PokerWorks
Poker Strategy | Advanced Poker
Four Betting – It's Not Always Aces
12-28-2009, Aaron Hendrix
A commonly used phrase in the poker world is “the fourth bet is always aces.” This used to be true, but in today's poker world filled with hyper aggressive kids and savvy veterans, players are now willing to put in a 4th bet with nothing. Think back...
Bankroll Considerations for the Professional and Semi-Professional II
06-22-2007, Geiststaat
Now, let's put the foregoing to use in constructing a bankroll plan. How should you proceed? First, you should begin by determining your own salary or wage. If you are playing indefinitely, then you'll need a yearly amount you want to earn. If you...
Bankroll Considerations for the Professional and Semi-Professional
06-17-2007, Geiststaat
In a previous article in which my focus was moving up in limits, I addressed bankroll as it applies to the amateur player. The amateur does not need to make money playing poker and so can afford to take shots more aggressively than can someone who...
Rating your opponents in Poker
05-24-2007, jbharshaw
>Poker is described several ways; a game of incomplete information, a game of money played with cards, or in No Limit, a game of people played with cards. Sun Tzu said, "Know thy enemy." The question is, how can we evaluate our opponents quickly...
Blind Stealing
03-25-2007, Geiststaat
As your game develops over time, one skill you must develop is the ability to play without the cards. One of the first stepping-stones to developing this skill is stealing the blinds. In this article I will cover various features of this play that...
Little Decisions vs. Big Decisions in No Limit Hold 'em
03-19-2007, jbharshaw
Lou Krieger described poker as a series of decisions. Good decisions stack the chips. Bad decisions lose chips. Recently at a home game one of the regular losers sat lamenting those hands that he would have won had he stayed in to the river, or saw...
Exploiting the Blocking Bet
03-15-2007, Geiststaat
In my last article I described the blocking bet and gave particular instances in which it ought to be used along with types of opponents to use it against. One opponent you should avoid attempting the blocking bet on is an experienced aggressive...
The Blocking Bet
03-05-2007, Geiststaat
Today I want to discuss a play that is underutilized by no limit hold'em players. Rest assured, plenty of players use it and understand it, but for those who do not, which is most, you can use it quite effectively. What is a blocking bet? Typically...
Implied Stack Odds – a NL Cash Game Concept
02-27-2007, Falstaff
We've all talked for years about pot odds to call a bet; you need 3.5:1 to call for a flush, 7:1 to call for a gutshot, 1,000,000:1 to call against the Hammer, whatever. We've also talked at length about implied pot odds, when the odds aren't right...
Which Game Has Lower Variance?
01-26-2007, Geiststaat
I recently participated in a forum discussion on the following question: "Which game has more variance, limit or no-limit?" I thought the answer was obvious, but as I soon learned, I was obviously mistaken in this thought. The answer isn't...
Slow-playing big hands
01-19-2007, jbharshaw
Probably the biggest mistake, we see on TV poker, is the tendency to slow-play strong hands. Against many TV players it appears you should fold if they check or call and to raise if they bet. They continuously play weak hands aggressively but...
No Limit Bet Sizing
01-16-2007, jbharshaw
One of the required skills for NL play is betting/raising the proper amount for each situation. (I'll always use bet as an example but the same reasoning applies to raises.) To bet the proper amount the simplest approach would be; to bet big when...
The Defensive Check-Raise
01-15-2007, Geiststaat
In limit games, the check-raise is a powerful weapon used by most players. It allows you to win extra bets by sucking in players on weaker hands or to create a bad price for draws to continue by forcing them to call two bets cold. In no limit games...
Slow-Playing Big Hands Preflop
01-07-2007, Geiststaat
According to David Sklansky, you make money when opponents play differently than they would if they could see your cards. In his book, The Theory of Poker, Sklansky refers to this concept as the "Fundamental Theorem of Poker." Rather obviously, if...
Should I Commit?
12-17-2006, Geiststaat
Occasionally you find yourself in difficult spots. Every option looks bad. How should you proceed in such situations? Aside from very carefully, the best you can do is try to make the best theoretical play; that is, maximize your expected value...
Movin’ on Up - Part II: Bankroll
12-08-2006, Geiststaat
Last time I discussed skill level as a requirement for moving up. At a minimum you need to be a winning player. Okay, so you are a winning player, now what? One of the conventional rules of thumb for bankroll is that in a NL game you need 2000...
We’re Movin’ on Up - Part I: Skill Level
12-06-2006, Geiststaat
Ask 10 different people when you should move up and you will likely get 10 different answers. I'll give you an eleventh. IT DEPENDS. It depends on several factors, the major factor being the reasons why you are playing poker. If you are an...
Calling a Raise with a Pocket Pair
12-02-2006, Geiststaat
When playing limit Hold'em, one can usually see the flop cheaply with small pocket pairs. Today I want to focus on calling raises with these small pairs. People often think a call is automatic, as you can flop a set and win a big pot. Indeed if you...
The Protected Flop
11-28-2006, jbharshaw
Most experienced Poker players understand the concept of a protected Pot. "Don't bluff into a multi-way pot on the river." In limit poker any time there are several opponents at least one of them has you beat and will probably call, if the pot is...
The Wisdom of the Continuation Bet: Part II
11-20-2006, Geiststaat
Last time (Part I) I argued that conventional wisdom exaggerates profitability claims for continuation bets. In Part II, I want to discuss whether continuation betting can be made profitable. My suspicion is that the success rates needed to show a...