When the Best Hand Isn’t Good Enough

This was a pivotal hand from my third session against the same player I’ve mentioned in a few recent heads up hands I’ve posted.

He’d been 3-betting a fair bit this session, but not as much as he sometimes has. This was one of the first 4-bets I’d made this … Read full post

Bathroom Ethics Fail

Emily and I are currently camping in Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod. It’s a huge campground with hundreds of sites, and even past peak season it’s nearly at capacity. There just a few building with showers for the entire campground. The other night I visited one of them for … Read full post

Double Double

When trying to exploit a particular opponent, the most important question to ask yourself is, “What are the situations where his range is either tighter or wider than it ‘should’ be? When does he build pots with hands that don’t warrant such a show of strength?”

This is the same … Read full post

I Don’t Buy It

I had a real neat, deep-stacked heads up match going on two tables for several hours yesterday. I felt like we were very evenly matched, and indeed I got off to an early lead, eventually lost a 700BB pot with two pair vs. a turned flush in a four-bet pot … Read full post

OK to Slowplay

Edit: Made a mistake in the original post. Villain did not have two pair, he had Aces with a kicker that didn’t play.

$5/$10 NLHE, $1100 effective stacks. Action folds to a decent TAG regular in the SB, he opens to $30, I make it $90 with AJo, he makes … Read full post

Relative Happiness, Part 2

As I ended Part 1, my girlfriend and I had just driven home a virtually new car (2009 Subaru Forester with about 4000 miles on it), but we weren’t as happy/excited about this as I felt we should be. I was aware that a great many people in the world … Read full post

Nice Check Back

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3829.50)
BB ($1000)
Hero (UTG) ($4795.55)
MP ($1490)
Button ($2152.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $40, MP raises to $120, 3 folds, Hero calls $80

Flop… Read full post

Just a Triple Barrel

The last two weeks have been pretty hectic (more on that soon), and I’ve barely played at all. Here’s the most interesting hand I could find without much effort from my “archives”:

No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Hold’em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($3183.65)
SB ($1679.40)
BB … Read full post

Largest Pot of My Career

…and it’s not even that close:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $80.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($19098.50)
Hero (UTG) ($16000)
MP ($16538.30)
Button ($16485)
SB ($15277)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, K
Hero bets $280, 2 folds, SB raises to … Read full post

Not ALWAYS An Oxymoron

Particularly earlier in the year, running too many big bluffs in tournaments was a substantial leak of mine. I’ve made a concerted effort to confine the monster bluffs to the cash tables, and my tourney results have improved a bit. In the $300 rebuy 6-max FTOPS, though, I did pull … Read full post

Bluffing With the Second Nuts

Sounds crazy, right? What better hand would fold? Ah, but what about the same hand?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($3360.50)
Button ($1316)
SB ($1012.50)
BB ($2066.50)
Hero (UTG) ($2759.50)
MP ($608.40)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, … Read full post

SSNL Group Seminar Announcement

Tired of betting with decimal points? Stuck in a rut? Feel like you’re past due to get into the mid-stakes games and start earning some serious money?

Get high-end coaching on a small-stakes budget with my new SSNL Group Seminar.

I’m going to be conducting a series of seminars on … Read full post

PLOLOL8

Edit: On further reflection, I actually think his call is OK. He needs barely 33% equity, as he probably isn’t behind the SB caller, and my range is likely weighted towards the strong draws, against which he is a slight favorite, than the strong made hands that have him in … Read full post

I Got These Backwards

This is one of the biggest leaks that I’ve helped my students to find, and as these hands illustrate, it’s not something I’m immune to myself. I’m talking about choosing the wrong hands to defend against a possible bluff/semi-bluff when there are still cards to come. It is so much … Read full post

Psychotic Call

Guy was a decent player, if a bit of a LAGtard. This is a pretty bracingly bad call though. Honestly, I think every move he made after the open raise was a mistake:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($7751)… Read full post

Now That’s a Graph

nugloker

Evidently there was a glitch on Poker Stars heads up Sit-and-Go’s that enabled players to start a new game using the “Rematch” button even if they did not have sufficient funds in their accounts. What you see here is a small stakes grinder who figured this out and hit up … Read full post

Owned Hard

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($1027)
MP ($980)
CO ($1442.40)
Hero (Button) ($1471.25)
SB ($1000)
BB ($1336)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, J
UTG bets $35, MP calls $35, CO calls $35, Hero raises to $165… Read full post

Guess That’s Why They Call It a DEALership

Emily and I were looking at used cars today, and though we weren’t even at the point of negotiating prices or anything, I found a few parellels to poker that I thought were interesting.

I should tell you about the guy we were dealing with first, because he was a … Read full post

New Book Review: Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ‘Em

Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ’em
by Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn

Professional No Limit Hold ‘Em, Volume 1 (PNLHE) is one of my all-time favorite poker books and the one that I recommend to anyone looking to get started to the game. I eagerly awaited the … Read full post

The Double Check-Raise

I used to be afraid of check-raising the flop in a spot like this. It felt like I was turning my hand into a bluff, because if he called, I wouldn’t know if it was with a Q or a draw or a worse pair or a total float. Then … Read full post

Tournament Stupidity

How not to play in the Sunday Million:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t9600)
Button (t10700)
Hero (SB) (t9850)
BB (t10000)
UTG (t10000)
UTG+1 (t10000)
MP1 (t10000)
MP2 (t9850)
MP3 (t10000)

Hero’s M: 131.33

Preflop: Hero is … Read full post

Just Do It

Some of you might remember a player named Jason Strasser, who in his day was one of the very best NLHE players online, at both cash and MTT’s. He dominated the 25/50 games and won a WCOOP event before largely quitting poker to become a Wall Street analyst or something … Read full post

River Check-Raise for Thin Value?

One of my students asked me about this hand today, and I thought it was pretty interesting. My first instinct was that the check-raise was thin but good. Q8 is pretty much the top of Hero’s range here, and this looks like such a weird line that I doubt Villain … Read full post

Calls That Get You Quit

Given the difficulty I’ve had recently getting heads up action, I’ve put some thought into how the risk of provoking a quit ought to factor into my decisions. It seems there are certain situations, usually winning or losing a big pot, that greatly increase the chances of an opponent quitting. … Read full post

How We Did

Thanks to everyone who commented on my recent post “You Tell Me: How’d We Do?“. I’ll address a couple of the great questions and comments here and share my own thoughts.

1. The pre-flop 3-bet. I’m certainly not doing this everytime I have J9s, but my 3-betting range … Read full post

Gates at the Top of the Range

By now, you’ve probably all heard about the arrest of prominent black academic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in his home by a Cambridge police officer. If you haven’t, or even if you have, I suggest reading the police report. The short version is that a neighbor called the police … Read full post

You Tell Me: How’d We Do?

Here’s a change of pace. Instead of telling you my reasoning and take on the hand (yet), I want to hear yours. What do you think of my play? What do you think of Villain’s? Obviously some streets will be more controversial than others, but I’m interested in anything and … Read full post

A Case of the Sundays

The tournament cold-deckings continue, with me busting the Sunday million set under set after accumulating an above average stack three hours in, losing a huge pot with set under set in the $500 WCOOP satellite (which had a remarkably small and tough field, hopefully that will change with time), and … Read full post

Bluff Catching

The last two months have been pretty brutal. Certainly part of that was due to whiffing the WSOP and a few failed shots at 40/80, but even my regular games have not been going well. Unlike in past downswings, I don’t feel that I’ve experienced extraordinarily brutal luck. There were … Read full post

Exciting Day at the Pool

When I made it through to Day 3 of the WSOP, my girlfriend came out to Las Vegas to be with me. Sadly, there didn’t turn out to be much more poker to watch, so we took the next few days to travel in the area. We were in Bryce … Read full post

There Will Be No 4-Peat

Ironically, after surviving two days at three tough tables playing in some cases less-than-stellar poker, I busted at a great table after a few hours where I think I was playing quite well.

The day got off to a nice start. Blinds were 600/1200/200 On the third hand, I overcalled … Read full post

Day 3 is underway

Just finished up the first break of the day, Andrew is down to 26k after a couple hands didn’t get there. Table is much less intense than days 1 and 2 though, so we’ll see.

Updates on twitter fairly regularly, you can view the feed at www.twitter.com/thinkingpoker

Thanks to everyone … Read full post

A Few More Day 2 Hands

First off, I want to say thanks to everyone who’s commented to wish me luck or to share intelligence. What an amazing thing that one of you is a Russian from Prague able to offer some insight into both a Czech opponent and a Russian one! I’m not going to … Read full post

Day 3 Table Draw

Don’t recognize any names, which is a nice change of pace:

Toriani, Keith 110,200 BR224 1
Lezcano, Ed 23,900 BR224 2
Hai, Le 113,100 BR224 3
Brokos, Andrew 92,200 BR224 4
Phung, Steve 26,500 BR224 5
Bykov, Andrey 27,500 BR224 6
Pages, Fernando 87,100 BR224 7
Fiala, Miroslav 103,500 BR224 … Read full post

Day 2A Table Draw

Ahlberg, Tom Vasa Sweden 5,200 B29 2
Boyette, Robert Archer FL 38,950 B29 7
Brokos, Andrew Catonsville MD 16,350 B29 5
De Bon, Cedric Suisse Switzerland 22,725 B29 9
Levy, Grant Sydney Australia 52,225 B29 8
Ludovic, Lacay Paris France 53,425 B29 3
Pagano, Luca Treviso Italy 40,125 B29 6… Read full post

Congratulations Darren and Sukaina

One of my original poker buddies and his wife welcomed their first child into the world today. Picture forthcoming if I can convince his parents that it’s safe for his picture to appear on a poker blog. It’s safe to say that depending on which side he favors, he will … Read full post

Capped Ranges

Forgot to mention this with all the excitement of the WSOP, but my latest poker strategy article, Capped Ranges, is now appearing in the 2+2 Magazine. Here’s a tantalizing excerpt:

“On the turn or river, it is often possible to determine, based on how he has played on … Read full post

Key Hands From Day 1

I'll hopefully be publishing a full write-up after the tournament, so for the moment I'm just going to share two key hands. In the first, blinds were 150/300. The CO, who was pretty blatant with his bet sizing, opened to 675. The Button, a young player in a Poker Stars hat who seemed good and was probably a participant or a similar forum, called. The SB folded, and I had QdTd on my BB. I squeezed to 2500. The CO folded, and the Button called. He had about 40K to start the hand, I had 45K.

Dinner break

Andrew moved to a softer table and is up to a comfortable 45k at the dinner break.

They are only playing four 2-hour levels today, instead of the scheduled 5,  so they’ll come back from dinner at a little after 6pm PST and then play until about 10:30pm with a … Read full post

Twittering from the table

Andrew is at a meh starting table with a good player on his left. For those not following the twitter, here are the updates so far:

3:35pm Fish wins huge pot off of best opponent. this is a very very good thing.

First Break- 2:15pm Just over 30K starting stack … Read full post

The Blog, It Is A-Changin’

My girlfriend’s been working tremendously hard on a redesign of the Thinking Poker blog/website, and it’s going to be going live tomorrow. By the time many of you read this post, it may be live already, in which case, don’t panic- you’re still in the right place!

If you happen … Read full post

Imperial Palace Elevator Conversation

For some reason, people in Vegas talk to strangers on the elevator, which is a total 180 from common elevator behavior anywhere else in the world. I think it has something to do with the general mood of the place combined with how crowded the elevators often are.

Usually it’s … Read full post

Dinner break

3875 coming into the break. Were playing 200 400 when we resume.

Level 3 I got into some good spots vs the fish (there are 2 now). Once had three to a low flush that turned into a 7 low and lost to a better low from fish who limped … Read full post

5400 at first break

Up from 4500 at the start. Table isn’t particularly soft. There’s one very loose player on my right but otherwise everyone seems solid. I’ve had some strong hands, including rolled up 7s that only got half of a small pot and a buried pair that made trips to chop a … Read full post

Focking Marcel Luske

Edit: As I was drifting off to sleep last night, it occurred to me that I should have titled this post “Loosey Luske”. In my defense, it was 3AM and I’d been playing Stud/8 for 8 hours, so my creative juices were a bit stymied.

Early in level 7, the … Read full post

David Sklansky’s Home Invaded

Legendary 2+2 poker author David Sklansky was recently the victim of a home invasion robbery committed by what appeared to be several armed individuals. According to the local NBC affiliate,

“‘The guy burst into the bedroom, it was dark but I did see what appeared to be a gun,'” home … Read full post

Imperial Palace, Here I Come!

So apparently Vegas isn’t quite as dead as I thought and waiting until the day before my arrival to make hotel arrangements was not wise. The Rio is booked solid until Tuesday, so I’m spending my first three nights at the good old Imperial Palace. I stayed there last year, … Read full post

Article Requests

I’ve recently received a few requests for old articles of mine that appeared in the 2+2 Magazine. First off, let me apologize that my archive is so out of date. The revamping of the website has proved far more complicated than anticipated, but it is nearly finished now. When it … Read full post

WSOP Plans

Sorry for the recent lack of updates, but I haven’t been playing all that much. Since I’ll be in Vegas soon and devoting myself to poker nearly 24/7, I’m trying to get some other stuff done right now.

Speaking of Vegas, thanks to everyone who’s asked what my plans are. … Read full post

I Am Adorable

I didn’t have any kind of read that dude was gonna spaz out like this, but it’s the kind of thing that happens when you make strange bets:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($885)
SB ($2165)
Hero (BB) ($2458)
UTG

… Read full post

Quantifying the Value of Position

Even though I’m too sloppy/lazy/uneducated to work out the details of complicated problems, I’m quite interested in the mathematics of poker. I feel like I do have a broad grasp of the game theory that underlies many situations and can use that to aid in my decision-making. Recently, I’ve been … Read full post

A Critical Bet Sizing Tell

Let me say up front that I do this whole “check and figure it out” thing entirely too often against good players, and I have to stop. That said, in this case something about his turn bet led me to conclude that I ought to call the river.

Full Tilt

… Read full post