The World Series of Poker is right around the corner, so today I am going to share with you a hand from the WSOP two years ago where I managed to not go broke with the second nut full house. When you find yourself in a situation on the river (where the vast majority of amateur players play in a blatantly straightforward manner) where you face a polarizing bet, meaning your opponent either has the nuts or nothing, conserving your stack is of the utmost importance, even when you have a premium hand. …

Not going broke with a full houseRead More »

One of my students recently played this hand that illustrates a key concept that you must master if you want to succeed at no-limit hold’em. With blinds at 50/100 with 20,000 effective stacks early in a $500 buy-in tournament, a player who is known to be a loose, splashy calling station raised to 300. My student called on the button with 7s-6s. The blinds folded. …

Playing junk against calling stationsRead More »

I recently played hand in a $2,200 turbo event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that I think is quite instructional. It demonstrates two key concepts that you must master if you want to succeed at poker tournaments:

Avoid playing gigantic pots without the nuts

Constantly analyze your opponent’s range and figure out how to best take advantage of it …

Two Key Tournament ConceptsRead More »

The following hand illustrates a common leak that many amateur players have in their poker strategy. When they face the least bit of resistance, they fold all but their best hands. With blinds at 250/500-75 with 25,000 effective stacks in a $500 buy-in tournament, the cutoff raised to 1,200 and our Hero in this hand reraised to 3,000 with Jh-Jd on the button. Only the cutoff called. …

Don’t be a pushoverRead More »

At a European Poker Tour event, I played a fun hand with pocket Jacks that stirred up quite a bit of discussion. …

Fun spot with pocket jacksRead More »

This hand illustrates a common mistake that small stake no-limit hold’em cash game players make on a regular basis. With blinds at $1/$3 with a $300 effective stack, an unknown player called $3 from the cutoff. The player on the button, we will refer to him as Hero, called as well. Both blinds elected to see a cheap flop. …

Deciding when to slow playRead More »

In small stakes games, it is not uncommon to face opponents who think it is a good idea to limp in with a wide range of marginal hands. While this is almost certainly an indication that you are in a profitable game (because limping in is usually the sign of a weak player), you must be careful to not fall into the trap of overvaluing your marginal made hands once numerous players see the flop. …

Multi-way PotsRead More »