The Poker Lab Rat

Every Hold ‘em strategy guide talks about the importance of positional advantage. The standard thinking is that the player who acts last has more information than his opponents, so he’ll have a better sense of where he stands in a hand and can, therefore, make better decisions. There’s no doubt that this is true, but it’s important to understand that the power that comes with position is often granted to the late-position player by the early-position player.

To see what I mean, consider a pretty typical No-Limit hold ‘em hand. Say that I’m in the big blind with 7s-8s - a nice, flop-worthy hand. The player on the button raises to three times the big blind and I decide to call. Many players would check the flop under almost any circumstances. But, by checking, you give control to the late-position player. He can bet whether or not he has a hand, putting you in a tough spot if you don’t get a piece of the flop.

In a hand like this, I believe it’s best to look at the flop and ask, “Is it likely that these cards helped my opponent?” Once I have an answer to that question, I can decide how to proceed.

If the flop is Ah-Kd-9c, I’d probably just check and fold to a bet, as my opponent was likely raising with big cards and caught a piece of the flop. However, if the flop is 9c-5h-2d, I’d probably be more skeptical. I know that in Hold ‘em, two unpaired hole cards will fail to make a pair on the flop about 66 percent of the time, and this seems to be a flop that the pre-flop raiser might have missed.

If I suspect my opponent didn’t connect, I’m going to take the initiative and bet out about half the size of the pot. Betting here with my gutshot draw offers several advantages. First, I might take the pot down right here, and I’m always happy when a semi-bluff forces a fold. But even if I get a call from my opponent, I’ve forced him to react. That gives me a chance to pick up a read. If my opponent seems uneasy, I might continue with my semi-bluff on the turn and try again to pick up the pot. Or, if I feel my opponent is strong, I can check and fold to any bet on the turn if I fail to make my hand.

Stabbing at pots when out of position can be very lucrative. In tournaments, I’ll open-raise out of position fairly frequently because I think there’s a lot of power in being the first one to fire at the pot on the flop. I pick up a lot of small pots that way.

As you work on your Hold ‘em game, remember that you don’t have to give the advantage in the hand to the player in late position. Look for opportunities to bet out and seize the initiative.

Gus Hansen

Gus plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. US Players are still welcome online at this great Poker Room.
>>Visit Full Tilt via this link for a $600 first deposit bonus.
>>Click to read an independent review on Full Tilt Poker (what’s hot and what’s not) 

Just published!
Two new pages on PokerLabRat.com may be of interest to our UK and US readers.

BEST UK-OWNED POKER ROOMS
PokerLabRat.com gets lots of enquiries from UK based Poker Players wanting a great online poker room that is UK owned and offers safe, fun and potentially profitable gambling. Several of our test team are UK residents including a Londoner, a Geordie and a Scot.

Here’s a link to a new page of fact sheets on the top 4 online casinos that are UK owned and specially cater to British players who wish to run accounts in pounds sterling GBP.

BEST ONLINE POKER ROOMS FOR US RESIDENTS
Our team of poker room testers includes members based in California, Colorado and Hawaii and so we know that US poker players have a different set of challenges in deciding where to play. PokerLabRat.com gets lots of enquiries from US Players concerned about the number of online casinos that no longer accept residents of the USA due to the recent US anti-gambling legislation changes.   

Here’s a link to page of fact sheets on the top 3 online poker rooms that still welcome players from the USA. It may help you make your mind up where to play. It also includes an update on Payments Options for US players.

One of the key skills that winning big-bet players bring to the table is the ability to manipulate the size of the pot. They manage to play big pots when they have big hands, and keep the pot smaller when their holdings are more modest. If you think carefully about your betting throughout a hand, you can set yourself up to play a pot that’s appropriate for the strength of your hand.

For starters, let’s look at a hand that gets a lot of players in trouble - a big pocket pair. Generally, with any one pair, you should be looking to play a medium-sized pot. Of course, you’re happy enough to get all of your money in pre-flop with Aces, but beyond that, you should try to avoid playing huge pots with any one pair. Here’s an example of how you might manage the size of the pot while holding Aces.

Say that you raise pre-flop with pocket Aces and you’re called by the big blind. The flop comes down J-6-3 rainbow, and the blind checks to you. You bet three-quarters of the pot and the big blind calls.

At this point, you can assume your opponent has some kind of hand. Maybe he has a pocket pair or he hit top pair on the flop. The other possibility is that he hit a set on the flop and you’re in very bad shape. Given these likely hands, I think that checking behind your opponent if he checks to you on the turn is the best play. You avoid the possibility of losing a monster if you’re check-raised by a set. And if he does have a pair, you’re not giving away a whole lot of value by giving the free card. He may have two or five outs, which makes him a pretty big dog.

When you check the turn, you do so with the plan of calling a reasonable bet on the river. And if he checks to you on the river, you can put in a small value bet. At that point, your hand would be pretty well disguised, so he is likely to pay you off if he has anything at all.

So in this case, keeping the pot small will get you pretty good value when you’re ahead and help you avoid disaster when you’re behind.

Now let’s look at another type of hand that players commonly misplay - a flopped monster. Say you’re in the small blind in a No-Limit cash game. There are four limpers, including the small blind, and you check your option with A-T. The flop is huge for you - A-A-T. You have what is almost certain to be the best hand at showdown. Many players choose to check in this spot, fearing that a bet a will kill their action. And it very well might - it’s possible that everyone will just fold. But this is a situation where you want to give yourself the chance to win a big pot. You want someone to put in a lot of money on the turn and river while drawing dead, and that will only be possible if you start building a pot on the flop. In this situation, you’ve just got to hope that someone is holding the case Ace or decides to draw to a gutshot. So bet two-thirds of the pot on the flop and hope for the best.

Slow-playing might get you a few chips when you catch someone stabbing. But that would win you a tiny pot, and with this hand, you’re hoping to get a good portion of someone’s stack. You can only do that by betting and building a pot.

In the course of a hand think about what you can do to keep the pot appropriate to the strength of your hand. A timely check or a thoughtful bet can aid you in getting the most out of your hands.
Gavin Smith

Gavin plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. US Players are still welcome online at this great Poker Room.
>>Visit Full Tilt via this link for a $600 first deposit bonus.
>>Click to read an independent review on Full Tilt Poker (what’s hot and what’s not)

Whether you’re a professional gambler, enjoy the challenge of online poker or like to try your luck at casino games you may be one of  the millions of US residents who have just received emails advising you to either withdraw your funds or find alternate payment methods to fund your account.

Payment processors Neteller PLC and British Columbia-based Citadel Commerce Corp. are the latest and largest organisations to pull out of the lucrative but now illegal U.S. online gambling market.

Industry observers are predicting that other e-wallet options will come forward to replace Neteller but as Kishan Nielsen of Red Card Media states “no immediate heir is apparent and it seems unfortunate that Americans will soon end up dealing with the bastard child rather than legitimate and proven providers such as Neteller or FirePay”.

Neteller is said to have processed $7 billion (€5.4 billion) in transactions in 2005 and $5.1 billion (€3.9 billion) in the first half of 2006, mostly from U.S. clients to and from online betting sites. U.S. commentators have suggested that this equates to roughly half of the global market for online wagers but Mr Nielsen is confident that “Asian and European markets are somewhat under represented in any such calculation with gambling an integral and accepted part of many non-American cultures”.

Kishan has been a major advocate for regulation rather than prohibition as the right way forward for the global gambling industry and considers the US stance both arrogant and ignorant of the risks to which it exposes its people.

SO HOW CAN US PLAYERS NOW FUND POKER ROOM OR CASINO ACCOUNTS? 
Unfortunately it is easier to outline the payment methods for most American residents. These include the following:
·Nexum
·Central Coin
·Neteller
·Neteller InstaCash
·Citadel
·Instadebit
·Echeck
·Moneybookers
·FirePay
·PayPal
 

WHAT’S LEFT? 
ePassporte, ATMonline and Click2pay may still be viable e-wallet options for US bettors.

Some online gambling sites are promoting the continued use of credit cards (Visa and MasterCard) but in reality this is getting more difficult as banks move to implement measures to comply with the Act.

Web sites offering to facilitate the establishment of offshore bank accounts for US residents have sprung up along with some less than credible suggestions for ‘token based gambling’. Under the token system you play for prizes rather than money and cash in your prizes at other (unrelated) web sites.

Prepaid Visa Cards or Gift Visa Cards could also potentially provide a solution - or even an interim solution until another web wallet option fills the void left by Neteller (and, like many in the industry, we are confident that it will).

Prepaid cards work just like any bank issued debit or credit card except you do not need a bank account and a credit check is not necessary. You can purchase goods or services with them wherever VISA is accepted. Prepaid cards can be purchased and reloaded locally at bricks and mortar outlets throughout the USA. There is no limit on the amount of times a card can be reloaded.

A couple of wise sayings from the card room: 

Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
(Why was it you entered that $200+$20 re-buy tournament again, and again, and one more time as you “felt lucky?”…? )

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
(Having a baaad day bubble boy? A PokerLabRat team member has just missed the payout in 13 consecutive tournaments)

Experience is the sinking feeling you have made this mistake before.
(ah, yep - What the hell are you s’posed to do with K2 unsuited anyways?)

Never miss a good chance to shut up.
(…and that applies to online poker chat)

Evaluating and rating online Poker Rooms for a living is whole heap of fun (if you’re a poker fan). Credible assessments however also require a rigorous process to ensure consistency and the investment of considerable time-in at the tables.

As online Gambling Site testers we rate poker rooms from a range of player perspectives. To achieve this the PokerLabRat.com team includes US, UK, European and Southern Hemisphere members with a balance between professional gamblers, systems guys and casual players.

A poker room scorecard is completed by each tester for each online poker room tested. This scorecard covers a range of evaluation criteria including totally no-brainer areas like a site’s SECURITY (financial as well as technical), REPUTATION (including a media search for ‘noise’) and MONEY MATTERS (how easy it is for a player to deposit and cash out and any strings attached).

We tested 170 online casinos in our last round of evaluations (December 2006) and publish Poker Room Reviews on the top 12 online poker rooms that pass our test criteria, and that we enjoy to play at ourselves. Poker Rooms on PokerLabrat.com are re-tested quarterly and all test data (pass & fail) is collated into a set of industry benchmark data in support of future evaluations.

We fail or reject a staggering 93% of all poker sites we test.

Despite the wide range of criteria we assess, Competition (The Fish Factor) and/or Bonuses are two criteria that often outweight all other factors for many online poker players when looking for a new poker room.

We are often asked how these 2 areas are scored and of course which poker rooms are best accordingly. I’ll outline our apprach to assessing poker room competition below. More details are available on site.

COMPETITION (The Fish Factor)
This one is tricky as it involves sampling a poker room’s poker play. The best we can assess is a snapshot, but as long as the method is consistently applied we can compare results.

Each of our 12 test team members plays Texas Hold’em for at least 5 hours at each poker room during peak and then off-peak play times over the one month test period. (That’s 10 hours total for each tester per poker room). Tables are chosen at random from the poker room lobby from both low stakes and high. Tournament play is excluded from these tests (we assess this separately).  This is where it gets a tad subjective - each tester’s perception of table competition is scored on a scale of 1-4 (Loose, Medium, Tight, Professional) and overall results are compiled and later compared across all poker sites tested.

Poker.com has topped our ‘Best Fish’ poker ratings for 3 consecutive quarterly assessments (Dec 2006, Sep 2006 and June 2006). Poker.com is an Australian owned and operated purpose built (and ultra stylish) poker room that is licenced in Kahnawake, Canada and they still accept USA residents. 

Canbet Poker has been Poker.com’s runner up for Fish in the last 2 assessments. Canbet is a subsidiary of International All Sports Limited (a publicly traded company and so no longer accepting US residents). Canbet runs on the Ongame Poker Network.

A while back, I played a hand in an Omaha Hi/Lo Limit tournament that had everyone at my table jumping off their chairs. They thought I was crazy and couldn’t believe my play. But I made the right move. In fact, the play illustrates an important Omaha Hi/Lo concept that’s not widely understood.

Here’s how the hand went down.

It was a nine-handed table. The under-the-gun player raised and another early position player three-bet. Two other players called the bet cold. It came around to me in the big blind, where I held 9-K-Q-2. This is usually considered a pretty trashy Omaha-8 hand. But I didn’t fold here; I four-bet. I then flopped the nuts and took down a huge pot. When they saw my hand, the players went crazy. How could I four-bet with that kind of trash?

I could do it because I made some good assumptions based on the way my opponents played their hands. This was a tournament, where most players tend to be pretty cautious. Few will play any hands that don’t contain Aces, and just about everyone is sticking to hands with a lot of low cards.

So when the under-the-gun player raised, I felt pretty confident in assuming that he had an Ace with some other low cards. The same goes for the player who three bet. The two callers must also have had hands that they thought were pretty strong. I could be all but certain that all four aces were dealt to these players, and that they held a lot of the deck’s low cards.

I was also confident that, in this hand, the flop was going to come at the high end of the deck and that I’d have a chance to sweep a huge pot because there would be no qualifying low. And that’s exactly what happened.

This hand shows that in Omaha Hi/Lo, you can often make some good assumptions as to what cards remain in the deck and what the flop is likely to hold. For another example, say that you’re in the big blind and it’s folded to the cutoff, who raises. You see 9-T-J-Q. With all but one player folding, you can be pretty sure that almost everyone else held a number of medium and high cards. So the deck is ripe with low cards, which will probably help your lone opponent’s hand. Your best move is to fold this hand pre-flop and wait for a better spot.

Of course, the better your position, the more information you’ll have. So you shouldn’t even consider playing certain hands in early position. Something like 2-3-4-5 might be playable from the button or the big blind if there hasn’t been a lot of action. The lack of raising would show that the Aces haven’t been distributed and are still in the deck. But in early position, you just don’t know what’s out, so you need to muck the hand. The same goes for hands like T-T-J-Q and T-J-Q-K. There are times when prior action will show you that these hands are worthy of a three-bet or four-bet. But in early position, it’s best to just let these kinds of hands go.

Being able to predict a flop is part of what makes Omaha Hi/Lo so much fun. You really can’t do these sorts of things in Hold ‘em. If you hone these skills, you’re sure to be a tough Omaha Hi/Lo player.

Mike Matusow

Mike plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. US Players are stillwelcome online at this great Poker Room.
>>Visit Full Tilt via this link for a $600 first deposit bonus.
>>Click to read an independent review on Full Tilt Poker (what’s hot and what’s not) 

Ladbrokes International Ltd is preparing a £440 million takeover bid for 888 Holdings according to company sources. As reported in an earlier January article ‘US stance on online gambling fuelling a market for opportunists’, a selective approach to capitalising on company assets was likely. Lawyers for Ladbrokes were said to be working on a strategy that would strip 888’s assets - including customers, website and intellectual property - but would stop short of buying the company as a whole, relieving it of criminal liability in the US.

Previous talks between these online gambling and sportsbook operators stalled over fears stemming from legal action related to US anti-gambling legislation. Bankers and lawyers for Ladbrokes believe the asset stripping strategy will relieve it of any criminal liability in the US faced by 888.com.  The introduction of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act has had little or no impact on Ladbrokes own operations as residents of the United States have been excluded for some time.

Industry commentator, Kishan Nielsen has indicated that many organisations are watching Ladbrokes approach to running the gauntlet with the new US legislation. He stated that “while a number of organisations like Ladbrokes are likely to act as consolidators of less viable gaming and gambling operations, a lack of test cases is a problem. This is hindering the industry’s ability to understand the implications of mergers and acquisitions between online gambling companies who trade or have traded in the US market”.  

FURTHER INFORMATION:

888.com has had a chequered history with both online gamblers and affiliate marketers and currently no sites operated by 888.com are rated or recommended by specialist online gambling site testers, CasinoLabRat.com, PokerLabRat.com and BookieLabRat.com.

Ladbrokes operations however are well regarded. Ladbrokes has a significant UK and European online poker presence (LadbrokesPoker.com) and operates a Microgaming-based online casino (LadbrokesCasino.com) from it’s Gibraltar base. Ladbrokes is also a top UK bookmaker (Ladbrokes.com).

Detailed independent reviews of these Ladbrokes gambling sites can be found via the following links: >>Ladbrokes Bookmaker Review >>Ladbrokes Poker Room Review >>Ladbrokes Casino Review …

Originally a game of aristocrats and noblemen the ancient game of Backgammon has really boomed over the last couple of years on the Internet. Backgammon has a huge European player following and as it is not illegal under the recent US Unlawful Internet Gambling Act, many Amercians also now play online Backgammon.
 

Backgammon is far from a game for old fogies… Backgammon complements online poker really well and is just not comparable to any online casino games. Skillful Backgammon combines mathematical probablilty and psychology - with the fact that (sorry for shouting but I’m trying to get across a point here) YOU CAN WIN GOOD MONEY PLAYING ONLINE BACKGAMMON.

Backgammon is classified as a GAME OF SKILL and NOT GAMBLING despite the fact that you can wager on games and win great cash prizes in the online tournament play. This means the usual constraints imposed on use of Credit Cards do not apply! You can deposit AND cash out winnings to your Visa, Mastercard & Diners Club cards. Players from countries where online gambling is illegal can legally play backgammon online - and for money!

Backgammon is a player-on-player game - even when you’re not in a tournament you can wager for money - with stakes ranging from $5 to $5,000. At the site we play at and recommend highly, Gammon Empire, there are over a million registered Backgammon players so there’s always action available.

The guys at Gammon Empire offer great gameplay with all the ‘poker’ features. Game history & analysis, tournament play, play for free, the ability to watch games in progress plus a backgammon school to take you from novice to master. No other online backgammon site even comes close!

If you like tournament play however Backgammon Sit n Go tournaments range from $5 to $200 buy in and offer some great cash prizes.  Backgammon Satellite tournaments run frequently with the best players gaining entry into the big money tournaments. Regular monthly tournaments play for $15,000 to $35,000 or a cool guaranteed $100,000.

Backgammon FREEROLLS are a good starting point for new players wanting to try tournament play.

Read our review of Gammon Empire - we consider this the best Backgammon Server on the net!

Learn to play Online Backgammon today - the Gammon Empire Backgammon School is available and can take you from novice to master level.  For more information on learning Backgammon visit Gammon Empire HERE.

If you already know your BEAVER from your BLOT what are you waiting for? Click HERE to join Gammon Empire today

Elle

AN ONLINE POKER TIP FROM POKER LEGEND DOYLE BRUNSON OF DOYLES ROOM POKER

There is more than one theory about how to play early in an online tournament. But I believe there’s just no reason to risk getting knocked out in the first round.

I’ll usually take a few stabs at a pot, maybe leveraging a hand or even bluffing, but in either case, I won’t get much money involved. I think this philosophy is especially wise online, because many players move all-in too recklessly. This all-in tactic might sound like an easy road to profit, but in truth, you’re going to be tempted to move all-in yourself with only a small advantage – which is not a good idea. Yes, it can be profitable, but you risk getting busted out with a hand that just didn’t warrant that kind of risk. There’s more profit in letting the loosest players attack each other and reduce the field. Early in a tournament, you can afford to wait for a major advantage before committing a large share of your chips or even all of them.

What usually happens early in an online tournament is that some weak players will double up or even increase their chip stacks by more than that, while many other reckless players get eliminated early. I try to survive and build gradually during the early rounds. If I get a hand to go to war with, I will. But, unless that happens, I’m not just willing to get knocked out early.

The most successful strategy I know is to survive and to build gradually through small pots until the cards give you the opportunity to win big. There’s no rush – in online or in real – world tournaments.

Later in the tournament, the stakes will get so big in comparison to the chips on the table that you’ll have to gamble. You’ll have to take chances sometimes, even be a little reckless and hope for the best. But my advice is not to do that until you must.

TWO CURRENT PROMOTIONS TO TEMPT YOU AT DOYLES ROOM POKER:

1. January’s Single Table Tournament Frenzy:  Cash up for grabs -

Win 3 consecutive STT’s in a row and receive a $20 Bonus.
Win 4 consecutive STT’s in a row and receive a $200 Bonus.
Win 5 consecutive STT’s in a row and receive a $2,000 bonus.
Place 1st or 2nd in 5 consecutive STT’s and receive $100

2. Win a World Poker Showdown Caribbean Poker Cruise - $7,000 Prize Package Guaranteed. The Caribbean Cruise is April 22nd -29th , 2007. The $7,000 prize package consists of $1,000 approx cost of cruise + $6,000 expenses and poker entry fees.

The WPS Caribbean Poker Cruise Rebuy Super Satellite will be held Monday, January 29th at 5:30pm ET (22:30 GMT).

Three ways to enter the Super Satellite:

Buy in directly for $54 + $2.70.
Win a Single Table Tournament, Buy in $6.30 + $0.63.
Win a seat in a daily multi-table tournament at 22:30 GMT; buy-in $3 + $0.15.

>> LINK TO DOYLES ROOM