Why Are You Betting?

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 01:33:56 GMT

Not to long ago I went into a slump, losing almost every sit n go I bought in to. Many of them were just bad luck; I'll never understand why that guy called my raise with 2,7 off-suit and busted my aces when a 2 and a 7 came on the flop. Still, when going through a losing streak I suppose any one questions what they are doing wrong. Finally, I found something. I noticed that many of the big pots I was losing were situations where I was betting because I was "supposed to." Continuation bets, betting just because the other guy checked, etc. I decided I wasn't going to bet again unless I had a reason to. Maybe my bad luck had finally run it's course, but I am convinced that having a reason to bet helped my game.

Recently I came across a video on Card Player TV that suggested there are three reasons for betting; to gain value, to bluff, or to gain information. When betting for value, you believe you have the best hand and are hoping for a call. When bluffing, you believe you have the lesser hand and are hoping to get a stronger hand to fold. When betting for information you aren't really sure where you stand and are hoping that your opponents reaction to your bet helps you narrow it down. Betting for information should probably be used sparingly. Many times you are better off hoping to see the next card for free and improving your hand.

This seems like very good advice although I think it mainly applies to post flop action and may be a bit oversimplified. Pre-flop there are a number of other reasons to bet (or raise). You may be betting to take control of the hand. If you are the pre-flop bettor the chances are good that other players will wait to see what you do after the flop before taking there own action. You may be betting to gain position hoping that those with better postion fold. You may be betting to narrow the feild or you may be betting to disguise the strength (or weakness) of your hand. Post-flop you may bet to protect your hand against a drawish board or you may make a defensive bet to slow down the action if you have a good drawing hand.

I think the key is to have a reason whatever it is. If you find yourself betting for no reason you are just putting your money in without a plan and that rarely has good results.

New Commitment?

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 20:45:20 GMT

It is a new year and altough I am not one to make new years resolutions there are a couple things I would like to do better in 2011. First off is better poker. Last year I was about even for the whole year. I didn't lose but also didn't win. This year I want to improve that and start making some money playing poker. Last night was a good start as I won the first real tourney I played in for the year. It felt great recording a win and even better knowing I did it without seeing many premium hands. The second thing I would like to improve on this year is this blog. I have neglected it over the past couple months and need to get back to providing more frequent and more interesting blog posts. My plan is to provide much more content than last year through a combination of quick posts like this one and some more substantive posts mixed in.

Poker: Skill or Luck?

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 04:04:53 GMT

Recently I found myself caught up in the age-old debate; Is poker a game of luck or a game of skill? Most people would agree it is both. However, my debate started when an acquaintance who has never played poker once in his life declared that buying into a $10,000 poker tournament was no different than buying $10,000 worth of lottery tickets. In other words, it is 100% luck.

This is obviously not true. If poker were only luck, how could you explain certain players winning much more than chance would allow? Just by allowing folding, the element of skill is added. If I do nothing more than fold poor starting hands, I should be able to slightly improve my winning percentage. Add to that the ability to influence others decisions through different betting strategies and poker is clearly a game of skill to some extent. But it begs the question; what percentage of poker is skill?

The problem with this is that it depends. If you are talking about a single poker hand, luck is much more of a factor than when you are talking about an entire session or many sessions as a total. In a single hand you have to be lucky enough to be dealt a good starting hand and be lucky enough that some else wasn’t dealt a better one. If you are dealt KK you wouldn’t consider it lucky if the player to your left was dealt AA on the same hand. However, you could still “get lucky” and hit a king on the flop. Even in a single hand, skill is a factor. One can outplay an opponent. It also takes skill to get the most value out of a winning hand and to know when to get away from a losing hand. But, over longer sessions is where skill really shows through.

In a casino there are many different games played. Poker is played in most casinos now, but it is unique when compared to other casino games. In every other casino game you are playing against the house. In poker you are playing against the other players. No one ever claims the casinos are “lucky” to win so much money. Luck has nothing to do with it. Every game in a casino, from slots to roulette, is set up so the house has a slight statistical advantage. If the house wins only 51% of the time, they are making money. Over many wagers it is a guarantee that the casino will win more than they will lose.

So it is in poker. A skilled poker player need only win more than he loses. No poker player wins every hand, but many win more than they lose. The more skilled the player, the wider the gap will be between amount won and amount lost. Over thousands of hands, luck is not part of the equation; the same way a casino takes luck out of the equation. It may not be possible to measure exactly what percentage of poker is skill in general. However, over many hands, it is possible to measure the percentage of wins due to players skill as compared to the skill of his opponent. If there was no skill involved the win percentage would move closer and closer to 50% the more hands that are played. Anything over (or under) 50% would then be attributable to skill (or lack of skill). For the well skilled player, poker may not even be considered gambling.

Can Good Poker Etiquette be a Weakness?

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 01:40:22 GMT

When playing in a live tournament a player ends up all in with two larger stacks calling and there is no side pot. In this situation it is widely considered good poker etiquette and perhaps good play to "check it down." That is, the two larger stacks refrain from further betting. After all both players are better off if the short stack is eliminated and the best chances of that are if they both stay in the pot to the showdown. It is considered okay to bet if you are sure you have the winning hand; you have the nuts or at least really close to it. I have run into several situations lately that have caused me to question whether being considered to have good poker etiquette is worth it.

Clearly not every one understands to check it down when a short stack is all in, or they just choose to ignore it. I have run into several players lately that play just as aggressively when in this situation and sometimes I got into this situation because of the incorrect assumption that if I called it would likely be checked to the showdown .

Sometimes one of the big stacks will bluff the winning hand into folding. An aggressive player bets big and the other player folds only to find out at showdown that the all in player wins but would have lost to the better hand that was folded. This drives me nuts as the aggressive player was going to lose anyway. He would have been better off if the other big stack won and a player was eliminated. Or would the argument be that he would rather face two average stacks than one big stack?

Recently I was involved in a hand that is the inspiration for writing this post. I don't recall the exact chip counts so I will estimate. Blinds were 50/100 and there was an early limper with about 2500 poker chips. Action folds to the small blind who moves all in for about 1100 chips. I am in the big blind with about 3000 chips and look down to see AK off suit. I call and so does the early limper. The flop comes out K, 10, 6 rainbow. I figure I am good with top pair top kicker but I know it isn't the nuts and I know the right thing to do is check it down so I check. The early limper bets the minimum of 100 chips. Now I am annoyed. Clearly, this player doesn't know he is supposed to check it down. I call. The turn is a 4. I check it again and again the early limper bets 100. After calling him some names in my head I call again. Finally, the river is a 7. I should have this. I "politely" check again and the limper moves all in for his remaining 1200 chips. At this point I wasn't thinking straight anymore and quickly jumped to the conclusion that this idiot was bluffing. After all he had just shown a complete disregard to what one is supposed to do. So I called expecting to take down the pot. The early limper turns over 8,9 off suit for a straight caught on the river. The all in player mucks.

This hand raises several questions. First, what was he doing calling an all-in preflop with 8,9 off suit in the first place? And he bet the flop and turn with a gut shot straight draw? But ultimately I always try to ask myself what I could have done differently to get a different outcome. After all, I can't control what any other player does, but I can try to influence their decisions. I could have shoved all in preflop an maybe the early limper would have folded his 8,9. Certainly after the flop when I caught top pair top kicker I could have bet aggressively, perhaps even shoved all-in. Maybe he would have folded then?

At any rate, I feel I lost this big pot at least partially due to my tendency to follow good poker etiquette. And I think that could be considered a weakness in my game. So, I will remember this hand and similar ones when I get in these situations. In the future I will not let good manners get in the way of winning play.

Ready to Host Your Own Home Poker Tournament?

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 17:58:07 GMT

You have watched poker on television, perhaps played online, or even in a casino or a friend’s home game. Now you are ready to host your own poker tournament. Playing in a well-run live tournament is much more satisfying than online. The conversation, the poker faces, the feel of the cards in your hand, and the sound of the chips shuffling are all part of the live poker tournament experience. Best of all may be the feeling of accomplishment when you take down a win or make a great play and get the immediate recognition of other players. You just can’t match that in an online game. Of course, a poorly run live tournament can be a nightmare. So make sure yours is run right.

To run a successful home poker tournament you need a poker table or other suitable playing surface, some quality playing cards, poker chips, some kind of blinds timer, and a plan. Sure you can play on the floor with some cheap cards and pennies, but our goal here was to make this an enjoyable game.

A poker table makes for a much more enjoyable game but will likely also be your biggest investment. If you do not have a poker table and do not have the budget for one you can still make a successful game. The important part is to keep the game play in mind. If you decide to play on a kitchen table, it will be more difficult to handle the chips and to deal. Cards will fly across (and sometimes off) the table. If you cannot afford a poker table, consider some other options such as a portable table topper or just purchase some poker table speed cloth and cover your kitchen table with it. If your handy, consider building your own poker table; it is not that difficult.

Quality playing cards are essential for a good poker game. If you buy a two-dollar deck of cards, they will become dirty, sticky, and unintentionally marked quickly. It is well worth the money to invest in some quality 100% plastic playing cards. They will play better and last much longer. You can even wash them if they become soiled. You will need two decks of cards for each table. This allows one player to be shuffling while one is dealing which helps prevent the action from becoming slow as players wait for shuffling between each hand. You should also get at least one cut card for each table to help prevent the bottom card of the deck from being exposed.

Poker chips are also necessary to have for a serious game. There are wide varieties of poker chips on the market ranging in cost from pennies per chip to well over a dollar per chip. You do not have to have the expensive chips to have a good game. Chips also come with or without denominations on them. Poker chips with denominations can be very convenient, but are not necessary. Chips without denominations can be more flexible as you can assign any value to them. If you choose to use chips without denominations just post a chart of what each color is worth in a very visible place. The amount of chips you need depends on the number of players. Get enough that each player can start with a decent stack (20-30 chips is a good target) and make bets without frequently needing change. You will also want some larger denomination chips to color up in later rounds.

There are many options for blinds timers. You can use a simple egg-timer although this presents a hassle as someone has to reset it for each round and it can be difficult to see. The Poker Genie is a good option, or there are many programs you can get that will run on a laptop strategically placed near the action. You can also purchase dealer buttons with built in timers.

Finally, you need a plan. You should know in advance what your buy in amount will be, whether you will allow rebuys, what your payouts will be, and what your blind structure will be. Your buy in and rebuys should be communicated when you invite people. No one wants to show up with $20 in their pocket to find out you are having a $30 buy in game. Payouts need to be decided and announced before play starts. Posting your blind structure in advance will help prevent disagreements about the speed at which blind should escalate.

When setting up your blind structure consider how long you would like the game to last. Typically, you can estimate this by assuming the last blind reached will be about one-tenth of the total chips in play. Have a couple rounds listed after this just in case. A common mistake when setting up blinds is simply doubling blinds every round. This may be okay in early rounds, but as blinds get bigger this may create too big of a jump unless you are looking for a fast tournament. When deciding on time for each round consider how long you want the game to last, but typically 10-minute rounds are pretty quick and 30 minutes are pretty long. Usually 15 or 20 minutes is a good rule of thumb. Here is an example of a good blind structure:

Round 1: 100-200

Round 2: 200-400

Round 3: 300-600

Round 4: 500-1000

Round 5: 700-1400

Round 6: 1000-2000

Round 7: 1500-3000

Round 8: 2000-4000

Round 9: 3000-6000

Round 10: 5000-8000

Round 11: 7000-14,000

Round 12: 10,000-20,000

Round 13: 20,000-40,000

It is also a good idea to go over some ground rules and declare a moderator to make rulings if necessary as well as a backup moderator for when the first one is involved in the hand in question. Take your time to set up a good plan, gather the poker supplies you need and shuffle up and deal. Have fun and good luck.

Brunson - $800k pot

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Bubble Frustration

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:43:24 GMT

I have been running well lately. I managed to take first place in our league championship game and followed it up with another first place finish the following week. Couple that with running pretty well online and I was really getting my poker confidence back. So, I was looking forward to the start of our new season determined to make this my year. My goal was simple - cash every game this season.

The first game of the season started out crazy. On the first hand I sat out and watched another player take down about 5000 chips (blinds started at 100-200). On the second hand I looked down at pocket Kings. I played it well and ended up doubling my stack. Seems everyone was excited to start a new season as just about every hand some one was raking in about 5000 chips or more. A couple hours in, good play coupled with some good cards resulted in me being the chip leader. Things were looking good. Then the cards got cold. This is not unusual. Very seldom will cards stay good through a whole tournament. So, I spent the next couple hours folding a lot and went to the final table with slightly better than average chip stack.

The cards continued to be unfriendly and I watched as the short stacks repeatedly got the chips in bad and sucked out. It seemed no matter what cards the short stack had they would always suck out. We got down to the bubble and I found myself with less than average stack. The aggressive player to my right bets enough to put the short stack to my left all in, which was about half of my stack. I look down at pocket 10's. I probably should have pushed here but in my head I convinced myself that I was better off staying out of this and hoping the short stack calls. I folded. I guess I will never know if that was the right move as everyone else folded as well. A few hands later the short stack calls all in with 3, 4, of suit and manages to hit a three to double up. A little later I ended pushing with 77 and got called by 10,Q. Both a 10 and a Q come on the flop to put me out on the bubble.

Something about going out on the bubble is particularly frustrating. I found myself angry for the entire next day. Angry that I got my chips in good and lost, angry that I didn't shove earlier when I had tens, angry that the poker gods would allow short stack to double up with 3,4 off suit, angry that I had just barely missed the cash and therefore blown my goal the first game of the season. I guess that is poker. I am not sure I even have a lesson to learn from this. I guess I will just reset my goal to cash in every game of the season from here on out.

Man sentenced to play poker!

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:31:45 GMT

The details aren't as appealing as the headline but still an interesting story. Wonder how it affects his game knowing that if he can't win he goes to jail?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-judge-i-sentence-you-to-go-and-play-poker-2046518.html

Poker Lesson Learned . . . Twice

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:38:50 GMT

I played some poker this past weekend. On Friday night we had 23 players and things went fairly well. We were down to 8 players left with the average chip stack being 5750 chips. I was sitting on about an average stack and believing I was in the zone and it was my night to win. Then it happened. Blinds were 1500/3000 and I was in the small blind. Everyone folded around to me. I looked down at 2 5 off suit. Perhaps the best player at the table (other than me of course) was in the big blind. I considered folding because I didn’t want to get caught up with this hand, but decided I needed to try to steal the big blind. I raised to 9000 and the big blind folded. Phew!

So, the next time I was the small blind (now at 2000/4000) everyone folded to me again. Now if I’m going to try to steal the big blind again I will need to raise big. I only have about 57,000 in chips so a 4X the BB raise would be almost a third of my stack. The BB was sitting on about 65,000 in chips so if I moved all in there was very few hands that he could call with. I looked down at pocket two’s. I decided to go for it. After all, chances are he only has a marginal hand and will have to fold. I moved all-in. I didn’t even fully get the “all-in” past my lips when I heard “I call.” Sure enough he had pocket aces and they held up for him.

I was now knocked out and asking myself what I did wrong. It was pretty clear. I shouldn’t have put my tournament life at risk when I had no idea what I was up against. In retrospect I know my opponent is a good player so the only hands he would have called with are probably QQ, KK, or AA. I doubt if he would have called with AK knowing he would be crippled if he lost. I could have limped in and hoped to catch trips for cheap. Since everyone folded he may have played his aces slowly to try to keep someone in the pot. I could have raised to 2X the BB and I would have obtained some information, probably been forced out of the hand with an all in over the top. Well, anyways at least I learned a valuable lesson . . . Or did I?

On Saturday night I was playing in another tournament. I found myself short stacked with only about 6X the BB. I figured I was down to all in or fold at this point. However, when in this situation I like to be the first one in the pot and that was proving to be difficult with these players. It seemed all night there were at least 4 players to the flop no matter how much the pre flop raise. I once raised to 5X the BB and had 5 callers. I certainly didn’t want to be up against more than one player with my tournament life at stake. Then it happened. I was in the small blind (sound familiar?). It folded around to me and I looked down at JQ off suit. This must be it. At most I could have one caller and at least I have two face cards, right? . . . . All-in . . . . . . Call . . . He had pocket kings and caught a third on the flop to seal the deal. I can’t believe I made the same stupid move two nights in a row. Maybe now I finally learned the lesson? Maybe.

Tomorrow Night is Poker Night!

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:18:07 GMT

Finally! I am going to actually play poker tomorrow night. It seems like it has been forever.

Whenever poker night draws near it inevitably leads me to think about strategy. Since this particular game is against pretty much the same people every time, there is an added complexity. My normal game is usually pretty good, but occasionally I think that some people have me figured out to the point that they consistently beat me. This makes me think that I should change up my play. But it hasn’t worked for me in the past.

For example, I once thought I was getting the reputation for being an extremely tight player. I was finding it difficult to ever get a caller when I wanted one. So, I decided at the next game I would play more aggressively. I figured with a tight reputation I should be able bluff easier than most. It seemed to be working great at first. Less than an hour in, I was easily the chip leader with more than double the chips of the second largest chip stack. However, less than hour later I was out of the tournament. In hindsight my mistake was obvious. Your reputation only matters when you first sit down. After a while, how you are playing tonight matters more.

So what will be my strategy tomorrow night? I will stick to the strategy that has worked best for me in the past; almost no strategy. Just simply make the best possible decision every time. Every hand, every turn of another card, every different situation, calls for a different strategy, and every time I have tried to stick to a more specific strategy it has backfired.

Is facebook Poker Destroying my Game?

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:54:50 GMT

Okay, so I am a facebook addict like thousands or maybe even millions of other people. Recently I made the mistake of trying out facebook poker. I had a few minutes to kill and I have found that when I play for money with limited time I tend to lose. I don’t have enough patience and I play stupid hands to try to win quickly since I don’t have time to wait for the right time to make a move. So, I figured maybe this facebook poker would be good. I can kill a few minutes playing poker and if I lose, so what. It’s only play money.

Then it happened . . . I got sucked in. At the bottom of the page the application tracks the bankroll of all of your friends. I started out in something like 70^th place among my facebook friends. My competitive streak told me this was unacceptable and I had to get to first place. So I started playing more. It didn’t take long to double my play money bankroll and then do it again and again. Before I knew it I was in third amongst my friends. A couple more days and I will be in first place. Maybe then I can quit playing this silly version of poker.

I call it a version of poker because it isn’t real poker. It has been many years since I played for play money on Poker Stars or Full Tilt, but I seem to remember these games having significantly less bingo poker. Bingo poker is when several people at the table are going to go all in with any two cards and hope to win. Usually they will call anything with poor hands as well. This makes it extremely easy to win in the long run. Just don’t put much in when the odds are against you and go all in when you are sure you have the best hand. Someone always calls. Watch for draws. If the board has straight draws or flush draws wait to see if it hits before you go all in.

It is easy to win on facebook poker, but therein lies my concern. I fear I am destroying my game by playing. When I go back to real poker am I going to be more likely to play any hand or to move all in when I should be value betting? Will I be less likely to give a player credit for a good hand because of all the terrible play I have been up against? Most of all I have been getting used to losing several small pots because I know I will more than make it up by winning a couple huge pots. When playing for real money against players who are really trying to win I believe I am much better off winning several small pots and staying out of the huge pots. I guess time will tell how much I am damaging my game, but now it is back to face book to finish my climb to first place.

Home Poker Tournament Essentials

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:29:25 GMT

There can be some argument over what is essential to hold a home poker tournament. After all, you can hold a poker tournament with just a deck of cards and use cash, or pretty much anything else to keep score. However, it is my belief that certain things contribute so much to hosting an enjoyable tournament they should be considered essential.

Poker chips are absolutely essential. Sure you can play with cash or pretzels but nothing is the same without the poker chips. Really, whoever invented poker chips made the game exponentially better. Further, while running a cash game can be done using only cash, we are talking about poker tournaments here and trying to make sure everyone has the same amount of starting cash, has adequate change to make whatever size bet they want, and doesn’t reach in to their pocket for more cash when they are low or bust out would be difficult at best. Luckily there is an easy solution to all of this. Use poker chips! The kind of poker chip doesn’t matter so much. Poker chips run the gamut on price, material, and design, ranging from cheap plastic chips for pennies a piece to high end clay chips that easily can cost over one dollar per chip. While the clay chips are nicer to stack and handle, less expensive chips are perfectly adequate for most games. The biggest decision here is whether to get chips with or without denominations printed on them. This is really a decision based on personal preference. In a tournament it is easier to remember what chip values are if the values are printed right on the chip, but it isn’t too difficult to remember what values are assigned to which colors if there are no denominations and if you only have one set of chips a set without denominations is more versatile. A poker chip that is worth $1 in cash games can be worth $1000 in a tournament.

The next best addition to a home poker tournament has got to be a blinds timer. Whether it is the poker genie, a software program running on a laptop, or a dealer button with built in blinds timer, having something that is easily seen and alerts players when blinds go up is crucial. I have played in games when a simple kitchen timer was used. If you go this route be sure that the timer is easily visible and that the blind levels are determined before play starts. It makes the game more enjoyable for everyone if the blind levels are visible and it is easy to see how much time is left before blinds go up.

I highly recommend investing in a couple decks of high quality playing cards. Copag and Kem cards are widely considered the best of the best. Having two decks of cards per table greatly speeds up the game because the small blind can be shuffling one deck in preparation for dealing the next hand. High quality plastic cards are a good investment. They last much longer than cheap cards and are much less likely to become marked by being bent or soiled. Also, be sure to get cut cards (at least one per table). They help keep the integrity of the game.

Finally, the poker table. A poker table is not a necessity to have a good game, but it does add to the enjoyment. I have played many games on kitchen tables and it works fine. The biggest problem is if the table has leafs that the cards and chips can get caught on, but this can be easily solved with a table cloth. Still, a poker table adds a large amount of enjoyment to your poker game. I highly recommend picking one up if you can swing it. If not chances are one of your poker buddies has a portable table they would be willing to bring or just wait until after you win your first tournament and buy a poker table with the winnings.

To sum it up; for a good home poker tournament get poker chips, some kind of blinds timer and some good quality playing cards with cut cards. If you can afford it get a poker table as well.

Learn the Betting Requirements

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:12:10 GMT

Just about every live poker game I have played in there has been someone who doesn't understand the minimum bet or minimum raise required. It inevitably leads to slowing the game down as someone explains why the bet made was not legitimate and sometimes even leads to arguments when the person betting incorrectly is positive he is right. If you are just making the switch from internet poker to a live poker game take some time to understand the betting amounts. When you make an illegitimate bet it is an annoyance to the other players, but even worse it exposes you as an inexperienced player (of course there are times where this could be a good thing, but that is another topic).

In no limit holdem there are 4 betting rounds; preflop, post flop, after the turn, and after the river. The preflop betting is slightly different from the other three rounds because there are blinds or forced bets involved. Before the cards are dealt the small blind and big blind are forced bets. The amount to call is the amount of the big blind. The minimum raise is twice the big blind. So, if the big blind is $200 the minimum amount you can raise to is $400. You can raise to any amount $400 or more. I have seen people try to raise to $300; this is not a legitimate raise because it is not twice the size of the original bet (in this case the big blind is the original bet). I have also seen players contest a raise to more than twice the big blind but less than three times the big blind; For example, a raise to $450. This is a legitimate raise because it is more than twice the big blind. The requirement for a raise is "twice the original bet" not "a multiple of the original bet." I am always amazed at how many people don't understand this. A reraise can get even more complicated. If the first raise was to $400 (a $200 raise) the minimum reraise is $200 more or twice the raised amount. If the original raise was to $500 (a raise of $300) the minimum reraise is another $300, to $800. You are not required to double the total of the original bet and the raise. This is a common mistake.

The betting rules for post flop rounds are essentially the same with the obvious difference of there being no forced bets. The minimum opening bet is the same as the big blind. It can also be any amount more than the big blind. If the blinds are $200 opening bets of $200, $250, $400, and $4000 are all legitimate bets. Often someone will think that the $250 bet is not good because "it isn't twice the big blind." However, it doesn't have to be. Since there was no previous bet in the round any amount $200 or more is legal. The reraise in post flop betting rounds is the same with one important distinction; A reraise must be twice the amount of the original bet, not twice the amount of the bet minus the big blind. For example, if after the flop a player bets $500 the minimum raise would be another $500 to $1000. A raise of $300 (the original bet minus the big blind) would not be legal.

Now that you have a full understanding of minimum raises don't ever use them. A minimum raise is rarely the best strategy. It can be used effectively to obtain information; if you raise the minimum and get a only a call this could mean your opponent is on a draw or has only a marginal hand. I have also seen times where a minimum raise causes an opponent to believe you have a marginal hand and try to bet you off of it. This can come in handy when you have a monster. However, generally speaking if you want a caller you can usually get one with a bigger bet and earn more money. If you don't want a caller a minimum bet is seldom enough to force a fold.

Welcome to the new blog.

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:08:30 GMT

Hello poker enthusiasts. I am pleased to announce the creation of the Poker Room Supplies Blog. This will be a place to share anything at least remotely related to poker. We have been considering starting this for a long time, but have been hesitant because it can be a lot of work to come up with interesting material and monitor for appropriate responses by users. However, in the end there are a lot of interesting topics that customers frequently ask us about that can't be adequately covered in a FAQ page and plenty more topics that I find enjoyment in discussing with others. I hope that this becomes a valued addition for our customers.

To start with it will be a blog style with responses allowed. However, responses will be audited before becoming live on the site. Any response that is inappropriate or appears to be spam may be edited or deleted. I will make every effort to include responses but reserve the right to delete or edit any post for any reason. If things go well I will consider allowing responses to go through in real time and consider allowing users to start their own threads in more of a forum style.