I elect for a five times big blind raise and get a caller immediately to my left. (he was similar in chips to myself). (The alarm bells should have started ringing at that point, however due to the multiskilling (phone call!) I wasn’t paying too much attention). Digressing slightly, I went for a 5xbb raise so that if I was to come into serious all in raising from elsewhere, such as a rock, then I could gracefully lay my TT down knowing that I would prob be in a coin flip at best or against a big pair at worst, whilst still making it enough to get only serious hands follow me rather than the pot being built up for value. Annnnyway, everyone else folds and it’s just the two of us to see the flop.

It’s a dream / nightmare flop for me as it comes 9 high and all rainbow. Naturally I stick my entire stack in, only to get called nanoseconds later by the guy who turns over Aces! – Ouch!.

Could this have been avoided? Well yes I think it could.

1. Best not to be on the phone when you are trying to play as simple logic tends to fail and more “gambling” notions come into play.

2. What kind of hand only ‘calls’ a 5x BB raise still in EP? Not many … and those are prob only AA or a gutsy KK – I really should have (and normally would have) seen this coming – However it has been a valuable reminder to me … and hopefully a reminder / lesson / piece of knowledge to you.

It was a random flop because if it was littered with over cards then it ‘might’ have slowed me down, however with an over pair I have to protect so it’s a tricky one.

So keep an eye out for those pesky callers

Cheers

Duff

As it happened I was reading the table very well and noting the weak players (pretty much everyone!) – I will be the first to admit that I certainly hit a very good run of cards in the middle (AA three times, KK, KQs, AQu, AJu etc) – This put me in good stead to use my aggression to my advantage – Afterall the real point to take from this is the fact that:

“People make the adjustment to your play on the third try” – Not always a rule but in a cheapy sit n go it’s a case of almost certainty.

Come on we’ve all noticed it subconsciously … (here’s 3 hands in a row)
Example: -

Hand 1. You raise with T7u on the button, because you are bored / impatient and the SB and BB think ..”he must have something good …Fold”

Hand 2. You are now in the cutoff position with KTu and think “Yeah, Let’s go again” – this time the button, SB and BB all know you’re prob on the make but don’t have a hand to come back at you with ………. so again “Fold”

Hand 3. Bingo!! You get AA and there’s even a few limpers before you! – Suddenly you raise and amazingly their train of thought on the more observant crew on the table of “you can’t possibly have 3 hands in a row that good … reraise!!” – Suddenly the chips are flying in and they can’t believe their luck when they get ruined by your AA and start in the chat box with “lucky boy” etc etc.

The key lesson is there that you are “making your own Good Luck!” – give it a try .. it works.

I’m still not actually getting to my point about the weakest player ever, but here goes.

Once we were down to 5 players or so, without naming names, we’ll call him Mr Weak, this guy would consistently call on the SB only to fold when the BB raised him – Clearly this Mr W did not take the hint and he kept on doing giving away his chips – He never raised anything all game and so clearly we all folded when he did and was basically ultra passive – needless to say we got rid of him although he did get lucky and came 3rd! – lesson here peeps is that severly weak, passive play won’t get you very far …. and you certainly won’t be winning many big prizes!

I got my QQ ruined by A8u Heads up and was fairly content with my 2nd place before retiring off to bed (not as quick as I had planned afterall but fun all the same )

Let us know of some ultra weak plays that you’ve seen

Cheers

Duff

So with this in mind I thought “Let’s hit the small tables and go nuts!” – However, after a few plays of crazyness I soon calmed down and found to be thoroughly enjoying myself. I found myself starting with $3 and constantly winning $10 in as many minutes with no effort at all.

I’m not boasting here but would merely like to point out that it is a great learning ground for players who want to have a whirl at No Limit for as little as a few bucks.

The simplest fundamentals of the game are lacking from most of players on there and so there’s money to be made by sticking to such points as: Playing Position, The Gap concept, Simple Odds & taking notes.

Give it a try yourself if you find you’ve been struggling recently – get back the fundamentals and the rest will follow

Happy Days

Let me know how you get on

Duff

I’m trying to save you some cash here guys! – Time after time I see people going all in with hands preflop that they could have got away from, only to get called by a monster!

Take last night’s sit n go for example – 8 players left, I’m sitting there in late position with AA (hoping that someone gets excited!) – Blinds are currently only 50/100 and I have 2650 – a guy in middle position goes all in for 2300 and naturally after a nanosecond I decide to call

he turns over 88 and I’m 80% / 20% to win (which I do)

Let’s re-run it from that guys POV ,seeing how else he could have played it – No one has entered the pot and he decides to raise it 3xBB (300) – it gets folded round to me who can do one of two things: Call or Raise – Definite raise here me thinks – Lets say that I crank it up to 1600 . When it gets back to him he has a decision:

Total pot =  1600 + 300 + 150 (blinds) = 2050
He has to call 1300 more – he is getting odds of 1.58/1

Scenario 1: He folds and still has 2000 in chips to fight another day and is still very well placed in the tourney.
Scenario 2: He calls the 1.58/1 odds and is out of position on the flop.
Scenario 3: He now moves all in for his extra 700 hoping that I will fold (very unlikely! ) or have an under pair

Some odds: He is 7.5/1 against hitting a set on the flop
He is 3.5/1 against to see a flop of all undercards
With him holding 88 he can say that I will be holding a range of hands. We’ll say that he puts me on holding either a Pair ranging from AA-TT or on high cards ranging from AK-AJ (and he’d be right! ). Putting me on these hands I have a 38% chance of holding a pair, that therefore leaves me with a 62% chance of holding the overcards.

If I’m holding an overpair he is likely to win 20%
If I’m holding two overcards he is likely to win 55%  (we’ll say for the ease that it’s 50%)

Poker Hand Analysis: The sums: 0.38(0.20) + 0.62(0.50) = 0.39
So he has a 39% chance of winning which is 1.61/1 (therefore making either his call or moving all in a bad move)

Overall it’s not looking great and I would say that the best policy would be to lay them down gracefully – You have a player (me) who has been pretty tight and solid up until now suddenly re-raising! It’s unlikely that it’s an underpair so you are either a 20% dog or are in a coin flip scenario. Do you want to risk your tournament on these odds?! I wouldn’t.

You have stated that you have a good hand … I’ve stated that mine is better … get over it and move onto the next one, get your chips in when you have the best of it

cheers

(Life Lesson: Always try to leave yourself an exit strategy. Don’t blindly devote everything you have to a cause without assessing all the facts first).

In case you’re not aware of what I’m talking about, a normal Post Oak Bluff is making a small bet (normally on river) in a reverse psychology effort to make them think that they are falling into a trap and therefore fold. However … How often have you seen in the low limit sit n go’s a short stack betting half or less of his / her stack into a monster pot?! Loads of times; trust me and they always have it!

Next time you see a short stack not putting all their chips in the pot .. beware!! You have been warned

should I have raised on the flop or re-raised on the river (rather than calling).  I suspect I should have done both…?

If there is a better poker player at the table than you then do not get involved as much. You stand a much better chance of making money by picking chips off of the weaker players.

There is nothing wrong with getting involved with better poker players, just don’t expect to win as much. Keep your wits about you and use your judgment to make the right calls.

Oedipus

Motown

Jeff Talley

Flat Tyre, No Thanks Barry, The BazzyG

30 Miles of Bad Road

Broderick Crawford, Over and Out, Roger That, The Good Buddy, Convoy

Doyle Brunson, Texas Dolly

Oldsmobile

Popeye’s, Phil Hellmuth

Dolly Parton, Hard Working Man

Joe Montana Banana

Pocket Snowmen, Two Fat Ladies, Dawg Balls, Racetracks

Sven

Saturn, Mullets, Sunset Strip, Walking Sticks

RPM

Beer Hand

The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, The Beast, Devil’s Area Code

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American Airlines, Pocket Rockets, Bullets.

Big Slick, Anna Kournikova, Walking Back to Houston, Santa Barbara

Machine Gun (AK-47)

Little Slick, Big Chick

Steel Wheel, Bike

Dead Man’s Hand

Hunting Season

Ashtray

The Four Horsemen

Alabama Night Riders, Three Wise Men

Cowboys, King Kong, Kangaroos

Royal Couple, Marriage

Kojak, King John, Knob Jockey, Knob Jockster, Tuscon Monster

Sawmill, Pair of Dogs, Unit, Fido, Canine

Commander Crab, King Crab

Ladies, Jailhouse Rock, Sigfried and Roy, 4 Tits, Flower Girls, Hilton Sisters

Maverick

Robert Varkonyi, Quint

The Computer Hand

San Francisco Bus Boy, Gay Waiter

Rock And Roll, Jackson Five, Motown

Jackass

Harry Potter, Jamiroquai

Thats it for today, more tomorrow!