The aggression in Short-handed No Limit Holdem

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People usually want to be aggressive to “take control of the hand” or “seize the initiative”; however, as we have said these are not ends in themselves, just examples of hazy thinking. Taking control of the hand is meaningless; it’s almost synonymous with a couple of legitimate reasons, which are “betting now to prevent a bluff later on” and “betting for information”. 

These ideas are more Limit poker ideas than NLHE ones. In NLHE since the bet sizes are not small fractions of the pot but rather close to pot size most of the time, they are significant and can’t be thrown around. Betting for information is too expensive, in fact it doesn’t really accomplish much except for sometimes making a hand easier to play.

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Adjusting to the Opposition's Pre-Flop Aggression

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If everyone at the table is re-raising you often, then you will want to take steps to adjust to your opponent's pre-flop aggression. You should probably widen your four-betting range pre-flop and/or tighten your pre-flop opening range. Instead of having to fold hands like 64s in a spot, we will have more hands like 99 that we may choose to four-bet with the intention of calling an all-in bet as a result of a tighter pre-flop raising range. Instead of folding our weaker hands, we might also choose to four-bet as a bluff. Before continuing to read, try to figure out why four-betting a hand as weak as 99 and calling an all-in is quite often a good play versus many people with the level of aggression in today's games. How many reasons can you think of before continuing to read?

The same logic that applies to raising pre-flop applies to re-raising pre-flop. Imagine a case where it is extremely likely that if you call with AQo, that you will be squeezed. Next, imagine a case where if you re-raise AQo pre-flop, the original raiser will fold hands like AJo and ATs. Finally, imagine both of these cases being true of the same hand and that player who we believe will fold AJo and ATs type hands raises and we have AQo on the button. AQo is usually a clear call in this instance.

Poker: Choosing the Right Game

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After you’ve learned and applied the basics of how to play, game selection is the single most important decision that you can make.

Qualities to look for in a game.
If you are a regular, look for games in which you don’t know anyone. If you are a regular, you know the good players. Expert players don’t come out of the woodwork very often. If you don’t know the players in the game, it’s likely that they are playing for recreation and are not taking the game seriously. If you take the game of poker seriously, you generally are around enough to be noticed. If I find myself at a table where there are a good number of players whom I don’t know, I often tell a joke that only locals would get. If only the dealer laughs, then I’m at a table full of tourists.
 

Tilt and Your Opponents' Mindset

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One of the most profitable times at the poker table is when one or more of your opponents are on tilt. Some players even try to encourage till for just this reason. The more your opponents are on tilt, the more you can profit as a result. This article briefly discusses the merits and moral arguments of that type of poker strategy. Whether or not you specifically encourage players to tilt, it is important to get inside the mind of an opponent who is on tilt so that you can exploit the situation.

So far, we have been looking at tilt as a negative thing. But since poker is a zero-sum game, everything that is bad for one player must be good for another. Tilt can be a good thing when the person tilting is one of your opponents. In effect, we are trying to look at the poker mindset inside out. What attitudes of the poker mindset do our opponents lack and how can we take advantage of those weaknesses.

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Razz Poker Tips

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Don’t forget pot odds. A pot that has been raised and re-raised will usually give you the right pot odds to call even if you hit bad on 4th street.

The Slow-play. Limp in first with a good hand, especially with one or more lower cards behind you. If you get raised, call the raise. The raiser won’t put you on a good hand. As a result, you can win a big pot if you hit good cards.

Take advantage of the aggressive players to your right. You notice a player to your right who always raises with the lowest or 2nd lowest card.

When you have position, you should re-raise even with a higher exposed low card to get heads-up. If you hit good, you’ll win with a bet on 4th street if he is stealing.

Bluffing in No Limit Holdem

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The ability to bluff is a big part of poker. We can use it to exploit opponents and also to help us get value from our strong hands when playing against good, observant opponents. Some have said "Bluff just enough to get the job done." How do you decide whether a bluff is a profitable play or not?

You can remember the equation x / (x + y) where x is the size of the bet we must call, and y is the size of the pot before our call. Well, the equation to determine how often our opponent must fold when we bluff is the same, except now x is the amount of our bet instead of the amount of our call. So let’s say the pot is $10, and we bluff the pot with a $10 bet.

x = $10

y = $10

10 / (10 + 10)

10 / 20 = 0.50

So, our opponent must fold more than 50% of the time to have a +EV bluff. Now, let’s take this scenario to the next step. Our
opponent is deciding whether or not to call our pot-size bet. He again uses the x / (x + y) method and comes up with the need to be good 33% of the time.

Long Ball Poker

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Technically, long ball is an easier strategy to play than small ball if you stick to playing strong hands. Unfortunately, tight-aggressive poker strategies won't get you into the money very often in tournaments, regardless of the utility factor of the tournaments you play. Card-dependent strategies are very difficult to win with in today's looser, more aggressive tournament environment. Those strategies may have had more validity in the past.

In short-stack slow tournaments, long-ball strategies are a necessity, though loose long-ball strategies will be far more profitable than tight long-ball strategies. They are more position-based than card-based and they earn chips by exploiting weak players.

Long-ball players should be much more concerned with position than small-ball players. With this style of play, you want to be able to target weak players whom you have seen giving up the lead post-flop. Such players' preflop raises should almost always be called when you have position on them, and reraising preflop is better, even if you have trash cards, as these players are likely to fold preflop. If they do not fold, they will not bet post-flop unless the flop either hits them or they have an overpair to the flop. When they check on the flop, this pot is yours (unless they flopped a monster that they are now slowplaying). Getting involved in big pots - something that small-ball players generally avoid - is often worth the risk for smallballers when the player who opened with the preflop raise is a weak player. All players should keep their eyes open for weak opponents who consistently give up a belling lead. The top players will change gears between small ball and long ball as necessary for the situation.

Common Blackjack Myths

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Every blackjack player has at least six opinions on the game, which makes sense because you have one opinion of the game when you’re up and another very different one when you’re down - and many for all the stages in between. If you chat with other players about their best plays and what rules they follow, you’ll have a mind full of myths, stories, and pure fiction. Occasionally, you’ll pull out a jewel of good blackjack advice, but mostly you’ll hear “woulda, coulda, shoulda” laments.

The object is to reach 21 without exceeding it

The object of the game of blackjack is to beat the dealer, not to get close to 21. People often forget that and think since they have 16 or 17, if they hit, they will likely bust, so they shy away and think that they’ve reached their goal of getting close to 21. But the dealer doesn’t have to get close to 21. He/She/It just has to beat the player. On the other hand, people often lose a hand because they hit when they should stand.

You can only beat the dealer by having a higher total than the dealer or by not busting when the dealer busts. You absolutely must stick to basic strategy for the blackjack game that you are playing when it feels like you are “close enough” to 21. Strategy will tell you whether you should hit or stand. I know the feeling of anxiety we all feel when we hit that block of “stand” on the strategy card. The casino knows about it too, and hopes you can’t resist hitting.

We speak, of course, of standing on low hands like 12s (against a dealer’s 4, 5, 6) and on 13 and 14 against a dealer’s 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Twelve and 13 just look so low! Gosh, it’s just so tempting to hit. Standing is for losers, isn’t it? Be bold! Ask for another card! The dealer’s waiting, or the Hit button sits glowing on your computer screen. No, the sensible move is to stand. Hitting will only benefi t the dealer. Don’t give them any advantage just because you’d rather bust with 22 than win with a mere 12.