Poker Lessons Blog

Once poker players start to play well at a certain level and experience some success, they are faced with the dilemma of whether to move up limits or begin multi-tabling. And while both methods can bring you increased profits, one way is definitely superior over the other when making the decision. Here is a comparison of both strategies, as well as the positives and negatives for each one.

Moving up in Stakes

Ultimately, everybody wants to move up in stakes because it means more earnings per hour. To put it simply, making 3bb per hour in $3/$6 NLHE is enough to make a living off of, while making 6bb per hour in $0.25/$0.50 NLHE is just a profitable hobby.

On the other hand, you also have to consider that every time you move up in stakes, the competition gets slightly tougher, and the way the game is played changes too. All of this being said, every increase in stakes takes some time to get used to.

Multi-Tabling

With multi-tabling, you have to make decisions quicker, which leaves you with less time to analyze opponents and make quality moves. Since decisions come faster, you should never start multi-tabling until you are able to beat the current stakes on a single table.

But once you are able to beat the limits you’re at over a good range of hands/tournaments, you should begin playing more than one table immediately. The advantage you get with multi-tabling over moving up limits is that you are put into the same spots over and over again at the same stakes. And as you begin to recognize patterns with the same situations, you’ll be able to make extra profits across two or more tables.

Aside from the repetition factor, another benefit to multi-tabling before moving up limits is that you can increase your bankroll before playing higher stakes. And as you push your advantage over multiple tables, those profits will surely come if you are able to keep up with the faster decisions. Once you are properly rolled after multi-tabling, you should move up limits and start the process again.

Online poker is filled with people who think they’re awesome after reading a few strategy articles and watching a couple of videos.  But the reality is that there are more bad players than good, which is why so many millionaires have been built through the game.  If you’re starting to wonder which category you fit into, take a look at these 5 signs of a fish.

1. You think Pre-flop is the most important part of a hand

One of the biggest faults of a fish is that they treat pre-flop play like it’s the world’s biggest decision.  The fish knows that one needs to raise with A-A before the flop, yet avoid playing unsuited 6-7 in early position.  However, a fish is pretty sketchy when it comes to knowing they are beat or value betting to get maximum value out of great hands.  And as most players know, this is where the real profits in poker come from.

2. You don’t properly use poker strategy

It’s not that hard to read a poker strategy article or watch a video.  After all, anybody who has half a brain can do this.  The real skill comes in when you are applying what you’ve learned to the table.  This means not only learning a strategy concept, but also learning the right situations to use it in, and the right players to use it against.

3. You think about your opponent’s hand, but never about what your opponent thinks you have

Anybody who knows ABC poker strategy realizes that you have to consider what an opponent might have.  However, fish never think about what an opponent thinks they have.  And if you aren’t thinking about an opponent’s perception of your hand, you’ll never get maximum value out of a hand.

4. You play each street separately

The majority of poker players make decision based on each street, then wonder how they ended up in such a bad spot.  Good players, on the other hand, begin each hand with a plan for how they’ll play each street.  If you do this, you’ll be in control of hands rather than being forced to react to what others are doing.

5. You are overly optimistic about implied odds

Some fish know that implied odds allow them to play more hands and be more aggressive.  But what they don’t know is that it’s all too easy to overestimate implied odds.  And when you start overestimating implied odds, you’ll be spending too much money to hit your hand, and others will fold once your hand does hit.

Check it out. Pretty hilarious video, and definitely worth a look!

Poker icons Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington were recently added to the Poker Hall of Fame, thus ending the debate about whether any of the younger players such as Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu would get in.

Of course, Seidel and Harrington aren’t shabby selections with both bringing impressive resumes to the table.  Seidel is an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner, and he was the 1988 Main Event runner-up to Johnny Chan.  This finish was made famous by the movie “Rounders” when Chan was shown beating Seidel for the title.  In addition to his WSOP exploits, Seidel has over $10,350,000 in career tournament winnings along with a World Poker Tour victory.

Dan Harrington’s playing accomplishments include 2 WSOP bracelets, a WPT title, and over $6,600,000 in career tournament winnings.  Besides his tournament accomplishments, Harrington is also well known in the poker world for writing strategy books.  The Harrington on Hold’em and Harrington on Cash Games series have made Dan even ore famous than his actual playing accolades.  Plus Harrington has the dubious distinction of giving himself a self-proclaimed nickname in “Action Dan.”

What’s really interesting about Seidel and Harrington is that they both played together in New York City.  Seidel hit on this when he said, “I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year, and it’s an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington.  We have played together and have been great friends for my entire poker career.  Both of us refined our games at the Mayfair Club in New York.”

It’s definitely cool to see both of these guys get into the Poker HOF as they’ve been playing together since the 1980’s.

As the final Poker Hall of Fame vote draws nearer for the class of 2010, Phil Ivey looks like one of the strongest candidates to grab one of the two available spots. He has accomplished more than any other player has in an all-around sense, and Ivey is considered to be the best poker player in the world. Some of his incredible accomplishments include the following:

- A record 9 World Poker Tour final table appearances
- LA Poker Classic title
- 8 WSOP gold bracelets
- Monte Carlo Millions title
- All-time live tournament winnings leader (over $13.5 million)
- Consistently dominates online and offline high stakes poker games
- Single-handedly carried “The Corporation” on his back against Texas billionaire Andy Beal (Ivey won $16 million off of Beal)

Since he is not only a poker legend, but has the accomplishments to back it up, one would think that Ivey is already a lock to make the Poker Hall of Fame this year. Unfortunately, there appears to be one more requirement that’s not noted: you have to be old as dirt to be voted in.

At least this seems to be the case according to Doyle Brunson who says that Ivey (34 years old) is not old enough to make the HOF. Brunson also threw Daniel Negreanu into the discussion as being too young (36 years old), but most people don’t consider him on the same level as Ivey.

Not surprisingly, Brunson did mention a couple of older guys in Barry Greenstein (55 years old) and Erik Seidel (50 years old) as his favorites to make the Poker HOF. He said, “I gave almost all of my votes to Erik. Most people don’t remember his cash game play, but he was in all of the games in his early career. He meets all the requirements, and his exemplary conduct deserves a special accolade. He reminds me of Chip Reese.”

Sure Seidel may be deserving, but so is Ivey. And he shouldn’t be kept out of the Hall of Fame just because he isn’t old enough.

Long gone are the days when captured spies were tortured relentlessly until they revealed everything they knew.  Now they get fame, fortune, and apparently a chance to release their own iPhone poker game application.

Russian spy Anna Chapman, who was one of 10 spies recently arrested for espionage, released a new game called Poker with Anna Chapman.  The game is being sold as an Apple iPhone application, and some of the perks to playing Poker with Anna Chapman are that you’ll get to see her in scantily-clad outfits during the game and supposedly be able to play poker with Anna.

One definitely has to question the statement that you’ll be playing against Chapman herself, and also that she will add you to Facebook provided you beat her.  Outrageous claims aside, you will get to see lots of hot pictures of Chapman while you’re playing this game.  Judging from the pictures, the obvious angle of Poker with Anna Chapman is that they want to put her in a James Bond-girl role.

Since being apprehended by US authorities, it has been all partying and fame for Chapman.  She has done some modeling, partied in nightclubs, done magazine interviews, and grabbed numerous newspaper headlines.  Most of Chapman’s fame stems from hear beauty, and it’s doubtful that she has any real poker skills to speak of.  Even with this being the case, don’t expect Anna Chapman’s 15 minutes of fame to end anytime soon.

Whenever you’re in a poker tournament, it’s definitely preferable to be playing with a big stack as opposed to the smaller one.  However, as most tournaments grind on, you will eventually find yourself with a short stack.  But just because you are the short stack does not mean that you should go all-in while holding nothing.

Your ideal all-in situation would come when you are holding quality cards.  However, if a good hand such as Q-Q isn’t happening, you need to know what to do with lesser cards.

For instance, if you are holding Q-J, and your opponent has A-K, you are a 40% favorite to win the hand.  Also, you have better than 2-1 odds in this situation so you should certainly make the call.  Sure the odds are against you on winning, but taking a chance to increase your stack is definitely preferable to being blinded out.

Poker is definitely a risky game since you’re risking lots of money in hopes of making more.  Since there is already enough risk involved in poker, you definitely don’t want to be adding any further headaches by making bad plays.  In fact, you want to stick to only making good risks in the tournaments you play.

Making pre-flop raises is certainly one risk that can pay big dividends.   By raising before the flop, you will not only force some of the drawing hands to fold, but you also get more chips in the pot from the people that do call.

Another good risk to take in poker is going all-in at certain points of the tournament.  By going all-in, you actually give yourself a chance to win the tournament….rather than just placing well.  Some players prefer to sit back and wait until their stack is short before going all-in.  However, you will never go deep in tourneys with this mentality.

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Just like with any other poker variation, there are certain Omaha hands that can get you into a lot of trouble.  The reason they’re trouble is because these hands look good, but guarantee you nothing.  Here are some of the hands you should be careful with in Omaha.

Small Flush Draws

Small flushes are trouble because they are normally beaten by a bigger flush.  For instance, holding 4h-3h-9d-Qc on a flop of Jh-3c-8h isn’t good because there’s most likely another player who has a higher flush draw.

Low Straight Draws

This is the same story as the small flush; just because you have a straight draw does not mean that it’s a quality straight draw.

Small Pairs

The best you can do with small pairs is to go for a low three-of-a-kind or the rare 4-of-a-kind.  Even if you do hit your draw with these, there are always plenty of straight and flush draws in every Omaha hand looking to beat you.

Most poker players don’t put a whole lot of thought into freeroll poker tournaments because the entry is, well, free.  In the worst case scenario, you’ll have to use some player points to participate in a poker freeroll.

For this reason, you’ll find a lot of maniac players who go all-in and raise with garbage hands like Q-4 all of the time.  And while they’ll get lucky once and a while, this is certainly no way to consistently win in a freeroll.

Playing like this will bust you out of a freeroll very quickly so you want to take a more conservative approach to playing freerolls.  A good idea is to play really tight and wait for great hands to come since the blinds will be low.

Sure you’ll need to take risks later on, but you should value any freeroll entry in the early going instead of taking over-the-top risks.