Just Another Online Poker Perspectives Blog

WSOPE Expands…Draws ESPN Coverage

Jeremy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:12:12 +0000

When the World Series of Poker Europe first started in 2007, I wondered how long it would last. After all, an expansion on the main product of the WSOP overseas didn’t seem like a lasting business venture. And if you need a good example of major poker organizations failing by trying to expand too much, just look at the WPT and its online poker site experiment.

But it seems like the WSOPE is definitely here to stay since they have added another bracelet event, and are backed by a huge ESPN TV deal. For the second straight year, ESPN will be covering the WSOPE, which means there is a long-term deal in effect. This year’s coverage of Europe’s WSOP will start on January 31st and end on February 28th. Some of the events will be receiving live coverage too which will be extremely exciting to watch!

In addition to the ESPN coverage, and the bracelet event expansion, many of poker’s biggest stars will be in attendance at the WSOPE. Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negraneu, and Phil Hellmuth are just a few of the big names that will playing in these tournaments. The fact the stars of this caliber are willing to turn out every year is a definite sign that the WSOPE is huge.

The only thing that doesn’t seem to be expanding in regards to this event is the Main Event. Last year’s champion, Barry Shulman, won the Main Event and earned a little over 800,000 pounds for his victory. And while this is definitely a huge sum of money, it is nothing in comparison to what the inaugural Main Event champion Annette Obrestad made in 2007; she earned 1,000,000 pounds for her victory. Other than this though, the WSOPE is well on its way to becoming a classic.

Time Management in Poker

Jeremy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:15:30 +0000

You hear about time management all of the time in business. That’s because time management is an extremely important factor in how much profit a business can haul in. Being able to properly manage the optimal amount of time for people to work is incredibly effective at increasing productivity.

And since many people treat the game of poker like a business, you’d think that they would discuss time management more often. However, time management is rarely discussed in poker even though it should be. You absolutely must know when the best time to quit a session and move up a limit is if you ever want to be a highly successful player. With that in mind, let’s look at some poker time management concepts.

How long should your sessions be?

One mistake that a lot of poker players make is playing too long of sessions. For instance, if you can only concentrate for 4 hours, then you have no business playing an 8 hour session. Likewise, if you can concentrate for 4 hours, then you’re losing money by only playing for two or three hours. So you should definitely keep track of how long you’re able to focus while playing poker. Keep tabs on this number over the course of a few weeks and see where your prime performance comes.

How long should you stay at a limit?

If you are a $3/$6 Limit poker player looking to move up to $5/$10 stakes, you will definitely need to know when the proper time to move up is. Of course, this all depends on your situation too. For instance, if you have a full-time job, it will require you to spend 4 -5 months at this limit before moving up. On the other hand, if poker is your primary source of income, you can dedicate enough time to strategy and learning the game to move up within a couple of months.

Switching from Hold’em to Omaha

Jeremy — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:42:36 +0000

Despite the intense competition within the game, many people are choosing to stick with Texas Hold’em. Smart players, on the other hand, are making their way into the game of Omaha Hi-Lo where the money comes a lot easier. However, the money won’t come at all unless you know how to properly make the switch from Texas to Omaha Hi-Lo.

Pre-Flop Limping

One big difference you’ll notice in Omaha Hi-Lo is that there is a lot more limping before the flop. Because of the fact that so many players have the potential for a made hand, nothing is a sure thing in Omaha. That’s why most players choose to limp in before the flop so they can see what lands on the board. So, unless you have a huge hand, follow suit and try to see the flop for cheap.

Split Pots

Another thing you need to be aware of when playing Omaha Hi-Lo is that there are a lot of split pots. One player can win the high hand while one or two players can also win the low part. The obvious goal here is to try and scoop the pot, but if you can win half of the pot for cheap then this is also good.

Raising

One more thing to keep in mind while playing Omaha Hi-Lo is that the hands you raise with will definitely differ. For instance, an A-A-K-K might seem like a great hand, but in reality, it’s only going to be good for half the pot so don’t raise. A hand like A-A-2-3 has the potential to win both the high and low hand so you should definitely be looking to push your advantage with cards like these.

Being a Winning Player vs. being a Good Player

Jeremy — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:44:15 +0000

When you think of a good player, you no doubt think of a winning one. After all, you’ve got to be good to win at the game of poker so this should be a mute point, right? The truth is though, not all good poker players are winners in the long-run. There is a huge difference between being a good player and a winning player; winning players make a profit over the long haul while good players simply know how to play. Obviously, you want to be known as a winning player so here are some ways to accomplish that feat.

Understanding Variance

Variance (also known as luck) is always going to be a part of poker no matter how good you are. There is a certain element of chance involved with poker that is going to be there despite your best efforts to control the table. Sometimes this element of chance causes you to lose in the long run which is never a pleasant thing. However, you have to realize there will be dramatic swings in your results that are just a product of what cards land on the table. You have to be able to withstand the rough times in order to get to the good ones.

Factoring Rake

With the amount of money that the house takes from hands, you could actually profit while playing against your peers, yet lose money in the long-run. Consider that in a $2/$4 game of No-Limt Hold’em, anywhere from $3 - $6 could be taken from the pot. This might not sound like a lot, but it actually does come out to be a sizeable amount when you’re up against slim profit margins.

Improve

Above all, winning players refuse to be complacent and are always studying strategy while trying to improve their game in some way. This is in great contrast to good players who are merely happy learning lots of intermediate strategy, and then sticking to their guns.

Beating Tight Players

Jeremy — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:32:36 +0000

Tight players are kind of like the ninjas of poker in that they sneak up on you with huge hands if you don’t identify them. Unfortunately, identifying a tight player is a little easier said than done because they are hard to spot. Those who play tight are barely noticeable until the showdown when they reveal the nuts. But beating tight players is a must for anyone who wants to be a winning player over time. Keeping that in mind, let’s look at some ways to beat tight players.

Put Them on a Range

The first key to beating a tight player is putting them on a range. For instance, the average tight player will only bet or raise with premium hands like A-K, J-J, Q-Q, K-K, and A-A. So if a rock is suddenly initiating the action, you can be sure that they’re holding something really good. If they do start raising like mad then you’ll definitely want to get out of the pot.

Show Excellent Hands

Most people like to conceal their hands after winning a big pot so as not to give away too much information. However, you should always show a tight player your good hand so that they think you only play premium hands as well. If they think you play the nuts every time, they’ll fold to almost anything later on.

Post-Flop

It’s smart to avoid raising wars with tight players before the flop. If a tight player bets and raises a lot before the flop, it is usually because they’re holding something great. So try to see the flop as cheaply as possible in these instances. Assuming weak cards hit the board, you can bet and raise like you just hit something big in order to fool the rock into folding.

Avoiding Chip Leaks

Jeremy — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:32:04 +0000

Let’s assume for a second that you were holding a very large bucket. In that bucket were all of the chips from your bankroll. The obvious goal as a poker player would be to fill the bucket until you needed a bigger one. But what if there were a huge hole in your bucket? Your chips would start leaking out which is what happens to many poker players due to the way they play. Obviously, you don’t want leaks in your game so let’s look at some solutions for stopping those leaks.

Drawing for 2nd Best

Some players get really excited when they can limp in with a straight draw. However, that straight draw is only the second best hand when there is also a flush draw on the board. So never draw for a hand that is likely to be second best!

Folding to bets on the River

People follow the rule of not wasting money on the river far too religiously. If you are in a situation where there is just a single bet on the river, and you’re getting great pot odds, you should definitely call. For instance, if $40 is in the pot, and you only have to call a $4 bet to see the showdown, you should do it since you’re getting 10:1 odds.

Calling when Behind

Assuming you follow the general rule of paying attention at the table, you’ll know who the tight players are. And when you know who the tight players are, you also know not to call them when they raise like crazy. Unfortunately, many players call in hopes that this will be the time when the tight player is bluffing. You might get lucky and catch a bluff from time to time, but you’ll leak far too many chips on other occasions.

Poker Player strangles Opponent

Jeremy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:13:31 +0000

Many poker players are notorious for getting angry after losing a big hand. But Tony Korfman took this a step too far and actually strangled an opponent after being rivered on the bubble of a tournament.

The tournament Korfman lost his cool in was a $1,000 re-buy event at the Bellagio. After being rivered on a huge hand, Korfman started yelling at his opponent and screaming obscenities at him. Korfman got even angrier and ended up choking the opponent before security grabbed him to escort him out of the casino.

Several players tried to calm the irate pro poker player and author down, but it was futile. Noted professional player Bryon Devonshire was one of the players who was trying to intervene…..but maybe not in a calm way.

In his post on the TwoPlusTwo forums, Devonshire wrote, “I did not bubble. said punk bubbled then slammed his stack toward the guy that won the hand. punk was pissed because guy rivered him with a gutterball. then he had the balls to question weather the guy had him covered with part of his chips in the pot, part on the floor and part in the guy’s stacks. I then mother ****ed him for being a prick and chaos ensued. I always defend the dealers, floormen and players that don’t defend themselves. these types of punks should have been spanked when they were a kid. actually I’m sorry I didn’t pants him and take him over my knee. that would have been a great lesson for him. Tk”

When Playing Scared is Right

Jeremy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:37:30 +0000

One of the worst things you can do in poker is play scared. When playing scared, you aren’t aggressive at all, you avoid making risky plays that could earn lots of chips, and you give the advantage to other players at the table. In short, playing scared is the opposite of how a good rounder plays.

Most people know not to play scared since this is the worst way to play. But despite knowing this, many people will still play really tight when it comes down to the tournament bubble. These people don’t want to have all of their time wasted in the form of a non-money finish, and so they fold everything until cashing.

The problem with this though is that you aren’t playing to win by folding everything. You are merely playing to survive and only playing to survive is a sure sign of a losing poker player. Plus, the bubble represents a great time to take advantage of other players because they’ll also be playing very tight.

However, playing scared can work to your advantage in certain situations. One of these situations is when you’re in line to make the kind of money which could change your career. For instance, if you satellited into the WSOP Main Event and were sitting on the verge of a $21,000 cash, folding everything in an attempt to sneak into the money would be acceptable - especially if you only play small buy-in tourneys.

One more instance where playing scared is the right way is when you’re in a satellite tournament. The reason why is because satellite tournaments give the same prize to whoever finishes “in the money”. For instance, if the satellite you’re playing offers WPT prize packages to the top 5 players, finishing in 5th place is the same as finishing in 1st. So the obvious goal is simply to finish among the top 5 and playing scared to make it here is alright.

Tips for Multi-tabling

Jeremy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:52:53 +0000

One phenomenon that online poker has brought with it is the concept of multi-tabling. Multi-tabling sees people playing multiple tables in an effort to play more hands per hour. By playing more hands per hour, players are able to earn more cash in the process (assuming they’re good enough). But many multi-tablers don’t know how many tables is a good number for them to play.

In fact, many multi-tablers lose money because they are playing the wrong amount of tables at one time. But figuring out the right number of tables isn’t so difficult because you just need to do a little math to determine how many tables are right for you.

Study Winnings

The first thing you need to do in order to find out how many tables you should be playing is study your winnings. The best way to do this is by tracking sessions over a set time period, and then figuring your winnings per hour. For example, if you earn 9bb/100 hands in $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em, you’ll be making $18 an hour. If you added another table, and made 7bb/100 hands, you would make even more cash per hour since you’d make $28 an hour (over 200 hands). But if your win rate dropped to 3bb/100 hands over 3 tables, you’d want to move back to two tables because this would only leave you with $18 an hour.

Consider Effects of Multi-Tabling on You

Playing multiple tables can be really tough on poker players. It can cause a person to become fatigued quicker, and it is also stressful. Since multi-tabling is harder on a player, it will cut down on the length of poker sessions. So if you can only play a 3 hour session with 6 tables, as opposed to a 4 hour session with 5 tables, you’d want to stick with the 5 tables.

Winning Hands with Middle Pair

Jeremy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:18:27 +0000

When you’re holding a big pocket pair before the flop, you know that you are in a position of strength. Even if you don’t improve your hand by the river, you still have a shot to take down the hand. However, things become a lot more complicated when you have a middle pair. That’s because the middle pair is tempting enough to call with, yet not normally big enough to win hands.

But that doesn’t mean you should try to limp in, and then immediately fold if you don’t hit a set. There are just too many opportunities available for you to win with pocket pairs. So instead of folding, you should be trying to use middle pairs whenever the situation arises. After all, middle pairs might not be the best hands, but they are at least a made hand.

An example of a good time to play middle pairs arises when you’re in late position with an unraised pot (especially in Limit Hold’em). Obviously nobody has indicated any strength at this point, so it would be a great time to make a call and see the flop. Assuming your set doesn’t come on the flop, you’ll be faced with a difficult decision.

If nobody raises the pot on the turn, it would be a good decision to call once again. You should especially be making a call if there is a weak board, and nobody is showing any kind of hand strength! Make a call on the river again if nobody raises the pot because there’s a good chance you could have the best hand at this point. Sure you might not win every time with middle pair, but it’s worth showing some unpredictability with this hand if the pot isn’t too big.