Poker Strategy

A Turtle Play

A growing number of Texas Holdem poker players are confused about when to slow play in the game and when is the exact time to not slow play a big hand. Sure you always want to maximize the value when you flop a straight, a full house, or a top set. However, there’s this question that’s bothering most of these poker players. Is it always a wise option to slow play? Allow me to go through this issue for your convenience.

Before you make any decision, ask yourself first what Poker hand type do you intend to slow play. But don’t forget that there are poker opponents who are a bit trickier. Let’s say you got a top two pair, would you prefer slow playing this hand? Also, when you got a flush draw or straight potential, would you slow play the potential?

In some cases getting a hand which you can outdraw hinders you from slow playing. Sire, you’d want to move and begin catching value as you push out any possible Poker draws. For instance, you got to pick pocket deuces and you limp with it then the flop becomes 2-J-10. And since you already have a set of deuces, would you slow play the hand now? And should any of my opponents call a bet, I will surely go for a raise, and it will definitely be a strong raise. If I got the chance to act first, then I will more likely make a bet of pot sized. It may look like a counterintuitive scene for those who wish to disguise his hand strength. But missing this chance may end up to a waste of set should you not bet your hand in pushing the draws.

Next thing you have to prepare for is facing a Poker player who plays as a rock. What makes him a rock? Well, he simply makes a raise with only a big pair, which is A-K suited. The moment he hits hard a flop, he will bet on it so you have to be ready. In the later part, you are expected to hold a K-Q set on hand while the rock player will raise a pre-flop and you have to decide by then to speculate what he’s holding in his hand. If the flop falls to a K-K-Q set, then you have successfully hit the nuts against the poker rock. It is right then that you have to decide whether or not you slow play the hand. You must also be ready when the rock player calls you a bet. If he hit hard the flop, it’s given that he is probably holding a Q-Q pair. It’s until then when Online Poker players will try to make raise on him.

The flop falls K-K-Q.  You have hit the current nuts against the rock.  Now you must decide if you will slow play this hand.  If the rock bets into you, what will you do?  First, the rock bet into you which mean that he probably hit this flop hard, probably with Q-Q.  Some people would try and raise him here.

If I were you, should this rock player begins playing comfortably to the point that he makes a bet, then I would willing to accept his bet. He might be holding an A-K set or Aces to outdraw me, but what he got is an A-A then I doubt it if he would still continue calling a bet.

Tags:
Bet, Online Poker, Poker, Texas Holdem

WSOP Legend – Doyle Brunson

Doyle Brunson, alias “Texas Dolly” who stands alone just likes a legendary person in the name Poker world. Maybe he evaluated his self as an over qualified in WSOP. Even at this time he plays a large number of competitions in the game poker and it’s complicated to visualize “Texas Dolly” was not at the World Series of Poker. Doyle owns 10 WSOP bracelets furthermore still annoying to add his bracelets to 11th. Doyle got his foremost bracelet in World Series in the year 1976 when he was greatly slighter and got his 10th bracelet in year 2005. It is an elongated expedition for Doyle, the type of expeditions you create cinema regarding. I rather visualize Texas Dooly may possibly acquaint with legend for days concerning his pass days of competing in back rooms as well as periling his life being a poker enthusiast. Passing across them all and have fun next to the most excellent in four unlike decades. Anything says Doyle Brunson is the most excellent forever it doesn’t matter everybody respects him as well as recognizes he is the best among the best performers to ever fool around the Poker game.

The term Super System, identified as the “poker constitutions and by-laws”, Doyle was the author, altered the poker planet without end. In 1978 the normal competitor at the present had the skill to distinguish how the in favor of were creating currency take part in Texas Holdem. If still not read Super System, better to have one. This volume is still applicable these days, and got some idea how to engage in recreation about the game as a professional. Doyle believed that his writing has lot of expenditure, the amateurs become because of his book.

Doyle is identified as a Texas Holdem enthusiast, but he possibly will be the top all in the region of poker enthusiast to still exist. In No Limit Holdem, Brunson got the bracelets, Deuce to Seven Draw, Seven Card Stud, RAZZ plus HORSE. By the year 1979 Doyle again triumph a Mixed Doubles episode along with Starla Brodie. For that 10 bracelets in all ‘Dolly” succeed four of them by competing No Limit Holdem. The major cash price that Doyle Brunson has was the one when he prevails at the Shorthanded No Limit Holdem bracelet in excess of $350,000 at the World Series. And that could assist you appreciate how great deal the game have tainted, in the year 1976 Doyle prepared $230,000 for pleasing the major event. 1976 Doyle Brunson won two bracelets in the Main Poker Event also in the Deuce to Seven Draw.

Doyle’s hand known as the 10 – 2, he won nonstop up to main events cleave to the two hole hands in 1976 and 1977. In ‘76 Doyle Brunson hit Jesse Alto by Heads up that’s came from at the rear to build full house, once more in’77 with at hand 10 – 2 Doyle again coming behind creating a full hose next to Gary Berland. The 10- 2 cards is one among the worst cards in poker and evermore will be acknowledged the same as “Doyle Brunson”, Doyle occasionally will play the hand when he is on the TV show just for show. He changed poker a lot since succeed in main events in 1976 in attendance were twenty-two contestants in the competition and 34 competitors in 1977 measure up to the thousands that come in each year now. In 1977 Doyle got six bracelets, but in 1980 he did not win any. In 1991 Brunson add his next bracelet from the time 1979, with take home of $2,500, in No Limit Holdem event that exceed than $200,000. In 1998 in a RAZZ tournament, again Doyle succeeds, but in 2003 expecting again to prove that he may possibly still get big competitions when he make it in HORSE event. “Texas Dolly” again won his 10th WSOP bracelet by year 2005 captivating home in the event of Shorthanded.

Doyle Brunson got married in 1962 with Louise. Blessed with three kids, like father like son, Todd became also an expert poker competitor himself. Both of them Todd and Doyle are the original father and son permutation to succeed in WSOP bracelets. Doyle’s daughter Pamela as well plays and bring into being successor in 2007 Series. Doyle conquered big problems in his living for he got disease in the near the beginning of 1960’s so as to said untreatable. The doctors believed it was a miracle when the operation was finished because no cancer may possibly be found. Doyla, his daughter at peace when she got 18 years old and Doyle back to religion to obtain him all the way through the hard-hitting times.

At this time Doyle Brunson recurrent the major currency games in Las Vegas and take part in numerous competitions a year. He competes in the WSOP annually in Las Vegas as well as in Europe. He earned in excess of $2,800,000 in his WSOP line of business, and keep on the trail to get his 11th bracelet. This year 2008 with big runs in two tournaments, come to an ending 21st in event 8th and in the World Championship of HORSE he completed at 16th. At a WSOP tournament, Doyle has completed in the top 10, in 23 times with that number I know he will continue to rise. He got 31 totality cashes during his business and also obtain six in last three progression. With the HORSE competition perhaps the greatest possibility Doyle can make at captivating extra bracelets at some point, Doyle at rest is one among best versatile competitors around the world. In WSOP HORSE events, Brunson have cashed since 2003 four times and sooner than later he might succeed it again.

Texas Dooly developed the competition of poker by means of his book and subsequent to the poker roar he has brought backed himself as the Legendary Players around the world. Countless populace distinguishes “Texas Dolly” that stand alone as the facade of poker. If Babe Ruth in the name of baseball, Wilt Chamberlain in Basketball, Gordie Howe in hockey and what Doyle in the fairy tale of poker. The distinction is you are able to play with Doyle it’s like you can take part in competition or be seated in a tournament and assess your abilities in opposition to the mainly legendary player of poker of the record. Listen to Doyle’s legend and now have the benefit of the detail that you acquired to witness a factual legend of the game poker, seize the moment watch Doyle the legendary “Texas Dolly” play.

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Doyle Brunson, Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Poker, Texas Dolly, Texas Holdem, WSOP

Beginners’ Tips for Holdem

Texas Holdem is enjoyed by millions of poker players, becoming widely popular with the multitude of tournaments being televised all over the world. Below are a few tips for you if want in on the craze.

Knowing how to play your position is crucial in this game. Your position is relative to the dealer button. If there are nine of you in the Poker Games, the first three players to the left of the dealer button are in early position. The next three are in middle position and the last three players are late position. Players that are in late position have an advantage over other players in a hand because they are last to act on any hand. You need very strong hands to make an initial raise from early position and late position players can open with a raise because they typically do not need as strong of a hand.

Beginners should stick to strong hands as they’re still learning the ropes. If you are playing in early position, you will only want to raise with pocket aces, kings, or queens. Ace-king suited can also be raised with from early position. If in the middle position, raising hands should be pocket eights through pocket jacks. Ace queen suited and ace king offsuit are also potential raising poker hands. Late position raising hands are pocket deuces through pocket sevens, ace jack suited, and ace queen off suit.

Another sticky issue with beginners is how much to raise. There are two answers here. The normal play for raising in No Limit Holdem is 3 ½ times the big blind. If the big blind is $2, then the raise would be to $7. This type of raise is typically sufficient to earn the respect of other players at the table. In other games, you will get 6 callers to this raise. Pay close attention to what the other pots have been raised to in prior hands, and adjust your play accordingly. A modified raise is five times the big blind. In some cases it can be nine or even ten times the blind. For those types of games, playing strong hands is crucial.

If you think you have a winning Poker hand, put your money in the Pot Limit holdem. Don’t be afraid to be aggressive. A lot of beginners play too timidly, allowing other players to take free cards and draw out on them. While others will bet, they will bet the minimum or bet an amount too small to force an opponent fold. As you gain more experience, you will find that varying your bet sizes is important. But for now, you typically want to make a bet of around ¾ of the pot size to keep your opponents from having the proper odds to call your bet.

Watch your opponents’ respective betting patterns. Take note of which type of hands a particular player bets big on, for example. This will give you a better feel of how they are doing and how to act for the hand you have.

If you know you’re beat, fold. Don’t stay in a hand when it is obvious that another player has a stronger one. Pay attention to straight and flush possibilities. Many people overvalue one pair and lose a lot of money when met with a draw.

These tips can help you get started but as with everything else, it takes practice.

Tags:
No Limit Holdem, Poker, Poker Games, Texas Holdem

Limit Holdem for Beginners

While No Limit Holdem is at present the most popular variation of Texas Holdem, many people still prefer to play at lower limits and thus choose to play Limit Holdem poker instead. The rules may be the same for both games. However, the games play very different. Here are some basic tips for those who are just new at playing limit holdem.

Game Structure

Let’s first take a look at the betting structure of limit holdem. Pre-flop and on flop, betting is done in the increments of the big blind. In a $2/$4 limit holdem game, betting and raising occurs in $2 increments. On the turn and the river, betting is in the $4 increments. Moreover, there is a limit on the amount of raises allowed in this variation of Texas Holdem. In some cases the maximum allowable number of raises is three. This allows many to play looser then they normally would.

For beginners, playing strong Poker hand is as important in limit holdem as it is in a no limit game. Your playing position is also crucial but the range of starting hands differs. In early position, you can pocket pairs of jacks, aces, ace-king suited, and ace-queen suited. Others include ace-jack suited, and both ace-king and ace-queen unsuited. If you’re in the middle position, you can add both nines and tens to raising hands and ace-king suited as well. Being in the late position allows you to raise a variety of hands. You can add all the other remaining to your list: king-ten suited, queen-jack suited, king-queen off suit, and king-jack off suit. If you face a raise, it is important that you pay close attention to what play you make. This all still depends on what position you’re playing in.

A lot of lower stakes limit holdem games are very loose with at least 4 players seeing the flop. Sometimes you will encounter games that will almost ignore a pre-flop raise. In this case, pay close attention to the players at the table and the types of hands they show down. Sometimes their plays don’t make sense. Don’t be confused. Experienced players tend to do that in limit holdem. Also, don’t play every hand just because there are multiple players in the pot.

Watch what type of players you’re up against. If you are in a soft game, you will want to pay attention to betting patterns. Pay close attention to players who raise often and what hands they’re raising with. Also pay close attention to flop betting by players.

Drawing to straights and flushes are much more common in limit poker than in no limit holdem. In many cases, if you flop a straight or a flush draw, stay in the pot to try and hit your draw. Remember that if you flop an open ended straight draw, eight cards can come to complete your hand. If you flop a flush draw, you’ll have 9 cards that can complete your hand. Stay in the hand unless there is a lot of action ahead of you. If you can see the turn and or river for one bet or for free, then continue but if not, just fold.

You won’t see or need to do a lot of bluffing in limit holdem because it is hard to force a player to fold to just one bet which will basically represent 10% or less of their chips. It would really best to just play relatively straight forward poker.

Tags:
Holdem, Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Poker, Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem Variations

Since being popularized by televised tournaments and cash games, holdem Poker can now be enjoyed by fans at any given time. You can see pros and even amateurs from all over the world battle it out at the tables right in the comforts of your own home. But some, especially those just starting out, don’t realize that they can play various styles of the game online or at the nearest casino. The most popular form seen on TV is the no limit holdem but you can also play limit holdem games, pot limit, or mixed Holdem. All are different from each other and the bets are structured, each having different allowable amount of chips you can bet on any given street.

No Limit Holdem. This is how most players learned how to play and is the variation most commonly played in home games and on television. Playing No Limit Holdem allows you to go all in when it is your turn to bet, regardless of pot size or what street you are on. This game also allows you to be more creative, leaving room for bluffs and big pots. When you go all in, you force your opponents off a hand and makes bluffing easier if you can pull off such a bold move. The problem with this variation though is that inexperienced players will lean too much on the all in bet. This is because these days, this is what they see most poker players do on television – which is basically edited to show the audience the most exciting hands. This is a game that forces you to be on your toes because you even know when you will have to go all in.

Limit Holdem. This variation does away with the all in bet as it is structured in such a way to limit the action. There is a ceiling amount for bets and raises in this game. This is most commonly played in online tables and in the casinos. If you are playing with a $1/$2 blind, the small blind is 50 cents and the big blind is $1. The first two round of betting allows you to raise only a dollar at most. On the fourth and the fifth streets, you can bet in increments of $2. If you have some good poker math skills of a no limit holdem player, you will find that in this game the odds are in your favor to make a lot of calls. For example, you are in a four-way pot from the button with a $1/$2 blind with two bets per round. When it is your turn to make your final decision with the hand, the pot will already be about $42. You call $4 and you have top pair. Question is, can you lay down top pair getting a price of 10.5-1 even if you think you’re beat? Answering questions like this one is what makes a good limit holdem player.

Pot limit holdem. Here, the maximum amount you can bet is what’s in the pot. This is like playing a no limit holdem game only you’re not allowed to go all in unless the pot is bigger than your stack. The minimum bets are the same. In online games, these are automatically calculated for you so it will be kind of frustrating to do this on your own when you’re playing a home game. It is important that you include a call in the size of a pot size bet before you calculated the final total.

Mixed Texas Holdem. This variation combine two game limits in one. It allots a specified amount of time to play a particular variation then switching to another one after and so on and so forth. You can be playing no limit at first and then switch to limit holdem after. This is an interesting game, depending on which variation you’re better at. If you think you can play both extremely well then this variation is for you. But what is more important is how well you are able to cope with the switch.

While it’s not really all that bad to specialize in one style of Texas Holdem, it won’t hurt much to give the other variation a try. Improving your skills in one style can help you develop your game in another. Just keep an open mind about it.

Most of online poker rooms offer texas holdem poker games in Limit, Pot Limit, No Limit and mixed versions o. Visit poker reviews website to find out your choice of online poker room to play texas holdem poker.

Tags:
Holdem, Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Poker, Texas Holdem

On the Verge

Texas Holdem turns out to be an emotional poker game. You won’t believe it! But I tell you, it involves driven swings coupled with hard-hitting decisions. So if you aren’t tough enough to face all these, you’ll be on a verge of enduring the negative vibes. You might even lose hope because all you think about is your poor performance in the game. There are instances when you will try to play tight but cannot pick up even a single good poker card or you are playing loose but remain to call down.

It is indeed a negative feeling that anyone wishes to get rid off. But they just can’t because they have no other way to escape from tilt. It is always expected to happen, and if you can overcome this will determine how good you are in playing.

In my case, I associate tilt to a rolling table that is trying to get rid off you. And since it’s a rolling table, poker chips will also keep moving in the sway of the table. Now, would you be able to control its sway? If you say yes, then you are also more likely to hold on your emotions. Many poker players, however, are not good at handling tilt or perhaps, they are not aware of its symptoms.

Playing in cash games won’t bother you much since you can get up from your seat and breathe some fresh air. But it’s the other way around when playing in tournaments. You are only given one choice, and that is to play against all odds. You really have to figure out a good means of controlling your emotions.

Talking about figuring out a tilt will lead us to a discussion about the various Online Poker forms of tilt, which actually corresponds to every poker player.

The Cards – Always remember that a tight player is most exposed to tilt. Let’s take a look at this instance, when you wait to pick for big hands but it did not come, expect all players to get frustrated. If the cards affect you, then it is when the Poker Games starts to get single dimensional. There are two possible things to happen. It’s either the most awaited big hand won’t come your way and you will end up driving with lesser poker cards or maybe getting a good hand, but might only overdo it.

You must not lose hope though since you can overcome the tension by being patient. Never dare changing your game plan or strategy. You may be sitting there for so long, but be patient as Ace-10 unsuited might come along, which is a great deal on your part. However, be careful not to overplay it. Should you pick up the hand you have been waiting for, like pocket aces, never forget that it is not real good since it can also lose when you overplay it. So if you controlling your emotions is the toughest thing you can do, better go home and breathe.

The Player – Many of you come across it more often. So who’s this player then? For instance, you’re playing at a table and noticed a player who isn’t really good and you find him catching on you, which he took the chance of counting your bankroll. And since chasing your money is the worst scenario in a Holdem, you should therefore avoid it. Otherwise, “the player” will use it against you. As you may know, the possible reason why you are chasing your bankroll is when you are already losing, thus, changing your strategy just to get your money back. You tend to face bad opponents who would break rules and play not with their mind, but with their mouth. Should it happen, don’t let them get over you as you will only end up a loser. Better yet, ignore “bad poker players” than chasing your money.

The Draw – There will always be bad and good nights. But it could also be both, good and bad. Say for instance, you were able to make a good draw on every hand you pick. But it will be nonsense when you can’t take a hit. The bottom line here is that you will end up with an empty bankroll without even trying to fight.

Tags:
Poker, Texas Holdem

Bankroll to Roll Your Game

There are two things involved in poker games: good decision making and money. While you can make good decisions in Texas Holdem or any poker games, you must not forget that money can keep your game rolling as it is the basis of keeping a score. However, I noticed that a number of online or live poker players do still manage to play games that require more than the average bankroll. So whether their bankroll is full or near to empty, these players are still unstoppable.

You may ask, “What it means to play games more than what is in your bankroll?” That is a scenario when you choose to play in a game where limits are not suited for normal swings which you can only find in regular poker games. A good example for this is when you decide to play at the casino, having with you a bankroll of $500. It may be big, but not good enough when you choose to play in a $5-$10 Limit Holdem. That’s playing way too far of your bankroll.

Same fault also happens in some poker beginners. A friend of mine, whom I have worked with at the World Series of Poker, tried his luck in turning professional with a bankroll of $10,000. At first, I saw him playing on reasonable poker levels. But later on, he decided to hop in around the range of $50-$100. And he used to bet in a $30-$60 range. But sad to say, his bankroll is not enough to survive until the end of the game. When a losing streak hit him, he found his bankroll with nothing left. He may not be an amateur poker player, but since he came up with a wrong decision, it was too early for him to end up as a loser, and still had to pay for the price.

In other cases, a huge number of Online Poker players would always think that as long as they are in winning sessions for the first or second level, they can always go up and reach the higher level. Of course, that’s possible. But it’s a big “NO-NO!” when your bankroll is not enough to support the idea. Otherwise, you’re contemplating a suicide. Bear this in mind, a 200-300 big bets is a healthy bankroll for Limit Poker levels. If you wish to play the range of $5-$10 Limit Holdem, your bankroll must be healthy enough to contain $2,000-$3,000 as it allows you to handle swings successfully.

I am not stopping you to get into a higher limit game when your bankroll is below 200-300 big bets. There are also times that a poker game is really tempting, especially when it’s worth taking the shot. I was able to play a $5 to $10 Limit Holdem Poker game a year ago. I was also able to identify my opponents at the table and the rocks were the only decent players I got to play with. Technically, my bankroll is not enough to play the $5 to $10 range. What I did was to take a couple buy-ins equivalent at a lower level then took a shot. It only lasted for a couple of hours, but fortunately I ended it with a $150, which is equivalent to 7 ½ bets per hour.
It is therefore safe to play any higher games when you are perfectly aware that a good standing bankroll is a key player in playing any poker games for a couple of hours.

Tags:
Holdem, Limit Holdem, Poker, Texas Holdem

Kid Poker Profile

Daniel Negreanu is one of the most prized and most decorated professional Poker players of all time. Every time he plays a threat to win and he is a fan favorite at the same time. He remains one of the top players in the world is and coming off a great showing at the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe. His style at the table is one that the general public can connect to because seems to have a lot of fun at the tables and he’s talkative. “Kid Poker”, has continued to have success right up to today since his burst on the seen in the mid 1990’s. Daniel is a gambler; and he also loves to bet on golf will play any form of poker that is available to him.

Born in Canada and is a poker icon in that country,  he started his poker dreams playing in backroom Poker Games and in Casino’s near Toronto Ontario in 1997 at Foxwoods. Negreanu broke threw as a young man winning two events for more then $50 000 and starting his climb to the top of the poker world. Later on in 1998 “Kid Poker” won his first bracelet in a $2000 Pot Limit holdem tournament becoming the youngest player to ever win a bracelet at the WSOP. His first bracelet was worth more then $160 000 and likely a sign of future success at the World Series. He didn’t win a bracelet again until 2003, but had 8 top 15 finishes and came close multiple times. In 2003 he won his second bracelet in a SHOE tournament where he won more then $100 000. Negreanu finished in the top 10 in tournaments five times in 2004, finishing 3rd in a no limit event and winning Limit Holdem event number 15 for his third bracelet. In 2005 Daniel took home a circuit event for more then $750 000 and his biggest cash at the WSOP and still winning. In 2006 and 2007 Daniel still performed well cashing seven times over the two years although he didn’t win a bracelet. Recently He showed up in London looking to win his first WSOPE bracelet, although he didn’t win he made the final table at the main event winning more then 215 000 pounds. Daniel has four bracelets, 33 cashes and more $2 million in Career World Series of Poker earnings all in all.

Daniel has found a lot of success at the WPT winning two titles more than just the WSOP. He has 16 WPT, was the WPT player of the year in 2005 and cashes in his career. You can commonly see him on television shows like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker and Kid Poker” has the most career earnings on the WPT. When you look at Daniels career totals he ranks second all time to main event winner Jamie Gold, who won $12 million in one tournament and has earned more then $10 million in poker tournaments. Negreanu will no doubt pass Gold some day because he is still young.

Daniel Negreanu’s style is unusual from a lot of the other top pros you will see. He doesn’t sit silently so that players can’t get reads off of him or sit like a statue with his sun glasses on, he is entertaining. More then any other big named professional player his game is unique, he loves to play pots and be in the action. He known for his love of hands that most players will throw away without a second thought and playing small suited connectors. Negreanu will play small pots and take advantage of weaknesses in his opponents and he doesn’t need pocket aces to win. This possible because of his excellent ability to figure out where he stands in a hand and read players. We have witnessed before in World Series of Poker programming, when Daniel calls out the hand of his opponent entirely. This has won him a lot of money over the years. he works his way back threw the hand and guesses is competitor raised with a Queen Eight sometimes it is as if he can see the hole card cameras. He has worked hard on it and you know he has been wrong a lot of the time. When he isn’t playing good or if he is card dead Texas Hold’em becomes very difficult for him, he relies of his ability to read opponents.

Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu has more world wide career paycheck like those great players of his generation like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey and Allen Cunningham. Daniel has four bracelets and counting. If you get the chance to play with him, everything is calculated everything he says while in a hand with you is designed for him to have the best outcome. Daniel will be the biggest money earner in poker tournament history and should be considered one of the top players of all time someday. “Kid Poker” is a great player, and he is highly respected and as well fan favorite all over the world.

Tags:
Limit Holdem, Poker, Poker Games, Pot Limit holdem, Texas Holdem

Other Players in Poker world

As Poker has become popular we have become familiar with a lot of the top professional players in the world. Poker players unite on Las Vegas to compete for World Series of Poker bracelets annually and on WSOP programming every year we expect to see guys like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Scotty Nguyen. Every one of those players is great and deserves all the publicity they get. Nevertheless there are a lot of other great players you just don’t hear a lot about who have won multiple bracelets, but aren’t as visible like the television professionals. These guys get a little attention of there own for the great undertakings at the WSOP.

Loads of people don’t even know who he is, but Billy Baxter has seven World Series of Poker bracelets. Winning his first bracelet in a 1975 deuce to seven lowball event and has went on to cash 28 times so far, Billy is a true legend of the game. Even though he only won 1 in the 90’s, he won 5 of his seven titles in the 80’s. He has made seven cashes since capturing his last bracelet in 2002. His wins have come in less popular games like deuce to seven lowball, Razz and Ace to Five draw is the reason you may not be familiar with Baxter. Proving that he is still a great player, he had a final table in event 40 most recently in 2008. Baxter deserves his spot in the midst of the poker greats of all time with 7 bracelets and more then a million in WSOP earnings,

Did you know Layne Flack that has 6 WSOP bracelets? With 19 career cashes, he has more then $2.2 million in career World Series earnings. He won his first title in 1999 in a pot limit holdem event for more then $220 000. In winning No Limit Holdem, Omaha Hi/Lo and pot limit Omaha rebuy is where his career would take off from there. bracelets. In 2008 Layne won his first bracelet in 5 years and took home more then a half a million dollars. Flack has 6 titles and has ended in the top five, five times. He had won a couple of those tournaments he would be right up there with career bracelets throughout his career.

Berry Johnston is a main event winner although a lot of people don’t know him. In 1986 Johnston took home the bracelet and $570 000 when he won the main event.  He has cashed an amazing 56 times in his career and has 5 bracelets in total. With his best finish being 10th in the World Championship of Omaha he cashed 3 times in 2008. Johnston has definitely had a great career with over $2 million in career earnings. He is known as one of the tightest and most solid players in Texas Hold’em history.  Johnston is bound to get a lot more cashes in his career and compete for more bracelets by the way he plays.

Another main event winner, Tom McEvoy took home the title in 1983.  He has 36 career World Series of Poker cashes and 4 bracelets in total. He continues to play in the series every year and has career earnings of more then $1.2 million. McEvoy has cashed 7 times in the last three years even if he is on a big bracelet drought not winning one since 1992. he won two events including besting Doyle Brunson at the final table of the main event  in 1983. His four bracelets are in four different games Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Razz and Omaha. McEvoy is an excellent player and deserves his spot in poker history. In 2008 he finished in the top 30 twice and made more then $12 000.

Chau Giang is one of the best characters in poker. He has won 3 bracelets and has 46 career cashes. Giang with 8 cashes with 3 top 15 finishes had an amazing 2008. He is still an excellent poker player and can win every time he plays. His earliest bracelet came in 1993 and most lately won a 2004 Pot Limit Omaha event. Chau finishing in the money 17 times over the past 3 World Series of Poker’s, is indeed a cash machine.  When he finished 3rd at a Pot Limit Omaha event for almost $300 000 was His biggest cash in 2006. Chau is one of the most consistent and best players in the world as his Career earnings of close to $1.5 million.

Tags:
Holdem, Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Poker, Pot Limit Omaha, Razz, Texas Holdem

Strategies for Holdem Sit-N-Go Tournament

One of the most popular forms of Poker in the world, Tournament Texas Hold’em is every poker player’s dream.  And Sit-n-Go tournaments are their way of getting final table experience minus the hassle of planned an entire tournament. Here are some basic strategies for both live and online Sit-n-Go tournaments.

Sit-n-go tournaments are basically single table tournaments with either nine or ten players.  Everyone starts with same amount of chips equivalent to 30 big blinds. Most online Poker Rooms will pay the top three players in a sit-n-go while live Sit-N-Go tournaments pay either two or three players.

If you’re still at the early stage of such tournament, try playing it tight. This is a point where the blinds are low and all Poker players are still at the table. Don’t try and steal blinds at this level. You’ll have no reason to do so anyway as the risk-reward ratio will be too high. Just sit back and play a strong starting hand. If you play it loose, you will just gamble away your chips and might end up with nothing. So play it tight until you’re down to just about 6 players.

At the middle stage, the blind level will be at around the 75-150 or 100-200 levels. Here, you only have about 7 to 10 big blinds if you have not won any pots. Here, stealing blinds starts to be a crucial part of the game. Players who are shot may begin to push on a variety of hands. You can loosen up a bit and raise requirements from the late position. Well-timed bluffs may also help you against players who are overly tight.

The is what we call the bubble period. This is when there are only 4 of you remaining at the table. Only 3 of you will receive pay and you can sure nobody will want to go home empty-handed. If you have less than three set of blinds left, find a hand to move in with. Big cards or an ace will be a hand to take a chance. You can play a couple of small cards and the cards will be very live. This is said when you are facing a non paired hand and the other player has not paired yet.

Be careful at this point of the Poker game if you are a middle stack. You would not want to get into too many pots with someone with more chips that you without a good strong hand. You also would not want to get tangled up with too many short stacks and risk doubling them up and worse, becoming a short stack yourself. Play strong hands at this point. Take on short stacks if it you think it won’t cost you a significant portion of your stack or if you have a strong holding. If you’re the chip leader, use this as your weapon. Put players with short stack at risk and put pressure on middle stacks who are just holding on to their chips. You can open up your play a bit too.

When you’re already one of the top three players, you’re only goal is to try and win the tournament. If you’re a short stack, make a stand to try and pick up chips. You have nothing to lose. If you’re a medium stack, make some moves to challenge for the chip lead or knock out the guy with a short stack. As chip leader, you can attack the short stack but don’t try and be hyper aggressive against the middle stack. He may play back at you.

Once you reach heads up, your style of play will vary greatly on your other opponent and how you are perceived.   Is your opponent very aggressive?  If so, tighten up a bit and play strong to mediocre hands.  Are you perceived as being tight?  If so, make a few plays at the pot in situations that makes you look strong.  One thing I do is keep close watch on how I play various types of board and also how I am betting my strong hands.  I will then mix up my play to give off strength tells when I am on bluffs.

You will also see many more hands heads up than any other time in the tournament.  Big cards, suited connectors, any ace, and many suited hands are playable.   You will want to raise with a wider range of large cards and most any ace.  You will want to raise all pair, even deuces.  A pair is very strong heads up.  Heads up requires several adjustments and even readjustments on in order to stay ahead of your opponent.

Tags:
Poker, Poker Rooms, Texas Holdem