The following hand is from a $1,500 buy-in World Series of Poker event. Up until this point, I was extremely card dead. I actually only played three pots that went to the flop in the first three hours of play. When you happen to get relatively few playable hands, it is usually a good idea to attempt an intelligent, well-timed bluff, especially if your opponents realize that you have been tight and will give you more “respect” than usual. …
I flop top set and decide to slow play. I don’t slow play often, but this seemed like a decent spot for it. What do you think?
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Weekly Poker Hand #150 Read More »
I recently played an interesting hand in a $1,500 buy-in live tournament. Everyone started with 15,000 chips at 50/100 with hour-long levels, meaning there was lots of time to hang out and wait for strong hands. I realized that everyone at my table was implementing that strategy so I quickly adjusted and decided to attempt to steal every pot once it was clear no one was interested in winning. This allowed me to double my starting stack within three hours with almost no risk, which is always an amazing result. You will find that when you are constantly pushing your opponents around, your observant opponents will eventually assume that you are overly wild and may adjust. …
Playing fast and slow Read More »
I decide to get frisky with over cards on the flop and have to decide if I should continue bluffing on the turn and river.
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Weekly Poker Hand #149 Read More »
I recently witnessed this hand in a $1,000 buy-in even that clearly illustrates a flaw in many amateur players’ poker strategies. With blinds of 200/400 with a 50 ante with 23,000 effective stacks, everyone folded around to the button, a reasonably tight player, who raised to 900. The player in the small blind, we will refer to him as Hero, called with 3c-3s, and the big blind, an unknown player, called as well. …
Set turned into a bluff catcher Read More »
I make a snug fold on the flop with pocket Tens. Would you ever fold in this situation?
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Weekly Poker Hand #148 Read More »
I recently traveled to Hollywood, Florida for the 2017 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. The venue is amazing and I had a lot of fun. I started my trip off losing almost every pot in a $2,000 turbo. When that happens, do not become discouraged and instead realize that quite often, you will not get anything going in a poker tournament. After that, I built a large stack (eight starting stacks) early in the $3,500 WPT event but lost about 20 hands in a row to fall short of the money. Again, don’t get discouraged! …
My 2017 WPT Tournament of Champions Bustout Read More »
I flop top pair blind versus blind but somehow figure out a way to fold by the river.
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Weekly Poker Hand #147 Read More »
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 house Read More »
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