Good to hear from you, and thanks for the comment. I think you’re absolutely right, what I’m dealing with is as much to do with the little differences between online and tournament play. The two are different because tournaments rarely offer the opportunity for deep stack poker, and for decisions over all three streets. What they lack in these respects is made up for by having to make a big number of crucial decisions pre-flop.

You hit on one of the most interesting issues in tournament poker, and that is chip conservation. The interesting thing is that different chips can be “worth” different amounts; typically, the last few chips are worth more, as they represent your tournament life. However, I still feel that most players put a little too much emphasis on survival, and that maybe this is for emotional rather than strategic reasons- i.e they want to stay in the tournament for a little longer. One of the interesting things I am seeing recently is people actually not taking the gambleof slow-playing a big hand, when the situation is perfect to do so. They often mutter something like “you hvae to protect your hand,” which is true, but I find that an obsession with this can stop people getting full value out of their big hands.

Hope things are going well mate, and speak again soon. I’m going down to London on Tuesday to play for a few days, which I’ll be updating on here.

See you at a final table soon!

From what i have been reading lately your adjustement is not so much from online to live poker but mainly from tournament to cash game. The difference between the 2 of them is massive as a good cash game player simply have to reach is pocket to rebuy if there is a need rather then taking a risk of putting yourself out of a tourney when there is no need in a tournament. I would have to say that the main difference between the 2 type of game is simply how to protect your chips in a tourney and manage to make the most of them along the way and also passing a lot more playable cash hand.

Let me know what you reckon as of course my comment is probably based simply on my experience and god know you have a lot more then me

Take care Stuart and hopefully one day we meet on a final table.
Dom

I hold 2d2c
He has XxYy

I am the button he has raised in middle position to 6p in our game (blinds 1p/2p)- we play a fun £10 game daily.

I am the only caller (on the button) and there is 15p in the pot going to flop. I consider him loose, aggressive and northern.

flop 2s8c7c

He checks the flop (which scared me- he usually bets at most pots). I bet 8p (half pot) he calls. Turn 10d he checks, i again bet 2/3 pots. which is about 20p (pot now 51p) he now check raises me 60 on top. (pot now 130p). This concerns me. I think he may be representing something like Xc9c but i’m sure he would have played it much more aggressively. I reraise (which i think was a mistake to 200p on top) he moves all in very quickly and I go into the tank. I wonder why he has committed the rest of his stack 6-700p like this. I make the call and he flips over jc9c.
I am pretty much drawing to the muck and blank comes on the river.
I remarked how expertly i thought he played the hand and he told me playing poker was how he managed to escape from the north!

I thought he would have played that hand much more aggressively on the flop and would have called my reraise rather than push it on the turn which is why i called. He pretty much hand the hand i least expected in many regards!

Second situation:
I have aces, same players, same postion same stakes.
I raise after he has limped flop:

Ad2c3c
Having watched him subsequently in between these two hands i thought he would only check raise with a drawing hand, check call with a made hand (of variable strength) or massive drawing hand as above and then look to bully me on the turn when the scare card or draw card completed his hand.
So I flop the top set and he checks the flop i over bet the pot. 20p into a pot of 15p. He check raises me another 50p ontop (pot was 55p now 105p). I wonder why he has done this and decide to reraise here to 3pounds (a mistake ? I think i should have called- but thinking i had him done for anyway).
He moves all in (the move i was expecting with what i thought was something like Xc5c so i call instantly.
He turns over 4d5d…i am crushed once again and the turn and river offer me no redemption (when does it ever?)

What am i do to ? How do u play against tricky players who mix up their drawing hands?
Should i call more ? Should i consider a different strategy? I opted to call on the first board and lost so i decided to play it aggressively and not let him bully me on the turn but i still lost. Help!
Thanks
T bear

Poker ettiquette- This sounds an unfortunate story, but I have to say not an unusual one. Most poker players are kind and reasonable people, but there can always be one or two who get too absorbed in the game, and leave their sense of decency at the cash desk. The word “ego” you used is the crucial word here, as it is preciisely this that makes some people unpleasant at the table.

However, ego does one other big thing for this type of player, and here is the good news. Reading again through the story, it was a horrible situation, and such an unfortunate way to bust out. However, if we think poker-wise, there was only one loser here; it as your friend’s opponent, and it seems that the reason was precisely his ego. In any poker hand, it’s important to measure the ‘result’ not by who won the chips at the end, but what the state of play was when the chips went it. Here, our villian managed to put so many chips in drawing to just five outs. It is just a shame that there is sometimes no justice in poker.

To come back to your question “what should we do against this type of individual?” I think we have answered it here. If you can keep a cool head yourself, you will find that the villian’s self-importance and brashness will override any judgement he has, and cause him to try to give you his chips. It is never a pleasant thing when someone acts like this, but you can at least know that it means that mistakes are likely to come. Soon the villian will be left with a bank balance as lowly as his IQ.

Of course you don’t want this kind of atmosphere at the table, but sometimes it is unavoidable. I think it is really worthwhile to present a calm and friendly demeanour at the table. Unfortunatly, there will always be some inidiviudals who can’t spell “calm.” Trust that the poker gods will be with you, and send them back home on their bikes, to look for their morality.

3) Marginal hands on the flop- this is a great question, and encapsualtes one of the most difficult skills of the game, of playing based on your opponent’s hand, just as much as your own. There is one crucial factor here, which determines whether or not you should attempt to continue with marginal hands-position.

Position is so important, as it gains you information about the strength of your opponent’s hand. If you are out of position, your disadvantage is at its starkest when you have a marginal hand. If your hand does not improve, you will have to check to your opponent twice, almost inviting him to take the pot away from you.

However,if you are in position, the tables are turned. Now, you can decide whether to continue with the hand, and whether to put pressure on, based on your opponet’s action. If he checks to you on the turn, you can represent any number of things by betting. You can represent that you flop flat-call was the beginnnings of a trap with a massive hand, adn you can be even more creative by using scare cards to take the pot away.

Let’s say you hold 65, and the board comes 1095. You call your opponent’s bet, on the combined strength of two things. You have a pair, and may have the best hand, but you have any number of scare card ‘outs’ which you can use to buy the pot.Ifthe turn comes any Q,J, 8 or 7, and you sense weakness in your opponent, you hvae a great opportunity to represent a straight or two pair.Moreover, if you do catch a 6 or 5 to improve your hand, you have the chance to win a big pot.

In short, you should avoid calling with marginal hands, if you are just going to play on the (dubious) strength of your hand. If you can give yourself other opportunities to win the pot, then the strength of your hand is far less important.

Good luck on the felt Mr Bear.

Stu

Many thanks for your thoughts and questions, do keep them coming! I think the depth with which you are thinking about the game is a sure sign that you will be, or already are, a really good player. The three questions are all very valuabl ones, so let me take them in turn:

1) Bankroll management- If I had to pinpoint the one most underrated skill in poker, it would be this. I find it quite surprising that amongst some of the top players, it is almost accepted that they will follow a cycle of making silly amounts of money, and then going bust again. I think bankroll management is as much a skill of the game as bluffing or reading your opponents, and so I would query whether these players really are “top players.”

I have actually written an article on bankroll management in the “strategy” section of the blog, so you may like to have a look at this. There are a few different rules you can follow, and they basically amount to one principle. You should never be staking any amount of money at any time (be this in a tournament or across a number of cash games on the internet) that you do not want to lose. I suggest a “5% of bankroll” rule for this, so that the maximum you can lose on any one day’s play is 5% of what you have.

Closely related to this, I have realised recently that I sometimes play less well in fact when I have been running very well and making money on cash games. People often talk about knowing when to quit when you are down, but this has been interesting food for thought for me- thinking about quitting when you are well ahead.

Many thanks for your question about AK. It is an incredibly difficult hand to play, and quite possibly the most misplayed hand of them all.The probelm, as you suggest, is to balance the two facts that it is a very strong and playable hand, but that it of course ends up just as being ace-high.

More than any other hand, ace-kind requires you to grasp the two most important principles of poker- position, and control of the pot.

It’s so important in every poker hand to be aware of what your relative position is of the players likely to be going to the flop, and to make your decisions heavily based on it. I would suggest trying a fairly basic rotation of playing the hand. When you find yourself out of position, play the hand in the most simple way:

Treat is as a drawing hand by just limping and calling your opponents’ before the flop, being preprared to bin it if you do not hit the flop. If you do, however, aim to check-raise, and to make a BIG check-raise when you do, aiming to get the chips into the pot quickly.

When you do have position in the pot, you can play far more creatively. Re-raise before the flop, and be prepared to fire multiple bullets at anything but the most ugly coordinated flop (e.g J109, all of a suited you do not have). This is a great way of using position to put pressure on your opponent, and keep him guessing.

You referred to spots where you have got all-in before the flop, and ended up with the worst of it. The key here is to try to avoid any situation where you are faced with a decision to CALL all-in before the flop. This often means anticipating this situation, so that you do not put in a re-raise which allows your oppponent the right stack size to move over the top of you. In stead, you want to be the one making the last move all-in, forcing the tough decision onto your opponent.

Hi,
Thanks for the blog stu and its so nice to see how such a good samaritan can do so so well at poker. I was wondering if you could help me. I am a novice- average player. I seem to be losing my stack with AK regardless of my position in the hand yet it feels like there is nothing i can do. I can remember three situations where i have had to call all in with it and ended up facing AA, KK and QQ all three times losing. Other times I have played it slow and tried to trap with it in late position only to walk into middle set once, AA again on a K high board and chopping with another AK. Shall i just muck this hand before the flop? How would you play it late position and what would you do in a small stakes (50-1) cash game versus a similar staking tournaments?
May you cards be live and your pots monsters vince!
T bear

Good to hear from you, and congrats on your own blog.

I’ll definitely be travelling to Barcelona at the end of October for the World Heads Up. I’m still got to decide whether or not to play in the main event- the 2,500 Euro knockout heads up tournament. There are a few good side Holdem side events, and thes are definitely more my cup of tea. I’m not a particularly good heads up player, but I’m planning to get involved in some heads up action on the site in the meantime to see if I can develop my game!

Next stop for me is the Thanet GUKPT. Will you be there?

Set over set is sick at the best of times, that sucks that it keeps happening to you in big events Unlucky dude…

Are you still heading to Barca for the heads-up?

Cheers,
James

Here’s our second installment of this week’s competition winner’s questions. Sam’s second question was

“When should you, if ever, check raise? …reason for question is that I very rarely, if ever, check-raise as I don’t want my opponent to set the size of the pot.”

I agree with you that the check-raise can often cause a pot to spiral out of control, and that it feels safer to keep control of the pot szie- this is an important principle of poker. However, I would argue that there are certain situations where you WANT the pot to get out of control, namely when you flop a very big hand.

The check-raise in the scenario is a great weapon to tie your opponent to the pot by raising the stakes AFTER they have bet. It works especially well agaisnt the kind of opponent who attaches importance to the amount of money they have put into the pot, and finds it more difficult to put a hand down the more they have invested in the pot.

The move is especially important if you flop a big hand, but the board is draw heavy. Let’s say you hold a pair of tens, and flop a set on a board of Jd10d9s. You are going to accept the risk that someone has KQ or a set of jacks, and try to get your whole stack into the middle as soon as possible. This is important, as any hand with two diamonds or inddeed any K,Q, 8 or 7 is drawing to a hand to beat yours. To slowplay this hand by just flat-calling would be a costly mistake. The check-raise can be very effective in escalating the pot, and often forces your opponent to move all-in if he is going to commit to his hand.

So, the check-raise is great when the hand is strong, but I would encourage you to try to build it in to other parts of your game as you progress. It can be a very effective bluff as it is a move that LOOKS strong. Most opponents will give you far more credit for a hand when you check-raise than they would if you lead out into the betting. Here are my suggestions of when to try the check-raise as a bluff:

- There are many boards that you will look at and think “It is unlikely that my opponent has hit that flop hard.” Examples are boards like Q72, J63, or 884, especially if they are rainbow boards (have no flush draw avaliable). These said are said to have a “dry texture,” and this idea of texture is one well worth considering. The check-raise plays on the fact that the most likely state of play on these boards is that neither you or your opponent has a strong hand. It invites him to bluff at the pot, and if it works, wins a pot that has been inflated by your opponent’s bet! Although it is a risky move, it will never get too far out of control if you are using it as a bluff- if your opponent shows any resistance, you can simply give up on the pot.

-This idea of check-raising as a bluff on this kind of board is especially worthwhile if you have seen your opponent make a lot of continuation bets. Some players will customarily “c-bet” on almost every flop, and you can use this knowledge to nick the pot back off him on the boards where he is least likely to have a hand.

We have seen that the check-raise is a good idea either with a super-strong hand or as a bluff, and so you might guess that the time when it is wrong is when you flop something, but it is more marginal. You would be absolutely right, and it is for the reason that you touch upon- that you do not want the pot to get out of control.

There are many “marginal” holdings where the right style is therefore not to check-raise, or to lead out into the pot, but actually just to flat-call the action (often called the check-call). This style is particularly safe when there are not many draws avaliable on the board, as it has little risk of letting your opponent outdraw you.

The best example I can think of is if you hold KJ on a rainbow board of K22. There are no draws to be concerned about, and across your opponent’s whole range, very few turn cards that could hurt you. In fact, the only card you do not want to see is an ace, but this is a small risk worth taking.

The other reason why you would not check-raise on this board is that there is little VALUE. When you make a bet for value, you should always consider what hands your opponent can call with that are behind yours, and here there are arguably none. So, with no need to protect your hand and no value in betting strongly, the effective way to play this hand is to try to “catch a bluff.” Maybe, for example, your opponent will bet the flop, check the turn, and then atttempt another bluff on the river. If he has nothing, then your passive play is the only way to successfully build a pot.

It is one of many examples that shows us that the correct style to choose- whether to play for your for value, whether to choose to slowplay, or whether to catch a bluff- should not depend so much on your feeling, or on your opponent, but on the texture of the board.

So, many congrats to Sam Graham for winning this week’s competition. They were very good questions, and here are my answers to them. I would love to answer any questions you may have, so do post them on here. I saw there were lots of great questions asked in the competition, just fire away!

Here are the questions that Sam asked, I’ll answer them one by one each day:

” 1) With the best hand by the river what’s the optimal amount to bet 4 value with…a) weak, b) average, c) good player? …reason for question is that I would play most hands fast, however online with no obvious tells just bet size info I sometimes do not get paid off.”

This is a great question Sam, as so many people get their value betting wrong. The right amount to value bet depends alot on the texture of the board, but we’ll assume that we do not know what the board is, and there is still alot we can say. We’ll assume just that our hand is strong enough that we “know” it is best, and we want to know the correct amount to value bet. Here is how I would differ my bets between different types of player.

A) -A weak player- What makes very many players weak is their tendency to value their hands too optimistically, which leads them to call far too much. You should take advantage of this by making big value bets. One way to think about it this: if you switch from betting half the pot to the full pot, you only need your bet to be called half as many times for this change to be profitable.

There is a good chance that a weak player will call for the full pot, and so this is almost always the bet that I would make. In fact, if you hold the nuts, you should think about overbetting the pot, maybe betting as much as three times the pot. This is especially a good idea if you have reason to believe that your weak opponent has a good hand himself, and takes advantage of their inability to lay a hand down. This move works especially well in live poker, where a weak player is not aware how much is in the pot- it is a shame that the internet counts the pot for them!

B) -An average player- Your categories are absoultely right, as I would change the thinking considerably for against an average player. This type of player is able to judge much better what they call, and they will call bets up to the level at which they measure their hand. If we bet 50-60% of the pot, this opponent’s calls will range from very strong hands down all the way to marginal holdings like top pair.

If we bet the whole pot against this player, they will be good enough to begin to wonder why. With a marginal holding, they will know that they can only beat a bluff, as they have the experience to know that a full pot bet is at least claiming that we have a very strong hand. The range that they feel able to call with will therefore tighten considerably, as the only hands they can now confidently call with are the strongest ones.

It is definitely right to make the less threatening bet of 50-60% of the pot to encourage them to call with a lot more hands.

C) -A good player- We’ll think in fact about an expert player. He is good enough to know that a standrad value bet is this 50-60% we are talking about, and therefore he knows that a bet of the full pot is likely to be a bluff. It can be a very good idea to turn the tables on this type of player by making your value bets very big again! I would actually bet 90% of the pot- clicking on the “POT” button is a bit of a tell-tale sign against the expert player.

As you become more experienced in reading where you stand in the hand, you can actually make this big value bet with a more marginal hand yourself, IF you feel that you are ahead. Let’s say for example, you hold AQ on a board of A9943, and you can read your opponent for a hand like AJ or A10. Your hand is of course not a really strong hand, but here the big value bet is great.

You will find expert players are almost keen to pay it off, because of the following logic; when you make a really big bet, you are effectively claiming to have a super-strong hand. Your opponent will know that you have either have real strength or are bluffing, and so may be willing to pay you off holding very little himself. This is called a polarised hand range (your opponents thinks that your hand is either right at the top or right at the bottom), and means that actually your opponent could call you with as little as something like a pair of sixes, as it can beat a bluff. What you are doing is to depolarise your hand range, surprising your opponent by mixing in more average hands like AQ, and it means that you can often be paid off handsomely.

As I mentioned, I would never bet more than 90% of the pot against an expert player- it just a little too obviously strong.

Thanks for your reply. I’m very sorry about the lack of chat on the site; I usually play eight tables at the same table, and so turn the chat facility off.The best way to contact me will be via this blog, I’m hoping the interaction on here will become something big.

A heads up session would be great. I’m going to the EPT in Barcelona on WEdnesday, so how much I am online will depend on how I do there. Shoot me a message on here if I’m on the site, and not replying!

What’s your nickname on the site BTW? Good luck at the tables mate.

i have played with you a bit on 32red, but you never seem to reply in chat, so i thought i’d contact you here…do you have your chat off or something?

anyways, i was just wondering if you wanted to play a hu session some time on a few tables, 5/10 or 10/20 or something? Would be fun imo, and i wanna challenge myself against other british pros!

Cheers,
Fionn

The reason for this dead of the night finish? I made day three of the GUPKT, with just 12 players left. Holding only 112,000 in chips, however, I would still need some luck to make the final table.

I’m not going to lie; I was desperate to make the final table. I’ve had a rough time in live poker recently, and knew how sweet it would be to make my first ever GUKPT Final table, especially after being knocked down to 2,100 in chips on the first day. I had to be sure to put these emotions on hold, as there was only one way for me to play as the day began- dangerously. With blinds starting at 6,000-12,000 (1000), there was alot of equity in moving in with a lot of hands, and so I did four times. My timing was very lucky, as I dodged a call each time, before looking down at AKo on the button. I shipped it in, and the big stack David La Ronde made a specualtive call in the small blind with K10. An ace on the second card was a massive relief, and I had the final table in my sights.

We were down to 11 players, and I have to admit I was willing to keep my head down and hang on. On my big blind, a short stack moved all-in for 115,000, and I looked down at my cards to realise this would not be an option. I had two red kings! I made the call, and the player on the button blushed, and turned over Q5 of hearts.
The flop rolled out a diastotours Q65, and a dagger struck my heart. An eight on the turn made no difference, but a beautiful 6 on the river paired the board, and one of the sweetest cards I have ever had in poker.

We were down to 10, but I had a little room to breathe with about 335,000. La Ronde raised my big blind as the short stack on the other table was all-in, and I smelt a rat. I held only Q2 of clubs, but took the opportunity to re-raise the action to 95,000. La Ronde had a good think, but eventually passed, and I was happy not only for the chips, but to have set up a possible value spot for later on.

The good news was all rushing in at once, as our 10th place finsiher had been eliminated, and I had made my first major final table of the year. I would go in holding 406,000, almost exactly the average stack. Wohoo!

I drew possibly the worst possible seat. James Mitchell seemed a very talented and daring young player, and was sat on my immiedate left. The player on his left was playing poker on fire; Sam Trickett went into the final table with a chip lead of about 700,000. Despite my position, I knew it was right to start aggressviely, and hope to benefit from any early nerves.

I had decided to raise the first hand irrespective of my cards (I think I held Q9o), but unfortuantely the player in the SB had the perfect stack to move in, and after I had passed, showed the perfect hand, AK of hearts. The next pot I would enter was a blind on blind confrontation against the dangerous James Mitchell. I held Q2o, and watched the flop come out Qc10d6c. There were alot of draws out there, and so I knew a lead out would leave me in a tough position if James re-raised. Instead, I checked, and called his 15,000 bet. The 3h on the turn was a blank, and again I check-called 30,000. The river was another good card, an offsuit 4, and I checked again.

Mitchell thought for a few seconds, before betting a further 50,000. It was a really tough spot, as I knew I could only beat a bluff. My big problem of course in this spot was that I had represented a drawing hand by calling two streets, and so if James had nothing, he would know he had a sure-fire winning bluff on the end. I also had decided that it would be very difficult for James to pull out a vlaue bet with a one pair hand like Q9 or Q7, top pair and a very weak kicker. I evenutally made the call, and it turned out to be an awful one. James HAD made a great value bet with Q7.

It was an ugly pot, but I knew I had to keep my head in the game, still holding 255,000 and a decent chance. James had knocked out our 9th place finisher and taken the chip lead on the previous hand, as I looked down at AQ offsuit in middle position. I raised to 30,000, and the action passed round the table before reaching Martin Green in the big blind. He immiedately pushed his whole stack of 220,000 into the middle, and left me in a really tough spot.

This may have been a standard pass against most players, but my read on Martin was that he was the player most likely to pull this move against me with junk. He had no fear of putting his whole stack in, and I feared he had picked up on the most exploitable part of my game- I am not someone to likes to race for a massive pot. I decided that my AQ was probably slightly ahead of his range, but made the decision to stick with my style, and not to get almost my entire stack in on either a 60-40% or 50-50%.

It was a pot that would leave me agonising afterwards (and I would love to hear your thoughts about it). The reason it left me so pensive, was that from this point, the tournament unfortunately turned against me. I raised KJo the very next hand for the same bet (a move I believe looks strong after you have been caught as most players would shut down). A weak player called on the button, and cruelly Martin Green put his entire stack in again. I knew this time Martin must have a strong hand, and we both got out the way, as he showed queens.

It had me reeling down to 165,000, and the action would soon be passed round to me on the button with blinds of 10,000-20,000 (2000). Q9 of clubs was a perfect hand to move in with. Perfect until Sam woke up with AK in the big blind. He made a quick call, and I would need to win a 40% shot to stay alive. It would be a massive pot, and I was desperate to win it. The board came a sad eight high, and the dream was over.

It is one of the tough things about poker that coming 8th in such a big field was in the main part a gutting finish. I have felt more satisfied with my performance over the next couple of days, but still rue the Q2 pot against James Mitchell. I can’t wait, though, for the next installment of the GUKPT. Roll on Bolton!

Many thanks for your question.

It’s a really interesting one, as I think you have hit on a real problem type player that you will suffer when playing for a full stack in cash games.

Short stackers are playing a completely different game to the rest of the table- one far more simple, and that takes away all your edge of decision making over three streets. The best short stackers are able to read in which positions your raises are lightest, and just move in for their whole stack at will. I would advise tightening up in the spots where you feel a short stacker may shove on you. For example, if you have the button and the short stack is in the small blind, you will need to raise far less hands than you usually would in this position. If the short stacker does not realise this, you may be able to “trap” him for his puny stack with a strong hand.

Ultimately, I would say that you need to let this kind of player know that they will not be successful against YOU. This may mean making a very light all-in call early in a session when you move in, but is not the worst thing ever. You may well have two live cards against their move, and it will at least slow them down for the rest of the session.

Re the buy-ins: I have a rule that I will quit when I lose five buy-ins. One of the most testing times for a poker player is how they play when they have had a bad run, whether that be due to bad play or bad luck. Because so many players can go on tilt, I think the best thing you can possibly do is walk away from the tables, as it is difficult to keep your judgement sharp when things have gone badly.

I got my sunglasses in the same shop you got your sense of humour. Bargain.

Good luck at the tables Lucky_S. It sounds like you’re enjoying the online game, and so I would recommend trying your hand at ‘live’ poker too. It’s alot more enjoyable and is the true test of a poker player. Maybe see you at a tournie some day!

Texas Hold’em No Limit 100,00/200,00

Serminator (14 250,00 in seat 1)
BThafish (10 872,00 in seat 2)
Shivnarine (7 568,00 in seat 3)
YEYOtilt (45 289,00 in seat 4)
Cammykaze (7 390,00 in seat 5)
Delfinu (24 127,00 in seat 6)
MrVyts (5 250,00 in seat 7)
DMTRX (11 821,00 in seat 9)

Dealer: Cammykaze
Small Blind: Delfinu (100,00)
Big Blind: MrVyts (200,00)

DMTRX was dealt: 3c - 3s

DMTRX Call (200,00)
Serminator Fold
BThafish Fold
Shivnarine Raise (525,00)
YEYOtilt Call (525,00)
Cammykaze Fold
Delfinu Fold
MrVyts Fold
DMTRX Call (325,00)

Flop 3d - 8c - 5d

DMTRX Check
Shivnarine Bet (1 500,00)
YEYOtilt Raise (4 000,00)
DMTRX Fold
Shivnarine All-In (5 543,00)
YEYOtilt Call (3 043,00)

Turn 3d - 8c - 5d - 8h
River 3d - 8c - 5d - 8h - 4d

Shivnarine shows: 9d - Kd (a flush, king high)
YEYOtilt shows: 5s - 5c (a full house, fives full of eights)
YEYOtilt wins: 15 961,00 (with a full house, fives full of eights)

What’s one of the biggest laydowns you have ever made and was proven right?

What do you think is the best way to play against shortstackers with less than 20BB’s? I am a winning player but they are a problem for me. If they are playing an optimum game as a shortstacker then it is very difficult to beat them in my opinion.

Where do you get your sunglasses from in your profile pic? I was thinking of getting a long black cape too.

What is the most amount of buyins you have lost in one day?

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the usefulness of table banter in live play.

I recently played a live tournament where two players at my table were constantly talking throughout the tournament, both when involved in pots and when not. Is this something that you do when you play? And do you think it is a skill that can be developed to let you get inside your opponents’ heads, or does it just put the talkers off their games by lowering their concentration?

A very good question!

My real experience of having to deal with downswings has been my run in live poker recently. I haven’t played very well live, but have had a horrible run of bad luck, which has been tough at times.

It all made me realise that the best way to deal with bad runs in poker is actually to worry about results as LITTLE as you can. Pride yourself on getting the poker decisions right- whether that be making the right bluffs, best value bets, or getting the money in good. What happens after that is just not under your control.

This of course is tougher than it might seem. Emotions run high in poker, and it is tough not to get involved in the highs of excitement and lows of disappointment.

I’m glad you mentioned tiliting as well, as this is a really crucial subject in poker. There are so many players with good raw ability, who could be great winning players if it wasn’t for their capacity to tilt.
It is far too simple to say, but the main thing to know about tilting is that you JUST can’t do it. For all the small margins and thin value bets that gain good players a small edge over their opponents, it is a disaster is they give that edge away by donating their chips on tilt.

Of course, it’s not as easy as that, so here are some tips to avoid going on tilt:

- If you are able to, the very best thing you can do after a few rough beats is to walk away. Poker ceases to become any fun when you go on tilt, so it’s probably worth taking a break for a couple of days.

- If you are playing cash, take a step down the levels, and get ready to grind your way back up.

- Make the game alot more simple by reverting to ABC poker. This will take any any opportunity for you to make mistakes.

I’d be interested in knowing how you deal with downswings and what you do to avoid tilting.

- James

Many thanks for your question. This is a horrible spot for you, and to be honest, I don’t think it’s possible to get away from the hand. I guess it proves that there are very few spots where it can be right to fold the bottom set. For it to be right, I think there are three factors that all have to be in place:

1) Your opponent is known to be tight, and only 3/4-bet with a super-strong hand.
2) The stacks are very deep, maybe as much as 200 BBs at the start.
3) The board has a very dry texture (e.g. Kd7h3s), meaning your opponent cannot be drawing.

Here, the stacks are probably not big enough to pass, as it is on only the third bet (your opponent’s re-re-raise) that you have the crucial decision.

Your instincts are obviously good, as you did not like it when your opponent committed himself all-in (and I’m guessing the fact that he made a very strong looking move of not quite moving all-in?). However, if you were to regularly pass here, it would introduce a paradox in the check-raise- you would be check-raising for value, but mucking the hand if you were to get any more action at all.

The reason I think it is impossible to pass is that there are just too many hands that your opponent could have that you can beat. Let’s have a look at them:

AA/KK/QQ/JJ

It is possible your opponent may be able to pass a hand like queens to a check-raise on this draw-heavy board, but many opponents would still call, and even more are unable to ever throw away kings or aces. Jacks as well is very tough because of the 6-outer redraw it has against a set.

Remember as well that these hands are twice as likely to occur as a set (this is because there are 6 possible AA hands but only three 1010 hands with a 10 already on board), and therefore you should weigh these hands twice as much as a set.

A10/J10

It may be naive play to commit all your chips with a hand like A10 here, but many players still do it. One of the reasons they may be right is that the texture of the board means it is very possible that you are check-raising a drawing hand. To move all-in with J10 may seem like an overplay, but the move has some fold equity, and the hand has redraw outs.

Nut flush draw

Your opponent of course could be playing a flush draw very strongly. This is even more likely if he has Ah10h (for the top pair also) or Ah9h for a flush and straight draw.

Two pair (108,107,87)

Of course your opponent may not necessarily have raised with these hands, but it is possible. If he had done, they are hands he would almost inevitably have to go all-in with against your check-raise.

A final thought

There is just one clue that may allow you to get away from the hand, and that is the very suspicious fact that your opponent has not quite gone all-in. This move often shows more strength than the straight all-in. If you know your opponent well and you have seen him make this move before with a super-strong hand, you may just be able to get away.

This assumes that if your opponent had a hand like AA or two pair, he would just click the all-in button. Note that it is maybe a big mistake for your opponent to give you this clue, but you would need a very sure read on this particular player and this particular move in order to throw away the bottom set.