Don't worry about how many pots you win

In limit poker games, one way to tell how well you are doing is by how many pots you drag. Of course, some pots are larger than others, but there is a maximum as to how large the pot could get based on the fixed betting structure (yeah, I know there is no cap for the number of reraises when heads up, but I'm ignoring that fact). However, in no limit games, you can still show a tidy profit and win very few hands. I once played a 3 hour session of $1/$2 where I only won one pot the whole session and still left the table a $150 winner. I managed to get it all in with top set against an over pair and won a huge pot--I really didn't have any other playable hands the whole time I was there. Of course, I didn't fold every single other hand--I either got raised out of pots or missed the flop completely.

In no limit games, you have to have lots of patience. Even if you haven't been mixing it up for a while, wait to hit a big hand and you can usually get paid off at the lower limits as your opponents are usually not observant of your conservative play.

Getting Priced In

Let's face it. Sometimes you can play a hand perfectly and still wind up on the losing end. Sometimes you have to get your money in bad due to the size of the pot. The bottom line is that it is nearly impossible to win every hand you play. All you try to do in poker is make decisions that will be profitable in the long run. I was playing in my regular $1/$2 game and was dealt Qd-Jd in the big blind. After a few limpers, I knocked the table wanting to take a cheap flop. The flop came Q-8-7 with the 8-7 of diamonds. I made a pot sized bet and after getting called once, the button made a big reraise. While I knew I was beat at that time, I figured that the button was making a typical squeeze play. I figured even if I was beat by Q-8 or Q-7, I still had outs to the flush and a better two pair. At this point, with the anticipated dead money in the pot from the player in the squeeze, I was getting proper odds to gamble for my whole stack. I pushed all in and was surprised when both players behind me also did so. I feared that my diamond draw would be dead, but I was actually up against Q-8 and 7-7. Needless to say, I missed my diamond and lost a big pot. However, I would still play that hand the same way every time.

Go with your gut

If you play enough poker, you'll develop a natural instinct for the game. This is why many people say that you should always trust your initial reaction to a situation instead of over thinking it. This is one of the hardest things to become disciplined at. Sometimes you know you're beat, but you pay off your opponent anyway. At the poker table, money saved is just as good as money won. While I constantly work on going with my gut, I still pay off opponents from time to time. I just hope that not all of my payoffs were as costly as this one.

I was playing some more $1/$2 no limit and was in the big blind with Ah-7h. There were 5 players in pre-flop. The flop came Q-4-4 with two hearts. Feeling pretty confident about my heart draw, I made a small stab at the pot. I bet $7 which was about half of the pot. The player to my right raised me to $14. This was a sneaky raise (or perhaps a raise for information) but another player behind him called the $14 and was all in. I was priced in on this pot to make my flush--the only hands I feared were full houses which were unlikely. I knew I didn't have the best hand at the time. I figured that one of my two opponents had a 4. The turn brought a 10 and there was no action. The river put the heart I wanted out on the board. I bet $20 into a dry side pot. This was a value bet. I figured anyone holding a 4 would have to pay off the $20 as there was still the main pot to win.

I got raised. It wasn't a small raise either. The player to my left went all in for over $200 and had me covered. I had to re-evaluate the situation. Was he trying to steal the pot? Why was he betting so much? My logic was that if he had a big hand like a full house that he would raise a smaller amount hoping that I would call. I made a wrong read and thought this player was making a move. I was wrong. I called off my chips and saw the Q-4 for a flopped full house. I was angry with myself for making the wrong decision. My gut reaction was that I was beat and that I should lay down the hand--I should have went with it. Ironically, the all in player had 10-4 and turned a full house of his own. After the hand another player at the table commented how there was no way he could ever lay down a flush. I wasn't going to and try and educate this player--I like having fish at the table.

The first mistake I made with this hand was not raising pre-flop with the suited ace. Sure, that hand can easily be dominated, but a raise would have certainly gotten a limp from early position with Q-4 to fold along with a limp with 10-4. In an unraised pot, your opponents could have anything. I knew I was behind on the flop after getting raised, but I had the odds to draw to what I thought would be the winning hand. I was drawing dead to running 7-7 or A-A. In hindsight, my opponent played the hand quite well. He raised on the flop and I just called behind him. He probably put me on the hearts right there. I got my free card after we both checked the turn and when I hit the heart and led out, he made a huge raise, knowing that it would be hard to lay down a flush.

I was on tilt after that hand. It doesn't happen to me often, but it did on that day. I usually approach the $1/$2 game with a stop loss strategy. If I lose my buy in of $200, I'll quit for the day. In keeping track of my records, I know that I don't play as well after losing a buy in. I reloaded for another $100 and had built it up to about $150 after a few small pots I won. I saw a cheap flop with 10-7. The flop came J-10-7. I bet and got raised. Again, my gut told me that I was beat, but I reraised all in and was quickly called by the 8-9. I went home after that hand but learned that I should trust my reads a bit more and not play after tilting.

Raising for Information

If you play poker seriously, you should always look to improve your game or add a few new things to your bag of tricks. Raising for information is one of those things I started to add to my game around late 2005. If you suspect that your opponent is making a continuation bet or that they might have a medium strength hand, then you can raise them to find out exactly where you stand. The information you get is based on whether or not you are called or reraised. I like to raise the minimum when making a raise for information. This way, I lose the least when I am beat, but it does not cost me much to win the pot when my opponent is weak and folds. If I get called after raising for information, I'll try to take control of the betting on the turn. If I get reraised, I will usually fold the hand. Of course, I'd rather just have my opponent fold their hand when faced with my minimum raise. I will also make this minimum raise when I hold a monster hand. This makes it harder for opponents to put me on a specific hand.

I said above that I will usually lay down a hand after getting reraised in this situation. However, nothing in poker is absolute. About 3 months ago in my regular $1/$2 no limit game, I was on the button with 3h-4h. After several limpers, I limped in as well. I was trying to see a cheap flop with a suited connector. If I flop big, then I know I'll probably win a big pot. If I miss, I fold and it does not cost me too much. This is why I like playing suited connectors when I am in position. However, in this hand, the big blind decided to raise it to $10 total (remember my post about raising the size of the pot?). After a few callers, I was priced into the pot and traded my two $1 chips for two $5 chips.

I hit the flop big. The flop came Ah-Qh-2d. I had a flush draw & gut shot straight draw. At this point, the pot had about $60 in it and a player from early position led out $20 into this pot. Action folded to me and this bet just appeared to be weak. I raised to $40. I wanted to find out where I was in this hand. Regardless of any made hand I was up against, I was about 43% to win the hand. I was surprised when my opponent reraised me to $100. Now I had a decision to make. Clearly, my opponent was strong so I was able to reason that my flush draw was live (I'm in real bad shape if my opponent is on a higher heart draw here). My opponent started talking about how I should lay down my flush draw. I was impressed with his read. He also said that one of the hearts is no good as that would fill him up. Was he really holding A-A? Would the 2h fill him up? I didn't think so. Because he was talking about holding A-A, I knew that he was not holding A-A. I also figured that because he was talking about making a full house, he was probably holding two pair--most likely A-Q.

The other thing about this play was that this player was not pot committed to the hand. If I were to move in for about $280 total, he could certainly get away from the hand. At this point, I had represented a hand like 2-2. While I knew I was a small underdog based on my read, I had fold equity in this hand. The chance that my opponent will fold will make up for the fact that I am a small underdog to win the pot. Aggressive poker is winning poker, so I reraised him all in. He quickly called and showed the A-Q as I suspected. A beautiful 5 peeled off on the turn and my opponent didn't even realize that I had made the straight until the dealer began to push me the pot. This was a semibluff that worked out well. However, I raised for information to find out where I was at in the hand. I also knew I had some fold equity when I made the all in bet on the semibluff. This is why A-K is so powerful preflop in no limit hold 'em. You have fold equity against hands that you are basically even money against. Who wants to call a reraise with a small pair when out of position? I certainly don't.

Understand your opponent's mindset

Often in no limit games, you are playing the player as much as you are playing your own cards. You have truly reached that next level when the cards do not matter. Poker is not a game of cards played with people. Poker is a game of people played with cards. Knowing your opponents is key to success at the table. Furthermore, understanding the state of mind your opponent is in will also help. I think this story serves as a good example.

I was playing in my usual $1/$2 game. That evening, there was a tournament going on. As players would bust out of the tournament, they would often hit the cash games for a little while. I was already about a $100 winner and was planning on playing for another orbit or two. A new player joined the table who had just busted out of the tournament. He was telling his "bad beat" story to a friend of his (it really wasn't a bad beat in the normal sense of the word--he just got his money in bad and was steaming a bit). I was quick to observe this and knew that I might be able to get this player to make a mistake. I have found that in the lower limit no limit games, most of your profit will come from taking advantage of your opponents mistakes. You have to make fewer moves and just wait for an opponent to make a mistake.

I picked up A-K in middle position and raised to $12 after there was one limper in the pot. At this table my standard opening raise was $10 due to the looseness of some of the players. After one limper, I made my usual pot sized raise. Action folded to the tournament player who immediately moved all in for about $120. This was a huge overbet of the pot and I knew something was fishy about such a large bet. I knew I wasn't up against A-A or K-K, so my worst fear would be a race situation. I also considered the range of hands he might do this with. Any pocket pair was certainly a candidate, but also any two big cards (A-Q, A-J, K-Q, K-J, Q-J, etc.). My opponent might also have the same hand as I do. If you are in the late stages of a tournament and short on chips it of often correct to move in with any of the hands I thought my opponent would have. Knowing that my opponent just got out of the tournament made me feel confident that I was in a good situation with my A-K. After considering the range of hands I was up against, I would be about even money half of the time and about a 3 to 1 favorite the other half. Once I added in my opponents state of mind to the decision process, I knew I had to call. For all I knew, he might have just been on tilt from the tournament and bluffing (I really didn't want to catch a bluff as any two live cards against my A-K are only a 2 to 1 underdog--I really wanted to have him dominated). I called and to my delight my opponent turned over K-J. He basically gift wrapped $120 for me by moving all in. He was only getting called by hands that had him in bad shape. This is why overbetting the pot can be a costly move in no limit games.

Raise the size of the pot

One of the first things I learned by watching various poker TV shows was that a raise of 3 times the big blind was considered a standard opening raise. When I first started playing $1/$2 no limit consistently, my standard raise was $7. I even was known as "#7" to a few players at the tables as my raises were quite consistent. I recommend that you raise the same amount regardless of your hand. I'll raise the same with A-A, 10-10, A-K and even 2-7 (when I'm on a bluff attempt). Good players will quickly pick up on the trends of raising more or less depending on what your starting hand is. If you always raise 5 times the big blind with A-A but only raise 3 times the big blind with A-K, it will be very easy for your opponents to put you on a hand.

Another lesson I quickly learned from the TV shows was that a pot sized bet on the flop would generally win you the pot right there. Betting the size of the pot makes it mathematically incorrect for anyone to chase a draw. What I failed to put together early in my no limit playing was that you should raise the size of the pot after there are several limpers. Three times the big blind is only applicable when you are the first one to enter the pot. After someone else had limped in, you need to raise more to get people to fold. I made an amateur mistake with K-K on the button. There were about 5 limpers before me and I raised to $7. Both the small blind and big blind called (I don't blame them as they were getting a good price on their money). My raise only got one player out of the pot. The flop came Q-4-4. My opponent made a small bet at the pot and I raised. I quickly got reraised all in and I called. Of course my opponent in the big blind had a 4 in his hand and I shook my head in disgust. I simply didn't raise enough to protect my hand and to get the junk hands to fold. With 5 limpers ($10) plus the blinds ($3), I should have raised to at least $15--maybe as much as $20 to win the pot. Of course when you do this, you will see fewer flops with your big hands--but you won't lose with them as often either. As the saying goes for A-A--you either win a small pot with them or you lose a big one. After losing my stack with K-K that day, I always make it a point to raise about the size of the pot after there have been limpers.

Sometimes the cards play themselves

There are just some situations where both players are bound to end up with all of their money in the middle. When this happens all you can do is hope that the cards will break your way. I was in a $1/$2 no limit game and raised the pot with J-J. I got two callers and the flop came A-J-x. I knew I was in the lead (as I was fairly sure that nobody held A-A) and I also knew that at least one of the callers behind me held an ace. I bet and got one fold and the other player raised. I reraised and we ended up getting it all in. I expected to see a hand like A-K or A-Q, but I saw the one hand I really didn't want to see--A-J. Of course, another ace hit the turn and I was dead to the case jack. I know I made the right play and will take the odds on this time and time again, but sometimes you just go broke.

Technically speaking, I didn't go broke on that hand. I picked up a suited A-10 on the next deal and call a small pre-flop raise. The flop came 10-4-4. Barring an over pair or an unlikely 4, I was most likely ahead. I didn't have a lot of chips left so I pushed all in. I get one caller along with the initial raiser. The turn brought another 10--I was almost certain my hand was good. One of the other players bet out and got raised and finally folded what turned out to be an over pair. I turned up my hand for the main pot and saw the dreaded news. My opponent had flopped quad 4s. I had one out in the deck and it didn't come on the river. Oh well. As they say: "That's poker".

A similar situation happened more recently in a $1/$2 game. I raised in middle position with 10-10. Ironically, I made it $10 to go, but that also happened to be the standard opening raise for that table. The flop came A-10-x with two clubs. This is a similar situation where I held middle set and I was fairly confident that my opponent had an ace. I led out and bet about the size of the pot to protect my hand against the flush draw. My opponent raised and I reraised all in. My opponent had Ac-Kc--top pair; top kicker and the nut flush draw. A club hit the turn and the board didn't pair and I lost a big pot. The lesson of all of these stories is that no matter what happens, you will lose some big pots from time to time. You can play your hand perfectly and get your money in good and still lose. When this happens, you just have to put the bad luck behind you and move on to the next hand.

Check Stack Size

After a good run in Tunica, I headed back to the tables with some added confidence. I figured that I would be able to quickly get my bankroll back in the black, but I realized that I still had a lot to learn about no limit hold 'em. I was under the gun at a $1/$2 game and picked up A-Q. I made my standard opening raise of $7 and got two callers, one of which was the big blind. I was in the 1 seat and the big blind was in the 9 seat. I don't recall what the flop was other than I totally missed it. I had mastered the continuation bet and decided that a pot sized bet was in order at this point. I bet $22, I get one fold and then the big blind declares all-in. However, due to our seat assignments, I didn't realize that the big blind only had about $15 left. Of course, the big blind had flopped second pair and I didn't hit anything on the turn or the river.

My mistake was simple. I was more concerned about the other opponent who had about as many chips as I did. I wasn't able to see the 9 seat's chips so I assumed that he had an average stack and not a short stack. I also knew that the 9 seat usually doesn't bet flops unless he hit a piece of it, so the better play would be to check and fold if he bets all-in. The bottom line is this: when ever you are playing a no-limit or pot-limit game you should always be aware of your opponent's chip stacks. This can obviously make you play a hand in a different fashion than you normally would. A short stack can be a method of defense. If you're an aggressive player and you are trying to steal a pot, a small raise from a short stack will often get you to fold as you know that the short stack is now pot committed and will have to commit the rest of their chips. While it is pretty clear how one can go on the offensive with a big stack, don't forget that short stacks can play good defense as well.

Tunica

I went to Tunica, MS in September of 2005 to play some poker. Upon my arrival, I quickly donked off $140 in a rebuy tournament at the Gold Strike. As we were waiting to check in, we took the short walk over to the Horseshoe. There were not any games that really interested us, so we opted to sit at the $1-$5 stud table until our room was ready. I liked how there was a 25 cent ante in this game as it made raising on 3rd street a bit more worthwhile. The first hand I was dealt was (J-Q)-K. I raised to $3 and got called by one player with a 4 showing. I pick up a 10 on 4th street and my opponent picked up another rag card. I bet another $3 and got called again. At this point, I put my opponent on a low straight draw of some kind or maybe one small pair. I wasn't planning on folding this hand as I was open ended to a straight and had several overcards. I picked up a Q on 5th street and paired my K on 6th while my opponent continued to not pair up. I was betting the $5 maximum the whole way and end up getting called down with my opponent holding pocket aces for one pair. I left the table a $40 winner after picking up a few more pots.

That evening, I got in a $1/$2 no limit game. I played pretty tight as there was no maximum buy in on this game and most players were deep stacked. I won a big pot when my K-K got called by Q-Q. As we played late into the evening, I was taking advantage of the drunken state of some players at the table and making them pay for their mistakes (I don't recommend drinking and playing poker unless you want to lose your money). As the game got short handed, I managed to pick up a pocket pair 3 hands in a row and flopped a set each time. I made the same play on each board--a check raise. My opponents were clearly frustrated with this move and I finally got paid off on the third one. I think I ended the night a $250 winner which was my largest win at the time.

The next day, I grinded out an 11 hour session of Omaha 8/b. The game was $4/$8 with a half kill ($6/$12). I quickly turned my $100 buy in into over $300 after scooping a couple of pots early. That $300 slowly dwindled down as the day went on as I saw flops and missed or had big draws that didn't get there--that is the nature of limit poker--especially omaha 8/b. One had that was of particular note involved my big blind. It was an unraised pot, so I was glad to see a free flop with K-9-4-7--a horrible hand for omaha 8/b. I didn't mind the flop too much as it came K-K-x. Now on boards like this in omaha, I am always fearful of a flopped full house. I made a bet and got 3 callers. While I wasn't too happy about all of the action behind me, I was pretty sure I wasn't beat as I would probably gotten raised with the bottom boat. The turn brought another K. Yes, I was now holding the nuts--4 kings. I checked, hoping that an opponent made kings full and would bet. After a bet and a call, I put in the raise and got one caller. I let out with a bet on the river and got paid off. I wish I could say that I ended that session a winner, but I was actually a $30 loser after some costly short handed play. I probably should have quit earlier in my session. This was the longest session I had ever played and I probably made a few small mistakes late in evening.

While I was ready for some more omaha action the next morning, the game wasn't going, so I hopped in a $3/$6 limit game for a bit before we made the return trip. I managed to double my stack in about an hour from $60 to $120 by picking up kings twice and getting lots of action. All in all, it was a good trip and I made enough to cover my travel expenses and most of our food was comped by the Gold Strike.

A brief note

Obviously, these first few posts are about hands that played out a couple of years ago. I'll probably have a lot of posts at first on this blog to catch it up to the present day. It is not as interesting to discuss the way I think about poker hands unless you know all I went through to get to where I am today.

Let's play some No Limit

I took a small break after losing in the $10/$20 game. I finally booked a win at limit hold 'em when I took a trip to a neighboring casino and won at their $3/$6 game. I had avoided playing the $2/$5 no limit game at my local casino because I feared running into better players who would eat me alive. What I realized is that I was not an experienced limit hold 'em player and after talking to some people who were playing the $2/$5 game, I figured I'd take my chances. I played tight aggressive (more tight than aggressive at first) and managed to walk away a winner in my first session. In my second session I had A-A up against K-K and A-J suited. I took down a huge pot with my aces holding up. I thought I was back on track to get my bankroll built up, but then I soon learned how dangerous a no limit game can be.

I had just bought in for $200 in a $2/$5 no limit game and picked up A-7 in the small blind. There were about 4 limpers into the pot, so I saw flop that came 7-6-x. I had just flopped top pair with the top kicker. However, I knew my hand was vulnerable as all I held was a pair of 7s. I decided to change up my play a bit and bet the minimum $5 into a pot of about $25. I got raised by the big blind to $15 and everyone else folded. I called the bet and another 7 hit on the turn. I thought this was my gin card. However, I was wrong. I led out with another small bet--this time $15 and I got quickly raised to $75. While my gut reaction was that I was beat, I managed to convince myself that my opponent was trying to bluff me out of the pot, so I moved in and got quickly called. I didn't even need to see the cards--I knew my opponent had filled up with his 7-6. I bought back in for another $200 and was a bit on tilt after that loss. However, I managed to get away from A-Q when the board came Q high. I bet and got raised. I had a suspicion that my opponent held a big pair and I was pretty sure I saw K-K fly into the muck after I folded. Needless to say, by the end of the night, I was down another $400. I did this again about a week later and after looking at my records, I saw I was down about $1,600 in my brief poker playing career (you should always keep good records of your play).

I decided that the $2/$5 game was a bit too high for me, so I started playing the $1/$2 no limit game as my local casino had just began to spread that game along with the $2/$5. What I liked about this game was that there was a maximum buy in. On the $2/$5 game, I could buy in for as much as I wanted. I lost about $100 in my first two sessions of $1/$2. I had my A-A cracked and a few other unlucky things happen. I told myself that if I ever lost more than $2,000 playing cards, I should just quit playing for money. The next time I played, I picked up K-K twice and won huge pots both times and left the game a $300 winner. Over the next two months, I managed to win about $800. I also switched casinos and found the $1/$2 game at another local casino easier to beat. I had found the game I could beat on a regular basis--$1/$2 no limit hold 'em.

Trying to make a move

After losing about $500 in 5 weeks at the tables, I took a bit of a break from playing. I had stopped playing the free games in town as most people no longer took them seriously anymore and all of the good players were out at the casino. However, a new free game was starting up--Omaha 8/b. I had initially learned the mechanics of the game on line while playing for free money (I did the same with No Limit Hold 'Em) and had even played a couple of small omaha tournaments in the home game and did well. Basically, I was winning because I was waiting for the nuts (either high or low) and taking advantage of playing with people who stayed in until the river too often. I was a bit surprised to learn that the free game would have omaha 8/b played no limit. This is primarily a limit game and you occasionally find it played pot limit on line. While I didn't like the structure, I couldn't complain much as it was a free game. The omaha 8/b free game didn't last too long and I think I was the only person who could claim that they won a hold 'em tournament and an omaha 8/b tournament.

So after playing omaha 8/b for a little while, I figured I was ready to play it at the casino. Normally, my local casino will spread a $10/$20 game. While this was higher than I had ever played before, I really wanted to give this game a try. When I arrived at the casino, the game had not started. So, I played $1-$5 stud to pass the time. Finally, around midnight, there were enough players to get the game going. We had to make the game half hold 'em and half omaha 8/b to get a full table going. While I wanted to play omaha 8/b exclusively, I accepted the game and just wanted to start playing. The table also put on the kill which meant that some hands would be played $20/$40. My rationale was that I could get out of this little hole I had dug for myself with a good session.

I couldn't hit a flop to save my life. I think I won one low half of a pot that evening and got quartered on another in omaha 8/b. My chip stack kept getting smaller as I saw a flop and missed. I made one great move in hold 'em. In late position I raised with 6-6. A very aggressive player who had limped under the gun called the raise along with one or two other players. The flop came A-K-2. This was clearly not a good flop for me, but the action was checked to me so I bet. The aggressive player raised and I quickly reraised. This aggressive player is also a good player and can get away from hands. He flashed me A-2 and said, "Your A-K is good." I quickly took down the pot and threw my hands into the muck. I don't think this little bluff would have worked at the $4/$8 game. I ended up going broke that evening with J-J in a kill pot. I made it $40 pre-flop and I didn't have but one more bet behind me. When the flop came Q high, my opponent bet into me and I called off the rest of my money against his Q-10. While my plans for getting some money back to the bankroll were spoiled, I was pleased with my play with the 6-6.

$1-$5 Seven Card Stud

As I lost money playing the $4/$8 and $6/$12 hold 'em games, I found that I could lose my money at a much slower rate playing the spread limit $1-$5 stud game. It was also easier at the time to get a seat at a stud game that it was for hold 'em. I probably shouldn't have been playing stud as I really didn't know what I was doing. Sure, I knew how to play, but I wasn't keeping track of the up cards and found myself chasing a bit too much. What I really learned by playing stud was that the rake at casinos can make the smaller games unprofitable. After paying the rake and tipping the dealer $1 (you should always tip your dealer), I would lose a significant portion of the pot. This is why many people say you should not play the $2/$4 limit games in Las Vegas as you'll never beat the rake in the long run.

The learning sessions

I think all poker players don't immediately start off as winners. I certainly didn't. Throughout the first half of 2005, I found myself a net loser of about $1,800 at the poker table. I started off playing $4/$8 limit hold 'em for the most part as that was the only game I felt comfortable playing at the time. The casino at which I was playing did offer a no limit game, but the blinds were $2 and $5 and there was no maximum buy in. I didn't want to play on scared money, so I avoided the no limit game and stuck with the limit games. This probably wasn't the best thing for me as I was used to thinking about hold 'em hands in a no limit context, not a limit context.

After losing a bit at $4/$8, I tried the $6/$12 game. Friends of mine told me that the play was better at $6/$12 and that all of the bad players that always seemed to get lucky against me wouldn't be playing $6/$12. My luck at $6/$12 wasn't any better than it was at $4/$8. I also learned that in multi way pots in limit games, it is rarely correct to slow play. I called a raise from the big blind with K-J in a $6/$12 game as there were already 5 players in behind me. The flop comes A-Q-10. I had the absolute nuts. My plan was to check-raise the flop, but none of my opponents cooperated by betting for me. The turn brought a second heart to the board so I fired out a bet at the pot and got two callers. Of course, the river was yet another heart and I fired another bet at the pot. One opponent folds and another raised me. I was pretty sure I was beat, but I paid off the flush anyway. I know I got a bit unlucky when my opponent caught runner-runner to beat me, but I was more upset that I paid off a bet that I shouldn't have. I think check-calling would have been the better play on the river.

How I got started

I first learned poker from my dad when I was a kid. Back then, we mostly played 5 card draw and 7 card stud. I was a quick study to the mechanics of the game. I even invented a game called 8 card stud (just like 7 card stud, but the 7th and 8th cards come face down). I'm sure I wasn't the only inventor of this game, but I quickly realized that I could make better hands with 8 cards than I could with 7. However, I soon discovered that my opponents could also do the same. I guess that was my first real poker revelation. You see, the game isn't always about the cards that you are holding.

I really didn't play a lot of poker until the poker boom of 2003. I had watched the ESPN broadcasts of the World Series of Poker, but I never really payed much attention to what was going on. As I was flipping through the channels one evening, I came across the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. I was instantly hooked on Hold 'Em and loved the idea of being able to see the cards.

Amateur poker leagues were forming around town and I saw an advertisement during a WPT broadcast one evening, so I decided to check it out. I recall walking into a meeting room to see over 50 people seated at tables with chips playing a No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. While I didn't do well my first time (I had A-7 and my opponent had A-10 and the flop came A high--need I say more?), I was a quick study and began to accumulate league points. While some may say that playing for nothing doesn't do you any good, I was certainly in the company of people who were playing seriously enough. I developed a tight aggressive style and even managed to win a bus trip to a near by casino to play in a real tournament.

I ended up cashing in that real tournament. While cashing in a $10 tournament isn't much to write home about, it was still a cash (It was a $10 entry with rebuys--I did a double add on at the break). I went out in 9th place (out of about 50). I had Ad-10d but had gotten blinded off quite a bit and the big blind was forced to call me with his 7-4. A 7 peeled off on the river but I won $71 for my efforts and left the casino with the confidence that I can play the game well.

I started playing in a regular home game hosted by someone that played the "free games" and soon realized that I would have to adapt my play if I was going to play with the same guys week after week. I finally headed out to one of the local casinos in January of 2005 and played some $4/$8 limit hold 'em. I lost about $65 that first session, but saw enough bad play that I knew I could make money in the long run.

I finally did it

Start a blog, that is. I've played quite a few interesting hands at the poker table and I'd like to share my analysis of those hands. While some of my plays have been brilliant in nature, others are certainly on the donkey end of the spectrum. I play all poker games, both online and in casinos. Most of the time I play No Limit Hold 'Em because that is the game where most of the fish are. I'm a consistent winning player and wish to remain anonymous in case I'm ever seated across from you at the final table. Good luck and enjoy the posts to follow.