Quick tip of the day: Plan your streets!

Poker is a game where you have to play against some people. It's also a complex game that doesn't end before flop or on flop all the time. There is 3 streets to play after pre-flop. You should always have some sort of a small plan for every card that comes up.

What cards will you cbet? When will you check/fold flop or check/call (check/raise)?
How does some card affect your range?
         How does it affect your villains (perceived) range?
         What is your perceived range and does that card hit it well?

And so on. Always have a plan.

How to "quick" fix your tilt problems

Okay, so many of us have had some or even more problems with tilting - bad players take our money even if we were ahead, or then we played bad and got angry. Anyway, tilt is a problem and can make a winning player to be BE player. And in a down-swing it can be bye bye for your BR. Here's some tips how to generally prevent on from losing whole roll and to slow-down tilt. Of course, only true solution is to try to find the cause for your anger..

1. DON'T BUY mental game of poker - yet
If you want to have some solution to your problems, you should start by reading Pokerstartegy's articles about psychology and one should watch their vids. They are really +EV. Of course, if they are not helping you and you still feel frustrating or so and you want to become a pro, try The Mental Game of Poker.

2. In game you might not see when the tilt exactly comes. You should do session reviews afterwards - list up hands where you played bad and where villain played bad (beated you though he was behind when ye went AI). Sometimes you feel some heat watching them, but you have to understand deeply that they can't win buy playing bad. And when you pick up your own bad play you can just laugh and take a note about it. You should also think why you played that way and could it be the reason for your anger.

3. Have a game plan, stick to it!
Having a clear plan helps you a lot in your game and should reduce your bad play a lot. One must consider the context of the table and your own relative hand-strength. Are you going to bet that table - is it bet/3bet, bet/call or perhaps bet/fold? You could also consider check/folding from time to time so you won't end up in to bad situations. You should also have plan for certain turn cards - are you still ahead, why are you betting? Bluff or value? Does that card hit our range? It's always good to give yourself good explanations about what you do or do not. When you have a game plan and you stick to it you should build up some confidence and you are controlling your own nerves a lot better.

4. Tilt Breaker +EV for hot heads.
If you are really going to play as a Pro or semi-pro, and you can't fix your tilt for now, you can buy bandage called Tilt Breaker. It prevents you from doing bigger speww and to lose too much money. One should think about a bigger situation than NL4 when playing. In NL4 losing 10 BI in tilts might be just a one-day salary or less, but go to NL100 and tilt 10BI.. That affects you huge mentally!

Hopefully you people had some help here if ye had problems with tilt. Pokerstrategy.com is also a good community to use for your problems - there's plenty of mental coaches such as J. Tendler and that Swedish guy (sorry, can't remember your name :d) that are likely to help you with your questions here.

How to avoid tilting - good session preparations

Have you ever had a feeling that everything goes wrong, worse players just keep beating you and you are losing tons of chips, even if you play well? Does it make you a bit angry or frustrated? That feeling is called Tilt in poker and it happens for everyone. The difference between a pro and a random player is that pro's tilt doesn't last for long and they know how to handle it (ofc, Phil Hellmuth is an exception). I gathered here some hints to avoid tilting.

But first, why are we tilting? There could be plenty of reasons. One of the most common type of tilt starts when someone takes the pot, even if he was a big underdog. Maybe you had 80 % against him, but he managed to flop a hand that beats you. Or river is the one card that makes you lose the pot. Sometimes you are just tired and bored and you start to hit the pot button all the time, losing a big pile of chips. Tilting makes you play a lot worse than you would play otherwise. It is because strong emotions usually take a place in your working memory, which processes everything you do. When you have these strong emotions, you are not making good decisions as you don't use your whole knowledge of poke. In fact, you might even be in a gamble mode due to your tilt and you know that you shouldn't play that way. You just don't care.

Good ways to avoid tilt:

1. Good session preparations

One should always be ready to play poker. You have to take up a determinated state of mind to play your best poker. You are not going to play just for fun (it's a part of game, though), but you are there to make profit. If you are a random player who plays only for enjoy, you won't last for long. When you start your session it's also important that you are calm enough. As stated, strong emotions cause you play your B-Game or worse, so it's not a good idea. One shouldn't play poker when he is tired either, coz then you are not using your whole capacity.

2. Set your goals

One should always set up goals for their game. Both short- and long-term goals help you to play more solid and to play according to your plans. It makes you more motivated for playing and then you are less likelier to go on tilt.

3. Know WHY you tilted

It happens for everyone, but next time when you have a feeling that you are going to tilt, take a piece of paper and mark it up. Then stop playing for now. After that you should think of why you tilted. Was it a donk who just hit their 1-outer, or did you do something wrong? Anyway, if you know why you tilted, you are probably able to avoid the same spot next time. Understanding and processing own faults helps you to become a player who can control their tilt

There's plenty of more to come but that will be a task that I'll perform later. With these small guidelines you can already get started.

When downswing strikes...

..Then the best way to beat it is to add more volume!

Cash control - perfect example of what not to do

Well well well.. Started my day bad by playing 2-3 tables, and when I didn't hit, I started to make some extreme moves on those Speed tables - Didn't work, as you can see. I was sth like 4 BIN down, and the advise here would be: shut your poker App and F*** off. Jerk off, if you will. This time I made a different choice (which could have ended up pretty bad): I started to play nitty, and used 5-6 tables there. It's perfect example of how not to play. When your down, you quit, and try again tomorrow. This way you usually sign your death assignment, and will regret it tomorrow.

Anyway.. I managed to survive, this time. I even made some winnings today (not much, though). I noticed that playing on speed tables means, that you can't bluff that lot. 1 str maybe, 2 str for semibluff, but with air.. No more than 1 str, never. There's so many stations and maniacs etc, and the worst thing is that you can't make that much reads on them to adjust your play.

ABC poker - that's the key in games there.

Today's gaming... Got my redline on control, meaning that my Non-SD winnings have improved!

When to c-bet?

C-bet? What is it? It is continuation bet, a simple bet, which follows your open raise pre-flop

When to c-bet?


If we only look what the board looks like, you should nearly always fire your c-bet. On a flop, where's A, K, Q, J, draws... Well, c-bet is usually working. By cbetting you can actually make your opponent to fold, but, on the contrary, you can also add some value for your hand (you hit a top pair, aces, and of course, want your opponent to call. That's why you cbet, even if you don't hit.)

Cbetting is easy, but the MOST important question is, when not to c-bet:


- On a multiway pot
You openraise, and there's 2 more players joining the pot. You miss the flop. Don't bet, even if your opponents check. You can make your bet only, if you hit something (top-pair, nut-flush draw, open end straight draw etc.), or if your opponents always fold on a bet without hand.

- Against calling stations
These guys love to play their hands to the end. Whenever you miss the flop, you shouldn't increase the pot, coz they won't fold. Just stay passive and hope for a hit. Of course, if you hit, you can bet 3 streets.


-Against maniacs
You can't cbet with air against them. They will raise you flop or turn, with any two, and then you're in trouble. Add value only with a hit, and let them to give their stack for you!

-On a drawy board (w/o hand)
Flop is 3 hearts, you opponent just called your opening. IF you don't have any hearts there (and your opponent is a thinking player), don't put any money to the pot. If you had sth like Kh there, then you could make one bet.

Less you lose, more you spare part. I

This is one of the biggest truth in poker that isn't that visible for a random player on poker: Every saved penny is worth a dollar in the future. Why? Coz you will lose little by little your dimes on poker, if you don't concentrate on your game. It's not that bad on micro levels, but when playing against better opponents and trying to gain edge against them it is a lot more important. Here's my tips for you to make yourself lose less and win more:

1. Be patient!

Probably the most common problem among new players. When you're not dealt good hands for a while, you start to play with some trash (and some times out of position, OOP!), which makes you to lose more money in the long run. For instance, you play 72 hands on a table. You haven't have any good hands and only stole some money on late position. You have A7o on a loose table, and you decide to make the open raise on MP1 (Full Table). Someone after you 3-bets. What can you do with that hand? Fold it.

So wait for your moment and take advantage of your weak opponents. Steal the blinds, make the cbet.. And you'll do fine. Besides, when you finally manage to hit your good hand, your opponents won't believe you as easily as they would if you had played only 1/72 hands, right?

2. Don't be sleepy

Well.. When your tired or drunk, you shouldn't play at all. You can't play your "A-game", can't make the right reads and usually you're impatient too. So avoid playing in this state. You might win once with a lucky hit, but losing 4 times for that isn't good enough. So be sharp.

Same goes when you're quite energetic, but a bit bored with playing poker. There's the place for a break, and after that you can multitable for a while.

This serie will go on one tip at a time, so here's the opening two. More will come soon!

How to play monster hands

Here's my first poker video. It doesn't tell you much, but quite a lot about good hands.. :)

Incoming: Session on iPoker, 11th June 2012

I'm going to record one of my sessions on iPoker on 11th June. We'll see how good it'll be then.. I will play on 0.01/0.02 and 0.02/0.04 $ tables!

iPoker - network full of FISSHHH!

Well, I've abandoned (mostly) PS for now, because I have found that iPoker and ongame network offer a lot more fishy tables and maybe even more realistic hands. In PS, the application makes you suffer when ur on downswing (everyone makes bad beats for you, srsly). But here's my stats for iPoker:

This was imported by PT3 (which is free to try for 60 days, I'll recommend it!)

So what does this graph show and tell about my play?

It tells the normal: There's been some downswing (like at the mark of 2845 hands), and better times. But the key thing is that the graph line is going up all the time. It means that I'm being good enough at the level I play, so it means that I can go up soon. And I have had good cash control, because I haven't lost that much money even at DS.

Back to the stats. The most important thing isn't how much money I have won (at day or at month or overall), but the Big Blinds per 100 hand (BB/100). Having it close to 10, it means that I am dominating the current level. You can find your own level when your BB/100 is close to 2, when it means that you are winning but not beating the level. But this profit rate tells me that I'm doing well at this level.

How to get poker money for free

http://fi.pokerstrategy.com/#uQ7DSW

That's my recommendation link. Go to pokerstrategy.com, use this link. If you do, and earn some money, I will earn extra cash (and, on the contrary, you will have something on my earnings - everybody wins!)

So, what to do:

1. Go to Pokerstrategy.com, register with this link
2. Read some of their articles (in your own language), then take one of the quiz's.
3. After completing it, you can have your free 50 $ (compulsory) on one of the sites. I recommend Titan Poker, because it's full of fish and the game engine is easy to learn.
4. That bonus will unlock in 5x10$. So, play well, make rake and gain that 50 and take it home!

That's easy, isn't it?

I love Omaha!

Got to be proud: This is my Omaha achievements lately:

Played "only" 1406 hands, had over 20 $.

So, I'll recommend taking my link and moving to Titan Poker - it's full of fish!

Patience is the key

Well.. This is only a short article, but what the heck. I have been playing a lot last few days and seen that being patient is extra important.

Let's have an example (using PT3). Usually I play with stats 14-17 VPIP, AFQ 67 etc. One day, I was rather tired and played 25 % of hands (1/4, case you didn't notice =))). I was on a little downswing, and had hard time to win. I played about 2 hr sessions there, first one with TAG-marks made me add 2 % to my stack. Second.. Well, I was in +/- 0 for a while, but eventually ended up losing 5 % of stack.

What did I learn? Play patient. You can play 1000 hands in a table, and still not win a lot. But winning is MUCH harder than losing, so save your chips. Don't play if you're tired. It will save you a lot of money.

Tournament winning lately

I've been winning a lot on sit'n'go's lately. Oh well, "a lot" is rather relative. The amount of money hasn't been that big, but tournament profits are great on relation to what I have put on them.

Here's an example:

There you go. So, I have played 16 tournaments on 9th May to 15th May. The results are quite good: Money places in 10/16, won 5/10, placed second 2/10 and on other money positions at the rest of the time. This statistic shows that my profit right now is 34,28 $. Maybe not that big, but it's a good way up.

So, what's the key in success at a tournamet? Here's some of my tips:

1. Make notes and pay attention

RULE number 1!!: Make notes on your opponents. On this level it is very important, because their bet usually indicates that they have hit at least a pair. They are not prone to bluff.

2. Avoid bluffing on a flush or any draw table

It's dangerous. These opponents often fish for a flush/straight, and they may call a lot for it. So make it expensive enough, and be prepared to fold if they hit. Of course; make notes and see, whether your opponent plays with trash or not, and how often they call. Against a calling station it's no good to try to bluff them off.

3. Steal from Rocks

Good tip on the middle/late tournament. There's plenty of players who won't defend their grounds. And if they do "defend", you're usually behind..

4. Play steady

There's plenty of time here. You won't die if you lose 10 first blinds. Of course, you SHOULD try to steal, but against calling stations.. Well, just wait for them to call your good hand.

Make notes on your opponents

One of the key thing when playing poker is to make notes on your opponents. I'll give you some tips what to take notes of:

1. Aggression on flop
- Do they always bet after pre-flop raise? Are they looking for the table cards at all? Players, who cbet on every flop are usually weak. Against a player like that you should try to raise, if you just happened to have a hand that could improve a lot. Of course, if your opponent plays 2 of 50 hands, they are likely to have something, even without good table cards. Avoid playing with them.

2. Pre-flop aggression
- Does your opponents play aggressive on pre-flop or do they just limp in? What kind of hands are they playing aggressive/what hands passive? Try to make as good notes as possible.

3. 3bettin
- Are they playing tight against any bet/raise or will they re-raise? When are they re-raising? Do they play aggressive only with monsters, or do they have guts to play you out with a strong draw, too?

4. Pot control
-Is your opponent strong and making solid bets on the table? Are they making the pot big enough to push all-in on the river? Or are they just putting minimun amount of money on the table after the flop? That could be a sign of weakness.

Try to watch your opponents play, use their weakness'... And make your run for the big pot!

Playing with calling stations, fish and maniac

You find a loose table, 10-max. There's 4 loose players: (1) two of them are passive (giving in without hit),(2) one of them tries to fish and call with draws (despite the pot odds), (3) and one of them seems to hit every single time. What are we playing against, then?

First we have to identify these player types. Those players, who are playing with nearly every hand and just limping in are Loose and passive. In case (2) the player is calling everything you do. They are true fish and perhaps the most profitable players to play with. Though the next one (3), called maniac, is betting and raising irrationally before and/or after flop, no matter what kind of table there is. They could be playing with anything from 27o to AA.

How should we play against these players then? Here's my tips of playing against these cases (of course, some of the playing is related to your stack size!):


Playing on loose and passive players


Case (1): Loose and passive players. If they are in the pot and you happened to have a monster, like AA, KK etc., you should make a bet or raise. The bet size should be about 4 times the big blind+1BB for every single player who limped in (in this case, you would raise to 6bb, if both of them have called. You could raise to 5BB, if they are after you, because you know that they are likely to call - take advantage of it!). Playing against these players is easy post flop; whether they will fold on your continuation bet (trash w/o hit) or they will keep calling. Usually if this kind of player calls, they have a hand (set, flush, 2 pairs), and you should re-think your situation on the flop.

An example




 You're in the MP3 (You), your hand is AA

UTG+1 folds
UTG+2 folds
UTG+3(1) calls
MP1 folds
MP2 (1) calls
You raise to 6bb
CU(cut-off) folds
BB, SB fold. UTG+3 and MP2 calls.


Flop:


K 7 8

The flop seems to be quite harmless, so you decide to bet. There is a draw and 2 loose players, so you should perhaps protect your hand with 3/4 bet on the pot


UTG+1 checks
MP2 checks
You bet 3/4 pot
UTG+1 folds
MP2 folds


You played the hand right and got 18 BB without showdown. Nice job! If your opponent had called, then the game had been different. Then you should see what your opponent does on turn (they are first to act), and then perhaps fire the second barrel and bet again. If he calls again, you should take a free SD on the river. Even if you have had a hand like JJ, QQ, AQ etc. you should have fired your c-bet on the flop. Your opponents are so prone to fold without a hit so that kind of play will be profitable. NOTICE!! IF a player like this starts to 3-bet, then you're most likely far behind. You should consider your gameplay there; shuffle or fold.

Playing against calling stations

In case (2) you are opposing a loose player, who will never give up their hand before river. This kind of players are profitable, but you would have to chance your gameplay then. You have to be tighter and fire those barrels only with a strong draw (Open End Straight Draw=OESD, Nut flush draw, set, top pair). Remember not to bluff against calling stations; it's just a waste of your money. These players are profitable though because they are willing to risk a big amount of chips just to fish their flush draw into a flush.

An example



The events occure in table with 1$/2$ blinds, you have a stack of 75 BB (150$). You're in the MP3 (You), your hand is AA. Blinds are

UTG+1 folds
UTG+2 folds
UTG+3(1) calls
MP1 folds
MP2 (2) calls
You raise to 6bb ( 12 $)
CU(cut-off) folds
BB, SB fold. UTG+3 and MP2 calls.


Flop:


A 7 8 (pot: 39$)

There is  flush draw now and you have flopped the best possible set. You have to make a protective bet on the table though and try to evaluate the value of your hand. This is called value betting. You should, again, make a 3/4 bet.


UTG+1 checks
MP2 checks
You bet 29 $
UTG+1 folds
MP2 calls
Pot is now 97 $


Turn:

Q

River doesn't fill your opponents draws. You have to launch another barrel, 3/4 of the pot. On the other hand, the bet would be over 50 % of your exsisting stack, so you could(AND should) go all-in. On the contrary, in micro games like 0,01/0,02 these players will more likely call your bet of 3/4 of your stack than all-in bet. It's a psychological thing. Anyway, they have committed to the pot and are most likely to lose their chips.

MP2 checks
You bet 73 $
MP2 calls

River:

2 

Best possible river. No draws were completed, no paired up board.. You go all-in and will win a big pot. Easy, isn't it?

Only cases when you should be careful with these players are:

1. Paired up board - their hand range is so wide that they could have called with any 2 cards. Pair on the board and their aggression indicates that you're most likely far behind.

2. Flush? In this case you have to make a bet to see whether they have hit it. If they donk you (bet before you), especially after being passive in the flop, you should consider folding. If you have a set, and your opponents bet is small enough (like under 1/2 of the pot), you could try to hit a full house.

3. Straight. Same advice as the earlier one.


Playing with a maniac..





The board is AK7, he makes a big bet after pre-flop aggression. The next hand he's raising a tight player, making him to fold. Third hand, bet from the UTG, flop 27T rainbow. He bets. This is a maniac, and he's one of the easiest players to have chips from.

You should play a) extremely tight and 2) on position against them. On position you could call with suited and connected cards like 78s, 98s etc, AT+, any pair. These hands are dangerous against him. He will probably make your play easy and make the pot big without your aggression. You should just let him to bet and raise on the pot.

An example





The events occure in table with 1$/2$ blinds, you have a stack of 75 BB (150$). You're in the MP3 (You), your hand is AA. Blinds are

UTG+1 folds
UTG+2 folds
UTG+3(maniac) raise to 4bb
MP1 folds
MP2 (2) calls
You call [Some players advice to re-raise. It's possible, yes, but it could scare even the maniac off on the flop)
CU(cut-off) folds
BB, SB fold.


Flop:


A 7 8 (pot: 27$)

There is a  flush draw now and you have flopped the best possible set. This time you don't have to protect, because this maniac is playing again like he has hit. He's making a pot size bet, which is good enough for you to call. This kind of game play where you have a hand and you're being passive is called trapping.


UTG+3 bets 27 $
MP2 calls
You call 
Pot is now 108 $


Turn:

Q

River doesn't fill your opponents draws. Maniac bets again, this time 1/2 of the pot (54$). Calling station calls. Now you should go all-in and make your opponents to do a hard decision. Practically they are already committed to the pot, so they should call. Without that calling station you could just let the maniac kill himself with stupid bets.

UTG+3 bets 54$
MP2 calls
You raise all-in


And now, whether they call or not, you have a big pot in your pockets.


These advice of mine are just my opinion, and they work best on the micro and low stack games. Playing this open would make your opponents fold on the bigger levels. Yes, you have to protect your hand there, too, but you have to be more sly with your trapping. You can't let them go by you. But you don't want your opponents to fold either. Only experience makes you better, and you can evaluate your position after analyzing your opponents well enough.

Next article will be about stack control. Until then,

"Mr. Anonymous writer, who can't remember his alias."

What is this site anyway?

Welcome you, who just happened to read my blog and wondered what's up. I'm going to explain this system a little.


This blog is (surprisingly), about poker. I will have some articles for you about various situations and I'll try to make you as deep analyze as possible. I will deposit some of the hands I played here and tell you, why did I play the way I did. I will also add some videos, which will explain some situations even further than I could do with text.

I would like you to make an effort, too, and send me questions and suggestions, tell me your problems and ask for the right way to play.

I'm ready to start this, are you?

"Unknown999"

P.s http://fi.pokerstrategy.com/#uQ7DSW and start your free playing in pokerstrategy.com. You will receive 50 $ starting stack in one of their friend sites. Good luck everybody!