The Poker Lab Rat

I usually don’t chase anything less then a J high flush. Lately, I have been experimenting with any two suited cards if it’s cheap enough and I have a good stack position. What’s your take on chasing flushes in Hold’em?

As a tight-aggressive limit player, I don’t chase too much of anything, but when I do, it’s only when I have the odds, and sufficient reason to believe my hand will be good if I make it. Generally speaking, I will draw to a flush if I get the odds and there is not much betting going on, which suggests I’m up against a larger draw, or other hands that suggest a lot of lockout cards. A lockout card is a card that completes your draw, but leaves you with a losing hand. For example, when chasing a flush against a set, a lockout card is one that gives you the flush, but pairs the board so you’d lose to a full house.

There’s no golden rule here except using pot odds, and that applies to No Limit (NL) as well. In NL though, chasing flushes is different. First, you have a much higher potential for implied odds if you hit your flush. In limit, you might be able to extract one or two more bets on the last street(s), but in NL you could take a healthy chunk of your opponents stack when you hit your draw. This means that you may be justified in taking a card off when you have less than ideal pot odds on the flop – within reason and with reference to your expectations about what you’ll get on later streets if you hit your hand. You should be reasonable and err on the side of being too conservative when it comes to your NL implied odds calculations.

The other difference with NL is the huge issue of reverse implied odds. Imagine that you chased the king-high flush draw and one of your opponents had the ace-high flush draw, and the flush hit. While you were counting on a big pay-off if you caught your flush, you’ll be the one paying off big because you hit your flush. This is true of limit, but only for an extra few bets that you will pay off if you chase a dead draw. In NL, you’re looking at paying off your stack or a significant portion thereof. This is why you should be cautious about drawing to low flushes. If you get a great deal of players seeing the later streets it is important to decide if any of these other players have a better draw than you. If you’re three-way or heads-up, then you probably only need to evaluate your own outs (less any lockout cards), and not worry nearly as much about reverse implied odds.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the principle that chasing flushes on a paired board is a bad move (most of the time anyway), and this always applies as well.

Just remember when you decide whether to draw to a hand (on the flop) that you consider at least the following:

• Am I getting the right pot odds to call? What about with implied odds less reverse implied odds?
• Am I counting your outs correctly? What about lockout cards? How likely is it that someone else has a higher draw? For these questions, you need to think about your opponents’ hands, not just your own.
• If I miss my draw on this card, how likely am I to get a cheap ride to 5th street/the river? What chance, if any, is there of a free card on the turn?
• What are my prospects for winning the pot without making my draw? Does my opponent have a strong holding that they will not fold, or can they be bluffed? Can I make a better pair than they have to win the pot that way?

There are other things to think about, but generally there’s no strength of flush draw that is playable in all situations (even the ace-high draw has to be folded many times, right?) or one that is never playable (I’ll draw to a flush with 54s if I get the right odds in the right spot).

Good luck at the tables!
- Coach  

Poker Coach is a regular feature at Hollywood Poker.

HollywoodPoker.com is a leading member of the Ongame Poker Network. It’s hosted by top movie stars and celebrities with lots of opportunity for player chat during the exclusive bounty tournaments. Sorry, no US players can join.

“The fact is, satellites provide much more than the chance to save some money on a $10K buy-in.”

Satellites offer a great way to get big discounts on tournament entry fees. Over the years, many of Poker’s best known pros have spent a lot of time playing in satellite tournaments, both in live venues and online. Some, like Gavin Smith, even made their reputations and their livings by travelling the tournament circuit and playing single-table satellites for their cash value.

The fact is, satellites provide much more than the chance to save some money on a $10K buy-in; they also serve as great warm-ups for big tournaments, and a convenient way to focus your game and sharpen your skills before playing for big money.

With that in mind, here’s some resources that should help you hone your tournament game in preparation for playing in the myriad of World Series of Poker* qualifier tournaments currently available at top poker sites.

Some great books on tournament poker:

• The three books in the Harrington on Hold ‘em series are excellent.
• David Sklansky’s Theory of Poker may not apply strictly to tournaments, but it’s one of the great books on poker theory.
• Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book and Expert Insight DVD are also well worth a look.

For the books the professionals recommend (that they haven’t written themselves have a look at this page on PokerLabRat.com. 

In addition, these tips from some of Full Tilt Poker’s WSOP* bracelet winners will help you further refine your game:

Sit N Goes Made Easy - by Howard Lederer will teach you how to conquer these mini tournaments by applying a tight-aggressive style.
How to Win at Tournament Poker, Part 1 [and Part 2] by Chris Ferguson which explains how to think through complex tournament situations.
Big Slick: A Slippery Hand - by Rafe Furst shows how you can make the most out of one of the toughest hands in No-Limit Hold ‘em: A-K.
Early Tournament Play by David Grey explains why building your chip stack early provides a solid foundation for late-stage play.
Looking at the Long Term - by Erik Seidel provides insightful analysis of why patience is vital to the successful tournament player.

Of course, theory only goes so far at the table. Try playing some WSOP* satellites as you absorb these lessons, and see which tactics work best for you. Who knows, you may just win your way to the WSOP* along the way.

(* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (’Harrahs’). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with Red Card Media Limited (trading as PokerLabRat.com) or its products, services or promotions.)

To attract and retain poker players, most online poker rooms run promotions and have joining bonus offers.

On joining, new players generally earn bonus chips and/or a reward of some sort (like a free iPod or copy of a top selling poker book).

Some poker sites run the same deals for like, forever - others have more limited time offers that may be linked in to a specific event and be fairly country-specific (for example giving away free football tickets, a celebrity-signed football shirt  or entry to the VIP lounge at a major horse racing meet).

Online Poker is growing in popularity and so are the number of poker rooms available - and as with any industry the rogues and rip off merchants move in too. Now more than ever you need to be careful about where you play - and how safe your payments and cash outs are.

Some poker bonuses are not worth the hassle - they get you to make a large deposit first up and then restrict your ability to withdraw any money until you’ve earned the required “player points” - which can take some time! Other bonuses require an almost physically impossible amount of real money play in a limited time - so read the Ts and Cs first!

Have you checked out our Poker Room Bonus Comparison page recently? (Partial page image left)

PS: To get access to the best cash game fishing as well as the best freerolls and poker tournaments we recommend you operate accounts with more than one online poker room. Playing different time zones and the ability to have separate poker “personalities” (not just avatars or nicknames) online at different poker rooms can give you an edge and be very rewarding.  

I’ve read many poker books and have made myself a lot of money. I’m a fan of Sklansky and Malmuth. The question is ‘How to Play Big Slick’ in low limit hold’em cash games online. I’ve have yet to see Big Slick explained enough in any of these books.

This is the problem I have and I need it explained by an expert…you. I open with AK suited (or not) for a raise in early position. I get 2 or more callers, but assume two. I do not hit the flop in any way. I bet out to see where I’m at and get called by two players at least. Nothing hits on the turn. Do I just simply give up and move on, or fire another bullet? Do I just assume that one of them probably has something?

It seems more often than not when I bet the turn with just AK, I’ll get called again. If I’m heads up, should I still fire away to the end if the guy just calls and calls. Maybe check and call his river bet?… give up? 

First off, you’re reading the right people. Sklansky & Malmuth (and now Miller, who collaborated on Small Stakes Hold’em) are, at least in my opinion, the best poker authors out there.

As for how to play AK, if you haven’t found the information in Sklansky books, I’m surprised (I learned a lot about AK from his books in the past), but I think I can help. In fact, if you do end up reading a relevant section of a Sklansky book, I’d consider it essential that you listen to his advice, even if what I write here differs slightly. I’m someone who learned from reading those books; I’m not someone who can deservedly criticize their strategy.

First, remember that in limit hold’em the only time you shouldn’t at least consider raising AK preflop is when you think that one of your opponents has AA or KK, especially if you think one of them has AA. Usually, you can’t know for sure that an opponent has AA unless they raise at least 3-bet or 4-bet pre-flop. Even some very tight players (who deserve respect when raising), may raise a hand like QQ pre-flop. However, most very tight players won’t cap pre-flop with less than KK or AA, so if you’re sitting with AK pre-flop and a normally tight/passive opponent has 4-bet, you can safely fold. If you see a three bet in front of you, often it is hard to decide between folding and calling. In this case, you need to consider position and who is doing the raising (tight player or loose player?).

You should be aggressive with AK pre-flop, not only because you’re more likely to get rid of a few players (increasing the chance you’ll win the pot), but also because you’ll increase the size of the pot (hence, increasing your total return if you win the pot). I’m sure you understand the need to be aggressive with AK, but some players, when in a rut, will forget and just call.

Let’s run through the scenario you’ve described. You get two callers both of whom have position on you, after raising AK in early position. First, you need to look at the board before you bet out. If you have absolutely nothing, you need to hope that your opponents are in the same boat. If the board is ugly (723 rainbow), you might have a chance that they both missed (maybe one is playing QJ and the other AT, for example). But, if the board was QT2 rainbow, you should know for sure now that you need the J (or maybe your A or K) to win, because you’re facing two callers and two cards in the “playing zone”, which is 9 to ace. This term is what Bob Ciaffone has defined as “the portion of the deck most likely to connect with a player who puts money in voluntarily.” In other words, with two callers who are at least reasonable in terms of the hands they will play, you can expect that your AK is not the best hand on the QT2 board.

Nonetheless, you’ll usually be required to take a stab by the size of the pot (7.5 small bets, assuming the blinds fold, before we adjust for rake). This means that, assuming you’re not raised, between the small chance that both players will fold, the small chance that you’re ahead (and they call), and the moderate chance that you’ll make the best hand by the turn, you’re getting laid the right odds to place a bet. For continuation bets where you have very little/nothing on the flop, usually it is advisable to fire a bet when there are two or less callers. Usually when the pot is contested by 4 or more players, continuation betting is useless, and you should check/fold to a bet.

On the turn after a call, you have to consider whether both your opponents are on a draw that has missed, or if you’re ahead of both. In the vast majority of situations, you’ll be behind when you have two callers and usually, unless you’ve picked up the first part of a backdoor draw (so now there’s three spades on the board, and you have the As), you’ll be drawing quite slim. Often, if you have no reads and no image, you’re better off checking instead of firing. Most people who call the flop in low limit, will also call the turn, and quite often this means you’re committed to firing again on the river, or at least check/calling, which means by betting on the turn you’re committing yourself to two big bets.

Remember that the turn is usually when people make their decision in hold’em, and that while in many tight games this means you should fire again on the turn, in low limit almost no pots are won without a showdown. In low limit, you have to be willing to show down to win, and that means that you need the best hand or you need to make the best hand. As you said, more often than not you’ll be called, and that is always the case with low limit.

Heads up is trickier. Often, AK will win unimproved heads up, but still you need to consider your opponents possible range versus the texture of the board. A board of QT2 will more often than not, connect more with a caller than 732 will. Heads up is usually about aggression, so if you bet the whole way heads up you might win enough to justify the losses when you don’t improve and they call down with a better hand. One nice thing about heads up is that you can check/call the river and many players will bluff against you, while if you bet the river, usually the only hands which will call you, will beat you, and the only hands that fold, you could beat anyway.

AK sure is a tricky hand, and I can’t tell you for sure how to play every scenario there is, but I suggest you re-read some of your Sklansky books. Small Stakes Hold’em in particular is a good one to read.

Good luck at the tables!

For more poker tips from the Poker Coach - or to send in a Q. of you own - visit HollywoodPoker.com.

>>Archive of top tips from professional poker players
>>Which poker books are recommended by the pros?

“Poker is a tough business,” says Erik Seidel. “You can go through long streaks when you don’t win anything.” When things go badly, when you can’t seem to cash in a tournament or win a significant pot in a cash game, you come to understand the importance of maintaining an adequate bankroll.

Just how big should your bankroll be? How much money do you need to ensure that a bad run won’t put you on the rail? We Full Tilt Poker pros agree that the answer depends on a number of factors, including the types of games you’re playing, the level of competition you’re encountering, and your psychological disposition.

As Jennifer Harman says, “Some players can be effective on a relatively short bankroll, but others need more of a cushion. They’ll get stressed out and play scared if they don’t have enough money behind them.” So you need to be aware of your comfort level at the table. If you’re nervous about what you stand to lose in a given pot, you’re probably playing too high for your bankroll. Harman, like most Team Full Tilt members, recommends a conservative approach and suggests maintaining a bankroll that leaves plenty of room for downswings. “If you’re playing $10-$20 limit, I think $10,000 is about right,” says Harman.

John D’Agostino agrees, “You should never play a limit where you feel uncomfortable.” He suggests that a player shouldn’t put more than five percent of his bankroll in play at any time.

The need for a sizable bankroll exits for tournament play as well as cash games. Erik Seidel, a tournament specialist, notes that long droughts are common for tournament professionals and that entry fees can add up quickly.

“If you were to play all of the $10,000 buy-in events, you could spend half a million over the course of year,” says Seidel. “Even top players can have years when then don’t cash for $100,000, so having a proper bankroll is critical.”

“You need a much bigger bankroll in tournaments than you do is side games,” agrees Chris Ferguson. “A lot of people play tournaments without nearly enough. You easily need 100 buy-ins. Maybe 200.”

Playing over your bankroll is fine once in awhile, but all the pros concur that it’s important to leave yourself plenty of money to recover from unlucky hands and the occasional mistake. D’Agostino, one of the top young players in poker, offers one further tip for hanging on to your money. “Don’t play Phil Ivey heads up. I tried that once and I failed miserably.”

You can play any or all of these top poker professionals online at FullTiltPoker.com. Any table marked red in the poker room lobby has a pro registered - check it out!

US Players are still welcome at this top online poker room. Read our review of what we think is hot and most certainly not about FullTiltPoker.com.

Why is it, more often than not in all ins, the worst hand seems to win a very high per cent of the time, particularly if three are in?

 The answer depends on what you mean…If you mean that hands with a 20% chance always win twice as often as that in a three way all-in, then you’re mistaken because that’s not actually the case. Over a very large number of hands (commonly call the long run), that hand in that situation will win 1 in 5 according to the law of large numbers. Unfortunately, we don’t operate in a sample of large numbers - we only see our own hands, and that’s why it looks wrong to us.

Nonetheless, I think there’s something else at the root of your question, specifically about “if three are (all) in”. Let’s take a common example: It’s late in a sit-and-go tournament, and the button pushes all-in with the JT of spades, hoping to steal the blinds. Let’s say the small blind pushes all-in because they have AhQd, and they figure to have the best hand. But you’re in the big blind, and you look down at the AcKh, and seeing that you’ve got a good hand and great odds to call all-in, you put all your chips in the middle.

How often do you expect to win this? 60% of the time maybe? Only 50% because it’s three-way? Ask yourself, in the heat of battle, what kind of odds do you give yourself to win in this situation. Maybe this contributes to the feeling that the weakest hand wins way too often, because sometimes one will overvalue some hand or another.

In actuality, you have a 40.96% chance to win in this situation, and the jack-ten has a 36.44% chance, meaning your edge on them is less than 5%. If you ran into this hand 50 times in your life, you’d win about 21 times and the jack ten would win 18. That’s only 3 more hands in 50 dealt out - hardly constitutes a dominant hand. But take the ‘third’ hand out of the scenario, and all of a sudden the AK is 51/49, and a favourite. While still not a dominant hand, it is in a much better situation (being a 3 to 2 favourite, instead of a 3 to 2 dog).

It should become immediately clear why the ‘worst’ hand (JT) can become a potential winner. When the AQ is dominated by the AK, and is sharing cards (the ace), not only does the AQ end up with little chance to win, the AK loses a bit of edge because of the shared cards.

This will often happen in multiway pots: hands which are favoured over the other hands individually, will not be a favourite to win in a multiway pot.

Also, this raises another issue I’d like to draw your attention to: dynamic hand value. Which hands are favoured, and which hands you want to hold, depend on what your opponent(s) hold. Hence, the true value of hands is dynamic. For instance, if it were a heads-up game you would naturally favour pocket tens over holding AK. But if the pot is three way, and you learn that each of your opponents hold JJ and QQ, all of a sudden you’d give your left arm to have AK because your hand’s value is much higher in this situation. Make your opponents hole cards 99 and 88, then you would want TT again.

Sorry to ramble on about hands, but it’s good stuff to consider.

Good luck at the tables!
- Coach
 
>>Poker Coach is a regular feature from Hollywood Poker, a top Ongame Poker Network site. Players from all around the world (except USA) can play and chat with movie stars at the poker tables. Hollywood Poker hosts great celebrity bountry tournaments and offers some good safe online Texas Holdem at a wide range of table stakes.

“Too often, implied odds are invoked as a reason for a play when “wishful thinking” would be the more accurate description of the situation.”

Most players know what pot odds and implied pot odds (aka implied odds) are, and how to calculate them. Just about every poker book or website has a section on the topic. Still, I often see people making mistakes in calculating implied odds - especially when playing online. Too often, implied odds are invoked as a reason for a play when “wishful thinking” would be the more accurate description of the situation.

A perfect example came up in a recent tournament on Full Tilt Poker. The table was short-handed and playing rather loose pre-flop, but tight after the flop. The blinds were getting high, and a hand developed where we got to see a showdown between a loose player who I’ll call “Loosey” and a player I’ll call “Impy.”

Impy had no pair and only an inside straight draw on the flop, yet he called a pot-sized bet from Loosey. Impy hit his straight on the turn, but was only able to extract a small amount from his opponent and ended up checking down the river. Impy’s fuzzy logic on the flop was that, although he was behind, if he hit his hand he’d get paid off at greater odds than it required to chase his four-outer. As we saw in the hand, he got part of what he wanted (the straight), but failed to extract enough from his opponent to make his call on the flop reasonable. Furthermore, Loosey was short-stacked, had top-pair with a weak kicker, and was unlikely to have paid off much more than he did.

So, what can Impy do to improve his game? Here are some guidelines for using implied odds to greater advantage:

Only Play Against Big Stacks
When two players are contesting a pot, their maximum implied odds are exactly the same: the size of the shorter stack. If you and your opponent both have large stacks relative to the blinds and antes, your implied odds are much better than if one of you is sitting on a smaller stack, simply because there are more chips that can be committed to the pot during the hand. Players who are short-stacked tend to play tighter and are less likely to try to pick off a possible bluff because they don’t have any extra chips to spare, unlike a tall stack.

Don’t Play Short-Handed
The more opponents there are at your table, the greater the likelihood that one or more of them will pick up a good hand, be in on the flop, and ultimately pay you off when you hit your draw. In short-handed or heads-up situations, you have to get very lucky: first you have to hit your hand, then you have to hope your opponent has a good enough hand to pay you off. My advice is, unless you have a really good read on your opponents in the hand, don’t even consider implied odds unless you are at a full 9- or 10-handed table.

Play Against Tight-Aggressive Players
Implied odds are greatest against tight-aggressive players. Why? Because these are the players who are likely to have strong hands after the flop, and are likely to commit a lot of chips to defend their good hands. Tight-aggressive players are also going to be involved in smaller pots on the flop, and will check-raise more often than loose players when out of position. This gives you free-card opportunities, which improve your implied odds. Psychologically, once involved in a hand, tight players may have a harder time letting go after the flop than loose players who are always in action. Over time, those loose players are going to have a harder time finding a reason to play with you after the flop.

The key to playing against tight-aggressive players after the flop is to keep the pot as small as possible until you hit your draw. If they put a lot of pressure on you, you’re better off folding your draw and waiting for a better situation. Not every hand can be played profitably after the flop.

Incorporate Bluffs and Semi-Bluffs
If you are drawing on the flop, you should be betting and raising instead of passively checking and calling to hit your hand. This gives you two ways to win by:

Forcing your opponents to fold, or Hitting your draw. This is called a semi-bluff. The only time you should play passively is if you think a free card will help your situation more than getting your opponent to fold.

Another thing to remember is that you are definitely going to miss your draws more often than not. In these cases, you should sometimes be bluffing, but the question is, how much and how frequently?

Let’s say the pot has $100 in it and you have $100 left, and you are deciding whether to bluff on the river. You’re giving your opponent 2-1 odds to call you, which is exactly how often you should bluff in that situation (two times for every one that you don’t).

How do you choose the right balance between keeping the pot small after the flop and playing aggressively as I am advocating here? That’s the art, and it requires lots of practice and a good read on your opponents. You may want to pick up Sklansky’s Theory of Poker to learn more about optimal bluffing frequency and semi-bluffs. By employing these techniques correctly, you can vastly increase your implied odds and positive expectation.
Rafe Furst
Rafe is one of the first members of the Tiltboys, a group that started a weekly poker game in college that still exists 17 years later. The Tiltboys now have a book out describing their adventures - see which poker books are recommended by the professionals here.

If you want to learn more about Rafe, join him at the table on FullTiltPoker.com

The Poker Coach from HollywoodPoker.com discusses strategy behind rebuy tournaments, and your best bet for approaching the beginning of the game.

On rebuy tourneys, would you suggest rebuying at the very start of the game to have a bigger stack to press the other players immediately? Will they tend to play loose and call big bets if they know they can still rebuy?

Most online rebuy tournaments, and especially low buy-in and unlimited buy-in require a significant change in optimal strategy during the rebuy period (almost always the first hour).

Although I admit I’m far from an accomplished tournament player, my strategy has always been to play loose/aggressive without going psychotic - I still pick my spots. But, this strategy only works if you have a decent stack and are attempting to build a bigger stack. So, in direct response to your question, I would definitely rebuy immediately, and I always do when playing in unlimited rebuy tournaments.

The reason is this - you are not trying to play tight/aggressive style as you would in a regular freezeout tournament. Rather, since rebuy tournaments are about accumulating a large stack of chips before the break, you want to take gambles and give yourself opportunities to double and triple up. Players are more likely to play loose/aggressive against you because they can just rebuy if they lose all their chips, so you have to adapt to this and try to build a stack. If you compare a freezeout and a rebuy, you’ll note that at the first break the average stack will usually be proportionately double or triple the size for the rebuy versus the freezeout, and since optimal strategy in a tournament requires a keen attention to stack sizes, this means you need to try to build up a big stack before the break.

In a tournament with starting chips of 1500 or so, I like to make sure I have at least a 10k stack before the end of the rebuy period, including the add-on which I always take. Of course, if you never get the cards to gamble with, you can’t build a stack, but what I am saying is maximize your chance to press other players and to move all in with decent cards (eg. any pair tens or better heads up, AK or AQs etc.) because you want to get action.

If you play this loose/aggressive style, you should be able to accumulate enough chips that when the tournament becomes a freezeout, you’re in decent shape instead of shortstacked. As a result, you may have to rebuy as many as 8 or 9 times, and I’ve heard of people having to rebuy even more. Usually, you’ll average 4 or 5 buyins, as you’ll buy in and rebuy immediately (2 buyins) and you’ll have to do it all over again (another two buyins) quite often, plus one more buyin for the add-on.

So my suggestion is to figure the cost of a buyin at about 5x its initial entry fee. So if you’re usually a 10+1 player and that is all you’re bankrolled for, play the $2 frenzy and not a 10+1 rebuy, because rebuys are much, much more expensive to play than freezeouts. Above all, play rebuys at a level where you don’t feel any pain in rebuying.

Of course, if you’re trying to build a stack and with 10 minutes left in the rebuy period you get busted, depending on the average stack you might be better off quitting and waiting for another day, than trying to double-rebuy because you need some time to build a stack, and building is all that rebuys are about in the first hour. After that, revert to your usual smart, TAG style and you’ll find that you should have enough chips to play optimally without having to take any serious risks because there will be a lot of chips versus the blinds in both your stack and that of your opponents.

Visit HollywoodPoker.com for more  player tips and views. Hollywood Poker is a lead member of the Ongame Poker Network - busy, safe and lots of fun! Read out detailed poker room review of Hollywood Poker here. 

What is the best strategy in a turbo tournament?

In a turbo multi-table tournament, you should play the very early blind rounds the same as you would a regular freezeout mtt. However, when the blinds begin to get large in relation to the average stack, you should be much more concerned with pre-flop starting hands, and be willing to push good pre-flop cards all-in, even if it’s just a coinflip.

In turbo tournaments, you must be the aggressor and be willing to gamble, in order to accumulate chips enough to survive the quick pace of the blinds.

A similar strategy adjustment is necessary for sit-and-go turbo tournaments as well, although in those tournaments, at the end you must be even more willing to gamble because the blinds will rise quite quickly relative to the total chips in play, and the tournament will be shorthanded (unlike the MTT) meaning you have even less time to wait.

Be aggressive and try to get in situations where either you are ahead when you go all-in, or it is a coinflip with dead chips in the pot (chips in the pot from players no longer contesting the pot).

Just remember never to raise pre-flop an amount which leaves you with less than 2/3s or what you started the hand with, unless you also push all-in when making that raise.

Good luck at the tables!
- Coach

Poker Coach is a regular feature online at HollywoodPoker.com. This is a top Ongame Network site and comes highly recommended, especially if you like to play and chat with movie stars - over 200 play regularly at Hollywood Poker. (Sorry, no US players)

One of the great things about online poker is how easy it is to change your game from say, Omaha to Stud poker - without having to leave the table. I personally find that if I’m having a bad run at Texas Holdem rather than dropping down the stake levels, changing to a different game often sharpens my thinking and results in more bankroll building play. For me anyway it works sort of like a cold shower and jolts my mind into having to think about the game and my opponents play options and actions. 

Some of the more innovative online poker rooms (like FullTiltPoker.com) let you play a cool new style of poker called ‘Mixed Games’. These special tables let you play a variety of poker games without ever changing tables. Mixed Games keep you entertained and engaged in the action as the games change on you every 10 hands! 

These mixed tournaments are often categorized as: 

• HORSE (Hold ‘em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud Hi, Stud Hi/Lo)
• HOSE (Hold ‘em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud Hi, Stud Hi/Lo)
• HA (Hold ‘em, Omaha Hi)

Here’s a pro tip from Jennifer Harman on Playing Mixed Games.

Despite what you see on TV, there’s much more to poker than just Hold ‘em. The great players are judged by how they play all the games. In the big cash games at the Bellagio, we play an assortment of games every night and at the World Series of Poker, they’ve introduced a $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament that attracts many of the world’s top professionals.

Full Tilt has recently introduced Mixed Games and it’s a great opportunity to experience the fun and challenge that comes from playing a variety of games in a single session without putting a huge dent in your bankroll. While a lot of fun, mixed games do have some challenges and, for this tip, I want to give some suggestions that will help you starting out.

One of the hardest things for new mixed games players to become comfortable with is the flow of play. With games switching every 10 hands, it can be difficult to instantly adjust your thinking in order to concentrate fully on the game at hand. It will take some time and experience, but eventually, you’ll be able to go from Omaha Hi/Lo to Razz and be ready to play your best as soon as the games switch.

Until you’re comfortable with the game flow, here are some pointers that can help make the switch to mixed games a little easier:

• Be sure you’re playing the right game! I play a lot of HORSE Sit & Gos at Full Tilt Poker and, in almost every one, there’s a player or two who makes the mistake of playing Razz when the game is Stud, or vice-versa. Even in the big game at the Bellagio, this sort of mix-up happens all the time.
• Work on your weakest games. If you find that your Stud Hi/Lo game isn’t as strong as it could be, spend some time at the Stud Hi/Lo tables and work on improving your skills. Put in enough hours at each individual game so that you’re grasping the subtleties of all of them when you play a mixed game.
• Play stronger in your best games than in your weaker games. You may be a master at Stud and feel you can play a lot of different hands well in that game. But if your Omaha Hi/Lo is relatively weak, you’ll need to tighten up in that game and play only premium starting hands. Look for starting hands like A-A-2-3 suited or A-2-K-Q that offer the potential to make both the nut high and nut low, allowing you to scoop as many pots as possible. Or in Razz, for example, stick to starting hands with three cards of 8 or less - if that game isn’t your strength.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that it’s tough to go back to any one game once you start playing mixed games. You’ll miss the mental challenge and fun that comes from this type of poker.
Jennifer Harman