Read Your Sklansky

I have blogged about weak starting hands and the importance of position numerous times. Most poker players know that the better the position, the weaker the cards you can play. In a recent SJPC Tournament the following hand occurred:

It was the very first hand in the game on Full Tilt Poker, everyone starts out with 1500T and the blinds 15/30.

My Holecards:


UTG Folds
UTG +1 (Villain) calls
Table folds to the Button whom also folds
Small Blind continues
Hero in the Big Blind raises to 175 (75 in pot).

Before we go on let me explain my read on these opponents. The Villain likes to play a lot of cards and will usually play (and call raises) if it's "cheap". He's an average player who makes questionable plays from time to time. The small blind is a very aggressive player who will also play if it's cheap. While the small blind is not afraid to re-raise and push all in if he senses weakness post-flop, he is disciplined enough to fold a medium strength/OK hand out of position facing aggression preflop.

I really want to isolate the Villain here. I have confidence I can out play him and I believe my bet is low enough for him to call; however, I believe it's high enough for the SB to fold even though he would be offered over 2.5:1 (if the Villain calls). I am also 'OK' with buying the pot here. It is the first hand of the tournament and my hand is only Ace-high, but my bet of 175 wanted some action. Normally if I wanted to purchase the pot against these two players I might have three-bet the pot, making it 225T. This may sound pricey but I am out of position to an early limper who hates to fold preflop.

The Villain calls
The SB Folds
380T in the pot

The Flop:


Let's take a moment to state the obvious: I got the action I wanted and after the flop I have two over cards with a backdoor flush draw. Normally I might make a continuation bet here, but since my opponent knows I like to continue bet after showing a healthy raise preflop; and I knowing that he is the type of player who could be in this hand with such a wide variety of cards - I figured it would be best to check. He's expecting me to bet here and if I do he can either fold, call, or raise. He knows I'd bet out on this flop regardless if I hit my hand or not, so he will likely call and attempt to steal on the turn, or raise hard at it now and force me to fold. Playing with this person he raises in this situation after a continuation bet more then not. So I mix up my play a little and just check.

Villain Checks
Pot remains 380T

The Turn:


The check from the Villain on the flop is strange unless he is on some sort of draw. But the 5 on the Turn shouldn't have helped him unless he had pocket-5s. Even then I would think that trips would have fired on the flop to protect their hand. The spade did help me, it now gave me a draw to the second nut flush.

Hero bets 200T
Villain calls

Pot is now 780T

The River:


The Jack-of-Spades is an interesting card. I no longer have the second nuts; Ks & 10s, 10s & 8s, and As are all beating me. However, the way this hand played out the only hand that would make sense would be the As plus another Ace.

Pocket Aces would justify the limp UTG+1 then the smooth call on my raise. When the flop came down he still had a nice hand with the Ace of Spades and wanted to bait me a little so he checks. When the Turn came around he now was drawing to a Full House and a Flush Draw (at the time the nut-flush draw) so this explains the call of 200 and not a raise. He knows I am an aggressive player and he wants me to make a hand that I can loose all my chips on.

The problem I face is that I did make a strong flush and my instincts are telling me I am ahead. Almost every time I've played against this opponent, my instincts have been correct. I lost a huge pot against him recently in a live game when my instincts told me I was beat, but I talked myself into calling and lost a ton of chips which cost me that tournament. Going with my instincts I lead out with my flush hoping for a call.

Hero bets 500T
Villain moves all-in for 1125T

I'm at a tough decision, although he's play suggest he has the Ace-high flush I still have a feeling that I am ahead. I actually called Time on this hand and didn't make a decision until the clock counted down to '1'. I called, going purely by my instincts that I had the best hand. This is actually totally against my golden rule of tournament poker:

Never go all-in on the first hand unless you have the absolute nuts.

Before we get into what hand he had and how this relates to Sklansky I wanted to point out the first "lesson". I made this call because I had faith in my instincts and listened to them. Sometimes in poker you have to go by your instincts or your reads regardless of what the odds or board may suggest. Of course you will not always be correct but if you always play scared and fold instead of playing with some heart you will never play above the rim. Professional players make a ton of money off of what spectators may call trivial moves or plays - however the pro player making those moves usually has strong instincts/reads on the situation and he gets paid. But like any other human player, sometimes they look like a donkey if their instincts are wrong and call a bet or attempt a bluff that costs them all their chips - you just can't fault someone who played off their instincts/reads even if it ended up being a bad play. At least they had heart to do what they felt was correct regardless of their odds.

My Villain made his demise with:

He obviously made multiple errors on this hand which ended up costing him all his chips. Let's forget for a moment that he never took the lead, he chased to an inside straight-draw, pushed all in on his straight when there was a four card flush on the board with possible full-house/quads situation... Instead let's take it back to the beginning where he could have saved himself a lot of aggravation. David Sklansky wrote the following advice in his book entitled, "Small Stakes Hold'em - Winning Big with Expert Play":

Most players make two major preflop mistakes. They are costly... they are

1. Playing weak hands out of position, particularly weak off-suite hands.

2. Cold-calling raises with mediocre and potentially dominated hands

Unfortunately for the Villain he made both of those mistakes. Disregard the fact that he didn't necessarily "cold-call" the raise with a mediocre hand. I believe you can read in between the lines and note that you can't call big raises with mediocre and potentially dominated hands either. If you need further reassurance, remember the aged-old saying, "you need a stronger hand to call a raise then you need to raise with".

In this situation the Villain played a weak off-suite hand out of position (when he limped) into a field of unknown players. Then proceeded to capitalize on his error by calling a raise with another player limped in the pot as well. This then cost him to chase down a hand what when he finally made his "dream hand" he faced a ton of cards/hands that would cripple him. Lastly, instead of calling the 500 on the River he furthered his self-destruction by moving all-in. A bet in which all he could beat was a bluff.

In conclusion I must reemphasize that playing weak hands in early position, and calling raises with easily dominated hands can cost you a lot of money in the long run. The problem you face is that when/if you finally make the hand you'd hope for, you might already be beat.

Don't Tap on the Aquarium

As I watch my dear friend get sucked out on the third time in one night, I must remind him; "please sir, don't tap the aquarium."


It's inevitable isn't it? Your sitting there with a monster hand and another player gets all in with a dominated hand - or worse yet, with only 1-3 outs; then BAMM! Your eye's open wide, your mouth drops, and you stand there like someone just hit you over the head; you just been sucked out on and lost a monster pot - or worse yet, knocked out of the tournament. As a regular poker player I can't count the number of times where I've been drawn out and lost all my chips to another's mistake. How many of us had their Ace's cracked when all the money went in preflop? How about your Kings when your facing pocket-twos? Got Trips and someone shoves with nothing more to an inside-straight draw with one card to come? Already know the result?


I can go on all night and talk about these types of situations, the problem is that it will not do any good. Ever since the Big Poker Bang of 2003, multitudes of people from all walks of life have gained interest in poker. Most of these "players" have gotten used to the fast-paced, super aggressive poker that is aired across the world. These new breed of players want to take shots, gamble, and show everyone at the table that they will not be bossed out of the pot - even if they hold K5 os UTG. Some of these players run very lucky and win thousands in just a few short months. Their poker portfolio can look more impressive than a person's who have been playing for years. They show multiple online table wins, big scores, and no one can stop them. These new players might even get honorable mention in media sources like CardPlayer Magazine for their unbelievable rushes. But with every success story comes hundreds - if not thousands - of losses.

As much as I respect Phil Hellmuth as a knowledgable player I can never cheer for him in a tournament because of his constant bickering at the table. Phil has no problem calling fish, fish - and donkeys, donkeys. The same goes for other great players like Mike Matasow; these players make sure that everyone at their table knows they been sucked out on when it happens. What people like Phil fail to realize is that these are the same people that aided him in receiving his 11th bracelet this year. The reason Mike ran 2nd on the Bellagio Cup III. These fish are the ones who donate their chips time after time, giving the patient and skilled players their take.

What I am about to say applies to my friend, along with the likes of Phil Hellmuth and Mike the Mouth. "Don't tap on the Aquarium". You see this sign all over any major aquarium, and it's promptly displayed on those huge gigantic bowls of water. They place these signs there because tapping on the aquarium disturbs the fish.

Why would a player want someone who always puts their money in when they have the best hand to stop and start putting their money in with the worse? Why do you want your opponent to start playing correctly? Do you not face enough challenging people at your table that you warrant another? Pardon my ignorance, but I can not possibly think of one reason why you do not want a clueless person in your game.

Sure I've been sucked out on numerous times. I've had my Aces cracked, I've lost monster hands to miracle cards, and even been on the negative end of a one-outer. The fact is, it doesn't matter. Sure we get upset and we want to reach over and strangle the bastard for calling all his chips off with a draw, or some weak holding; but why tell that opponent that he did wrong?

Let's look at a few reasons why you shouldn't tap on glass that holds water:

1. You are telling the person he/she is playing incorrect. The person might start analyzing situations more and make less mistakes. Poker is a break even game if everyone plays optimally. You make a profit when another player makes a negative EV move.

2. You might chase away that player. Most people do not like being insulted. They might feel embarrassed or have hard feelings and leave the game. Some times they never come back to play in your game - instead he's donating to your neighbors game that you don't play in.

3. You're announcing to the other players that your tilting. Good players are going to pick up on this and play back at you with weaker hands which can have diasterous results to your bankroll.

4. You will make money on the long run. Poker is not a game of now. It's a game of then and when. Your past added with your future gives you the bases of what type of player you are and going to be. If you lose to this player tonight, or even this month - as long as you play your game (which is more skillful then his) you will be profitable. Luck only last so long, eventually skill has to even everything out to keep the system balanced.

While some of you can come up with a few more reasons, the point I am trying to make is there is no reason to berate a bad player. Instead encourage his play. Laugh about the suck out, shake his hand. Congratulate him on his monster win then get the chips back. You want these players sitting at your table because they are the ones that put money in your bankroll. They donate their hard earn money night after night chasing dreams and draws. Today you just got unlucky and you had to make a contribution to the poker community. There is nothing you can do - you have to expect a larger amount of variance with so make armatures now playing poker. These variances can be huge and unavoidable, but it does you no good when trying to recoup your losses if you scare all the fish away.

So the next time a player rivers his 1 outer and knocks you out of the tournament on the bubble; and you sit there pondering how he could call your preflop raise, your bet on the flop, and your check-raise all in on the turn with nothing more then a draw.... stop and realize that you're playing poker. In today's poker, nothing has to make sense - just keep getting your money in with the best hand and eventually the scale will balance out in your favor. Just do everyone else at the table a favor before you join the rail, "Don't tap on the aquarium, it disturbs the fish."

Kings of Donkey's... Again!

After 220 hands I placed first again in the weekly SJPC Donkey Time! Tournament. The fields in this tournament may be small, but there are some really good players. A lot of thought goes into almost every hand especially at the end. Heads up lasted 45 hands and it was a roller coaster on who was the chip leader. It seemed like every 5 hands someone would win a large enough pot to take the lead.

I won because of my selective aggression. Almost every player on the table got tired of me at one point for constantly putting them to the test; but when you have a big stack and have decent hands you don't want to give short stacks a chance to catch a monster. I constantly applied pressure and pulled back when faced with resistance - as long as their story added up. It also was a bonus that in the very first hand I doubled up. My opponent chased a straight and made it on the river but got greeted by a King-high flush. This is a hand that I will revisit in the near future; I think it's an interesting lesson why you shouldn't play medium strength cards out of position, and why chasing can be disastrous, even if you hit your hand.

For now I would like to thank everyone who has been showing up regularly to play in the SJPC. We even been having some regular spectators which is always nice. I send out a warm welcome to all fellow bloggers to join the SJPC Monday night game on FTP. You can find out more information by visiting this link.

Until next time, good luck everyone!

Poker Cheats

Second in SJPC, Lucko at WSOP

Last Monday was an interesting game hosted by SJPC on Full Tilt. For most of the game I ran as the low stack due to losing a large pot early by failing to complete my open-ended straight & flush draw. Thankfully I played proper bubble strategy and was able to accumulate chips. I ended up going heads up as a massive underdog and double through to tie it up.

The final hand got tricky. My image was super aggressive so I chose not to differ; I raised 3x BB with AJ os. My opponent immediately shoved all in. I was in a semi tough decision because I new I been super aggressive and raising a lot of pots. On a side note I kind of wanted him to shove, on tilt, when I originally raised with the AJ - he just took a huge loss the hand before and he has been having to fold often to my reraises. Trying to make a decision, I ran out the "Time" option on Full Tilt to the last second before I clicked CALL. My opponent shows 99 and is in the lead by about 10%. The flop brought him a ton of draws, the turn brought me my jack, and the river gave him his trips. I finished second defending my title.

I know I wanted to win the tournament back to back, but I am really happy with my finish. I was a in some serious hurt when I was the short stack and was fortunate enough to not get eliminated - even more fortunate ending up having a fair shot at finishing first! I'm anticipating another good finish next week - I'm going for consistency in this game.

In other news I would like to bring some attention to fellow blogger Kevin "Lucko21" O'Brian. Kevin has had a fairly decent run so far at the WSOP. He was able to build up a really nice stack but had an unfortunate hand that ended his Day 1 down 100k. He has 49k starting Day 2 and updates are being posted frequently on his blog. Be sure to check it out and wish him some luck.

Go Lucko!

Plans for July

A quick update before heading to work: Not much happen for me in June. I had a huge hot streak followed by a massive cold run. At least I was able to manage my losses and still end up in the positive between the two. I have some plans for July to restructure my game. My focus this month is going to be micro-limit SNGs and small cash games. Yes, I am going to introduce cash games to my poker career. I never been much of a cash game player but to consistently bring in the money I believe this is something every player must do. I will start out at small stakes and attempt to work myself up. My ultimate goal is this time next year be at the WSOP and not sitting at work dreaming about it. The idea is to allow the poker earnings to pay for the trip and the games. I have a few "strategies" in mind and I will discuss about which ones worked at a later date.

I really feel good about July and things started out nicely. My first game of the month, SJPC Donkey Time! Tournament on Full Tilt, ended with a first place finish - making me the King of Donkeys for a week. I am looking forward to next Monday to defend my title. So far no one has won this game back-to-back, but I have a good feeling about it - we will see what happens.