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Any decent Holdem players here?


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I'm a pretty solid player myself, in that I'm the best player in my group of friends who play, especially heads-up.

 

In casinos however, where I play against strangers and arguably better players, I'm kind of...meh. I do a bit better than break even over the long haul, but not much. I favor the dollar-two tables for that reason.

 

Any specific pieces of advice? Any plays that tend to work for you? Any specific strats or counters that tend to pay you off? Any memorable hands that you would like to share? Post them here! I'd love to hear them.

 

My most memorable hand ever: the quick double-up hand

 

In Vegas, at a 1-2 table, I sat down with the table max, and wouldn't you know it I had pocket aces the first hand? I never get aces. Anyways I figure I'd raise quickly to make me look like a bully, so I raise it to 15. Kind of big for an opening raise at 1-2, which I did for table image, but not too big to scare everyone away. I got a reraise, and then an allin! Folds all around to me, and I snap call as to not get any more action. Folds all around, the guy had QQ. Poor guy. I flipped over my AA. I even had his suits dominated for the flushes. This was all preflop action on my first hand. The dealer flips the cards and I end up winning with an A high flush. Double up! Not the most skillful hand I've ever played, but definitely a great one. Perfect timing.

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My only plan is to always make every other player on the table hate playing against me. Not by doing anything cheap or irritating. Just by always betting an amount that makes their decision hard. Never bet a small amount that is easy for them to call, never go with a huge bet that makes their decision to fold easy. Every time I bet, I want the other players to have to think. Obviously it doesn;t always work that way, no matter what you bet if someone has a monster hand they are gonna reraise or try to string you along. But those hands don't happen that much.

 

Also I never call, either fold or raise. If my hand isn't good enough to raise with, I fold it.

 

It's pretty basic but if you actually go in thinking that "I want to make everyone else miserable" it usually works out.

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My only plan is to always make every other player on the table hate playing against me. Not by doing anything cheap or irritating. Just by always betting an amount that makes their decision hard. Never bet a small amount that is easy for them to call, never go with a huge bet that makes their decision to fold easy. Every time I bet, I want the other players to have to think. Obviously it doesn;t always work that way, no matter what you bet if someone has a monster hand they are gonna reraise or try to string you along. But those hands don't happen that much.

 

Also I never call, either fold or raise. If my hand isn't good enough to raise with, I fold it.

 

It's pretty basic but if you actually go in thinking that "I want to make everyone else miserable" it usually works out.

Re: bet size. Definitely. The only question is, what do you think the perfect bet size is? That varies depending on what you learn about your opponent, but I think a good starting point is leading out 2/3 pot on the flop. If I know nothing about my opponent, I will give that bet credit for (at least) top pair with a playable kicker.

 

1/2 pot lead could be anything. Or nothing; an attempt to get tight players to fold. It only has to be successful once out of three times to break-even. I typically raise this bet to try to figure the guy out if I'm at all interested in the hand. I might just fold if I know i'm against a mouse-type player, or call if I have top pair top kicker. I will weak lead like this if my hand misses AND if the timing feels right. Don't tell anybody :p

 

Pot-size bets and higher translates to "get the fuck out right now" and I will typically do so unless I have 2 pair or better (lucky) or I have a really really good draw with two callers already (never happens).

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That theory works well in walk on/random/casino (non professional) play...

 

Weekly, bar/club member tables are a different animal!

 

IMO, it's all about the environment...

Yeah, I tend to play a bit looser at a social club, seeing the same faces over and over again. I also tend to bet smaller. If I have the nuts I might even check it behind if I feel the pot was already "big enough". No need to put the screws to peeps you play with all the time. People remember little kindnesses like that. Friendship is always worth the investment.
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My only plan is to always make every other player on the table hate playing against me. Not by doing anything cheap or irritating. Just by always betting an amount that makes their decision hard. Never bet a small amount that is easy for them to call, never go with a huge bet that makes their decision to fold easy. Every time I bet, I want the other players to have to think. Obviously it doesn;t always work that way, no matter what you bet if someone has a monster hand they are gonna reraise or try to string you along. But those hands don't happen that much.

 

Also I never call, either fold or raise. If my hand isn't good enough to raise with, I fold it.

 

It's pretty basic but if you actually go in thinking that "I want to make everyone else miserable" it usually works out.

Re: bet size. Definitely. The only question is, what do you think the perfect bet size is? That varies depending on what you learn about your opponent, but I think a good starting point is leading out 2/3 pot on the flop. If I know nothing about my opponent, I will give that bet credit for (at least) top pair with a playable kicker.

 

1/2 pot lead could be anything. Or nothing; an attempt to get tight players to fold. It only has to be successful once out of three times to break-even. I typically raise this bet to try to figure the guy out if I'm at all interested in the hand. I might just fold if I know i'm against a mouse-type player, or call if I have top pair top kicker. I will weak lead like this if my hand misses AND if the timing feels right. Don't tell anybody :p

 

Pot-size bets and higher translates to "get the **** out right now" and I will typically do so unless I have 2 pair or better (lucky) or I have a really really good draw with two callers already (never happens).

 

I usually bet just over half the pot.

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I miss playing Hold'em. We had weekly games in college that started out as small cash games and grew to multi-table tournaments. They were always low stakes, but were a lot of fun. I won a few of them and placed highly in others, but even when I didn't, it was always a good time.

 

My favorite tournament was with some of my brother's friends, though. One's mother was there playing and she has played professionally in the past. On a fluky first hand where someone called her all-in on a nonsense bet, she ended up losing immediately, which means that, technically, I outlasted a professional poker player in a tournament.

 

My other favorite game involved a friend who didn't know the game at all trying to bluff another guy by calling an all-in with a 2-6 off-suit.

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My favorite game was just a cash game I played with some friends. I really stuck to strategy, played very tight/aggressive. In about 5 hours I only really played 5 hands. I mean there were a few times where the big blind went unraised so I threw in then but I mean really played as in bet after the flop. I won all 5 of the hands I played and nearly doubled up on every single one. Was just an original 10 dollar buy in and I walked out with about 200 bucks. Everyone else had to re buy over the course of the game. When I cashed out at the end of the night no one believed me because I "barely played".

 

I know that kind of strategy wouldn't work against really good players. If you played that tight they'd just fold when you finally did play. But it was fun that night and it worked.

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The last time I played was over 10 years ago, and I literally just had to walk out. The guys I was playing with clearly didn't understand the basic rules of the game but would argue to death with me about them. I left after one hand ended in a draw, but they kept insisting on using the "kicker" to declare one of them a winner, even though their "kicker" would have been the 6th card. Four of the cards were on the table and only one came from each of our hands. Apparently, "you can't play 6 cards in a 5 card game" isn't a basic part of the game.

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The last time I played was over 10 years ago, and I literally just had to walk out. The guys I was playing with clearly didn't understand the basic rules of the game but would argue to death with me about them. I left after one hand ended in a draw, but they kept insisting on using the "kicker" to declare one of them a winner, even though their "kicker" would have been the 6th card. Four of the cards were on the table and only one came from each of our hands. Apparently, "you can't play 6 cards in a 5 card game" isn't a basic part of the game.

Like: "I have a 9 -high straight with an Ace kicker? Lolz. What clowns. I hope they didn't rip you off.

 

I almost got beat up in a heads-up tourney at a club a year ago because some drunk a55hole couldn't figure out that your 2 pair can get counterfeited if the board ends up pairing itself. It was like: "Your 3 pair doesn't beat my higher 2 pair...because you really only have 2 pair [idiot]."

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Here a little cost-saver at the poker table that seems to benefit, at least at the casino atmosphere:

 

Min-raising a bet on the flop if you have a 4 flush in position. Here's why: if they DONT fold, it typically let's you see a free card on the turn and gets you to the river cheaper...which is what you want to do with a great draw. it seems most people think that if they are being raised, it is with a made hand. They won't put you on a flush draw, they won't 3-bet you...they will either fold or call. If they call, and you hit your flush...they will pay you off, and big as they will put you on a made hand that they can beat.

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