12 Reasons to Play Online Poker
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In general, online poker needs to be attacked the same way as poker in a brick and mortar casino. In order to play well and win, one always has to adjust to the players and the circumstances. There are differences between the average online player compared to the average brick and mortar player, but those differences are small enough that some logical adjustments should do the trick. In that respect, this section on online poker is specifically aimed at the differences and uniqueness that online poker presents.
1. You do not live close to a poker room
Legal poker rooms are now all over America, but many people still live far from a poker room. Online poker is a nice solution for the people that do not have a chance to play poker on a regular basis in brick and mortar card rooms.
2. Even if there is a poker room in your vicinity, you do not have to commute.
Many players do live closer to a poker room but find that it usually takes a bit of a commute to get there. Even if you live fairly close to the casino, it may still take half an hour or more to get to the poker room, and even then, you may have to wait a bit before getting into a game. On the internet, there is no need to commute and the wait for a seat is typically much shorter than in a brick and mortar casino. Also, for those that are physically challenged and find it difficult to commute or goto a casino, playing poker online is an ideal solution. They will be able to play comfortably at home, whereas they may not be comfortable in a casino environment.
3. There is no second hand smoke
A few years ago, the state of California banned smoking in certain establishments. Casinos and poker rooms were affected by the new law and now there is no smoking in California poker rooms. Several other poker rooms across the country have also made this adjustment to non-smoking poker rooms, such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas and Foxwoods in Connecticut. This is all great for the player. However, even if the poker room itself is a non-smoking room, many of the non-Californian casinos still allow smoking in other parts of their casinos. The smoke can often creep around in the air and find their way to the poker room. Since players are sitting down for long periods of time, they may be susceptible to the harmful effects of second hand smoking. Even worse are the poker rooms that do allow smoking. For those who are worried about second hand smoke, playing poker online is a healthy alternative.
4. The rake may be lower online
Many of the online poker rooms offer a lower rate per hand than brick and mortar casinos. They may still collect a higher rake per hour because typically they deal more hands per hour in an online poker room. This is a benefit to players as they get to keep a bigger portion of the pots that they win. The only situation where it may not be a benefit to players is in a situation like heads-up poker where the rake is usually negotiable between the players and the poker room management but would not be online.
5. There is no tipping online
Tipping is a somewhat controversial topic. In brick and mortar casinos, a major part of the dealers’ income comes from tips. However tips do eat up on potential profits from the winning players, and it increases the losses for the losing players. Online poker requires no tipping, you cannot tip even if you wanted to. This means the winning players will make more money and the losing players can play longer, or at least play more hands.
6. You can play any time of day
Online poker rooms are 24 hours a day operations. If there are players, there are games. Once an online poker room reaches a certain critical mass, they will likely have games at all times of day at all limits. Not every site has this feature as they are not all that successful, but there are a few sites that have achieved this critical mass. This means players can play any time of day they feel like. This is great for many people, including morning people, people who work at night and can only play during the day and people who are nightowls that play in the wee hours of the morning
7. You can play for a very short time if you prefer
If you make the effort to go to the local poker room, you probably feel you should stay there for a while. Nobody likes to drive half an hour just to play a couple of minutes and then drive another half an hour to get home. This is different with online poker. You could play one round which may take as little as one minute, you could play for five minutes and decide to leave. This is a great option for all players, although it does make for a relatively high turnover of players at the online game compared to the brick and mortar game.
8. There are easier ways to analyze your own play online
Most of the online poker sites have an option where you can see your hand histories. This makes for analyzing your own play much easier than in a brick and mortar casino, where the only way to track your own play is to actually write every single hand down, this is simply not practical for most people, not to mention the tremendous effort it would take. Recently several people have developed software to help players analyze their game. It may be worthwhile to find out about these software programs to see if they can help you analyze your own game.
9. There are easy ways to analyze the play of other players
Many sites have a function where you can write notes on each player, and these notes are accessible the next time you are at the same table as those players. This is a nice feature that is unique to online poker. There are also software programs that allow for the analysis of other players’ games. These software programs can only look at the hands that your opponents played when you were in the game with them and not every game that they have played, but this could still be useful.
10. More hands are dealt per hour online
When players are paying attention, more hands are usually dealt per hour online compared to brick and mortar games. There is no need to wait for the dealer to shuffle, take in the mucked cards, collect the chips, make change, take the rake or time, get a rack fill, call for empty seats, settle player disputes and all sorts of other issues. For the player who plays with a positive expectancy, more hands per hour means a higher expected profit.
11. Shorthanded games are easy to find online
It is difficult to find a shorthanded game in a brick and mortar casino and when it exists, it may not last for long. Often these games will break up as most players do not usually prefer to play short, or they fill up to a full table when other players come in. Many online poker rooms have specific tables specially designed for those that like to play short, they may have heads-up tables and/or tables where a maximum of six players can be seated. Shorthanded games mean even more hands per hour as fewer players have to make decisions. This could mean even greater profitability for the skilled shorthanded player compared to a full game.
12. Players can play at more than one table simultaneously
One of the great advantages of playing online is the ability to play more than one game at the same time. In a full game often there is some dead time as you watch the other players play out their hands. If you do not know the players, this is a useful time to gather information about how they play and use it in the future. However, if you are well versed in their abilities and styles, it can be boring just sitting at the table. In a brick and mortar casino, many people will take this time to chit chat with other players near them, get to know each other, discuss current events or eat a meal. For some players, their primary reason to play poker is for the social aspects, so they rather enjoy this time to talk with friends while playing the game, but online is a different story. Many players know each other online, and can hold interesting conversations, but it is different from a brick and mortar casino. Once you get done with all that stuff, sometimes it can get boring especially if you are dealt junk hand after junk hand and are constantly folding. This is why people like to play more than one table, to deal with the boredom. Instead of getting distracted by non-poker issues, they choose to play two or more games and keep all of their attention on poker. There are the obvious advantages, but also some not so obvious disadvantages. Playing multiple tables simultaneously is further discussed later in this chapter.
Slowplaying Poker
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Slowplaying is the act of playing a hand that is strong in a manner that would indicate that it is not so strong. The slowplay is used with the intent of trapping other players into the hand and trying to get more chips out of them. Although it is a useful concept, it is often misused and abused. Slowplaying is useful if you have a hand that is so strong that you need other players to catch up just so they can call with an improved, but losing hand. It is not a useful strategy if those players that catch up have a decent chance of making stronger hand than your hand. Slowplaying is also not a useful strategy if your opponents were willing to call your bets or raises anyway. Here are some situations to think about.
1. You have Q♦J♦ and 5 players see the Flop for one raise. Your hand: Q♦J♦
Flop: Q♠J♠J♣
You have a full house. This is a great Flop for your hand. There are all sorts of possible hands that other players may be drawing to with a Flop like this. They could have two spades for a flush draw, they could have a straight draw with AK, AT, KT, K9, T9, T8, they could even have trips with the fourth J. This is a time to ram and jam and try to get more money into the pot as there are many ways that other players will call anyway. If you wait until the Turn to make the raise, other players will naturally be afraid that you have a monster, but being aggressive on the Flop could be read by other players as a strong drawing hand or a Q with an A or K kicker. When one of the draws gets their card on the Turn or River, they may think they have drawn out and even raise you at that point.
2. You have Q♦J♦ and raise in late position. Only the big blind calls. Your hand: Q♦J♦
Flop: Q♠J♠J♣
You have flopped a monster, a full house. Now you may think about slowplaying and hope he catches up. If the player is aware though, you may have to put in a bet on the Flop and hope that he calls. Most players will expect you to bet on the Flop with anything, so if you do not bet, they may get a strange feeling wondering why you did not bet, and think you are slowplaying a monster hand. Against players who are less aware, a check may get some bets from them on the Turn or River if they pair up one of their hole cards.
3. You have A♣A♥. Flop: A♠2♣3♦
If you had raised before the Flop, it is usually difficult not to bet on the Flop. It is usually best to bet with the hopes that another player has the case A or is drawing to a straight with a 4 or 5. In order to make a successful slowplay here, you would need a player to catch a pair with a hand like KJ on the Turn. But players who are aware will usually be very careful with an A on the board.
4. You have 55 in a three way pot. Your hand: 55
Flop #1: A-5-5
This is a monster hand that has almost no chance of losing. Many players will play with an A in their hand, so even if there are only two other players in the pot, they may be willing to call or even raise. Slowplaying here will probably just reduce the amount of your win. If you bet and everyone folds, it is likely that they had no piece of the Flop and would not have put in much after that anyway. If the Flop had a J instead of an A, then the situation is different.
Your hand: 55
Flop #2: J-5-5
This is a situation where a slowplay may be useful. A player with A7 may not call a bet when there is a J on the board since he may figure you for a J and think he only has 3 outs. But if he senses weakness when you check to him, it may get him to play on. All players are more likely to play a hand containing an A than a hand containing a J. So it is less likely any given player has a pair of J’s when the Flop is J-5-5 than has a pair of A’s when the Flop is A-5-5.
5. You are in the big blind with J♠T♠ and call a late position player’s open-raise. Your hand: J♠T♠
Flop: 9♣8♦7♠
You have the nut straight. In this case you need to determine the looseness of the pre-Flop raiser. If you think he is willing to call all the way to the River with a hand like AK, you may want to check-raise on the Flop and take the lead. If he is willing to play hard with a hand like AT, then you do not mind betting and raising at every opportunity. If there is a greater probability that he will give you more credit and fold to your aggressive play on the Flop and Turn, then it may be best to just check and call his bets, until an A or K show up, then a check-raise may get more money into the pot if he indeed has a pair. The correct usage of slowplaying will depend on how you think your opponent will play.
6. You have AK in early position and raise pre-Flop. A couple of decent players call behind you.
Flop: A-8-4
You bet out and get called by one player. Turn: 4
Now you may want to put the slowplay into gear. Since your opponent did not re-raise before the Flop, it is likely that he did not have a big pocket pair and instead has a hand like AQ, AJ, AT. If you check, it should give him the idea that you have a big pocket pair and are afraid of the A. You can now check with the intention of check-raising on the Turn, or wait until the River to pull off your check-raise. This slowplay will work best against decent players who respect your play yet
are willing to get all the edge they can get. You do not want to try this slowplay against opponents who are loose enough that they could have called your pre-Flop raise with a hand like 98, because then they will likely not bet after you have checked. You also would not want to try this slowplay against opponents who are very timid and may be afraid to bet a weaker pair of A’s even after you check to him.
The poker cards
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There are four rounds of card distribution and betting in Hold’em: the pre-Flop, the Flop, the Turn and the River. After the cards are dealt on each round, there is a round of betting.
Pre-Flop: Each player is dealt two cards face down. These cards pertain to only the hands of the individual. There is a round of betting after these two cards are dealt.
The Flop: Three cards are dealt face up in middle of the table, this is called the Flop. These cards are community cards that everyone uses in their hand and are collectively called the board. After the Flop, there is another round of betting. The term “the Flop” can refer to the three cards or the betting round.
The Turn: A fourth card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. This fourth card is called the turn and is part of the board. After the Turn card is dealt, there is another round of betting. The term “the Turn” can refer to the card itself or the betting round.
The River: A fifth and final card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. This fifth card is called the River and is part of the board as well. After the River card is dealt, there is one final round of betting. The term “the River” can refer to the last card itself or the betting round.
The Showdown: After the betting round on the River, each player still in the hand at this point exposes their cards. Each player’s full poker hand consists of the best fiver card poker hand possible from the combination of his two cards and the five cards on the board. The highest five card poker hand wins the pot. If there is a tie, then the pot is split among the players that tied for the best hand.
Bluffing against one opponent
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Lets examine the less complex situation of bluffing on the river against one opponent. You are in last position and your opponent has checked to you. Here are the scenarios that you will be facing:
A. You have a good to strong hand
B. You have a mediocre hand
C. You have a below average hand
D. You have a very poor hand
Situation A is a simple situation. You should be betting and hoping your opponent calls and loses more chips to you. This is not a bluff.
Situation B is a little more complex. This is the type of situation that comes up where you have to think if it is worthwhile to make what is called a “value bet”. This is defined as a bet when your cards are not that great, but you still think there is value in making a bet because you believe your hand is stronger than your opponents with a decent degree of certainty.
Situation C & D are the situations where the decision of whether or not to bluff comes into play.
In each Situations B, C and D, the size of the pot needs to be considered as well as the opponent’s thoughts on the size of the pot. In Situation B, if the pot size is large, you should be more inclined
to make a wager, because your opponent will be more inclined to call with a worse hand since he believes he is getting relatively large pot odds in case you were bluffing. In Situation C & D, a bigger pot will reward you more handsomely for a successful bluff than a smaller pot would. But keep in mind that your opponent may be aware of the relative pot size as well, and thus may be
more inclined to call your bet when the pot is bigger. Here are some examples of Situation C&D
Example of Situation C
Assumptions:
1. You have a 25% chance of having the best hand
2. If you bet and your opponent has a better hand than yours, he will fold 40% of the time and call
60% of the time.
3. If you bet and your opponent has a worse hand than yours, he will fold 100% of the time.
4. The pot size is 5 big bets
5. Your lone opponent has checked on the River and you are last to act.
Expected Value of checking:
The pot size is 5 big bets. If you do not bet, you have a 25% chance of winning the hand and a 75%
chance of losing the hand. The expected value of checking in this hand is:
Expected Value of checking = (25% x 5 big bets) + (75% x 0 big bets) = +1.25 big bets
It is important to forget about the chips that you have put in the pot yourself in previous rounds. Those chips are now a sunk cost, it is no longer your chips as it currently belongs to the pot.
Expected Value of betting:
In the assumptions, it states that if you bet and your opponent has a better hand, he will fold 40%
of the time and call 60% of the time, but if he has a worse hand, he will fold 100% of the time.
In the assumptions, it was stated that when you have the best hand (25% of the time in this example), your opponent will not call a bet. When you have the worst hand (75% of the time in this example), your opponent will fold 40% of the time and call 60% of the time.
The expected values individual situations are: You have the best hand = 25% x 5 = 1.25
He has the best hand and he folds when you bet = 75% x 40% x 5 = 1.50
He has the best hand and he calls when you bet = 75% x 60% x -1 = -0.45
Since there is no increased value to betting when you have the best hand (since we have assumed
he will fold 100% of the time when he has a worse hand), the only possible extra value that is
gained by a bet is due to bluffing, when you bluff him out of a better hand. In this example, we are not sure if we have the best hand or not, so it is unclear if we are actually bluffing.
Expected Value of betting/bluffing = (25% x 5 big bets) + (75% x 40% x 5 big bets) + (75% x 60%
x -1 big bet) = +2.3 big bets
When we bet, we have an expected value of +2.30 big bets. In this example, it is clear that betting
is better than checking, as an expected value of +2.30 big bets is better than an expected value of
+1.25 big bets in checking.
If the numbers were slightly changed, then it could make the bluff an incorrect move. Lets change the assumptions and assume that instead of folding 40% of the time when he has the best hand,
your opponent is only going to fold 10% of the time when he has the best hand, and call 90% of the time. Then the expected value equation becomes:
Expected Value of betting/bluffing with adjusted numbers = (25% x 5 big bets) + (75% x 10% x
5 big bets) + (75% x 90% x -1 big bet) = +0.95 big bets
In this case, the expected value of bluffing is +0.95 big bets, which is worse than the expected
value of checking +1.25 big bets. So your decision to bluff or not is dependent on how likely your opponent is going to call.
Example of Situation D
In cases like Situation D, where we have a very poor hand, with almost no chance of winning the pot outright, the calculations would be similar. We could assume we had 0% of winning if we
checked, but a 20% chance of our opponent folding if we bet. If we also assumed the pot contained
5 big bets, then the expected value formula is:
Expected Value of checking in Situation D = 0% x 5 big bets = +0.00 big bets
Expected Value of bluffing in Situation D = (20% x 5 big bets) + (80% x -1 big bet) = +0.20 big bets
With these numbers, it is clear that a bluff bet is the best option as we gain +0.20 big bets compared
to 0, but if we changed the percentage of your opponent folding down to 10%, then bluffing would
be a worse option than just giving up the pot without a fight. The expected value formula is:
Expected Value of bluffing in Situation D with adjusted numbers = (10% x 5 big bets) + (90% x
-1 big bet) = -0.40 big bets
Now we have the math, but we still need to learn the skill of pinpointing the percentage that our opponents will fold. If we were able to obtain their folding frequency number, then poker would
be very easy for those who are adept at math, we could just plug the numbers into an expected
value formula like the ones above and it will tell us the right move to make. Alas, in real life, it is difficult to make these assessments. Putting a percentage on whether a player will call or fold is not the easiest skill in the world to learn. You need to be paying attention to the players and see how they play to try to pick up on their tendencies. Whether they call with mediocre hands or if it seems they are calling a lot even though there are not any draws available. The reason why that is important is because it will show that they are calling with a low pair instead of just folding on a missed draw. The main way to gain this skill is through experience, observing your opponents and
thinking about the game.
Another example of a bluff attempt against one opponent
You are in the big blind holding Ad8c. Everybody folds to a player one to the right of the cutoff seat who raises. Everybody else folds and you call, there are two players and 2.25 big bets in the pot.
Flop: 8s-7s-6c
You check, the pre-Flop raiser bets and you check-raise. He re-raises and you decide to call. Going into the turn, there is 5.25 big bets.
Turn: 2c
You check hoping that your opponent was only on a spade draw and checks as well. However he does not, he bets. You are afraid that he has an overpair and has you down to just 5 outs (if he has KK you have 5 outs, 3 A’s and 2 8’s) or 2 outs (if he has AA, you only have 2 outs, the 2 8’s). There
is also the distinct possibility that he holds a hand like AsKs or AsQs which may seem to him like
he has many outs, thus raising on the flop and betting on the turn as a semi-bluff may seem reasonable to him. With two overcards and a flush draw, you can see that maybe he thinks he has
as many as 15 outs, so he did not mind re-raising on the flop. Many times these players will also continue to bet on the turn too with the hopes that you fold, and if you do not fold, at least they still have outs. It is unclear exactly what hand he has, you may be the favorite or you could be the underdog. You decide to call his bet.
But that is not the important decision. The important decision is wondering what to do on the
River. There is an opportunity to bet out if a T, 9 or 5 hits the board, whether or not it is a spade.
In fact, if it is a spade, it actually helps your bluff attempt even more. That is because if he is on spades, he will raise you and you can fold knowing that you are beat, thus losing the same amount
as a check and call. If he is not on spades and has an overpair, the 9s is going to look like a very
dangerous card to him. You may have been in the hand with a spade draw, a straight draw or hit two pairs. If he views you as a good player, he may be afraid that a bet on the river by you is a bet that is trying to save the hand from being checked down on the river. It will look like you got there with a draw. Whether a bluff is correct or not will depend on your thoughts about the chances that
your opponent can fold with an overpair.
There are two important points to take here. One is that you do not have to succeed all the time
with your bluff to make it profitable. All you need is to win it the same percentage of the time that the pot odds reflect that you need to win it by. So if you get called once or twice making a bluff
like this, it does not necessarily make it a bad bluff. On the other hand, if you are bluffing into players who are incapable of folding a big pocket pair even into a scary board of 8s-7s-6c-2c-9s, then you are just throwing your money away. Bluffing depends heavily on the ability of your opponent to fold a better hand. If they are incapable of that, then it is a foolhardy experiment.
All About Semi-Bluffing
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Although the term semi-bluff or semi-bluffing is now used universally in the poker world, it was first used by David Sklansky. The idea is that you bet or a raise with the hopes that your opponent will fold, but if they do not, you still have a chance to win the hand with other cards to come. This allows you two ways to win, via a fold by your opponent or getting lucky on a future round. If there is no chance that the opponent will fold, then it is just a bluff, not a semi-bluff.
Semi-Bluff Raising on the Turn
There are times when you should raise even if you do not have the best cards at the moment. You are hoping that your opponent will fold a better hand, but even if he calls, you will still have a chance of improving to beat him.
Example:
| You hold: |   |
| On the Turn, the board is: |     |
| Lets assume you know your opponent has: |   |
So he is currently ahead of you with a pair, but you have many outs. Any A, K, T or spade gives you the winning hand. There are a total of 44 unknown cards (52 cards in the deck, minus 2 in your hand, minus 2 in your opponents hand, minus 4 on the board), and 18 cards will win the pot for you (3 A’s, 3 K’s, 4 T’s, and 8 remaining spades, note that a ninth Spade has already been counted). This means you will win 18 out of 44 times. Normally we would use 46 unknown cards on the Turn, but in this case we are assuming we know our opponents hand. To make this demonstration simpler, lets assume that if you do not make your hand on the River, you will simply fold, and that if you do hit your hand on the River, your opponent will call your bet half the time.
On the Turn, the pot contains 5 big bets, and your opponent bets into you, thus making it 6 big bets in the pot.
If you call here, you expect to hit your hand 18 out of 44 times, and make 6.5 big bets when you do win (remember we assumed that if you hit your hand on the River that your opponent will call you half the time but will not pay you off the other half of the time). You also expect to lose 1 big bet 26 out of 44 times. The expected value in this case would be 2.07 big bets to make this call, so it is worthwhile to at least play and stay in the hand to see the River card.
Expected Value of Calling = (18/44 x 6.5 big bets) + (26/44 x -1 big bet) = 2.07 big bets
Instead of calling, you could consider raising. Suppose if you raise, there is a 20% chance that your opponent folds right there on the spot, with the Q on the Turn, that is not altogether unlikely. If he calls you on the Turn, you realize he is definitely going to call again on the River if you do not hit your hand (so you cannot bluff on the River), but he will not call if you do hit your hand since the combination of your raise on the Turn and the scary board will now be too much for him.
Now is it better to raise or just call?
Expected Value of Semi-Bluff Raising = (20% x 6 big bets) + (80% x 18/44 x 7 big bets) + (80% x 26/44 x -2 big bets) =2.55 big bets
The EV of the semi-bluff raising play is greater than the EV of calling with these numbers that we used, which means we should raise instead of just call. But what if you had estimated his folding percentage incorrectly? What if instead of having a 20% chance that he folds on the Turn, this guy will actually never fold. Well now you have cost yourself money with a raise in this spot, because you are more likely to lose than win and you have put more money in the pot.
Expected Value of Semi-Bluff Raising if your opponent will never fold on the Turn = (0% x 6 big bets) + (100% x 18/44 x 7 big bets) + (100% x 26/44 x -2 big bets) = +1.68 big bets
With that adjustment, it is clear that a semi-bluff raise against this opponent is not a good idea, as it lowers your expectancy from 2.07 from calling down to 1.68. This is the main reason why the semi-bluff can sometimes be a useless concept in the lower limit games. Since the players in the low limit games are much more likely to call than players in the middle or higher limit games, players who use the semi-bluff raise too often in the low limit games will find that they are costing themselves money by making this play.
The math shows the breakeven point of the semi-bluff is for your opponent to fold 9% of the time. At that rate, your expected value of the semi-bluff raise would be 2.07, which was the same as just calling.
EV against a player who folds 9% of the time: (9% x 6) + (91% x 18/44 x 7) + (91% x 26/44 x -2) = 2.07
As you can see by this demonstration, whether a semi-bluff raise is correct or not depends on the frequency that your opponent will fold a made hand. This is a nice example of how combining the mathematical side of the brain with the social side of the brain can result in a correct analysis. If we just used the math side, we are still at a loss as to whether or not a raise is correct since we do not have an accurate assessment of his folding percentages. If we just used the social side, we are at a loss as to whether or not a raise is correct since we do not have an accurate assessment of the value of a possible fold compared to the negative value of a call by the opponent and losing more money when we lose. It is only when we combine both sides of the brain that we can make it all work.
Unless you are very good with math, or an idiot savant like the character that Dustin Hoffman played in Rain Man, you will not be able to do the math in your head. Even if you understand the concept, it is completely irrational to think anyone can do these calculations in the heat of the battle. But it is still useful to play with the spreadsheet and the math so you can have some idea of certain situations when you are at the table. In this case, you will notice that it takes the opponent’s folding rate to be only 9% of the time for a semi-bluff to be a breakeven play when you have a 18 out of 44 chance of winning and an EV of 2.07 big bets when calling. Anything higher than a 9% folding rate makes the semi-bluff a positive expectancy play. Since most players will fold more than 9% of the time in a situation like this, you can keep in mind the strategy of the semi-bluff Turn raise when you have so many outs, and the opponent may only have second pair.
Raising on the Turn for a free showdown
Another way to semi-bluff is when you have a decent hand on the Turn and raise for a “free” showdown. Actually, the showdown is not free at all since you are committing the two bets on the Turn, but in the spirit of the free card raise on the Flop that really saves a half a bet, lets call this a free showdown raise.
Here are the issues to consider regarding a free showdown raise.
- Your hand has a chance to win a showdown on the River
- If you are behind, you have some possible outs
- There is a chance that your opponent will fold
- The chance that your opponent will re-raise you on the Turn is low
Lets take a look at each issue closely:
1. Your hand has a chance to win a showdown on the River
The reason this factor is important is because you do not want to be putting in any extra bets if you are an underdog and your opponent is likely to call. If you had called the Turn and would not have called the River if your opponent had bet on the River, then you should not consider raising here unless the other factors are very extreme towards raising. You want to have a hand that you would have been willing to call a Turn bet and a River bet anyway. Thus if you do lose this hand, you do not lose any more. In the previous section, I described a semi-bluff raise on the Turn, but that example is a bit different in that your hand has almost no chance of winning a showdown if it is unimproved on the River.
2. If you are behind, you have some possible outs
Having a chance that you are ahead is important, but sometimes you are wrong and you are actually behind. In those cases, you want to have as many outs as possible so that if you are behind you still have a chance of catching up and giving your opponent a bad beat. For example, if you have KQ and the board on the Turn is K983, you may have the best hand, but you are not so sure. Your opponent could have KJ or KT and you are raising for value, or your opponent could have AA, AK or K9 and be ahead, in which case you have 3 outs to catch up. With KQ you would have been willing to call the Turn and River anyway, so you do not mind committing those bets on the Turn. If your opponent calls, you may decide to exercise the option of betting the River only if a Q or K comes.
3. There is a chance that your opponent will fold
Whether or not your opponent has a better hand, if he folds to your raise on the Turn, it is normally a good thing. If he is ahead, you win a hand that you were an underdog to win. If he is behind, you win a hand right there on the Turn and do not give him a chance to give you a bad beat on the River. The only time when it would be bad for your opponent to fold if you raised is if he was drawing dead or drawing relatively thin. For example, maybe he only has two outs, in which case you are hoping he calls. But notice that even in a case like that you would prefer to raise because you would not want to give him a free look at the River if you did not think he was planning on betting or calling the River unless he caught. Typically, the higher the chances of your opponent folding when he has outs, the better a Turn raise will be.
4. The chance that your opponent will re-raise you on the Turn is low
If your opponent re-raises you, then he has completely foiled your strategy if he is ahead. If you still plan to call the River, now you have cost yourself two full bets with the free showdown raise strategy. It would be best to put yourself in the position where you know a re-raise on the Turn is a sign that he has a great hand and is very unlikely to be a bluff. This way you could safely fold a marginal hand. For example, you have AT and on the Turn, the board is AKJT of four different suits, any Q would make a straight. You decide to raise for a free showdown, but your opponent, normally a passive player re-raises. If the pot odds warrant it, you may still want to call this raise and see if the River brings you a full house. If the pot odds are not there, then you can safely fold without fearing you folded to a bluff.
An Expected Value analysis on whether or not to raise on the Turn for a free showdown could be used, but the problem is that there are too many variables to show with one example and often when this play is made, the raiser does not even know if he is ahead or behind.
When the opponent’s semi-bluff or free card draw has hit
There are times when you think the other player is bluffing or semi-bluffing and you do not mind letting him bet as you are likely ahead. However, there are situations when you have to rearrange your thoughts based on cards that hit the board. This can happen when a dangerous card comes and if your opponent was betting or raising with a semi-bluff, he would have gotten there. If he was not semi-bluffing to begin with, he may already have been ahead. In either case, you are much more likely to be behind now and should seriously consider giving up on the hand.
Here’s an example:
You are in late position with KTs. It is folded to you and you raise. The small blind and the big blind call. There are three players and 3 big bets in the pot.
Flop: JT3 rainbow
Both blinds check to you and you bet. The small blind folds and the big blind check-raises. You know the big blind is a good aggressive player. You also know that the big blind knows that you are a good player that have the ability to lay down a hand like A5. There are a myriad of hands that the big blind could be raising with, they include: any J, any T, JT, Q9, KQ, 98, A3, 33. Many of these hands you can beat, and you do not mind calling his raise and you do. There are now two players and 5 big bets in the pot.
The Turn is a 5
The big blind bets and you call. The 5 should not change anything except the unlikely case that the big blind has T5, 53 or 55, which all seem unlikely compared to the other possible hands. Your call should make it clear that you have a legitimate hand, either made or drawing. There are still two players and 7 big bets in the pot.
The River is a Q
If your opponent was on a straight draw, he has either hit a pair of Queens on the River or caught his straight draw. With straight draws of Q9 and KQ, he now has the top pair. With 98, K9, he has now caught his straight. This Q is a very dangerous card for you. Since the opponent is a good player, you should know that he knows the Q is a dangerous card for him too. If all he had was a J or a T, he would be afraid that the Q filled your straight or made you a higher pair. If your opponent still bets on the River, you have to readjust your previous thoughts that he may have been semi-bluffing and has now likely hit a higher pair than yours or filled a straight, or had you beat to begin with. Even with 8-1 odds, your chances look very dim based on the way this hand has developed. The only hand you can beat now are an unlikely worse Ten still betting into you (you must realize he should be afraid of the Q even more than you if he just had a T) or a stone cold bluff on the River with a hand like A3. You should fold.
Another situation that comes up often, especially in shorthanded games where players will semi-bluff often, is when a Turn or River card comes that is right in the middle of a possible straight draw. For example, with a Flop of J73, a T, 9 or 8 are all very dangerous cards especially if you have a pair of 7s or lower. This is because any straight draw has either made their straight or now has a higher pair than you. You may be comfortable calling down an opponent that you think may be semi-bluffing when you have middle pair, but when one of these danger cards come, it may be time to bail on the hand.
The Poker Mentality
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If you only play poker for FUN, then making the jump to poker for a living may not be for you. Because to be successful, you must be able to play at DULL tables… against BORING players… and sit patiently for hours waiting for the right times to “make moves”.
The best players treat poker like a BUSINESS… not a hobby. It’s a way to make money. Period. Sure… poker pros love the game and respect it, but they aren’t playing for pride. They’re playing to pay the mortgage, car payments, and win more MONEY. Do you ever get TIRED of waiting for good cards? Do you get annoyed by quiet… slowmoving
tables?
If you’re going to win money consistently, you’ve got to be able to play ten hours at a time… at a BREAK EVEN rate… as you patiently wait for the BIG OPPORTUNITITES to rake in large pots. Of course, besides being patient and ignoring that “itch” for excitement, you must also be able to handle LONG HOURS and LATE NIGHTS every day. When you hear “poker professional”, what do you think of? Lots of people think of the guys who win the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour and take in multi-million dollar purses.
But only a SMALL FRACTION of pros win those tournaments. Hell… not all pros even ENTER most tournaments, depending on their preferred game. And most importantly, the WIN RATE of even the best pros is very small. Just because you see someone on TV a lot one season doesn’t mean he always makes the final table for every tournament he’s in. What you DON’T see is all the frustrating losses he’s had to GET to this point. For every final table, there’s five… ten… twenty… maybe FIFTY… “bad” tournaments.
Most of the money that you’ll MAKE as a pro doesn’t come from that BIG tournament win. Instead, it comes from “grinding it out” at the casinos and card rooms. Try playing poker for a 12-hour session… FIVE DAYS IN A ROW. If you find yourself getting too tired, you’re not ready for the pro life. There are lots of players who have a DEEP PASSION and LOVE for poker… but they don’t have the PERSONALITY needed to play full-time. That’s why many of the greatest players just play SEMI-professionally… which may be a viable option for you too.
Texas Holdem No-Limit Final WSOP 1985
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| T.J. Cloutier | vs. | Bill Smith |
  |   |
   | |  |
| The Flop | The Turn | The River |
When Smith and Cloutier got down to playing heads-up, Cloutier had the most chips. Then Cloutier lost a big pot with pocket 9’s against Smith’s pocket K’s and that pot made Smith a big chip leader. Cloutier chipped away at Smith, who was an alcoholic and was drunk at that point which made it easy for Cloutier to get his chips. Cloutier got back to about a quarter of the total amount in chips. According to Cloutier, Smith was the tightest player in the world when sober, maybe the best player in the world when he was half-drunk and a horrible player when drunk. Smith raised the pot with pocket 3’s, Cloutier moved-all in with an A-3 and Smith called. The flop came down 4-5-10, giving Cloutier seven outs to win (any ace or deuce). No help came on the turn or river and Smith won the title.
Poker Hand Ranking
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1. Royal Flush
This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal.
2. Straight Flush
Five cards of the same suit in sequence – such as ♣J-♣10-♣9-♣8-♣7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so ♦5-♥4-♦3-♦2-♦A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The cards cannot “turn the corner”: ♦4-♦3-♦2-♦A-♦K is not valid.
3. Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank – such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as “quads”, and in some parts of Europe it is called a “poker”, though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher – so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. It can’t happen in standard poker, but if in some other game you need to compare two fours of a kind where the sets of four cards are of the same rank, then the one with the higher fifth card is better.
4. Full House
This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank – for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as “sevens full” or more specifically “sevens on tens”). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.
5. Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example ♠K-♠J-♠9-♠3-♠2 beats ♦K-♦J-♦7-♦6-♦5 because the nine beats the seven.
6. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence – for example ♠Q-♦J-♦10-♠9-♣8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.
7. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better. So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q. If you have to compare two threes of a kind where the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.
8. Two Pairs
A pair is two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards – so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.
9. Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better – so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.
10. High Card
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
Bluffing
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A bluff is a bet or raise that if called has very little chance of winning. Bluffing is an important part of Limit Hold’em but it is not nearly as important as most people think. In fact, people who do not play poker very much often think bluffing is the most important concept to the game. This wouldbe a mis-characterization of the game. People probably overestimate the importance of bluffing in poker because bluffing as a strategy is fairly unique to the game of poker. Bluffing cannot be used in many other competitive games. The concept of bluffing does not exist in craps, billiards or chess. Often people will refer to poker when they discuss bluffing in other aspects of life. For example, during the 2004 NFL Draft, Chris Mortensen of ESPN described the discussions of the trade between the New York Giants and the San Diego Chargers for Eli Manning as a game of poker in that they were both trying to bluff and not show their hand.
To use the bluff successfully, one needs to know the right time to use it. In many low limit games, bluffing is often pointless since most players will call with weak hands. In the middle and high limit games, where players are more willing to fold hands, bluffing becomes an effective tool and can be used strategically at times. The value of bluffing will change depending on the players and the situation. For some opponents, they will not care about how you play because they have already predetermined whether they will call or fold based on their own holdings, they have not made the second step of trying to analyze what you have. Against those opponents, your decision to bluff or not should be based solely on what you think they have. Against other opponents who play better and who will try to deduce your cards given the play of the hand up to that point, it becomes a little more difficult. Not only do you need a good handle on the cards that they hold, but you also need to have a good idea of what they think you have.
A bluff does not need to be successful a majority of the time for it to be a worthwhile venture. It only needs to be successful more often than the pot odds provide for it to be a winning strategy. If the pot holds ten big bets, risking one big bet to try to win the pot is worthwhile even if the chance of a bluff being successful is only 15%. In that case, the expected value of a bluff would be
Expected Value of bluffing = (15% x 10 big bets) + (85% x -1 big bet) = +.65 big bets
If your opponent calls 85% of the time, you will be showing down a bluff bet and look foolish during those times. It is the 15% of the time when he folds a better hand than yours that you will take the money and no one else will know what you just did. An activity like bluffing can be quantified, even if much of the time, it is a skill of “feel” or intuition.
Poker Personalities
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Playing poker for a living requires skill… patience… and perhaps most importantly, NERVES OF STEEL! When you work at a “real job”, you get a regular paycheck. Every two weeks or so, a check shows up on your doorstep… like clockwork. Hell, you may even get a BONUS from time to time.
BUT NEVER will your boss call you in his office and say: “You know, your work lately hasn’t been that great… so we’re going to KEEP your paycheck this week, AND we’re going to take $3,000.00 from your bank account…sorry.”
As a professional poker player, you can literally work your ASS OFF all day… only to leave thousands of dollars POORER! There’s no other job like this in the world. It takes an incredibly strong stomach to deal with the intense up’s and down’s… and the different “swings” of luck you’ll encounter. It’s difficult to be able to PREDICT if you’ve got what it takes to handle the emotions of being a pro. The only real way to “know” is to experience it first hand…
To be successful, you’ve got to have an ungodly amount of POISE. Pretty much every successful career player has poise… (despite what it looks like on TV). This means the players are in CONTROL of themselves at almost all times. They don’t get impatient and make silly moves at the table… if they don’t like the way a certain table looks, they WAIT for a new opening. They are LOGICAL about each decision and REMOVE EMOTION from their game.
Let me ask you this simple question:
When is the last time you went on “tilt”?
If you still go on TILT (or within the last 10-15 playing sessions), then you’re NOT ready for a career as a poker pro. Because tilt at the poker table is just a “microcosm” of the “tilt” you’ll feel in LIFE as a poker pro. If three consecutive bad beats sets you off… then just wait for THREE MONTHS of cold cards!