Friends on the Bubble

Haven't posted much since I been focusing on refining my game. Amazing what you can find when you really study your play and hand histories. I been taking a break from tournaments as I go over my recent plays and in the mean time entertaining cash ring games. Limit Hold'em has been a break even adventure but I am doing well on the No-Limit tables. Any case I wanted to post something to show that I am still alive and end with this, some thing to think about.

You and your best friend have made it to the final table of a large payout event. The first paying position is 7th, there are 8 people left. Your friend has about 4,000 chips left with a blinds 2,ooo / 1,000 and 100 ante. Another at the table has just 1,100 chips left will be automatically all in as the big blind the next hand. You are the chip leader, very healthy, and in the big blind.
The table folds down to your friend who is on the button and pushes all in. The small blind folds and it's to you. You look down and see pocket Kings.

Do you call and most likely make your friend the bubble boy? Or do you fold, let him scoop and hope that the next player's forced all in will knock him out of the tournament so that both you, and your friend, can finish in the money.

Which would you decide?

Tilting for the Holidays!

It's been a while since I last spoke about a decent win, and that's because... well... it's been a while since I had a decent win. Lately on a variety of poker sites I been completely on tilt. Completely missing my hands or having the best hand on the flop get cracked on the Turn or the River is all too often lately. The weird thing is I only seem to be tilting Online. My live play I am actually on a 5 game winning streak; even my buddy doesn't want to play me heads-up for cash anymore because I busted him out three times. (sorry bud!)

Lately I have a problem with the players on the Internet. It seems I am always against what I call "the ESPN player". That's the guy who watches poker shows on ESPN and thinks that it's the right move to always push all in with crazy cards. In theory this is a great situation, but in reality it seems I have been getting sucked out on more times then what the math percentages should be. In the end I don't blame the software or "bad luck" and I am not going to claim that Internet games are "rigged". I'm just simply stating that I am tilting when it comes to my online play while my live play has never been stronger.

So I look back and try to figure out how I can fix my online tilting problem. It just seems unlogical that I can tear up a live table but then get so messed up when I play online - so what's my problem? I been bubble more more times in the last week then I think I have in my entire career of playing poker. Tonight I created my option, they are to step back and take a break for a while. I am going to spend some time with family during the holiday weekend and then spend some days catching up on reading and analyzing my play. Then, if I must, I will attempt to move into higher levels of play.

It seems there is just too much crazy play on the $20 and under tables, too many amateur players that have no concept on how much to bet and when to let of of cards. You can't make moves on these players and playing fundamentals is just not working to be profitable - it's break-even at best right now. My biggest problem is since I moved off Paradise Poker I been having issues adjusting to the SNG of these other services. The players in Paradise would lay down hands and bet 3-5x the BB pre-flop at the $20 limits. Now I step into the $20 limits on Full Tilt or Stars and I see 15xBB bets and moving all in one flush and straight draws. So I am hoping I can find better players at higher limits so I can have a reasonable game online again. I just can't stand the amateur plays anymore!

So until next time (which may be a few days) take care and good luck out there.

RPT $22 Freeze-out, PokerStars

Just finished a $22 freeze-out on PokerStars. I finished 32nd which was not a money finish. The tournament was a tough crowd. Seemed every time you raised someone would re-raise a significant amount on top of you. Usually they didn't have much of a hand which really made things difficult when your facing a bet from the raiser and you completely missed your hand but had some drawing options. I was doing well until my AA was cracked by QT giving the player trip Qs on the flop. I managed to hang on for about another hour then pushed in with low pockets and ran into AA, a bad time to push. The only notable event of the tournament is that I did managed to place higher then the world famous poker pro Todd Arnold. Not much to brag about but it gives a meaning for this blog entry.

This Month's 'Bad Plays that Pay'

You sit around a poker table long enough your bound to see everything. Some times you see things you can't explain, like this play on Full Tilt.

Situation: Early in a multi-table SNG.

Seat 1: (1,665)
Seat 2: (1,305)
Seat 3: (1,140)
Seat 4: (1,470)
Seat 5: Small Blind(1,440)
Seat 6: Big Blind(1,500)
Seat 7: Yours Truly (1,500)
Seat 8: (1,875)
Seat 9: (1,605)

Blinds: 15 / 30

Dealt: Jh Qc

Seat 7 - 9 call
Seat 1 raises to 195
Seat 2 calls 195
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 raises to 720
Seat 5 - 9 fold (expected me to call with QJ Unsuited? Heck no!)
Seat 1 calls 525
Seat 2 raises 1,245
Seat 4 raises to 1,470 and is all in
Seat 1 raises to 1,665 and is all in
Seat 2 calls 60 and is all in

Commentary: Okay, let's look at what happen here. Many people have limped into the pot showing no signs of strength and Seat 1 takes advantage of that and does a massive raise of 195 chips. Seat 2 calls the massive raise only to see a re-raise to an ungodly amount of 720 chips. Seat 1 calls the raise showing he must have some sort of strong hand but, Seat 2 re-raises again to 1,245 chips and moves all in. The remaining players go all in as well and we finally see a Flop. Now with this type of action you got to wonder what they are holding.

If you thought wired Aces or Kings your wrong.

So it must be low royalty; Queens, Jacks, and Slick right? You'd be wrong again.

How about [Tc Ts] vs. [Ks Qd] vs. [5c 3c] <- Yes, you read that last set right.

Let's look at it again for pure entertainment value shall we?

Seat 7 - 9 call
Tc Ts raises to 195
Ks Qd calls 195
Seat 3 folds
5c 3c raises to 720
Seat 5 - 9 fold (Nope, I still didn't call it!)
Tc Ts calls 525
Ks Qd raises 1,245
5c 3c raises to 1,470 and is all in
Tc Ts raises to 1,665 and is all in
Ks Qd calls 60 and is all in

Amazing isn't it? Now who won...



Yup, 5c 3c hit the wheel and sucked out. Our table was stunned for a very, very long time.

Final Table, 45 Players

Been a few days since my last entry. I have been spending time reading some new books which I hope to talk about in the future. As well I have been playing some live games and doing well. Speaking of which, I'd like to share with you my most recent money finish; a 45 player $5 +.50 SNG on Full Tilt.

This SNG had some very interesting hands and in some cases I made some calls that seemed crazy, but when you work out all the logistics and see my thought process you will understand why I made the calls I did. In this blog you will once again be able to get into my head and see why I made the calls I did.

Hand 1 - Reading your Opponent

Seat 1: (2,120)
Seat 2: (1,660)
Seat 3: (1,005)
Seat 4: (1,610)
Seat 5: (4,210)
Seat 7: villain (1,960)
Seat 8: Hero (1,355) Small Blind
Seat 9: (1,250) Big Blind

Blinds 25/50

What we know: Early in the tournament. Seat 1 & 5 have been very aggressive early on and has paid off for them. Seat 7 has started to play very aggressive by pushing all their chips in and taking down the pot uncontested. Seat 7 hasn't had to show their cards in the last 5 take downs. Our image is tight. We have only paid the blinds and been involved with one hand.

Dealt: Jc 3c

Seat 1 - 3 Fold
Seat 4 - 7 Limp
Hero: Calls
BB: Checks

Flop: Ac Ad Kc

Hero: Checks
BB: Checks
Seat 4 - 6 Check
villain: Bets 250

Impression: Everyone checked to the last person to act. Seat 7 bets 250 into a 300 pot. This means two things; the villain is attempting to steal the pot since they are in position -or- they have a King or Ace since that's what a bet of 250 into a pot of 300 is suppose to mean. Before we make a decision let's look back on what makes sense and what the villain is trying to tell us.

The villain was the last to act pre-flop and only limped in. A player on the button pre-flop with multiple people limped in and no one showing strength would definitely raise with face cards or pocket pair. There are too many people in the pot to limp with hands like AA, KK, AK, AQ, KQ, AJ, or any pokey pair. One would even raise with a hand as bad as KJ in this situation to attempt to narrow their competition and not have so many people drawing to beat their hand. When the flop came down AAK the no one showed strength again and the villain, last to act, decides to make a near pot-sized bet. With this bet it even further supports the evidence that the villain does not have an Ace or a King. Almost any player, even fish, will check when they have an extremely strong hand and a lot of people in the action. No one wants to scare a person away, they rather maximize their value on the hand and let someone bet at it so they can either slow-play or check-raise the person. Another common play might be to make a small bet, 1/4th the pot to give people the right odds to call and build up the pot. Our villain has definitely shown in prior hands that they are capable of slow playing or check-raising a big hand.

A bet here can only mean one thing, an attempt to buy.

Hero: Calls

BB: Folds
Seat 4 & 5 fold as well
Heads up action going into the Turn

Turn: Kh [Ac Ad Kc]

Hero: Checks
villain: Bets 400

Impression: Previously we eliminated the possibilities of our villain holding a Ace or a King due to their pre-flop action and their reaction on the Turn. A King on the Turn is an interesting card. If our villain doesn't have a King or an Ace it certainties didn't help them. If our villain was holding pocket pair, which again we don't believe is the case, their pair is now no longer good unless it was Aces or Kings. Our Hero's hand is only"Aces and Kings", Jack Kicker but might be the best hand at the moment due to the read on our villain being not strong. Our hero has to invest 400 chips for a pot of 1250. This is little better then 3:1 to call, our hero's stack is 1055 chips with 300 chips already committed to the pot. With our read on the villain and with the knowledge that our villain has been super aggressive and has yet to show a hand recently we make the call. Jack Kicker is most likely the best hand at the moment.

Hero: Calls

River: 5s [Ac Ad Kc][Kh]

Hero: Checks
villain: Goes All In for 1,260

Impression: We already covered that we don't feel our opponent has Aces or Kings. Therefore our Jacks can only be beat by two hands: Queen Kicker or Pocket Fives. No raise pre-flop with many limpers discredits the villain holding pocket 5s. The way the villain has played this hand is complete strange then how someone would have played it if they had a monster hand. Our villain has bet quickly and in mass amounts multiple times regardless on our previous calls. An ALL IN bet on the River is not a play made by someone who has a monster hand. A small bet or a reasonable sized bet on the River would be a correct bet. This would give your opponent the right odds to call so you could maximize your profits. A more then pot-sized bet on the River is way too dramatic to be a bet from a monster hand.

If all this is true then the only hand we would worry about in this situation is someone limping with Queen-junk. They would have a higher kicker to the pairs on the board and would take down the pot. We need to make a decision and time is running out.

Lets look at the money. If we make this call we would double up to 2,800 chips and some change. If we fold we are down to 655 chips with 50 blinds and a blind increase not fair behind. It's going to cost us 655 chips to win 2800... This is not bad odds considering we feel pretty confident we have the best hand.

Put all the facts together:

1. We do not put our villain on Aces or Kings
2. We do not put our opponent on pocket pair
3. Our opponent has not been afraid to push all in on the River and has won around 5 times in a row with no show down
4. We believe our opponent has made attempts to "steal" the pot - a move not done by someone with a monster hand
5. We can either fold and end up with 655 chips or call and win 2860 chips
6. We have a strong feeling we have the best hand. The only hand we can put our villain on that may beat us and would have made the moves they did would be with Queen-junk.

We play our read and call our villain.

villain shows [3h Ts] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero shows [Jc 3c] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero wins the pot (2,860) with two pair, Aces and Kings

Conclusion: Our read was correct. The villain was making attempts to steal the pot and we got paid off.

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Hand 2 - Opponent's Costy Mistake

Seat 1: (1,335) Big Blind
Seat 2: villain (2,910)
Seat 3: (3,600)
Seat 5: (4,455)
Seat 7: (8,275)
Seat 8: Hero(2,615)
Seat 9: (1,905) Small Blind

Blinds: 100 / 200

What we know: Seat 2 & 7 have been over aggressive. Lots of re-raises and going All In. Seat 3 & 5 have tighten up. Seems most players are afraid to raise pre-flop because of the blinds. Most players will limp. Position is becoming an extremely important factor of the game at this point.

Dealt: 3d 3c

villain: Raises to 400
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 calls
Seat 5 folds
Hero: Calls
Small Blind: Calls
Big Blind: Folds

Impression: We are on the button with pocket 3s. The player Under the Gun puts in a min raise not showing too much strength. Everyone else on the table either folds or calls - no challenge meaning no real strength at the table. Low wired pairs are good to see cheaply and being we are in position it's worth a call.

Flop: 3s 8s 8d

Seat 9 Checks
villain bets 800
Seat 5 Folds

Impression: This was a fantastic flop for us. We now hold Threes-Full-of-Eights. The original raiser bets 800 which is about a little more than 1/2 the pot. The size of this bet seems to be a continuation bet. This is when a player acts strong pre-flop then is the first one to act strong after the flop. We don't put our villain on an extremely strong hand. If he held two eights he certainly would slow-play it here with many people in the hand. We certainly can't put our villain on a hand like 83 because of his raise pre-flop. We have the best hand and will attempt to maximize our profitability from this hand.

Hero raises to 1,600
SB folds
villain calls

Impression: Some might think our raise might have been a mistake. Some people would say we should have slow-played the hand however I think that's a wrong play here - our hand is not "that" strong.

We put our aggressive opponent on a weak hand pre-flop. Maybe a low pocket pair or overcards. Right now we have the best hand and with an bet up front and a person still left to act. The person left has to bet 800 into a pot of 3,200 (if I call) which is giving him 4:1 on his money. This is a good call for him if he has pocket pair and anyone holding pocket pair higher then 3's can take this full house away from us. We need to give them the incorrect odds to call and we are happy to take the pot without further action.

Turn: 9s [3s 8s 8d]

villain goes all in for 910

Impression: Our villain is now saying the 9 of spades helped his hand. It is very much possible that our opponent could have been holding a pair of nines, min raised with the weak pair pre-flop than figured his nines and eights were good on the flop. Now he hits nines-full and pushes all in. This is a very reasonable assumption and makes it a difficult call. Lets take a look at where we stand.

We have 615 chips left and are looking at a pot of 5,610 (295 will be returned to the villain if we call). If we fold we have 3 big bets left and are crippled for the rest of the tournament. If we call we end up with over 6,000 in chips - a healthy step up in the tournament. We might have the worse hand if he tripped his nines but if we fold we are basically out of the tournament anyway unless we hit a miracle run of cards. Mathematically we have to call, we are "pot committed".

Hero calls and is all in for 615 chips
villain shows Jh Jc
Hero shows 3d 3c

Impression: Our villain made a huge mistake pre-flop. Afraid to make the correct raise pre-flop with pocket Jacks has cost him all his chips unless he gets his miracle card on the river, Jack or Eight. We are in a fantastic spot considering our bad read on our opponent. With his weak action pre-flop we did not put him on a hand like pocket Jacks, but in this case we are okay with being wrong. We have about 90% favorite to win this hand and only one card to come.

River: 7h [3s 8s 8d 9s]

Hero shows full house, Threes full of Eights and wins the pot (6,230)

Conclusion: Our villain made a big mistake not raising more then 1x the BB with pocket Jacks. With so many people left in the action his goal should have been to chase out people with drawing hands and low pairs like mine. If he would have bet stronger pre-flop he could have taken this hand down. Instead he fell in love with his hand and paid dearly for his mistake.

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Hand 3 - When to go All In

Seat 1: Small Blind (3,385)
Seat 3: Big Blind (14,775)
Seat 4: (13,826)
Seat 5: (6,587)
Seat 6: (3,219)
Seat 7: (9,890)
Seat 8: Hero (11,008)
Seat 9: Button (4,810)

Blinds: 250 / 500

What we know: Final table with 9 players remaining. Only the top 6 take home money. The big stacks have tighten up and the little stacks have been pushing all in frequently to survive. We have been controlling the table well, to the level that even the big stacks fold to us in the blinds.

Dealt: Jh Qh

Seat 4 - 7 fold
Hero Raises to 1,500
Button & Small Blind folds
Big Blind calls 1,000

Flop: 5d 7c 6h

BB, our villain, checks
Hero Checks

Turn: 5h [5d 7c 6h]

villain bets 3,500
Hero Calls 3,500

What we know: During the pre-flop I was the original raiser and the BB, who already had 500 chips committed to the pot called my raise for another 1,000. With him checking on the flop indicated weakness to me. I should have put in a continuation bet but I showed weakness as well and checked. This was a mistake on my part because now I am facing a 3,500 bet with no information on my opponents hands. My only thought is he is attempting to buy the pot since I showed weakness. I have four to the flush and I am not getting the right odds to make this call. But I don't put him on a strong hand either and I feel confident that if I miss my heart draw I can still take this pot down on the river if he checks. I go against the odds and go with "playing the player" and make the call. Dangerous move, but if I loose I know I can get chipped back up with 6,000 chips left. I have full confidence at this table so the risk is not as bad as it might seem.

River: 2h [5d 7c 6h 5h]

villain moves all in for 6,500
Hero calls and moves all in for 6,008

villain shows trip fives, Kc 5c
Hero shows Jh Qh and wins 22,266 with a flush, Queen-high

Conclusion: Our villain made two critical mistakes in his hand. The first was pre-flop when he called a 1,000 raise with K5 suited. To some players this may look like a great hand but any skilled player knows this hand is no good. His second mistake was when he pushed all in after a possible flush draw. If his thought was to move all in after his 5's hit the Turn he should have pushed there instead on the River. When the board comes down three to the flush and your sitting with trips a more correct play from him would have been to bet out about 2,000. This would leave him with enough chips to continue the tournament and would be a large enough bet to chase any one away that might not have a great hand (someone drawing for the straight and missed it). With his play, pushing all in, he made such a big bet that only a person with a flush can call it. So while he found out that his opponent, me, did have the flush he now has no chips to continue his tournament.

Our play on this hand was not perfect either. We should have placed a continuation bet on the flop and we should have folded the bet on the Turn. We took risk because of our confidence at the table and it paid off. Risky move, not one I do often, only when I know I have control on the table and can get chipped up if I loose some chips. The end lesson here is some times you end up taking risk and some times they pay off. The results in this hand could have been disastrous. He could have been on a A-K flush draw and my Queen-high would have been no good. I dodged a lot of bullets on that hand.

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Hand 4 - KK vs TT

Seat 4: Small Blind, villain(23,352)
Seat 7: Big Blind (22,367)
Seat 8: Hero (21,781)

Blinds: 500 / 1000

What we know: The final three positions and Seats 4 & 7 have tighten up. We been able to make a lot of steals pre-flop. Our opponents are slightly afraid of us. We sent almost everyone at the final table to the rail. Unfortunately we doubled our remaining players and are about even in chips with them now.

Dealt: Kd Ks

Hero raises to 2,000
villain moves all in for 23,352
Big Blind Folds
Hero moves all in for 19,781

Impression: We made a small raise pre-flop to try and get some action and we ended up getting the action we wanted. A player moved all in and we have a strong enough hand to call and if we win, become the dominating chip leader in this tournament. The only hand that has us beat is AA, but we are willing to take that risk. In this time of the tournament players will push all in with overcards and any pocket pair. We should have a good lead on our opponent.

villain shows Th Tc
Hero shows Kd Ks

Impression: Stronger hand then what we expected, but we are still ahead by about 80% to win.

Flop: Jh Ad 3h

Impression: Mathematically this is a good flop for us. It puts us at almost 90% to win. In reality it leaves a lot of outs for my opponent. Two running cards could give him a straight or a flush, and any two cards could give him trips. We would have liked to seen another King on the flop, but we are still ahead.

Turn: Qd [Jh Ad 3h]

Impression: We are 95% to win since the Queen of Diamonds eliminated his possibility of getting a flush. But the danger now becomes a King (for a straight), a Ten does not help our villain since it would give me a straight. Being that there are only 2 cards in the deck that could help him this hand can only be won by our villain with a river miracle.

River: Kc [Jh Ad 3h Qd]

villain wins with a Straight, Ten to Ace
Hero Looses with Trip Kings, Ace-High

Conclusion: Our villain spiked one of the two remaining cards that could save him. Unfortunately that's the way it goes some times in Poker. We take third place with no regrets in making the call with KK in this hand. We have all the odds in our favor and would make the same call again with an opponent holding TT while I hold KK.

=============================

Overall this 45 player SNG was very interesting. We hand complete control over most of the table we sat at. We made tons of great calls and plays that enable us to knock out a majority of our opponents and in the end we turned our $5 entry fee into $36. Even with our Kings being cracked by Tens this was a well played tournament with no regrets.

Farewell Paradise

Today marks the last day of Paradise Poker for U.S. Customers. No more palm trees, golden name badges, Quickies, and Players Clubs. Paradise Poker was the first poker site I deposited money and ended up being my Online Poker home for most of my online poker career.

At the time when I was searching for a poker site to play at I was immediately attracted to Paradise's wide game selection. The site had such a variety of game choices along with some unique games like "Quickies". An added bonus was the player's poker adequate at the tables. When checking out the popular sites, PokerStars and PartyPoker, I noticed a lot tension with the players. Comments and attitudes ruled the tables which seemed to match the charisma of young, arrogant teenagers playing like they were on ESPN. My first game on Paradise netted a win and a player my opponent congratulation me on the win, this sealed the deal for me of being the place to play.

Over the next few months I ended up turning my $20 investment into a near $100 bank roll just to quickly loose the money and become shy of being busted. From pennies left I was able to bring myself back up the ranks with a near $300 bank roll and never went bust again. While I never seemed to be able to officially break the $300 shell, I was able to hold on to a rather healthy bank roll for several months.

In the last week of play my bank roll was nearly cut in half leaving me with $171 and a handful of bad beats. Seems that my friends suffered equal punishment and started to loose a lot of cash once the Internet Gambling Act of 2006 was passed. Conspiracy claims that Paradise was stacking the deck so they did not have to pay off American players - whether this is true or not I don't know, but I do know I did take my last bad beat (my four-of-a-kind was beat by a higher four-of-a-kind from a player in Sweden) as "the last" and withdrew my money from the site.

Overall, my time on Paradise was an enjoyable one even though I wished the ending had a happier story. I fell that the site was good to me and my friends, and I will miss it as I attempt to make Full Tilt my new home.

In closing I must say good bye to Paradise Poker - I will miss the game selections, the people, and the tournaments. Thank you for such a good time and a fun roller-coaster ride that ultimately ended profitable. Hopefully in the future you will come back to the U.S. and the day that happens I will gladly rejoin.

Best of luck,
y.

Models Don't Belong

To the true card player there is nothing more attractive than a female playing cards and battling it out with a table full of men. Sure it's an added bonus if she's attractive; isn't it? In the world of professional female players there is enough variety to satisfy any male poker player's hormones. Whether your a one who likes the "girl next door" looks of Jennifer Harman, Cyndy Violette, and Annie Duke; or the "show girls of poker" like Evelyn Ng, Erin Ness, Jennifer Tilly, and Liz Lieu - there is someone in poker for everyone. Even WPT Announcer Shana Hiatt can be considered for the list since she dedicates her life to the sport, even if it's not at the tables. So with all the great looking females in poker (ones mentioned along with many others) where to models belong? Truth is, they don't!

It has been the thought of some intelligent marketers in the Poker industry that if sex sells and poker sells then why can't sex and poker sell? This concept has not only brought sites like NakedPoker.com involved with the idea but have also brought in some of the biggest names in the modeling industry. Now one might say, "What's wrong with a poker site using a model to advertise?". The answer, nothing is wrong with that idea except when, instead, a site is launched completely around the model.

Last year Cindy Margolis, once the most downloaded women on the Internet, launched a poker site in attempts to ploy her fans into dumping tons of cash into her site so they can play cards and stare at pictures of her while making playing cards. This was a short lived thought and her site closed before it actually had a chance to become a name. You think one would learn, but not if your Pamela Anderson.

Recently Pamela Anderson announced that her poker site is closing it's doors and will no longer be apart of the Brunson Network. Anderson started to get the message that her presence didn't really matter in the poker world when comedian Brad Garrett chased Anderson and her 12 followers out of the "Brunson Roast" earlier this year. Brad Garrett apparently ripped her "posse" apart with wise-cracks when one of her members attempted to insult the comedian. The result? A room full of applause and one Anderson party leaving.

Back to Anderson closing her site; PamelaAndersonPokerSite.com no longer goes to the site that was, instead it immediately forwards to DoylesRoom.com. So no more of "the hottest and most exciting room available", no more Anderson blowing a kiss on her entry video, and no more chances of playing with Pamela and her friends. Lasting only four months Pamela quotes, "I made a mistake getting involved in something I know nothing about for a quick buck! Yuck. So unlike me." Now I wonder, if there were millions of people on her site and it was actually successful if she'd fell the same way... Probably not.

When it comes down to it the poker player wants to play poker and not stare at busty models all over a poker site. They want a good interface, great game selection, and a honest deal. No one wants another cheesy room that's only there for one reason, a marketing ploy.

There are plenty of great looking women in poker and models need to keep themselves naked in magazines and out of our industry.

Let the real women in poker handle us.

Pictures in order of appearance: Erin Ness, Liz Lieu, Shana Hiatt

Final Table, 90 Players

Last night I attempted my first MTT for cash online. I have played at the casino before where I could use my ability to pick up tells to carry myself through the field. However with this game there would be no people to look at, only avatars – and the only tells I get are how long it takes for someone to bet and what they say in the chat box. While some might say out lasting in an online tournament is a little easier than playing the field in a B&M, I believe it’s just as challenging to do. The problems you face with an online tournament is the lack of discipline. You have a lot of players going all-in almost every flop so you really have to feel good about your hand to play it – and expect to have to shove your chips in to see the showdown. With a B&M the action is more passive. No one wants to look like a fool in person so people don’t shove all-in all the time. They play more ‘realistic’, even the amateur players don’t go crazy. They may over bet the pot because they don’t understand how to bet correctly but they are not putting their tournament on the line with a pair of sixes by pushing all-in pre-flop.

The tournament tonight was a cheap one, a $5 +.50, 90 player max freeze-out. The objective here is to outlast everyone else. There are no re-buys, no add-ons, you get 3,000 in chips and blinds go up every six minutes.

For the first half of the tournament I only played two hands in which I did not show down. It was a lot of checking and folding while I watch the other players bet their stacks aggressively. It was almost like I was sitting there watching a bloopers show. People moving all-in with nothing and getting called by someone with bottom pair. Then the person on the rail is cursing at the guy in the game, “How can you make that call you donk.” It’s always enjoyable to watch a person attempt to make a move and someone call them with a better hand, then they go on bragging how good they are and how it was stupid for the other player to make that call. Why can’t they just said, “Nice call, good luck”? Oh well, the more people on tilt the better right?

After the first quarter of the players got sent to the rail I started to play some hands. The all-in moves were starting to fade away and now we could see a flop, a turn, and maybe even a river. The first chance I got I knocked out a player who voluntarily moved all-in. Let’s take a look at the action:

===============================================
Seat 3 has been over aggressive. Many times he has raised pre-flop with nothing more face-small or connecting hands. He also has been known to push all-in on the flop after he raises pre-flop. So far no one has called him.

Seat 1: (4,870)
Seat 2: (2,630)
Seat 3: Opponent (1,265)
Seat 4: (4,290)
Seat 5: sjpc yabi (3,450)
Seat 6: (8,455)
Seat 7: (6,035)
Seat 8: (1,600)
Seat 9: (2,275)

Seat 4 posts the small blind of 40
sjpc yabi posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3

Dealt to sjpc yabi [Kh Qd]
Seat 6 calls 80
Seat 7 calls 80
Seat 8 folds
Seat 9 folds
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Opponent raises to 320
Small Blind folds
sjpc yabi calls 240
Seat 6 folds
Seat 7 calls 240

FLOP [Ts Jh 4d]

sjpc yabi bets 300
Seat 7 folds
Opponent raises to 945, and is all in

I flopped an open ended straight draw and my opponent moved all in. My original bet was more of a probe bet to see where I was with the hand. Seat 7 folds and I get re-raised 645 chips. As mentioned before this player is the type that has been making this move throughout the night with no one challenging him. It takes me a long time to call his all in but ultimately I do. My reason for doing so is because not only do I have a minimal 8 outs (four 9s + four As) but also the possibility that either a King or a Queen can help me if he has top pair on the flop, giving me a total of 14 outs. My odds of winning the hand is a little higher than 2:1. It cost me 645 chips to call a pot of 2245 giving me little less than 3.5:1. These are good odds to call his raise with – mathematically I will be profitable in the long run with this call, even if I lose it on this hand.

sjpc yabi has 15 seconds left to act
sjpc yabi calls 645

Opponent shows [9c Qs]
sjpc yabi shows [Kh Qd]

My opponent has an open ended straight draw as well. His Queens are covered by my King and his 9 gives me a straight. I am ahead about 74% to win.

TURN [Ts Jh 4d] [Qh]

The Queen of Hearts was a nice card for me giving me 84% to win the hand. His only outs now, they are one of three Kings.

RIVER [Ts Jh 4d Qh] [3d]

sjpc yabi wins the pot (2,970) with a pair of Queens

===============================================
This brought me to a little over 5,100 in chips and one less person to worry about in the tournament. For the next hour it was minimal action. The blinds started to go up some and I was making some moves in position to keep alive. I was down to about 3,905 in chips when a player doubled me up. The player made a horrible move which crippled him for the rest of the tournament. Let’s take a quick look at his critical mistake.
===============================================

Seat 1: sjpc yabi (3,905)
Seat 2: (5,710)
Seat 3: (5,770)
Seat 4: (3,650)
Seat 5: (4,730)
Seat 6: (4,820)
Seat 8: (9,940)
Seat 9: Opponent (5,135)

Seat 9 posts the small blind of 150
sjpc yabi posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #8

HOLE CARDS

Dealt to sjpc yabi [Kd Qs]

Table folds to the small blind
Opponent raises to 900sjpc yabi calls 600

I felt that this was more of a position raise. Everyone on the table folded to the small blind and then he makes a raise 3x the BB. This is a move most good players do and allows them to usually pick up the blinds. However knowing that this was a position raise and I have “ok” cards I am going to see the flop. If I miss the flop I will fold the hand.

FLOP [4h 9c Qc]

I hit top pair with a nice kicker. I feel this is a good raising hand if it gets checked to me.

Opponent bets 1,800
sjpc yabi raises to 3,005, and is all in

I felt that my opponent was making a continuation bet. That’s a bet when your first to act or it’s checked to you and you were the original raiser, you make a bet usually half to three-fourths the pot in hops to buy the pot right then. This was not a bad move by my opponent, but I know he would make a move like this regardless if he hit the flop. Now my only concern is that if he’s in there with Ax and an Ace comes out on the Turn or the River. I feel that I have the best hand at the moment with only Pocket 4s – 9s – Qs - Ks, or AQ beating me. I don’t put him on Pocket pair since if he had pocket Kings he would have raised more than 3x the blind. If he had pocket 9s or 4s he would have also raised higher then 3x the blind to ensure someone with AK or AQ wouldn’t call. I don’t put him on Pocket Qs because I hold one and the odds of him holding two are small. I figured he either had a suited connectors or a hand like Ax. I didn’t want him to out draw me so I pushed me stack in hoping to buy the pot right then.

Opponent has 15 seconds left to act
Opponent calls 1,205

sjpc yabi shows [Kd Qs]
Opponent shows [Jc Ad]

It took my opponent a decent amount of time to call this bet because I think he knew he was beat but felt he could out draw me to win. Him putting in 1,205 chips to a pot of over 6,700 is getting really good odds on his money. I don’t blame his call here, it’s hard not to call when you’re getting 6:1 on your money. I think if I was in this situation I would have cut my looses and worked with my 2,500 chips. Calling this bet knowing I have to draw would be hard to do because it would only leave me roughly 1300 in chips with 300 blinds.

TURN [4h 9c Qc] [2h]
RIVER [4h 9c Qc 2h] [9s]

sjpc yabi wins the pot (7,810) with two pair, Queens and Nines

This was a good hand in my opinion. I do not blame my opponent’s play. He should have bet a little more aggressive pre-flop with AJ being there was only one opponent in the hand and that person was the Big Blind. If he would have bet around 1,300 to 1,500 I would have most likely dropped my hand. He didn’t and it cost him a lot of chips.
===============================================

The game carried on for another hour with not much action. I fluctuated between 8,000 chips to 11,000 chips with blinds going up and a couple of people around me with double or more of my chips. I made a huge leap forward when I called in all in with A9 against KQ. The flop paired my Aces and his Kings and my Aces held up giving me over 22,000 in chips. This was definitely a move and it paid off. With so many players over 20k in chips I had to make some sort of move to get chipped up. This player was the type who’d like to try and re-raise you and buy the blinds and had not been shown down in a while. I raised in the cut off only to be re-raised buy this player. After calling him I was unfortunate he actually held a good hand since I put him on an attempt to steal the blinds and my raise. Nailing my Ace and taking this down was a huge turning point for me. It placed me 14th overall in the tournament and I felt a lot more comfortable.

As time passed by and people knocked out I was finally at the final table. Early into the final table I had a bad turn of luck. Let’s take a look what happen.
===============================================

The game has been really aggressive. The small stacks are trying to make moves to steal blinds and get chipped up. The blinds are high with the big blind being 2,400. There are a lot of small stacks pushing all in pre-flop and stealing a lot of money.

Seat 1: (40,574)
Seat 2: sjpc yabi (23,056)
Seat 3: Opponent(9,925)
Seat 4: (17,020)
Seat 5: (39,278)
Seat 6: (28,312)
Seat 7: (51,335)
Seat 8: (46,025)
Seat 9: (14,475)

Seat 4 posts the small blind of 1,200
Seat 5 posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #3

HOLE CARDS

Dealt to sjpc yabi [9h 9s]
Seat 6-9 fold
Seat 1 calls 2,400
sjpc yabi raises to 5,000
Opponent raises to 9,925, and is all in
Rest of table foldssjpc yabi calls 4,925

Being my opponent was in the big blind I felt my pair of 9s where good. He started with a stack less than 10,000 and is committing more then ¼ his stack to this hand by force. With one call and one raise it makes it very tempting to try to steal this pot and gain almost 10k in chips. With the amount of money in the pot and the belief that this was a steal attempt I called his all in with my 9s.

Opponent shows [Ts Th]
sjpc yabi shows [9h 9s]

Complete underdog to win this hand. I read my opponent wrong and now I have to pay the price. All I can hope for is a 9 to come out so I can get trips, than dodge a Ten and take this pot. If I win here I would be in complete contentions to win this tournament with more than enough chips to survive the blinds and have some money to work with. I need a lot of luck to get out of this alive.

*** FLOP *** [Jc 3d Qh]
*** TURN *** [Jc 3d Qh] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 3d Qh Qs] [Qd]

Opponent wins the pot (25,850) with a full house, Queens full of Tens

The better hand stood up and I took a hit to half my stack. There is nothing to complain about and I believe that both players made the right moves considering both players situations. My opponent had to feel his Tens were worth the risk to try and double up, and I read that he was trying to steal and figured my 9s where good. Situations like this is what “That’s Poker” is all about.



===============================================

After bring me down to about 13k in chips I really had to work hard to survive. I lasted Eight Place when my QT suited got busted by Pocket 9s. Ironic eh?

In conclusion I do not think this was a bad first MTT game online. It was definitely different than the casino experience and I look forward to playing more of these in the future for higher stakes. I felt good about making the final table and it reinsured my ability of being able to play in large fields. Previously online I have placed 23rd in 1600 people, 62 in 1,500 and 123 in 3,000 people tournaments – all free-rolls so no cashes. I look forward to playing more of these in the future and sharing the experience with you.

A Good Night

I just finished a 90 Player Freeze-out on Full Tilt in which I placed 8th. I was low-stack and trying to make some moves to get some chips. I got caught with my paints down - my overcards against another's pocket pair. He tripped up on the flop and I was eliminated. I want to spend some time and talk about this tournament; however, it's too late to get into it tonight and it will have to wait for tomorrow.

Overall the day went good. It started with my win during lunch (previous blog) and ended with tonight's 8th place. I made back all the money I lost during yesterday's expensive night of gaming. It just goes to prove that some times you need to step away for awhile before you win again. Patience and discipline is what ultimately wins at poker, whether your in a hand or looking for a game - you need to play when it's best for you to play. As I said previously, tonight was a good night and I am beat. I will talk about the freeze-out tomorrow.

Good luck out there,
y.

Lunch Break

Today I attempted my first game during my lunch break. Being that this was my first game during lunch I played a $6 +.50 Turbo SNG. I didn't want to risk much incase I had to leave mid-way during the tournament. Throughout the game I was the chip leader, lost my lead half way through the tournament but got it back shortly after. After about 30 minutes of play I was finally heads up and had my opponent on the short stack. The following play changed things a bit and I doubled him up.

=======================================
Seat 3: opponent (2,575)
Seat 7: sjpc yabi (10,925)
sjpc yabi posts the small blind of 150
opponent posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #7

HOLE CARDS

Dealt to sjpc yabi [Kc Jc]
sjpc yabi raises to 800
opponent raises to 2,575, and is all in
sjpc yabi calls 1,775

I put my player on suited connectors, small pair, or an attempt to steal my raise. With KJ suited in heads up I have to take my chances to knock him out.

opponent shows [Tc Ac]
sjpc yabi shows [Kc Jc]

Horrible situation for me, I am less then 40% to win the hand.

FLOP [9h 5h 9s]

Not a good flop for me, I am less then 24% to win the hand, the only cards that can save me is a King or a Jack without an Ace coming out.

TURN [9h 5h 9s] [9d]

The river got harsh and lowered my chances of winning to less than 15% but now giving me a little higher percentage of a tie. A 9 comes on the River, or a 5 it's a split pot. A King or a Jack on the River and I take it down.

RIVER [9h 5h 9s 9d] [4s]

We pay off the opponent and he's happy. Nothing to get upset about, I was at a draw since pre-flop.
=======================================

A couple hands later I reach well over 11k in chips then go down to about 10k. Pressure is on not only to knock my opponent out of the tournament but I also have only a few minutes left on my break. Just as I hit my 2 minute warning 'the' hand happen. Let's take a look at what happen.

=======================================
Seat 3: opponent (3,350)
Seat 7: sjpc yabi (10,150)
sjpc yabi posts the small blind of 300
opponent posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #7

HOLE CARDS

Dealt to sjpc yabi [3c Qc]
sjpc yabi raises to 1,200
opponent raises to 3,350, and is all in
sjpc yabi calls 2,150

Part of the reason of this call was mainly due to my time restraints, and again I wanted to take him out of the tournament and just had a 'feeling' that this was 'the' hand. The second reason is the amount of money in the pot; it cost me 2,150 to call win 5,450 (900 from the blinds, my 1,200 raise, and his all-in). I have 2:1 on my money with enough chips to still be in a dominating position against my opponent if I loose. This was not a quick call, my time almost ran out before I clicked call.

opponent shows [4s As]
sjpc yabi shows [3c Qc]

Once again I don't look good. I am in almost the same situation as before with less than 40% to win this hand. I need a lot of help to take this down.

FLOP [Kh 2c 2s]

Not a good flop for me. I did hit one of my clubs but I need two running clubs for it to mean anything. A Queen, Trey, or two running Clubs has to come out for me to have a chance at this. I am less than 25% to win.

TURN [Kh 2c 2s] [Ac]

The Ace is not good. Bad card for me even though it's a Club, I am now about 20% to win this hand, only a Club can save me.

RIVER [Kh 2c 2s Ac] [Jc]

My miracle card, my Flush on the river beats his two pair, Aces-and-deuces.
=======================================

I take down the tournament and hurry back to work. In the end the experience was different; not only did I have the pressure of winning the tournament but I also had time restraints on how long I could take to do it. Will I attempt this again? Maybe not a 9 player Turbo but possibly a 6 player Turbo. I did have fun and it paid off, which is an obvious bonus. A good start from yesterday's trouble.

A Cold Night

Tonight was a cold night of playing cards. As the first SNG netted bottom pay, the rest of the night's action was an even further disappointment. No longer rated "Hot" on SharkScope.com, I failed to make profit off three other SNG tables leaving me ending the night in the red.

The first game I played was a 9 player table with my friend Sana. Sana was out semi-early in the tournament and shortly after it came to me be being the low chip stack. I held on battling myself up from 600 chips to a little over 2,000 while dodging the bubble. The culprit for this game was strickly cold cards. Almost every hand I won was by a move pre-flop, raising with Qx, Kx type hands in position and buying the blinds. Finally I was dealt a nice set of cards. Landed my two pair off the flop got sucked out on by trips on the river (the first of many times this happen tonight).

The rest of the SNG games are nothing to really talk about. Either I played horrible poker tonight or the game just wasn't with me. I been rivered more times tonight then I've been in a long time. It's not like I'm placing bets on "bad" hands and getting called. Having two pair with KQ off the flop and having someone with the balls to call you down when the board is KQA6, only to take it from you with a J on the river setting his pocket Jacks was all too common tonight. There were some other "bad beats" but I don't want to focus this blog on too much negativity. The end result is I must have been off my game tonight and not being aggressive as I normally am. It definitely was at fault on the last game I played, I wouldn't let go of some hands that I should have. After tilting a bit on the last game I decided to collect my losses and save it for another day. It's a disappointing evening, but you need days like this so when you are on a winning streak it feels so much more better.

The worse thing a poker player can do is play when they are on tilt. Even though I am down for the night, I must put my action on halt for tomorrow so I am not playing "catch up". When you loose a nice sizable amount of your bankroll you start to play just to 'catch up' which usually results in loosing more of your money since your not truly focused on the game itself - but your bankroll instead. I see a lot of beginning players make this mistake, they loose a couple low-limit games then try to play a larger game so they can win back their losses. For instance, one friend I know loss at three $5 +.50 games and ended up playing a $10 game immediately after trying to make up the $15 bucks he is down. The problem with this thought is you will only profit if you place in first. True, second might break you even but if you lose this game now your down $25 dollars instead of $15. The person in the example did indeed lose the $10 game then in all his wisdom jumped to a $20 game. This was not a smart move and ended up being an expensive night for my friend.

What he failed to realize is that when your on a loosing streak you should minimize your action and take time out to evaluate the game you just lost. Find out where you made bad plays and what you should have done in the situations that ended up jeopardizing your game. So few plays do this and to me this type of discipline is what makes a profitable player in the long wrong. The key thing to remember is when your on a winning streak, you play; when on a loosing streak, you stop. Remembering this can save you a lot of money and keep you away from playing 'catch up'. Every player looses at one point; minimizing your losses protects your bankroll and gives you something to work with when your winning.

============================

On another note tonight was election day. I am not one to follow politics so I really don't what what it all means; all I do know is I hope that whomever voted for the Internet Gambling Act of 2006 got a smack in the face tonight. Seems like a lot of people who play online are against the Republicans which creates interesting articles like this one from CardPlayer. Even PokerNews is getting some articles in. The whole industry is going crazy over voting! Poker players who never seen a voting booth in their life came out tonight to vote. I wouldn't be surprised if tonight some sort of record was broken for the most votes casted during Election Day.

Well regardless on who you voted for, or even if you voted, I wish you all a better night playing cards then I have had tonight. See you at the tables tomorrow, Cheers!

Luck, a Two-Way Street

Tonight two things happen to me in back to back games, I experienced luck both ways. The first was in a $20+2 SNG, I was low chip stack with less then 500 chips remaining after paying off a higher full house. I was delt Q♠Q♦ with only one person limped in, I push all-in and get called by the cut-off and the original limper. These two guys not only called my all-in but pushed all-in themselves. The cut-off pushed with A♣8♣ and the original limper has slick, A♥K♦. The "catch" is the cut-off originally just called my all-in, the limper raised all-in which put the cut-off in the decision of all his chips... he had the minerals to call his tournament with A♣8♣.

The Flop: 5♣4♦4♥
Turn: 7♠
River: 6♦

The cut-off with the minerals nailed a straight on the river and took down my Q♠Q♦ and left "big slick" with 120 chips. What seemed to be a good flop for me ended up turning to a dead end. I can't justify the guys call with just A♣8♣ after two players push all-in, but it paid off for him.

I take my loss and move to another $20+2 SNG, this time action came fast in the first hand. I was delt A♠Q♣ and raised 4x the BB. The cut-off calls.

The Flop: A♥A♦6♥

Action to me I bet 3/4 the pot, the cut-off raises all-in. Thinking about this action and with the way people play in these lower limits I put in on a small pocket pair, maybe an Ax (small Ace), or a hand like KQ, KJ. The move to all-in also made me feel he was chasing a flush and wanted to buy it. People do crazy things when they are in the lower limits and you see a lot of all-ins on the first hand. But with three Aces and in low limits, I am calling the bet. If I am beat, then so be it... there are only three hands that have me: AK, A6 or 66.

I reveal my A♠Q♣ and he shows his 6♠6♣. Incase you missed it, he has sixes-full of aces. The only way I can win is to hit two runners or an Ace with only 23% to win the hand.

The Turn: 4♣

Not a good card for me, I have four outs (Ace or one of three 4s) outs giving me 15% chance to win the hand. I start typing "GG, NH" in the chat window as the River is delt.

River: 4♠

I win the hand with Aces-full of fours, a complete underdog and complete suck-out. I ended up placing second and getting my money back from my previous entry. I lost to an Ace high flush to a boat in heads up when the chips where almost tied (he had me covered).

The lesson to be learned from both of these hands is that no matter what happens you can never count a person out of the hand if they have any percentage to win. You're never "out" until your drawing dead.

Trying for a Grand Finish

For a long time my online poker home was Paradise Poker and unfortunately for me they are leaving the U.S. starting November 13th of this year, thanks to the famous Port Authority Bill that was recently passed. Since the annoucement I have transfered my funds to Full Tilt and currently trying to get myself situated in what may be my new home. However, in light of this matter, I still have Players Club points and I am attempting to get one final cash out from Paradise before it's officially over next week.

My most recent attempt happen in late October when I pushed all my chips in the center and was busted out by a call from a lesser hand. It was late in the tournament and being that we were only a few away from the money people started to play tight. The last 6 times when I was small blind and the board folded to me, the big blind would raise enough chips to put me all in, regardless if I raised it to him or not. After the 6th time I confronted the player about his aggressive play. The following is the transcript with my chat in green and his in red.

"I'll catch you"
"What do you mean"
"That's the sixth time you came on top of me in the BB, you keep it up and I will catch you"
"Then call"
"Gonna do it again I take it?"
"We'll see"

This is the first time I spoke besides the occasional "nh" or "gg". Soon after our conversation it was folded to me in the SB. I am looking at JJ and raise 4x the blind. Our villian raises just shy of 1,000 chips of putting me all in and types "call". I of course feel this is my time to finally nail this guy and push my remaining chips in the pot. Now before you say I shouldn't have risked all my chips with just JJ let's take a look at my current situation:

I am on the small stack side at my table with 80,000. There is less then 25 people left in this tournament and people are currently scared of the bubble position. The guy re-raised me 6 times and currently has well over 300,000 in chips. His aggression was not directly towards me - he was bossing small stacks with his big stack for the last 20 minutes. Thinking about his hand I figured I was up against AX or KX, but not a monster hand. Also, if I doubled up I would be sitting at a little more then 160,000 in chips and would be in a much more comfortable situation. The average stack at my table was about 140,000.

As he calls my remaining 1,000 he flips over pocket pair, 99. His 9s end up tripping off the flop and my Jacks go dead, I join the rail.

All in all I believe that if I didn't make that comment earlier he might have not called my 4x the blind raise. However, in the end the villian made the wrong call risking doubling up a small stack with a hand like 99. If I were him I think I would have called the raise or dropped the hand, I don't see 99 being a hand to call an 80,000 bet when the blinds are 2k/4k. Any case I am not him and obviously it turned to be the correct play. I placed 23rd in that tournament, placing 13 away from the money. Tough beat; not because my JJ lost to 99, because when I finally stood up against the bully he cracked me open!

xpyabi is OUT in 23rd place

Review: Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1

Each month I will take some time to talk about a poker related product and voice my opinion about it, for the good or for the bad. This month I would like to talk about Harrington on Hold'em, Volume 1: Strategic Play.

Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1, known as 'HoH1' through out the rest of this review, is written by none other than Dan Harrington himself along with Bill Robertie and is published by Two-Plus-Two Publishing. This is the first of what is now a three volume set and focuses on the following main topics:

• The Game of No-Limit Hold'em
• Playing Styles and Starting Requirements
• Reading the Table
• Pot Odds and Hand Analysis
• Betting Before the Flop
• Betting After the Flop
• Betting on Fourth and Fifth Street

Each topic is it's own chapter with the total book reaching a little more then 375 pages. Each chapter is broken down into sections starting out with your standard informative text then ending with what is known as "the Problems" - a series of actual hands discussed in detail that relate to the knowledge learned in that chapter. This gives you "real world" examples on what you should do, or should have done, in a variety of situations. Now that we covered what the book actually is lets take a look on if it's worth the $29.95 retail price tag.

As most "beginner's" books on Hold'em, the book opens up explaining the concept of starting hands and table position. What I like most about this book is that once you have read books by Sklansky and Brunson, this sort of "standard starting material" starts to get old and redundant. In HoH1 the book covers these sections in a manner that's more of a reminder then in an attempt to re-teach the material. In fact, many times throughout HoH1 Harrington will refer to other books for further reference if you wish to learn more about that particular subject. This may first come off as a negative vibe - a book teaching you something tells you to read a different book in order to learn it - however it's actually very refreshing. Harrington doesn't spend time trying to re-invent the wheel but yet spends the time on making the wheel better. One can only read 50 pages by a different author on how to play your starting hands so many times before it drives you to boredom before you even get into the meat of the book.

Another refreshing part of this book is "the Problems" which appears at the end of each chapter. This section gives you real world examples of players in situations that are relavent to the information you just learned. What I like about the way Harrington presents his problems is that he tells you what you should do, then says "well what you actually did was 'this', and now that caused 'this' to happen". Then he futher attempts to get you out of trouble or, in the rare times that your mistake turned into a possible profitable play, how to maximize your gain on the hand. I like this approach to solving problems. So many other authors set up scenarios and tell you what you should do in those situations and end their scenario right there. Well in the real world of poker you don't always make the right play and your put in a situation where you have to pull you yourself out of a messy situation - Harrington does this, and does it well.

The most informative parts of this book, for those who have read other poker books, definately appear later in the text, when it comes to betting later in the game. Harrington covers topics the the "Probe Bet" and "Continuation Bet" in detail, giving you a good explination on why these pays can be so profitable in a tournament. He also covers when it's the right time to slow play a hand and when a flop is too dangerous to consider slow playing. These topics should be ones that beginners should definately read up on and study, it can greatly improve their game.

In the end players should be able to know when you play a hand and when not to, when to bet and how much to bet, and when to lay down a hand - even if it may look like a great hand to you. I believe that if all poker players read this book and took it serious there would be a lot less "tv" play with online games. This is definately a must read for any poker player taking their game seriously and wanting to improve their skills. Even players who are already fluent in the game will be able to take something from this book - a great addition to anyone's poker library.

My verdict: Buy it

Welcome

Greetings friends,
For the last several months I been wanting a way to communicate to those with interest about poker. A place to discuss certain aspects of the game, talk about different topics that might be under the news, and as well; debate strategy in certain games. This blog site will hopefully become a site that I can share idea's and thoughts with you, the reader, and also act as timeline of my career of being a poker student. Being that this is the opening message of this site I will end this a tad bit short. This is my first blog and I have no idea if I am even doing this correctly.

Until next time,
y.