the middle. As a result, the table became tight overall, except for these four players who controlled the early action and dictated the table tempo for the first hour or so. They gambled with wanton abandon, trading chips with each other as the rest of us just observed and wished for a real hand to materialize.

It became apparent that our maniacs were playing mostly garbage hands, and using assertive chatter in an attempt to intimidate everyone. They were enjoying pushing everyone around with their aggressive betting and raising style. Humorously, they got into a number of showdowns, causing all of their trash hands to become openly exposed; e.g., 69 off-suit, Q3 suited, etc. I definitely had these guys pegged now – if only I could get a strong hand…

Later, one of my Russian “friends” came in over the top of a bet I’d placed with a huge raise, then smiled at me as he leaned his head back as if to say “Go ahead. I dare you”. My middle pair just wasn’t strong enough to engage with him, but I remembered this little “lesson” and my mistake. He’d used this tactic many times against the others and I should’ve expected it. I also realized that we had not seen any of his supposed “big hands”, as he always mucked them. Whenever you see an aggressive player dominating, and then mucking all those supposed “great hands”, you know you’ve spotted a target.

We played on, with the two maniacs to my right getting busted out by the Russian contingent. It’s been an hour and fifteen minutes – and I still haven’t seen even one decent hand yet! This is, unfortunately, typical poker.

After about an hour-and 45 minutes, I finally pick up a pair of wired 9′s (99). Now I was hoping the flop would yield a set (trips). Sure enough, it came: 9, K, 5. I was elated and jumping up and down (inside). I was finally in a position to make my move, and hoped it would be against one of my aggressive Russian friends with their big stacks.

To prepare my trap, I delayed and muddled around for about ten seconds, and then casually “checked” verbally and using my hand in a chopping motion, with a slightly disgusted look. Next, the younger Russian moves in with a big bet of 3,000 chips. I was sure I had him now. As expected, everyone else quickly folded and got out of his way – except me. This fellow had pushed everyone around and I was finally properly armed and ready to do battle on my own terms. Note that this had been my “battle plan” all along. I was deliberately targeting these aggressive characters, knowing that when the time was right, their ill-gotten stacks would become mine!

The action came back around to me, so now it was just the two of us heads-up. The two Russians said something to each other that the rest of us couldn’t decipher. I delayed and bobbed my head around as if to be struggling with my decision. Then, I motioned with both hands and uttered “I’m all-in”. I knew this series of actions would likely trigger an aggressive reaction, since my “check-raise” made it appear as if I was trying to steal this pot! A check-raise almost always triggers a full-tilt response from an aggressive player.

He immediately called me – he was so aggressive (and pot-committed) that it was like a fish taking the bait and running for deep waters – hook line and sinker! I threw my pair of 9′s over, revealing the trip 9′s. There was a low murmur around the table from the other players. My young Russian friend reluctantly flipped his five/trash hand over – he had a pair of fives (with a King over-card showing on the board!). He was definitely angling to drive me out of this pot with his ascertive play – one too many times…

You see, no one actually gets that many great hands in poker – nobody. If someone plays 30% to 40% or more of the time, they’re just “gambling” and bluffing. This guy thinks he has a “good” hand, because he actually had a real pair – something he doesn’t often have when pushing everyone around with mostly aggressive betting as his only real weapon.

The turn came and it wasn’t a five – then someone pipes up and says “he’s drawing dead”. Believe me, you never want to hear that when you’re in a showdown! I looked over as he said something in Russian to his buddy – another violation of tournament rules, as everyone is compelled to speak English at the tournament table. It wouldn’t matter, as he stood up, grabbed his jacket and left after receiving some consolation from his friend.

His older friend glared over at me and uttered something derogatory in Russian. I had no clue what he said, but I knew from his tone that I didn’t like it. I also knew I’d gotten under his skin by taking down his buddy and raking in all of his chips. I responded with “what’s that, I don’t understand what you’re saying since you’re not speaking English?” loudly so everyone at the table could hear me.

He mumbled something about his friend…I smiled and said politely with a smile “I deliberately laid that trap for your friend and he fell right into it!”, pushing the knife in deeper, knowing he’d be gunning for me anyway – might as well make sure my next trap was fully set. This also signaled to everyone else at the table that whenever I checked or limped, it could be extremely dangerous if assumed to be a sign of weakness – something I’d leverage later as the blinds and antes rose and the proper time to bluff and steal blinds actually arrived.

After a slight pause, my Russian friend noticed that everyone was now looking at him. He looked down at his chips and said “nice play” with a reluctantly polite tone.

Boy, I was elated! My battle plan was definitely becoming field-proven here – and my next target was clearly sighted. It had taken careful observation, planning and a lot of patience to wait for the right hand, and then play it correctly to take this highly-skilled, aggressive player out and rake in all of his chips.

About ten minutes later, it was tournament break time, after two hours of play. I counted my chips, which totaled 14,900 (we started with 5,000 each), then grabbed a quick bite to eat, reflecting on what had just taken place.

Within ten minutes of returning from break, I finally picked up a serious starting hand: Cowboys (KK). I knew it was time for my new Russian friend and me to tango, so I fired out a bet of 3 times the big blind: 3,000 chips, bait that I was sure he couldn’t turn down. Sure enough, he bit – big time. His all-in raise came almost instantaneously, before I could even get my bet onto the table. He was totally ready to engage, and had been laying in wait for me – just like I had planned. I had set him up by taking out his friend and then challenging his poker ego in front of everyone. He just had to retaliate against me – it was a totally predictable “full-tilt” response from this kind of player.

This is what the game of poker is really all about – having a well-defined strategy, the patience to wait for the right hand, and then executing properly. It’s what makes poker a game of strategy instead of a game of chance (for some of us).

He raised by going all-in with around 8,000 chips to my roughly 14,000. I quickly called his all-in bet. Everyone else quickly folded and got out of our way.

I flipped my pocket kings over, then looked him straight in the eye and just smiled. Then someone says “Yeah! Now we’ve got some action!” He sighed and flipped over QQ – he actually had a real hand for a change. That’s one of the problems with these kinds of “semi-solid, aggressive” players, like my Russian friend here, and other poker greats like Gus Hansen. You never really know exactly what to expect from them. Of course, my opponent could’ve held pocket rockets (AA), but I’ll play those KK cowboys strong each and every time I get them, since there’s only one hand that can beat them heads-up. I also knew this aggressive player on tilt was likely to be overplaying his hand, improving my odds significantly.

The flop, turn and river came and went without another Queen and it was done – my cowboys stood up and I had all of both Russian’s stacks, which included most of the other two poor maniac’s chips (who lost to the Russians earlier). This instantly made me by far the chip leader at our table with well over 22,000 chips!

I went from having an average chip stack to being the table chip leader, against tough, aggressive opponents, within less than half an hour by:

a) Playing solid, reasonable tournament poker,

b) Not taking big, undue risks with weak or “drawing” hands,

c) Studying my aggressive prey and where the chips were sitting,

d) Formulating and refining a battle plan while observing the game progress,

e) Remaining patient while waiting for the right hand to make my move, and

f) Executing this plan with precision against a predetermined opponent, and on terms of my choosing – not the opponent’s.

There was no luck involved at all – except that my opponent didn’t hold AA or pull some lucky cards with a trash hand – which was simply playing the odds in my favor.

I started out with a high-level strategy to target aggressive chip leaders, and go after them with strong hands from the right position. I planned this before I ever arrived at the casino that day, or knew who these players would be. Then, I refined my plan once I knew for certain whom the evening’s targets would be and how I’d provoke them. It certainly helped that I caught two decent hands during those first hours of play.

Unfortunately, I later lost to a legitimate full house, but made it into the top 40 – it happens…

The key to playing against aggressive and maniac players is having a viable Texas Holdem strategy you can profit from when you get some good hands. If you have a good plan, you can convert it into a formidable stockpile of chips – a stack that you’ll definitely need as the blinds and antes increase and the tournament field narrows in the latter stages.

This is how I approach Texas Holdem strategy for tournaments now – at least when the tables are full with 8 or more players, some of them aggressive and maniacs. So, the next time you encounter wild and aggressive players at your poker table, get ready to have some fun! It’s like Tae Kwon Do – using the opponent’s own energy and momentum against them.

In the next installment, we’ll detail this Texas Holdem strategy more formally, along with exploring some other tournament tips for playing better Texas Holdem poker.

Until then – good luck!

Rick

Rick Braddy is an avid writer, Texas Holdem player and professional software developer and marketer for over 25 years. His websites and Texas Holdem poker software specialize in helping people become better players. If you’re a poker player, be sure to visit his BetterHoldem.com Poker Tournament Strategy website today and learn how you can play better Texas Holdem, too.

Pai gow poker is a derivative of the Chinese domino game gai gow.

Like many Chinese games is played at a leisurely pace and is an enjoyable game.

Another advantage is your bankroll tends to last a long time.

How to Win Pai Gow

Pai gow poker is played with a 53 card deck and includes one joker. The game is one on one, the player or players compete against a banker, to get the best possible hand.

The Play

A random roll of the dice determines what player receives the first set of cards.

Each player is dealt seven cards and splits them into two separate hands.

This is called “setting the hand”. The first is made up of five cards and is called “the highest hand” or “the back”.

The second hand is made up of the remaining two cards and is called “the second highest” or “the front” or “low” hand.

The 5 card hand must always rank higher than the 2 card hand to win.

If both of your hands beat the dealer’s hands, you receive even money or 1:1 on your bet. The bank then takes a 5% commission from your winnings.

If both your hands lose against the dealer’s hands, the dealer takes the bet.

If you win only one of the two hands, the round finishes in a tie and the banker collects.

In the game of Pai Gow Poker, the player needs to get two strong hands and win on both hands.

The house has a 2.3% advantage in this game.

chances of winning.

Ensure you are setting both high and low hands properly.

Try to make both hands fairly strong to win both hands otherwise you will end up with at tie.

Your bank hand must be set higher that your front hand otherwise you will “foul” your hand and lose the bet you place.

Basic strategy is straightforward:

Always check your hand for flushes and then set your hand according to strategy rules below:

No pairs, no straight, no flush

2- Use second and third highest card

5- use your highest card

A pair, no pairs, no flushes

2- Use two highest single cards

5- use the pair

Two pair if you have a single ace, use the ace in the two-card hand and keep the pairs together in the five-card hand, or split the pairs:

2- use lower pair

5- use higher pair

Three pairs

2- Use highest pair

5- use second and third highest pairs

straight and two pair play as two pair, ignore the straight

Five-card straight

2- Use two cards not in the straight

5- use straight

Six-card straight

2- Use highest cards that you can

5- use remaining straight

Flush and two pair play as two pair, ignore the flush other flush

2- Play highest cards in this hand

without breaking up flush

5- flush

Full house

2- Use pair

5- uses three of a kind

Best chance of winning in pai gow poker – Be the banker

The best way to get an edge and win in pai gow poker is to be the banker.

This is due to the fact that the banker wins all copies.

Player’s are usually allowed to bank for one or two consecutive hands before passing the banker option on to the next player.

The amount of money that the banker will be risking is limited to what the banker places down on the table.

Betting in pai gow poker

The banker should place enough money on the table to cover all of the player bets, or the banker may be allowed to risk less than what the players in total wish to bet.

The most important factor in improving your odds in pai gow is the ratio of how much is bet when you are the banker to when you are the player.

You should really be willing to risk enough money to cover 6 – 14 times the table minimum bet.

For more tips and strategies on pai gow poker and all major casino games, go to our website for tips, strategies articles, magazines and downloads.

http://www.net-planet.org/gaming.html

Poker is not a game for the faint hearted. It is a game of strategy and skill and requires a lot of practice to master the game. If you’re already a seasoned poker player, you’ll probably be familiar with the following Texas Holdem poker tips.

These tips only applies to poker tournament games that is of minimal value, anything up to $20 buy-in. If you’re playing a game that is above that value, don’t bother about these poker tips since these actually have very minimal impact on the game. Although that may be the case, these tips should still be considered especially on low value tables. These tips would allow you to stand a better ground and advance to subsequent stages of the poker tournaments that you will join. You have to remember though that discretion should still be practiced in every game or hand that you will play. The tips that will be listed are tried and tested but poker games are not stagnant. You always need a contingency plan in case the disposition of the poker table changes.

Texas Hold Em Tips:

1. Play only the hands that have the best to excellent pairs like AK, AQ, AJ, KQ and suited connectors. Play firmly and avoid loose ends. It is best to play only ‘tight”games. This rule would demand a lot of your discipline and self-control or you will not be able to pull it off. But once you do and you do it perfectly, you’re assured of more winnings than any other tip out there.

2. Do not be hesitant and be aggressive. If you’re holding a sensible hand and you will play, you have to remember that you also have to bet aggressively. Don’t just wait and see what happens. Strong bets will force other players to fold. This will show how confident you are with your hand. You have to terminate all possible opponents since even those who have 10-4 or J-9 will call a flop and beating you is always a possibility.

3. Making unhinged, if not totally crazy, decisions in the poker table is simply unwise. When you watch poker, you often see players going all-in in the first few rounds of the tournament. It is not wise so stay away. If you, for example, start with 2000 poker ships and blinks are 20 and 10. You’re holding 2 cards-AA. You would probably think that any poker player who have been dealt with this hand would probably bet all that he has. They might but you should not. If all your opponents fold, you will win only 30, a very small fraction for the entire 2000 that you risked. The best odds of winning if when you have at least 1/3 or ¼ of your stake, not 1/50! It’s a loose gamble and it doesn’t look very good.

Take note however that the tips mentioned are simply “tips” that can be used as your guide. They’re not really standard rules that cannot be bent. As always, your discretion, better judgment and instinct should be obeyed. Think wisely and keep your feet on the ground. You’ll never know when you will be dealt with the perfect hand.

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1. Playing Too Many Hands

An early lesson in poker is to realize the majority of hands you are dealt must be folded. I’ve known an amateur player turn round to me and say You’ve got to play the hand you are dealt, why fold. I was shocked and soon put them right. However, there are a lot of beginners that seem to ignore this most basic rule.

They will call with ace-rag out of position, even call a raise with it, they play any two suited cards or even any picture card. You can get away with playing loose like this in a game of no limit hold em but you must have a strong post-flop ability to be able to pull it off.

Situation dependent, most of the time you are looking to only play premium hands such as high pocket pairs, and very strong aces. Simply fold the rest.

2. Not Folding Mediocre Hands

After the flop has hit, amateur players find it very difficult to let go of marginal hands. Suppose they hit middle pair or top pair with top kicker, the will find it hard to lay down. Its a crazy situation to still be involved in a pot holding top pair when there are flush and straight draws on the board and players are betting like theres no tomorrow. I’ve seen people play online when they will see their hole cards all the way to the river even though the board has paired up, AND there is 4-to-a-flush on the board, AND a straight possibility. They just wouldn’t let go of their flopped top pair.

The best hand on the flop may not always be the best hand on the river. Play with caution and don’t be afraid to get out if the action heats up and you are holding a marginal hand.

A good way to look at it is to look at the board and think to yourself “What two cards could my opponent be holding for them to beat me?”. If you can narrow it down to one or at most two sets of hole cards you should be fairly confident in carrying on playing. If you have to say to yourself “I hope he doesn’t have X, or Y, or Z, or A, or B or C…” then you should really think about folding. The more combinations of cards that your opponent could be holding that beat your hand, then the more likely it is they are holding one of them. If there is only one or possibly two combinations of cards that beat you then continue to play but with caution. Bet out or raise to gain information on how good your hand is. If they fold, you win the pot, if you are raised then you are probably beat.

There’s no shame in folding. Remember, especially in a tournament, poker scores are based on the player that loses the least amount of chips.

3. Under-Betting The Pot

In no limit texas hold em you can bet out as much of your stack as you like in order to protect your hand. You should be using this to your advantage. Weaker inexperienced players on the other hand tend to bet small amounts such as $30 into a $500 pot. These kinds of bets offer good players fantastic pot odds to call and suck-out on the river because of the money they stand to make in relation to how much it costs to see another card. A bet of around 75% of the pot is enough to discourage players on a draw. Any bet under half the pot is normally not enough.

4. Over betting The Pot

It is an easy mistake that amateurs make. They make a half-decent hand and the adrenaline kicks in and they decide to over bet the pot by pumping $300 into a $90 pot, or they move all in pre-flop for 1500 in a sit-n-go while blinds are still 15/30. The trouble with doing this, is that it makes hands weaker than yours fold, while hands stronger than yours call. By consistently over betting the pot you are either going to win a small pot, or lose a big one. Quite clearly not the optimum poker playing approach.

5. Ignoring Position

Knowledge is power in the game of no limit hold em. The more information you hold about the round of betting the better position you are in to act on this information. Playing hands under the gun means if you bet out, you could face a massive re-raise from a later position. You could check post flop in the hope of a check raise but instead find the entire table checks after you. If you are playing from a later position you have the ability to see what the rest of the table is doing before you act.

Amateur players will often ignore position and play a certain set of hands regardless of position. you should be playing only premium hands in early position, and then widening your range of starting hands the later your position becomes. TJ’s plays badly from UTG but very well from a late position.

6. Failing To Protect Your Hand

Many amateur players are guilty of playing far too passively. They will simply check or call unless they are 100% sure they have the best hand in which case they will raise. By failing to bet, or failing to raise they will make it easier for their opponents to draw out on them who might otherwise have folded. If you find yourself against a tight passive player, raise more often than you usually would and you can find yourself winning a lot of small pots.

7. chasing unprofitable draws

Playing a drawing hand is only ever going to be as good as the value of the pot you are trying to win. You should always fold if someone makes a bet where you are no longer getting correct pot odds to call. Amatuer players make the mistake of ignoring these odds and will call all the way to the river in the hope that they hit. It is possible they do not even understand pot odds or know what they are.

As frustrating as it is when monkey players like these suck out on the river you have to remember that they are playing bad unprofitable poker and they will end up losing more money than they win. Just make sure you are in the pot when they lose

8. Bad Stack Management

Amatuer players often neglect their stack size when it comes to playing holdem. If you are playing a cash game you should always have around 20 big blinds to capitalise on your monster hands. If you are falling short, then reload your stack. There’s no point hanging on with £50 in a £5/£10 cash game only to flop quads next hand and miss out on a huge pot. If you are playing a freezeout tournament, you should stop calling pre-flop when you are between 10 times the big blind (worrying) to 5 times the big blind (critical). There is no option but to push all in with any Ace, pocket pair, suited connectors or any hand under the gun.

You are looking to have enough chips to maximise your big hands, or to keep you alive in tourmanet situations. Bad players will flat call hands when their stack is 5 to 10 x BB. Good players will push all in. Bad players will not reload their chips in a cash game, good players will.

9. Adapting Your Style

There is a big difference between playing cash games and playing tournaments. In cash games you have to be prepared to put your entire stack over the line when you know you are going to win more times than you lose, when you have a positive expected value (+EV). If you lose then you can just reload. In a tournament you have to be more protective of your stack as if it goes then your are out of the game. There are many other subtle levels, but these are the fundamental differences between the two games. Bad players are those that do not adapt their game accordingly and play tournament strategy in a cash game and cash strategy in a tournament game.

10. Trying To Imitate The Pros

The generation of poker players coming through nowadays are those raised on watching it on TV. People have their favourite poker players they have seen making big bluffs and talking the talk. Amatuer players seem to copy-cat these actions in order to come across more professional. what they fail to realise however that on TV they are only watching edited highlights. Not every hand is a monster raise, or a trap, or a bluff – in fact most of the time it is one player raising with a genuine hand and everyone else folding. This is unfortunately the less interesting side of poker but it (should) represent a large majority of your game.

We have a generic nickname for these kinds of players at the table. Those that come in wearing the shades, the cap, the iPod, talking about how other players should have played their hands, talking crap. The nickname given is “All the gear, no idea”. Make sure you are able to spot these players if they are on your table and more importantly make sure that you are not one of them yourself!

This article was written by Paul Vster a member of the StoneColdBluff UK Poker team. Play alongside him and the rest of the team exclusively on SCBPoker.com.