For a year or two, I’ve been playing poker. Well, I love playing online. In quite a short span of time, I was able to familiarize myself about position and odds.

Just recently, I introduced some of my friends to poker and as of now we are planning to be into regular events. But there’s a problem. All of them seriously want to call stations, my style which basically works online won’t be effective.

Say in middle position I had ace queen and then for four times the BB I raised. Four callers appeared. To be honest, I knew then that I should tighten up and wait for premium hands however my premium seemed not so strong when the field just can’t be narrowed to one opponent. Any thoughts?

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Reilly
Reilly,

When you are against calling stations, you need to push your advantages. There are times that they will draw out against you, but the other times you will just punish them for extra bets.

You can also try and play small ball poker where you see a lot of cheap flops with them and when you connect strong with the flop, punish them with extra bets.

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Assume that you are in a no limit tourney or a sit and go with 800 chips and with blinds 15/30. Then at some point, perhaps in the third hand, you see AQs and so you raise it up to 60. You then have several callers however they’re not the blinds. Consequently, flop came Qxx rainbow and so in early position I placed a bet around 60-90. Behind me, somebody went out and moved all in. Do you think I should call such or just give away the 120-150 chips and then flip the high pair?

Another thing, say you are on a certain money table with some maniacs, would you still play and then have the risk of losing money just to have more? Any thoughts? How about advice?

Thanks!

Knutson
Knutson,

In a tournament with a low amount of chips like you were in, I would call. In a sit n go I would call as well. You are trying to make it to the top three spots. You need to push your advantages when you can. Chances are you are against a weaker queen or a lower pair. If not, there is always next time. With the short stacked nature of the event, you needed to pick up chips.

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Just recently, I was in a one-table tourney online. Luckily, I made it to the final three players. If I remember it right, one of the two others was tight. I was a little looser then because I was the short stack. I believe the other one of the two was a tight aggressive; as he actually thought also.

With marginal hands, I took a few pots from him at some point. Eventually, I became the chip leader which caused him to drive nuts. Player A then folded, he was on the button. I then called the big blind 400 with K 8 off suit. Player C was next and raised to 800. I was in for 400 so I didn’t mind seeing the flop for another 400.

Finally, flop came and brought 989. I then placed 1,000 bet while player C went all in. I then called him. Later, he flipped A Q off suit over. Turn and river came however both of no help at all so I just took him out. He then went nuts and called me a fish and so on.

Now, in such situation, was calling his preflop raise just right? Another thing, in a tourney situation, do you have to play differently than you would more or less play in a regular event? Any thoughts?

Habin
Habin,

You do have to play differently in a tournament situation than you do in a cash game. When you are down to three players, it is right to call down with weaker hands. His main mistake was not raising enough. If he raised to say 1,500, I don’t see you staying in. I don’t know how much he had, but it may have been right to call for pot odds.

You weren’t a fish. He is just a weak player.

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Hand 1:

There were eight players. Player 1 was Rich with 54137. Player 2 was Wesley with 129679. Player 3 was Elija with 197197. Player 4 was Noah with 45939. Player 5 was Mike with 182007. Player 6 was Perry with 222544. Finally, player 8 was Benj with 54593. All figures by the way were in chips.

At certain point, Rich posted the ante 400. This was followed by Wesley, Elija, Noah, Mike, Perry, and Ben who all posted the ante 400. Mike then posted small blind 4000 while Perry the big blind 8000.

Noah then was dealt Jh Ah. Ben raised to 1600. Rich folded and so as Wesley and Elija. Noah raised to 45539 and was all-in actually. Mike and Perry then folded. Ben called 29539. Flop came and was Ts 8c 5d. Turn followed and brought Ts 8c 5d Th. River as expected then also came and brought Ts 8c 5d Th Qs.

At revelation time, Ben flipped over Ks Qh two pair, Queens and Tens while Noah had Jh Ah a pair of Tens. Ben then got the pot.

Hand 2:

There were nine players. Player 1 was Terrence with 11780. Player 2 was Avie with 21364. Player 3 was Sam with 7314. Player 4 was Zeck with 8808. Player 5 was Axel with 6650. Player 6 was Sean with 7405. Player 7 was Dean with 9430. Player 8 was Norman with 8379. Finally, player 9 was Iñaki with 11845. All figures were in chips.

Terrence started the posting. He posted the ante 50. Avie, Sam, Zeck, Axel, Sean, Dean, Norman, and Iñaki all followed and posted the ante 50 as well. Zeck then posted small blind 300 while Axel posted the big blind 600.

Later, Norman was dealt Kc Ac. Sean then folded and so as Dean. Norman called for 600. Iñaki raised to 1200. Terrence, Avie, Sam, Zeck, and Axel all folded. Norman then called for 600 again. Flop then came and was 7c 6c 8h. Norman placed a 600 bet while Iñaki called 600. Turn came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad. Norman placed 1200 bet while Iñaki again called, at such point 1200. River came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad Qc. Norman then checked while Iñaki placed 3000 bet. Norman then raised to 5329 and was all-in. Iñaki called 2329.

At showdown, Norman had Kc Ac a flush, Ace high while Iñaki had Jd Ah a pair of Aces. Norman won the pot.

Aside from the two recent hands, I would like to also share to you something and eventually ask a few questions.

In one of your sections, I’ve read that you believe the player has played the second hand perfectly. I’m referring here about the player who had a couple of tournament hands. I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Well, I believe that you must be 100% sure that when you check, your opponent will bet. I also somehow believe that to make more money, do not risk a check raise and place a nice bet just enough and not too huge to invite a call. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Regards,
Deluzio
Deluzio,

You’re right. In order to check there, he needs to be certain that his opponent will bet. I think in the situation above, that checking will make it appear that he is scared of the flush. One of the opponents probably read on this and acted. If that is the case, I think it was a good play.

In either case, you must be sure your opponent is going to be to try that move. Actually, in many tournaments, if you do not bet on the river and are shown to hold the nuts, you can receive a penalty for soft playing.

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I don’t like table tournaments so I tried $25 PL online. I’ve been playing such kind for some time now.

In one of the events I was in, I lost because of a certain hand. There were actually five players in back then. I had $64 and was considered the largest stack. At certain point, I got 10 10. Then I raised to $2.75 by which was the pot amount. Other four players called. Flop came and brought 10d Qc Kc. Player into me placed a $2 bet while I raised to $5. Player next to me also raised but at such point it was $10. Other two players followed and went all in for the money left to them, approximately $15. For $25, original bettor then went all in. Later, I followed my instincts saying I have to call. I wasn’t able to get the boat as well as any club. Player next to me had AJ.

In your opinion, did I make the right play? Or if not, I should have laid it down?

Well, fortunately, I got AA on next hand while the player who won the big pot had KK. For $28, both of us re-raise till I’m all in. Luckily I was able to somehow get back what I lost earlier.

Since I’m here, I’ll just grab the chance to ask this. Well, it’s something about the argument that me and my friend had just recently. He said that the 2004 WSOP is not over and that Greg Raymer and his $5 million win was only a preliminary. Is this true? And according to another guy I fairly know, it was the Vogel guy who won it.

Personally, I believe that the event lasted 6-7 days and actually started with preliminary tournaments. Those who won got a bracelet and go on to play. It just continued till the winner was determined. Please, I need clarity on this.

Thanks!

Regards,
Zaccano
Zaccano,

You flopped a set. There was a lot of action involved which meant that you might be behind. Of course, there is a good chance that you had the best hand. With so much money in the pot, you pretty much had to call here.

The 2004 WSOP concluded when Greg Raymer won the Main Event when he defeated David Williams. The World Series of Poker is a set of over 50 tournaments. Each award a bracelet. The events before the Main Event are preliminary events. The winners of the event does not automatically qualify for the Main Event. The players that play the Main Event must put up $10,000 each to play. The Main Event is spread out over around the course of nearly two weeks now. The entire WSOP lasts over 6 weeks.

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I’m just new to poker and I’ve come to know the game through the WSOP. I was able to watch a few episodes of it actually.

Well, it appeared to me that when the player with a greater amount of chips calls a player with a not so plenty chips all in, such player should call and place in all his chips he has. I then thought, is this always the case or maybe I just missed seeing players fold? What’s your thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Pace
Pace,

You are not seeing other players fold. Broadcasts such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour edit out a lot of playing and a lot of hands. They show only the most interesting or most entertaining hands. Most final tables that you see that are broadcast in an hour take a minimum of 7 hours to play. The 2006 Main Event final table took over 20 hours to play, and they broadcast it over 2 hours only.

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The other day, I was in a no limit tournament with a $35 buy in by which everyone had $1500 worth of chips. I was two seats removed from the button when the blinds were still $25/$50. I remember I had Kh-Qh then. Few minutes passed and four players limped in.

Eventually, I raised to $300 while big blind and one limper decided to call. Flop as expected came and was Jh, 7d, 4c. Afterwards, it was checked to me and I placed another bet, once again it was $300. Big blind finally went all in while I called. My call was actually based on two over cards, a back door flush, and back door straight draw.

In the end, I lost to a AK off suit. I believe I didn’t survived that long because of the wrong moves which made me short stacked. Do you think it was just a bad luck or there was really something wrong with how I played?

Thank you very much.

All the best,
Praml
Praml,

You played bad in this hand. With all those limpers, you either fold K-Q or just limp in yourself. You may have been raising your position, but as you saw, this only knocked out two players.

Since you raised, the continuation bet on the flop was not a bad idea, but calling the all in was. Never call an all in based on backdoor draws and overcards to the board. As it turned out, you had 3 legitimate outs to win, and that was 3 queens. You had 12% to hit your hand at this point.

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I’ve read a magazine focusing mainly on casino stuff. In one of its articles, it was stated that “If you just call somebody on the river rather than raising them, you hurt all other players in the tournament. It’s not ethical poker, so don’t do it”. I don’t exactly understand what it means. Can you help me?

Thanks!

Regards,
Crocker
Crocker,

The only thing that I can think that this article is talking about is just calling on the river when you have the nuts. In tournament poker, if you do not bet or raise with the nuts on the river, then this is considered soft playing, which is a form of cheating.

Otherwise, there are many times that calling on the river is the appropriate play. Don’t worry about that unless you have the nuts. If you have the nuts, raise.

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Just recently, I was invited to be in a certain tournament. It was actually a six player no-limit winner-take-all tournament.

Back then, my opponents were five young men and the play was extremely loose and quick, just as what I have expected actually. Well, I tried to play a bit tighter than the table, however I have remained looser than usual. Unfortunately, earlier part I lost some hands, betting or bluffing on pocket cards that were questionable.

There was one player who had actually a great night. He was the player to my left. He played loosely and had pulled out flush draws and had eliminated shot straights on the turn. At some point, he had KK which actually had beaten AA with a K on the river.

I had one significant hand back then, pocket fives which turned into a set on the flop, and fives full of deuces on the turn. Fortunately, my hand had beaten two players on a big pot. Later, the table was down to three players, me, the maniac on my left, and the short stack.

I was expecting at certain point but later I felt the opposite over AJ off suit. Short stack eventually checked and I placed a bet to put him all in and the like. Maniac then called. Short stack followed and pushed in the last of his chips. Flop came and brought Ad, Jc, 7d. The bet was on me then while I flopped a very strong top two pair beforehand. I believe the maniac has nothing left anymore.

Later part, I went all in thinking he had nothing to beat me. He then called in an instant. Afterwards, he showed Qd, 3d. On the other side, short-stack flipped his own two diamonds Td 8d over. I was then happy as about a 70% to 75% chance that I could take all the chips was then very possible. However turn came and brought 6d. I felt very degraded right after knowing what the turn card was. Unfortunately, I was a terrible dog then. My only chance I believe was A or J on the river however none of the two came and therefore I lost.

As of now, when I recall, I still feel good about how I played though I lost. However, I’m now curious if what will you do in the event you are asked to call a bet of any amount already called by 5 other players and you’re guaranteed to be a 70% favorite. Would you certainly call? Will this be every time you are asked to do so?

Thanks in advance!

Moors
Moors,

If I know that I am a huge favorite to win a hand, I am going to call the all-in bets of other players. Being a 70% winner means that every 7 out of 10 hands you will win. Of course, you will lose the 3 other times. Getting sucked out on is a part of the game. When you play well, you will get sucked out on. Take pride in the fact you made a great decision. Don’t worry about the fact you got unlucky.

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Just yesterday, I was in a friendly tourney. At certain point, I mucked my straight flush draw on the river based on pot odds and then later on realized the card I should have. And so I started questioning myself afterwards about pot odds. Are they really significant in tourneys?

Well, I personally believe that in ring games, pot odds are significant in the event you want to play with probabilities and then keep them on your favor. Any thoughts?

By the way, since I’m already hear, I’ll just grab the chance. I’ll share a bad beat story. It’s about me being beaten by a player who called my all-in with a straight draw on the river. I had AAA. Mid part when he knew he needed a 9. Later on the river he got what he needed, a 9.

Any comment about my bad beat story?

Thanks!

Regards,
Donnovan
Donnovan,

When you are at the river, the hand is complete, you either hit your draw or you miss it. I’m assuming based on you saying that you had a draw that you actually was on the turn. If you did not have pot odds to make the call, then you were correct to fold.

Pot odds do play a significant role in tournaments. Sometimes it makes the difference in calling when you have a big draw and sitting back waiting for a better spot.

As far as your bad beat story, unless your all-in bet was less than 8% of the pot, this was a bad call by your opponent. When you have 4 outs on the turn, you have around an 8% chance of hitting your hand.

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