Moving Up: Beyond Winrate And Bankroll - Part 1: Comfort Level
Date: Mon, Aug 25, 2008
Are you ready to move up to higher stakes? How can you know when you are? These questions are on the minds of most serious players at least some of the time. Conquering your current game and moving on to bigger and better things is the goal of most players. Most discussion about moving up I see [...]
Three Plays You Can Try Today To Open Up Your No-Limit Thinking
Date: Thu, Aug 21, 2008
Poker players get stuck in ruts. We make so many decisions when we play that it’s natural for us to develop a sort of default, automatic way of handling most situations. Automatic plays are, on one hand, a practical necessity. I play about 500 hands an hour, and I probably make at least 800 to [...]
Macro And Micro Poker
Date: Sat, Aug 16, 2008
I’ve published this article a few times in the past, but I wanted to republish it for those who haven’t seen it before. I edited and updated it a bit this time around. Periodically, I’ll read an article about “feel” players versus “math” players. The “feel” players lob a shell: “Math players just don’t get it. [...]
The Short Stackers’ Bread And Butter Play
Date: Tue, Aug 12, 2008
Quite a few short stackers play in the $2-$4 and higher online 6-max no-limit games. Many of them play a strategy that seems likely to me to be profitable. I think a decent chunk of their profit comes from a play that I see them make repeatedly that I think many full stacked regulars don’t [...]
Ed Recommends: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand At A Time
Date: Fri, Aug 8, 2008
I just finished reading my first poker strategy book in quite a while (probably the first one since The Mathematics of Poker). It’s a tournament book published by Matthew Hilger’s company, Dimat, and it’s good. The book has a long title and an even longer author list, so I’m going to make a new paragraph [...]
Short Stack Play Is Not A Fight Against The Blinds
Date: Mon, Aug 4, 2008
Here’s a question I hear all the time: “How short a stack can you play before it’s not profitable anymore? At some point the blinds eat you away too fast and you can’t wait for a good hand anymore, right?” This question is based on a false assumption that is the subject of today’s article. Yes, there [...]
Sniffing Out Bluffs
Date: Thu, Jul 31, 2008
Your opponent – perhaps sensing weakness or perhaps taking leave of his senses – pushes out a huge bet and dares you to call. If he has the hand he’s supposed to have, you’re crushed. But you think something is amiss and decide that this is it. You’re going to take a stand. Just after [...]
Extracting Bonus Value on Dry Boards
Date: Mon, Jul 28, 2008
Dry boards sometimes offer a golden opportunity to get extra value for your medium strength hands like top pair. Many players are always looking to sniff out a bluff on a dry board, and you can use that fact to your advantage if you have a hand that beats a typical bluff catcher. In particular, [...]
Q&A #111: Committment With Tournament Stack Sizes
Date: Fri, Jul 25, 2008
Many tournament players make a consistent mistake. They focus too much on conserving their chips and preserving their “tournament life,” and in doing so they leave big pots hanging out to dry. I see it frequently when I play tournaments. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. The blinds are 200-400, and the big blind [...]
Q&A #111: Committment With Tournament Stack Sizes
Date: Fri, Jul 25, 2008
Many tournament players make a consistent mistake. They focus too much on conserving their chips and preserving their “tournament life,” and in doing so they leave big pots hanging out to dry. I see it frequently when I play tournaments. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. The blinds are 200-400, and the big blind [...]
Q&A #111: Committment With Tournament Stack Sizes
Date: Fri, Jul 25, 2008
Many tournament players make a consistent mistake. They focus too much on conserving their chips and preserving their “tournament life,” and in doing so they leave big pots hanging out to dry. I see it frequently when I play tournaments. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. The blinds are 200-400, and the big blind [...]
Betting For Value Versus Inducing A Bluff
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2008
When you’re out of position with a made hand, the most common decision is whether to bet your hand for value or to check it, looking to induce a bluff. I find that most players tend to make this decision more based on their overall style than on any individual situation. Some players tend to bet [...]
Betting For Value Versus Inducing A Bluff
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2008
When you’re out of position with a made hand, the most common decision is whether to bet your hand for value or to check it, looking to induce a bluff. I find that most players tend to make this decision more based on their overall style than on any individual situation. Some players tend to bet [...]
Avoid Adjustment Tilt
Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2008
Recently I benefited from a serious case of what I call adjustment tilt. I was in a live $2-$5 no-limit game. Most of the players, including me, had helped to start the game a few hours earlier, so we were familiar with each others’ play. Some of the players had modestly weak-tight tendencies, so I made [...]
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