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!

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. 

One of the best ways to practice this bedeviling game is to play “sit-and-go” single-table tournaments on the Internet. I play many of these things a week, at many different stakes, on Full Tilt Poker every week. Playing a S&G tournament will give you final table experience — to win, you’ll have to perform well in full table situations and constantly adjust your strategy and tactics as the play becomes increasingly shorthanded. In my mind, there is no better training tool available for the serious student of the game.

At Full Tilt Poker, the sit-and-go tournaments have a generous structure: nine-handed play, six-minute levels (about 15 hands per level). Three players are “paid” with about 50 percent of the prize money being awarded for first place, 30 percent for second place, and 20 percent for third place. All players start with 1,500 in tournament chips.

Early level thoughts and play:
15/30 Level: I play very, very tight during the first level while I’m getting a feel for the table. At the lower limits (100 buy-in and below) there are always a few players at the table that are maniacal. I try to stay out of the way of these guys unless I get a big hand. I’m not scared to put the chips in the pot with pocket aces, kings, queens or ace-king, but I’m not looking to commit a large part of my stack before the flop without one of these premium hands. I’m looking for betting patterns here that I can exploit at critical stages of the tournament — I’m particularly looking for players that play a very loose, aggressive game from late position. I note these players and plan to take advantage of them later. It will not surprise me to see one player eliminated at this level, but one or two players eliminated early will not change my strategy of tight play.

20/40 Level: Again, I play very tight. It will be rare that I’ll have to post more than three total sets of blinds by the end of this level — if I fold every single hand in the 15/30 and 20/40 level, I’ll still have, on average, about 1,350 in chips at the end of this level. In my experience, the average number of players remaining at the end of this level is about eight: tight is still right.

25/50 Level: I have a tight image now, and I’m ready to make my first move. If a loose player “limps” into the pot in middle or late position, I’m willing to raise and try to win the pot from superior position. I’m willing to try to steal the blinds from late position as well. Remember, I’ve been playing absurdly tight for the first two levels, so my raises will get some respect.

30/60 Level: This is a very, very small increase in blinds from the previous level. Much of the strategy from the 25/50 level still applies. I am very careful here to not raise the blinds of short-stacked opponents without a premium hand. Short stacks here will be about 350-500. If I raise a player with that stack and they move in, I’m 100 percent committed to calling them because I’ll almost always be getting the correct odds to do so. However, having a sub-premium hand in this spot is a recipe for becoming a short stack. I’ll take a shot at stealing the blinds if it presents itself.

40/80 Level: By this time, there are usually seven players left in the tournament. I’m going to loosen up my starting hand requirements just a bit, but I’m still going to be very selective preflop from early position. Remember, this is an extremely small increase in blinds from the previous level. I no longer consider limping a valid strategy preflop. If I’m ever going to play a hand and I’m the first to voluntarily commit chips to the pot, I’m raising.

50/100 Level: Usually, there are five or six players left in the tournament at this level. That puts the average chip stack at around 2,600 or so. Players are not feeling the “squeeze” unless they have about 1,000 in chips or fewer. But I still have to loosen up a bit because the blinds are coming around very quickly. “Sitting out” for the entire level will be catastrophic to the stack — I’ll lose at least three sets of blinds for a combined 450 loss should I get too tight here. I try to pick up at least one blind steal during this level. If there are still seven or eight players left in the tournament, realize that big conflicts are coming — a raise and a reraise virtually force the players all-in.

Five players remaining:
With just two spots to the money, this is a great time to get aggressive. In my experience, there are usually five players left in the tournament at around the $80/$160 level of blinds. The average stack at this level is $2,700.

1. If I am below five or six big blinds at this level ($800-$1,000 in chips) I will play very aggressively and just take a shot at stealing the blinds or doubling up. I find that most players are waiting for players to bust out and are unwilling to commit $800 to the pot to do so. I particularly look to steal the blinds from players with average stacks — they can afford to fold and are unlikely to want to commit a large number of chips to the pot.
2. If I am a big stack ($4,000-plus) at this point, there will be at least one or two small stacks. But I realize that the small stacks are still capable of inflicting some damage. Even a loss of $800 at this point in the tournament can bring me from big stack back to average. I’m looking to steal from the average stacks and get the money in with the best hand against the small stacks. If there is another big stack at the table, all the rest of the players remaining will have small stacks — I am very careful not to get into a situation where I can get squeezed and frozen out of the pot (i.e. the “Fish and Chip Sandwich” play).

Four players remaining:
One spot left to the money, most players in the sit-and-go will play far too tight for the blinds. Instead of raising three times the big blind, I find that a minimum raise will often get the job done — any raise is enough to get the remaining players to fold. I am very careful here about playing a hand from the small blind if the big blind is a short stack — this is often a way to get caught in the chip sandwich. The real key to a four-handed game is to make sure that if you put chips into the pot, you’ll get to see the flop if you don’t have the best hand or you’ll get all-in before the flop with the best hand. One of the worst things that can happen to you in a four-handed game is having to fold the hand after raising the pot — with the big blind often at $200, a preflop raise of three times the big blind ($600) will always be nearly one-fifth of your stack.

The bubble bursts:
After the bubble has burst and the sit-and-go is reduced to three players, it is time to get very aggressive — the shorter the stack, the more aggressive you have to be. Remember, if you have the shortest stack, you’re expected to go out in third place. Give yourself a fighting chance to win by taking a stand early and often.

Try to be the player that makes the last move. If you’re the last player to put chips into the pot, you have some “folding equity” — your opponent has a chance to fold an inferior hand. With that in mind, consider making a “stop-and-go” play with 6-8 big blinds:

• The player on the button raises to three times the big blind.
• You just call.
• No matter what the flop is, you move all-in for the rest of your chips.

Remember, your opponent is pot committed if you raise all-in before the flop and you will not be making the last move — your opponent is definitely going to call. By waiting for the flop, there is a good chance that you can get your opponent to incorrectly fold. Your opponent, playing any two unpaired hole cards, will only flop a pair or better about 32.4 percent of the time. If your opponent misses the flop, there is a good chance you can take down the pot with the automatic post-flop all-in. If they don’t miss the flop, you were unlikely to win the pot anyway.

Heads-up:
If you get to heads-up, realize that the blinds will nearly always be quite significant and that both players will have an average of about 15 big blinds. Heads-up is tough, and with the blinds so big, it is even tougher. I recommend playing almost every single hand you’re dealt when you’re on the button — raise 2½ times the big blind with about 65 percent of the hands, limp and just complete the blind 30 percent of the time, and fold 5 percent of the time. When limping, make sure that for every three times you limp with a bad hand you’re willing to fold to a raise, you limp with a good hand you’re willing to move all-in with before the flop.

Conclusion:
All in all, sit-and-go tourneys are a great way to practice the skills necessary to win a big poker tournament. It is a mini-tournament that very closely simulates all the stages of a bigger, longer, uncut tournament. When I’m playing at Full Tilt Poker, I know that my practice will pay off not only for my charity (I donate all my online winnings to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation), but also in better results in the big tournaments.

>>You can play Phil and other top poker pros online at Full Tilt Poker.

When you hold a pocket-pair preflop, it’s nice to know the odds of whether or not someone behind you holds a bigger pair.  This article offers a ‘quick and dirty’ method for making that calculation.

I was playing in a sit and go tournament at Full Tilt a while back with my fiancée looking on. We were down to three-handed, all the stacks were about the same, though I was the short stack. The blinds were very high — the average stack was about 12 big blinds. I had 2-2 on the button. I raised all-in and was called by 6-6. I went broke.

“That was a really bad play, Phil. How can you go all-in there?” she said.

I protested vigorously: “Honey, it is well against the odds that either of my opponents will have a higher pocket pair. With only 12 big blinds, I’m either all-in or I fold in this situation. Doing anything else is just crazy, I think. Especially because we’re already in the money, and the difference between second and third place isn’t very significant.”

“Well, I think it’s much more likely for them to have a pocket pair. What are the exact odds?” she asked.

I didn’t know off the top of my head, which just seemed to give her more ammunition for her argument. It is hard to argue odds when you don’t know them. So, I set off to do some math so I could “prove” to her that I was right. In the process, I “discovered” a general mathematical formula that everyone can use when arguing with a significant other.

I’m calling this rule the “Gordon Pair Principle” (GPP). I’ve always wanted a theorem named after me, and so here it is. A few years back, I got zero credit for naming the “Rule of 4 and 2,” and I’m a little on tilt about it. Now, I’m not claiming that I discovered the “Rule of 4 and 2,” but I do claim naming it and referring to it in print as such for the first time (see my book “Poker: The Real Deal”).

So, here goes.

The Gordon Pair Principle
Let C = percent chance someone left to act has a bigger pocket pair Let N = number of players left to act Let R = number of higher ranks than your pocket pair (i.e., if you have Q-Q, there are two ranks higher. If you have 8-8, there are six ranks higher)

Some examples:
You have pockets 10s and there are six players left to act. Someone will have a bigger pocket pair about 12 percent of the time.

You have pocket kings under the gun in a 10-handed game. You’ll be up against pocket aces (and probably broke) about 4.5 percent of the time.

Now, this formula isn’t exact, but it is a damned close approximation. It’s definitely close enough to use when arguing with your significant other. Of course, I showed her this calculation after about an hour of work and she still thinks I made a stupid play despite the fact that my 2-2 is the best hand there 88 percent of the time.

Good luck at the tables!

Phil Plays at a number of online poker rooms including Full Tilt Poker, Poker.com and Doyles Room Poker

Hi there

Full Tilt Poker is one of PokerLabRat.com’s higher ranking online poker rooms, and especially recommended for US players as they are still accepting players from all American States.

Yes, Full Tilt does have rather ‘unique’ poker software but if you can handle playing a gnome, 2 frogs and a bulldog - and like playing with a Caribbean Island backdrop - you can win some good money at this ultra-busy poker room!

Here are 2 video clips from Full Tilt Poker pros. Useful stuff. A key thing about poker is that you should always listen and learn if you want to keep ahead of the pack!

1. Table Bully - Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, David Grey, Annie Duke and Ted Forrest discuss strategies for playing a big stack.

2. Wait Your Turn - Team Full Tilt member Phil Gordon shares a key tell that you can easily avoid at the table.

Mike

PS: You can visit Full Tilt Poker directly via this link.