The Poker Lab Rat

“You really can’t do these sorts of things in Hold ‘em.” [ah, right then…so that’s where I was going wrong ]

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 is a member of Team Full Tilt and plays exclusively online at FullTiltPoker.com. Join him at a table sometime. Mike is nicknamed “The Mouth” [so may be more fun to play online!] He’s won 2 WSOP Bracelets and was the first player to collect 2 separate million-dollar cashes in 1 year.

“Knowing the approximate likelihood of making your hand is a good beginning step on the road to better poker.”

It is very difficult to calculate the exact odds of hitting a drawing hand when you’re sitting at the poker table. Unless you’re a genius with a gift for mathematics like Chris Ferguson, you will not be able to do it.

That leaves two options for the rest of us:

The first option is to sit at home with a calculator, figure out the odds for every possible combination of draws, and then memorize them. That way, no matter what situation comes up, you always know the odds. But for those of us without a perfect memory, there’s an easier way. Here is a simple trick for estimating those odds.

The first thing you need to do is to figure out how many “outs” you have. An “out” is any card that gives you a made hand. To do this, simply count the number of cards available that give the hand you are drawing to. For example: suppose you hold Ac 8c and the flop comes Qh 9c 4c. You have a flush draw. There are thirteen clubs in the deck and you are looking at four of them — the two in your hand, and the two on the board. That leaves nine clubs left in the deck, and two chances to hit one.

The trick to figuring out the approximate percentage chance of hitting the flush is to multiply your outs times the number of chances to hit it. In this case that would be nine outs multiplied by two chances, or eighteen. Then take that number, multiply times two, and add a percentage sign. The approximate percentage of the time you will make the flush is 36%. (The exact percentage is 34.97%.) Now let’s say that on that same flop you hold the Jd Th. In this case you would have an open ended straight draw with eight outs to hit the straight (four kings and four eights). Eight outs with two cards to come gives you sixteen outs. Multiply times two and you will hit the straight approximately 32% (31.46% exactly) of the time.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the percentage stated is merely the percentage of the time that you will hit the hand you are drawing to, NOT the percentage of time that you will win the pot. You may hit your hand and still lose. In the first example, the Qc will pair the board and may give somearticle a full house. In the second example both the Kc and the 8c will put a possible flush on the board, giving you the straight, but not necessarily the winning hand. Still, knowing the approximate likelihood of making your hand is a good beginning step on the road to better poker.

Clonie Gowen plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

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!

 ”Playing the other games will develop skills that will simply make you a better poker player.”

The recent poker explosion on TV and the Internet has created a flood of new players who are serious about developing their game. Sadly for them, television is sending a skewed message. No-Limit Hold ‘em is the game of choice when the game is shown on TV, and it’s easy to think there is only one game out there. While no one would argue that No-Limit makes for the most exciting television, there are many dangers associated with playing only one game.

First, you run the risk of getting bored, and boredom will lead to a stunting of your poker development. Enthusiasm is a critical ingredient for a successful poker career. When I spend time around the best poker players in the world, the one thing that they all share is a genuine love and passion for the game.

Next, you might be missing your true poker calling. As it happens, my best game isn’t No-Limit Hold ‘em - it’s Limit Hold ‘em. Had I not tried playing limit, I would never have found the game I am best at.

There are reasons why all the biggest casinos in the world feature multiple games!

Stop by the big game at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and you’re liable to see No-Limit and Limit, with games ranging from Seven-Card Stud to Deuce-to-Seven Draw. The best players in the world simply love to play poker. To deny themselves the pleasure of playing some of the best forms of the game would be unthinkable. They also know that if they play just one game, the specialists in a particular game (who are not nearly as good overall poker players) would be able to sit at their game and win. If you want to climb to the top of the poker world, you better become a great poker generalist. If you insist on limiting yourself to one game, you’ll never make it.

Even if your ultimate goal is to become an accomplished No-Limit Hold ‘em player, I encourage you to at least play a lot of Limit Hold ‘em. Too many No-Limit specialists get by with almost no post-flop skills. To get good at limit Hold ‘em, you will be forced get more comfortable playing after the flop. Getting free cards on fourth street and making close value bets on fifth street are just two of the skills you’ll be working on. And those skills are transferable. Developing these skills in limit Hold ‘em will allow you to play your hands with all your options available. And your No-Limit results will improve dramatically.

Playing the other games will develop skills that will simply make you a better poker player. Skills that have subtle value in No-Limit Hold ‘em are very important in the other games. Acquiring these skills will have profound effects on your No-Limit game, even though you might not even be aware of their importance now.

Playing Seven-Card Stud will definitely teach you the value of free cards. It is a fundamental skill necessary to succeed at the game. In Pot-Limit Omaha you will learn the power of position and the power of the semi-bluff. Seven-Card Stud 8/Better is a game where you need to learn how to narrow the field at the right time. The number of players in a pot can make a hand go from a fold to a raise. Razz? Well, if nothing else, it will teach you how important patience can be when things aren’t going well.

The world of poker has a lot more to offer than No-Limit Hold ‘em. And if you start to explore that world, I am confident you will enjoy the game more. Getting good at each game will take time, so start out small and read what you can. Have fun; a new world awaits.

Howard Lederer

This tip by Howard Lederer is brought to you by FullTiltPoker.com - a top rated online poker room offering great play for players of all nationalitties - US players are still welcomed.

For another highly rated online poker room with a good range of different poker games on offer - and a more friendly environment for learners - including US players, we suggest you try Poker.com. The software at this Australian-owned, Kahnawake licensed poker site is in our view one of the best on the net. UK-friendly AND beginner-friendly with really free Freerolls every 2-3 hours 24×7. 

Poker Leaderboards are a great way to set yourself targets, monitor your improvement - and to learn which players to watch for.

Here’s a different take on prizes for leaderboard players that pays out at 3 levels acknowledging that great poker players don’t all play at the higher stakes tables.

Perhaps better known for it’s online Casino, UK-owned 32Red is also a member of the popular Microgaming Poker Network (32RedPoker.com).  The name 32Red derives from the popular spot on a roulette table, but in the poker room they also offer some of the best cash game poker on the net.

The most profitable cash game players each month are called “The Wiseguys” and share a $6000 prize pool. Player profit from cash games (normal table games rather than Single or Multi Table tournament play) ONLY counts towards the Wise Guys competition.

The 3 different play levels that you can compete at are:

Wise Guys Gold…Prize Pool: $3,000
Leaderboard: On profit from tables with small blind of $8 and above

Wise Guys Silver…Prize Pool: $2,000
Leaderboard: On profit from tables with small blind between $2 - $5

Wise Guys Bronze…Prize Pool: $1,000
Leaderboard: On profit from tables with small blind between $0.05 - $1.50

Often poker room hype is all about tournaments and satellites leading into bigger tournaments… cash games are the bread and butter of professional poker play - they’re all about incrementally increasing your overall poker bankroll.

There are other giveaways at 32RedPoker including “The Honey Pot” - it’s like a rake back scheme that shares $20,000 each month between all players who have collected 500 or more Raked Hands from cash games with $0.50 blinds and above.

You get a percentage of the $20K credited to your poker account based on the total number of qualifying players’ hands during the month. e.g. if you have collected 1000 Raked Hands in the month and the total Raked Hands for all qualifying players is 10,000 - you will receive 1/10th of the The Honey Pot, i.e. $2000.

Have a look at 32RedPoker - they’re an easy-to-play, safe and reputable online poker room and come highly recommended for Cash games.

 ”Wouldn’t Casey have been more than happy to raise with his A-A, knowing the older guy would reraise him?”

Last blog posting I offered an example of a hand where asking the right question - “Why’d you bet so much?” - netted me a sizeable pot.

This posting I’ll show how a very different question at the same tournament proved equally effective.

Case Two:

Today, I start my table as the chip leader with more than double the average stack. This is a tougher table, with Annie Duke, Bill Gazes, Casey Kastle, and Lee Salem.

An older gentleman at the table is raising and reraising a lot of pots, and generally, playing wildly. Like the Cowboy from a day earlier, he is definitely today’s mark. He’s got Casey, who’s stuck on his right, especially frustrated. The three times Casey brings it in for a raise, the old man reraises, and Casey throws his hand away. This hand, Casey limps in for $1,200. Annie, Lee, and another player all call.

I’m pretty sure I have the best hand with A-T, and raise it $5K. I expect to win the pot right there, and am rather unhappy when Casey quickly says “All in” for a total bet of $25K. It’s folded back to me, and I am now faced with a decision for half my chips.

Here, Casey is representing that he limped in with A-A hoping for a raise behind him so he could reraise all-in. This is a typical slow play in our game. But his play here doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t Casey have been more than happy to raise with his A-A, knowing the older gentleman would reraise him? I look at Casey hoping to get a read, but he is frozen like a kid playing statue.

I need more information, so I try to get Casey to acknowledge that I’m still in the hand, or at the very least, that he’s still alive. I ask if he limped with aces and I still get no reaction. I then say, “Can you beat queen high?” He finally looks up, smirks, and says, “Yeah, I can beat queen high.”

Now, some people in poker like to lie about their hands. Here, it felt like Casey was happy to be able to tell the truth in response to what is, admittedly, a pretty silly question. After all, if I can’t beat queen high, why am I even thinking of calling?

Now I feel certain that Casey is holding K-T, K-J, or K-Q suited. I have him. “I’m not buying it,” I say as I push in my chips. “Good call,” he says and turns over K-T of diamonds. I proudly showed my A-T and it holds up, winning me the $50K pot.

Sometimes a simple question can return a very profitable answer. Remember though, information flows two ways at the tables, so be sure that you’re getting more information than you’re giving.

Erick Lindgren is a member of ‘Team Full Tilt’ and plays his online poker exclusively a FulltTiltPoker.com. Join him - and other top pros - at a table soon!

>>Read Part I of this professional poker tip from Erick Lindgren
>>Visit the pro tips archive on PokerLabRat.com for around 100 tips on improving your poker play.

“I want him to view me as a young hot-shot, with the hopes that he’ll bully me later when I have the goods.”

All Talk and No Action,  A Two-Part Lesson from Erick Lindgren

You can learn a lot by listening. You can learn almost as much by talking, if you ask the right questions.

The following occurred at a tournament at Bellagio in 2004.

I draw a very good first table and recognize only two faces. They are solid pros, neither of whom is very aggressive. I know I can take control of the table and quickly look around to find the best targets. I notice an older gentleman in a cowboy hat who’s involved in too many pots and decide he’s my mark. My plan is to bluff him at first opportunity and do anything I can to get under his skin. I want him to view me as a young hot-shot, with the hopes that he’ll bully me later when I have the goods.

I chop away at some small pots and my $20K starting stack is now $43K when Cowboy and I finally get to lock horns. I’ve been raising a lot of hands and splashing my chips around a bit. In this case, the blinds are $200-$400, and I bring it in for $1,200 with pocket jacks. I get three callers, including Cowboy, in the big blind. The flop comes 7h 4c 4h and the small blind checks. It’s Cowboy’s turn, and he pushes all in. He looks proud, firing his $37K into a $5K pot.

I’m completely befuddled. What’s going on? I can’t make any sense of it. There’s a player to act behind me, but he’s only got $3K - he isn’t going to matter at all in this hand. My best bet here is to get Cowboy to talk. “Why’d you bet so much?” I ask. He tells me to call and find out.

I make a list of his possible hands: A-x hearts for the nut flush draw. Pocket eights, maybe. Or a random berzerko bet with a pair of sevens. After a minute or two of deliberation, I call. He flips up T-7c for one pair! He fails to improve and I now have $80K, and am ready to roll.

It’s important to know who your weaker players are. Concentrate on playing against them and finding ways to get them to make a big mistake. You can’t count on the pros to make those mistakes. In this particular case, I knew he was getting tired, and through a few verbal jabs, I was able to make myself his target.

Next blog, a similar question with a very different answer yields an equally large profit.

Erick Lindgren

Erick plays online poker exclusively at FullTiltPoker.com. Join him at a table! It’s a great US-friendly poker room just brinning with action 24×7.

The rumours were true after all - famous poker site announces its new destination.
 
Speculation and rumour on where the famous Doyles Room.com online poker venue would relocate following the pull-out from the US of Tribeca-Tain-Playtech network came to an end this week with the announcement that the popular site has joined the expanding Microgaming Poker Network.
 
The move will allow Doyle’s Room to expand into European markets and is seen as evidence of the continued success of the rapidly growing Microgaming network, which now has over 40 sites operating.

Doyle Brunson is one of the world’s most celebrated poker players, accumulating a record ten World Series of Poker bracelets and winning back to back world championships during his career. He is widely acknowledged to be the Godfather of poker, the game’s most recognizable face and he still plays at the highest limits in the biggest games in the world.
 
Doyle’s Room launched in 2004 and since that time has established itself as one of the world’s most popular online poker sites. In addition to offering one of the largest tournament selections in the industry, Doyle’s also draws players to its extremely popular Bounty tournaments, a series of weekly events in which players vie to win prizes by knocking out the bounty players. 
 
Roger Raatgever, CEO Microgaming says, ”It doesn’t get much bigger than this - signing up the ‘king’ of poker to the Microgaming Poker Network, so as you can imagine how we view this as a real coup. The Microgaming Poker Network has been enjoying a period of exceptional growth and deals like this only point to this trend continuing.”
 
A spokesperson for Doyle’s Room said, “We are delighted to be joining the Microgaming network.  We reviewed many software providers in our search for a better gaming experience for our players and Microgaming met all of our requirements in terms of liquidity, tournaments and player features.  We look forward to a long and successful partnership with them”. 

>>We’ll update the poker room rating and review ‘the new’ Doyles Room in detail as soon as they’re live!

“Poker is not a game that is best played by the numbers. Poker is a game of situations.”

Once I am involved in a hand, many of the actions I take after the flop are automatic, or nearly automatic. Therefore, the most important decision I have to make in No Limit Hold ‘em takes place before the flop:

Should I play the two cards I’ve been dealt?

When I first started learning how to play, I reviewed the standard charts that suggest which two cards to play from each position. But while they provided useful guidelines, the charts don’t tell the whole story.

Poker is not a game that is best played by the numbers. Poker is a game of situations.

In blackjack, there is always a correct decision to be made - a “perfect strategy.” Once you have compared the strength of your hand against the dealer’s “up” card, the odds will — or at least should — dictate whether you should hit, stand, split, etc.

Poker, however, is a game of incomplete information. There are many factors to consider that go above and beyond what “the book” tells you to do. Some of them include:

- My opponents’ tendencies
- My state of mind
- My opponent’s state of mind
- Our respective stack sizes
- My image at the table

Computer programs can look up hands in a chart. Real poker players analyze situations and make their own decisions after processing all of the available information. I might raise with A-J from early position in one game, and fold the same hand from the same position in another.

A good chart can help give a very specific set of circumstances, namely:

- You are the first person to voluntarily put money into the pot and are going to come in for a raise of about three times the big blind
- You don’t know much about your opponents
- All the players at the table have an average-size stack
- The blinds are relatively small in relation to the size of the stacks

When the above things aren’t true, you’ll want to look beyond the charts.

If you’re a new player, these tables are a great place to start. The more poker you play, however, the more comfortable you will feel letting your experience and your instincts serve as your guide.

Phil Gordon

Phil Gordon plays exclusively online at FullTiltPoker.com. Why don’t you join him at a table?  (US players are still very welcome to join the huge global player community at this top poker room)

“Poker is like real estate. The three most important factors in deciding how much to raise are: Location, location, location.”

I never get tired of saying it: If you’re the first to enter the pot in a No-Limit Hold ‘em game, never call. If you aren’t prepared to raise, throw your hand away.

Why, you ask? Simple. By raising, you put pressure on the blinds and the other players at the table, making them consider just how strong their hands really are. Chances are that by raising, you’ll force marginal hands to fold before you even see the flop, limiting the number of players you have to beat through the rest of the hand.

OK, with that out of the way, the next obvious question becomes: How much should I raise?

To that, I say; it depends. First off, you shouldn’t allow the strength of your to hand affect the size of your raise. A tough poker game is like real estate. The three most important factors in deciding how much to raise are: Location, location, location.

You always want to make your opponents’ decisions as difficult as possible. In choosing the size of your raise, you want to give the big blind a tough decision between calling or folding if the rest of the table folds around to him.

Raising from early position is to advertise a very strong hand - one that can beat the seven or more other players who still have to act. Since you are representing such strength, it doesn’t take much of a raise to convince the big blind to fold. Also, since your hand is so strong, you actually don’t mind a call from the big blind anyway. The real reason for a small raise is that you have so many players acting after you, any of whom might wake up with a monster and re-raise you.

When you raise in late position, you’re representing a hand that can beat the two or three remaining hands. This gives you a lot more freedom to raise with marginal hands, but your raise must be bigger or the big blind can call too easily. Another reason to raise more from late position is that you’re trying to put pressure on the big blind to fold, not call and, more importantly, you don’t have as many remaining opponents who can re-raise you.

One of the most common mistakes in No-Limit Hold ‘em is coming in for a raise that’s too big. In early position, you want to keep your raises at about two times the big blind. With four to six players to act behind you when you’re in middle position, raise to about two and a half big blinds, and raise to about three times the big blind from late position.

If you’re representing a big hand by raising from early position, it stands to reason that you’ll only get played with by huge hands. Why risk four, five or more bets to win only one and a half bets in the blinds when you’re often going to be running into monsters along the way? If you’re holding A-Q rather than A-A and a player comes over the top, you can lay it down without having risked much.

Some beginners raise more with their strongest hands to build a bigger pot or raise less with these monsters to get more action. Instead, I recommend that you play your starting hands the same way no matter what you have. With A-A or A-J, raise the same amount so you’re not telegraphing the strength of your hand to watchful opponents. An exception would be if you know your opponents aren’t paying attention and you feel sure that you can manipulate them.

These numbers need to be modified if there are antes. You should generally add about half the total antes to any raise. Your early position raise should be two big blinds plus half the total antes, and three big blinds plus half the antes for your late-position raises.

There are many loose live games these days. If you find yourself in one of these games and you can’t steal the blinds with a normal raise, tighten up your starting requirements slightly and make larger raises. If this raise still can’t take the blinds, don’t tighten up anymore, but choose to raise an amount that you expect to get called once or twice behind you. Since your opponents are playing too loose, take advantage of it by building bigger pots when you think you’re getting the best of it.

The last exception is when you’re short-stacked. If making your typical raise means putting over a quarter of your stack in the pot, just go ahead and move all in instead. Betting a quarter of your stack before the flop commits you to calling just about any re-raise or, at the very least, it gives you a very tough decision. Moving all in here instead of raising less forces the tough decision on your opponents and eliminates one of your tough calling decisions. All of which brings us back to my first principle: Avoid being the one to just call.

Chris Ferguson

Chris is a member of Team FullTilt and plays online exclusively at FullTiltPoker.com. Get to known more about him and other top professionals by joining a table soon. (Tables and tournaments with a pro seated are highlighted RED in the poker room lobby)

“…the best way to keep up with the action is to look for hands you can fold automatically.”

Most players eventually realize that it’s fun and fairly easy to play at multiple online tables at one time. Early in my career, I played as many as eight games at once on a daily basis. Here are some tips and instructions for playing multiple games:

1. Increase the resolution on your monitor. You can do this by right clicking on the desktop, then clicking on Properties, then clicking on Settings. You can then grab the arrow in the Screen Resolution area and move it to a smaller resolution.

If possible, use the 1,600 x 1,200 setting to get up to four games on one screen without overlap. In order to maximize your screen area, make sure your video card and monitor support higher resolution settings.

2. Once you get into playing more than one game, the best way for you to keep up with the action is to look for hands you can fold automatically. Use advance actions. That will help you pay more attention to the game you have a real hand in.

3. Play the same game at every table. It will help you avoid mistakes in reading and playing your hand, and you’ll find it easier to get into a good rhythm.

4. Most importantly: Track who has raised the pot. Make sure you make a mental note of this since it is the key to how you will play your hand later. It sounds simple, but it is easy to get in a pot and not recall who raised when you’re playing more than one game.

5. Make sure you take some breaks. When I used to play eight games, I was an animal. I would run to the bathroom and every screen would be beeping at me. Take a few breaks. The games will still be there when you get back.

Playing multiple games is a lot of fun and I hope to see you at the table. Or tables.

Erick Lindgren

PS: FullTilt Poker runs Daily Double Texas Hold’em tournaments. Look for these nightly $10 + $2 tournaments at 21:00 ET and 21:02 ET. You must enter BOTH tournaments in order to qualify for the Daily Double, and $1 from each entry fee goes toward the next day’s progressive jackpot.

Nicknamed “EDOG”, Erick Lindgren is a member of ‘Team FullTilt’ and plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.