Pre-flop

Playing your JJ pre-flop isn’t that difficult because what you have to do is generally clear. The problems typically occurs post flop. The first thing that will influence how you play your middle pair is your table position. When you’re in early positions, you want to raise at least 3 times the big blinds. This accomplishes a few things. The first thing you’ll say happening when an early position player raises is that many opponents will fold their hand, and this is exactly what you want. It’s easier to win against fewer opponents.

When you’re in middle position, how to play your hand can be trickier but it usually involves a raise. If no one raised before you and most folded, then betting 3 times the big blind or more is a good play. If someone raised and everyone else folded, you can call. If someone raised, and other players called the raise, you have a difficult decision to make. If you call, then it’s likely that a big pot will grow and since there’s a bunch of players acting after you. It is not uncommon to see someone going all in under those conditions. If that happens, then what do you do? Risk it all, or give up the hand? It’s not a great position to be in with middle pair. A risky but often effective play is to be the one to raise the bar. Reraise instead of calling and make it expensive IF you can afford too. Don’t loose your shirt over it. Even experienced players will fold good starting hands after seeing a raise followed by a reraise because it usually indicates someone has a high pair.

When you have options but are unsure what to do, always consider the table image and chip stacks of the opponents that will go after you. Are you facing tight players that will likely fold or call a raise/re-raise or are you facing a reckless aggressive player with a large chip stack? Sometimes, when you have no clue what to do, or when the price of playing poker is just too high for the risks, you can always play it safe and fold your hand. There will be more.

In late position, it’s easier to play because everyone else acted before you. The safe play is to close the bet when you’re in a position to do so. That means you are the last player to act and you call, making sure no one else can raise after you. You’ll get to see the flop and then play another betting round. Another option is to raise, but because you are in late position opponents might think you’re making a move and aggressive players could be tempted to put you all in. The safe play is to call. You will rarely fold in this position because the by the time your turn comes up, the pot is usually interesting. You should consider folding in cases when you see a raise and a reraise before you for reasons I indicated earlier.

Post-flop

After the flop, you either hit or missed. Depending on that result, your goal is to thin the competition, or to set a trap, or to minimize your losses. The first thing you want to consider is the flop. Are your JJ top pair? In other word, are the flop cards 10 or less? If so, you might consider trapping (and assume all the risks that go with this play). But only trap when you’re facing one or two opponents. Any thing more is too much of a risk and you need to bet a significant amount, perhaps half the pot, to encourage players to fold.

If you missed the flop and high cards than your middle pair come up, then you have to analyze the last betting round to get a sense of what your opponents may hold. For instance, let’s say there’s an A and a K on the flop, and you are facing three opponents. How did they play last time? Did all three initially called a minimum bet, then you raised, then they reluctantly called your raise? That could indicate that they don’t have a high card. Maybe they have a small pair, or suited connectors for instance. But if player one raised, then the other two immediately call and you called as well, that is a sign that someone probably has a high card. Consider the number of opponents and how they played the last betting round. When you figure they likely hit the flop, don’t spend more money on it. Check it, or fold it if you have to call a bet. When you have no clue where you stand, a feeler bet can provide information but you might also be throwing money away. It’s really a decision of “can you afford to gamble”, meaning do you have the chips to spare.

Let’s say you did hit the flop and made three of a kind, that’s a great position to be in, but consider the flop. Is there a straight or flush potential? If so, you’d better try to take down the pot right away with a large bet. If not, you can act weak and trap. Let someone else make a bet, and depending on how many players are left, call or reraise. Don’t be afraid to go all in at this point, but be careful about letting opponents catch cheap cards. Again, the table image of your opponent should guide your actions. Let aggressive players bet into you.

On subsequent betting rounds, the same concepts apply. If there’s still a 3 or 4 players involved in the hand by the third betting round because they all called a bet, then you know they either hit something or had the right pot odds to chase a card. Take the time to consider what potential hands these players may have, or may be looking to get, and put them under pressure with a large bet when you conclude you have them beat.

There are more than 1,100 players trying for the top prize at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino this year (In the first day last year there were 1,297 registered players).  Pros,Amateurs, Celebrities (I’m looking at you Jennifer Tilly) anyone who has won a ticket online or just had the cash sitting under their mattress is there and the blinds have already started counting down.  Will it be a “moneymaker” year or more of a Raymer year?  It looks like Pro’s are at the top of the betting line to win the main event this year, with the co-favorites being Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, and Tom Dwan. Each is listed at +12000, and as a close second are Andrew Black, Juha Helppi, Ivan Demidov, John Juanda, Barry Greenstein, and Allen Cunningham at +17000 (according to betED).  But hey, anything can happen in poker right!

Last year’s winner, Peter Eastgate, took home $9.15 million after topping a field of 6,844 players — including eight others who had a four month break before the final table in November.  Raphael Zimmerman, a 27-year-old poker player from Oneonta, N.Y., was the first player eliminated from last years tournament when his aggressive play on a straight draw ran into three queens after the first three community cards were dealt.  Zimmerman hit his straight on the turn, but his opponent hit a full house on the river to end Zimmerman’s tournament. “Next year, I’m going to be last out,” said Zimmerman, who said he regularly plays cash games with $50 and $100 blinds. “For a minute, I thought I was going to win anyway.”

I guess we’ll see soon if Zimmerman’s prediction will come true.

Who do you think is going to win this year?

Apparently some producer in Los Angeles (Sam Simon) has had the brilliant idea that you can put any poker game on TV and people will watch it.  That may be true, but as a player myself, i HATE watching “celebrities” play a game, simply because they are famous. 

“Sam’s Game” Debuts Thursday on Playboy TV, and has such stellar poker players as Norm MacDonald, Brande Roderick and a former playmate of the year.  Wow. this show will be entertaining and improve my game.

The only decent player they have is Jennifer Tilly, and i believe she has magical poker powers that live in her breasts. (I’m not complaining..i would gladly give her my cash during a poker game, provided her..ahem..style of play..hasn’t changed…)

Back to poker….Sam Simon said “Texas Hold’em games may not always be stellar, but they will be funny..” While that may be true Sam, if you want people watching your show for any amount of time, get great poker with big names playing a solid game.  Or go in the complete other direction and have strip poker with only playmates playing.  I’d watch that, and not for the poker.

Starting Young

Players who start playing online at 18 years old are able to make the mistakes all newbies make, but do it in a way that is very minimal risk to them.  By the time they’re 21 and able to play in major live tourneys in the states, they have had 3 years to correct those mistakes and are already well past the nerves of most first time players.

The other advantage to playing online early is all of the tournament entry’s possible to be won.  A lot of these players are able to not only win entry into tourneys in the Caribbean or Monte Carlo (or Canada), but they’re able to cash.  These tournaments have as wide a variance as any tourney in the states, and gives these players a real look at what live poker is all about (not to mention some nice paydays).

Translating their Skills to a live Game

I don’t care what anyone says, online poker and live poker are 2 different monsters.  Translating your skills from sitting in front of a computer to sitting across from someone at a major tourney is a huge challenge.  Even the most  veteran online player has bad habits that need correcting and new skills that need to be learned before becoming a really successful live player.  But i think this discussion is something for a different post.

Overall i think that starting young, online is the way to go.  It really gives you the ability to, at 21 years old, walk in and sit across the table from any of the big names, and realize that everyone is playing the same game…and you know it as well as they do.

“I’m just preparing for the live poker grind. Six weeks of live poker is a shit ton, so I think getting in the right mindset and trying not to burnout,” – Harder

Link to the article

I know that breaks are part of the game, but when you start talking months, that gives time to improve greatly. And, i realize that luck is not the deciding factor in a poker game, but when you’re talking tournament poker luck does have a roll. And so, if your read on someone is that they are a marginal player, and got lucky in their coin tosses…you could get felted in the first round of the final table by following your read.

Admittedly, after a few months, game play can change. But if i was one of the pros sitting at that table, and knew that one of the amateurs was having lessons from chan, negranu, or any of the other pros (who, incidentally didn’t make it), i’d be pretty pissed off. It’s like going the first 10 rounds of a boxing match, then taking a month off, training really hard and coming back to finish the fight. it’s crazy.

So what is this rant about? The long break or the fact that people are exploiting that break? Both really.

But ultimately, the only people being short changed are the fans. All the pros and amateurs are on the same level playing field. If the pro’s at the table are so enclined they can take advantage of the break as well, and hire their professional friends to help them sharpen their poker skills. But the fans are getting an impure look at a deep stack tournament. Just when it really counts, they take a break…a really long break..and change the whole game.

So you want to play poker like a pro? You want to be winning millions a year, travelling the globe and living in the fast lane…..is it possible? Yes. In this article, we will cover five strategies employed by the top poker pros that allow them to consistently win at poker and maintain an advantage over the competition:

1. Self Control: Almost all of the majorly successful pros have a strong degree of self-control and discipline not only in life but in the game of poker as well. This is such a vital component of becoming a great player in the game of poker as the temptation to succumb to frustration and go on Tilt is so common and can be deterimental to a players game. All of the top professionals are aware of the effects of frustration and have learned to effectively control themselves when these situations arise.

2. Instinct: Another extremely important attribute that all professional poker players must possess is great instinct and the ability to listen to it.  If you watch any of the top players you will see that they have this innate ability to know when something is up and most of the time when they will win or lose a hand.  Almost all poker players have this, but learning to listen to it is the hard part.  Really listen to yourself when you play poker because most of the time your first instinct is right.

3. Passion: Poker can quickly become a boring game when you are playing 10+ hours per day 6-7 days a week.  To become a true pro you need to be dedicated to the game and really enjoy putting in the hours that are required to keep your game sharp.  This passion will help you through the days where you fold for hours on end or when you have a poor day playing.  Remember, if you don’t love the game, don’t try to be a pro at it.

4. Bankroll: This is probably the most basic aspect of becoming a pro but it is definetely crucial if you truly want to succeed.  Far too many people try to turn professional without the proper funding to do so.  If you want to play poker professionally, make sure that you have an adequate bankroll to play within your chosen limits and enough money to sustain a bad month at the tables.  Underfunded bankrolls are a sure way to ended a pro poker players career.

5. Knowledge: Being a poker pro means knowing all the games, rules, strategies and tricks inside and out.  Expect all of your oppenents to have all this knowledge as well so it is important that you constently study, practice and study some more.  Most of the top professionals watch countless hours of footage, read hand histories and study their opponents playing styles in order to gain an advantage while playing.  This type of research is essential in developing a sound poker game.

Hope you enjoy the article and the tips on playing poker like a pro.  If you want to play poker with some real professional such as Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and others check out Full Tilt Poker.  They offer a $600 bonus which you can get by visiting our Full Tilt Poker Page via this link.