AGAINST ALL ODDS

One of the things that make poker exciting is that regardless of how experienced or inexperienced you are at it, you’ll never quite know whether you’re winning or losing during the course of a poker game. I now realize that being a tight poker player is not fun unless you become a spontaneous poker player. If position is right, I would sneak-in with 8-9 or 7-8 and once I hit a straight or two pairs, I tried to get as much value from it. Then, I go back to my tight moves. It all depends on what position are you in and how many aggressive players are on your table. Connectors or suited connectors are great if lady luck is by your side, but also having a poker image at your table will scare anyone trying to challenge you.  Poker is a card game that requires skill, concentration, patience, and tactfulness. Winning is not easy in poker, and yes it takes more than just luck to overcome opponents. Good poker players have a high success rate because they use their strengths to exploit their opponent's weakness. There's no such thing as playing by the book in poker. Every individual has a style of game play that is unknown to opponents.

There are several poker strategies that can be used in various poker variants. Remember, you don't have to be a poker player that needs to possess every skill in the game; all you need to do is play smart. Every poker player must see to it that they do not get habituated to a particular strategy or game style in poker. The moment opponents detect a pattern in game play, they can change the game in their favor. There's a lot of practice involved and that can only be accomplished practicing more and more.

Smart poker players win poker tournaments or poker games by getting vital clues from opponents. How is it possible get a perspective on cards held by your opponent. Poker players get an indication of the shape of things in a game by observing opponents. When you are seated at the poker table, you have to be observant at all times. Watch every move of your opponent. Opponent behavior at the table gives vital information. Although a dead expression on the face is what most poker player's showcase, if you are a hawk eyed individual you will be able to detect changes in facial expressions. For instance, watch out for movements near the jaw line of an individual. Several poker players grind their teeth when they have a look at their cards. When an individual grinds teeth there is expansion and contraction that is visible on the outline of the jawline. This is a spontaneous reaction that most poker players exhibit when they take a look at their cards or, make their move. Noticing breathing patters of opponents also gives vital clues on the cards held. Change in breathing pattern can occur when an opponent is trying to play a bluff or is taken aback with an opponent's move. Several men and women avoid wearing flimsy collared tee shirts, shirts or tops because opponents in the past have got vital information on cards held from the movement of collars during breathing.

So remember my mantis, constantly changing gears while playing poker it will be hard for other players to figure out which dynamite you are holding, they will pay you just to see what the heck you are playing with, and that's where you show those donkeys the nuts!.


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A POKER GENIUS, PHILANTHROPIST, PLAYBOY, MONEY WILL FOLLOW

Each poker tournament or cash game I play, I gained more experience and I'm able to apply these experiences to my next poker event. I would also recommend my poker players to also participate in charity event such as pushtowalknj.org, their 4th annual event held March 16, was out of this world. There was 11 poker tables, $5000 visa gift card and other prices for top 10 poker players that made it to final  table. I was one of those player that made it and it was fun. Actually, I made it to 3rd place and I won a seat to play at poker4life.org main event in NYC held for April 18. Poker is not about winning big and showing off your skills, is also about giving back to your favorite charity or if you don't have any charity, there are so many out there that for just $150 or less, you get to give back to your community and help others in need. What is push to walk? A non-profit exercise gym for people with spinal cord injuries, paralysis, and other neurological conditions including, but not limited to Multiple Sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, and stroke. They provide intensive one-on-one workouts so our clients can maintain their physical and mental health allowing them to regain their independence. Our approach is a cutting edge technique encompassing what the medical community terms Activity Based Training. Push to Walk is passionate about inspiring and motivating people with spinal cord injuries to realize their individual potential. You see my fellow mantis, by playing in any charity event, you are also helping others in need and it feels good making a difference at it. Next month, I will be playing at another bigger and better prices, actually, a seat to wsop main event for first price and many other prices for final table finalist. I will be representing pushtowalknj.org and now i have good reason to win this event.

WHY PLAYING TIGHT AND AGGRESSIVE IS RIGHT

But just what is tight, aggressive poker?

My name is donkey Marc, All-in 2-J  vs a tight player 4 bet raised

 I dedicate this blog to my friend Jun, a good poker player that keeps getting pushed around by super lucky donkeys.

A tight poker player is simply one that does not play many hands. Not only is he selective about the hands he does play, but also the position from which he plays them.
As a result of this careful approach, it can be assumed that this player has a reasonably good hand whenever he comes into the pot, as there is a limited set of opening hole cards that he will play.
Conversely, a loose poker player is one who never saw two cards he didn’t like and will jump into just about every pot ready to gamble. It is hard to tell what he is holding, because it could quite literally be anything.
Aggressive refers to the way in which a player plays his hands. An aggressive poker player will rarely limp into a pot, but will instead raise or even re-raise if the situation warrants it. After the flop an aggressive poker player generally continuation bets and pursues the pot with all guns blazing.
Passive players rarely raise and simply call or limp into pots. Because they are timid they can often be knocked off pots by aggressive play as they are nervous when the action gets hot and heavy.

So why is tight aggressive good, and loose or passive bad?

Tight players play premium hands, which have good expected value  and simplify decision making. Because you are avoiding marginal hands, your poker playing will result in fewer costly mistakes, earning you more profit.
In addition, the other players at the table will learn to avoid tangling with you because you are generally playing premium cards. This give you the opportunity to pick up pots as the other players fold to your raises and continuation bets – allowing you to make well timed and profitable bluffs.
Unskilled or unobservant opponents may not realize you are playing strong hands, and will therefore pay you off when they get into a pot with you.
Aggression is essential because no one is going to give you their money – you have to take it from them. Therefore, without aggression you are going to struggle to win pots. Once you decide to become involved in a hand, you should also be ready to fight for the pot. If you don’t, your opponents are going to notice your reluctance and they will begin to bully you like you are back in the schoolyard.
But realize that blind aggression is not the solution either. You need to adjust your aggression levels according to the type of table you are playing on and the way in which the board develops.
For example, if your table is filled with passive players who continually fold to a raise, then this is an excellent spot to show aggression. But if you are sat with several highly aggressive players, then too much aggression could start a war. Also, betting when the board probably has you beat is just like throwing money down the drain.
So make sure you have a good hand and a good table image before you draw your guns, as marginal situations will lead to you only firing blanks.

Starting hands and decisions

You will see a variety of starting hands suggested in charts and tables, some of which are extremely complex and some of which are extremely simple. If you ask experienced poker players to list their favorite top ten hands, the majority of answers will include the following:

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 

The reason that these hands are popular is because they have good equity and are normally quite likely to win a pot. Another reason is that these cards are generally considered to be relatively easy to play after the flop and should not get you in to too much trouble.
That is the reason that small pocket and medium pocket pairs are not on this list. They are a lot more difficult to play post-flop and thus open you up to making costly mistakes.
To paraphrase Sklansky’s Theory of Poker, your opponent makes money when you make a mistake, and you make money when he makes one. A mistake is defined and as playing a hand differently from the way in which you would have played it if you could see your opponent’s hole cards.
For example, let's say that you're on sat on the big blind and the small blind completes. You are holding 4s-4c and decide to make a small raise since there are only two of you in the pot. The small blind calls and the flop is 9h-8d-Jh. The small blind then checks to you. Question number 1: Do you bet? If you could see your opponent’s cards and knew that he had missed the flop completely, the answer would obviously be yes. If you knew that he was holding a pair, you probably would not. Well one time in three, with random cards, your opponent will have made a pair on the flop. And this means that one time in three, you will probably make a mistake in this situation. And mistakes, as we have already mentioned, cost you money.
Still not convinced? OK, let’s continue the scenario and assume you bet in this position. Your opponent check-raises you!
Question number 2: Uh oh, now what? Your opponent could now be holding a wide range of hands. He could be saying "no way" to your flop bet, believing you to be making a continuation bet with a hand like A-K. Or, he could get tricky and be semi-bluffing with a hand containing a 10 or maybe two hearts. He could even be taking a stab at the pot with absolutely nothing like 52. Now do you see how hard it is not to make mistakes?
This is why is important to play tight. Your decisions become easier, and easy decisions result in fewer mistakes and therefore waste less money. Yes, you may fold hands which are winners, but it is better to make a small pre-flop mistake, than a big post-flop one.
The ability to play marginal hands well is the hallmark of an expert poker player, and even they are not immune to costly screw ups. Stick to premium hands and play tight aggressive. Your bankroll will thank you.

Changing gears

Your opponents are going to be watching you just as closely as you are watching them, and it won’t take them long to pick up on your tight aggressive style. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep changing your playing style to prevent them from spotting patterns that they can exploit. This will enable you to become a constant winner.
In addition, some players will take offence at your aggressive play, considering it a personal insult against them. They may play back at you constantly, or wait to trap you with a check-raise. Remember, most profit comes from tables where people are having fun, so don’t keep beating up the same player and don’t let it get personal.
If you keep changing gears, throwing in some loose play along with your standard tight aggressive style, you should be able to keep your opponents guessing and keep your profits at a maximum.

Timing is everything

Understanding when to get aggressive and when to let go is fundamental to this style of play. We are therefore going to wrap up with two examples that should serve to illustrate when you should bark and when you should bite.
Example 1 – To river bet, or not to river bet? That is the question.
You are playing against loose, but not stupid, players and your table image – for the ones that have been paying attention – is pretty good. You haven't pulled off any obscene bluffs and you don't think anyone has any particular reason to believe you're betting with air.
You are holding J-J and your pre-flop raise gets three callers, with the board falling A-9-6. You figure that there was a good chance no-one had an ace and bet again. Two players fold, leaving you and one opponent to continue.
The Turn brings a 7 and you bet again, hoping to charge your opponent for chasing a draw and to try and prevent a medium pair from spiking two pair.
Your opponent calls your Turn bet and a 5 comes on the River. This puts you in a tight spot. You have been playing aggressive, so do you fire a third barrel on the River?
If your answer is “no”, go and get a cookie and move to the front of the class.
Against a calling station you can bet away as they will call with all sorts of hands and you are likely to have them beat. But your opponent is a standard player and if he was on a straight draw, there's a very good chance he just filled up on the final card. If he has an ace, there is no way he’s going to fold. There is a slim chance that he’s holding T-9 and that you have missed a value bet on the River. However, as a rule of thumb, don't bet on the River unless you can:

1. get better hands to fold (no way on this board); or
2. get worse hands to call (not entirely likely, but possible)

If you now bet and he check-raises, you will almost certainly have to lay your hand down. Take the free showdown and see if you win. There is a good chance you do not have the best hand here, so caution is the key.
Example 2 – Go after the flop, or go floppy?
You are sat on the button and look down at A-K, raising a single limper pre-flop. The big blind and the limper both call, and the flop comes K-8-3.
The big blind checks, but the limper now bets into you. Neither player has shown any signs of being maniacs or calling stations. So what do you do? Do you raise him?
Once again, the answer is “no”.
Raising this flop is not necessarily good. While it is likely that you have the best hand at this stage, (barring your opponent holding a set or a hand like K-8, but both are pretty unlikely), you won’t earn much profit by raising.
Let’s look at it another way. If you raise his flop bet, there are only a few hands he can be holding which he will call with and not have you beat. He is more likely to check-raise the flop with something like K-T and would normally just call a bet if he was holding a 9-8. So if you raise and he folds you have let him get away without making a mistake.
Calling a single bet here is a worse mistake for him than folding to two bets. Give him the chance to make that mistake. If he has nothing then you don’t lose all that much by not raising this flop anyway.
Thus the correct play would be to just call, giving the big blind a chance to make a more expensive mistake. You can then trap him on the Turn for two big bets.
What you should recognize in this hand is that there are no profitable draws available on the board, and your hand is not very vulnerable which makes raising less profitable. However, when holding a hand like 9-9, on an 8-5-2 board, you should definitely raise because almost the entire deck consists of scare cards for you. Raising thus becomes imperative. You must learn to analyze the flop texture and see these differences to time your aggression correctly.

Conclusion

Tight aggressive poker is all about careful, solid play that is geared to minimize your mistakes, while pushing your opponent to make them. By following this style and understanding when to change gears and when to apply the brakes, you will continually rack up good wins against the majority of the opponents you will face in cash games.
But always remember that this playing style is no silver bullet. Tight aggressive poker play still has vulnerabilities that a good player will exploit. Nevertheless, it should definitely be part of your poker arsenal and you should wield this weapon mercilessly whether you play online or live. Also, playing solid tight at the beginning of any tournament is a good strategy to double up your chip stack. By being very conservative and not opening up to early, once you 4 or 5 bet with AK or any of your selective cards and hitting it on flop, your will start accumulating chips and getting deeper into the money. Not only will you get deeper but using this strategy, playing tight and then changing gear, you will see other donkeys and fishes eating each other out while you keep waiting for them to make mistakes. I had tested this strategy and it does work, you will get deeper and deeper. The good part is, you will be playing with real poker players that will bring their own strategy and you will learned from it. At the end, you are not playing with donkeys or calling stations, you are playing with the best and getting paid for your efforts.


 


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HOW TO WIN POKER TOURNAMENT STRATEGY

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Winning poker tournaments is always fun. Tournaments are Fun and profitable, though cash games are alot profitable. Tournaments prove you that you have patience, most often when you get deep in a tournament.

So; there are 3 levels, Early, Middle, and Late.

1:Early stage: In the first stage; i suggest you play tight. Playing tight will move you ahead of the tournament while donkeys/fishes bust before you. How i play my tournaments is; For early, my Starting hand selection is (99-AA)AQs-AKs. Playing all other hands gives you more chance to bust. More often playing these hands; you have alot better chance to get more chips. So; playing tight will move yo onto the next level, MIDDLE STAGE.

2: Mid stage: Here; you loosen up. By loosing up here; you get to grab alot more chips than you did in the early stage. This is where i loosen up because their are no more Donkey's and fishes. All the great players remain. So; i suggest you loosen up. No loose as a fish though. I play atleast 30-50 % of my hands dealt at this stage.

3: Late stages: In the late stages of a tournament; you have to Play your 'A' game. Playing your A game will help you win. Just because you went this deep into a tournament, doesnt mean you have to play anyhow. Remember; the longer you last; the better you are. Dont play for the money, test your game. If you think about the money too much, you end up Leaving the tournament. Cause you weren't paying attention to your players.

 

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TOP 10 MISTAKES MADE BY AMATEUR POKER PLAYERS

1. Playing Too Many Hands

An early lesson in poker is to realize the majority of hands you are dealt must be folded. I've known an amateur player turn round to me and say You've got to play the hand you are dealt, why fold. I was shocked and soon put them right. However, there are a lot of beginners that seem to ignore this most basic rule.
They will call with ace-rag out of position, even call a raise with it, they play any two suited cards or even any picture card. You can get away with playing loose like this in a game of no limit hold em but you must have a strong post-flop ability to be able to pull it off.
Situation dependent, most of the time you are looking to only play premium hands such as high pocket pairs, and very strong aces. Simply fold the rest.

2. Not Folding Mediocre Hands

After the flop has hit, amateur players find it very difficult to let go of marginal hands. Suppose they hit middle pair or top pair with top kicker, the will find it hard to lay down. Its a crazy situation to still be involved in a pot holding top pair when there are flush and straight draws on the board and players are betting like theres no tomorrow. I've seen people play online when they will see their hole cards all the way to the river even though the board has paired up, AND there is 4-to-a-flush on the board, AND a straight possibility. They just wouldn't let go of their flopped top pair.
The best hand on the flop may not always be the best hand on the river. Play with caution and don't be afraid to get out if the action heats up and you are holding a marginal hand.
A good way to look at it is to look at the board and think to yourself "What two cards could my opponent be holding for them to beat me?". If you can narrow it down to one or at most two sets of hole cards you should be fairly confident in carrying on playing. If you have to say to yourself "I hope he doesn't have X, or Y, or Z, or A, or B or C..." then you should really think about folding. The more combinations of cards that your opponent could be holding that beat your hand, then the more likely it is they are holding one of them. If there is only one or possibly two combinations of cards that beat you then continue to play but with caution. Bet out or raise to gain information on how good your hand is. If they fold, you win the pot, if you are raised then you are probably beat.
There's no shame in folding. Remember, especially in a tournament, poker scores are based on the player that loses the least amount of chips.

3. Under-Betting The Pot

In no limit texas hold em you can bet out as much of your stack as you like in order to protect your hand. You should be using this to your advantage. Weaker inexperienced players on the other hand tend to bet small amounts such as $30 into a $500 pot. These kinds of bets offer good players fantastic pot odds to call and suck-out on the river because of the money they stand to make in relation to how much it costs to see another card. A bet of around 75% of the pot is enough to discourage players on a draw. Any bet under half the pot is normally not enough.

4. Over betting The Pot

It is an easy mistake that amateurs make. They make a half-decent hand and the adrenaline kicks in and they decide to over bet the pot by pumping $300 into a $90 pot, or they move all in pre-flop for 1500 in a sit-n-go while blinds are still 15/30. The trouble with doing this, is that it makes hands weaker than yours fold, while hands stronger than yours call. By consistently over betting the pot you are either going to win a small pot, or lose a big one. Quite clearly not the optimum poker playing approach.

5. Ignoring Position

Knowledge is power in the game of no limit hold em. The more information you hold about the round of betting the better position you are in to act on this information. Playing hands under the gun means if you bet out, you could face a massive re-raise from a later position. You could check post flop in the hope of a check raise but instead find the entire table checks after you. If you are playing from a later position you have the ability to see what the rest of the table is doing before you act.
Amateur players will often ignore position and play a certain set of hands regardless of position. you should be playing only premium hands in early position, and then widening your range of starting hands the later your position becomes. TJ's plays badly from UTG but very well from a late position.

6. Failing To Protect Your Hand

Many amateur players are guilty of playing far too passively. They will simply check or call unless they are 100% sure they have the best hand in which case they will raise. By failing to bet, or failing to raise they will make it easier for their opponents to draw out on them who might otherwise have folded. If you find yourself against a tight passive player, raise more often than you usually would and you can find yourself winning a lot of small pots.

7. chasing unprofitable draws

Playing a drawing hand is only ever going to be as good as the value of the pot you are trying to win. You should always fold if someone makes a bet where you are no longer getting correct pot odds to call. Amatuer players make the mistake of ignoring these odds and will call all the way to the river in the hope that they hit. It is possible they do not even understand pot odds or know what they are.
As frustrating as it is when monkey players like these suck out on the river you have to remember that they are playing bad unprofitable poker and they will end up losing more money than they win. Just make sure you are in the pot when they lose

8. Bad Stack Management

Amatuer players often neglect their stack size when it comes to playing holdem. If you are playing a cash game you should always have around 20 big blinds to capitalise on your monster hands. If you are falling short, then reload your stack. There's no point hanging on with 50 in a 5/10 cash game only to flop quads next hand and miss out on a huge pot. If you are playing a freezeout tournament, you should stop calling pre-flop when you are between 10 times the big blind (worrying) to 5 times the big blind (critical). There is no option but to push all in with any Ace, pocket pair, suited connectors or any hand under the gun.
You are looking to have enough chips to maximise your big hands, or to keep you alive in tourmanet situations. Bad players will flat call hands when their stack is 5 to 10 x BB. Good players will push all in. Bad players will not reload their chips in a cash game, good players will.

9. Adapting Your Style

There is a big difference between playing cash games and playing tournaments. In cash games you have to be prepared to put your entire stack over the line when you know you are going to win more times than you lose, when you have a positive expected value (+EV). If you lose then you can just reload. In a tournament you have to be more protective of your stack as if it goes then your are out of the game. There are many other subtle levels, but these are the fundamental differences between the two games. Bad players are those that do not adapt their game accordingly and play tournament strategy in a cash game and cash strategy in a tournament game.

10. Trying To Imitate The Pros

The generation of poker players coming through nowadays are those raised on watching it on TV. People have their favourite poker players they have seen making big bluffs and talking the talk. Amateur players seem to copy-cat these actions in order to come across more professional. what they fail to realise however that on TV they are only watching edited highlights. Not every hand is a monster raise, or a trap, or a bluff - in fact most of the time it is one player raising with a genuine hand and everyone else folding. This is unfortunately the less interesting side of poker but it (should) represent a large majority of your game.
We have a generic nickname for these kinds of players at the table. Those that come in wearing the shades, the cap, the iPod, talking about how other players should have played their hands, talking crap. The nickname given is "All the gear, no idea". Make sure you are able to spot these players if they are on your table and more importantly make sure that you are not one of them yourself!

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