twizzybop
Legend
Silver Level
Here is some more tidbits I recently got..
Philosophy of Poker
There are several different philosophies of play and just as many types of players. Some people are aggressive while others are passive. The type of player always depends on the play. In Limit games, you must play solid hands and solid hands only. It is near impossible to bluff your way through a hand because ultimately there is no way to protect your hand as there is in No Limit Hold'em. However, No Limit Hold'em requires a certain kind of intestinal fortitude to protect your hand due to the fact that you may have to put your entire bankroll at risk to protect a hand that can potentially lose due to another player's “luck.” As previously stated, Limit poker is not about position it is about patience and about playing your hands.
There are four types of players. There are tight players, loose players, aggressive players and solid players.
Tight Player:
Tight players will only enter a hand if they know their chances of winning are far greater than the other player's chances at the table. A tight player may have A-A, K-A, J-10, or 10-9, all suited and know they have the nuts. If this player is not a blind and calls or raises the big blind after sitting in hand after hand checking and folding, they have the nuts.
Loose Players :
Loose players are the players that just finished their 5th gin and tonic and are sweating profusely. Loose players will call anything, the good, the bad and the ugly. You have to wait until you have a good hand to play with this type of player and when you have the nuts on the flop, draw this player in and make them commit.
Aggressive Players:
Aggressive players are players who play much like loose players, but rather than having alcohol as an excuse, it is just their style of play. The only difference in regards to an aggressive player is that this player isn't drunk; in fact, they might be baiting you. It may be difficult to peg when an aggressive player is actually holding the nuts, but as soon as you have a solid hand, bait them and they will typically follow.
Solid Players:
Then there are the solid players. A solid player mixes it up. This player may fold a few very good hands and play some very unspectacular hands, but what they always do is play aggressively after they have entered a pot. This player will never allow you to see the next card without you having to commit more money, usually a large percentage of your bankroll, to see the next card.
Bankroll
New players often underestimate the importance of a solid bankroll. Play money is easy to receive, you just press a button and “poof” you have more money in your account. Until you become an excellent player and have a bankroll that allows you to play at whatever limit you want, you should avoid the following risks and you will be on your way to developing a “solid” bankroll.
Don't gamble with your bankroll. Every poker player is a bit of a gambler, it comes with the territory, but you need to leave this urge at the door. ALL Casino games are in favor of the house. No matter what book you may read, what “system” you may follow, or what divine intervention is on your side, if you pick up a habit for blackjack, craps, or any other casino game, you will eventually decimate your bankroll.
Avoid large multi-table tournaments that cost more than 5% of your bankroll. Large multi-table tournaments take A LOT of time and in the end you may have wasted hours for nothing. There is a lot of variance in these large tournaments and you can't nor will you ever predict what money you will win.
Start with the limits you are comfortable with and don't move to higher limits until you are comfortable with those limits. There are many players who rush into raising their limit. A player may run $200 up to $500 at a $3/$6 and then jump to a $5/$10 and run their bankroll up to $900, with each jump in limit comes more confidence, but a player can quickly exceed their comfort level. The new $900 bankroll can easily disappear at a $15/$30 in a matter of minutes. Just because you have been dealt good cards, doesn't mean you have become a good player. Never chase the money for greed, you have succumbed to the Gambler inside of you, looking for more thrills, more risk and ultimately going broke. Sadly, the player who plays for a living doesn't have the luxury of seeking thrills and spills.
Never treat your poker winnings as “bonus money.” If you really want to support yourself as a poker player, you need to continue to use this money towards your bankroll and not a new television or car. Use this money to increase your bankroll and move up through the limits. Everyone wants a nice car or TV, but wait until your buddy goes broke by moving up limits too fast and has to liquidate his new TV or car to continue his habit.
Don't spread your bankroll over several sites. The total money you have and the individual bankroll you have at each site are two completely different things. Mathematically, it may seem the same; however, it is completely different losing $600 on a site where you had only $600, or losing $600 on a site where you had $2000. Try to keep the majority of your bankroll at one site and break off very small sums to try out other rooms. This will protect your bankroll.
Money management is key when it comes to bankrolling yourself. As a general rule in Limit poker, you should bring 100 times the upper limit of the table to the table and with No Limit poker you should bring 200-250 times the upper limit of the table to the table. Playing with too small of a bankroll will always get you into trouble. You will usually bust and will always find yourself playing against larger bankrolls that will push you around. Never be afraid to use your entire bankroll. The entire point of entering a No Limit table is setting yourself up be in a position where you can bet the maximum amount you can and not be limited.
Pot Odds
Pot odds are also known as investment odds. They are the estimated returns on money that you have bet. These odds are approximated by the following formula:
Amount it takes to call($)/Amount in the pot($)
pot odds are as easy as calculating outs. Always compare your outs or your chance of winning to the size of the pot. If your chance of winning the pot is significantly better than the ratio of the amount it takes to call/the amount in the pot, then you have good pot odds. If it's lower, then you have bad pot odds. For example, say you are in a $3/$6 no limit Hold'em game with Ten-Nine facing one opponent on the turn. You have an outside straight draw with a board of 2-5-8-J, and only the river card left to make it. Any 7 or any Queen will finish this straight for you, so you have 8 outs (the four 7's and four Q's left in the deck) and 46 unseen cards left. 8/46 is almost the same as a 1 in 6 chance of making it. Your sole opponent bets $15. If you take a $15 bet you could win $210. $15/$210 is 1/14, so you stand to make 14x more if you call. 1/6 is higher than 1/14, so pot odds say that calling wouldn't be a bad idea.
REMEMBER THIS!! Once you have put money into a pot, you have no stake to that money. If you put $50 into a $210 pot, that $60 is no longer yours. The only stake you have in that pot is totally mental and has nothing, NOTHING, to do with the statistics.
Next, you need to learn to analyze bet odds and implied odds together. This is tough because it hinges on the reactions of the other players at the table. Bet odds are the probability of other players calling or raising you. Implied odds are more of a prediction of what the players' reactions will be for the rest of the game.
Let us say it is the same $3/$6 NL hold'em game and you have a flush draw on the flop. Your neighbor bets, and everyone else folds. The pot is $25 at this point. First you must figure out the probability of hitting the flush on the turn, about a 19.1% (about 1 in 5). If you call this $5 bet vs. a $25 pot, there is a 5x payout. 1/5 is the same as your 1/5 card probability, so bet odds are not great, but you must consider that this guy is going to bet to you on the turn and river also. That's the $5 plus two more $10-$20 bets. So, now you're facing $40 more until the end of the hand. You must consider your chances of hitting that flush on the turn or river, which makes it about 35% (better than 1 in 3 now), but you have to invest $40 for a finishing pot of $110. $110/$40 is less than 1 in 3. That's really close, but there is more! If you don't make it on the turn, it will change your outs and odds! You will have a 19.6% chance of hitting the flush (little worse than 1 in 5), but a $20 investment for a finishing pot of $1100! $110/$20 is a little more than 1 in 5. So your “luck” would have to come into play if you didn't hit it on the turn. What makes it more complicated is that if you did hit it on the turn you could raise him back, and get an extra $20 or maybe even $40 in the pot.
Strategy
Prior to betting like you're going to win the pot with the pocket 7's you have been dealt, you need to carefully consider all the factors surrounding a solid pre-flop strategy.
The factors that you need to consider are: the number of players, how tight/loose the players at the table are, the size or lack of size of your bankroll, and how much risk/reward (how healthy your heart is) you are willing to endure.
Number of players: If you are at a full table, it is much, much more likely that someone else sitting at the table will have a strong starting hand. However, if it isn't a full table, but a shorthanded game, it is less likely that there is a player at the table with a strong hand. Remember, more competition equals stiffer competition with a greater number of players having a chance of a pre-flop hand hitting something on the flop.
How tight/loose the players are: After sitting at a table for some time, it is easy to spot the loose player who is stealing blind after blind by scaring everyone off raising pre-flop. Play tighter, let the loose player steal the blinds and when you have a strong pre-flop hand, call and let them hang on their own.
Your bankroll: If your bankroll is drying up quicker than a puddle in the Mojave, you will need to begin playing tighter and wait for a strong pre-flop hand to go all-in pre-flop. Hopefully, you will get as many players as possible involved and be able to win a large pot. Vice versa, if you have a hefty bankroll at a small limit table, you can play the risk/reward game a lot more liberally and go after the high-risk, high payout bets.
Your position: Players in late position, people sitting to the right of the Dealer button, have the ability to influence the size of the pot much more than those in an earlier position. This is most apparent pre-flop. Your position at the table is simply your position in relation to the dealer. The dealer is at the most advantageous position, as they get to see how all the players at the table react before making their own decision.
The small blind is not only the small blind, but the first player to act after the flop, making them the “earliest” position at the table. The player to their left is the big blind and is already obligated to play if everyone at the table calls or folds. The big blind is the second “earliest” position at the table. The player to the left of the big blind is the player who must act first before any community cards are dealt. This position is often referred to as being “under the gun.” The way action moves clockwise around the table allows the players sitting furthest from the small blind an advantage. These players can play weaker hands because of the lessened burden of financial obligation to see the community. Players in the earliest positions must be more selective with their hands, as they don't have the privilege of watching other players betting/raising before they must decide if they want to stay in themselves.
Let us say you're under the gun (first to act). You have a Jack-Ten, unsuited. The player to bet after you raises and everyone but you folds. You are in a dilemma. The chances are good that this player has a better hand than you, with at least an ace or a pocket pair. Unfortunately, you already contributed to the pot because you had no way of knowing or the position to know that this player had a strong pre-flop hand. Additionally, the advantage this player has over you will continue throughout this hand and they will continue to act after you. However, sitting on the Dealer Button, you are able to observe the entire play of all the players prior to you having to make a decision, plus you can influence the size of the pot. After all other players at the table have bet or raised, you, the player in the dealer position could potentially double the pot by just raising. This assumes no one folds and after all, they already committed to the hand. Why not continue that commitment?
Your tolerance for risk: Depending on how you perceive the players around you, what position you are in, and how you feel most comfortable playing, you will need to devise a plan for yourself. Do you want to grind out a winning hand here and there, spending hours at the table, or do you want to pursue the larger pots and not mind the chance of losing a few hands.
Remember, ultimately this will play a factor in how you bet, but truly you will only want to bet on high pocket pairs, J's or higher, any hand with both an A, K, or Q, suited cards with high card values, and connected cards with high card values (J, 10 suited is a pocket hand with the most possible outs).
Philosophy of Poker
There are several different philosophies of play and just as many types of players. Some people are aggressive while others are passive. The type of player always depends on the play. In Limit games, you must play solid hands and solid hands only. It is near impossible to bluff your way through a hand because ultimately there is no way to protect your hand as there is in No Limit Hold'em. However, No Limit Hold'em requires a certain kind of intestinal fortitude to protect your hand due to the fact that you may have to put your entire bankroll at risk to protect a hand that can potentially lose due to another player's “luck.” As previously stated, Limit poker is not about position it is about patience and about playing your hands.
There are four types of players. There are tight players, loose players, aggressive players and solid players.
Tight Player:
Tight players will only enter a hand if they know their chances of winning are far greater than the other player's chances at the table. A tight player may have A-A, K-A, J-10, or 10-9, all suited and know they have the nuts. If this player is not a blind and calls or raises the big blind after sitting in hand after hand checking and folding, they have the nuts.
Loose Players :
Loose players are the players that just finished their 5th gin and tonic and are sweating profusely. Loose players will call anything, the good, the bad and the ugly. You have to wait until you have a good hand to play with this type of player and when you have the nuts on the flop, draw this player in and make them commit.
Aggressive Players:
Aggressive players are players who play much like loose players, but rather than having alcohol as an excuse, it is just their style of play. The only difference in regards to an aggressive player is that this player isn't drunk; in fact, they might be baiting you. It may be difficult to peg when an aggressive player is actually holding the nuts, but as soon as you have a solid hand, bait them and they will typically follow.
Solid Players:
Then there are the solid players. A solid player mixes it up. This player may fold a few very good hands and play some very unspectacular hands, but what they always do is play aggressively after they have entered a pot. This player will never allow you to see the next card without you having to commit more money, usually a large percentage of your bankroll, to see the next card.
Bankroll
New players often underestimate the importance of a solid bankroll. Play money is easy to receive, you just press a button and “poof” you have more money in your account. Until you become an excellent player and have a bankroll that allows you to play at whatever limit you want, you should avoid the following risks and you will be on your way to developing a “solid” bankroll.
Don't gamble with your bankroll. Every poker player is a bit of a gambler, it comes with the territory, but you need to leave this urge at the door. ALL Casino games are in favor of the house. No matter what book you may read, what “system” you may follow, or what divine intervention is on your side, if you pick up a habit for blackjack, craps, or any other casino game, you will eventually decimate your bankroll.
Avoid large multi-table tournaments that cost more than 5% of your bankroll. Large multi-table tournaments take A LOT of time and in the end you may have wasted hours for nothing. There is a lot of variance in these large tournaments and you can't nor will you ever predict what money you will win.
Start with the limits you are comfortable with and don't move to higher limits until you are comfortable with those limits. There are many players who rush into raising their limit. A player may run $200 up to $500 at a $3/$6 and then jump to a $5/$10 and run their bankroll up to $900, with each jump in limit comes more confidence, but a player can quickly exceed their comfort level. The new $900 bankroll can easily disappear at a $15/$30 in a matter of minutes. Just because you have been dealt good cards, doesn't mean you have become a good player. Never chase the money for greed, you have succumbed to the Gambler inside of you, looking for more thrills, more risk and ultimately going broke. Sadly, the player who plays for a living doesn't have the luxury of seeking thrills and spills.
Never treat your poker winnings as “bonus money.” If you really want to support yourself as a poker player, you need to continue to use this money towards your bankroll and not a new television or car. Use this money to increase your bankroll and move up through the limits. Everyone wants a nice car or TV, but wait until your buddy goes broke by moving up limits too fast and has to liquidate his new TV or car to continue his habit.
Don't spread your bankroll over several sites. The total money you have and the individual bankroll you have at each site are two completely different things. Mathematically, it may seem the same; however, it is completely different losing $600 on a site where you had only $600, or losing $600 on a site where you had $2000. Try to keep the majority of your bankroll at one site and break off very small sums to try out other rooms. This will protect your bankroll.
Money management is key when it comes to bankrolling yourself. As a general rule in Limit poker, you should bring 100 times the upper limit of the table to the table and with No Limit poker you should bring 200-250 times the upper limit of the table to the table. Playing with too small of a bankroll will always get you into trouble. You will usually bust and will always find yourself playing against larger bankrolls that will push you around. Never be afraid to use your entire bankroll. The entire point of entering a No Limit table is setting yourself up be in a position where you can bet the maximum amount you can and not be limited.
Pot Odds
Pot odds are also known as investment odds. They are the estimated returns on money that you have bet. These odds are approximated by the following formula:
Amount it takes to call($)/Amount in the pot($)
pot odds are as easy as calculating outs. Always compare your outs or your chance of winning to the size of the pot. If your chance of winning the pot is significantly better than the ratio of the amount it takes to call/the amount in the pot, then you have good pot odds. If it's lower, then you have bad pot odds. For example, say you are in a $3/$6 no limit Hold'em game with Ten-Nine facing one opponent on the turn. You have an outside straight draw with a board of 2-5-8-J, and only the river card left to make it. Any 7 or any Queen will finish this straight for you, so you have 8 outs (the four 7's and four Q's left in the deck) and 46 unseen cards left. 8/46 is almost the same as a 1 in 6 chance of making it. Your sole opponent bets $15. If you take a $15 bet you could win $210. $15/$210 is 1/14, so you stand to make 14x more if you call. 1/6 is higher than 1/14, so pot odds say that calling wouldn't be a bad idea.
REMEMBER THIS!! Once you have put money into a pot, you have no stake to that money. If you put $50 into a $210 pot, that $60 is no longer yours. The only stake you have in that pot is totally mental and has nothing, NOTHING, to do with the statistics.
Next, you need to learn to analyze bet odds and implied odds together. This is tough because it hinges on the reactions of the other players at the table. Bet odds are the probability of other players calling or raising you. Implied odds are more of a prediction of what the players' reactions will be for the rest of the game.
Let us say it is the same $3/$6 NL hold'em game and you have a flush draw on the flop. Your neighbor bets, and everyone else folds. The pot is $25 at this point. First you must figure out the probability of hitting the flush on the turn, about a 19.1% (about 1 in 5). If you call this $5 bet vs. a $25 pot, there is a 5x payout. 1/5 is the same as your 1/5 card probability, so bet odds are not great, but you must consider that this guy is going to bet to you on the turn and river also. That's the $5 plus two more $10-$20 bets. So, now you're facing $40 more until the end of the hand. You must consider your chances of hitting that flush on the turn or river, which makes it about 35% (better than 1 in 3 now), but you have to invest $40 for a finishing pot of $110. $110/$40 is less than 1 in 3. That's really close, but there is more! If you don't make it on the turn, it will change your outs and odds! You will have a 19.6% chance of hitting the flush (little worse than 1 in 5), but a $20 investment for a finishing pot of $1100! $110/$20 is a little more than 1 in 5. So your “luck” would have to come into play if you didn't hit it on the turn. What makes it more complicated is that if you did hit it on the turn you could raise him back, and get an extra $20 or maybe even $40 in the pot.
Strategy
Prior to betting like you're going to win the pot with the pocket 7's you have been dealt, you need to carefully consider all the factors surrounding a solid pre-flop strategy.
The factors that you need to consider are: the number of players, how tight/loose the players at the table are, the size or lack of size of your bankroll, and how much risk/reward (how healthy your heart is) you are willing to endure.
Number of players: If you are at a full table, it is much, much more likely that someone else sitting at the table will have a strong starting hand. However, if it isn't a full table, but a shorthanded game, it is less likely that there is a player at the table with a strong hand. Remember, more competition equals stiffer competition with a greater number of players having a chance of a pre-flop hand hitting something on the flop.
How tight/loose the players are: After sitting at a table for some time, it is easy to spot the loose player who is stealing blind after blind by scaring everyone off raising pre-flop. Play tighter, let the loose player steal the blinds and when you have a strong pre-flop hand, call and let them hang on their own.
Your bankroll: If your bankroll is drying up quicker than a puddle in the Mojave, you will need to begin playing tighter and wait for a strong pre-flop hand to go all-in pre-flop. Hopefully, you will get as many players as possible involved and be able to win a large pot. Vice versa, if you have a hefty bankroll at a small limit table, you can play the risk/reward game a lot more liberally and go after the high-risk, high payout bets.
Your position: Players in late position, people sitting to the right of the Dealer button, have the ability to influence the size of the pot much more than those in an earlier position. This is most apparent pre-flop. Your position at the table is simply your position in relation to the dealer. The dealer is at the most advantageous position, as they get to see how all the players at the table react before making their own decision.
The small blind is not only the small blind, but the first player to act after the flop, making them the “earliest” position at the table. The player to their left is the big blind and is already obligated to play if everyone at the table calls or folds. The big blind is the second “earliest” position at the table. The player to the left of the big blind is the player who must act first before any community cards are dealt. This position is often referred to as being “under the gun.” The way action moves clockwise around the table allows the players sitting furthest from the small blind an advantage. These players can play weaker hands because of the lessened burden of financial obligation to see the community. Players in the earliest positions must be more selective with their hands, as they don't have the privilege of watching other players betting/raising before they must decide if they want to stay in themselves.
Let us say you're under the gun (first to act). You have a Jack-Ten, unsuited. The player to bet after you raises and everyone but you folds. You are in a dilemma. The chances are good that this player has a better hand than you, with at least an ace or a pocket pair. Unfortunately, you already contributed to the pot because you had no way of knowing or the position to know that this player had a strong pre-flop hand. Additionally, the advantage this player has over you will continue throughout this hand and they will continue to act after you. However, sitting on the Dealer Button, you are able to observe the entire play of all the players prior to you having to make a decision, plus you can influence the size of the pot. After all other players at the table have bet or raised, you, the player in the dealer position could potentially double the pot by just raising. This assumes no one folds and after all, they already committed to the hand. Why not continue that commitment?
Your tolerance for risk: Depending on how you perceive the players around you, what position you are in, and how you feel most comfortable playing, you will need to devise a plan for yourself. Do you want to grind out a winning hand here and there, spending hours at the table, or do you want to pursue the larger pots and not mind the chance of losing a few hands.
Remember, ultimately this will play a factor in how you bet, but truly you will only want to bet on high pocket pairs, J's or higher, any hand with both an A, K, or Q, suited cards with high card values, and connected cards with high card values (J, 10 suited is a pocket hand with the most possible outs).
