26 Mar 09 Folding a Hand: Not A Terrible Idea
How many times have you been sitting in a game and watched someone call numerous big bets all the way to the river, only to flip over some weak hand such as second pair when the board was full of big cards and/or flush/straight draws? The phrase “getting married to a hand” is quite accurate, as players that suffer from this tendency have trouble letting go of a average/drawing hand until death do you part. Strong poker playing is not just (more…)
17 Feb 09 Pocket Aces: The worst hand ever?
I was playing at the Bicycle Casino the other day and I once again heard someone utter the words that annoy me unlike any other, “I hate pocket aces, they’re the worst hand in poker because you either win a little or lose a lot”. Other than hearing that motto quoted in practically every poker book ever written (as more of a joke rather than a true poker statement), I’ve been hearing it a lot at the tables over the last few years. The (more…)
13 Feb 09 Hand of The Week-Top Pair and Flush Draw
I was playing 2/5 NL Hold’em and had about $800 in front of me. I had been looking down at K3 off for about 2 hours and had built up a pretty tight image at the table. One guy was advertising how tight I was to the table, so I took it upon myself to use this image to my advantage by bluffing a few good size pots. A while later, I looked down at J9 of spades and decided to limp in middle position. There were 4 players to the flop.
10 Feb 09 Multi Hand Blackjack
Multi-hand blackjack is a game of blackjack in which you play multiple hands. For example, you could sit down at a table in a traditional casino and play two or three hands simultaneously, or you could play online and have even more hands.
It is important to remember that each hand in a game of multi-hand blackjack is treated separately. This means you will need to place a separate bet on each hand and make additional (more…)
02 Jan 09 Hand Analysis: Using Your Image in High Risk Situations- Part II
Knowing that SB is playing a big pocket pair, and MP could be playing any two cards, there are three ways to play this hand. 1. Fold and wait for a better position. 2. Call and hope to hit your 7 for a full house. 3. Prepare yourself to play a big pot in which you can bluff your opponent off his hand. In my opinion, option 2 should never be an option. I would fold here if I thought that the SB would not be able to lay down his over pair. (more…)
Tags: Analysis, Hand, High, Image, part, Risk, Situations, Using, Your
01 Jan 09 Multi Hand Video Poker
Multi-hand video poker is a video poker game that allows you to play more than one hand at a time. Different machines allow you to play different numbers of hands – up to 100 hands at a time in many casino – but are the odds of winning on a multi-hand machine any different than when playing regular video poker?
Before we answer that question, let’s look at the game itself. You begin by choosing (more…)
30 Dec 08 Hand Analysis: Using Your Image in High Risk Situations- Part I
I recently had someone e-mail me a question about a hand they were involved in; this hand really shows the importance of being aware of what your image is and what the other players on your table are doing. If you stay aware of the way that they play in hands you are not involved in, it can give you a lot of information about a hand you do tango with. The e-mail begins as follows:
I’m playing 5/10 NL Hold’em and the small (more…)
Tags: Analysis, Hand, High, Image, part, Risk, Situations, Using, Your
25 Nov 08 Review: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume I
The poker book section of your local Barnes and Noble has, to this point, been dominated by your more mainstream, recognizable authors – Brunson, Hellmuth, Negreanu, and the like. But just as the younger generation of players has been steadily making inroads at the table, so too are they starting to elbow their way on to the shelves. One of the strongest entries from the new generation of pros is a collaborative effort authored (more…)
Tags: Hand, poker, Review, Time, tournaments, Volume, Winning
18 Nov 08 Hand Signals
Hand signals in blackjack are the physical gestures that players make to indicate to the dealer what they want to do with their hands; for example whether they want to hit or stand.
Some players don’t see the point of using hand signals. After all, the dealer isn’t deaf, so why can’t players simply call “hit” or “stand” as appropriate?
The answer to this common (more…)
