Poker Tropical

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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I have to say that recently, I have found myself becoming an Omaha convert. I enjoy playing Holdem as much as the next player, but recently, I have been playing Omaha far more often, and seeing better results too.

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Having spent my early days playing Five Card Draw and then moving on to Holdem, I know that you always maintain that affection for games which have captured your imagination in the past. I know that for that reason, I will always be more than happy to play Holdem, or Five Card Draw. I cannot deny though, that when I look at the tournament schedule online now, the first thing I look for are Omaha tournaments.

The reasoning for this is firstly that I seem to make more profit from it, but there are other reasons to love Omaha too.
Once you understand how to play the game, you will see that it is a far more action packed game than Holdem, with stronger hands being made. The fact that everyone is making stronger hands means that you are required to be far more skillful in your folds too.
In essence, your reading of situations, board cards, and potential dangers too your hand which is very important in Holdem, becomes part and parcel of every hand in Omaha.

For those that love to get involved in hands and play poker rather than be patient, Omaha is a much better game, as at the lower stakes you will see far more flops and excitement.

In a game of Omaha hi/lo you find yourself with a very strong hand of (As,Ac,2s,3c). As anyone who knows about hi/lo Omaha can tell you, this is a dream starting hand, but if a player in early position raises the pot, how should you respond?

Some people might feel that the most obvious response is to reraise. This would have the effect of narrowing the pot down from potentially four or five players, to perhaps two or three. In many pocker variants you would say that this is favourable to prevent you being outdrawn quite so often, but in omaha hi/lo, I would offer a different opinion.

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Consider the fact that many combinations of three low cards hitting the board will give you the nut low hand. In this situation, would you rather be splitting two players chips? Or four players chips? If you flat call preflop, you allow more players into the pot, but with a hand where you have a very strong chance of taking at least half the pot, and so it is worth allowing extra players in. If you reraise and push players out, you end up splitting a pot to get only your own investment back and you make no progress. Although there is extra risk involved, I think the extra chips you will probably be stacking up make it worthwhile.

Also remember that three clubs or spades arriving on an unpaired board will almost certainly win you the high half of the pot outright too, and in that case again, the more players in the pot, the better.

In the big blind, you find yourself with (9,9) and the action is folded around to the small blind. You know this player to be aggressive, and true to form, they decide to put in a strong raise equating to about a quarter of your stack. This is problematic in the sense of you having a fairly strong, yet vulnerable hand, and the amount of chips it will cost you to get involved.

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Personally, I feel that with your opponent being aggresive in nature and the preflop raise coming from the small blind, this does look very much like a clear cut blind steal attempt. I would be tempted to to push all in, partly to ward the opponent off from trying the same thing again. Remember that bullies prey on the weak, and aggressive blind stealers are no different. If they see a player throwing away many hands and passively capitulating often when raised preflop, they will target that players big blind if position allows them to.

Despite all this, in the situation at hand, there is another option in the shape of flat calling. I do not think I would fold at all in this position because of the circumstances surrounding the raise, but a flat call can give you the chance to get away if the flop is too dangerous. If the cards on the flop are all lower than a 9, or if a 9 hits, then this is a prime position to be in I feel. The aggressive player is very likely to be behind, and very likely to put in a raise anyway, because the board will not look overly dangerous (unless the board is a 9 and two big cards that our opponent hasn’t hit).

If we flat call and see a horrible flop of (J,K,A) or something similar, then at least we didn’t commit everything preflop, and that is regardless of whether our opponent would or would not have folded if we had. If we do make these sort of all in pushes preflop, it does often force our opponent to fold, but if they do call with two overcards, we’re 50/50 for all our chips, and that is not a favourable position to be in.

This week I went along to my local tournament feeling rather refreshed after having a couple of weeks away from poker over christmas. Upon arriving I found out that a new league was going to be starting off again after the success of the last one, which added some extra excitement to proceedings.

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(I managed a very respectable 4th place in the grand final tournament at the end of last years league).
In the first half an hour or so I had one confrontation of note, after limping into a pot from late position with (Ks,5s). Of course I didn’t have much of a hand, but I do sometimes like to see some action early on when the blinds are very small. I picked up a straight draw on the flop which then became a straight by the turn, however I was wary of a bigger straight. Due to this possibility, I cautiously flat called my opponents bets, only to find he had a two pair right up until he made his full house on the river. It could have been far more damaging than it was though, and I only lost 1,000 of my 6,500 stack. Later on I also checked down a top pair feling I was outkickered and was proved right, and so my damage limitation skills were certainly on form.

The killer blow came after just over an hour though with the blinds at 200/400. In very late position with two limpers, I decided to move all in with (A,10) reasoning that if either limper had a stronger hand than (A,10) they would have raised the pot themselves, and so couldn’t possibly call me. It was simple logic, yet perhaps flawed, as the more inexperienced player who had limped in, called, then turned over (J,J).

I hit my Ace, but then she hit her Jack too, an so it was all over. I perhaps shouldn’t have been quite so aggressive on that hand, but my reasoning was fine seeing as anyone in their right minds, in early position, with (J,J)…really should have raised preflop. But alas that is poker for you, players and cards will always surprise you when you least want them to.

Some might feel that the days of Seven Card Stud are for the most part, past. The game used to be the most popular form of poker, and you will often find older players will know the game far better than the younger generations, as is the case with Razz too. Despite this, Seven Card Stud does have it’s followers, and is still one of the three main games offered on most online sites.

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The game begins with two cards dealt face down and one face up, to each player participating. Following this is a round of betting, then another card face up for each player. Another two face up cards are dealt to each player with a round of betting between each one, followed by a final card face down. In this way, players will all have their own board cards, some of which will be exposed, and some concealed. This of course gives extra scope for bluffing and representation of hands during play.

I am sure variants of poker will continue to go in and out of fashion, and perhaps there will be a return to popularity for Seven Card Stud somewhere down the line. As long as online poker rooms continue to offer these games and tutorials on how to play them, I am sure that will always be players who can play games other than Holdem.

Most of us know, that much of what makes poker what it is, revolves around the mind, and making correct decisions with confidence.

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This has always been the case, but there are other psychological aspects of the game which are just as a important. With any game or sport, I feel there will always be a level of faith in yourself, which when knocked back by failure, can hamper your successes in the following games. I certainly felt a sense of this a few weeks ago when my poker was not going well, but there will always be a catalyst somewhere down the line which gets your confidence back on track. I think that poker is one game which is affected more than most in this regard, although I can only really say that from my own personal experience.

The catalyst for my resurgence of confidence, was picking up some good cards early on in a big tournament, when I really hadn’t expected to be there long when I turned up to play. As the cards fell in my favour I began to play better poker, eventually taking my good result in that tournament and the confidence it brought, on to the following one. I played without fear of failure and trusted my judgement 100% and went on to win. This just shows what a spark of success can do for you when you are feeling like you are losing no matter how hard you try.

Sometimes trying too hard in itself can be counterproductive, a better approach can sometimes be to turn up simply to enjoy a game, without any real expectations. Everyone is different of course, and the main thing is that you do not give up on the game entirely. When everyhing seems to be going against you, as I found out, it will always turn around sooner or later.