I Will Be BACK !!!!!!!! :)

No this is not a post for Arnold, but its me, I will be back soon with some new articles for you......
Hold your breath :)

THE BATTLE FIELD - Prevent Missing the Poker Action

Imagine a battle field full of enemy waiting to pounce on your first move. Hiding in the bushes you set your sights on movement in the foreground. While channeling your energy in pin pointing your mark, you are out flanked and end up losing the battle and getting permanently injured in the process.

Now take this image to your poker game. I am sure you will now see you poker strategy in a new light. You need to take the awareness of your surroundings as the action on the table and the flop as the movement in the foreground. You poker opponents are the enemies ready to pounce on your poker play. If you concentrate on only one aspect of the game you will limit your ability to win the battle. Channeling your energy to the whole battle field during poker tournaments gives you the ammunition to take down you opponents hands down and emerge victorious.

As on a battle field it is just as important to watch your opponents every move and be ready for their action. For example if you only pay attention to the flop in a poker game, you will be missing the action surrounding you, leaving fewer opportunities for you to strike. Open your senses to the whole field, improve your poker strategy and this way you are prepared for the whole battle , giving you the upper hand.

Don’t go missing the action.

BE THE ACTION!

BEING POT COMMITTED

“Admitting defeat to fight the next battle is sometimes hard to do”

One of the interesting sides to poker is where players bet into a pot on the hope of winning a hand. During the play cards are flopped, turned and finally the game ends with the river. At any stage your hand can go from being the best too far behind. In a poker game knowing when to give up on a hand is a test in itself. Often players will continue in a hand sticking to the hope that their hand will improve allowing them to take down the pot. It is heard regularly throughout poker tournaments players saying “I’m pot committed now” so they call and even go all-in while feeling their hand is still behind or maybe in front. No one is ever pot committed!

Why do we need to just commit our chips during an online poker tournament? It’s to do with emotions becoming the main driving factor behind our poker strategy. We start to get more and more involved in a hand as each card is turned and each bet is made. The people that play poker see the pot rise to where they start to feel the thirst of victory. This is where players need to take control of their poker strategy and find the strength to admit defeat, fold their hand, and give up the chips already committed. This way you will be able to fight the next battle which may in fact chip you far beyond the hand you laid down previously.

Next time you are in a hand and the chips are flying, think should I stay or should I go. There is no rule saying stay be beaten or sucked out on. It is up to you to live another hand in the hope to chip up safely.

I am happy to admit defeat and pack the sting later.

How about you?

ANALYSE THIS AND THAT! - “Do I have the Nutz?”

You have been playing poker for hours and have just heard those sweet words to your ears “FINAL TABLE”. This is now where you are in the money and the possibility of taking down the poker game.

By this point your game has been like a yo-yo, your chips floating from low to medium, emotions bad good and ugly. Heading to final table carrying your poker strategy and iron emotion branded face you realise your play now needs to be of experience and domination in all forms to take down this game.

Every position from now on eliminated in this texas hold em poker game is one step closer for you to more money and the ultimate championship prize of first place. The aim is to constantly know where your chip stack compares to your opponents, while not entering into pots that you do not need to be in, allowing opponents to knock each other out of the poker game.

Risking your tournament without the NUTZ is the fastest way to the rail from here on in. This is where all your poker strategy and experience kick in without allowing your emotions to play the game. Analysing this and that while having the NUTZ is a sure way to last man standing.

Enjoy your final tables and SHIP IT!

TODAY’S SPECIAL - “Blind Roast”

I am forever hearing and wondering myself why Big and Small blind end up being dealt often to the worst playing hands yet suck out and win quite regularly when a hand is not raised enough to get them out pre flop. Does not matter whether its internet poker or in a poker tournament you will find the Big and Small blind specials. So very frustrating to see for example Big Blind smashing limped aces hoping for a raise with 9,4 checking and flopping two pair. How nervous do you become when you do a small raise pre-flop, and loose when Big Blind calls you? How sick are you feeling when you are holding pockets ten’s and the flop is under your hand with Big Blind making a bet? Your poker strategy kicks in and you know for sure you have been smashed again by that Big Blind special. Small blind too can be a killer at times especially if there has been no raise. Big and Small blind do often roast players on big hands.

I’m sure many of you have been Blind Roasted as I have in your poker life, feel free to leave your comments here.

Roller Coasting Emotions - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Poker

Poker is an emotionally charged game!

When disappointment enters the hand players become The Bad and The Ugly. Verbally slaying words start to emerge from their mouths due to the shock of losing. Players that become so confident in their hand even after analysing the opponent’s outs, are not prepared for loss. All of a sudden down comes that slim chance leaving the confident Texas hold em poker player shattered low stack even out of the game often.
A smart experienced poker player has learnt to shrug this off and play the new hand free of any emotion. While majority of players will carry the suck out emotion into a new hand during an internet poker game or live play, most often out of the game a short time later still carrying the emotion of the hand he should have won. The player who just sucked out will be verbally sweet (The Good) as he tightens up his play while getting over emotion and realisation he was nearly eliminated from the poker game.

Have you ever been The Good, The Bad or even The Ugly?

I would love to hear your comment!

The Diversity of poker brings The Good, The Bad and The Ugly out in players.

Predictability or Diversity - “Taking advantage of all fifty two”

Nothing frustrates me more than these kind of statements in a poker game: “can’t believe you called my raise with that” for one. How about this: “Oh My God you Donk, How can you call that?” Or better still “Thought I was playing poker, not bingo”. Though this may raise one’s temper a bit, and force one to respond, it actually tells me that these players are more comfortable with predictability.

Let’s clear one thing up before we proceed with our poker game. Imagine if your poker playing opponents were able to verbally expose their cards to you prior to calling your raise. You are sitting with AA pre-flop and BB says “I have A4, would you like me to call?” I’m sure you would reply exactly what I would “HELL, YEAH!” Great poker strategy knowing that you are so ahead, only needing to dodge out the possibilities of BB winning the hand (but they do).

So why on earth is it that when we do get called by these hands and they do suck out big time do we come back with these above statements - myself included (I am just as guilty of this at times). Is it because we prefer winning on predictable poker strategy, instead of the emotions of diversity? Yet while saying this it all changes when we decide to be the caller; then it’s all ok, because we love to win, so we see an opportunity to be diverse and go for it (taking the risk). So why do we allow it for ourselves and not for others. Human competitive nature and not liking to lose is the answer here I feel. I’d be interested to know what you think!

I’d like someone to also tell me where the poker rule book is, which says that you can only play, call or take any action for cards over ten; which says that if you play any cards under ten, you are a donk, crap player and so on? Let’s look at this from another angle. The angle I and several other players see. To me there are fifty two cards: all potential winners. Why not use every card to your advantage whenever possible to play poker. I will enter into any pot that I choose to be amongst with any two cards. Why? It’s simple! There is no such rule that you should only play high cards.

Imagine how boring poker would be if it was played just that way. No exciting play, no suck outs, NO adrenaline rushing chasers and so on. Players would play less, eventually no poker at all and it’s literally back to bingo, sadly leaving us with no online poker or live poker games to thrive on. If a player is willing to put the chips in on the two cards in his hand, think to yourself: go for it, as you now have action. Enjoy what the hand brings, be it good or bad. This is what returns us to the tables constantly. No one likes to be out of the game ever. How boring again if no one got out. Where is the challenge or fun in that?

So bring on all the players who are diverse in playing all 52 cards like me for it’s all of us that bring the excitement to the poker game. Using your learning and your brains on the felt will chip you up when used at the right time. The feeling of making the decision to enter into a pot for instance with an 8,9 suited connector and smashing your opponent’s AK, QJ to bits is sheer ecstasy. Sit back and rejoice in the fact that you chose to play, that you chose to back that hand at that point.

I too have been hit with “How could you play that after my raise” and I think well: “caller, caller, and caller! Mmm, nice pot while putting them on high cards”. “I will see the flop”. Gee I’m glad I did use my fun poker strategy (ship those chips to me!).

Feel free to comment on whether you prefer diversity in the game or predictable play. For me diversity all the way, even though it is driven by my emotions, this is why I play online poker and return for more.

POPPING BUBBLE

This comes up a lot in conversations.

Would you play this hand on or around the money bubble?

If so how would you play it?

Last month during the Melbourne Champs with 30 players left to the money.

What happened and should I have played it differently.

After 2 days of play and very low stack with 30 players left to the money bubble in dealer position, I look down at KK. My first instinct is oh know this is decision time. I scan the table and don’t really see any poker players looking strong with their hands. I run through my head do I risk my tournament on KK? Do I simply fold and try and last till the bubble pops. Do I push all-in when it’s my go. Or simply put in a raise.


Now dealer position is prime and sitting with KK, I need to use this hand to chip up. Each player folds around to me. I raise with small blind folding. Big blind re-raises. What are the chances of him having AA? Without too much thought I push all-in putting the pressure back on him. Does he want to risk his tournament? Time seemed to stand still with silence so thick a knife would surely slice through. Playing with his poker chips and realising it will leave him very short stack if his hand does not pay off.

I am feeling confident he will fold, for if he had AA he would have called instantly. With his actions I now put him on AK, Q, J or mid pockets. I am nervous now as other players have noticed the all-in action about to take place. At this point after hours and hours of play so close to bubble who would risk their stack and the chance to be knocked out. Well he did calling and turning over 99.

As soon as I saw the mid pair I knew I was done. That my poker tournament life was about to be smoked and as the flop fell with a 9, I now was fighting for my tournament life. Even turning the gut shot was still very little chance for me. As the river fell I leant over shook his hand and thanked the players on the table and the dealer. As I walked away feeling nothing, blank, silent.

Once over the emotion of being out we all seem to start playing the hand again over and over in our heads. Should I have played it like this or that or even folded.

For me this is what I decided I should have done being so close to the popping bubble. First of all not get caught up with KK as any hand can and will be beat by the river.

This is how if given the chance again I would have played the KK hand in dealer position. I would have raised small blind folded, big blind re-raised. Here I would and should just call. The flop rag, a, 9. Big blind would have checked hoping I hit my A if holding one. I would have put out a bet just to feel out this big blind player. Now he would of called giving me the idea he has hit, therefore I would not have committed any more chips and would have stayed in the game behind dealer although very low stack but giving me a chance to hold while bubble popping. Or he would have gone over the top putting me in a position of having to put him on the A or a set and me therefore folding leaving me in the game.

I had waited so long for a good poker hand. Seeing KK got my adrenaline going and seeing it as a winning hand, a chance to chip right up and smooth through the bubble. No hand is a winner till river has flowed.

How would you have played this or would you have played it like I did?

QUEEN-BEE

Always packing the sting for learning!