Betting Matters....

[Mick Mac]

I'm a "professional" gambler - I don't do lucky long shots.

[Alan Medic]

Can you 'professionals' advise me what is the best tactic to win at Texas Hold Em in a group of amateur card players?

[????]

Tournamnet or cash there's a fair difference but....

Basics

If you've not played much before, Play tight - AA-99 + AK, and AQ-a10 suited only.

A-3, 4, 5, etc are honestly crap hands that will get you in trouble.

Always raise with the premium hands AA, KK, QQ, AK - limping in is amateur play with premium hands you're trying to isolate not have loads of crap hands in their to fluke a set with their crappy 22 etc.

Acting ;last is a MASSIVE advantage, use position.

Don't try for flushes etc unless you're getting the odds.

Remember as arule of thumb you want to be Riasing or folding...calling is weak.

if it's atournament and you've got less than 10 big blinds left then shove all in with any decentish hand.

[????]

ps if you're going to raise pre-flop about 3 times the BB is good

Afterwards never bet leass than half the pot. You're never going to get pooeple to fold with a ?1 bet into a ?10 pot

Pros don't bluff much. if you get a winning hand bet it strongly and rubbish players will call you with all sorts of weak hands thinking your bluffing.

[Alan Medic]

With 5 playing what would you call a 'good hand' Quids?

[????]

Presuming you're reasonably inexperienced you should play tight so the hands i suggested earlier. mainly.

In early position just AA -JJ and AK. Aces suited down to A10 suited max. All other Aces will get you in trouble. Beginners can't let go of an ace and will get beat too often for too many chips. if you're in mid-late position and someone's raised you should fold anything but these premium hands until you're more experienced.

If no-ones raised and you're last to act you can play a wider range of hands but I'd nearly always bring these in with a raise.

Remeber, on the whole Controlled aggression wins poker. If you think you've the best hand BET dion't call or check.

Just calling is a mistake about 80% of the time, If you just take one bit of my advice it would be either bet or fold in most situation...calling's for suckers.

if everyone's pretty amateur you'll have an enourmous advantage just playing decent starting cards, raising when you're strong and folding when you're weak or don't hit a flop - Don't stay in a pot just becuase KQ looks pretty, ever

[????]

ps and smile when the flop comes up 7 4 4 and some one says "Oh gawd I folded 7 4" then you know you're with 'fish'

[red devil]

You can practice for free in some of the online poker rooms...

[Help-Ma-Boab]

Heading down to Lingfield for the Derby trails, wee day oot. I like horses, but that's as far as it goes in my knowledge of the nags. Any of you experienced pundits got a hot tip for today?

Thanks

[red devil]

The problem with the trials is that there isn't always lot of previous form to go on, so breeding can often come into play.

Also, at Lingfield they run on an artificial 'polytrack', so it might be worth looking for horses that are familiar with this surface.

For the Oaks trial (2.40) I will go for the 2nd fav Estrela, currently around 4/1.

For the Derby trial (3.10) I will go for Ed de Gas, currently around 5/1...this horse has experience of winning on an artificial surface.

Enjoy the day, you'll probably be just as successful/unlucky picking a horse because you like it's name or colours.

The co-fav in the 3.10 race, Main Sequence, runs in the colours of the Scottish Saltire...it's saying ''back me Help Ma Boab!'' ;-)

[Alan Medic]

Unless I've misunderstood I thought you implied that KQ was a decent hand to begin with?

If you do have a good hand is there nothing to be said for not overplaying it by betting too much and scaring off the others?

[Help-Ma-Boab]

Thanks RD. Just returned to base, hungover but happy. Missed the 1st race, but went for ed de Gas and Main Sequence in the 3 10 due to your tip. Main sequence came in. A good start. Went for lost in the moment in the 3 45 as I liked his colours. Nothing in that but misread the name of Bronze Prince as booze prince in the 4 20 so went with that. Romped home at 25/1. Brilliant and a brilliant day out. Not so busy you couldn't move and the sun shone. Barry!

[????]

Alan Medic Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> >

> Unless I've misunderstood I thought you implied

> that KQ was a decent hand to begin with?

>

> If you do have a good hand is there nothing to be

> said for not overplaying it by betting too much

> and scaring off the others?

AM - I'm confusing you with pre and post Flop. You have KQ and raise from late position, one caller. Flop is say 8, 4,3 and two clubs, your caller raises half the pot - get out, you didn't hit the flop and don't think "KQs a good hand" it's not anymore

Scaring off the others is with all respect complete amateur thinking. You raise when strong and to ISOLATE....sometimes everyone folds, pick up theb linds and move on but often or not you'll get one caller and that's what you want just one. I'll illustrate

You pick up AA and just call from Early position fish 1 calls to with J 3 Suiteds cos "They are suited man", Fish 2 calls with K 10 or some random rubbish like that, Flop comes up K J 3. The awful J 3's got you dominated and he shouldn't be in the pot you lkert him limp inou'd have the K 10 in a position to take all his chips. With a load of averge players they will be in with all sorts of crap unless you illiminate the weak hands and then post-flop you just don't know where you stand against fishy rubbish hands. If you raise and get called you have some information and cabn start putting your opponent on some sort of hand. Riase again on flop and learn more etc

Premium hands play well heads up and poorer multi-pots. Statistical and priobability FACT and standrad Game Theory run on multi-models. Believe me.

Simple ex

[????]

PS plus make people pay for their draws - if there's 2 haerst on aboard and you've the nuts on that board (say 3 of a kind) and you think someone's chasing a heart flush charge him for drawing if you don't raise he'll just stay in and maybe hit. Statsiticaslly he's gonn get that haert about 1/3 so charge him more than 3 times his bet always, simple maths and in EV terms a winning play.

Rise when strong, fold when weak.

[Alan Medic]

I imagine being dealt AA is very unlikely. Say you drew a pair of 6's. Where would you consider that on the scale of pre-flop hands?

Thanks for the tips! BTW, what's a 'fish'?

[????]

You've got as much chance of getting AA as any other 2 card combination. Stick to the premiums if you're a begiiner, honest advice, you probably won't take it, that's fine but then you're gambling with a load of other gamblers, if you wait for the decent hands and play them aggressiveky you're far far more likely to win against amatuers...which was your original request, If you want to have fun play a load of crap hands and you'll get lucky sometimes other times not, fun but not good poker.

I think 66s are the sort of hands that get recreational players in difficulty which is why I recommended not playing them to you, and never in early position or to a raise. Personally I'd play 6s with a riase from late position and then hope to hit a set to trap someon ewith a premium hand or call an early raise maybe but I do know what I'm doing and am well caable of folding a pair of aces if the board and betting tells me to, I'm aware I'm being patronising but most occasional players say "hell I've a pair of 66s so I'm not folding" (let alone Aces or Kings!!), that's why its easy to take money of the 'fish*

Play tight and aggressive and you'll beat your amateurs 75% of the time and that's very positive EV :)

*poker slang for average recreational players who don't understanfd the maths, pot odds, betting patrterns etc Slow playing aces being a perfect signpost to a fish for eg :)) I'd only ever slow play aces in the small blind to a hyper aggressive fish in the big blind if everyone else had folded.

[????]

Anyway, good luck. Let us know how you ge on. With the range of cards I've given you you should be playing about one hand in seven, that's pretty standard tight play.

[red devil]

Interesting reading the thoughts on someone who obviously plays poker very seriously.

I've always known that with serious poker players it's all about probability rather than bluff, but surely there's room for the odd bluff, especially if other players know your game strategy e.g. you only proceed/raise if you have a strong hand...

[Mick Mac]

You know what its like yourself RD, once a hedger always a hedger.

[Mick Mac]

Can I update you on my latest golfing win.

Backed on the TPC: Donald, Rory, Zach and the Kooch ! .... get in there. ?330 profit overall.

Betfair was offering me a bit of a profit from Friday night onwards, but I held firm and saw it through to the end.

Am going to York races on Friday too ........ wooo hooo.

[????]

Nice one MM - I've got JJ (?) in the US event as apparently he knows the course very well and was tipped as an EW at 150! (small bet)

Backk to poker. Bluffing - RD, most recreational players don't think about opponents cards, don't notice what opponents are doing and are 'calling stations' means they will hang on to any piece of the flop they've hit or a pair in their own hands by calling any riases. There's an old adage in Poker "You can't bluff a calling station". People have to be good enough players to be bluffed off a pot - mots recreational players arent.

With decent players, I'd bluff a bit - but it's player dependent and other dynamics - from late position and occasionally if I'm acting firts but normally these are semi-bluffes ie I've got some 'outs' if i'm called, like a draw to a flush or something. I'd also almost always continuation bet if i've rasied pre-flop and had a caller and then don't hit a flop, I'll bet 1/2 the pot and you pick these up alot. You're only wise bluffing against one opponent too.

Against players you play with a lot you have to play some crap starting hands too to 'balance your range' which means keeping them guessing in laymens terms. This is especially true in onlone ring games where all the serious player have HUDs on display... so they have your stats in hands they've played agints with you live on the table next to your avatar, using programmes such as Holde'em manager. THIS IS WHY AMATUERS SHOULD NEVER PLAY ONLINE RING GAMES you are playing against players who are better than you and have datamining programms that gives them a massive advantage over fish let alone their superior playing skills. Scary eh. I've a HUD and after a few hands you get a feel for people's ranges and whether bluffs will work, if you can steal their blinds, if they'll fold to a continuation bet etc etc If some only plays 5% of hands for instance you are talking top pairs and AK! if they bet I stay away unless I'm strong! If a 5% players in the big blind I'll raise with anything from the small blind as I'm picking up the blinds 95% of the time! ;-) Bluffing is not worth it generally in amateur games.

[red devil]

Thx for the feedback Quids, esp about the online ring games...I've never played poker online but had been thinking about dipping my toe in it...not anymore! :)

[red devil]

Hoping to get my recent footy losses back tomorrow if Bayern and Blackpool come up trumps...

[????]

play tournaments online RD, not much to lose other than buy in, quite a lot of fun and less regulars with HUDS. Don't play ring games (ie just cash games0 that's where there's more regs. Sit'n'go tournamnts online are fun and cheap to enter then you get a fair bit of play and sometimes win or cash. To be honest most players and certainly beginners prefer tournaments, I just tend to play cash games more.

[????]

Anyway, back to betting Frankel the horse this year...maybe. Collected on Man city, have a small bet on Chelsea at 4.2 on Betfair and still holding on to my even more riduiculous Denmark bet for the Euros (hoping to trade - but didn't forsee the group they'd draw!)