Re-stealing the button player.

We all know that aggression is the name of the game at a short poker table. One of the most common aggressive moves is the button raise.

This play is a high percentage move because you are raising two forced bets and you hold position over both of them. It's the most basic blind steal out there, and is common in most games of hold´em.

Because we know this, one can take advantage and pump up the aggression against these players who are likely trying to steal the blinds. If you're in the blind positions and the button player raises you, it's become a high-percentage play to re-raise them.

When the flop comes you can put in a continuation bet, and as long as your opponent didn't hit their hand (which will seldom happen) you should pick up the pot right there. If you get called you may have to abandon your bold play, but that decision will be dependant on the type of player you're in the hand with. This situation will only occur against the same two players.

After a few hands of turning the aggression around on them you'll find that the number of times they raise your blind will diminish, usually down to the times that they have a legitimate raising hand.

Stay out of Mansion poker.

If you decide to play at Mansion poker (ipoker) you should know that they will make it very difficult to withdraw any money.

I have sent documents several times to their "security department" and were cleared in the end - after a few days.

Still they want to create more problems stating that there might be other things to consider if I do decide to withdraw and that they will need ever furter documentation.

Haven´t came across this on any other ipoker-site.

Hutchison points for Omaha hi.

Omaha Hi

To evaluate the contribution made by suited cards, look to see if your hand contains two or more cards of the same suit. If it does, award points based upon the rank of the highest card. Repeat the procedure if your hand is double suited.

If the highest card is an ACE award 8 points

If the highest card is a KING award 6 points

If the highest card is a QUEEN award 5 points

If the highest card is a JACK award 4 points

If the highest card is a TEN or a NINE award 3 points

If the highest card is an EIGHT award 2 points

If the highest card is SEVEN or below award 1 point.

If your hand contains more than two cards of the same suit, deduct 2 points.

To factor in the advantage of having pairs,

If you have a pair of ACES award 18 points

If you have a pair of KINGS award 16 points

If you have a pair of QUEENS award 14 points

If you have a pair of JACKS award 13 points

If you have a pair of TENS award 12 points

If you have a pair of NINES award 10 points

If you have a pair of EIGHTS award 8 points

If you have a pair of SEVENS or below award 7 points

Award no points to any hand that contains three of the same rank.

When your hand contains cards capable of completing a straight it becomes more valuable. Therefore, If your cards contain no more than a three card gap, add the following points:

For FOUR cards, add 25 points

For THREE cards, add 18 points

For TWO cards, add 8 points

From these totals, subtract two points for each gap, up to a maximum of six points.

To account for the special case represented by ACES, deduct four points from the above totals when an Ace is used. This is necessary because an Ace can make fewer straights. However, when your hand contains small cards that can be used with an Ace to make a straight, the hand's value increases. Therefore, when your hand contains an Ace and another wheel card, add 6 points. Add 12 points for an Ace and two wheel cards.

A determination must be made as to which hands qualify as playable. This becomes a function of how many points one decides are necessary before entering a hand. My suggestion would be to only play hands that earn 28 points or more. It can be argued that, ignoring the rake, any hand with more than a 10 percent win rate (i.e., those with 20 points or more) is potentially profitable in the long run. Still, I have the prejudice that most players, and especially those who are relatively inexperienced, would be better advised to forsake marginal hands and to focus on those that earn 28 points or more. Recalling that a random hand will win about 10% of the time in a ten-handed game, it can be seen that playing only premium combinations of 28 points or more insures that you will always have a hand that is 40% better than a random hand.

The total required to raise or to call someone's raise must also be determined subjectively. I feel that 32 points is the appropriate level, so, in summary, YOU SHOULD CALL WITH 28 POINTS OR MORE AND CONSIDER RAISING WITH 32 POINTS OR MORE.

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Tournament poker - early stage.

So, we have all seen the big shots and high rollers on the final tables of major tournaments, and online, there is an abundance of tournaments with big cash prizes for the winners. Tournament poker on TV is one of the main causes of the poker boom of recent years. A tournament win in a bigger event has been the start of many a successful poker career.

Tournament poker as a game differs from cash games since all players start with the same amount of chips, and unlike a cash game, the blinds are not fixed, but increase as the tournament progresses. Therefore, tournament strategy changes over time - employing the same strategy in the latter phases as in the early is just plain suicidal.

This article will cover the first three or four levels, when the average stack compared to the size of the blinds is still comparatively large.
There are basically two viable general strategies for the early phases - loose and tight.

If we decide to play a loose early game, we will play quite the same way as we would in a cash game. We will call with marginal holdings like suited one-gappers and the like, when in position. When first in the pot, we will raise any hand that we are going to play. If it is folded to us in late position, we sometimes open very loose, with perhaps something as bad as 64o. We will play our draws aggressively and we won’t mind gambling for our whole stack when having just a slight edge.

If we play it tight, we are waiting for good cards. Sure, we will still play suited connectors and small-medium pocket pairs when in position, but our main goal is to just sit tight, observe the opposition and strike when we have a premium holding. A lot of hands will be thrown away preflop, but when we do play a hand, we will play it aggressively. We try to avoid big coin flips and unnecessary gambles in order to survive.

The loose strategy, logically, leads to busting out earlier more often, but when we do make it deeper into the tournament, we will often have a big stack. The tight strategy, which is more focused on survival, will take us to the middle stages of the tournament more often, albeit often with a comparatively much smaller stack.

So - which way to go, loose or tight?

It is all a matter of personal choice. Find out which playing style yields the more success for you, and then work on optimizing it. However, do keep a close watch on your table. For example, even if we like to play loose early on, should it turn out that the whole table is full of maniacs pushing preflop every hand - well, then we just have to sit tight and wait for a premium holding.

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Reading poker books.

If you're interested in any game of chance you should be constantly looking for an edge. The best gamblers know that every edge adds up and gives you a better chance to become a winner. If you like poker, and want to make money playing it, you have to educate yourself in every way that you can.

The game has become so popular that successful players are able to sell their knowledge for big dollars in the form of a book. At one time the only decent poker book was Doyle Brunson's Super System, which used to be sold for $100 underground in the 70s. Today you can find books on most topics surrounding every aspect of poker. Not all of them are created equal, but a dedicated player should read anything they can get their hands on.

For the price of a book you can learn how to save and win bets for the rest of your playing years. Even if you're playing at small stakes, and are just starting out, it would only take a couple of winning sessions to pay for the book. The investment is a no-brainer. If you don't learn from poker books you have to learn the lessons on the tables, and that costs money at every level.

Turbo poker tournaments.

Turbo poker games are events that have an elevated blind structure designed to increase action and reduce the time it takes to play an event. This serves both the player who wants to play a fast event because their time is limited, and the house, because they’re getting the event played faster for the same profit as a normally structured event.

These tournaments are favorites for players who have aggressive styles. The blinds go up so fast that the games become a battle against the blinds as well as opponents. You must be aggressive and steal pots, or your stack will shrink to a size that won’t matter once you finally get a hand. So you have to bet at any situation where the table seems weak, and push your good cards pre-flop to pick up blinds.

This is a tightrope to walk because everyone is throwing around their chips to keep their heads above water. If you do get a big lead it’s still important to keep up the aggression and make the game more expensive for the rest of the table to play on. If you sit back, someone will catch up to you quickly and your lead will be gone. Don’t let up until it’s over. Luck will often play a bigger role in these events, but the aggressive strategy is the best to follow for consistent results.

Player profiling.

Any dedicated online cash game player keeps a log of weak players. Profitable situations are hard enough to come by as it is, and when you find someone who has no clue how to play, it makes a lot of sense to document that player for future reference. Once you have a list of bad players, you can search for these players through the poker room software and try to get into games they’re in.

It helps to profile each player within your list. Maniac players, novices, calling machines, and drunks should all have their own category so you know what to expect from each of them. Even half-decent players who are susceptible to tilt can make your list; just make sure you wait for them to get some bad luck before you go after them.

If you can increase the number of sessions you play against weak players you’re bound to see a rise in your profits. Each of these players gives you an edge on the game, and over time that will show profit for you. Be diligent about keeping up your list and searching for these players before you sit down; it will be worth it.

This is easily done with tournament indicator or holdem indicator.

You can get them free of charge and at the same time get a pokerbonus. They are easy and safe to use and the support are outstanding.

Tournament indicator videos.

Match Cards >>>

Mzone >>>

Player profiling >>>

Tilt factor >>>

Win and pot odds >>>

The gap concept.

David Sklansky was the first to properly explain the gap theory. It is a concept that simply explains that you need to have a bigger hand to call a raise than you need to have to make one.

A simple example would be if you were in a late position and made a raise with pocket threes. This play is perfectly fine, but if you had that hand in an earlier position and limped in with it, any raise that’s made after that makes your pocket threes go down in value.

Basically a hand can have raising value but little calling value.It means that hands that call a raise should be better hands than the hand of the player who made the raise.

It’s important to consider the playing style of the player who made the raise. Your position also plays a big role because the gap will shorten if you have position on the raiser. If you consider the gap theory while in early positions, it makes no sense to limp into pots in the hopes that no one will raise.

You should look at their starting cards and ask yourself, “Do I want to call a raise with this hand?” If you think you can’t, you should muck the hand because a raise could certainly follow.

If you feel that you can call a raise with the hand, it’s usually the best play to make the raise yourself, instead of letting someone else do it.