Poker Tropical

There are many types of game you can find in a home poker game, but I would say the tournament style of play has become more popular. The only negative aspect of playing tournaments at a home game would be that once someone is eliminated, they have to sit out. There are of course ways around this, such as playing a rebuy tournament, or simply setting up a side game if you have enough chips spare.

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The most original games of poker are generally recorded as being cash games, I suppose this is because it is much easier to set up a game when all you need is a deck of cards and a pocket full of money. Despite the game having its roots in cash games, I feel that the tournament is more synonomous with the game of poker. There is something about trying to prosper and survive by outwitting those around you, which is extremely enjoyable. The knowledge that one mistake could be your last in a no limit tournament, makes it all the more thrilling.

There are many different tournament types evolving online these days, with bounty tournaments, double or nothing tournaments, and all manner of new twists on the original poker tournament. Call me old fashioned, but none of the newer tournaments really appeal to me as much as the regular freezeout variety.

Tournaments are great to play in for many reasons, and it says a lot, that it is tournament play that decides world champions, and major events across the world. Of course deciding them with cash play would be impractical, but the whole feel of getting far into a freezeout tournament, is unlike any other type of poker game I feel.

Each year the schedule for the WSOP is announced before it begins, and whilst there are tournaments that will always be a fixture, there are sometimes new tournaments added too. This year, there have been many interesting tournaments scheduled, with each of the best known games having their own ‘World Championship’ event.

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These events have started to feature more heavily in recent years, and I think that they effectively provide a more expensive buy in tournament that attracts a small field peppered with professionals. This is good for the game I feel, as it gives people the chance to see professionals sat around the same tables playing great poker against each other.

In the regular bracelet events, we do of course see some professional players ocassionall. However, with huge starting fields, and buy ins that do not provide enormous prize pools, professional players do not seem to feel this is the best use of their time.

I must say that I do have a slight fear of these $10k buy in World Championship events, becoming something very special. Consequently, the bracelets for regular events could become devalued in terms of prestige. This would take away the magic of a normal everyday poker player being able to turn up at the WSOP with their cash, and walk away having achieved a dream. Despite my slight concerns in this area, I cannot deny the fact that the World Championship events provide great entertainment, and are seeming to capture a lot of peoples imagination.

The fundamental equipment needed to play poker can be purchased freely online these days, with many online stores around, some of which are attached to poker rooms.

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Most of this equipment is reasonably priced, especially so if you are using points from poker play in an online store.
We all need cards to play poker, but chips are more of an essential tournament play item. With both of these items, there are higher quality goods, and there are lower quality goods.

Personally I find that even at the lower end of the market the poker chips and cards serve their function well enough, so it really comes down to how sophisticated you want your equipment to look and how much you want to spend.
It is important you acquire these supplies if you wish to start a home game, and some basic equipment can be bought with relative ease.

I haven’t ever seen a shop on the street which caters solely to poker equipment, but that does not mean that you cannot pick up some basic supplies whilst in town. Just look for any shops related to non computerised gaming and you are likely to find basic cards and chips there. For more high quality goods I really feel you would have to order them online, but that in itself is easy enough. From my experience of buying playing cards, nice quality decks of cards are usually bought as a pair, for around $20. Chip sets vary depending on the type and number of chips in the set, but most accessories can be looked up and purchased at the click of a mouse.

The following hands show how quickly a tournament can change in poker, as my reasonable stack of 16,000 disappeared in the space of three or four hands.

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The first of these hands involved me trying to force my way to a pot on the turn, when I really should have known that I was being slow played when I was flat called on the flop. This led to a hand shortly afterwards when I was probably still a little frustrated by my error. I had 1,200 already invested in the pot from the big blind, and one of the players moved all in for around 4,200. This would mean that around half my remaining stack was on the line, but I felt my opponent could be weak as the raise had come from late position. With (Kc,Qs) I made the call, and was delighted to see the hand I was up aginst, (Q,10). I couldn’t ask for a better position to be in, and was happy enough with the flop and turn that missed both of us. With only three tens left in the deck for my opponent to hit, I was left feeling desperately unlucky as the (10s) landed on the board.

Still hurting somewhat from the previous hand, I decided to take a shot at the blinds with (10h,Jh). For some reason the big blind decided to call with (Ks,3c) and neither of us hit any of the board cards.

Each of these hands played their part in ending my tournament, but I did not really feel at fault for the second two hands. I had to get aggressive with a hand soon when I picked up (Jh,10h) because if you wait too long, you get blinded down so low that several players call you when you do push the rest in.

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We all know about the more populated games to be found online today, with Texas Holdem and Omaha being the most popular of these. Some sites will offer only these better known games, but you can still find some of the lesser known games online, particularly at Pokerstars.

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The other game most regularly offered besides Holdem and Omaha, is probably Seven Card Stud. This involves each player having Seven board cards which only they can use to make their hand. There is a betting round after the first three cards have been dealt, then after each following card. the first two, and final one card is dealt face down, with the rest of the cards being exposed.

Another fairly commonly found game is Five Card Draw. This involves each player being dealt their own five cards, with a betting round to follow. Then each player can swap or ‘draw’ as many cards as they choose, only once. After this is another betting round followed by a showdown. This was where I learned the basics of poker, and it remains one of my favoured games.

Other obscure games you might find online is Razz. This involves players being dealt cards in a similar pattern to Seven Card Stud, although the aim with Razz is to make the lowest possible hand of unpaired cards. The wheel, (A,2,3,4,5) being the best possible hand.

Sometimes you will find variations of games already mentioned, such as Omaha hi/lo, or Five Card Stud. All these games offer an interesting and enjoyable challenge to players, so if you have never tried them, I would recommend taking a look.

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Having just won an online poker SnG at my current game of choice, 5 Card Draw, it struck me that so many players give you a way back into the game when they have you heavily outchipped. If I am in a dominant position, I like to apply pressure whenever I have any sort of hand and try and wear my opponents right down.

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You only need a few hands in a row where your opponent does not pick up a hand to take the blinds and leave them dangerously short, regardless of how strong your own cards are. It is possible your opponent might pick up a hand and play back at you, in which case you can concede the hand and lose some ground if you do not pick up a strong enough hand to take them on with.

Players allowing me to survive until I pick up a strong hand has been the key factor in me turning a probable 2nd place into a win recently, although in my latest game, sheer aggression alone was not going to be enough to turn things around.

My opponent was calling a lot of bets before the draw meaning I had to wait for some sort of hand, but I was lucky enough to pick up a Straight against his Two Pair twice. That allowed a defecit of 2,500 to 6,500 to become victory in those two hands due to his inability to get away from a hand. The preflop calling that had suffocated my desire to play aggressively and pick up blinds, was what I eventually turned to my advantage, giving me the victory.

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With (Ks,Kh) our player makes a raise from the small blind and is called by the big blind. The flop comes down (5c,8c,9c) Our small blind immediately shoves all in and is called by (Ac,6s). The turn is a (5) and the (7) completes the Straight for the big blind player. I saw this hand being discussed by other players and so thought I would share some thoughts on the play in this article.

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The small raise from the small blind is fine in my opinion, limping would also be fine seeing as th action has been folded around.
the big problem for our player holding Kings comes by way of the flop. The flop is about as ugly as it could be without containing an Ace. Sometimes, the play of shoving all in will work for the player with pocket Kings, if his opponent does not have a set, a Straight, or some combination containing the nut Flush draw… It will probably work, but only through sheer luck of the opponent not having a hand. If you do happen to walk into a big hand, it’s already too late to take your chips back.

He is a little unlucky that the Straight or Flush card does arrive, but in my opinion, he could have put out a medium sized bet to try and judge if his opponent had connected or had a club draw on the flop, and then made a good lay down later in the hand once he had bought this information. He would then have given himself the chance to make a good fold and save the majority of his stack, rather than shoving, then praying, then ultimately finding he has walked into a hand.

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In the early stages of the tournament, I picked up (Qd,8d) and decided to call from late position to take a flop. The flop came down (Q,6,9) and I led out with a small bet to try and find out where my hand was. Two players folded, and the third, after some thought, flat called.

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The turn brought a (7) to give me an open ended straight draw, and I bet out strongly for 800. I knew my opponent was a solid player, and so when he reraised to 2,000 I really had to feel I was beaten. After considering things for a while I decided to trust my instincts that he had hit a straight. I had made a small bet on the flop, and whilst I thought it would have been loose by his standards to call hoping to hit a 7, there was already enough in the pot for him to perhaps feel it was worth it. I couldn’t see any other hand that he would then put out a big reraise with when the 7 came down, and so I folded.

My opponent had indeed hit a straight in this hand, and part of me felt that I should have bet out bigger on the flop. The problem is of course that with three other players in the pot, I could easily be behind. I could have called the reraise on the turn too I suppose, but with my read of the situation being that my opponent had already made the straight, I would have been trying to draw to hand that would probably only tie. This was a good fold in the end I feel, despite the fact that I seemed in a relatively strong position on the turn.

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This hand took place this evening in my live game, and played out perfectly for me from start to finish. Having been dealt (As,Qc) in the big blind, the action folded around to the small blind. He flat called, and I put out a small raise. He called, and the flop came down (A,A,J). My opponent put out a 1,200 raise, and after some theatrical consideration, I called. I knew the best he could really have was a weaker Ace, although I felt a Jack was more likely. The turn card was a (2) and my opponent announced he was all in. I quickly called of course, and he mucked his hand. This lead me to believe that he didn’t have as much as a Jack after all, and probably just didn’t feel I could have an Ace.

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Perhaps spending theatrical time thinking on the flop when I already knew I was going to call, helped to induce such an aggressive move, but for whatever reason, he simply didn’t feel I was as strong as three Aces.
If you were to write down the key things never to do in a poker game, representing the hand your opponent has hit would certainly be up there. But of course there was no way he could really know for sure that I had an Ace, the raise preflop was a clue, but then I am known for raising with a wide range of hands sometimes, especially in that preflop situation. His all in bet was brave, I have to say, and if I had been holding a Jack, even (K,J) I would probably have folded.

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In a Holdem game, let us imagine you are dealt (8,8). You make a raise, and one opponent makes a minimum reraise. With only two of you remaining in the pot, I feel you should call and take a flop in this situation, even though the minimum reraise should have set alarm bells ringing.

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Let us say the flop comes down (6s,7c,10d). In this position, you could certainly decide to make a raise I feel, but you would have to be worried if your opponent decides to reraise. This could easily tie in with the small preflop reraise, as them holding a big pair. In most situations, I like to advocate raising to find out where you are, but then checking in this position would put you in the following position. Firstly, your opponent might check behind you giving you the chance to hit your inside straight draw or a set. If this does happen, it is clear that you would rather make the straight than the set, but even if your set does hit, I wouldn’t be overly fearful of the straight. Unless you are up against pocket nines, I cannot see your opponent reraising you preflop with any hand containing a nine.

Another point to consider if you decide to check on the flop, is that your opponent could easily put out a tester bet if they were holding a hand such as (A,K). If you are faced with a raise, then putting in a reraise, will often force your opponent off the pot I feel. You might ask, well what happens if the opponent comes over the top with another reraise? In this position I think you can safely say you are behind in the hand, probably to a bigger pocket pair, and you can then say almost certainly, you have Six outs. Work out the pot odds from there and make the best decision, but usually, folding will be the right choice.

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