Continuation Betting and the Importance of Position at the Table

Continuation Betting and the Importance of Position at the Table

When deciding whether or not to make a continuation bet on the flop, one truly critical factor in that situation is your position at the table.  You're playing a hand,  you raise before the flop from under the gun and get called by the player sitting in the big blind position. You should strongly consider making a continuation bet most of the time, whether the flop helped you or not, this portrays that your preflop raise from the worst position at the table holds a very big hand. In the same situation, your opponent's call before the flop doesn't signify nearly as much strength because he was getting a huge discounted price to call from the big blind. If he checks to you on the flop, you should make a continuation bet at least 90-95 percent of the time, mixing in a check here and there when you have a hand like A-J or A-Q and hit the flop with your ace or queen.
Now let's say you make a preflop raise on the button and get called by the big blind. You still have position on your opponent, but he's probably not going to give you any credit for having a strong hand because stealing blinds from the button is so common on the button. There's a chance he might check-raise you with absolutely nothing, so you should be much more inclined to check after your opponent checks, especially if you actually have a decent hand like pocket eights on a 9-5-2 flop or A-K on a T-Q-5 flop. In the second situation, you would be better off checking and taking a free card with A-K because you're likely drawing to ten outs and, even if you don't improve, your hand is still strong enough to have showdown value on the river. If you do decide to make a continuation bet and get called, you can almost always have a good idea your opponent has a better hand than the one you hold at the time. You should then take a free card on the turn, which will give you another shot at hitting one of your outs on the river.  
Continuation bets have become common also, so preparation is a must due to the fact the your opponent has seen this dance before.  Your opponent looks at this as a steal attempt in this situation, you should be prepared to go all the way with your hand whenever you're short-stacked and connect with the flop. For example, if you only have 50 big blinds in your stack, you raise from the button with J-10 suited and the flop comes 9-J-5, you need to be willing to get all your chips into the middle of the table. You should make a continuation bet most of the time, but occasionally you're going to want to check behind in this spot in order to disguise the strength of your hand. Now if you had 70 big blinds in your stack in the same situation, you might want to check behind because you're a little too deep to entice an opponent who has a J to want to put you all in. If you check, most of the cards that fall on the turn won't hurt you. Only an A, K, or J would give you much concern. Having disguised the strength of your hand, you can then bet for value on the turn and the river. Your turn bet will most likely get called by many hands worse than yours, including those holding small pocket pairs. If your opponent checks to you again on the river, you should continue to bet for value, but if he leads out with a bet you should just call. If you raise, you're only going to get called by a better hand than yours.
Now let's turn it around and say you're out of position. You raise before the flop from middle position and get called by the player holding the button. Now you're in much more of a sticky situation if you decide to come out and make a continuation bet because, if your opponent calls, you're going to have to act first on the turn and if you check the turn your opponent will often dive in on your shown weakness, and make a large bet.  

However, there's a great way to take advantage of this situation. Wait until you actually have a strong hand on the flop, top pair or better, and make a continuation bet and get called, this is a great spot for you to check the turn. By doing this it will appear to your opponent that you're conceding the pot, and more often than not, it will fool him into believing he has the better hand. If the flop is J-4-2 and you have Q-J and check on the turn, your opponent could try to put you all in with a hand like pocket nines, whereas if you bet the turn he would probably fold that hand.  
 If you want to succeed in tournaments, you should always be very aware of your position at the table when deciding whether or not you should make a continuation bet on the flop.  What types of horror stories have you experienced, did a continuation bet fall apart at the seams for you, or was there success I want to know!

Protect That Built Up BankRoll

 

 Protect That Built Up Bank Roll

For most players, the lure of playing in high-stakes ring games or tournaments is not only an ultimate goal, but for some and more often than not a trap that leaves you broke. While there's no doubt that these games can provide huge rewards, the sad truth is that many beginners often leap into the depths of the sharks, destroying their self-confidence and leaving their bankrolls floating in a new bank account.
My advice to these players sounds simple, but is harder to execute; stay in the shallow end until you and your bankroll are ready to venture into deeper waters.

When I first started playing, I would build up a few hundred dollars and immediately move up to the next level, usually a level that I was sitting in with the minimum, just to get in.  This was always a pour move, I would run well for a while but, all it would take was a bad string or an over eager tournament entry and there goes all that hard work (and money) . I would build a bank roll to buy into the big tournament on sundays because the first time I played it I cashed, but the next six times were not so good, slowly there went my role and I had to start from scratch.  In the poker world, that can take more patience and understanding than ever imaginable.  Understand your means and do not think of yourself as a pro, play within your means!


When I finally tried my hand at another large tournament, I was sure to work at it differently, and in turn started playing satellites to get an entry.  After some diligence, Payoff! I won a seat into the tournament I was spending my roll on, now I am not spending a dime and getting a chance at over $150,000.

Because I didn't have as much of my bankroll invested in my tournament entry, I played the event without fear that I would be crippled again if I failed to cash. As it turned out, I took 11th place and walked away from the table with a great chunk of change for my future poker sessions. Eliminating the true downside of spending by satelliting into the event let me really put thought and feel on the poker and play a more solid and confident game than I could have if I had bought into the event with the roll I had built up.


While satellites are one of the most common and popular ways to secure your entry into a big buy-in event, they aren't the only option. For players who don't want to take their chances in satellites, search out a backer, family member or friend or even another player can be a reasonable source to play in bigger events than they can afford on their own. Before you go down this path, however, be sure to consider all aspects of the deal being offered and determine how much of your potential winning you're willing to give away.
No matter what path you choose, I fully recommend that you never commit more than 5-10% of your bankroll to an individual event or ring game.

Remember, building up a bankroll represents more than just the funds you have at your disposal. It's a constant reminder of the hours of work it took to grind and, as such, it's something that deserves protection. Treat your bankroll properly, remember it is still considered a job, treat it like one and you will reap the benefits for a long time.

Let me know what your bank roll strategies are, do you have issues with this job, or does it come as a natural way of doing things?

Keeping Close Track of Your Poker Winnings

 

 Keeping Close Track of Your Poker Winnings

HONESTY!!!!!

No one truly cares about your bank role.  Really! I promise, unless you are buying people things they don't care.  So, if you are losing money DO NOT casually stop keeping records to forget about the loses.  You are only lying to yourself.  This functions as a great pick me up as a poker player, as far as seeing progression in your game and bank account.  A great way to help out with managing your roll is to keep records of your play.  Keep accurate up-to-date records and you can use these for personal analysis.  Accurate records not only help you keep track of how you’re doing, they also allow you to analyze your game and keep you honest with yourself. We all like to believe that we’re winning players, but everyday that may not be the exact case.
Here are a few key situations to keep track of every time you play:

• Overall bankroll (to pretty much keep you honest and not jump into higher stakes games)
• Time span at which you sat in on a game
• What was the buy in to the table, and how big a table
• How much you made (Maybe think of looking at this poker stat from an hourly point of view)

Keeping records of these Poker situations will really help putting your game into true perspective. I tend to have a minor temper issue ( easy example, road rage) so maybe tracking your attitude or manor might not be a bad idea, which in the end may lead to having more control of yourself.  How you feel when you play and what frame of mind you’re in are truly important to the final outcome of your "money making" experience. 
Keep track of things like when you get tired and how long into a session you are when you start to get tired. When you are not playing to par, note that and note also the mistakes you made, so you can go back and try to correct them the next time out. Whether you admit it or not, poker is a game of emotion; one bad swing can break you, so as a serious money maker it is very important to realize your emotions, and try to leave the truly emotional feelings off the table.

Keep these records on a daily basis
go back through them each month to analyze your play. Be honest with yourself about what you see (remember, you are the only one involved, the only one you are lying to is YOURSELF). You’re looking for patterns:  I lost again when I played for an hour too long or I won more than normal when I played a shorter session, or I was tired than and lost this much, keep track.
If you notice a pattern and see that you’re losing at one particular game or limit, ask yourself: “What am I doing wrong here?” The truth hurts sometimes, but honesty will prevail, don’t let your ego get in the way of becoming a winning poker player. If your records show that you’re not doing well, it’s time to eat your pride move down to a lower limit, and re-evaluate your game and start it over once again, but without losing confidence.

Having exposure to these records right in front of you allows you to be honest about yourself as a poker player. Your notes are not going to lie unless you make them, so be patient and honest and go get your hands on that cash.

Good luck Let me know your thoughts on this, do you take notes, how are your practices working out?

Hold'Em Situations That Will Help You Become a Winning Player

 

 

 Hold'Em Situations That Will Help You Become a Winning Player

Trapping Hands
These are my favorite forms of chip raking opportunities on the felt. The definition of a trapping hand is simple;  you hold a really strong hand and another person has a weaker hand that may show strength for him to continue playing with. An example of a trapping hand would be if you flop a set/trips, especially with a small pair, and another person has a big pocket pair. You can brutally clean him out at this point. Any player less than extremely experienced will fall in love with a big pair type of hand and almost always you can really empty his piggy bank.
There are a variety of trapping hands out there. For instance, flopping a straight and your opponent may also flop, but hits a set.  Trapping hands are hands that come in great when your maybe having a slow day, not seeing many cards to play, stay patient and there is your reward. There are mayne situations that could be considered a trap, I find the easiest to explain and make someone really understand is flopping the set.  This is a hand where the entire time you are aware that you are way ahead, especially if you flop top set. Again as said in previous posts, stay humble, dont fall in love with any hand, you could think you are running a trap hand, and you yourself are falling right into the hands of a trap, so be aware, think before you act!

Betting in Late Position - You won't make a bunch of money betting in late position when everyone checks to you but its worth mentioning because you could pick up the scraps (blinds) and grind a couple hundred dollars that way, even without having hands to play.


Drawing Hands - Drawing hands are tricky in no limit. When you flop four of one suite in limit holdem, it is an easy decision to keep calling till the river. In no limit that isn't always going to be the case since if you miss your draw on the turn card, often the next bet will be too large to make it profitable to keep calling. I've found that if I'm in early position with a flush draw or straight draw it is often better to come out betting, almost  a feeler bet, but enough to make them think,  instead of checking and calling. First, if you check and call you give away your hand as well as show weakness, also you leave yourself open to being over bet or just bet out of the pot. Second, you may even win the pot by tossing chips into the middle as a feeler. The risk of betting is that you are going to get raised an amount you can't call. My advice for drawing hands is to learn the odds and then compare them to the size of the pot.  Also, get a feel for your opponents, do they tend to form a continuation bet or do they check performing a trap.


Big pair over big pair (AK included) - I mentioned above about how most of the time you won't make that much with your big pairs. The usual routine is that you raise preflop, get a caller or two and then bet the flop and everyone lets go of the hand. Sometimes you'll get a freshy who doesn't believe you and calls you down but those folks do not usually last that long. A good percentage of the time I take down smaller pots with my AA, KK or AK. The rest of the time I come away with the win, I end up against someone who has a smaller pair. AA and KK can be hands that sadly lead to a way for you to lose your stack because it is very easy to fall in love with the best starting hands because they are the best. If you're dealt AA or KK on the dealer button, You have a better chance of making more money with it since people assume that you're playing  position instead of the cards in your hand. This is why if you are on the button with a big hand and everyone folds to you, don't slow play it and limp in, raise it since people won't believe you. Sometimes I'll even make a raise much larger then I normally do on the button if everyone folds to me. For example, if I normally raised to 15-20 dollars preflop, I'll raise it to $35 or $50. Then people really think I'm trying to steal the blinds. Every now and then you'll have a guy who tries to raise over the top of you  thinking you're bluffing and it will end to your benefit. Those are the dream moments.

Small Pots - Most of the pots in no limit, and the ones you'll win, are going to be small. Everyone will be winning little pots for a while and then ACTION, someone will get nailed and lose their stack. That's how it goes. The small pots can add up after a while though.  Stay patient and persistent, and success will follow.

 Bluffing -  It's almost impossible to bet someone out of a pot in limit poker since it just costs them one more big bet. In no limit this situation has much more potential for earning, especially coupled with a good read of a hand and position. Learning when to bluff is an advanced skill that you will pick up as you learn the true feel of the game, thousands of hands and situations, seeing and understanding why things happen, and again analyzing your opponent. We will go into the bluff in later posts, but keep in mind a decent player is hard to get off his medium hand, and a novice is simply called a calling station, they are almost impossible to bluff, just keep that in mind and pick your spots.  Don't become to obvious, or your bluff will be voided and you will lose!

The Streets Of Texas Hold'em Poker

 

The Different Streets In a Poker Hand

The Flop
After seeing the flop, Don't feel obligated to remain in the hand. A common mistake made by beginners, especially online is to decide, "I'm already in this hand, so I might as well play it out." NOooooooooo.
With up to seven players at a table, two pair or better will generally be the winning hand. If you don't have the high pair after the flop (say the flop comes out and is Q-9-5, the high pair would be two Queens), and you're not in good position for a straight or a flush, you should probably get out of the hand.
However, remember that as the number of players depletes, so does the potential of that strong hand being out there...  So, if you're at a table with just two other players, it could pay off to be the aggressor and bet at the pot, hoping to take it down.
If you're first to bet after the flop, don't feel like betting is the only solution, CHECK. This can work to your advantage in two ways. First, if your hand is on the weak side, you may get the luxury of getting to see one more card without having to put more of your stack into the pot. Second, if your hand is strong, you could convince an opponent or two that it's weaker than it really is.  Of course times change and technique does too, so this is an important situation to know when to switch gears because someone could read your strength through your portrayal of weakness.
 



Fourth Street and Fifth Street
Also know as The Turn and The River, respectively, the fourth and fifth community (cards face up) cards give you two more chances to either get out of the pot before you lose money, or increase your winnings.
At this point, it's likely there will only be much less of an opponent count in the pot with you. The best advice here is to be smart. After fourth street, don't stay in the pot hoping for a straight or flush, unless you can do so on a check (think odds, and how many outs you have, although it may be an easy fold patience may take you in a different direction). Although there will be times when you would have drawn the straight or flush, they will be outweighed by the times you wouldn't.
The bottom line is this: Don't allow yourself to get sucked in too far with a weak hand, throwing all your chips in on a hope and a prayer.
That said, there is a point where the investment you've already made virtually tells you that you hang in there. It's most reasonable to measure this in terms of percentage of your chips. For example, if you've already committed 40% of your chips to the pot, another 5% isn't that much. This is a gray area, so once again the best advice is to be smart, but think cautiously.

The Texas Holdem Attention Span

 

 Texas Hold'em Patience and Feeling Out the Situation Based on the Board.   

Your Ability To Read The Board

Your ability to read the board will help make you a winning, money earning player, and it is not hard to get comfortable with. As you play Texas Holdem, the community cards are the most significant group of cards in the game based on the fact that they are simply face up. You can easily determine the best possible hand that can be made from the community cards and two cards that may or may not be out there. It is extremely important that you learn determine how your hand stacks up against the other possible hands that your opponents may hold. Two common situations should peak your radar when you see them.
If there are three suited cards on the board someone has the opportunity to build a flush. If a player raises when the third suited card is turned over you should be aware of that player first,but second feel it out to where you make a judgement on whether or not a bluff is in the air. If there is a pair on the board a player can make four of a kind or a full house.

 

Pay Attention to all Possible Detail
When you are not involved in a hand you should still pay attention to the game. You can gain valuable information about your opponents simply by observing what hands they play, not to mentio you can give all your attention to the situation around the table rather than yourself. It’s easy to determine the players who play suited cards, or single aces by watching the hands they turn over at the end. That brings me to one controversial tip.
Think about the situation where it is appropriate to show your hand. if you don’t have to. If you win the pot because everyone else folded you are under no obligation to show your cards. You don’t want to give away any information about yourself if you don’t have to and players who turn over their cards when they don’t have to are doing just that.You can of course perform a premeditated show, as to later set someone up to take down a big pot or throw down a big bluff.

Starting Hand Selections

Starting Hand Selection

When trying to achieve a goal, I have an issue with research. I like hit upon Amazon or some other book store and buy the top of the line books of that niche. When I started playing poker, I did the same thing and bought a few books by the famous authors (Doyle Brunson in particular). Although they are the greats poker is a game played on personality I think, so some of the books I dove into were a little dis-serving. It took me years and money (haha) before I realized that the games that I was taking part in were not even close to the games that the authors played in and also that it does not always take the nuts to win a pot, it just takes a better hand then every one else (or the appearance that your hand is better). If you spend your time memorizing tables on playing certain hands in certain positions, you'll never really make a consistent living playing poker. The goal is to win and I find the most success comes from the type of poker player that can switch gears and vary his play on the drop of a dime based on the players your sitting with, hand and opponent. Here we will just simply go over certain hands and potential situation where it may make sense to play them.

Position - one thing you'll find in no limit holdem is that position is much more of a factor. With that said, I am not constantly acting on the basis of my position. I'm just as likely to play a hand like 9T suited under-the-gun (first position/worst position) as I am on the dealer button (last position/best position). The reason is because I don't get trapped and call unless I want. If someone raises me preflop a large amount, I can very easily fold. If lots of other people are in, I can call. I think position in limit holdem and no limit are exactly reversed. In limit holdem position is very important preflop, but after the flop it is of less importance. In no limit holdem position is less important preflop and very important post flop. What's the worst thing that can happen if I limp in with 56s in early position in no limit? A person could raise, and then I just fold and lose my few bucks. A few bucks is nothing in no limit. In no limit you can win a huge pot with any hand so calling a few dollars and then olding if it gets too expensive isn't as much of a concern. Moderation is the key, don't take this too far. You will lose if you play any two cards in any position and call any bet.

Trash Hands -  What are some Trash hands? T2s, 95, T6, 23, A2, etc. The ones that do particularly well are the T and J rag hands: J2, J3, J4, etc and T4, T5, T2. The reason these do well is because if there was no raise preflop then the opposition most likely has hands like QJ, KJ, JT, etc. When you flop two pair you can really make them pay. What you want to avoid though is catching one pair and thinking it is good (dont get greedy). If you have a crappy hand like J4 and the flop is J92, I would not put a bet out there in early position. The pot will be smaller anyway from a lack of raise anyway since no one raised preflop, so if you check and give it away even if you had the best hand, at least you got out cheap!


AA, KK And AK -  As said before these hands pretty much play out themselves, but do NOT fall in love. You can have fun with them if the situation calls for it. I'll mix up my play based on who I'm against (especially with Aces). When I get dealt Aces or Kings though, I'm always thinking in the back of my mind that I don't want to lose my whole stack with these. This is a huge weakness for new players. They get dealt AA or KK and then think they are guaranteed to win. That's not even close, after a while of playing you even start to contimplate folding those hands based on past stompings (not really but for a second you do). The best case scenario if you are dealt Aces is someone else has a hand they are raising with preflop. If that isn't the case I don't mess around with these hands. I'll play them straight forward and take my little pot. I'll raise preflop, then put a decent bet in on the flop and bigger on the turn. The goal here is if no one else has a big starting handto just win the pot and not lose a huge one. Remember one pair isn't that great and if you get tons of action after the flop then there is a chance your in trouble. I don't make the majority of my money with big hands like this. Don't be discouraged if you finally get Aces and then win only a little with them. One tactic that sometimes will win a big pot is to feign weakness on the flop with your Aces. For example, if the flop comes back Jack high and you have Aces, waiting for a while and then only betting half the pot sometimes gets people to check raise or raise a large amount because they put you on AK. Then you just call and then put them all-in on the turn card.

Middle Pairs (QQ, JJ, TT) - I think out of all the hands in no limit, these are the toughest to play well. The best advice I can give is don't lose all your chips calling all-in with Queens or Jacks preflop. You'd be surprised how often you'll have AK, KK or AA against QQ or JJ. Staying away from losing a bunch in that situation is a sign you're doing alright as a player. The tell tale sign of AA or KK is if you raise a good amount and then get re-raised or re-raised all-in by another opponent. If I'm looking at a re-raise a call will be more likely. If the person has a bunch of chips and goes all-in then I'm going to have to look hard at the situation, my opponent and try to look back at the action that player has been involved in. If they have been quite it could show a lack of patience after a while, or it could show complete control and the fact that that opponent has hit it, and is going to try to capitalize on their big hand.  How much it is going to cost me is another thing I look at in this situation. If I'm playing at a $100 game and it will just cost me $50 total then we will try it. Or if the person is a wild player that raises a lot of hands and you don't know if they have anything, let alone a good hand then go ahead and play poker. Also understand that calling the re-raise and seeing the flop is only the start. Most likely all the money will go in by way of the showdown.

Face Cards (AJ, KQ, KJ, QJ, QT etc) - My advice with these cards is to play them but with a little bit of caution. I play these cards with a mission. If I flop something big for example top two pair then of course I'll play more aggressively and try to win more but with just top pair I'm careful. I will bet but I'm not going to get married to the pot. What you want to try to stay away from is calling larger preflop raises with these, flopping top pair and paying off the better hand, or the opponent doing the raising. That's how you lose fast in no limit poker. I will limp in with these hands from early position but if someone raises a good amount, I'm out unless lots of other people are in. I'll need a really strong flop to continue. There is no way I'll limp in with KJs, call a preflop raise, and then call all the way down with top pair hoping I'm good. If you don't have the initiative in the hand (doing the betting), there is a reason.

Small Pocket Pairs - Of all the hands in no limit holdem, these are my favorites. They play themselves and when they hit, you are "set". My ideal situation is when I limp in with a small pocket pair in early position, get raised a decent amount from someone with a big pair or AK and then I call and flop trips. You'll hit your set/trips with an approx. odds of 1 in 8 times. I'll call preflop with these hands as long as the raise isn't too much and the person has enough chips in front of them (or there is not a re-raise).  You won't continue on the flop unless you hit (or you see a bluffing opportunity in which case your actual hand does not matter).

Suited Cards - In no limit holdem I don't make a big distinction between a suited connector (67s) and two suited cards (T6s). In either case you are going to need a big flop to make much with the hand. With these cards I'lltry to see a cheap flop in late position, sometimes in the front if they are decent cards. I particularly like the smaller suited cards like 35s or 46s. The reason is because if no one raised preflop it usually means someone is out there with a "weak ace" (A5, A6, A2, A3, etc). Sometimes you'll flop the straight and they will have two pair, in which case you can potentially take down a nice pot.

Staying Out Of Trouble - . To play no limit well you need to adjust your thinking. In no limit you want either a great hand or a great bluffing hand. You don't want a lot of junk in the middle due to the fact that a wrong move, false hope or over eager move can leave you with your pockets out.

Next we will look at small strategies and scenarios, along with different sites their offers and where you should go to make big money. Go get millions!!!