Losing a huge pot

My normal cash game of preference is $1/$2 no limt hold 'em. I was playing at one of my local casinos where the norm for players is to buy in for the $40 minimum. I bought in for my normal $200 and was up to $600 after winning a couple of big pots that were coin flips on the flop (K-K vs. Ace & open end straight draw; top two vs. flush and straight draw). At one point I had more cash than the rest of the table combined. The player to my right then went on a nice run and got his stack up to a little bit over $500 and had busted a couple of players in the process. We were now playing 5 handed. It is rare that two players will have such large stacks at this casino. Most players just lose $40 or $100 at a time and people play crazy enough that if you are up big, you usually take your money and run.

After a limp, the $500 stack player raises to $17. I'm on the button and look down to see A-A. I reraised to $50. Everyone folds and the initial raiser calls. The flop comes Q-8-4 rainbow. My opponent checks and I lead out for $60. I get check raised to $260. I now have to think this one over. I know my opponent isn't calling $50 pre-flop without a hand. I quickly eliminate 8-8 and 4-4 as those hands are not good enough for this opponent to call $50 pre-flop after getting reraised. A-A, K-K and Q-Q are likely hands for him to hold and there is even a chance he may be holding A-Q and put me on a hand like J-J pre-flop. My initial read pre-flop was that my opponent held K-K. I figured if I bet all-in on the flop he would fold. I was also thinking that there was a small chance that he held the other two aces. Of course, if he holds Q-Q, I'm in horrible shape.

I was thinking for at least 3 or 4 minutes on this hand. I was also trying to figure out why my opponent walked away from the table after rasing me the $200. The initial limper called the clock on me which I thought wasn't too kind as this was a huge decision. I obviously couldn't flat call the $200. I was either folding or going all in. Well, as the title of this entry suggests, I pushed all in. I was going with my initial read of K-K for my opponent. He had Q-Q and I didn't spike and ace on the turn and river and he won a pot for a little over $1,000. I took the beat in stride as that was mostly profit for the session. Losing big pots hurts a bit more when you lose "your money" as opposed to losing "their money".

Ironically after that hand, I get paid off when I made top boat against the sucker boat. I picked up A-A two more times but got little action on the hands. I then doubled up again when I turned the ace high flush against a flopped king high flush. I ended the session up about $150, but it coudl have been much more. That's poker.

Lead out with the nuts

It is often quite correct to slow play a flopped monster hand in hold 'em. When you flop top boat you want your opponents to catch up so that you have the opportunity to get paid off on later streets. However, in a split pot game like omaha 8/b, leading out with the nuts is normally better play. Of course, nothing in poker is absolute. In hold 'em, you can deceive your opponent by leading out with a big hand and in omaha 8/b, you can slow play big hands too.

Lets say you catch a lucky flop of 8-2-2 when you hold A-4-8-8 in the small blind. Yes, you flopped a full house and only quad deuces can beat you. However, you really don't want to see any more low cards. Sure, your A-4 may be the best low, but anyone that plays omaha 8/b on a regular basis will know that there is at least one player with the A-3 drawing for low. You don't want to share the pot. Protect your high hand and bet. At an aggressive table you can go for a check raise in this situation as well, but you are often better off betting. Especially in this example as it is likely that someone flopped a deuce. You can lead out and get raised and go for a 3 bet or a check raise on the turn to extract maximum value from your opponent.

Leading with a big hand is more important to do in pot limit omaha 8/b. You want to charge your opponent the maximum to draw for half of the pot when you have the other half locked up. In a pot limit omaha 8/b game, you ideally want to have the nuts one way and have a free roll for the other half. If you hold Ad-2d-6s-7s and the flop is 5c-8d-9d, you'll certainly want to get it all in. In split pot games, don't let your opponents draw to half of the pot for a cheap price. If you have the nuts, make sure you get the whole pot. After all, scooping situations is what split pot poker is all about.

Why Professionals Bet Scary Flops

You can often find a professional or a skilled player betting into scary flops in hold 'em or omaha or when scary cards hit on the turn or river. The same can be said for stud games. The reason for this is that professionals can read their opponents better than an amatuer. However, one overlooked point about betting when scary cards hit has to do with your opponents. Whether you have a made monster hand or not, knowing your opponents well allows you to easily proceed on later betting rounds.

Obviously when you bet at a pot, nobody will complain when everyone folds and you drag the pot. If you are in the situation where you get called, depending on the opponent, you should be way ahead or way behind. If you know if you are way ahead or behind, you can easily proceed with subsequent betting rounds. If you flop top pair/kicker in hold 'em on a flushed flop and you get called by a rock, you are most likely running into a made flush. Knowing that, you can make easy decisions on the turn and river. If the board pairs, you may be able to push you opponent off of the hand, but you'll give up most of the time. Having easier decisions to make at the table will lead to better results. Think about it.

HORSE

A few months ago I played in a HORSE tournament. For those that don't know, HORSE is a mixed games limit tournament consisting of Hold 'Em, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8/b. I drew a table that played pretty solid for the most part. I even had a former world champion at my table. I managed to make a full house against him on 5th street in stud and led right out and bet it. I read him as strong, so I thought I may get action, but I guess my read was wrong as he folded on 5th.

I played very well for the most part in the tournament, but made one misplay in stud 8/b. I had an open pair of kings showing on 5th and was leading out against a player who was clearly drawing for low. I end up with kings up on 7th and lead out again only to get raised. I know that my opponent knows that I can't have a low, but I figured he wouldn't raise me unless he had my high beat with aces up or a straight. I folded my two pair and my opponent showed the bare low hand. I did use this tight image against this same player later in hold 'em to take away a few pots.

I normally take advantage of my opponents in the omaha 8/b rounds and in razz. However, I was not getting anything playable at all in omaha 8/b. I went through three whole rotations before I ever played an omaha 8/b hand. I finally three bet on the button with A-2-3-4. I was a bit short at this point and got good action. I made the wheel and had deuces full, but ran into a bigger boat for high. I had gotten short stacked after making a "genius call" that wasn't so genius in hold 'em when I called a guy down with ace high and ran into his pocket aces.

I got lucky in the middle stages of the tournament to make a low in omaha 8/b when my opponent was holding quads for high. I accumulated some chips in stud when I made some big hands against a calling station of a player. I got paid off on an ace high straight and in stud 8/b I made aces up with a 7 low and scooped the whole pot.

Normally, razz is one of my better games, but I wasn't catching good hands at the right times. I was short stacked and was in the process of playing a big razz pot. I bet on 7th with a jack low and got my opponent to fold his 10 low. I also got lucky to win a pot with a 9 low in a situation where my opponents board was quite scary.

While I played well in this tournament outside of a few minor mistakes, I was unable to accumulate a lot of chips. I got through about 2/3 of the field and busted out shortly after my table broke. We were playing stud and I got it all in with J-(10-8). I was fortunate to have a maniac player bet out with just a pair of deuces and got the pot heads up with me after forcing others to fold better hands. Of course, I didn't pair up and I was out. Hopefully, I can do better in the next HORSE event I play.

Buy In Amounts

Most low stakes no limit hold 'em games or pot limit omaha games will have a cap on how much you can buy into the game for. This prevents someone from over bullying with a large stack as soon as they sit down. Obviously, if someone is sitting with a large stack, they probably earned it or got lucky. I'll focus on $1/$2 no limit hold 'em as that is my most profitable game. There is a lot of great literature regarding playing a short stack in PLO and playing a large stack.

When I sit down at a poker table, I'm pretty confident in my abilities and feel that I am probably one of the better players at the table. Because of this, I will normally buy in for the maximum (whether that is $200, $300, or $500, etc.). I want to have a lot of chips in front of me so that if I have the opportunity to play a big pot with another big stack, I can win a lot of money. If I'm on short chips, I don't have the opportunity to bust anyone when I flop bottom quads against top boat. Having a lot of chips also lets me see a few extra flops than I would on a short stack. I'm still playing tight aggressive on a big stack, but I'll see a few more flops with suited connectors and such when pot odds warrant.

If you are just starting out, I would recommend buying in for the minimum. This will basically limit your losses on any given hand. You can also buy in for the minimum if you are going to be seated at a table full of deep stacked players. Lets say the maximum buy in is $200 and the other 8 players are all sitting with over $800 each. You may be better off playing a short stack and gambling a little bit on a minimum buy than a full buy. You can also buy in for some amount between the minimum and maximum in similar situations.

One overlooked point about max buy in cash games is that you can always reload up to the maximum buy in at any point in time. Normally, if I buy in for a $200 maximum, I will keep another $100 in green chips in my pocket. If my stack drops below $175, I'll casually drop a green chip on the table and instantly reload. This way, I can be at the maximum when I play a big pot and hopefully double up or bust another player. The other advantage of this is that a lot of players will not notice your newly found green chips and might think you are playing fewer chips than you are actually playing. This is why I prefer to reload with the green $25 chips as opposed to the red $5 chips.

Normally, in $1/$2 no limit hold 'em games, there are only $1 chips and $5 chips in play. Adding a few $25 chips into play may allow you to make a play on an opponent. Some players will envy your green chips and do anything they can to get them. Against these players, I'll only bet the greens when I have the nuts. Other players will fear the green chip, thinking that you don't want to part with them and when you bet a green chip, you have the nuts. I may be more inclined to bluff with the green chips against those players. You just have to feel out your opponents to see how they would react to a green chip.

Stud Tournament

I recently played a small buy in seven card stud tournament. I know that stud is not my best game, so I wanted to get some practice in more than anything else. I probably played my best stud in a long time and ran into some unfortunate spots. I had held an average chip stack through most of the tournament when the following hand came up. I was sitting to the right of the bring in and one other player called the bring in. I had an ace up, so this is an automatic completion bet. I completed and both players behind me called. On fourth street, I picked up another ace, giving me just a pair of aces. Neither of my opponents improved on fourth, so I bet the larger amount and was called in both spots again. I now was concerned about my hand a bit. I caught a blank on fifth street, but my opponents did also. Knowing that my pair was good, I bet again and got two calls. I catch another ace on sixth street and fire once again and I finally get one player to fold. I checked in the dark on 7th as I knew my opponent had a draw that could beat the 3 aces I held. He checked behind me and commented that he was checking just in case I filled up. I didn't fill up and he made a flush on 7th. So sick. This player called on 3rd with nothing; picked up a gutshot on 4th and a flush draw on 5th that got home on 7th. I hate it when people chase and catch. It is very frustrating for solid players like myself.

Although I just lost a big pot, I still had some chips to play with and wasn't in a desperate mode yet. I move tables and played a big pot with a short stacked player. He was betting the whole way and I put him all in on 5th street with just A-K high. It was better than his K-10 high. My read was right. I end up with A-K-Q-J-9 on 7th--the best nothing you can have. My opponent caught a pair of 3s on 7th. There is not much I could have done on that one. I was now in a bit of a desperate mode and got it all in on 4th with 4 over cards to my opponents pair of 4s. On sixth street, I had 6 over cards to his pair. I made a pair of jacks on 7th, but my opponent made two pair. Just like that I was done. I made it down to the final 4 tables, and only two were getting paid. I can feel reassured that I played well during the event, but was frustrated about getting unlucky in some key spots. As they say, that's poker.

Where your money comes from

If you are a winning player, you should have an idea about where your money comes from. I'm not talking about knowing if you make your money from playing hold 'em or omaha or if you make more during the day or night or online versus live. While all of these things are important to know, what is often overlooked in my opinion is how you made that money. What this basically boils down to is determining if are you outplaying your opponents or if you are simply capitalizing on their mistakes (or both).

Lets assume you play an ABC variety of poker and you are playing in a no limit hold 'em cash game. It is folded to you on the button and two novices are in the blind. You look down at A-K. You raise 3xBB, small blind folds, big blind calls. Flop comes K-6-3. You value bet on the flop, turn and river and the big blind shows you Q-6. Clearly, you didn't do anything special to win this pot. The money that was won was a result of the inexperience of the big blind. You often hear people say that you can't bluff amateur players. This is because they do not know how to fold a hand like in the above example. What if you had held A-J? Surely, you would raise on the button and make a continuation bet on the flop, but would you fire the second and third bullet? I guess that depends on what kind of player you are.

The point here is that you can make money at the lower limits by continually exploiting your opponents mistakes. While you may be able to pull off a bluff of two from time to time, it probably won't be a profitable play in the long run against a bunch of rookies. However, as you move up in limits or begin to encounter good players who are exploiting these rookies as much as you are, you will find that you will have to make adjustments to your game to win money from more experienced players. At the higher limits, players make fewer mistakes and there is less money to be won via someone else making a mistake. It is at the higher limits where you will have to employ more "fancy plays" to win. However, I would recommend avoiding fancy play syndrome at lower limits.