Tidbits of Poker / New Years

I haven't posted in a while so I figured I'd do something "interesting". Here are some tidbits on poker's history;

• China invented the playing card around 900 AD, it was a variation of their domino game
  
• Poker is said to derive from 'an nas', a 147th Century Persian game that consisted of 5 players and 25 cards
• The French invented the suites; Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts
• Spades represent royalty, Diamonds represent merchants, Clubs represent peasants, and Hearts represent clergy.
• In the late 1930's, a fifth suite was introduced but never caught on since everyone would have to purchase new decks
• America not only invented the Joker, but were the first to print numbers on both sides of the card (no need to turn the card around to see it's value)
• Former President Richard Nixon used poker winnings to pay for his running in the U.S Congress in 1946, he won.
• When Columbus landed in America (yes in 1942), he plucked leaves from trees and painted pictures on them for playing cards.
• In the 1800's, a Straight beat a Flush
• John Mantagu, refusing to leave a poker table to eat, order meat between two slices of bread so he could eat with one hand, and play card with the other. This was the invention of the "Sandwich".
• Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (1890 - 1977), a famous American comedian, got the nickname "Groucho" because he always wore a grouch bag around his neck. The grouch bag contained his poker money.
• Poker is known as a "vying game". Vying game is actually a class for games (like drama, action, or horror would be for a movie). Games listed under the Vying Class are games that involve betting on the quality of card combinations in one's hand rather then playing the cards out."
• The first documented game of Poker played in the United States was in New Orleans in 1829
• Edmond Hoyle was an avid writer for whist, backgammon, chess, quadrille, piquet, and brag. Hoyle is said to have never played modern poker since he passed 150 years before it's invention. In 1979 he was a charter inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame.
• The phrase "blue chip", used in the Stock Market to name a well-established company making solid and/or high earnings, is said to have derived from Poker. The "blue chip" in poker is commonly the most valuable chip.
  
• Other common everday phrases are also derived from poker. Some of the least obvious phrases include "the buck stops here", "beats me", "high roller", "pass the buck", "stack up", and "wild card".
• "Card Sharp" is a person who purposely cheats at cards with the intension of making money. It's said that "card magicians" were known to deploy this tactic since they had the best pratice employing sleight of hand. This enabling them to keep control of the order of cards - or one specific card for their benifit. The common term for this behavior is a card "mechanic".

While I am sure there are tons of other interesting tidbits from the orgins of poker, I will leave you with the above list. If you know of any others, feel free to leave them in the comments. Have a great New Year everyone!

Review: Phil Hellmuth Presents "Read'Em and Reap"

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. Being that the Christmas Holidays have recently passed, and you might have some gift certificates laying around, I wanted to give you January's review early. Now you can spend your extra money on something worth wild instead of on something silly.

This January I would like to talk about Phil Hellmuth Presents Read'Em and Reap.

Phil Hellmuth Presents "Read'Em and Reap", known as 'REAP' through out the rest of this review, is written by Joe Navarro, a retired FBI special agent; with guest Marvin Karlins and commentary by 11 time WSOP bracelet winner, Phil Hellmuth. The book is published by HarperCollings Publishers.

To understand a little about what REAP has in store you must first take a look at the man who wrote the text. Joe Navarro has 25 years of counterintelligence/counterterrorism experience as a special agent for the FBI, and is know as a "human lie detector". In 2004 Joe was invited on a Discovery Channel feature entitled "More Than Human" where they gathered a hand full of people who's life profession was reading people's lies. These human lie detectors were matched up against a polygraph, a voice stress analyzer, and a pupil dilation apparatus. Each human, and machine, were presented with 25 verbal statements and then had to determine if the subject was lying or telling the truth. Joe was able to nail 18 correct answers, better then two machines, which out beat every human but one, Annie Duke, who also scored 18 correct out of 25. Joe was amazed at Annie's ability to read people, and thus his interest in poker began. Joe assisted Annie in strengthen her ability to pick up tells, and hiding her own, and was very successful. Soon after, Joe was being hired by dozens of professional players for analyzing their play to become more solid and unpredictable. Through all this, Joe ended up teaching at Camp Hellmuth and thus his relationship with Phil Hellmuth began.

Once Joe realized that poker players take tells very serious, he decided to make a book that reveals some of the most common, but often over looked, tells in poker. His book covers the following topics:

• How to conceal your own tells
• The most honest parts of the human body
• Tells of Engagement
• High- Low-confidence Tells
• Pacifying behaviors
• Acting "Hollywooding"
• And other topics, including on how to handle a Pro player if he is at your table.
  

Each topic is it's own chapter. Some topics span over multiple chapters which makes the book a total of 198 pages. REAP is very easy to read, grammatically and visually. Most tells feature a large, clear picture of the action being taken place. The topics transition easily from one to the other, with key points being stressed more then once. At the end of each major "lesson", Phil Hellmuth comments on what Joe just preached and enlightens you on how he was able to use such lesson as a benefit in real life.

Phil's comments are short, and to the point. They do not take away from the reading, but they also do not add much to it either.

The tells in this book do not nearly reach the amount of tells Caro's Book of Poker Tells, however; the tells discussed in this book are far more in depth and are demostrated clearer than in Caro's book. This book is purely about quality over quanity. REAP also features tells that are not mentioned in Caro's book, some that seem more obvious once your eyes are opened up to them. Reader's of Caro's Book of Poker Tells should find the information in this book helpful and insightful - not a waste of time and money.

REAP is an excellent book, especially for under $20, you really can't go wrong. I personally have been able to apply tells learned from this book to my live game. I have made some great laydowns, and great calls by being able to read my opponent from lessons learned from reading REAP. While I did fine Caro's book helpful and interesting, REAP is a book I will be revisiting more often due to it's ease of reading, detailed analysis, and more modern approach to the subject.

My verdict: Buy it

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone! Things are going great on my end! My game has never been stronger, and I am looking forward to building back up a solid bankroll while I am on a rush. As Negreanu said, "believe in yourself". The recent blog post by Daniel seemed to replicate my thoughts and actions almost to a 'T'. I was suffering the same doubts as Daniel, and amazingly the same night I go off of being 'on tilt' he posted his blog about the same. Instead of trying to make my own interpretation I will just direct you to Daniel's post. Everything he says about "believing in yourself" is totally true. Once you believe in your own ability you will be amazed on how much simpler the game is. If you have read this far and still have not read Daniel's blog, then do so now!

In closing, the real reason for this post is to wish all my readers a happy holiday for whatever you celebrate! "May your cards be live and your pots monsters!"

Cheers!!!

SNG Lesson Part Two

This blog is a continuation of our previous entry. If you have not read the previous entry yet, then this blog will do nothing but confuse you. So please read the previous entry first.

Hand 11, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 1878
Unknown: 1052
Hero 6070

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ks 4h

Sana raises to 800, Unknown folds, Hero folds.

Our Impression: Our play here could have been to call or push on Sana and take down this pot. Sana just made a huge laydown prior to this hand and I doubt he is capable of doing so on this hand. Our K-5 off-suite is not a great hand to call his raise, even if it's 400 more. I am almost certain that regardless of the flop, Sana will push all in and I will loose 800 chips instead of 400. A King on the flop only makes it worse since I will most likely call his all in and be an underdog to win (Sana having a higher King). The best flop that can happen for me is two pair or trip fives. Also, knowing Sana's play structure we know he wants to be called. A one up raise from Sana means AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, or pocket pair down to 8-8. All these hands have us beat so we must lay down our King high.

Sana wins 1000 and shows pocket 7s.

Our Impression: Not as strong as a hand that we'd expect from Sana, but still had us beat as a 30% underdog to win.

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Hand 12, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 2478
Unknown: 852
Hero 5670

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ts 7s

Unknown folds, Hero calls, Sana Checks

Flop: 5s 7d Js
Hero bets 400, Sana folds

Hero wins 800

Our Impression: We limp in with our medium strength hand and hit middle pair and a flush draw off the flop. A 400 bet here will tell me the strength of my hand without risking a lot. If he calls I can put Sana on middle pair or a flush draw. If he raises, I put Sana on a pair of Jacks. Sana folding made life easier.

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Hand 13, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 2078
Unknown: 852
Hero 6070

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, 5h 2c

Hero folds, Sana folds, Unknown walks with 400.

Our Impression: We fold our weak hand on the button. This should make complete scenes. What I don't understand is how Sana walked a guy that had only 452 chips after posting the BB. In my opinion, bad play by Sana if he had any sort of hand better than mine.

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Hand 14, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 1878
Unknown: 1052
Hero 6070

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, 7h 3h

Sana raises to 1400, Unknown calls 852 and is all in, Hero folds.

Sana reveals Kh Jd
Unknown reveals Kc Ts

Our Impression: With Sana's rather large raise I don't put him on too grand of a hand since a small bet would more likely get called. However with my weak hand I opted to fold. I did consider calling and hopefully Sana and I would cooperatively check it down and increase the chances of eliminating Mr. Unknown; however, I didn't want to risk the fact that Sana might push on the Flop and force me to fold if I did not make my hand.

Ultimately we made the right fold. Sana's K-J has Mr. Unknown's K-T dominated by almost 70%. All we can hope for is that Sana's K-J holds up and we go into heads up action.

The Showdown: 9d 8c Ks Qc 5d

Sana wins 2504 with a pair of Kings, Queen/Jack kicker.

Our Impression: This was a very interesting board. After the flop Sana was 80% to win. After the Turn, Sana was still about 80% to win but couldn't win with Two pair as a Jack would have made his opponent an straight. Sana needed to dodge a three Tens, and three Jacks to win. If the board paired, other than a King, Sana would tie. Even though the Queen wasn't "thee" card his opponent needed to win, it did open up a lot of outs for him. Sana dodge a lot of bullets to win.

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Heads Up 1, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3330
Hero 5670

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Qh 3d

Hero calls 200, Sana checks

Flop: 8d 9h 6d
Sana checks, Hero checks

Turn: Jh [8d 9h 6d]
Sana bets 800, Hero folds

Sana wins 800.

Our Impression: Our first mistake was not raising with Queen high. After the flop missed our hand I didn't want to force anything since I still had a huge chip leader over Sana. My intensions were to bet on the Turn if he checked to me again, however he beat me to it and I layed down my hand.

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Heads Up 2, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3730
Hero 5270

Sana post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600
Hole cards, Ac Ks

Sana folds. Hero walks with 400.

Our Impression: Even though we had a great hand Sana did not know this. Mathematically it was incorrect for him to fold since he was getting plenty of odds to at least limp in. In this case he was lucky to fold since I would have raised my hand and he would have lost 400 instead of 200; however, if he continues to fold on the SB without a hand it will work into my favor as this heads up progresses.

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Heads Up 3, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3530
Hero 5470

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Qs Jd

Hero raises to 900, Sana folds

Our Impression: A standard raise here with Q-J os and we get no action.

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Heads Up 4, Blinds 250 / 500
Sana: 3130
Hero 5870

Sana post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 750.
Hole cards, 9d 2c

Sana folds, Hero walks 500.

Our Impression: We already know that Sana has been folding too much heads up. There is nothing to discuss here.

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Heads Up 5, Blinds 250 / 500
Sana: 2880
Hero 6120

Sana post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 750.
Hole cards, Jc 5d

Hero calls 250, Sana checks

Flop: Jd 6c Qh
Sana bets 1000, Hero raises to 2000, Sana reraises to 2380, Hero calls 380.

Hero reveals Jc 5d
Sana reveals Td 9h

The Showdown: 4d 3h [Jd 6c Qh]

Hero wins 5,760 with two pair, Jacks and Fours
Sana takes second place.

Our Impression: Sana got caught shoving his chips in on a draw. Something I always preach about not doing. I believe Sana felt I was on a complete bluff and figured he had a better shot at winning then I did. If he would have made his hand, it would have been a great call, but mathematically this was a loosing play. Sana is a great heads up player and could have waited for a better time to shove his chips in the pot. I believe that Sana got impatient and it cost him all the difference from finishing first to finishing second.

In conclusion this was an extremely good, and tough battle. I was able to pull off a win by being a complete underdog coming into the action. The ability to know when to push and know when to fold really came into play for me in this game. As I look back on my play I do notice some things I should have done different, but over all I believe I played a well game especially in my situation. I do encourage feedback on my play, so please feel free to comment.

Cheers!

SNG Lesson Part One

In my recent blog I mentioned that I wanted to spend some time and discuss one of my SNG sessions with you. In this session we came into three-way action being the underdog and also facing the bubble position. Over the next few post I want to share with you this experience as I went from the complete underdog to victor by being able to read my opponent, read the texture of the board, and being patient. Without further ado let's drive right into the SNG session.

What we know: We are facing one known opponent, Sana, and one unknown opponent. Before we begin let's take a look at what we know about each opponent.

Sana - His strategy is mainly Tight-Aggressive. He normally raises 3-4 times the BB about 90 percent of the time when he holds a good hand. He likes continuation bets, and will put you all in if he reads that you missed the board. He's definitely someone we need to watch out for. The only advantage to this is he gained his strategy by studying us; realizing that Tight-Aggressive can definitely pay off, he has adapted this method himself. The downfall is, he knows we know this and obviously knows how we like to play.

Unknown - This guy first seemed like a really lucky fish but then something else developed. It seemed at first he took some chances to gain chips, but now he only seems to push at pots when he has the best (or at least a great) hand. I've seen him move all in several times and get called - his hand was a monster hand and he won. We want to keep pots small when going against him.

Hand 1, Blinds 150 / 300
Sana: 3328
Unknown: 4187
Hero: 1485

Sana post SB. Unknown post BB, Pot is 450.
Hole cards, 3s Ts

Unknown calls 300

Our Impression: T3 suited isn't a bad hand in the small blind, but with the amount of chips we have I really want to put myself in a situation where I can bet all in and double up. With the button calling the blind the value of my all in now can be called by not just one, but two opponents who have me more than covered. I opted to fold.

Sana checks, Unknown makes a bet after the flop and Sana folds.

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Hand 2, Blinds 150 / 300
Sana: 3028
Unknown: 4637
Hero: 1335

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 450.
Hole cards, Ah 5c

Hero raises to 1,355 and is all in

Our Impression: With out low stack and first to act we are happy to push all in here. If we get called we might have to suck out if our opponent has an Ace. Otherwise we would be an underdog to only pocket pair. In reality we just hope to get the blinds and move on to the next hand.

Sana and the Unknown folds, Hero wins 750.

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Hand 3, Blinds 150 / 300
Sana: 2878
Unknown: 4187
Hero 1935

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 450.
Hole cards, As 3s

Unknown raises to 600, Hero calls 450, Sana raises to 2878 and is all in

Our Impression: Our Hero raised on the button which means he might not have a great hand and could be attempted to steal. We have A3 suited which is a fine hand to see a flop with especially at a discount. Normally I might push all in here, but with the Unknown raising I would like to see a flop. If the flop comes out with an Ace, a flush draw, or a straight draw, I might push all in and hope my hand holds up. My plan is ruined when Sana decides to shove. Being that the Unknown player raised and I called this raise, he must have a really good hand to come over the top of both of us like this. I don't put him on wired royalty since I think we would want to trap a little. But I do think we are at least beat and we are going to have to lay down this hand.

Unknown folds, Hero folds.
Sana shows Ac Jh and wins 1800

Our Impression: He had our Ace dominated. The only thing we had going for us would have been the flush. This ended up being a good fold even though it was a tough one. My timer almost ran out before I clicked the fold button.

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Hand 4, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 4078
Unknown: 3587
Hero 1335

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, As Qc

Hero raises to 1335 and is all in, Sana folds, Unknown calls 935.
Hero reveals As Qc
Unknown reveals Ah Qs

The Showdown: 8h Ad 7d 6h 4d

Hero and Unknown splits pot for 1435 each

Our Impression: Another situation when we are first to act and have great cards for three-way action. When our opponent calls we aren't as nervous as we would be if we pushed in with Ace-small or King high. It's a slight disappointment when our opponent reveals he is holding similar cards, allowing us the only chance to win is a long shot flush draw. Or course there are positives in this scenario as well... we didn't loose the showdown so we are not out of the game.

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Hand 5, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3878
Unknown: 3687
Hero 1435

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Kd Qc

Sana folds, Unknown calls 200, Hero raises to 1435 and is all in
Unknown folds

Hero wins 800.

Our Impression: With Sana folding and the small blind only calling I have full confidence that my KQ might be the best hand. With my low chip stack I can not survive very much longer facing these large blinds. I am fortunate to get dealt such great cards in my situation and gladly shove all in. As I thought, my opponent's cards weren't strong and he elects to fold.

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Hand 6, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3878
Unknown: 3287
Hero 1835

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ks Qd

Unknown calls 400, Hero raises to 1835 and is all in, Sana folds, Unknown calls 1435

Hero reveals Ks Qd
Unknown reveals Ac 7d

The Showdown: Ts Td Qh 2s 8c

Hero wins 4070 with two pair, Queens and Tens

Our Impression: When dealt KQ off-suite again I am more than glad to shove all in. Our opponent calls us with a lesser hand then I believe he would have if we didn't move all in on the last couple hands. In his mind we keep going all in, what he doesn't know is that we definitely had the cards to do it. When our opponent shows his A7 off-suite I know that I am a slight underdog to win and I must make a hand.

The flop was beautiful for me. With a complete rainbow board it eliminated the possibilities of any crazy flush draws he could make on me. It also put me at over 85% to win with him needing an Ace, or two running Sevens to make his hand. The Turn made things better given me over 90% to win with leaving him only 3 outs, an Ace. The River sealed his fate and I double up to chip leader.

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Hand 7, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3478
Unknown: 1452
Hero 4070

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ts 8s

Hero folds, Sana folds, Unknown walks with 400.

Our Impression: We just won a lot of chips and we don't need to do anything stupid to loose them. It's free for us to fold here and I don't want to get into a duel with Unknown, as I have a feeling he will come over the top if I limp in a pot with him. I get out of the way and let Sana take care of him. Sana walks him which seem unusual to me. The only thing I can imagine here is Sana had horrible cards and also had a feeling Mr. Unknown would come over the top especially after just loosing a bunch of chips to an underdog. - Sana, your comments are welcome as to why the heck you walked him =).

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Hand 8, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3278
Unknown: 1652
Hero 4070

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, 7d 4c

Sana raises to 1400, Unknown folds, Hero folds

Sana wins 1000.

Our Impression: With Sana's raise off the button to 3.5 times the BB we must respect his hand and fold our horrible 7-4 off suite. There is no reason to protect our blinds especially since Sana has not done a lot of raising pre-flop.

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Hand 9, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3878
Unknown: 1452
Hero 3670

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Kh 5c

Unknown folds, Hero calls 200, Sana checks

Flop: As 9d 5c
Hero bets 400, Sana folds.

Hero wins 800.

Our Impression: Our hand isn't great but worth seeing a flop. Raising here might be an option, but with Sana shoving a big raise last time I know he could push all in and attempt to collect my raise. I would have to fold so I just elect to call hoping I can steal off the flop. The flop's rainbow A-9-2 can look intimidating if your not holding an Ace. I make a "feeler bet" to hopefully steal this pot. If Sana calls I can put him on the 9's, if he raises I can put him on the Ace. Sana folds without hesitation and my "bluff" worked.

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Hand 10, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3478
Unknown: 1452
Hero 4070

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ad Ks

Hero calls 400, Sana raises to 1600, Unknown folds.
Hero re-raises to 4070 and is all in, Sana folds.

Hero wins 3600

Our Impression: My call was an attempt to mix up my play with full intentions to check-raise hoping that someone would raise pre-flop. Sana makes my day by betting 1600, 4 times the BB. Our Unknown player folds and I move all in. The hands I put Sana on are pocket pair (but not A-A or K-K) or an Ace (or King) down to 7. If Sana held pocket A-A or K-K I would see him placing a bet 2-3 time the BB, wanting action. The large pre-flop bet indicated to me that he didn't want to be called but still had a hand. So why push all in then? Sana committed almost half his chips in this hand. It's a huge laydown for anyone and most people would feel that they are pot committed. I also didn't want to call, have a flop that missed me and be facing an all in bet. I rather put the money up now and hope to either be in the lead or have him fold. Surprisingly he folds. Sana announced in the chat he was holding A8 suited before he folded. Even though we did read him correctly this was a huge laydown for him. He ran out his timer and could not make a decision. I believe if he had more time he might have called realizing the pot odds he was looking at. Of course I would have welcomed the call being over 65% to win and about 10% to split. Sana was a huge underdog and I don't know how he folded. Any higher of an Ace or if time allowed I believe I would have had a call.

This concludes our first 10 hands in which we came from small stack to chip leader and looking rather healthy. In my following post I will continue this three way action until we are down to the last cards being dealt. As always, I encourage feedback on how these hands where played. Usually I receive IMs or e-mails but I highly encourage you to use the comments instead. Therefore your feedback can be shared with everyone.

Until next time,
y.

Back In Action!

As some of my closes friends know I went on a major tilt in online poker. I managed to loose a good percentage of my bankroll in a matter of a month, enough to force me to play lower limits and ultimately take a break that lasted almost 3 weeks. In those 3 weeks I caught up on some much needed reading and self-analyzing that really put me on a whole different level. After looking at my play, I realize I was given credit to the game being too much of a challenge for no apparent reason. Oddly enough, I did not have this problem when it came to live games. My live games were solid and I won almost every game I played in. However, I was on such a tilt online it almost didn't matter how much I was making in person.

Today marks my first day back to the online SNG world. My very first game I was out in 7th by making a very, very stupid play. I took a breather and relax and been finishing first ever since. In one day I have made back half the money I lost over the month and I hope to continue my rush until I make it all back and then some. I feel like "I'm back" after all this time. Finally I am controlling tables again, making moves that make sense, folding good hands when I know I am beat, and calling people's bluffs correctly. All these qualities I always had pre-tilt and seem to now refound them. I am very happy with my play today and I will be going over my hand histories over the next couple days, sharing some wicked calls and discussing some of the plays with you all.

Well it's late, passed 1AM here, so I will wrap this post up. Just know that "Yabi's Back" and I am on a roll. I just hope it wasn't a one day thing =)

On a side note, great play by my friend Sana tonight. In my last game for the night my friend Sana decided to join me. We ended up going heads up after a rather lengthy three way action. Coming into the three way action I was the underdog, but I managed to double up through the big stack and I just kept growing my chip stack until I was chip leader. Sana ultimately busted out the third guy and we were left heads up. I think this is the first time I was actually heads up with a real life friend in an online tournament. It was a very interesting battle that I ultimately pulled off a win. It was a lot of fun and Sana and I were reported for "playing together as a team". Which was completely false. Sana and I have busted out each other many times in these online tournaments, enough to definitely show we do not play as a team. I want his money just as bad as anyone else's on the table... and same goes for him I'm sure.

Needless to say the three way action with me being the underdog has really left me with a lot to discuss. I will definitely be covering that bit in the future, showing how I went from the complete underdog to chip leader on the bubble with both stacks being aggressive to knock me out. It should be a very informative read... and I am sure Sana will be doing some close analyzing as well =)

Cheers!

Review: Harrington on Hold'em Volume 2

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 2: The Endgame. I feel this is a great product to review since last month we looked at Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1.

Harrington on Hold'em Volume 2, known as 'HoH2' 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 second of what is now a three volume set and focuses on the following main topics:

• Making Moves
• Inflection Points
• Multiple Inflection Points
• Short Tables
• Heads-Up

Each topic is it's own chapter with the total book reaching a little more then 440 pages. Just like the first volume, 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. Does volume 2 of Harrington's series make the $29.95 retail price tag worth the purchase? Let's find out.

The structure of this book is identical to Volume 1. Each chapter begins with a lesson and ends with a variety of "problems". As mentioned in the previous review, these "problems" are real-world examples that show you how to use the information in the lessons you just read. In some examples it tells you what you should have done, then says "instead you did this", and than attempts to get you out of trouble. Such format makes Harrington's books a great and interesting read, allowing the reader to learn above and beyond the context of the lesson.

As for the content, HOH2 wastes no time and dives right into the core elements of No Limit Hold'em starting out with lessons on "making moves" - giving readers valuable information on when to bluff, when to slow play, and how to successfully deploy more complex "moves" on your opponent. Diving right into such information might seem overwhelming to the "beginner" Hold'em player but intermediate players should pick it right up with little or no problems. If the lessons seem a little too advance for you then I would suggest putting down HOH2 and picking up his first volume. Harrington writes this book as a continuation to his first book with the complete impression that the reader has already completed Volume 1.

Once Harrington covers how to make moves in No Limit Hold'em he goes the next step further and introduces "when" to make these moves. Using Magriel's M -the ratio of your stack to the current total of blinds and antes - Harrington shows you a easy to understand system that encourages you to play certain ways depending if your in the "green", "yellow", "orange", or "red" zone. He also includes his own principle titles Q, which goes hand to hand with Magriel's M to make the best all around decisions while your in a tournament. Reading and understanding this section alone is invaluable to any beginning NL Hold'em player looking to strengthen their game and worth the $30 alone.

The book then transcends into how to make more "advanced" moves and ultimately teaches you valuable heads-up information with some real world hand examples from known poker professionals. All while giving you tons of knowledge and examples in between.

HOH2 includes more "problems" then in Volume 1; however, the lessons are more advance and might require re-reading to completely understand all the information presented. HOH2 by it's self is a valuable and informative book for any intermediate NL Hold'em player. Along side Volume 1, HOH2 is a priceless continuation for the beginning player. Think of Volume 1 and 2 as one large book covering the topics of NL Hold'em.

When you read this book you really feel like your getting into the mind of Harrington and getting to see all angles and aspects of a situation. After completing this text you should feel more confident in your game and should see noticeable results as you recover key topics from time to time. You should have greater confidence in making it to the final table and then know what to do once your there. Harrington even covers what to do if your down to the final few players and someone brings up the idea of making a prize split. How can you go wrong?

My verdict: Buy it

Hand Percentages

All too often you see beginning poker players over value their face cards and then are completely stunned when they don't hold up. This ignorance is also seen in some intermediate players. Many books tell you never to fall in love with any hand and hands like TT, JJ, KJ, etc aren't as strong as they appear to be. These books might also include simple charts you can read to figure out the real value of your starting hand. In the attached picture I have conducted my own research and laid out the real values of these hands facing a variety of opponents.

The cart is simple to read. The first column states the hand that you are dealt. The next column indicates the starting strength of the hand. In the remaining columns named (10, 9, 8, 6, 5, and 2) are the win ratios of these hand's preflop against the listed amount of opponents.

For example, you are dealt AJ off suite in a 6 person table are are first to act. The starting strength of your hand is 90%, but against 6 opponents in a showdown you will win 26% of the time. This makes this hand an easy fold unless you have control over your table or facing a tight table in which a raise will chase most opponents out.

In the future I look to explore other starting hands such as small pairs and suited connectors. I hope you find this chart useful.

Gifts for the Poker Player

Turn on almost any radio station and your bound to hear it. Walk into any retail store and your bound to see it. On your way home from the office you'll probably notice it. What is it? It is the holiday season and with that comes the stress of finding the perfect gift for the poker player in your life. Whether it's a friend or a loved one, deciding on what to get them for the holidays can be a hard feat. With this in thought here are some gift ideas that might help you out.

WPT Dealer Button w/Timer
In addition to serving as your dealer button this device allows the user to program blinds from 5 to 95 minutes in five-minute increments. During the tournament players hear an audible alarm at the one-minute warning and again to signify the end of the round.

RadioShack Portable Texas Hold'em Handheld Game
Take the excitement of Texas Hold'em wherever you go with this handheld game from Excalibur. You can play up to seven players or take on the game by yourself.

Daniel Negreanu's Stacked
The first video game to bring the next-generation gameplay and broadcast quality production to Texas Hold'em Poker. Learn everything from the fundamentals to advance strategies from poker's premiere player and refine your game against the world's most advance artificial intelligence system before testing your skills in massive online tournaments.

KEM Poker Size Regular Index
Kem Plastic Playing Cards is a 60-year-old company specializing in one product - playing cards which are 100% cellulose acetate plastic. Kem playing cards contain no vinyl, which is the raw material used by all other playing card manufacturers for their "plastic" playing cards.

Poker Chip Sets
A poker player can never have too many chips. Craft your own personal chip set for your gift. Just remember, the higher the gram of the poker chip, the better the chip. And if your gift is for a female be sure to check out the WPT Ladies Night Pink Chipset.

Pokers Most Wanted Collectible Playing Card Deck
This deck exclusively features the Worlds most renowned Professional Poker Players. The deck contains 54 of the best players ever to play the game, reproduced in beautiful full color photographs.

Oops! I Won Too Much Money
Tom Schneider, a former CEO, is currently a professional poker player. After noticing the similarities between the business and gaming worlds, he realized that he had a story to tell. The book is the result of Tom's experience in the boardroom and at the poker table. Rated 5 stars at Amazon and a recommended read from CardPlayer magazine this "non poker strategy" book offers lessons in life worth reading.

Phil Hellmuth Presents Read 'Em and Reap
Advice from former FBI counterintelligence, Joe Navarro reveals knowledge obtain through his training on how to read people. This book will help you decode and interpret your opponents' body language and other silent tip-offs while concealing your own. Must read for any serious poker player.

The above list should help you with your decisions on what to purchase. Other options include gift certificates where poker books and / or supplies are sold. As well, some online poker sites offer gift certificates which can be a great gift for any frequent online poker player. If you find other great ideas please feel free to share them with everyone else. Good hunting!

Instructions from the Rail

Your four to the flush with the nut flush draw and your opponent pushes all in with one card to come. Your big stack and have him way covered. Your pot odds are 5:1, and your chances of hitting your flush is 4:1. Although the odds are not in favor, calling his bet doesn't hurt your stack and if you win you knock the opponent out. When you look at the standings you notice this player is on the bubble. Knock him out and it's guaranteed money. You call and nail your flush.

In the end, good call right? You hit your hand and now your guaranteed money. You feel good about your decision and the slight risk paid off. People around the table comment you, "Nice call", "Nice catch". Overall you feel pretty good about your call and then it happens. The mad, crazed, busted out player goes off on you calling you spewing out every "poker" insult under the sun. He criticize your play like a mini Phil Hellmuth and doesn't stop. Just keeps going, and going, and going....

A question if you will; don't you find it mildly ironic that people who normally call players "donks", or other forms of loosing/amateur comments are from those who are sitting on the rail? I mean, I just don't get it. Here is a guy who I just busted out of a game and he is calling someone else the donk. The best is when you know the player has no idea that the comments he is using to describe you fit him like a glove.

A great example of this happen recently while I was playing a NL Ring game on Absolute Poker.

Everyone either folds or limps to a guy who raises 4x the BB (Player 1), and he gets one call (Player 2).
The flop comes down Q84 of hearts.
Player 1 fires a pot size bet and he gets called.
The turn brings a King of hearts.
Player 1 bets the pot once again, and gets called.
The river is a Jack of clubs.
Player 1 fires the pot once more, and without hesitation, Player 2 moves all in. Player 1 calls. Player 2 looses and goes "on tilt". He curses his opponent's play to no end.

So what did they have?

Player 1 had AT of hearts
Player 2 had KJ off suite, no hearts.

Player 2 makes a comment saying, "this site is rigged, they gave me two runners just for me to push all in" He further commented that his opponent played the hand completely wrong and should have trapped with the nut flush draw.

So let me recap this for you so your not confused or think you misread something:

A guy with AT of hearts bets 4x the BB and is called. He flops the nut flush and bets the pot. Unusual but it worked, he got called. The turn brings a fourth heart Player 1 bets and Player 2 called this rather large bet with a pair of Kings, no hearts, with four to the flush on the board. Player 1 can't be any more obvious that he had the flush when he bet the again on the river; but yet his opponent now making two pair, still with no hearts, pushes all in. Of course Player 1 calls, what else he going to do with the nuts? Then yes, Player 2 criticizes Player 1's play and calls him a donk, then blames the site for cheating him out of his money with two runners!

Player 2's justification for his comments was that Player 1 was betting too high to have the flush, he thought he would have slow played it. But any heart would have beat him on the Turn, his hand couldn't have said "I'm worthless" any louder. Truly amazing ignorance if you ask me.

So what ever happen to Player 2? He ended up loosing the rest of his money on the very next hand. He pushed all in for a rather large amount with AT os. Someone thinking he was on tilt called with A6. The board showed three more 6s and the fireworks began once again. The hand he lost to he gets dealt off suite, and looses to a lesser hand. Great isn't it?