Draws...

I know a lot of us have some way to figure out when to call a draw or when to fold. It could be your gut feel, "pot odds", you're pressured into it or just simply because you want to throw a bad beat. Quoting a friend "I will call you cause I don't like you!" However, the best way to figure out if you should call or if you should fold is your outs and odds. How do you calculate that? I know most of us know how to do that but check this link out...

http://www.pokersherlock.com/pot_odds_chart.html

I try to use odds and outs but sometimes I want to play crazy!

Who was it that said "play nut draws strong"? Well, this advice should be used sparringly... what is already showing on the board should always be reviewed really closely. I think the bolded part is what most people miss. They think oh... nut straight draw... SWEET! Not thinking that a flush may be showing.

Case in point.

You are big blind with As2s in a ring game (20-40). 4 people limps and you see a cheap flop.

Flop - Qs, 6s, Qh - Decision 1

Turn - 8d - Decision 2

I will place the river in the comment box after people reply along with what I did.

Anyhow, lesson - always check what you have and the board.

On a side note. The 1 hour blind WPT formatted tournament ended it's second day at 2am starting at 9am and now we are down to our final table. The chip lead from the 1st stay maintained the lead. Some notables... Barbie Manila is still in, Kettle corn is still in, Doc Butch along with a really tough crowd. Good luck tonight players. If you want to check out the final table action, it starts at 9pm northside. Oh, the bubble is 8th place! Everyone still has more than 10X the big blind. Lots of action for sure! Check it out and maybe you can take some of my money in the ring games. Ü

Good game.

Yet another 1st in Philippine Poker!

Last night was another benchmark in Philippine poker. A 3 day tournament formatted to follow the WPT. 1 hour blinds with a 10k starting stack having the starting blinds at 50-100. What can I say, I was there to watch the 1st day.

The goal for the 1st day is to reduce the number of players to 30. There were 50 would be champions competing for the prize and wouldn't you know it... within the 1st hour there were people out! After a grueling 3.5 hours, the play was stopped for the next day. If you want to check out the action, go to your northside poker hang-out tonight or tomorrow for the final table.

After the 1st day session a cash game was put up. A 20-40 game. The usual players were in along with some new faces so I decide to sit in. Right away I noticed that the table was "action oriented", I needed to protect my stack and I needed to go in with premium hands! But, what can I say. I'm an action kind of guy and before I knew it, I was on my 1st re-buy. Ü It happens. Not to mention about 7 other players getting their max re-buys.

I was pushed by the guy to my left so I pushed back. It just happened that I was outkicked and I saw my first buy-in go. "RE-BUY!"

Ok, here's the 2nd "what would you do scenario". I will have my actions in this one but still feel free to comment on your moves or if you want, comment on my actions.

As mentioned earlier - fairly loose table. I am in seat 5 sandwiched between two agressive players. (nice possition huh?) Everyone has about 3000 in chips except for the guy on my left, he had about 5k and seat 3 who had about 4.5k. I had about 4200. Note of advice - there had been a lot of raises in the hands before this one during pre-flop, the flop, turn and river. Seat three was on his 4th rebuy.

My hole cards are 6's and the dealer button is on seat 10.

I get two limpers then it is up to me. Decision 1

I raised about X5 of the big blinds and I get about 4 callers then seat 3 raises to X12 of the big blind and it is folded to me. I think about it for a long time. Decision 2

I call and it is heads up between me and seat 3.

Flop - 6, Q, 10 (two clubs) - he bets 500 Decision 3

I raised to 1500 (i have about 2300 left after my raise). He raises me 1500 more. Decision 4

I say I didn't see your stack... then I push all in. He insta-called. He shows me a flush draw K8.

Turn - J Hearts!

River - Q Diamonds!

Lesson for the today - only play with money you don't need or money you can lose. Again "feeling desperate" is not a good sign. It messes with your A game.

Good game.

Protecting your Bank Roll

Simple... don't play out of your rolls capacity to bounce back. This is mine. I tried a couple of times to go play the big tables but I get beat and I have to go back to the regular tables to get my roll back in shape.

I know there are a lot of insight that we can bring to this. What is yours? What is "out of your league"? What is a good starting bank roll and where would you play?

Let the readers know. We are only as strong as our weakest player! So help me out guys! LOL

Good game.

Brick and Mortar play...

Educational... So people play better as Gamefrog would put it.

Many people have their preferences on where they would like to play. Online, home games, casinos or underground. Depending on your reasons, you still need to find the right table. At least to make money! One should not just sit-in in a table not knowing who the players are or how the game is played and what the betting patterns are, at least you shouldn't if you want to play your "A" game.

I read an article stating that (rough quote), {if after several hands of play, you don't know who the "sucker" is, YOU are the "sucker"}. This is essentially true if you are playing in a game that you are not comfortable with.

Comfortable, now that's a relative term. What does it mean? Ok, you should be able to bet, raise, re-raise, bluff, "pay" to see cards on the river even if you know you are beat (for future reference), etc in a game and not feel like you need to go all in to "win" your money back. Some other person might be able to explain it better. [post if you can explain it better] Bottom line, you need to be playing a game where you are not afraid to loose your money. What was that saying... "scared money is dead money"... totally true!

Why read my ramblings... I give you my own experiences.

I sat in a ring game that just opened up and I didn't know how everyone played. I knew probably 1 person and I felt a little uneasy because the people looked "ragged". For lack of a better term, they seemed like professional grinders! I had an uneasy feeling and still I played. My mistake was I didn't take my time... After about 2 hours, I lost 2 re-buys. I was the "fish"! All throughout the game I was uneasy with the betting (expensive pre-flop raises and post flop bets) and I also went into desperation mode. Just like what you get in tournaments when you are short stacked. That has never happened to me before. Ok, that is a newbie mistake but it happened! Needless to say, it was a bad night. Lesson learned!

Now here is another example.

Went in a card room and I scoped the place out a bit before I sat in. I watched what people were playing with and how the betting patterns were so just in case I sit in, I know whether I can see a cheap flop or I need to play tight cause the raises are high. Remember, in no limit games, you are risking your WHOLE stack at any time. At least after careful review of how the table is, I didn't feel uneasy or out of place. I knew the betting patters, who had legitimate hands when they raised, etc. It was a good night!

You can choose to follow what I do. This is free advice. You know what they say about free advice... LOL.

Anyhow, Gamefrog suggested that I have more of a learning site versus a bad beat site so hope this helps people out there.

Now, a hand asking for your thoughts:

25-50 cash game. The small blind likes his draws, BB is super loose, UTG bluffs but also known to only check his A's, raise x3 of blinds for trips with no flush or straight, Next 2 players Super loose (new players with money)

I am on the button and I get 34 suited. We get about 4 limpers and It is my turn, what do you do? Decision 1

Flop - 2, 5, J (rainbow) - it is checked all the way round. Decision 2

Turn - J (no flush draws)- UTG bets 400 - Called by 2 other players (new money) Decision 3

River - A - UTG bets 400 - Called by 2 other players (new money) Decision 4

Please do reply and say why you did what you did. I will then post what I did.

Good game.