The Poker Lab Rat

Everyone makes mistakes. The thing is, a good player will learn from them while a bad player will make the same mistake over and over again. And poker players that can exploit these mistakes will win.

Here are some of the most common mistakes that bad players make and my usual methods for exploiting them:

A player doesn’t bluff enough. When these players bet or raise, I usually give them credit for a good hand. When they check, I will usually bet to try and take the pot.

A player overvalues top pair. The “average” winning hand in Hold ‘em is two pair. Yet many players are willing to take tremendous risks with top pair. When I have a hand that can beat a player who overvalues his top pair, I will over-bet the pot and put them into a position to make a big mistake. I go out of my way to play small pocket pairs against these players because I know that if I flop a set, I’m likely to get paid off in a huge way.

A player under-bets the pot. It is incredibly important, especially in No Limit Hold ‘em, to make bets large enough to punish opponents for their draws. When a player under-bets the pot and I have a draw, I take advantage of their mistake by just calling the small bet. When I think I have him beat, I’ll make a raise.

A player calls too much. I will very rarely bluff against a “calling station.” I will, however, make value bets throughout the hand.

A player tightens up under pressure. Most bad players “squeeze” too much in the middle stages of a tournament, or when they’re on the bubble. They tighten up and wait for a huge hand. Against these players, I will play a lot looser, looking to steal a larger share of the blinds and antes.

A player telegraphs the strength of his hand with “tells.” I am always observing these players, whether I am in the hand or not.

Playing perfect poker may be nearly impossible for most players but, by recognizing your own tendencies - and those of your opponents - you’re much more likely to limit your mistakes and capitalize on the weaknesses of others at the table.

This lesson is from Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book of No Limit Hold’em Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Sept 2005.

Phil plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. You can play against Phil and around a dozen other top poker professionals online at Full Tilt Poker. Click through and see if this poker room is right for you!

Feeling outraged?

You should be outraged that the U.S. government is infringing on your personal rights and telling you how to use your hard-earned money. You should be outraged by the fact that a minority of legislators passed the UIGEA, which impacts your ability to play the great game of poker on the Internet. They did this by slipping the language into a completely unrelated port security bill that went to the floor just minutes before Congress took its break for the mid-term elections. The bill passed without any Congressional debate or opportunity for you to object.

Although many legal scholars would argue that online poker should not be affected by the UIGEA, we believe the law’s lack of clarity can only harm the game unless an express exemption is granted under the UIGEA. You should be outraged that, in a rush to passage, poker did not receive the objective review it deserves, and did not already get this express exemption while lotteries, horse racing, and fantasy sports were all given free passes. We demand that Congress address this grievous oversight now.

Poker Players Alliance Goals

The PPA’s primary goal for 2007 is to get an express exemption for online poker from the UIGEA and we want to ensure that the PPA’s message is heard loud and clear by Capitol Hill.

By mobilizing 1 million online poker players to join the PPA they will listen, because a million voices can’t be ignored!

Sign up for any PPA membership before Monday, March 5th and we’ll enter you in a PPA Freeroll tournament where you can win one of 18 personalized Full Tilt Poker jerseys like the ones our pros wear. Step up and make a donation to the PPA before Monday, March 5th and you’ll be eligible for a cash bonus of up to $1,000.

If you’re already a PPA member, you can earn your special, one-time only bonus by upgrading to a higher membership level by Monday, March 5th.

To join now and receive your bonus, visit Full Tilt Poker now!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“All of a sudden, I don’t like my hand - so much.”

I’m at Foxwoods playing the $2,000 No Limit Hold ‘em event. We all started with $3,000 and now I’ve got $15,000. At my table is Richard Tatalovitch, a player whom I’ve competed against many times.

I raise pre-flop from middle position with K-J offsuit and Richard calls from the big blind. The flop comes 9-6-4 with two diamonds on the board.

Richard hesitates for a moment before checking, and I put in a pot-sized bet. Richard thinks for a while and calls. All of a sudden, I don’t like my hand — so much.

Imagine my relief when a non-diamond J hits the turn. Now I have top pair and a pretty good kicker. Then Richard comes out betting. Uh-oh.

Now, let me back up a moment and mention that when someone hesitates before checking, it’s usually a huge tell. But Richard is the king of delayed action, so I ignored his tell and bet the flop anyway. And his bet on the turn just screams, “Raise me! I dare you!”

I go into the tank and my thoughts go something like this:

1. He flopped a set. That explains the smooth call on the flop - he’s trying to trap me into staying, hoping I’ll bet the turn, too.

2. No. If he had a set, he’d have checked the turn and waited for me to hang myself right then and there, or let me catch something on the river. He can’t have a set.

3. The jack helped him. I don’t have the jack of diamonds. Maybe he does, and he called the flop with a jack-high flush draw. If so, I like my kicker and my hand.

4. He’s betting on the come with a flush or straight draw and is hoping to buy the pot right there.

I run through these possibilities and reach no conclusion.

Normally, I would just call here. We both have a lot of chips, and I don’t want to put them all in with nothing but top pair. Then, I have the misfortune to remember a hand from a month earlier at Bellagio:

Richard had been running bad and was complaining about a string of horrific beats. I saw him check and call with top boat because he was afraid of quads! A guy that afraid of monsters under the bed isn’t going to check-call top set on the flop with a flush draw out there.

“All in!” I declared.

Oops. This is now a Big Pot. And rest assured, top pair doesn’t even resemble a Big Hand.

In the four years I’ve been playing with him, I’ve never seen him call so fast. I am drawing dead to his perfectly-played 9-9.

Sometimes, we all forget that big cards don’t always equal a big hand and that the smart move can be to play conservatively instead of going for the quick kill. As for Richard - he had the good sense to be in a Big Pot with a Big Hand, and the patience to make it pay off.

John Juanda

John Juanda plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker and in my view is one of the better pros on the professional poker circuit today.

US Players are still welcome at Full Tilt Poker and you can even buy cool (if a little loud) poker gear online with your poker action points. Top gifts or just to keep and wear to add to your bluff at the local card room!

Yesterday I talked about not adjusting for tournament play, answered three specific tournament questions, and stressed that there is little difference between tournament strategy and ring game strategy. Today, I would like to expand on that by answering a fourth question, and address the two situations where it’s right to deviate from simply playing your best game.

The fourth question: Surely the different payout structure between ring games and tournaments means something, doesn’t it?

Yes, tournaments differ from live action in that you are rewarded for how long you last, rather than for how many chips you accumulate.

In ring game poker, the chips you save by folding are just as valuable as the chips you win by playing. In tournament play, the chips you save are actually more valuable.

Consider a typical $1,000 buy-in tournament with 100 players, where first place is worth $40,000 out of a total prize pool of $100,000.

At the beginning of the tournament everyone has 1,000 in chips with a value of $1,000. The eventual winner will have 100,000 in chips and, in live action, would be entitled to a prize of $100,000. In a tournament, that same $100,000 is worth only $40,000, meaning that, at the end, each 1,000 in chips is only worth $400. As your stack grows, the value of each additional chip decreases, which means you want to be slightly more averse to taking unnecessary risks in tournaments than you might be in live action. (And if you are at all averse to taking risks in live action, you’re probably playing over your bankroll.) Don’t overcompensate for tournament play. Most people would be better off making no changes at all, rather than the changes that they do make.

Having said all this, there are two cases where adjusting will help:

1. When you are just out of the money.

If you are short stacked, you need to be very careful when committing your chips, especially with a call.

If you have a large stack, look for opportunities to push the short and medium stacks around - especially the medium stacks. These players will be a lot less likely to want a confrontation with you, and it should be open season on their blinds and antes.

If you have a medium or small stack, you need to be a bit more careful. Remember, though, that the other players - even the larger stacks - don’t want to tangle with you. They just want to steal from you without a fight. Be prepared to push them around a little, and even to push back occasionally when they try to bully you. This often turns into a game of Chicken between the bigger stacks to determine which large stack will let the other steal most of the blinds.

2. At the final table.

Very little adjustment is necessary until you are one player away from the final table. Here, again, you should tighten up slightly because this is the next point where the payout structure handsomely rewards outlasting other players.

Look for opportunities to push around the other players, and the smaller stacks in particular. This is good advice throughout the final table.

What about heads up?

There are no more tournament adjustments necessary. You are essentially playing a winner take all freeze-out for the difference between first and second place.

Remember: Tournament adjustments should be subtle. It is rare that your play would be dramatically different in a tournament. When in doubt, just play your best game. And if you never adjust from that, you’ve got a great shot of winning, no matter what game you’re playing.

Chris Ferguson

Chris plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. You can play Chris and lots of other top poker professionals at this top online poker room. Full Tilt is one of the few safe, secure sites still accepting US players.

People often ask very specific questions about how to be a winning tournament player:

• How many chips am I supposed to have after the first two levels?
• Should I play a lot of hands early while the blinds are small, then tighten up later as the blinds increase?
• I seem to always finish on the bubble. Should I tighten up more as I get close to the money, or try to accumulate more chips early on?

Surprisingly, all three questions have the same answer:

Stop trying to force things to happen. Just concentrate on playing solid poker, and let the chips fall where they may.

In fact, that’s the best answer for almost any specific tournament question. Here is a more useful question:

How much of a difference is there between ring game strategy and tournament strategy?

The answer: Not as much as you think.

Before you worry about adjusting for tournaments, concentrate on adjusting for the other players. The most important skill in poker is the ability to react to a wide range of opponents playing a wide range of styles. Players who can do this will thrive in both ring games and tournaments alike.

Many of the most costly tournament mistakes are the result of players over-adjusting for tournament play. Let’s look at these questions again:

How many chips am I supposed to have after the first two levels?

The short answer is: As many as you can get.

Play your cards. Play your opponents. Do not try to force action simply because you think you “need” to have a certain number of chips to have a chance of winning. You should be thinking about accumulating more chips, while trying to conserve the chips you already have. The more chips you have, the better your chances of winning. The fewer chips you have, the worse your chances.

Forget about reaching some magical number. There is no amount below which you have no shot, nor is there any amount above which you can be guaranteed a victory. A chip and a chair is enough to win, and enough to beat you. Getting fixated on a specific number is a good way to ensure failure. Next question:

Should I play a lot of hands early while the blinds are small, and then tighten up later as the blinds increase?

Your play shouldn’t change much as the tournament progresses. Gear your play to take maximum advantage of your opponents, irrespective of how far along the tournament is. Most players are too loose in the early stages of a tournament. Rather than become one of these players, adjust for their play instead:

Attempt to steal the blinds less often
Call more raises
Re-raise more frequently
Likewise, when opponents typically tighten up later on, you should steal more often and be less inclined to get involved in opened pots. Again, this should be a reaction to the way your opponents are playing, not an action based on any particular stage of the tournament.

Last question: I seem to always finish on the bubble. Should I tighten up more as I get close to the money to avoid this, or try to accumulate more chips early on?

Usually the people asking this question are already tightening up too soon before reaching the money. In other words, they are over-adjusting to tournament play. Not only is it incorrect to tighten up considerably before you are two or three players from the money, doing so is the surest way to finish on or near the bubble. Just play your best, most aggressive game, and try not to let your stack dwindle to a point where you can’t protect your hand with a pre-flop all-in raise. If you do, your opponents will be getting the right pot odds to call, even with weak hands. Look for opportunities to make a move before you let this happen, even if it means raising with less than desirable holdings.

In tomorrow’s blog item, I will address the two situations where adjusting your game will help.

Chris Ferguson

You can play Chris Ferguson online at Full Tilt Poker. If you haven’t visited them for a while check out our most recent poker room review - they have made some changes and now get over 35,000 player online at peak times so there are heaps of tables to choose from!

No, Sunglasses and Headphones Aren’t For Me!

I know this is being written for an online poker site, but I hope that most of you still find time to play live poker. As much as I love online poker, I would never completely give up sitting at a table and getting the chance to size up an opponent. This week’s lesson will examine why I think it is a mistake to wear headphones or sunglasses during live play.

Poker is a game of information. You give information to your opponents, and they give information to you. Most of that information is in the form of betting patterns, which is why online poker is such a great form of the game. All of the betting information is right there for you to use while playing a hand. But when you play live, there is a small amount of additional information that is given off through physical tells and audio cues. I am a very visual player, and am blessed with good eyesight. I wear contacts, and with them, my vision is 20/15. I constantly use my eyes to take in every nuance of what’s going on around me at the table. If I wore sunglasses, much of that information would be lost to me. I am confident that the information I take in with my eyes far exceeds what I give away.

If you currently employ sunglasses when you play, I would encourage you to try playing without them. Yeah, you look cool in them. Maybe. But, if you try playing without them while staying committed to taking in as much visual information as possible, you might find that not only are you doing better, the game is suddenly more interesting as well.

I reserve special scorn for the rampant use of headphones in poker tournaments. They slow down the action and, on the whole, I believe they hurt the people who use them. When a player throws a single, large chip into the pot, he usually announces ‘raise’ or ‘call’. But all the guys at the table wearing headphones can’t hear the call. Invariably, they have to take off their headphones and ask the dealer what the bet is. It is annoying when the action comes to a grinding halt to clarify something that anyone without headphones already knows. Also, poker is a social game. It would make me sad if poker someday becomes a game where nine people are sitting at a table listening to music, and no one is talking to one another.

Also, there are some valuable things you can pick up on simply by paying attention to the conversation around the table. You can sometimes tell when someone is over his head just by listening to him talk. In a recent tournament, I won a very large pot as we were nearing the last few tables because I heard someone speaking a few minutes earlier.

It was the Bellagio $15K WPT poker tournament. The blinds were $4K-$8K and I was in the big blind. A player who’d been playing very tight so far opened the pot from an early position for $25K. The small blind called and I looked down at 9-9. I often re-raise with this hand, but this seemed like a good time to just call. The flop was 8s 5s 3c. The small blind checked and, with about $275K in front of me and $100K in the pot, I continued playing cautiously and checked. The opener checked, too. The turn was (8s 5s 3c) 6c and the small blind checked. I felt like I must have the best hand, so I bet $50K. I was very surprised when the original opener raised all-in for a total of $175K. The small blind folded and now I had a big $125K decision to make. If I call and win, I have $550K and am in great shape. If I call and lose I’m in real trouble.

I didn’t think he had a big hand, but it didn’t seem like a very good bluffing situation either. The board looked really dangerous. Plus, I hadn’t seen this player get out of line at all. But then I remembered a comment he had made to his neighbor about ten minutes earlier. He had hardly played a hand for about an hour, and said to the guy next him that his cards had been so bad, it would have been just as well if he had stayed in his room after the last break. Remembering that comment, I felt there was a good chance that he was frustrated. With that factored in, I made the call. He turned over the Kd-Qd, and with a 2 on the river, I won a key hand that put me in great shape in a big tournament. If I had been listening to music, I don’t think I could have made the call.

Poker is a game of information. Sunglasses might keep some information from getting out, but they stop more from coming in. Headphones simply give you fewer opportunities to gain valuable information about other players. These are handicaps I am not willing to spot my opponents.
Howard Lederer

You can play Howard Lederer and other great poker pros online at Full Tilt Poker. It is amazing how much you can learn by just interacting with these guys… worth the effort!

 More poker insight from Howard Lederer

“If he bets on the turn and you raise, you’re signaling that the turn card helped you.”

 You’ve probably heard the standard reason to avoid slow playing: It’s dangerous, because when you slow play, you give an opponent a chance to make a bigger hand at a minimal cost. This is absolutely true.

But there’s another reason to play your big hands fast, and this one isn’t talked about as frequently.

A slow play can give an opponent a chance to get away from a hand more cheaply than he would have had you played it fast from the start. Consider the following example.

You’re in late position in a No-Limit Hold ‘em ring game. A player raises in early position. You look at your cards, see pocket 8s, and decide to call. The flop is absolutely perfect: Qh 8h 2d. You’ve hit your set and, with the Queen out there, chances are your opponent has something – maybe A-Q, maybe pocket Kings or Aces. He bets the flop.

Many players will just call in this spot, hoping to get their opponent to bet on the turn. But a raise is usually the better play. If you just call, you risk seeing a heart on the turn.

I don’t think you need to be especially worried about the flush beating your set. You might get your set beat by a flush draw even if you raise. However, you do need to be concerned about the effect the third heart will have on your opponent. He very well might suspect that you were on the flush draw and he’d no longer be willing to commit a lot of money to the hand, even if he has Aces.

In fact, any King, Jack, 10, 9 or a card that pairs the board is likely to give your opponent pause. If he bets on the turn and you raise, you’re signaling that the turn card helped you. In effect, you’re saying that you liked the flop enough to call and the turn improved your hand in some way. You’re announcing that you can beat one pair.

So the flop very well may be the only time when your opponent is willing to make a stand with a single pair. If he bets the flop of Qh 8h 2d and you raise, he’s likely to think that you’re semi-bluffing — raising on a flush draw. At that point, he might feel compelled to protect his hand with large re-raise or perhaps an all in. When this happens, you’ll take down a monster pot.

It’s OK when a flop raise doesn’t get you the result you want. You might scare off someone holding pocket Jacks or Ace-King, but you wouldn’t make a lot of money off these hands anyway. And, if you’re up against Ah-Jh, you may lose a big pot to a flush. But that’s OK, because you’ll have gotten your money in with the best hand.

Of course, there are some occasions where slow playing is the best choice. If you flop quads or something like Queens full, you’ll want to give an opponent a chance to make some kind of hand on the turn or river. But frequently, the best option is to play fast on the flop. It may be your only chance to win a big pot with a big hand.

>>You can play Howard Lederer online at Full Tilt Poker.

When you’re emotionally upset, you just can’t play poker the right way, the profitable way. I used to back players I believed in. One was a kid named Craig who impressed me with his discipline. I mean, he was just unshakable, never getting out of line. He would siphon off the money from the table so methodically that it became a fearsome thing to watch.

But nothing will derail your poker train as fast as problems at home. Business problems, romance problems, it’s all the same. And all that stuff needs to be packed away and left at home. At times when a man’s heart is heavy or he has too much on his mind, there’s a danger that his bankroll will die. Craig’s died. Suddenly.

We used to call him “Super Rock.” Now, in poker terminology, a rock is a name for a player who plays very conservatively, reluctant to risk his money on anything other than big hands. Well, if you looked in the dictionary under “rock,” you’d probably find Craig’s picture. He was simply one of the most solid, sensible players who’ve ever played the game. You had to admire him.   .

Self-destruction
I believed in him so much that I sometimes took pieces of his action when he played in big games. Not tonight, fortunately. This was about to become the worst case of self-destruction I’d ever seen. You see, Craig was also a ladies’ man. So, there he sat in at big-limit seven-stud table, playing his usual fine game. He was totally in control, a picture of decorum and concentration.

Then storms in this young woman, eyes fiery, clearly in a rage. She hurls her key’s right into his pot, interrupting his raise, yelling, “Keep these! I don’t want them anymore!” She also called him a few choice names.

At first, Craig seemed to act as if it didn’t matter. He kept his cool. But the anger must have been smoldering within him, because pretty soon he started to play poorly, erratically. In a display of something I’d never suspected was part of his personality, he’d throw cards, curse, lose his concentration. His hand selection deteriorated so badly that he became a “live one.” And every time he lost a pot, he’d say, “Stupid broad!” He lost the money in front of him. Bought more. Again. Again.

So silly
I’d watched Craig accumulate his bankroll over a year of hard work playing poker. And I watched him lose it all in five hours. Just as he was leaving the table, broke and miserable, his girlfriend returned. She looked cool, composed, and loving. “This is so silly,” she told him. And she apologized and hugged him adoringly.

Craig rose from the table, beaten and trembling. She wanted to know how he’d fared, and I still remember how peculiar his words sounded. “I lost a little,” he said.  “You shouldn’t play when you’re upset,” she admonished him. Watching them walk away together, I had the dark feeling that I’d never see Craig again. And I didn’t.

But it’s the memory of that sad scene that punctuates my advice to poker players today. It’s pretty much the same advice that Craig’s girlfriend gave: “Don’t play poker when you’re upset.”

– DB

You can play Doyle (”TexasDolly”) and some of the best poker professionals around online at Doyles Room. This poker site is safe and secure - and still accepting US players from most States. A growing number of UK and European players have found this friendly and “old school” poker room suits their style of play.

>>Compare Doyles Room with the other 2 top poker sites still welcoming US players. 

Million dollar payout to Leaderboard winner!! 

I’ve always considered online poker room leaderboards a waste of web space - right up until I started climbing the ranks on a couple of them.

It’s taken a while, but now I check how I’m going daily - and I’ve got to confess that I go out of my way to play enough poker to at least retain my ranking! It’s a good challenge and it definately adds some discipline (goals?) to my otherwise eclectic poker play.

Most poker room leaderboards are just about the brag factor. A couple of them factor in some exclusive freerolls with fairly juicy prizes as monthly incentives but the stand-out card room leaderboard belongs to bet365poker.

These guys have really got it right. This top Microgaming Prima Poker site offers weekly, monthly and annual prizes across both Cash Game Leaderboards and a Tournaments Leaderboard.

You can even get sponsored by bet365 to play in all WPT and EPT events during 2008 that bet365poker host satellites to (ie heaps)!  In addition they’ll send you to take part in a WSOP Boot Camp just to improve your chances of representing them well (and lining your own pocket of course). It’s not just Leaderboard winners they fuss over either. All 2nd to 10th place finishers win a seat to an online final leading directly to an EPT or WPT event.

bet365 have just paid out $1,000,000 to the winner of their inaugural Leaderboard Challenge (a guy called Captain Canary, who is no doubt feeling fairly golden and chirpy about now!)

16 players battled it out at bet365poker for the winner-takes-all $1,000,000 pot on offer. After close to 4 hours of play, Stephen Widdett of Norwich, Norfolk, playing under the alias “CaptnCanary” eventually saw off all the competition from around the world to win.

Stephen qualified as the annual winner of $2.50 - $4.99 league and has been ‘Mr Consistent’ on his favoured NL game on $2/$4 tables as he had also won the monthly league for November and had already had numerous wins on the weekly Leaderboard. Now a professional player, he has been an active bet365poker player since January 2005.

Your turn next year? I’m certainly going to have a dig at it!

>>Visit Bet365 here (sorry, no US residents)
>>Read a comprehensive review of bet365poker here
>>Compare bet365poker to the other 3 top UK/Euro poker rooms here  

Adopting a few of Mr Gordon’s tips should give your poker play the Phil good factor… 

If you’re ever going to make it into the top ranks of poker players (even if it’s just top of your online poker room’s leaderboard or to be ‘the man’ at your local card room) you can’t stop striving to improve your play. This guy’s good…

The golden pre-flop rules according to Phil Gordon are:

• Play selectively aggressive
• Play from position – avoid being forced to play catch-up
• Avoid domination – if you are raised, don’t play second-best, bit the bullet and fold
• Play from Blinds only with good hands- you will always be out of position
• Don’t look at your hand until you’ve observed your opponents
• Keep your courage – if half or more of the stack is committed, go right in if you are called.

The Most important Decision
Do I play these two cards? It’s by far the most important decision in every hand.

Don’t look at your cards…
…until it’s time to bet. Two reasons: if you don’t know what they are you can’t give smart opponents who are studying you any information about them. Anyway, you should be looking at them looking at their cards, not wasting time looking at yours.

Limping is for losers
If a hand is good enough to play with, it’s good enough to raise with. I always raise (for the same amount) or fold. Except in the big blind, if you don’t flop a good hand, muck it. Don’t mess about, hoping it will come good. The percentages are way against you. Just pretend to yourself that limping isn’t allowed by the rules of poker – mentally commit yourself to raise or fold. Bet three times the pot and if you find that too many players are calling, increase the pain by upping your bet. And if others limp round you, punish them with a raise with whatever you have. Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu limp sometimes, but their post-flop play is so good that they make up for it. It’s doubtful yours will be.

The advantages of raising
These are:

• It pushes your opponents out of their comfort zone
• It limits the competition, as most will have to fold before they can make a hand
• You take control in the expectation of winning
• You make your opponents define their hands
• You can often steal the blinds – it’s easy to do as they can’t tell if you have A-A or 7-2 If you can manage to steal the blinds five times in every three orbits you will finish at the final table.
• Always raising the same amount conceals your strength.

Don’t Wait for Monster Hands
A-A comes, on average, once every five hours of play. A-A, K-K and A-K come only 2.1% of the time.

The ideal game
Just one opponent with you in control and in position. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t always achieve this.

Do you always play good hands?
Not always with A-10, K-J, K-Q or A-J. If there’s a raise in front of me and I suspect it could possibly be A-K, I’ll fold with any of them. K-Q is particularly vulnerable: an Ace coming on the flop is a death-knoll if your opponents put money in. Nor is your cards being suited as big a deal as a lot of players think, particularly in no-limit hold’em. X-x suited is rarely worth playing – ask yourself what your hand will look like if the flop doesn’t hit your suit, as it probably won’t. A flush flop is only a 6.4% chance, and if you are out of position, never play dominated hands, hoping for a miracle turn or river.

Short-stacked Play
You simply have to move all-in as soon as you can. Moving all-in is far better than calling all-in. It puts the pressure off you and on to your opponents. And when you’re pot committed, go all-in, even if you suspect you are behind.

Phil’s Final Word
After the flop, apply the ‘4 and 2 Rule’. Count your outs – the cards that will give you a winning hand – multiply that figure by four to get your percentage of winning on the turn or river, and by two of the turn hasn’t helped.