Tight Aggressive by Stephan Kalhamer

If a poker player wants an edge, he must move with the times. Today, a style which was successful only a year ago can already be outdated; tomorrow, he could be the sucker.

However, in the poker world (as in the fashion world), there are timeless classics: the little black dress for a woman; the pinstripe suit on a man; tight/aggressive play at the table. Admittedly, this type of player is less likely to knock somebody’s socks off, but he is also far less likely to be knocked out of the tournament himself.

Dan Harrington described this style in his tremendous book, “ Harrington On Hold ’em” and, as a result, it quickly became the worldwide standard. Today’s truly smart tournament players, however, were soon tearing up the rule book and, as a result, modern poker has no dominant strategy. Loose/aggressive is currently in fashion and playing out of position has become the Holy Grail. But again and again the strategies turn back to what poker is all about: bet on a good hand and give up a bad or hard-to-rate one.

As soon as one reflects on it, by focusing his own bets solely on “value” instead of bluffing, a good player wins again and again with safe, tight/aggressive play. Why ever not?

Good players do not make plays simply because they want to or to show that they can. They make plays because they represent the optimal decisions. Poker is ultimately a contest of decision-making; he who consistently makes the best decisions, wins - all the same in which outfit he enters the party.

Riskers gamble, experts calculate.

Bluffing Big by Brandon Adams

The ability to bluff big pots effectively is one of the key skills that separate good players from great players. It is no accident that the games played at the highest stakes feature some of the most daring bluffs: big bluffs are a central part of the game.

Most players mix up their play well for small bets – they’ll bet out or raise with nothing on the flop with about the right frequency – but most players don’t mix up their play well on big bets. Some players never mess around when they put in really big money on the turn or river. Other players can never resist the big bluff when they see a lot of money in the middle. Striking the right balance between value bets and bluffs when you are putting big money in the pot is crucial to playing top-level poker.

When you are playing against world-class competition, bluffing too often is a bigger mistake than not bluffing enough. You will get called very often and you will look to everyone like you are spewing chips. You will wonder why they are calling you so often, but the reason will be somewhat simple: your opponents will be getting 2:1 odds on a call (if you are betting the size of the pot) and they will infer based on your betting frequency that you’re bluffing more often than that.

How can they infer that you are bluffing too often? Roughly speaking, if you are balancing your big bluffs properly, you will be betting for value about two-thirds of the time and you will be betting as a bluff about one-third of the time. Hands that you will bet big for value on the turn or river come up quite rarely. It’s not often that you make a straight, a flush, a set, or some other huge hand that merits a big bet on the river for value. If you’re betting big on the turn and river very often, your opponents will correctly guess that you’re bluffing too often.

Bluffing too often can be a huge mistake, but I think that not bluffing often enough in the truly big spots is one thing that prevents great players from becoming world-class. You’ll never hear someone say of Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan or Patrik Antonius "he’s never messing around in that spot." They can be bluffing in any spot. As the pot gets very big, their bluffs will be less frequent, as they will be trying to represent very thin ranges, but their bluffing frequency will never be zero in any spot (other than some trivial ones where it’s only appropriate to raise with the nuts).

Most of your big bluffs will occur when you have position on an opponent. This is especially true for big moves on the river. If an opponent checks to you on the river, it’s likely not a check of strength. With one pair hands, people will often call on the flop and turn, but not on the river. Their "check-call, check-call, check" line often tells you that they have a big pair but no better. Some inexperienced players will fold to a pot-sized bluff way too often in this spot, and will not adjust their behavior even when they begin to suspect that you are bluffing them often. Against these players, you are obligated to keep stealing until they adjust.

Once again, the ability to pull off a big bluff is a crucial element in poker. Do so with the correct frequency, and you’ll raise your game to the next level.

Making The Connection By Isaac Baron

When you’re playing ABC poker, you always want to start with premium hole cards. Hands such as pocket Aces or A-K suited are solid, no-nonsense cards and it’s reasonably easy to figure out whether or not you have the best hand. Once you’ve mastered these basic starting hands, it’s time to widen your range. This means learning to obtain maximum value from hands such as 9-8s or 6-5s, otherwise known as ‘medium suited connectors’.

When holding medium suited connectors, most beginners are either scared or overconfident. Both attitudes lead to leaks in their game. To play these cards correctly, approach them with a balance of caution and confidence.

The first thing I consider is position. I like to play suited connectors as often as possible (assuming my opponent isn’t severely short-stacked and looking to get all-in versus anything) but it’s a better play in position. You won’t make many huge hands with these cards – expect to make second or third pair often – so position gives you more information, enabling you to make better decisions.

I want to see a cheap flop with as many players involved as possible – the more the merrier. This is a key factor in my decision to play or fold. 8-7s doesn’t hold up in a battle against K-K – you’re a roughly 4 to 1 underdog and you won’t take the pot down often enough to justify calling. However, when there are more people in the hand, there is more money in the pot. If you can cheaply see a flop in a multi-way hand, your potential payback outweighs your odds of not winning the hand.

Moreover, the possibility of hitting the nuts and getting a huge payout from a weaker hand increases with more players in the hand. You’ll also increase the chances of facing a weak player. This is an edge you should always look for, especially when you’re holding medium suited connectors. Weak or novice players often find it difficult to lay down their cards when they make a hand. So, when you’ve got the nuts, they will pay you off big time.

Playing medium suited connectors properly requires a level of sophistication and the ability to make good reads. When you’re comfortable putting your opponent on a narrow range of hands, and good enough to be right most of the time, then you’re ready to start playing these cards more aggressively and more often. I play suited connectors a lot, especially against opponents who put in too much money with hands like top pair or over-pairs.

As I said before: play with a mixture of caution and confidence. If you have position, use the information to decide whether or not you have a strong hand. The worst case scenario is hitting a small to medium flush and losing to a bigger flush. I see a lot of people losing value because they’re scared of this. Don’t be scared – if you’re just playing medium suited connectors in the hope of flopping the nuts, never making plays or making light call-downs, you’re not going to show very much profit.

Variance is a Biatch...

I have had a stretch of no cashes that has been going on for a few weeks that I finally broke tonight.  It was a small cash in a SNG on stars, but I don't care, my perseverance has beaten variance.
In the career of every poker player, variance will happen.  You will have pocket aces cracked by 62o and a straight busted by a one outer royal flush on the river.  These things happen, but I hope to be able to minimize your losses during these stages.  The first thing is, don't stop playing!  This is something that happens, you can't avoid it.  The more you play, the faster you will get over it, statistically speaking.  The second thing to do is to move down in limits.  Start playing at lower blinds in cash games and lower stakes MTTs and SNGs.  Finally, stay patient!  To get over my stretch of variance, I tried to just stay patient and just play ABC poker.  A good way to do this is to play only a few tables at once and watch a movie or read something at the same time.  Play simple poker and everything will fall into place.  When I was on my variance stretch I got out of it by not being tricky with my game at all and just playing, like I said, ABC poker.
Hopefully you don't ever have an experience like I did but if you do, heed my advice!
Good luck and I hope to see you at the tables!

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This entry is going to be short because I am on the go.
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I hope to see you at the tables sometime soon!!

Cash Games or SNGs?

Recently I started playing cash games again and I am finding that I like them more than SNGs for a few reasons.
1) They are time-friendly:  I don't have to commit 2-3 hours to playing in them.  If I only have an hour to play, that is not an issue with cash games.
2) They give me control over bad beats:  I can leave a table if the cards aren't coming or if I am being outplayed.  I don't lose a guaranteed amount of money in an entry fee.
3) They maximize winnings:  Each chip that I win in a cash game represents real money.  This means that I am actually getting value for each chip that I win.
4) The strategy:  I love the way these are played!  With unchanging blinds, I have to develop one solid strategy, not the 4 that I would in an sng or mtt.
What do you think?
Leave a comment!!

Bad Beat Story

We all have bad beats, but some are definitely worse than others.  I was sitting in 5th place or so in a 90man SNG on stars and everything is going well, then I get dealt AA and everything is going REALLY well.  3 of us are in the pot with one guy all in and the pot value somewhere around 23k.
The flop comes T 3 8, the most harmless looking flop you will ever see while holding pocket Aces.  The guy to my right shoves, putting me all in and I insta-call to see that he has pocket tens.  The turn and river come as blanks and his set beats my aces, knocking me out of a tournament that should have been a very easy cash.
The hand is here: http://www.pokerhand.org/?5167396 and it is sooooo ridiculous...
I'm sure there will be more to come, especially when I lose with pocket As.
Post your bad beat stories/hand histories in a comment; let's see who has the worst luck!  :P