Hand Of The Day

Usually, at the microstakes, I take an UTG min-raise to be strong. I assume that people's logic is that they don't want to limp and miss out on action / building the pot, but they don't want to scare people off either or they want to induce a re-raise. I see it all the time. Case in point, see the hand below. I always view this action with suspicion and would advise people to keep their raises standardized. Since the UTG player was half-stacked and I had QQ, I was happy to get it all in pre-flop.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($23.95)
SB ($28.95)
Hero (BB) ($28.95)
UTG ($9.95)
MP ($26.20)
CO ($25.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, Q
UTG bets $0.50, 3 folds, SB calls $0.40, Hero raises to $2, UTG raises to $9.95 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $7.95

Flop: ($20.40) 10, 4, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($20.40) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($20.40) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $20.40 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
UTG mucked A, K (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $19.40

Poker

Hand Of The Day

A case of making the wrong move at the right time. SB had been super tight and the 4x 3bet screamed over-pair. The range I was putting him on was QQ+, AK....and I called. Even though I have 36% equity against this range, I'm not quite getting the right price. I do have position, but what flop do I really want to see? Even if I get my dream flop (which I do...except for a flop that includes a 10, of course) I'm going to be guessing. There's no need to put yourself in these spots in the micro-stakes. I wouldn't hate calling pre-flop to set-mine if we were each 200bb's deep, but the effective stacks don't make this profitable. I get a pretty good flop for my hand and a 3/4-pot bet. I spend all of my time bank trying to talk myself into him having AK. I make a bad call. I turn my gin card and we get it all in. Terrible play on my part.

Further reading:

Don't Call 3-bets To Set Mine
Debunking Myths About Implied Odds


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($28.20)
UTG ($25.35)
MP ($12.05)
Hero (CO) ($45.60)
Button ($5.30)
SB ($24.75)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 10, 10
2 folds, Hero bets $0.80, 1 fold, SB raises to $3.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $2.70

Flop: ($7.25) 5, 2, 9 (2 players)
SB bets $5.25, Hero calls $5.25

Turn: ($17.75) 10 (2 players)
SB bets $16 (All-In), Hero calls $16

River: ($49.75) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $49.75 | Rake: $2.40

New Poker After Dark This Week

This week is a new Poker After Dark series on NBC. Celebrities and Mentors Week, as they are calling it, includes Barry Greenstein, Jason Alexander, Phil Gordon, Orel Hershiser, Don Cheadle and Gavin Smith playing for $120,000. Given the line-up, the level of poker doesn't seem like it will be that high. If you don't want to stay up to watch it, it's online here.

Hand Of The Day

I ran this hand by a couple friends. This was a Stars WSOP qualifier. Payout structure was more or less winner take all. 50 players remaining out of 230. I'm 7th overall with 38bb. UTG had been fairly active stealing blinds, but not getting too out of line or 4betting. Didn't have a well-developed read on UTG+1 but he was playing 21/12 over a relatively small sample. By the time the final decision is to me, I'm putting them each on 10+, AQ+. I put those ranges in PokerStove and it looks like I've got 28% equity...and have to call 46k to win 113k.

Hero? I think I made a mistake in folding...not because of the outcome, but even if their ranges were a little tighter the nature of the payout structure should nudge the decision in the direction of a call. I'm still not sure how I feel about flatting pre- with the AKo.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $30+$3 Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 200 Ante (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t91474)
BB (t29750)
UTG (t59025)
UTG+1 (t37652)
MP1 (t113668)
MP2 (t8356)
Hero (CO) (t76076)
Button (t53538)

Hero's M: 16.54

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, K
UTG bets t5140, UTG+1 raises to t12000, 2 folds, Hero calls t12000, 3 folds, UTG raises to t58825 (All-In), UTG+1 calls t25452 (All-In), 1 fold

Flop: (t91504) 9, 3, A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t91504) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t91504) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t91504
Main pot: t91504 between UTG and UTG+1, won by UTG+1

Results:
UTG had J, J (full house, Aces over Jacks).
UTG+1 had Q, Q (full house, Aces over Queens).
Outcome: UTG+1 won t91504

Where To Begin With Online Poker

So you want to play poker online. Let's assume that you've never played online before. Where to begin?

Let's say you have $150 to deposit. There are some things that you're going to want/need:

1. Humility. As a beginner, you're just not that good. The quickest way to ruin is to overestimate your abilities, so you're going to need to get some instruction.

2. Sites on which to play.

3. It's probably a little too soon to start talking about this, but eventually, you're going to want PokerTracker3 or Hold'em Manager. Both are poker tracking software that will give you stats on your opponents, let you review your sessions and keep track of your wins/losses.

Here's what I'd suggest and my rationale:

There are a lot of sites that offer a lot bonus offers. The beginning player, however, will find that gaining the full bonus can often be very difficult. If you want to be successful, learn to swim first and you won't drown.

First, I'd join two forums. Make a habit of reading a thread or two a day. Next, I'd join a training site, such as PokerSavvy+. They have a free trial that lasts a week. Sign up and watch as many videos as you can. If you cancel before the week is up, you won't be charged. For now, don't bother to watch videos on how to play $1000NL heads up, just learn to tread water first. Watch, for example, Andrew "ama0330" Arnott's 'Low Limit NLHE Essentials' series.

Poker sites: What follows assumes that you do not already have accounts on the sites mentioned. There are a lot of sites on which you can play poker. For those who worry about reliability and desire good customer service, I'd stick to the big two that allow US players, namely PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com. Before you rush out and start downloading software, pause for a moment as we consider how we might want to go about this.

I'd join PokerStars.com through PokerSavvy.com's point system and deposit $100. In addition to PokerStars deposit bonus, where they match the first $50 of your deposit - released after aquiring the required FPP's, you'll receive 1000 points from PokerSavvy once you earn 500 FPP's on PokerStars. What will you do with those points? My suggestion would be to visit the PokerSavvy.com shop and order Hold'em Manager or PokerTracker3. They will also include a free month of PokerSavvy+ with the purchase of either software, giving you another month of free video instruction. Use your remaining points to get an Amazon.com gift certificate for $25 and use it to order a poker book.

Suggestions:



I'd join FullTiltPoker through PokerSavvy's Rakeback Program and deposit $50 at FullTiltPoker - which they will match once you've earned enough FPP's. The 'rake' is the scaled commission fee taken by a casino operating a poker game. Rakeback programs return a percentage of that fee to you. PokerStars does not have a rakeback program, but FullTilt does. You'll want to take advantage of this in order to boost your bankroll while you get your feet wet.

With the forums, video instruction, a book, and rakeback...you'll be on your way.

Just a cautionary word, however. It is important that you play within your bankroll. For beginners, I recommend playing cash games in which you have 25 full buy-in's. So, if you had a $50 bankroll, you should be playing the .01/.02 stakes, until you have a bankroll of $125 and can move up to .02/.05. Having these limits in place will help you avoid going bust from the normal variance of the game.