Archive for April, 2009
Betting types: the PROBE BET
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | poker strategy, probe bet | No Comments
In one of my previous posts I talked you about the notion of the value bet. Now I want to say something briefly about another sort of bet: in face the probe bet. They have some things in common with the previously noted value bet but it’s goal/function is actually completely different.
THE PROBE BET
In general, probe bets are a bit smaller dan the value bets. (1/3 to 1/2 of the pot size). You do probe bets when you believe you don’t have the best but you want to bet for some various reasons. You do it when you want to know where you stand in comparison with your opponents. A probe bet could result in one of the follow outcomes:
- winning the pot
- getting in control of the hand
- avoiding larger bets
- chase out the weakest
That would be definitely an unexpected result, but you definitely won’t complain 
By taking the lead in betting yourself and establishing yourself as the main man in the pot, it’s possible you may get a free card or two on later streets.
Players with a decent hand are more likely to bet first in the pot, than to raise an initial better. By betting first, you could convince an opponent to just call rather than betting a larger amount. This enables you to see the turn or river at a cheaper price.
With a bet you could convince a couple of opponents to throw their bad hands away, rather than call with hands that might have beaten you with a lucky draw. And believe me, by just checking this happens a lot :p
Betting types: the VALUE BET
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | poker strategy, value bet | No Comments
In poker a bet into a pot isn’t just a bet of a randomly chosen amount. Definitely there are different kind of bets, each with an own goal. You have value bets, probe bets, bluffs and semi-bluffs.
THE VALUE BET
Value bets you make when you believe you’ve got the best hand and you just would like to spice the pot a bit. You don’t need absolute certainty before contemplating a valuebet. Except when having the absolute nuts in your hands, your belief of having the best hand at the table is just a well-thought guess. In poker however, you have to act on these kind of guesses so in this case, you will just bet. A normal value bet is usually in the range of half the pot to the whole pot
What are the distinct possible goals of making a value bet?
- Getting more money into the pot when you’re a favourite
- Chasing away hands better than yours
- Denying proper odds to drawing hands
- Taking control of the hand
One of the primary goals in poker is to build big pots when being favourite, and to keep the pot small when you’re less likely to win. A value bet can accomplish this first goal.
If you are wrong and you don’t actually have the best hand right now, a bet might still chase away somebody with a slightly better hand. That way you could win a pot you wouldn’t have caught elsewise.
If you have the best hand at this time, but an opponent has a good draw to beat you and you bet an amount which denies him good odds they have two choices. The obvious option is to fold, but in the other case they voluntarily put some extra value in the pot. Then you just hope they don’t hit, but in the long term these kind of drawers will earn you a nice profit :p
If you bet, you say to the others at the poker table you have a good hand. It sends out some kind of authority ^^
It could prevent some of your opponents to bet on the turn or the river, despite maybe having a better hand than you have. In that case you’ll get the opportunity to see a free card.
the 4 principles of poker
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | poker strategy | No Comments
Maybe obvious for the more advanced players among us, but for the beginners I’ll summarize the main principles of each poker form (as stated by Action Dan Harrington) If you follow these short and simple guidelines, I’m sure you’ll end up winning money playing poker on the internet. Just be smart and think about your choices 
Principle no. 1 : The Strength principle
That wouldn’t be too hard not? Obviously you want to bet your very strong hands to build a bigger pot when you’re likely to win. Your middle hands you better check because it’s harder to make money when you bet these. Better hands than yours are likely to call or raise, while weak hands probably fold. Folding your weakest hands is quite obvious. Bluffing with your weakest hands might be not so obvious, but then again if the bluff works you’ve gained value from a hand that had none
Principle no.2: the agression principle
Agressive actions have two possible outcomes: your opponent could fold to your bet, or he could call your bet and you can win at the showdown. Passive actions in contrary has just one, at the showdown. 2 > 1 
Principle no.3: the betting principle
A bet can thus make money in three ways. If you can chase away a better hand, you won a pot you normally would have lost. If you get a weaker hand to call, you’ve got more money into the pot. Same goes to let somebody call a draw at unfavorable odds If you don’t think a bet could accomplish one of these things, just don’t bet :p
Principle no.4: the deception principle
This is quite clear. Be surprising, don’t act predictively! In order to be succesful at poker, you need your opponents to keep guessing about your bets.
the battle of premium pairs
Monday, April 27th, 2009 | AA, all-in, KK, QQ | No Comments
This is one incredible poker hand Aces versus Kings versus Queens. I’ve been there, done that. The moment I’m speaking about, I had the Queens and was all-in against two opponents with KK and AA. Off course the aces didn’t win that time either :p I was the one with queens who called an all-in of my two opponents, and flopped a set.
To be honest, I don’t like getting the aces. They lose me a lot of money in the long run
Biggest pot in history of televised poker
Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | Barry Greenstein, High Stakes Poker, Tom Dwan | No Comments
Let make things clear. High Stakes Poker is definitely a quality tv show, with great commentators, players and off course great (and) big pots too. Just look at this gigantic pot. It’s just so insane At this moment it must be the largest pot ever played on television. Barry Greenstein picks up two aces and decides to play them superaggressively, the right play given the circumstances. But there’s Tom Dwan who has KQ suited and is not willing to let this go pre-flop.
The rest you can see yourself :p
More of this please!!! As long it’s not my money they’re playing with ^^
Poker Chip Tricks: the shuffle
Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | poker image, poker tricks, shuffle | No Comments
Poker isn’t just about playing some cards against some people. If you play poker (doesn’t matter which game) on a regular base, you’ll realise the funny thing about having a certain image at the table. This can be accomplished in different ways. Some just dress like they were having a carnaval party, others invest some time in learning some cool chip tricks. That’s what I want to talk about in this and following posts.
At the moment of speaking I am u huge nobody, concerning my chip trick skills. But I’m planning to do some efforts to master some. So maybe you can follow me (as you are reading this I suppose you have some interest in the things I’m writing :p) in my progress and practice along.
At a first glance, it seems skd1337 made several nice and understandable tutorials. I will try to follow these, unless I find better ones. But they seem very ok
Today I’ll start with the shuffle, a simple basic trick which allows you to quickly merge two piles of chip towers. It may sound rubbish, but it definitely looks good when correctly executed. Cheers, I’m off for some practicing
Nice hand in pot limit omaha
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 | all-in, full house, Omaha, Pot Limit, straight | No Comments
To be clear, this is not one of my own played hands. I am not such a huge fan of pot limit games, and not one of Omaha poker either. But some minutes ago I saw a good friend of me catching a real nice pot in PLO, especially for such low stakes. Don’t think you can’t blame the other two players for being in this huge pot. Two guys have flopped the nut straight, one of them was drawing to a royal flush too. Ok, the other did a quite loose call preflop, I admit. But the weakest hand on the flop got the jackpot, hehehe. Nice catch, sir !!!
But, off the record! Could someone please explain me why so many people play Pot Limit Poker (Omaha) games. Why is it so much fun, because at the moment I just don’t get it. I think it’s just one huge drawing festival. Or is it commonly played by n00bs who don’t care about their money? :p An explanation is welcome Cheers
Guide for Home Poker Tournaments
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 | tournament, tutorial | No Comments
Planning to host a home poker tournament in the near future but don’t know how to start? What are the aspects you’ll have to think about to let this tournament run as smooth as possible? Just read the following guide and your tournaments will never be the same again. I found a guideline in which some crucial aspects are extensively described.
- Guest List?
- Be Prepared!
- Think about appropriate blind structures!
- Equipment?
- Dealers?
- Rules?
- Talk to the players afterwards!
AQ vs. 97os
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | 97os, AQos, straight | No Comments
I was watching some pokervids on YouTube and came across this fine hand. I like the style of Marcus preflop: raising with a 97 offsuit. That would be definitely my play too It’s a shame he doesn’t get paid off for being such a genius, I think he really deserved it!!! hehe
Running quads … So sick
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | 55, 66, quads, tournament | No Comments
Found these at qofdiamonds.com
I’ve seen a lot of sick things in online poker, but this? 
This is fucking insane, hehehehehe
