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Attacking Weak Players!
By: Mark Terry
The purpose of this article is to teach you how to spot & attack weak players at the poker table.
It does not matter if you are playing tournament or cash game poker,limit or no-limit,Spot the weak players & attack them.
First off when you are not involved in a hand you need to be watching the other players very closely, dont make it obvious that you are watching, just pay attention to how they are playing,what type of hands that they show down, do they always muck at the end and seldom drag a pot etc.
You have heard the old saying if you cant spot the fish at the table then you are the fish....I have found this to be very true.
Ok I know ive gotten a little off subject here so lets get back to how you can spot a weak player.
If you see a person who is playing 8 out of 10 hands = weak player
If they call big raises preflop and fold to a continuation bet = weak player
If they seldom raise a pot or win a hand = weak player
When you see this type of player at the table with you it really does not matter what cards you hold, you are playing the player and not the cards.
There is no need to wait for a big hand with them,just simply attack them.
9 times out of 10 unless they hold the nuts or close to the nuts they will fold to you or even better they will call you all they way to the end and muck their hand just like you have seen them do all night.
So in other words when it is there big blind you need to attack it, raise with any 2 cards,make a continuation bet after the flop and make money.
But you have to be careful of the other people in the game and if a good player makes a move at you just simply fold, it has cost you very little to know that you are beat.
Aggressive players win at hold em!
Calling stations seldom win at hold em!
Be selective and be agressive and win!
Be Unreadable. (for NL Texas Hold Em Tournaments )
By: Mark Terry
As I'm certain you all know it is a good idea in any form of poker to try and be unreadable if you play the same hands the same way your opponents will pick up on what you are doing and will adjust their strategy.
Heres a little tip....anypot that you play...IF YOU ARE GOING TO RAISE...raise the same amount everytime,and base the amount that you raise by the size of the blinds.
Example: The blinds are 1/2 you raise it and make it 600 to go.
3 x BB 200 = 600
Make that same raise whether you are holding AK or a pair of 3s.....if you will raise the same amount everytime it will make it hard for your opponents to put you on a hand.
Also always wait until its your turn to act before you even look at your hand....be watching the other opponents!
sometimes you can pick up alot of info about what an opponent holds just by simply watching them while they look at their cards.
This next little tip works just as well online as it does in a live game.
Before you act on your hand make it a habit of couting to 5.
just pause and count to yourself 1,2,3,4,5 and take the time to look at what you are holding, how many players are in the pot etc. before you act on your hand.
Try out these little tips and let me know if they help!
Don't Overplay Big Slick AK
By: Mark Terry
One thing that I have been noticing alot lately is that more and more players are overplaying Big Slick or AK.
Big Slick is a quality starting hand and I think that is the reason why it is being missplayed so much...so I thought I would offer a little advice.
If you have AK and you miss the flop it may be in your best interest to just fold.
After the flop you have seen 70% of you hand....alot of times people will chase or call big bets and hit a ACE or King on the turn or the river and finally realize that their hand is no good.
Example= you raised it pre-flop and got 2 callers the flop came down
10 5 7
If one your opponent holds 1010 or 55 or 77 they have flopped a set and you are in big trouble.
Wait until you flop an ACE or King and then proceed with caution.
Learn to read your opponents.....Click here for more info on reading!
Another example is if someone has A7 and they flop 2 pair on you.
A 2 7
Again you are in bad shape....theres only 3 kings left in the deck thats assuming that they havent already been folded by other players preflop. Sure you can still win if the turn and river come 88 or 10 10 but think about it, how often does that happen?
Wait until you get a great flop for AK then get aggressive and win!
Does it Pay to be rude at the table?
Well since I was raised by a nice polite southern lady. I have manners and I try my best to use them at all times!
I sometimes am amazed at some of the stupid things people do/say at the poker table.
Since texas hold em poker has gotten so popular it seems that more & more people are trying to be like some of the players they see on TV (like Mike Matisow or Tony G) sorry guys you were just the 1st to come to mind, anyway do you think that it pays to be rude?
My answer to that question is simply no.
How many times have you heard someone say I cant believe that you called me with that hand, when they lost the pot. Although I truly understand the pain of having a quality hand like Pocket Rockets or AK getting beat by A rag or 62 for that matter it just doesnt make sense to me to insult someone who is playing poorly, when you should in fact be glad that there are terrible players out there, who in the long run, if you play quality hands in position, you are gonna make alot of money off them.
Just take it like a man/woman and clear your head, don't show emotion and say nice hand and move on.
Anyway theres plenty of A$$#oles in the world without you letting a few bad beats turn you into one.
Think positive.....Good things happen to people who think positive and the next time you take a horrible beat just try to remember this tip.
No Limit Texas Hold Em Freezeout Tournament Tips!
By: Mark Terry
This article is designed to work on just about any type of tournament poker, whether it be a 9 player sit and go or a 900 player multi table tournament as long as it is a freeze out ,meaning that everyone starts with the same amount of chips and there are no add ons or rebuys.
In any tournament there are several factors that determine how you should play certain types of hands....example if you have a medium pair but you have a huge chip stack then maybe you might want to raise it up preflop and steal the blinds and antes or if you are really shortstacked then you might want to just limp in and not risk getting raised preflop with a very marginal hand. with all that being said I will begin my lesson with stage 1.
Stage 1 = Early in tournament.
I play alot on Full Tilt Poker and in most of FTPs tourneys you start out with 1500 chips. Early in the tournament can either make you or break you so my strategy here is to try and do either one of two things to reach my goal....my goal being getting alot of chips.
The strategy that you will use will depend on your table...is everyone playing extremly tight or is it a crazy table? where there there is alot of action preflop. Rasing and Re-Rasing.
If I am at a tight table then I will try to play marginal hands with position and win the pots preflop without having to show my hand, now remember that in no limit hold em you can go broke in any single hand... so you will have to watch your opponents very closely and see what types of hands that they are showing down.
Are they really tight players only getting involved in a pot when they have a huge hand like AA or KK....maybe they are loose and agressive and raising big preflop and the showing a hand like K 10 offsuit.....on full tilt you can color code your players and take notes of them if you arent doing that yet you had better start because human are creatures of habits and they will make alot of the same type of moves over and over and your goal is to catch them when they make a move and get those chips.
I know I have gotten a little off track here but bare with me because early in the tournament in my opinion is where you either set yourself up in great shape to win or you set yourself up to lose.
OK so you are at a tight table, what you need to do is any hand that you play bring it in for a small raise = small raise is 3x the big blind. so if the BB is 50 then you bring it in for 150 chips this will do 2 things it will leesen the amount of players in the hand,giving you a better shot at winning the pot and you can learn some valuable information from this raise.
always try to be in position when you play a hand, position means being on the button or the last person to act after the flop. because alot of the times if you throw about a 1/2 the pot bet here with position you are only gonna get called by a very strong hand.
and you can take the pot down right there and never have to show a hand.
Table image is very important and early in the tourney is when you set up that tight image that you can use later on to steal the blinds and antes.
early in the tourney if you are at a crazy table, just patiently wait until you get a top 3 or 4 starting hand before you even play a pot, or if you are card dead then wait until you have position and you get a hand like AJ suited then you can throw a raise in there and see what happens.......my point is early in the tourney you need to be accumulating chips, dont even waste you time seeing the flop unless you have a good starting hand a position, If you will do this and wait until you get a hand then you wont have to worry all that much about being outplayed after the flop.
Good starting hands mean AA KK QQ AK and if you have position any pair and even hands like KQ suited or even 67 suited.
Ok here is an example of a hand that will come up many times early in tourneys.
Lets say that the tourney has been running for 20 minutes and you havent played a single hand, you have pocket 10s and position because you are on the button.
So the guy in first position is a very tight player, he has more chips than you and he brings it in for a raise... he makes it 200 to go and everyone folds to you.... what do you do.
well what I do is I flat call, you dont wanna raise because he could have you beat and re-raise you and then you would have to fold, so just flat call and see the flop.
Now Im Gonna give you 4 different flops.
1st flop is great for you hand,
10 3 7 rainbow = meaning all the cards are different suits so a flush is unlikely.
You have flopped top set and this is when you need to get some money in the pot as quickly as possible. All of it, if they move in on you here. Lets say they have pocket AA and they go all in well guess what theres only 2 cards left in the deck that give them a winner, so if they push you all in here you can bet that you are gonna be looking at a big overpair or a set fo 3s or 7s. and you will be a huge favorite to win the hand and get the chips.
2nd flop is pretty darn good for your hand,
7s 8c 9s
Ok here you have a pair bigger than the board and an open ended straight draw.
The only thing that really could hurt this hand is if the raiser had a hand like AK spades, which give him 2 over cards and a flush draw.
but since you have a made hand and a good draw if they push you all in then guess what? you have got to call and hope they miss. to win any tournament you have to have luck and its good luck for you if they miss the draws.
3rd flop is terrible
Ad Kh 9h
Ok on this flop if they raiser had a hand like AK with the ace of hearts in his hand then you are in trouble you need to muck this hand as quickly as possible. remember he raised preflop so you have got to give him credit for an hand here and get rid of your 10s. Even if the guy is a maniac and has raised every pot Fold, its just not worth the risk. because 8 times outta 10 youre gonna be looking at an ace or a king here.
4th Flop - I kinda like it
Qh 5d 5s
You know this flop may look horrible to you at first but lets look a little closer, If they raiser does not have a pocket pair bigger than your 10s or a queen in his hand then you are in great shape, thats why position is so great in poker.....If he come out with a big bet then all you have to do is fold....if he checks then you bet...most of the time hes gonna fold if he does not have you beat.
so just use common sense and if he checks throw out a feeler bet and most of the time you will pick the pot up right there, epecially if you have been playing real tight...they are gonna give you respect for a hand and fold.
So lets review our strategy for the early part of the tournament.
Watch the table closely, play small pots and accumulate chips if you are at a tight table.
If you are at a loose table wait until you get a great hand and flop and get your chips in when you are a huge favorite to win.
NOTE = I used all in alot in the 1st section, I do not like going all in unless all the cards are out meaning the Flop, Turn and river and I am holding the nuts. or very close to the nuts. In any stage of a tournament....I'll get into this a little more in depth later. lets move on to the next section.
Section #2 = Middle Stages of tournament
Ok in the middle stages of the tournament I like to take advantage of all the people who are low on chips and want to try and cash in the tourney. This is assuming that I have alot of chips....because I have been playing tight and now is when you shift gears and steal some blinds and antes.
Lets say that youve been playing a 450 player Multi table tourney and the top 45 players are gonna get paid.
You need to be paying attention to how many players are left in the tourney and when it gets to about 55 players left than you need to start getting more aggressive and playing more hands with position and stealing the blinds and antes.
If you have a big stack dont be afraid to use it because the worst thing that can happen if you use this technique properly is you make a raise and have to fold.
Lets say the blinds are at 150 and 300 with a 25 chip ante.
If you have a full table of 9 players then thats 675 chips that you can pick up just by raising eveytime that you have a marginal hand with position...in fact most players do not want to risk being eliminated that close to the money and you need to use it to your advantage.....If you are really deep stacked I would recommend raising evey hand until someone call you.......one time I raised 24 pots in a row before I ever got called....needless to say I easily won that tourney just because I had a huge amount of chips and could apply pressure on my opponents until they made a mistake and then Id bust em.
Stage 3 - The final table.
When I get to the final table my strategy is to move up in the money. Its just that simple, If I have alot of chips then I will go on auto fold until I get a premium hand and then I raise and hopefully take the pot down then and there, but If i get called and the caller comes out with a huge bet if I aint way ahead of him ,I will just simply fold. Let the shorter stacks bust each other, just go on autofold and move up in the money.
Just use your common sense and see what kind of hands your opponents are showing down and dont be ashamed to fold, and naturally if you pick up AA KK or even AK or AQ play it aggressive and let the best hand win.
Well lets say your in a 1 & 2 NL cash game and you are on the button and you look down and you have a pair of 6s.
Two people have already limped in before you so you decide to make a small raise, make it $15 you say and casually throw the chips in the pot.
The 1st limper folds and then the 2nd limper says raise it, make it $50 well what do you do now. Is it worth another $35 just to see the flop with a hand that unless you hit your 2 outer is probally gonna lose.
Thats the trouble with raising with a medium pair.
I think the best way to play them is to try and limp in with them and if you hit a set then get the money in?
But an occasional raise with a small pair will throw off your opponents and make your play less predictable....but lets be honest do you really wanna put in another $35 with a little pair of 6s.
Bankroll management or knowing when to quit!
By: Mark Terry
Being a professional card player one of the things that Ive noticed over the years is that alot of newbies and even veterans of the game dont know when to quit!
So I thought I would offer this piece of advice, lets say for example that you play mainly online NL texas holdem at small stakes of .05 & .10 cent blinds, the buy in for this type of table is normally a minimum of $4 and a maximum of $10 if you lose 4 buy ins of $10 you need to quit!
Now when I say quit I dont mean stop playing the game all together, just stop for awhile and think about the hands that you lost, were you playing poor starting hands? were you getting outplayed after the flop by the other players? or maybe you were just plain old unlucky.
My point is if you have lost that much already you just need to call it a day and make the proper adjustments to your game and start again the next day or after a few hours of rest when you are fresh and focused.
Lets face it if you take a few bad beats then you get off your A game and you dont play your best.
Now on the other side of the coin if you are playing in the same game mentioned above and you have run a $10 buy in into $70 or more.....you need to quit!
I know what you are thinking, has he gone mad Im crushing this game I need to keep playing, well it has been my experience that if you are up that much and you want to keep playing then simply move to another table!
The reason I say that is because the other players have been watching you and are adjusting to your game and when your that far ahead you really dont have that much to gain but you have alot to lose!
So just move to another table where the players arent really familiar with your game and start over again.
I also recommend that you do not play over 5 hr sessions because the fact of the matter is that most people lose focus and arent as sharp and focused after that long of a session.
Remember these tips and they will help you build a bankroll and keep it.
1. Dont play bad starting hands !
2. Dont play when you are losing!
3. Dont play when you are tired!
4. Dont play when you are drunk!
5. Dont play when you are on tilt!
6. Dont play marginal hands out of position!
7. Dont play against me........LOL....thats real bad for your bankroll.
Let me be brief with this lesson.
Pocket aces will earn you alot more money that pocket kings in NL Texas Hold Em .
Pocket aces will earn you an average of 50 to 55% more money in the long run than pocket kings.
Think about why AA will earn more!
If you have KK and some one limps in with A3 and hits an ace on the flop....sometimes it is hard to get away from the kings, especially if you are playing against a very aggressive player who will bet when an ace hits the board and represent that he has it and usually when you decide to call him down, as JT says that when you get the Bad News and he beats you.
Learn to protect the KK preflop with a good size raise and at least make them pay if they are gonna try and flop out on you.
Learn to read the players....watch how they bet...when they bet...what type of hands they are showing down and dont be afraid to fold, wait patiently until you are more certain that the KK is good.
On the flip side, AA it is the best starting hand preflop period.
The way I like to play it is to throw a raise out there if everyone is trying to see the flop!
Because if there are 6 players looking at the flop AA is not a favorite anymore.
Someone will out flop you!
But if you can, especially in NL hold em try to limp in with the AA.
I say this because if someone behind you raises then you can smooth call and disguise the strength of your hand.
AA is huge shorthanded.
If someone has AK, AQ or even A rag then you are in great shape against them.
If they have KK or any other pair....thats even better, you've got them crushed!
This is where you make your money!
But please remember that AA will earn you alot more money in the long run than KK.
May the flop be with you.
Have you ever heard the old saying plan your work then work your plan?
Some of the most successfull people in the world believe in goal setting!
So you should to!
Personally I have a goal to win a 10K buy in NL Hold Em tournament .
And I believe that I will do it someday.....soon.
A few tips for your goal!
1. Set a realistic goal.
You notice my goal was not to win 5 10k buy ins this year!
2. Work everyday toward your goal!
I usually play satellites everyday & when I'm not doing that I'm playing poker building my bankroll.
3. If at 1st you don't succeed try and try again.
Rome was not built in a day...you cannot master any form of poker without taking some hits along the way...but be above average and don't give up, just keep plucking away and if you have to go to lower limits to win hey...thats better than playing bigger games and losing.
4. Don't forget to do your homework!
Read Books and watch DVD's ,visit my links page & check out other sites for more info about whatever your goals is! Just don't forget to come back to WWW.Holdem101.info because we want you to be a winner and will do anything possible to make it happen!
Email Me if theres ever anything that I can help you with.
5. Picture yourself accomplishing your goal!
Keeping a positive attitude will go along way with helping you reach your goal.
Just envision yourself reaching your goal and how sweet its gonna be.
6. Write it Down.
Sounds crazy but if you will write your goal down from time to time it will help you stay focused and on track....try it....it really works!
7. Let me know!
Email Me(at the bottom of this page) when you reach your goal.
Id love to hear from you....and I might even put you on this website as an inspiration for others to believe in themselves and reach their goals!
I am always looking for feedback from other players and articles for my website, if you have any email me and I will gladly post them... If I feel they are beneficial.
Use your head!
By: MT
This article is really about just using common sense!
I wanted to tell you about a hand that I played on Full Tilt Poker recently
and point out what I think were some very common mistakes.
Ok we were playing $1/$2 No Limit Texas Holdem .
I was on the button and had a 45 of diamonds.
I love looking at cheap flops with suited connectors when I have position because if you hit the flop just right you can make alot of money off other peoples mistakes.
Ok I have one opponent in middle position who has limped in before me,the action gets to me and I smooth call.
Then the action gets to the small blind and he makes a small raise of $4.00.
The limper calls and I call.
Flop comes down 4s Ad 4c
I have flopped a set of 4s.....I'm getting excited.
The action is on the raiser and he checks, the guy in middle position make a $15.00 bet....the action gets to me and I am trying to think of what kind of hands he could possibly have that could have me beat.....I put him on a medium pair....and just call....then the small blind flat call...and I'm starting to wonder if my hand is any good.
Anyway the turn is a 4h.......Yahtzee....I've got the stone cold nuts....I know my hand is good now.
OK the action is back on the original raiser and he checks, then the guy in middle position makes a huge bet of $100.00....action gets to me and i wait....wait....and just patiently flat call.....then the small blind (who keep in mind was the original raiser) Goes Allin.....it comes back to the limper (he has more money in front of him than me and the original raiser)...hes starting to suspect something and he flat calls then the action gets to me and I go allin for $140.00 more. The limper calls and its show down...the original raiser has AA, the limper has AK and I have 45d.
Finally...the river is a 9.
I win a huge pot :0)
Now lets analyze this a little closer and see where I think some mistakes were made.
1. Original raiser only makes it $4.00 to go preflop with AA.
I think that the raise was to small.....its a wonder that there werent more players going to the flop because trust me this was a wild table who would pay $10 to see a flop with 72os.....I saw them do it several hands prior.
2. Limper had the option to Re-Raise with AK.
I think that even though the raiser had him beat with AA its a good idea to Re-Raise here with AK and I will tell you why.
If the OR had a medium pair he was in a coin toss situation and he could have forced him to fold pre-flop and took down the pot right there.
Also a Re-Raise here would have gotten rid of a hand like mine preflop.
When the AA came back over the top of his raise he could have just folded and moved on!
3. After Flop AA should have raised it up when he had the best hand.
Look at how unlikely it was for me to catch the case 4.
If he makes a $100 raise I'm gonna fold my hand because I know I can be beaten.
I mean a K4 has me in pretty bad shape.
4. On the turn when there are three 4s on the board and a bet and a call.
Ok there are 4 aces in the deck.....youve got 2 of them in your hand and theres 1 on the board...so that only leaves 1 ace.....but wait theres still 2 players in the hand?
Do you think someone is gonna stick $100 in a pot with a KK against that board...well its not a profitable play....you have to get rid of the AA and The AK here and give me credit for a 4.
5. When I shove it allin at the river they both should have folded........99% of the time you will be looking at a 4 here with this action.
When Playing poker use common sense.....you'll be surprised at how it will help you learn how to read opponents and put them on hands.
Remember poker is a lifelong game...while you will have winning and losing streaks the player who are the big winner in the long run are the ones who make the least mistakes, and learn from their mistakes!
