This past week in the Wednesday night game, I found a super cold deck. I caught a couple hands, but never hit the flop so I went into LOCK DOWN POKER mode (LDP made popular by the Unabomber Phil Laak, and the Magician Antonio Esfendara (sp)). I had decided to sit back and wait for some cards. I picked up Kings, raised 120 chips and was called by Ace-6, and lost on the flop. In my head I was saying, please no ace, and when it came out I was a little mad. The cards were cold for me, and I needed the chips. I watched player after player attempt to bluff out players, only to be called and the other play show middle pair. It was a sick Wednesday game. I threw down my kings in frustration and went into another room and got something to drink. Came back in and picked up KJ. Normally this is a hand for which I would put in a raise, but this time I limped in. Why? I wanted the others to think that I was steaming. Four players limped in, and the flop wasn’t nice to me, and I folded.

Time after time I have watched new players take a bad beat and make a play on the next hand and play cards that shouldn’t be played. One time Phil Hellmuth, Winner of the Most Worlds Series of Poker Championships, told people to only play certain cards. I was generally a good play, however poker on TV has hurt this and more and more people think that playing the scrubs cards works and that poker is luck. I disagree with that completely, and in my limited experience have shown isn’t true. The truely good players are in at the end, time after time.

If you have taken a bad beat, and you are mad, the worst thing you can do is play the next hand. I recommend just sitting back and waiting. Letting your emotions get the best of you at the table is only going to hurt your chip stack and allow someone how is watching you gather more chips, and at your expense.

It’s been some time since I have written a post, mostly because I have been working very hard with my job and really haven’t played much poker. However, I have played twice, once this past Saturday night at my own home, and a friend who had a tournament in which I knew only one player.

The tournament was held by a new friend named Mike at his home. He has a weekly game with most of the players, but I was lucky enough to get an invitation. Mike and I have played a several times, one in which he really beat me, (first time we played), and the others I have quickly taken him down since I have figured out a couple tells on him. The tournament had 20+ players in it, mostly weekly guys that enjoy the game and have aspirations to be pro. Mike thinks that in a couple years he will be a professional poker player, and his game is generally pretty good, but he likes to fish, and I am not a “fisher” in poker. I believe that sometimes you have to fish and get lucky, but more and more people fish and loose big, and when in a game for a bunch of your chips, 75%+ of the time your going to loose, but that’s for another blog. Mike’s other major tell is he likes to slow play and limp in allowing someone to catch up with him. As stated before, most amatuers will play Ace-Scrub hoping to get lucky. So when Mike limps into the pot with queens and jacks, 4-5 other players come into the hand and mostly likely one is playing an ace or king, and the flop has one of those cards, Mike has a hard time folding and pushes a bunch of chips to someone who got lucky. Another tell, and I hope he never reads this, is he “hollywoods” and thinks about his hand. This tell couldn’t be easier to read because he is trying to make it look like he has nothing, but really he’s holding the nuts and your drawing dead. He likes to stand up and really be stressing about his hand, but when he comes over the top of you, we’ll your dead. He doesn’t do this a lot, but each time he has had the person dead, including me.

Mike’s tournament went well. The table I was assigned to had several good players. A father and son team in which the father would not play a hand unless he had the nuts. When the father folded his big blind 4-5 times in a row and I watched him go from 3500 chips to 1200 and only played one hand, I knew that I shouldn’t play against him unless I had the goods. But the other players didn’t know this. At 1200 chips, the father picked up pocket kings, and moved all in. Five other players, YES 5, put in 1200 chips, and at that point I knew I was in trouble and that I would see him on the final table. He won and went back to not playing anything. I took out his son when I picked up KQ suitted, and the flop came out Kh,10s,6s. With only 400 chips in the pot, the son raised 1800 chips. I couldn’t believe this raise. I couldn’t put him on trips, but only a flush draw and was really attempting to show his strength. I asked him why such a big raise “Because I have a good hand.” “Good or Great?” I replied. “Good”. I asked if he was on a flush draw. He didn’t look at his cards. I put him on a draw, and went all in. If he wanted to see the last two cards, he was either going to double up or bust out. He folded the draw, and a couple hands later as he was steaming, I beat him for the rest of his chips.

Final table. Mike and Wednesday night player Jessie, the father and a couple other players. I was in the middle of the pack, but had Mike in front of me. I quickly took out 4 players within 20-30 minutes. The father had a nice chip stack, and one other player had a mountain of chips, and was a good player. I lost a huge pot to the chip leader when he sucked out on me with a three outter with an ace on the river that beat my kings. I won a couple more pots and got down to the final 4. The father, Mike, and the chip leader. The chip leader would stare you down like he was reading your soul. He mentioned that he had my tells, for which I said that it was all right. He and I battled quite a few times, and I was able to steal Mike’s blinds each hand, and the father sat back and watched everyone else play and blind himself out. Last hand for me I was dealt A10 offsuit. The chip leader called. He stared me down, like usual, but this time I looked back and moved my chair forward. The flop came out Ah10c3c. I checked to the leader. He stared me down again, and said, “You’ve got SHIT!” I quickly replied, “Your tell on me sucks. I’m all in.” Another stare, and talking to the others about how he’s got me beat. I went into my defensive mode, and leaned forward, breathed hard and started shaking my legs. I wanted him to call me. I think he noticed all my tells, and said the words I wanted to hear, “I call.” He turned over 3h2c. I laughed for a second and turned over top two pair. Everyone laughed, and I kept quiet and turned my face from looking at him. He stated that I was a player and it wasn’t cool that I was in the game, for which two-three players said, “Mikes trying to turn pro”. The turn card was and 8 and the river was a 3. Chip leader jumped up and pointed. I told him good game and everyone asked if I was mad. I told everyone that I had set up exactly what had happened. I raised before the flop. Checked and showed that I had nothing. I went all in with the best hand. Two pairs heads up should win a majority of the time, but I can’t predict a miracle 3 on the river. I came in third place, and won back my money. The chip leader came over later and talked about how great he was a poker. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was just lucky. Let him have it, I will see him again, and we’ll see if he’s still lucky.

Due to a bunch of work, playing my Wednesday night poker and some other invites have had to take a back seat. This weeks Wednesday game was moved to Jessie’s house and the normal group of players were not going to be playing. Jessie and Billy were the only two regular players, and new cast of poker wanna-be’s joined our merry group. Our Wednesday night group plays more for fun, but everyone still wants to win. And occassionally someone will have a beer or two, but drinking came into play for the first time.

As I stated above, their were several new players to the game. Most “claimed” to be beginners, but one (seat 4) acknowledged that he was a serious player, and that he would win for sure. Seat four quickly won some amazing pots. Since I didn’t know how he played, I took a “lock down” approach. He seemed to either be catching some serious cards, or else he was bluffing quite a bit. After raising and laying down several great starting hands, seeing the flop and making a continuation bet and didn’t hit anything, seat four stayed with me. I folded several hands and got myself into chip trouble. Several people were out, many re-bought back in and seat four was stacking a “great wall of china” chip stack. With only 80 chips left I was dealt AQ offsuit and pushed all in. Seat four, who wasn’t in the blinds called with 83 suitted. I doubled up, luckily, but realized that seat four was playing any two cards. I watched him drink numerous beers, and he started talking loudly, but he still wasn’t really bad. He wanted to win and I wasn’t going to allow him to throw me off my game. A couple hands later I was dealt KJ clubs. I limped into the pot, since the blinds were 20-40. My new favorite player came in too. At this point in time, seat 4 was playing EVERY HAND, something no one else noticed because they didn’t want to play against the chip leader, but I didn’t care. The flop came out 8c,6h,2d. I had been watching seat four for anything that could tell me what he had or how he played. I knew that he had to be bluffing a lot, but since no one would go through until the end, and watching him slow play quad-5’s against Billy, I just couldn’t put him on a hand. That’s when I noticed the eye-roll. When the flop came out, he checked his cards, and did a small eye-roll. At first I noticed it earlier when he sucked out on me. And then replaying the quad-5’s hand in my memory, I didn’t remember the “roll”. I figured either I had found a tell, or else all the beer was getting to him. I checked to him and he put me all in. I literally went through almost every hand that I could remember. Did he do an eye roll or not? After 30+ seconds, and asking him a couple questions, hoping to get some sort of answer, he said exactly what I needed to hear. “Lay it down, I’ve got you beat.” I have picked up that most people that tell you this are lying, and do not have ANYTHING. It’s a tell that I have watched on TV and seen in live real games. If your playing for real money, you want the person to call and take their money or chips. I really suggest not talking at all while playing against someone one on one.  I pushed the rest of my chips into the pot, and seat four turned over 103 offsuitted.  Turn was a king, and I doubled up again.  Seat 4 asked for another beer, and not only at this time did he have a couple to many, but his drinking allowed his tell to come out in full force.  A couple hands later he sucked out on seat two to take him outta the game, and it was heads up against me.  He quickly asked if I wanted to split, and normally I do this instantly.  This time however I really didn’t think I could be beat.  I was winning every hand I played against him and had 1/6 of the chips in play.  I told him, “lets play heads up and have some fun”, and he replied, “it’s your funeral.”  For 10 minutes we played heads up, and in this time he drank two more beers, and lost every hand but one.  That hand I was dealt K10 offsuit, and raised 200 chips.  I should tell you that I limped into each hand we played just so I could see his reaction after the flop.  If I saw the eye-roll, and had a good hand, I would push 3-4 times the pot.  When I raised, he went all in and had me covered.  I think I made the correct call by folding, because he had pocket pair of 2’s, and by folding it allowed him to have another beer!  After 10 minutes I had him utterly beat!  He had enough for a couple blinds at 80-160 and I offered the split to him.

On the way home I was happy with my play.  But realized that seat fours drinking didn’t help our little game.  Billy was unhappy with a comment that was made to him, and during the game I told him I had a tell on him that was really helping my game, especially since I played blind one hand and won it as I was joking around. He didn’t like that I had a tell, but I told him I would tell him his tell later, but that didn’t happen.  Things were a little loud there at the end, but it is always fun playing with our Wednesday night group.

I would not suggest drinking if you really want to win.  If your playing for fun with your buddies then that is a different story.  I think when you drink to much it allows for more tells on yourself because you do not have control.  I personally do not drink at all because I do not like the taste, but more importantly I don’t drink because I know that I am an idiot when I do.  So why would I want to be more of an idiot when I am trying to win back my money?

Two wins this week!  One at my house when I hit the miracle 4 aces against a full house!!!!  And I laid down pocket twos, and the flop came out the other two 2’s. That happens I guess.  I was in late position and watch 7 other players limp in, and was playing my odds that another two wouldn’t come out.  Lucky/unlucky flop I think.  Oh well.

Being prepared and ready to play your tournament/local game is very important.  If your playing later in the evening and your tired, attempt to get in a quick nap, or make sure that you have a good meal.  Just tonight during my Wednesday night game, I went in very tired and not willing to have the great dinner that dad had made.  We started playing poker and I was winning my share of pots, and took out a couple people, but I wasn’t into the game because I wanted to go to sleep.  The blinds were 50/100 and everyone folded to me and I was in the small blind.  I went all in, hoping that the big blind wouldn’t have a hand, but when I looked down, I couldn’t have swore that I had pocket 9s, but I actually had 36 off suit.  The big blind called with AQ off suit, and the big blind won with two pairs.  When I looked down and thought about it, I mentioned that I wasn’t into the game, and should not have played.  Things might have been different if I had dinner, but I was more worried about chilling out before everyone sat down and played.

Now back to some ideas to help you win your game, and continuation betting.

Continuation betting is in a sense, betting after the flop when you do not hit anything.  If you have raised pre-flop, and it is your turn, putting in a bet will many times allow you to win the hand.  I like to put in a bet of roughly 70% of the pot.  If someone makes the call or raises allows you to learn who has something, or someone who is going to bluff you too.  Most times this continuation bet will eliminate anyone who doesn’t have top pair or better, only because you are the first person to act. You’ll get that person here and there that will stay in with bottom pair or an ace, but you still must put in another bet after the turn.  This is the hardest thing to do, especially when you are bluffing and could be loosing a lot, but it’s a must.  You have to be confident and not make or do something that shows your weakness.  Talking at this point in the hand about your cards is stupid, and shows that you do not have anything. Sit on your hands, look down and sit back like your comfortable.  Don’t give off any signs!

Local tournament games with small buy-ins are great ways in improve your game, and with the correct tactics you can put yourself onto the final table and better. Talking, learning, reading and playing your opponents will help you gain chips and better yourself for your final run at winning your local game.

Many times local tournament games you will find my distinct games plans and players. From your beginner, who needs to know what beats what, to the more advanced player, to the slop player. (One high card and one slop card.) It’s a good time when you sit down to find out about the other players and watch how they tell you how long they have played and what they do for a living. If you have a beginner, you can guarantee that he/she is going to play any pair that they hit on the flop, and betting a large amount when you hit top pair sometimes backfires when they get lucky and hit two pairs on the river. I have found that beginners will also stick with their ace-slop until the end, and will get lucky here and there. You might have the best hand until that ace shows up, so I will most of the time just throw in a small raise, or check to see if I still have the best hand before they get lucky. Another quick thing that I like to do it is to find out who doesn’t really care about the small buy-in. This helps you realize who might have no problem going all in with not the best hand, and these people usually play loosely, and will play the high card-slop card more than normal. You should be able to take advantage of these people too. They will stay with their king and queens until the end hoping to get lucky, and these people will normally play every starting hand. These types of players want to see a flop, so a continuation bet will show you where you are in the hand, even when you have not hit anything. Watch these players for quick raises where nothing on the board scares them. This is usually a huge sign that the player has trips.

Just last night I played in a $10 buy-in at DeBary Golf and Country Club. Each table had six people and everyone was given 2500 chips, and you had the option to purchase another buy-in immediately. When I sat down, 4 out of 6 people had made the extra purchase. Since we had some time, I did my normal talk and found out that the player in seat 4 was a seasoned pro and was playing tournaments 6 nights a week, but he said that he wasn’t targeting the people with the double chips but was going to come after me. I found this odd, especially since I did not tell him that I knew a little about the game. The other players were there for fun, but all played regularly and at least once a week. Since I wanted to find out more about seat 4, when he was in the big and small blinds, I raised 4 times the blind to see if he was a defender. When he gave up his blinds so easy, I made it a regular thing, and the other players defended a little more often. Player 4 also made a couple other mistakes while playing heads-up against me by talking about how big his hand was. This is usually an automatic tell that his hand isn’t big at all. He also took some time on a few hands and rocked back and forth as to make it seem like he had a huge decision on making the call or not. When he would do this, and then raise, I knew that I was beat, especially when I only had a few chips to make the call and see his cards. I just had to trust my gut and wait my time out. After taking a huge loss in chips when I hit trips and another player showed higher trips, I went back to stealing blinds from the wanna-be pro. By the time of the first break, no one on our table had been lost, while the other 12+ tables had 2-3 each. We chipped out and moved around everyone but our table stayed and then caught pocket aces in early position. I raised 3x the blinds and everyone came in with me. The flop came out AQ8 rainbow. I quickly checked, and the player next to me moved all in. The wanna-be pro check, double checked, and triple checked his cards, did his hollywood, and called. The others folded and I pushed all in and had the wanna be covered. He instantly knew that he was beat, but still called. The player next to me showed 83clubs, and the wanna-be was on a draw with k10 and needing a jack. Turn card out another queen, and I had tripled up. From there we moved to a different table, and when it was all said and done I finished in the money with a third place finish, only to have my pocket kings beat by A3 with a river ace. That’s poker!

The final table to 8 people was exactly what I could have imagined.  Three players played every hand they were dealt and I almost doubled up on the first hand by checking on the flop and turn, then going all in on the river when a king hit, but I didn’t have anything higher than an eight and bluff my way into a huge pot.

It was a lot of fun, and I will play again for sure.

Great card and a slop card! It’s a common mistake amoung beginners that is very easy to take advantage of. When in first position and with a full table, A2, A3, A4, A5, K2, K3, K4 and many others are not good cards to play. As I have seen TO MANY TIMES, a player in beginning position will limp in with K4 or something. (Side note: many times when someone starts out the limping, other players follow with bad hands hoping to hit the flop and get lucky, and a strong player will slow play his monster hand disguising his pocket pair or AK, AQ and many other good starting hands.) If the player with K4 gets lucky and hits his king, this player will follow through to the end only to find out that another player has his 4 beat as a kicker. These types of hands are ones that you should really think about folding, unless your really feeling like gambling and possibly raising in early position.

At the beginning of the year I took a 7-day cruise I told my then girlfriend, now wife, that I would attempt not to go down and play poker in the 5-10 table with a minimum $100 dollar buy-in. We had passed through the casino a couple times, and she insisted that I sign up for the No Hold-Em Tournament on the last day of the cruise, since it was a travel day. While signing up, the banker told me that they had a game going on, and I asked if I could watch the players. My girlfriend said yes and that she wanted to get a massage and that if I wanted to play while she was doing her thing, I could do my thing. I quickly went over and put my name down to play as they only had one table and I sat back and watched the players play. After 20-30 minutes I realized that almost everyone was playing great card-slop card. All of the players were new to the game, and had watched the pro’s, who have ice in their veins play this same way and were able to bluff and win with these hands. Of course, these are the same hands that they show on TV, and if the pros can win with these, so can they. My instant strategy was to play only good starters, hope to catch a good flop and stay with the other players and not bet them out of the pot. If I had AK, I would raise to eliminate a couple players, hope that an AK came out on the flop and let them do the betting for me. When we would turn over our hands, they would show K3 and I would have them out kicked. I played that day for 3 hours, and almost paid for my cruise in one sitting. I picked up a bunch of tells on the players before the game, as one lady would bet $20 on the turn each time she made 2 pairs, so if I couldn’t beat it, I folded only to watch some other person call with top pair and nothing for a kicker.

Raising pre-flop.

There are many times that you want to limp in the pot. One time you do not want to limp in is when your dealt AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, and you are in late position and you have a bunch of players in front of you that have also limped in. If you are in the first position, you are better off making a small 2-3 sized the blind raise to eliminate some of the players with crap cards. If by chance you catch a high pocket pair and you unfortunate to have 5 or more players in the hand with you, your chances of winning that hand drastically decreased. Just last night in the weekly Wednesday night game, Mike, who was in first position saw his pocket aces busted because he slow played them and allowed 7 people to get into the hand. I was in the big blind with 89 suitted, and hit a straight only to have it beat by a higher straight on the flop. Mike slow played the aces, stayed with it, even though there was a possible straight on the board, and stuck it out to have 2 out of the final 3 players in the hand, having his pocket aces crushed. He took an early beating that made his night a very quick one.

Since position is such a huge thing in poker, I tend to raise with good starters about 3 times the blind. I like to make sure that I stick to this trend to not allow others to pick up on anything that might give away my hand. If your are raising 3x the blind and everyone else is folding, I will raise this same way with slop, ONLY when in late position or the small blind. Usually when someone does it in the big blind, they either have the nuts, or nothing. If you continue to show good hands, and have raised pre-flop your opponets will many times fold, so your able to steal blinds here and there. But try not to do it so often that your image goes away for playing only good hands.

The pre-flop raise is meant to get rid of the slop players, but many times the players in the blinds will still add the chips to see the flop and hope to get lucky. If they check to you, you must raise to see where you are at, even if you do not hit anything on the flop.

Continuation betting and others to come next, as well as some comments about the poker on TV and the players. Hope this helps and that you enjoy this, sorry if its rough as I am not a writer.

Online poker is fun and exciting. I personally only play on Full Tilt Poker under two names. I have my stevecgraphics account that I only use for play money, and my full name for real money. I think the online places are a great way to learn the game and how to see how others play the game. You will take your bad beats, and the occassional player who will stay on until the last card and get lucky, but thats poker.

I have sat and watched many professional players online and also watched the 5/10 play money players for hours at a time. The small blinds play money players play like they have nothing to loose, and bluffing isn’t an option. I literally hate when a new player comes in and goes all in on the first hand. Sometimes, but very rarely, the player has something, but I suggest just sitting it out. If they keep doing it, you will at one point catch them with a good hand yourself, and when you make top pair of 10’s or whatever after the flop, you better bet big and hope someone who has two over cards doesn’t call you. Play money is PLAY MONEY, don’t take it badly when that one person gets lucky on the river and beats you, it happens.

Real money - When you have finally graduated into real money, start small. Don’t get into the 1-2 dollar hands right away. I have a lot of fun playing the sit-n-go’s and just winning 1st or 2nd place if I am lucky. Real money you can bluff and play normal poker, but watch how people bet. Continuation bets are a must after the flop when in position. 60-70% of the time you will win these bets and take the pot right away. A good thought is to bet 70% of the pot, but if you get called, your probably already beat, or your in a race. Real money players have all sorts of different styles and game play, from slow playing, to aggressive and bluffing a bunch. It’s a different game, but puts the fun back into it, in my opinion. Recently in a sit-n-go I was called a donkey for calling K8 while in the small blind. I am usually a defender of my blinds, meaning I will usually play almost any two cards if no one raises to see the flop. The flop turned over 8,6,3 and I checked. The other player made a huge raise of more than 4 times the pot and I knew that he either had nothing, or had bottom pair. Since it was putting me all in, I made the call. He turned over nothing, and then made the donkey comment to me. Normally the all-in would have made me fold, but the bet was so big compared to the pot, it had me wondering. I doubled up, and ended up coming in second because I wasn’t going to be able to play in the next round on another date.

Play with respect. Just because you see others on TV like Phil Hellmuth mouthing off and disrespecting the players and the game doesn’t mean that you should do what he does. Learn the game and play the right cards and you will do well. Playing K3 and other slop might get you lucky here and there, but in the long run the patient player is going to take advantage of your play.

Good card, slop card play is next….

Hope that people enjoy this. Again, I am not a professional, but play weekly, and have a good reputation for winning a lot of the home games that I play, so I am just trying to help other play better and hopfully win more.

I had a comment that my stuff was outdated, and I apologize, again I am just trying to help the new guys learn about the game, and how others might be playing against you.

Thanks for checking out my poker blog.

The Wednesday night game was moved to Thursday because of a funeral in the family, but Thursday I was more than ready to see my friends for the weekly poker game. Last nights game, October 23rd, brought in the normal players and also one new player to the game. First and foremost, I ask the normal questions to find out his skill level. He is a regular player, and liked to talk and brag about his skills, and remembers the hands with precise descriptions…..WE HAVE A PLAYA!!!!

The cards were not good to me in the first couple blinds, but I was able to buff at quite a few hands and when the blinds were at 20/40 I was in pretty good shape. The new player Mike received a bad beat, and quickly started in talking smack to the winner by saying ‘river runner’ or ’suck out king’. I personally do not like that kind of banter, but I myself have done it when on tilt.  I believe that sometimes you get unlucky, and you must handle it the best way that you can.

Enter one week later…..  with the normal group of people playing the Wednesday night game, a problem occurred.  With three people left, myself, dad and another player, and my game being on full lock down mode and playing great cards, my dad and I got into a pot.  Dad and I limped in, with my hand being pocket fives.  The flop came out 9h, 6s, 6c, and dad bet 80 chips into a 160 chip pot.  I took this as a leak movement, and called all in.  At this point in time, dad said “you can have it” and the delaer instantly moved the chips my direction and I threw my cards in the muck.  Suddenly, he asked what I had, and I quickly grabbed one card back and turned over the 5h.  At this point in time, dad said that he wanted to make the call, and that he was saying “yes I call and I am all in too”, but it didn’t come out the way that he intended.  This wasn’t a good thing for the group, certain people heard one thing, others heard another, but the dealer made the correct call.  It was a mistake, because dad was either tired, or simply didn’t think about what he was saying.  I made some rude remarks, like an immature idiot, and stormed out, only to come back and we settled it by giving some of dads chips back.  After that, I was on a tear and quickly won the game because I was more focussed than anything.

I learned a lesson about poker that night and taking your bad beats, they are going to happen.  To the best players, people suck out, but you have to be a man and just suck it up and enjoy the game.  Let’s face it, we all have done it, and we will do it again, you can’t always go in with the best hand, it’s impossible.

With the increased interest in No Limit Poker, and home games popping up everywhere, many beginners jump into the game after watching poker on TV.  It’s either the 2005 or 2006 World Series of Poker on ESPN almost daily, or High Stakes Poker or Poker After Dark.  I have watched many players in different games play like the pros that they admire, but makes many costly mistakes and give off tells that experienced players can pick up and take adventage of.

I have a strategy that I use when going into new games and with new people.  I strike up conversation about poker and what one does for a living.  I watch how they talk to me and tell me what EXACTLY they do, and their behaivor.  I ask how long they have been playing poker and if they play often, and ask about some of their bad beats.  I have noticed that really good players can tell you precisely what happened on their bad beat.  They will tell you what cards they had and also what the came out down to the suit.  On the other hand, beginners who are learning only remember that their small pocker pair was busted but two over cards.  Once we have sat down and start playing, I watch who’s playing with their chips, shuffling their chips and has itchy fingers.  If someone is shuffling their chips, they have played a little bit, as it isn’t something that you just pick up one time at the 1-2 dollar table at the horse/dog track.

Next beginners need to know the game.  I played in a big home game several months ago, and the player to my right said that he was new to the game.  I believed him right away and before the game started.  He kept repeating one or two good hands that he had online, and that he thought his game was heading in the right direction.  I asked him about his position, and the cards he was dealt.  He quickly remembered having K3, but didn’t remember the suit, but did remember that he was the first to act.  He hit the serious flop, and didn’t set the trap.  All players went out but one, and won 200+ chips.  He was very excited.  Back to knowing the game…. the first hand I was dealt AK hearts, and raised to 15 chips.  All but one player stayed with me, so I was almost positive I wasn’t going to win.  The flop came out 6s 7h 4d.  Everyone checked to me, and as I thought about my bet, the player to my right looked at his cheat sheet to see what he had.  When I saw this, I checked too.  I don’t think anyone else picked this up, but I figured that if he had to look at a cheat sheet to see what he had, I didn’t have a chance.  On the first hand 6-10 players lost 60+ chips each out of 100, to the player on the right who hit the straight on the flop.  He had a great start, and was on fire with his cards, but played each hand and lots of bottom and middle pairs that cost him to loose to me when their were only 3 players left in the game.

Lesson Number 1:
You MUST KNOW WHAT BEATS WHAT BEFORE YOU SIT DOWN!!  Know the game.  I suggest playing play chips online at Full Tilt Poker.  I still do play chips at small stakes regularly.  It helps you learn the game, and learn how to play against beginners.

Lesson Number 2: Bottom and Middle Pairs, and Pocket Pairs
Just because you have paired the board does not mean that you should go all in each time.  Bottom and middle pair and small pocket pairs can get you into trouble. You might pick up a couple pots here and there, but once a good player figures this out, they will sit and wait for a monster hand.  They will check to you, and then re-raise.  Sometimes you have to lay it down.  When I first started playing I watched how hands played out, and realized that if there was 5 or more players in the hand, my top pair was going to be beat many times.  If I had top pair with little kicker with 5 players, I was already beat so I tried to keep the pot as small as possible and hope to win.

Just this week, in the weekly Wednesday night game this instance came true.  A somewhat beginner player, who bluffs at a lot of pots got to heads up against me for the win.  After a terribly unlucky beat heads up, where I was dealt KJ spades, and on the flop a king came out, the other player went all in.  Since he was first to play before the flop and didn’t raise, I put him on k5 or lower.  I had him covered with chips and called.  He turned over K3 and the river card was a three.  I made the mistake of telling him that I knew that I had him beat, but was unlucky with his 7% chance getting that three.  From there he continued to bluff and play aggressively, but show me his cards when he really had the winner, but was always bottom pair. (Heads up any pair is really a good hand, and should win a majority of the time)  Finally after being patience, I was dealt 10s Jc, and the flop came out Jh 8d 7d.  I checked to the other player, and he checked also.  Turn card came out 2d and checked again.  The other player quickly called all in, in which I called and with the river coming out 3s I won the Wednesday night game.

Next post will be more helpful hints about winning your home game.  If you have any questions, please email me at scgraphics01@yahoo.com.  Hoping your cards are good, and the flops even better.

Last night, Saturday July 28th, I was asked to play in a tournament style home game. The game was put on as an add on to a birthday party for the guys. All the players were completely new to me, but the others all knew each others style of play. As we waited for the party to end, clean up and the players to arrive my goal was to listen to the people who were waiting. I enjoyed listening to several players and some of their bad beats, and quickly found out whom was a player, and whom was an internet poker player. (On a side note, I have found that internet players that play for play money will stick it out until the end with ace high, or if they hit a small pair. I like to use this to my advantage, and raise with top pair and good kicker to make them fold or make that one bad mistake that costs them a lot of chips.) The guys have monthly tournament games, that bring in 40+ players, and have thought about starting a heads-up tourament, which I think would be a lot of fun. I was glad I was finally invited to play considering I have heard about this game, and wanted to test out my skills against others whom I didn’t know.

Within the first 10-15 hands I wanted to observe and watch what people were playing, so I asked to show their cards, but also wanted to put down a sick bluff, hoping to get called, or in a better case win and still show nothing. This was a strategy that I was hoping would help me later on down the line when I had good cards. With me in seat one, seat two and three were automatically in each hand when the blinds were small. They played almost everything they were dealt. Seat four was tight and aggressive, but never believed that you had anything, so he called out everything with middle and bottom pair. Seat five was very tight, but when he had top pair and better, he would only raise the pot 100 chips. (We started with 2300 chips) He also was an ATM, (automatic call machine), and the other players were loose and played premium hands, and were not defenders of their blinds.

Around hand 12-14 I was dealt 89 of hearts. I was the big blind and checked my option. I like to see the flop as cheaply as possible with suited connectors hoping to hit a monster. The flop turned out Ks, Kh, 6c. Being one the first people to play, and was checked to, I studied the board, counted the chips in the pot and put in a raise of 70% of the pot, which was roughly 140 chips. I like to see where I am at with a pair on the board. Only people who have hit it should be playing, but I have seen many times that a person with ace in their hands will continue to play….. Player four stayed in the game with me. I had decided right away this was going to be my bluff hand to setup the rest of the night if lucky. Turn card showed 2c. I fired another bullet at the pot, around 175 chips. Player four stayed in. At this point I knew that I was beat, either he had a king, or he hit the 6 because the two didnt scare him. River was a 5s, and again I fired out a raise, but not enough to scare player four compared to what was in the pot, which looking back was my problem and I could have won the pot with a much bigger bet. I turned over my bluff and got a bunch of laughs and what were you thinking questions, but the bait was then set.

After the bluff I tightened up and only played premium hands. If I was coming in, I was not limping, I raised each time, and made my bets the same amount as the others. Most of the time I won just because I raised, but when we did show our cards, I made sure I had the best hand. I also made sure that when the non-defenders were in the blinds, and limped in, I would raise with any two cards to steal the blinds. I quickly had the chip lead after two-three blind raises, but didn’t play big stack poker against the small stacks. I wanted the small stacks to beat themselves and either blind themselves out, or get into a pot against someone else and let them double them up. Finally, seat two, three, five and six were in a big pot. Seats three and six were all in, and with a rainbow flop, turn and river, and was checked out, seat two showed pocket 8’s as the winner. The cards on the table included from seat three were Q4, which I had learned much earlier that he would play anything, seat 5 turned over A2, and seat 6 had K3.

From here I started bluffing again, and with a healthy chip lead I wanted to put all the pressure and make the other players make a decision for all of their chips. Of the 6-7 hands that I raised the pot 1200 t0 2000 chips I was only called once. I had suitted qj, and player 5 went all in with AK and didn’t have enough for the 600 chip big blind, and it cost me 250 chips and I doubled him up, but quickly beat him the next hand. If I had anything good, I raised. One interesting hand started with my getting dealt 76 of hearts. I raised pre-flop and was called by seat two. Flop came out 765 rainbow. Being first I checked, and seat two instantly started talking about how I didn’t hit the flop. A mistake that I picked up right away. Seat two was actually a very good player, watched every person play, but when checked to him he always made a huge play at the pot, which I noticed. His play was kinda cocky, but he was getting some cards here and there, but only showed his cards to his brother (seat three) when he had hit the flop. When I noticed him showing his cards to his brother I knew he had hit the five on the table. But I had two pair heads up, which is a monster, and checked to him. He raised 800 chips into a pot of 1600 and I went over the top and called all in. He hesitated for a couple seconds and made the call, throwing down K5 and stood up with joy. When I turned over two pair he looked over at me in disgust, and knew he was in trouble. Turn card came out another 7 giving me a boat (full house) and the river came out a five, which was sick. He got very excited because he had thought he won with a boat and I only had two pair, but we showed him his loss and started play again.

Head-ups against player four was a lot of fun. Player four was the best player at the table, made some sick lay downs with top pair which impressed me. I played very aggressively, making some wild calls, and trying to keep him guessing what I had. After several hands, and winning most of them, player four had very little chips, and I asked him if he wanted to split the pot. He was the home owner and the person who put the game together and bought everything. I really didn’t care about winning, but just getting my buy in back, and wanted to show that I was a good player. We split said goodbye and drove home and thought about some of the mistakes that I made. The only one that I regretted was the big bluff at the beginning and not putting more into the pot. I didn’t bet 1/4th of the pot, so technically it was an automatic call for him in terms of pot odds.

My big bluff at the beginning and raising the pot the same amount as the bluff made the other players think that I was bluffing at many pots when I wasn’t. Once they figured out that I wasn’t bluffing and was showing them the winners, my style of play changed.  I started trapping and bluffing again. This landed me a huge chip stack and with non-defenders and small stack players waited for premium hands, I was able to play very aggressively and win lots of pots. It was a lot of fun! Another decent win for a home game player!

Click on the left in the category poker to read other blogs. Thanks and wishing you the best in your home game!