Poker: Bet Sizing

Knowing when to bet is an important skill in poker, but an equally or even more important skill is to know how much to bet in each situation. A good knowledge of bet sizing can help save you from making very unprofitable plays, as well as allowing you to maximize the amount of money you can make in each session. All winning poker players have the ability to make the correct size bet when necessary, and so its pretty important piece of no limit holdem strategy that you should learn.

As a general rule to start off with, you should always try and be aggressive and strong with your bets. More often than not, a small and weak-looking bet will not give you any leverage in the hand or give you any information on the strength of your opponent(s) hands. If you regularly like to make minimum bets and raises, you will find that you are almost always giving your opponent the right odds to call you if they have a draw or even a small piece of the board. So you should try and get into the habit of making strong bets to protect your hand when you think that you are ahead and to get more information from your opponents.

The first opportunity you have to make a bet or raise is on the flop. It is here that you have the opportunity to thin out the field when you have a strong hand and make your post-flop decisions easier by reducing the number of players that continue to see a flop. The way to reduce the amount of players in the hand is to make a decent size raise that forces other players into either calling or folding. A minimum raise before the flop isn’t going to make much of an impact, and so you will find that you get a lot of callers. A good preflop raise should be at least 3 times the size of the big blind, with the optimum raise in my opinion being around 4 big blinds.

From here on out, the size of your bets should be in relation to the size of the pot. This means that you should always look at how big the pot is before deciding how much you should bet. If you feel you have the best hand or looking to bluff, you should try and bet around 75% to 100% the size of the pot. This will give your opponents bad pot odds to call for any draw and make them consider folding with decent hands that may be slightly better than yours. Any bet larger than this will make little difference as far as odds are concerned, and you will be risking too much if your opponent has a stronger hand than you and decides to play on.

As a final note on bet sizing, you should make your re-raises strong, just as you do with your standard bets. If a player bets into you and you decide to re-raise for whatever reason, you should be looking to re-raise around 3 times the size of that player’s initial raise. Again this will put them to a tough decision and give them poor odds to call if they are on a draw.

So hopefully as you can see, the key to good bet sizing in no limit games is to stand your ground and bet strongly. If you are too afraid to put money into the pot when you feel you have a winning hand, you should probably take up another hobby. There is no room for fear in poker, and so you should always make strong bets to keep your opponents on their toes and force them to decisions.

Bluffing in Poker

Bluffing is an integral part of poker and is a skill that few players master. A bluff is when you make a bet to make your opponents think that you have a better hand than them, causing them to fold despite the fact you have a worse hand than them. This is a very extravagant and exciting play, which is one of the reasons why poker has become such a popular game over the years.

Bluffing has been popularised even further in the advent of TV coverage of some of the major tournaments, where you can see some of the top professional players pulling off elaborate bluffs against one another. However, these coverage shows are usually edited down, and you do not see the build up to these plays and you get the impression that the bluffs were formed on the spot, when in real fact the bluff was probably set up from hours of play in numerous hands. Therefore you can find many online players trying to pull off bluffs at inappropriate times trying to imitate what they have seen on TV, and thus losing money in the process.

A common problem amongst poker beginners is that they try to bluff far to frequently, which costs them a lot of money. You may be surprised to learn that it is not actually essential to be able to pull of successful bluffs to be a winning poker player. If you play your hands well, it is possible to come out as a winner without ever having to risk your chips in a bluff. However, bluffing will increase the amount you can win from the game if you are able to do it successfully. If you are quite new to the game, it is recommended that you avoid bluffing too frequently so that you can find your feet, and gradually find out when a bluff will be successful.

There are times in a poker game where a bluff will be more successful than at other times. If your opponent is showing weakness by checking, then it more likely that you will be able to push your opponent off the hand with a decent sized bet. Subsequently, if your opponent is showing a lot of strength, then it is less likely that you will be able to run a successful bluff because they are showing a lot of interest in the hand. A very common question asked by players new to the game is “When should I bluff?” This is an incredibly general question, but there is a very simple answer to it; you should bluff when you think your opponents will fold.

The art of bluffing in poker is a skill that is acquired over months and years of play, through seeing countless numbers of hands and situations. The more poker you play, the easier it will become to find situations in which you can bluff opponents off of their hands. Bluffing is all about knowing your opponent and knowing the situation well enough to understand that a bluff may be effective. Being aware of live tells and online poker tells will also help with knowing when a bluff will be successful. This kind of knowledge does not come overnight; it simply takes practice to be gain such an understanding of the game.

Position at the Poker Table

Your position at the poker table during a hand should have a big influence on the way you play any hand. Your position can determine how much money you win, or even whether or not you actually win the hand. Position in poker is something that is all too often overlooked by newcomers to the game, and sometimes even by some of the more experienced players. To become a solid player, you have to exercise good poker strategy and use position to your advantage. If you are not always trying to keep aware of your position at the table, then you are leaving a big hole in your game.

Your position in each hand is determined by the placement of the ‘button’. The ‘button’ is the dealer’s seat and all actions must take place one after another in an anticlockwise motion from player to player, starting with the player to the immediate left of the dealer. The group of players that will be the first few to act on each betting round are known as players in ‘early position’, and therefore the players that will be the last few to act on each round are known as the players in ‘late position’. As you might have already guessed, the players in between these two groups are known as players in ‘middle position’. The button is the best seat in the hand because that player will be acting last on every round of the hand, except only for pre-flop.

The players that are in late position have an advantage over the other players at the table because they will be the last to act on every betting round. This means that they are able to see how their opponents act and play their hand before they have to decide how to play their own hand. For example, if a player in late position sees an opponent check before them, they can infer that there opponent has a weak hand, and so they may decide to make a bluff to try and take down the pot. If the positions had been switched around however, the player now in early position will have a harder time trying to run a successful bluff, because they no longer have any information on the strength of their opponent’s hand. Being out of position in any hand can cause many problems, and hinder any good Texas Holdem strategy you might posses.

When deciding whether or not to enter a pot you should always be considering your position at the table. If you are one of the first to act you have to remember that your opponents will have access to more information about your hand on each betting round, and so will be able to have the greater ability to bluff you off of your hand if you show any weakness. Knowing how to bluff in poker is important, but even more important is knowing when to bluff. If you intend to play a hand from early position, you should make sure it is a premium hand to give yourself the best chance of winning. Consequently, you can loosen up your starting hand requirements in the later positions because you will have the advantage of acting last on each round.

Mathematics and Poker

A big question amongst many poker players is whether or not you need a good knowledge of poker mathematics to be a winning poker player. The simple answer is that it is by no means essential to incorporate mathematics into every situation, but by doing so you should be giving yourself more of an edge. The maths involved in poker decisions is not complex by any means, and anyone with a standard level of education is able to perform the calculations quickly in their heads whilst at the poker table.

Mathematics can be used in poker to work out the probability of certain cards being dealt at any point during the hand. If we are able to work out the probabilities, we can then determine whether or not it is worth calling a bet to chase after a draw. So obviously if we can work out that a certain draw is unlikely to be completed by the river, we will be less inclined to call big bets to try and catch those cards. Using the probability of completing a draw along with the amount you have to call in relation to the pot to figure out whether it is profitable to chase after a draw is called pot odds.

Pot odds can be worked out calculating the number of outs in relation to the number of cards left in the deck as well as the bet amount we have to call in relation to the size of the pot, then these number are compared to work out if a call is profitable. For example, if we are on the flop and we have a flush draw, there are 9 cards left in the deck to complete our hand. There are 47 cards in total left in the deck, 38 of which will not make our draw, so by putting these numbers together we get a ratio of 38:9, or put more simply, 4:1 odds of making our flush by the next card. Therefore, for every 4 cards that will not make our hand, the other 1 card will. If you find this method difficult, you can use poker odds charts to help you quickly figure the odds out.

The next step is to work out the ratio between the size of the bet we have to call and the total amount in the pot. So if the size of the pot is $50 and we have to call $10 to try and hit our flush, the odds we are being given are 50:10, or put more simply, 5:1. Now when comparing the two ratios, we have 4:1 odds of completing our hand with 5:1 odds to try and hit our hand. This means that the odds are in our favour because the odds we are getting from the pot are greater than the odds we are getting from the cards. Therefore if we make the call, this will be a profitable call in the long run.

As mentioned, mathematics is all about poker in the long run. Just because you are able to work out the pot odds for each individual hand, it does not mean that you are more likely to win the hand. You may lose many hands in a row, but as long as you have the correct pot odds to call each time, in the long run you will come out on top as a winner. Poker mathematics is a great weapon to add to your poker arsenal, and it is good to know when you should and should not call bets for each drawing situation.

Money Management in Poker

To be a successful poker player you have to be able to exercise good bankroll management skills. If you are unable to manage your poker money correctly, you will never be able to become a long term winning poker player. Even if you were the best player in the world, it would be impossible to be able to make money from poker if you did not use good money management skills.

Bankroll management basically involves playing at a certain levels and buy-ins to help prevent yourself from going broke at the poker table. You have to set yourself limits to where you can play poker due to the variance found in every poker game. There are always going to be times where you have runs of bad luck that you cannot control, and you will lose money due to the bad runs of cards, and not necessarily due to any bad play. Therefore there is no use in putting all of your poker money on one table, because there is a good chance that you will lose it all and not be able to continue playing poker.

As a result, it is important that we have a large enough bankroll to absorb the effects of this variance so that we can continue to play poker even when we have very bad runs of cards. In addition, we don’t want to go over the top and play at micro levels with a huge bankroll because it is unlikely that we will go broke, and we want to give ourselves the opportunity to win a decent amount of money from our poker sessions. Therefore there are useful rules that you can follow to make sure that you give yourself the best opportunity to make money from poker without going broke.

In cash games, you should never put more than 5% of your bankroll onto the table at any time. So if you want to play in $1/$2 cash games and intend to buy in for the full amount, you should have a bankroll of at least $4000. This will then give you enough room to take a few bad beats and losing sessions, but still be able to continue playing poker without the fear of going broke. Another way of looking at the 5% rule is to remember that you should have 20 times the maximum buy in of the level you wish to play at in your bankroll. Most online poker rooms offer a wide range of limits, so it is perfectly possible to keep your bankroll under control, no matter how large or small it might be. Alternatively, if you are a tournament player, you should have around 40 buy-ins minimum for the level of tournaments you wish to play in.

It is important to remember however that bankroll management is only useful if you intend to play poker regularly, and that you are a winning player. If you only play poker casually then it is not as important to have a set bankroll, but to just be careful with your money instead. In addition, bankroll management will have no effect on your moneymaking endeavours if you are a losing poker player. However, bankroll management will slow down the time it takes for you to lose the money if you are used to playing at higher stakes.

How to Play Poker

Poker is a popular card game in which players, each holding one or more cards whose face value is concealed, place wagers into a central pot. The pot is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards or to the player who makes an uncalled bet. Poker can also refer to video poker, a single-player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine, or to other games that use poker hand rankings.

Game play
Poker has many variations, all following a similar pattern of play.

The right to deal each hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a ‘dealer’ button or buck. In a casino, a house dealer handles the cards for each hand, but a button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated clockwise among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting.

One or more players are required to make forced bets to create an initial stake for which the players will contest. The dealer shuffles the cards, cuts, and deals the appropriate number of cards to the players one at a time. Cards may be dealt either face-up or face-down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After the initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. Between rounds, the players’ hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot.

At any time during a betting round, if a player makes a bet, opponents are required to fold, call or raise. If one player bets and no opponents choose to call (match) the bet, the hand ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are required to be shown, and the next hand begins. This possibility of winning a pot without showing a hand makes bluffing possible. Bluffing is a primary feature of poker, one that distinguishes it from other vying games and from other games that make use of poker hand rankings.

At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a showdown, in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot.

The most popular poker variants are as follows:

Draw poker
Players each receive five — as in five-card draw — or more cards, all of which are hidden. They can then replace one or more of these cards a certain number of times.
Stud poker

Players receive cards one at a time, some being displayed to other players at the table. The key difference between stud and ‘draw’ poker is that players are not allowed to discard or replace any cards.

Community card poker

Players combine individually dealt cards with a number of “community cards” dealt face up and shared by all players. Each player will attempt to make the best five card poker hand using the community cards and their own face down cards. Two or four individual cards may be dealt in the most popular variations, Texas hold ‘em and Omaha hold ‘em, respectively.
See betting (poker) for detailed rules regarding forced bets, betting actions, limits, stakes, and all-in situations. See List of poker variants and poker hand rankings for order of play and other details for the most common poker variants.

Playing Smart Online Poker

I was playing No Limit Texas Holdem on Party Poker.  I was in a $1/$2 $200 buy-in room.  It is normally a room of loose-passive and timid players.  I use a variety of tactics to take advantage of this play  –  including,  in general,  playing loosely up front,  seeing a lot of hands cheaply and then using aggression later on to win larger pots.

I had been watching the room for a while,  folding the first few hands as I determined the quality of play,  not getting any playable hands,  when something occurred to me.  This was not the loose-passive room that I thought it would be.  In fact,  this room was very,  very tight.  Few if any hands reached Fourth Street.  None reached the River.  Two players seemed to be a little more aggressive than most  –  the 2 and the 7 seat.

I decided that the proper adjustment to my typically loose and then aggressive style was to be more aggressive up front  –  even with my large drawing hands.  Raising before the flop had a high likelihood of success.  Those blinds added up.  So I decided to steal me some.

I succeeded.  I was dealt Ah Kd in mid position,  raised to $7 and won the blinds.  The next hand,  with Qh Jh,  I raised from mid position again and won the blinds.  Three hands later with 5-5 in the small blind,  against just the big blind I won the blinds and one caller.  I was on a roll.

But good players make adjustments to your adjustments.  On two subsequent hands opponents re-raised me when I was on some suited connectors,  and I had to release my hands.  I realized that they were alerted to my propensity for stealing and decided to take countermeasures.  So I once again had to adjust.  I slowed down.  I folded many hands in a row  –  trying to reset my image in their minds.  I knew that if I raised the blinds again it would need to be for value.  And it was.

I had Qh Qd in mid position.  I raised to $9  –  the customary raise in this game.  Sure enough,  one of the more aggressive players sitting after me didn’t believe me  (due,  no doubt,  to my earlier raising frenzy).  He re-raised me to $30.  I re-raised him to $100 and he called.

I feared A-K.  Fortunately,  the flop was low: Jd Th 3d.  I went all in for my remaining $120 or so.  He thought for a while and folded.  Maybe he had A-K.  Maybe he had a smaller pair and called my initial raise to a hundred hoping to get lucky.  Who knows?  But one thing seemed pretty clear to me:  My adjustments made sense.  Had I blindly stuck to one style of play based on my initial read of the table,  I would not have been as patient or been able to play back at this guy.

The same type of exchange goes on all the time in Holdem and in Stud.  If you want to extract maximum profit from the game you must constantly reassess the types of players who are in,  because the players themselves change and their playing style changes.  You must also account for how their view of you might be changing based on your behavior at the table.  And finally,  you must reassess the table again as you apply your changed style to the table  –  to make sure that it has not changed again either to address your change in style or to address other dynamics in the game that may have changed.

Playing Against The Multi-tabling Online Poker Player

This wouldn’t happen anywhere but online poker games. A particular leak you can watch for in players.

Much of what I address in my poker articles deals with broad metaphors or basic strategy at the table.  This article is just a simple explanation of a move you can make against certain types of players.  Nothing grandiose  –  just something very specific and very effective.

Every so often you will notice a player in an online poker room who is on automatic pilot.  I don’t mean that he is tired or bored or is a bad calling station.  Usually,  in fact,  this is a relatively good player who is seeking to maximize his hourly win by playing in many different games at the same time.

Players who play in more than one poker room have a major hole in their game.  They usually cannot respond to moves against them in a thoughtful manner.  They must respond automatically,  since they are engaged in many hands at the same time.

This often works to their advantage.  They don’t have the time or inclination to get personally involved in feuds at the table or to overthink their betting action.  They bet,  raise,  call,  or fold strictly as a product of their cards,  position,  and the prior betting action.  Their play becomes machinelike.  While they miss out on some profit from some players whom they could exploit better if they thought critically about their play and what it meant,  they gain absolute dollars by allowing themselves to be in many games at the same time  –  just exploiting the bad play of their opponents with their straightforward style.

Some of these players make their money by limiting themselves to playing super-premium cards.  They play them very strongly when they have them,  betting aggressively pre-flop for example with Aces,  Kings,  and Queens.  If they remain with the overpair or if they hit trips on the flop they bet strongly until the River.  Otherwise they tend just to check after the flop.

There are simple countermeasures you can take against them.  But for the most part this is limited to playing them like a dead stack 99% of the time,  since they’re in only 1% of the hands and will usually fold automatically if they are the big or small blind and there is a bet to them.  Similarly,  if they check after the flop you can usually make a bet and take down the pot.
But they’re not the target of the move I am about to unfold.

The players you want to target with this move are actually the better players.  They realize that there is a lot of money to be made against the typically timid low-limit No Limit players by inserting some automated aggression into their repertoire.  So,  typically,  they will raise pre-flop with many hands and then automatically put in a continuation bet of about half the pot after the flop if they are first to act or if the hand is checked to them.

Get it?  They bet pre-flop with many hands  –  not just the super-premium hands like Aces or Kings.  And then,  on the flop,  they push out a small bet in an effort to steal the pot.

This works well against the typical player because most of these low limit types don’t want to mix it up unless they have a very strong hand.  Someone who bets consistently can pick up many,  many blinds.  And if they don’t win before the flop,  they can often pick up the pot by exploiting their weak opponents’ tendency to discard their hand automatically to a significant bet if the flop doesn’t hit them strongly.

So here’s the countermove.  Pre-flop,  tend to call these players when you have position on them.  And then,  when they make a stab at the pot on the flop,  you go over the top,  tripling their bet with a raise.  Expect to take down the pot.

In live games,  of course,  your opponent would remember what you did.  He wouldn’t be so likely to believe that your raise meant that you hit the flop.  After folding once or twice to your aggressive move,  he’d tend either to be more selective after the flop,  or try to steal back by coming over the top of your raise  –  presuming that you would release your re-steal attempt.

But the beauty of your online poker play is that your opponent has no memory of your action,  since he’s engaged in three or four other games.  Your move is just a minor blip in a series of moves he has had to briefly consider in the past six or seven seconds.  Each time you make your move against him he sees it as an action that represents great power.  And so he shows you the respect you don’t deserve by folding his mediocre or bluffing hand.

Of course you have to be careful.  It’s certainly possible that his continuation bet is a ruse  –  and that he did wise up to your move after all.  But I can tell you that I have been in games with these guys and made this move a dozen or more times against them over the course of a couple of hours and never gotten any return fire.

The thing is that when they really do have a legitimate hand after the flop,  they don’t come out for half the pot,  as they do with their continuation bets.  Instead,  they bet the full amount of the pot.

Here’s an example of this from a recent online session.

I was playing in the $200 buy-in $1/$2 Blind no limit game on Party Poker.  The player in question was four to my right:  four players in front of me.

SB$1,  BB$2,  fold,  raise to $7,  fold,  fold,  fold.

My action.  I have  (Ah9s).  Normally I fold that hand to a pre-flop raise like that.  But not against this guy.  I call his $7.  The other players fold  –  as they usually do when he raises.

The flop comes 3s3h5d.  He bets $9.  I suspect that he is just on auto-pilot and making an automatic continuation bet.  So I raise by $18.  I don’t need to risk a large amount.  If I’m right he’ll just fold.  Sure enough,  he does fold.

This is repeated many times over the course of the next couple of hours.  I call his raise that clears away the rest of the field and then raise his continuation bet and steal the pot.

Would he have eventually have gotten wise to me if I hadn’t left the game after three hours?  Who knows.  But I can tell you this.  There was a stretch of 15 minutes when I pulled this move five times and my opponent responded in exactly the same way each time.

It’s important to notice that this was a full table.  In short tables and surely in heads up action my strategy doesn’t work as well.  Because it’s highly unlikely that someone can sustain a short game or a heads-up match while playing in many other games.  But when your opponent is taking on the world  –  or at least another 30 or 40 players in three or four games,  make sure that you maximize your winnings by taking advantage of his distraction and lack of player memory.~~

Making the Switch from Casino Poker to Online Poker

All about the adjustments casino players need to think about when they go play holdem or stud or their favorite poker online.

More and more players are competing online in addition to playing in more traditional brick-and-mortar casinos.  Online play is so very convenient because it’s as near as your computer and you’ll seldom lack for a game.  Even when it’s 5:00 a.m. where you live and there are few poker players to be found locally,  it’s always prime time somewhere on this planet,  and there’s always a game in cyberspace.

In one sense,  making the jump from traditional casinos to online play is simple,  because no matter where you play,  poker is still played by the same rules and subject to the same mathematical and statistical parameters.  If you have a set on the turn and your opponent has a straight or a flush,  the odds against catching one of the 10 cards that will promote your hand to a full house or better on the River are still 3.6-to-1 regardless of whether you’re playing online or in a casino.

But if you’re transitioning from brick-and-mortar poker to online poker,  there are some wrinkles that will take getting used to,  and to succeed in a new environment there are some adjustments you’ll have to make to be successful.

If you’ve yet to play online,  and are eager to download the software and jump right into a game,  let’s take first things first.  Make your initial foray into online poker a play money game or at least one at micro limits,  like a $0.10-$0.20 or less.  You’ll have to get familiar with the software,  the site’s features,  and the speed and characteristics of online play  –  and you might as well do this as inexpensively as possible.  Make your mistakes on the cheap,  learn from them,  and apply those lessons when you move on to games at your regular limits.
Poker players in a traditional card room are used to its unique environment and to the pace of a casino poker game.  Things are entirely different online.  Even if you are not aware of it,  when you’re playing face-to-face against a table full of opponents,  you’re always gathering information about their style of play.  You’re registering facts, nbsp;impressions, and information by watching them play.  You’re also comparing the hands they show down with their betting patterns on previous betting rounds,  even if you’re not aware that you’re doing it.

In a casino poker room,  you’re in position to turn your assessment of their personal behavior into assumptions about their play.  Are they drinking,  distracted,  studious,  compulsive chip arrangers,  reading a magazine while playing,  or brain dead to bits of information that float in the ether above the table and are there for any astute player to notice?  There’s lots of tacit learning and implicit knowledge available when you’re able to look at your opponents,  watch them play,  and interact with them personally.

None of that is available in cyberspace.  You are in front of your computer and your opponents are each in front of theirs.  All you see is a screen name or alias, nbsp;and on some sites,  players can add a graphic of their choosing,  called an avatar.

How valid is that as an indicator of your opponent’s style,  playing ability,  and personality?  Not very.  “HotBlonde21,”  whose sexy picture is smiling back at you,  may be a 260-pound middle-aged truck driver.  You never know.  The internet gives each of us the opportunity and wherewithal to represent ourselves any way we choose,  and how we do so is usually at variance with the way we’d appear if you could observe us in person.

The first time I walked into the Victoria Casino in London,  I was 11,000 miles from home.  I figured I wouldn’t know a soul in that room,  but I recognized two players.  I did not know their names  –  not their real names,  anyway.  I knew them by their card table nicknames.  One was “Briefcase Alex,”  because he always carried a briefcase into the poker room with him.  The other,  who sported a long beard,  was called  “the Rabbi.”  Whether or not he was a real rabbi I may never know,  but he looked rabbinical.  While I didn’t know much about them as people,  I knew a lot about them as players.  I knew how they played.  It was clear as day to me even though I had not played with either of them in more than nine months.  I associated  — nbsp;unconsciously to be sure  –  playing styles and other bits of categorized information about their tendencies at the poker table with their appearance and mannerisms.

Physical characteristics are powerful memory pumps that won’t be at your disposal when you play online.  That’s why you need to take notes on your opponents.  Note-taking is an alternative to these missing memory pumps,  and if you want to recall an opponent’s play,  you’ll need to take copious notes about them. nbsp;Online poker notes are retained from one playing session to another; nbsp;they’re always there to refresh your memory. nbsp;If you took notes on  “HotBlonde21”  three months ago, then promptly forgot all about her  –  or him;  remember,  when we’re online we’re never quite sure  –  there’ll be a little  “flag”  on Blondie’s name to show you that you have some information about that player.  All it takes is a couple of mouse clicks to see what telling characteristics you’ve noticed.

Online players frequently play in multiple games.  Many players will jump into three or more games simultaneously.  Some online players have rigged up dual monitors so they can play in as many as eight games at once.  I’m good when it comes to multitasking,  but I can’t envision playing eight games at the same time.  Four is the most I’ve ever played,  and even then,  I could not take notes on my opponents.  It was all I could do to keep up with the often-simultaneous action that required me to make decisions at different games within seconds.

I was playing sub-optimally,  and if you’re playing in three or more games,  so will you.  You won’t have the time to refer to notes or write down your impressions of your opponents.  Nevertheless,  when you play online you can strike a winning balance between volume and effectiveness.  If you are capable of winning two big bets per hour in your favorite game,  let’s look at what you might expect your results to be if you’re able to play only a bit less effectively in four games.

Suppose you figure to win only one big bet per hour in each of the four games you are playing simultaneously.  At the end of an hour you rate to win four big bets playing less than your best,  but that’s twice what you’d figure to win if you were only to play one game to the best of your ability and win two bets in that same period of time.

You can also drop down in limits and win as much by competing in multiple games than you might by playing in one bigger game.  By diversifying,  you might just smooth out some of poker’s inherent variance.

When you play in a number of games at once,  you’ll probably wind up using some of the pre-action checkboxes.  These checkboxes allow you to direct the software to call,  fold,  or raise when the action gets around to you,  and allows you to concentrate on other,  more compelling decisions.  The disadvantage is that your opponents may realize when you are facing a real decision and when you are acting on autopilot,  and they will adjust their play accordingly.

After all,  if one player bets and the next player raises in a split second it’s very probable that he used a  “raise any”  checkbox.  This usually indicates a very powerful hand,  but it could also be a planned deception,  and the only way you stand a good chance of knowing is by taking notes on your opponent’s playing styles.

Online poker also provides you with statistics regarding your play:  how many hands you’ve played,  how often you’ve called the flop or stayed to the river,  or on what betting round you’re most likely to fold.  While it’s often easy to deceive yourself about the selectivity and aggressiveness of your play in a traditional casino,  your online stats will always tell the real story of your play.

There’s lots more to online play,  and we’ll delve into some of it in future articles.  Because there are now so many players who have been weaned on internet poker and are confronted with the task of learning how to play properly in a casino,  we’ll discuss what players who began their poker careers online can expect when they make the jump to a brick-and-mortar casino.

It seems to me that poker stop-and-go play — a term I first heard used by 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer — works much better in online games than it does in cash game play at traditional, brick and mortar casinos.
But don’t ask me why.  It just seems to work out that way.  At least that’s been my experience.  It might not be your experience, but in $15-$30 and $30-$60 online games, stop-and-go frequently works wonders.

I like to think of the stop-and-go play as analogous to a football play you see wide receivers run all the time.  A wide receiver goes 10 yards upfield, and then flexes his inside shoulder as though he is going to button-hook back and catch a short pass.

The quarterback does his part too.  First he fakes handing the ball off to a running back, which brings a safety up to defend against the run.  Then he pump-fakes, just as the receiver dips his shoulder.  But as soon as he does, the receiver turns back up field and heads toward the end zone.  If the defensive back bites on the receiver’s initial move, the receiver will have a few steps on him, and that’s all it takes.  If the quarterback delivers the ball accurately, and the receiver is sure-handed, it’s a touchdown — or at the very least, a long gain.  Only a quick recovery on the part of the defensive back, or a safety who takes the proper angle, can run down the receiver before he reaches the end zone.

You can do that at the poker table too, as long as your opponent is a good enough player to get away from a hand when he suspects he’s beaten or he realizes the price to find out is just too high compared to his estimate of how often he’ll win a particular confrontation.

Let’s assume you open with a raising hand like A-K or A-Q and an aggressive player who acts behind you makes it three bets.  You call, knowing that your opponent may have a big pair, or he may have reraised with a hand that’s very similar to yours in hopes of knocking out any other callers and allowing him to seize the initiative on the flop in a heads-up pot.

If the flop is ragged and looks like it’s missed both of you, you’re in good position to try the stop-and-go.  While most players will check to the guy who made it three bets before the flop, you come out betting.  Now your opponent will have a decision to make — as long as he isn’t holding a really strong hand like a big pocket pair.

If he made it three bets before the flop with A-K, he has to assume that the flop helped you or you called with a pocket pair and are now firmly in the lead.  After all, once the flop is exposed, your opponent has seen 71% of his hand and the cost of wagering only gets more expensive on the Turn and River.

What can he do?  He certainly shouldn’t want to call your bet with A-K, because he probably suspects he’s no longer in the lead.  He can fold, and you’d love that because you’ll win the pot right there.  Your opponent can raise, but if you really do have a good hand, you’re going to play back at him and he figures to lose even more money.  If he’s thinking about how things will probably play out on future betting rounds, he’ll probably conclude that you raised on the flop with the best hand and plan to come out betting the Turn and the River too.

When you come out betting, it’s like announcing that you intend to bet on subsequent rounds too.  Since a bet saved equals a bet won, if your opponent doesn’t have a hand he’s probably going to fold now, while he can get out inexpensively.

If the flop carries a big card with it, you still might make this play, particularly if that big flop card is not an Ace.  Suppose the flop is J-9-3.  If your opponent has A-K, all he has is the possibility that he might win if he hits one of his overcards on the Turn or River.

For him it’s a dicey situation heads-up, because he’s certainly not getting much of a price to draw to his overcards.  If that’s not daunting enough, he can’t even be sure whether pairing an overcard will make him happy.  An Ace on the Turn might be just what the doctor ordered, but not if you have a hand like A-J or A-9.  If you do, he’s dead in the water and all pairing his overcard will help him do is lose more money.

You can also use this stop-and-go play on the Turn.  Suppose you bet the flop, are raised, and what began as a multi-way pot becomes heads up when you call and everyone else folds.  You can come out betting regardless of the Turn card.  If a big card turns that fails to help your opponent, he’ll have to figure it either helped you or you’re betting a pocket pair for value, now that the betting limits have doubled.  After all, he raised the flop but now you’re betting into him on the Turn.  He’s thinking, “What’s going on here?”  If all he raised with were overcards, he’ll likely fold and you’ll take the pot.

If a small card appears on the turn, betting out is even a stronger assertion that you have a pocket pair and are feeling just peachy, thank you, about betting into a ragged board.

Once again, betting puts your opponent in the unenviable position of having to think about calling a reraise if he chooses to continue driving his overcards, or else he has to call passively when he figures to have the worst of it.

Like all things in poker, this sword has two edges.  If your opponent really does have a big hand, he is likely to reraise and then you’re the one being put to the test.  If your opponent is a skillful player who seldom gets out of line, it’s a test you’ll probably fail.  Just as it was for your opponent when he didn’t have a strong hand, discretion is the better part of valor when you have a hand that does not figure to showdown a winner at the River.

Despite the dark side that crops up from time to time, the stop-and-go play seems to tip strongly in favor of the player who employs it.  While you’ll cost yourself an extra bet or two when your timing is bad, more often than not you’ll take down a pot without a fight, and there, doesn’t that feel nice?

Stop-and-Go Play Works In Online Poker

Stop-and-go play is really a carefully-timed feint.

It seems to me that poker stop-and-go play — a term I first heard used by 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer — works much better in online games than it does in cash game play at traditional, brick and mortar casinos.
But don’t ask me why.  It just seems to work out that way.  At least that’s been my experience.  It might not be your experience, but in $15-$30 and $30-$60 online games, stop-and-go frequently works wonders.

I like to think of the stop-and-go play as analogous to a football play you see wide receivers run all the time.  A wide receiver goes 10 yards upfield, and then flexes his inside shoulder as though he is going to button-hook back and catch a short pass.

The quarterback does his part too.  First he fakes handing the ball off to a running back, which brings a safety up to defend against the run.  Then he pump-fakes, just as the receiver dips his shoulder.  But as soon as he does, the receiver turns back up field and heads toward the end zone.  If the defensive back bites on the receiver’s initial move, the receiver will have a few steps on him, and that’s all it takes.  If the quarterback delivers the ball accurately, and the receiver is sure-handed, it’s a touchdown — or at the very least, a long gain.  Only a quick recovery on the part of the defensive back, or a safety who takes the proper angle, can run down the receiver before he reaches the end zone.

You can do that at the poker table too, as long as your opponent is a good enough player to get away from a hand when he suspects he’s beaten or he realizes the price to find out is just too high compared to his estimate of how often he’ll win a particular confrontation.

Let’s assume you open with a raising hand like A-K or A-Q and an aggressive player who acts behind you makes it three bets.  You call, knowing that your opponent may have a big pair, or he may have reraised with a hand that’s very similar to yours in hopes of knocking out any other callers and allowing him to seize the initiative on the flop in a heads-up pot.

If the flop is ragged and looks like it’s missed both of you, you’re in good position to try the stop-and-go.  While most players will check to the guy who made it three bets before the flop, you come out betting.  Now your opponent will have a decision to make — as long as he isn’t holding a really strong hand like a big pocket pair.

If he made it three bets before the flop with A-K, he has to assume that the flop helped you or you called with a pocket pair and are now firmly in the lead.  After all, once the flop is exposed, your opponent has seen 71% of his hand and the cost of wagering only gets more expensive on the Turn and River.

What can he do?  He certainly shouldn’t want to call your bet with A-K, because he probably suspects he’s no longer in the lead.  He can fold, and you’d love that because you’ll win the pot right there.  Your opponent can raise, but if you really do have a good hand, you’re going to play back at him and he figures to lose even more money.  If he’s thinking about how things will probably play out on future betting rounds, he’ll probably conclude that you raised on the flop with the best hand and plan to come out betting the Turn and the River too.

When you come out betting, it’s like announcing that you intend to bet on subsequent rounds too.  Since a bet saved equals a bet won, if your opponent doesn’t have a hand he’s probably going to fold now, while he can get out inexpensively.

If the flop carries a big card with it, you still might make this play, particularly if that big flop card is not an Ace.  Suppose the flop is J-9-3.  If your opponent has A-K, all he has is the possibility that he might win if he hits one of his overcards on the Turn or River.

For him it’s a dicey situation heads-up, because he’s certainly not getting much of a price to draw to his overcards.  If that’s not daunting enough, he can’t even be sure whether pairing an overcard will make him happy.  An Ace on the Turn might be just what the doctor ordered, but not if you have a hand like A-J or A-9.  If you do, he’s dead in the water and all pairing his overcard will help him do is lose more money.

You can also use this stop-and-go play on the Turn.  Suppose you bet the flop, are raised, and what began as a multi-way pot becomes heads up when you call and everyone else folds.  You can come out betting regardless of the Turn card.  If a big card turns that fails to help your opponent, he’ll have to figure it either helped you or you’re betting a pocket pair for value, now that the betting limits have doubled.  After all, he raised the flop but now you’re betting into him on the Turn.  He’s thinking, “What’s going on here?”  If all he raised with were overcards, he’ll likely fold and you’ll take the pot.

If a small card appears on the turn, betting out is even a stronger assertion that you have a pocket pair and are feeling just peachy, thank you, about betting into a ragged board.

Once again, betting puts your opponent in the unenviable position of having to think about calling a reraise if he chooses to continue driving his overcards, or else he has to call passively when he figures to have the worst of it.

Like all things in poker, this sword has two edges.  If your opponent really does have a big hand, he is likely to reraise and then you’re the one being put to the test.  If your opponent is a skillful player who seldom gets out of line, it’s a test you’ll probably fail.  Just as it was for your opponent when he didn’t have a strong hand, discretion is the better part of valor when you have a hand that does not figure to showdown a winner at the River.

Despite the dark side that crops up from time to time, the stop-and-go play seems to tip strongly in favor of the player who employs it.  While you’ll cost yourself an extra bet or two when your timing is bad, more often than not you’ll take down a pot without a fight, and there, doesn’t that feel nice?

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