Just Poker Talk

The stereotypical view of schoolyard dynamics usually involves bullies beating up nerds and taking their lunch money by holding them by the legs and shaking the money out. An article on gambling911.com called Better to be the Bully suggests that being aggressive is key to winning in poker.

This idea is nothing new. Most poker players concur, though not all follow through with this advice. Poker analysts, pros, and amateurs have been saying this for decades. In Doyle Brunson’s Super System, arguably the Bible of poker, there is a section on No-Limit Hold’Em which revolves around the concept of pushing people all-in and forcing them into a decision.

As the article points out, there is a difference between being a poker maniac and being a poker bully. In real-life, a bully would turn out to be decent person with a regular job, but a maniac would, in all likelihood, turn into some kind of deranged serial killer.

From gambling911.com:

[A poker bully and poker maniac] may seem similar but they are not. A maniac will bet anything at anytime and make stupid decisions. The bully bets aggressively and intelligently. He doesn’t make bad decisions. Keep that foremost in your mind if you are looking at playing aggressive poker. It is one thing to bully the table and win chips, but quite another to just be a maniac and bet everything in sight. The bully will win chips in the long run. The maniac will eventually make a mistake and lose all of his chips as he runs into a bigger hand.

All of this is pretty straightforward. The hard part is figuring out the right balance of aggression and passivity, knowing when to fold, bet, call, raise, and reraise.

Here are two ways you can practice or force yourself to be aggressive at the poker tables.

The first involves choosing a rag hand such as 6-4 that you will play in late to middle position almost every time. The reason you don’t play the rag hand under the gun, is that you need position to make your play. You will play the hand like aces and kings, betting and raising preflop. You will then make a pot-sized continuation bet on the flop if you’re facing one or two opponents. If there are more than three you should check the majority of time. When contemplating a continuation bet, also take into account the flop. Half the time you should check if there are two face cards on the board.

The second involves following your gut. If you believe that you have the best hand or that your opponent is weak, force yourself to bet strong. Large raises and check raises are especially effective against opponents with weak holdings. The key to this exercise is following your gut and not your mind and reasoning. At first you may lose money on bad reads, but the point is to make you feel more comfortable wagering a large portion of your stack. Being afraid to lose money is not conducive to winning poker. The other thing that this exercise will help you with is folding a hand after making a big raise and getting reraised by your opponent. Do this enough and gets to the point where losing two dollars at a 20NL table doesn’t phase you one bit. Instead you will have the knowledge that you can win that back later with a few successful bluffs or by getting paid off with a big hand.

Previous Poker Tips:
Poker Tip #4: The Lay Down
Poker Tip #3: Faith in the Rush
Poker Tip #2: Check Raise
Poker Tip #1: Starting Hands for NL Texas Hold ‘Em

poker tips, poker strategy, bullying, aggressiveness in poker

Earlier today I was reading a paper called Game Theory and Poker by Jason Swanson. The paper focuses on optimal bluffing strategies in a simplified game of poker. The author calls it One Card Poker. By taking the game to its barest form, the author is able to explain game theory without having to worry about the complications and nuances associated with normal poker games. His ideas on bluffing strategy apply to any form of poker. Of course the the player must take into consideration the different complexities of each game.

The author concludes that game theory is a paradox since the “optimal strategy” leads to neutral EV. In his game of One Card Poker using the “optimal strategy” neutralized the opponent. Therefore, to achieve a positive EV, the player must make plays that go against the “optimal strategy”.

It should be noted that the “optimal strategy” can lead to positive EV. This applies when the opponent is making what the author calls “stupid mistakes”. The simplicity of One Card Poker does a good job illustrating the concept of “stupid mistakes”, which are plays that are always negative EV. If this concept is applied to more complicated games of poker, it becomes easy to see why an “optimal strategy” can be effective against the average player.

After reading the article I programmed my own game of One Card Poker. The AI, however, is not programmed using the “optimal strategy”. I planned to do so, but forgot the link to the paper when I was creating the game. Also aces are low in this game.

One Card Poker, poker theory, flash poker game, game theory

This is a quick tip, but one that will save micro limit players a lot of money. When playing at these limits, it is a good idea to fold to a check raise or a raise. Almost every time that means a player has a strong hand, usually a set or better. There are players that will make a continuation bet after the flop if they missed their hand, but few will check raise or raise with nothing. As always it comes down to reading the player, but when in doubt, fold the hand. The best part about ring games is that folding the winning hand does not hurt as much as in a tournament.

There is also no fear that a player will pick up on a tendency to fold to check raises and raises. The players at the micro limits aren’t that crafty. Avoid out thinking yourself. That has happened to me a lot. Sometimes I fear that the my opponent may be trying to bully me so I pay them off to see their hand. Most of the time they have the better hand and I lose money unnecessarily.

Folding hands to raises becomes much more important if you are loose player, since you will be forced to make more marginal decisions, and that is the time where it can be easy to out think yourself. In my experience at the 20NL tables and lower, most players will just call down a loose player unless they hold a monster, a sure winner. Then they will raise or check raise. Again few will raise with nothing or bottom pair.

Previous Poker Tips:
Poker Tip #3: Faith in the Rush
Poker Tip #2: Check Raise
Poker Tip #1: Starting Hands for NL Texas Hold ‘Em

poker, poker tips, folding to a raise, folding, strategy

When I started searching for US friendly websites, I thought it would be pretty easy to find. The difficulty I ran into is that close to none of the sites mention whether they accept US customers or not. Basically this forces people to do one of three things. 1) Download their software and attempt to register. 2) Contact support. 3) Go to poker website that lists US friendly poker rooms. All three options are a hassle. Although option three sounds like the best idea, the information is not always up to date, as it is difficult to keep track of new policies. Your best bet is to go with option, especially if the website offers live chat. It would be much simpler to somewhere on the site, maybe the terms and conditions or at the bottom of the website whether or not said poker room accepts US customers or not.

Here is a comprehensive list of US friendly poker sites. I have provided links to each site. None of them are affiliate or referral links. I have just provided the links for easy access to the sites and information about them.

1. Full Tilt
2. Poker Stars
3. Ultimate Bet
4. Bodog
5. Absolute Poker
6. Poker.com
7. Cake Poker
8. BetUS
9. Straight Flush
10. OK USA Poker
11. Jungle Poker
12. Full Contact
13. Poker World
14. TouchStone
15. Bugsy’s Club
16. Tiger Gaming
17. Third Bullet
18. True Poker*
19. Poker in Canada
20. Poker Host*
21. BattleField Poker
22. Pharaoh’s Poker Palace
23. World Poker Exchange
24. Dream Poker
25. Poker 4 Ever
26. Pitbull Poker
27. Poker Knights
28. Golden Riviera Poker
29. Holiday Poker

*Site allows all US players except for those who reside in - Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin

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This is a quick tip, but it is a helpful one to keep in mind. Doyle Brunson in Super System wrote a great piece of advice on rushes. I read the book two years ago and this is the one piece of advice that has stuck with me.

Brunson said that a player needs to play hands in order to get on a rush. This makes sense. If a player is seeing less than 20% percent of the hands, this curtails their chances to win hands, just on account that they’re not giving themselves a chance to win. Although every hand that a player doesn’t play they are not losing money, it is also true that every hand that a player doesn’t play they are not winning money.

This is not a suggestion that a player should change their style of play from tight aggressive to loose aggressive. This is a suggestion that if the cards are going well on any given night that lowering one’s starting hand requirements is warranted to capitalize on possible rush opportunities.

This mindset also has the added benefit of giving the player a positive mindset and confidence, even if it is false. This in turn leads to a stronger table image, more action, and more luck.

The beginning and end of a rush is difficult to discern, or maybe once a player recognizes it, the rush will be over. These are not things to worry about, even though they are real concerns. The reason why a player should not worry is because of two things.

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A check raise is when a player checks their hand and waits for an opponent to bet so they can raise them. This strategy is employed for many reasons and circumstances. Position, amount of players in the hand, opponents, and stage of the hand should all be taken into account when considering an opponent’s check raise or employing your own.

I plan to keep this article as basic as possible, since there are many nuances that can be better understood through experience rather than in writing.

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Today I stumbled upon an article by Daniel Negreanu at Pokerdog.org, and, since Negreanu is one of my favorite players, I read the article with much interest and a willingness to learn. The topic was aggression, a skill that is very important to master in poker.

Poker commentators on television, poker books, and my poker buddies all preach aggression aggression aggression. I’ve always felt that it was bad advice. Like anything, extremes can lead to trouble. Granted constant aggression is better than passivity. Aggression brings fear to your opponent, either forces them into a difficult decision or forces them to stay away from you. The problem is that eventually someone will hit the nuts and let the aggressive player bet themselves into a hole.

Negreanu talks about when to be aggressive and when to play with more caution. Selective aggression. Smart aggression. It all comes down to reading the player and the situation. One way, Negreanu suggests, to practice reading players is by playing blind (without looking at your cards) when you’re on the button. This forces you to play your opponent rather than your cards. If he checks the flop and shows weakness, then you bet, no matter what your pocket cards are.

To read Negreanu’s article, “Passing on Aggressive Play”, click here.

Daniel Negreanu, poker, aggression, poker tips

A problem many beginner poker players have is that they play too many hands. It’s boring to fold and watch as the other players try to outmaneuver each other with gusty bluffs and calls. I can honestly say that making an opponent lay down the best hand when I have rags is a great feeling. There’s glory in the successful bluff, but nothing’s better than ending a poker session with more money than I put in. To use an analogy, winning a hand is only one victory in a war, while finishing in the green is making the enemy wave the white flag.

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