A tough choice to fold a good hand in anticipation of superior opposition.
limit
The minimum or maximum amount of a bet.
limp in
To enter a pot by simply calling instead of raising.
live
Still raisable. A live bet is one which a player can raise even if they’ve already bet and everyone else has made a call, typically because the player posted a blind.
loose
A player who plays many hands, often including those that are of lesser value. Compare to “tight”; see also “aggressive”, “passive”.
lord crowley
Folding your hand out of turn when the action to check is an option.
Let’s talk about bankroll requirements a bit. My advice to you is to have no less than 20 entry fees in your account. So, if you begin with $5+$.50 SnGs (avoid the $5+$1 SnGs that are out there), you should have at least $110 in your account at the poker room where you’ll be playing. I speak from experience; during my worst losing streak, I ended OTM in 9 straight matches! It happens, but that’s poker. Play the SnGs for a while, at least 3 or 4 months and see if you can add to your bankroll, or at least not deplete it. Then and only then, give some thought to playing regular “ring” games of NLHE. Remember, in tournament play (SnG or otherwise) you can lose only your entry fee. In ring games you can lose every $$$ you have on the table. Notice that I said “every $$$ on the table”, not “every $$$ you own.” I suppose you could eventually lose everything at NLHE, but the way it usually works at the on-line poker rooms, you may start at the table with only a set amount, like $25 or $40 in a $.50-$1 game. Having such a rule keeps some clown from coming to the table with $10,000 and going all-in on every hand; it’s just not any fun. By restricting the amount you can start with, they’re also restricting the amount you can lose.
I mention the ring games only because your tournament experience, coupled with a disciplined use of the Matrix you see here, will turn you into a devastating “cash” player. A lot of the poker books out there say, “Great cash game players are often lousy tournament players” and/or vice-versa, but in my experience they’re wrong. Think about it. In a tournament (SnGs or MTTs), the blinds are constantly rising, so you cannot be overly patient and wait to play only good hands. But in a cash game, the blinds remain the same, so you can afford to wait for the premium hands. A lot of “experts” will say playing only premium hands will not get you much action – everyone will fold when you raise – but the “experts” aren’t playing the $.50-$1 games. The turnover of players is huge in those games, so even though 1 or 2 of the other players may think you’re a “rock”, the vast majority will give you plenty of action. For me, it’s now a case of playing the ring games to get the $$$ for the MTTs I’m playing, or for the occasional venture into the $100+ SnGs. In all of my years as an “advantage player”, I’ve never seen a situation as lucrative as playing $.50-$1 NLHE ring games; pound-for-pound, dollar-for-dollar. Sure I know how to make a hundred bucks an hour at Blackjack, but it takes a minimum of $20,000 to do it right. I can easily make $20 an hour at NLHE on a $400 bankroll. That’s a return of 5% an hour, folks!
Okay, one more comment, then let’s discuss the Matrix: Where to play SnGs, MTTs and NLHE cash games. Although I dearly love Party Poker for all of the “soft” competition there, I do not like their SnG format. They’re the ones who charge $1 for the $5 SnG, which is way too much. Their other levels have a 10% fee up to the $50 level and actually less than that at the highest levels. But, and this is a big “but”, the SnGs at Party start with only 800 tournament chips and I think 1000 should be the minimum, at least for those of you just getting into NLHE. The ring games are very beatable, though so I’ve kept my account there. I guess it’s fair to say that I play mostly at Poker Stars, but I also make the rounds to InterPoker, Royal Vegas and Pacific Poker, primarily for multi-table tournaments. PokerStars.com is a good spot, both for SnGs and cash games, even if they don’t advertise here. Fair warning: the competition there is tough, real tough. But their SnGs start you with 1500 chips and the blinds rise slowly (except in their “Turbo” tournaments, which are basically crapshoots), so skill is a definite factor in their tournaments. The cash games are tough, but not impossible and I like that. Besides the $$$, I want a good challenge when I play. But at the end of the month, I ultimately want the $$$ and I’m getting them at Poker Stars. By the way, my “handle” there is Canada Bill. No, I’m not from Canada. Canada Bill Jones was a riverboat gambler who said: “It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money.” I kind of like that and, because someone else already had Aceten, my usual handle, I went with the Canada Bill approach. Say hello if you see me.
The World Poker Tour Walk of Fame is designed to honor those poker players who have played the game well at the highest levels as well as those who have promoted the spread of it through film, television, and literature. It was started in 2004.
The Walk of Fame is located in front of the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California. As well as inductee handprints on each tile, there is a depiction of each of their respective most famous poker hands.
Speaking of moving on, let me give you a quick explanation of how to play Hold ‘em poker. While each poker room may have some slight variations (and you should thoroughly read the rules at whichever poker room you visit), generally it goes like this:
Any number from 2 to 10 players may be at the table.
Although the casino deals the cards, the “dealer” for each round of play is designated by a button, marked “dealer” and that person will act last.
Before any cards are dealt, the player to the immediate left of the dealer must post a bet called the “small blind”, which is typically one-half of the minimum bet for the game ($5 in a 10/20 game, for example).
The player to the immediate left of the “small blind” also must post a bet. It is typically equal to the minimum bet for the game ($10 in a 10/20 game, for example). This is called the “big blind.”
The two players making the blind bets, all of the other players and the dealer are then dealt two cards face down, which are called “hole” or “pocket” cards.
The player to the immediate left of the big blind begins the general betting by either folding (at no cost), calling (matching the $10 “big blind” bet), or raising the big blind’s bet ($10 in a 10/20 game, for example). If this player folds, all of the others must all either fold, raise or call. There are no “free rides” to the next card.
The betting action continues around the table, clockwise, until it reaches the player who made the small blind bet. That player may, at his option, fold (thus forfeiting the bet), call or raise (assuming the raising limit hasn’t been reached; usually 3 or 4 raises are the limit). If the decision is to call, this player receives credit for the small blind bet that he or she placed, so in a 10/20 game where no other player has raised, the small blind may call for $5 or raise for $15.
It’s now time for the player that made the big blind bet to act and his or her situation is just like that of the small blind; only the bet sizes are different. If no one has raised, then the big blind can just “check” to be in the pot. However, the big blind may choose to fold because there was a raise, thus forfeiting the bet, or raise, (assuming the raising limit hasn’t been reached) by betting an additional increment ($10 in a 10/20 game, for example). All of the bets are then pulled to the center of the table by the casino’s dealer and, in the case of Internet poker, a “pot” total is displayed.
When this “pre-flop” betting is completed, three community cards are dealt and turned face up in the center of the table. These cards, called the “flop” are community cards, in the sense that all the players still in the game may use them in combination with their two pocket cards to make the best hand possible. The general betting at this point is begun by the player that made the small blind bet and he or she may check, fold (foolish, because checking costs nothing at this point) or bet. If this player bets, it’s for the minimum amount of the game ($10, for example in a 10/20 limit game). The play now proceeds clockwise around the table to the player who made the big blind bet and he or she must either check (only if the small blind checked), call, raise or fold and that’s true of every other player. The two players “in the blind” must call any raises to stay in the pot or they must fold.
Once the flop bets are all made, they’re pulled to the center of the table and another community card is dealt. This card is known as the “turn” or fourth street card. It’s placed face up in the center of the table, next to the flop and is available for the use of all the players remaining. Then, another round of betting begins with the first remaining player on the dealer’s left, which may or may not be the player who made the small blind bet. On this round if that player wishes to bet, it must be for the maximum bet in a limit game ($20 in a 10/20 game, for example), although he may check, if desired. If the player does not check, the other remaining players must either call, raise or fold to stay in the pot. Again, the betting goes in order around the table, all of the bets are pulled to the center and a fifth card, known as the river or fifth street card is placed face up in the center of the table, next to the others.
When the river card, which is the last to be dealt for a round has been placed, the fourth and final round of betting begins with the first player to the left of the dealer. This player may check or bet, as desired. If he decides to bet, it must be for the maximum bet ($20 in a 10/20 limit game). Should this player check, then all others may check until someone bets. If a player does bet, then all the players that checked must either call, raise or fold. I emphasize this because a lot of “newbies” to the game will fold when the bet has been checked to them and that’s a big mistake, because checking is free. No matter how bad your hand may be, you can always fold it if someone acting after you bets or raises, but you just might check yourself into a winner.
After the betting has been completed, it’s time for the “showdown” and this is where the Internet casinos have a huge advantage over the brick-and-mortar casinos. Because you may use any 5 of the 7 cards you’ve seen (your 2 pocket cards and the 5 community cards) to make your final hand, it sometimes is confusing as to what the best hand is. At a brick-and-mortar casino, you may display your hole cards to the dealer and he or she will figure out where you stand, but that also gives your opponents a lot of valuable information that they can use against you: do you draw to inside Straights, did you raise with a weak hand and so forth. Plus, you might look downright stupid showing a four-card flush that you thought was a winner, but that won’t happen at an Internet poker room because the computer already knows where you stand. If you’ve lost, most of the software programs will tell you so and you can “muck” the hand without showing your hole cards, plus – and I guarantee this will happen one fine day – if you have a winner that you thought was a loser, the computer will tell you that, too. There’s no doubt in my mind that players who are new to the game throw away hole cards that are actually winners because they’re too embarrased to ask for help. This happens a lot with hands that have multiple winners, such as when the 5 community cards make a Full House or Straight Flush. That simply cannot happen in an Internet poker room, assuming you’ve stayed in until the showdown, of course. However, one thing the computer can’t do for you is give you back the cards once you’ve folded your hand.
Following the showdown, the chips are distributed to the winner(s), the deck is shuffled, the dealer “button” is moved one player to the left, blind bets are placed, the pocket cards are dealt and it starts all over again. Hopefully this made the procedures of the game a little more clear to you, but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg.
