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Monday, March 3, 2014

Defending with Aggression in Texas Hold’em

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Search this site: HomeNewsPoker RoomsPoker RulesPoker Tips Holdem RulesHoldem StrategyHoldem TipsPoker SchoolLive Tournaments Defending with Aggression in Texas Hold’em Published by Brian Cherry on Mar 31, 2010 defense

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Today poker tip is about mounting an aggressive defense during hands of Texas Hold em. A lot of pro poker tips by well known players encompass a wide variety of styles at the table. Very often the effectiveness of many pro poker tips and their suggested styles will depend on where you are playing. For example, the play in a live poker tournament may be very different from an online poker cash game. So from a pro poker tips perspective about poker tournaments, listening to Johnny Chan may be better than looking up what Tom Dwan has to say on the subject. What doesn’t change is the fact that all poker players are doing their best to protect the money they have thrown into the pot from being abducted by some usurper across the table. To this end, aggression by poker players in Texas hold em is often a very potent defense.

Whoever first stated that the best defense is a good offense probably drank a lot of Red Bull and played online poker. Offense takes energy while defensive is often traditionally played by cramming yourself into a pass (or other such fortification that narrows your foes attack options) and daring your foe to go through you. In Texas Hold em a lot of people play that “hunker down” style, but putting pressure on other poker players with big bets is often the best way to protect the bets you have already made. A lot of people may call that the Texas Hold em version of throwing good money after bad, and in a number of circumstances they may be correct. If your opponents are not overtly showing strength, and are content to let the game come to them (a condition found more commonly in live games than in online poker), then sometimes you should do just that. Take the fight to them and force them into difficult decisions that involve large chunks of their stack. As any poker tournament player knows, fearlessness can be a rare trait in poker players, and in most cases an opponent will hunker down and fold instead of risking a big part of his bankroll to see if your bluffing or not.

Many pro poker tips agree that going on the offensive in Texas Hold em generally works best in casino cash games. Poker tournaments and online poker are already aggressive ecosystems (this is a reality that many formerly successful poker tournament players have not yet adjusted to) and most pro poker tips for that genre may suggest an online form of jui jitsu to use that aggression against them, but in a more passive live environment poker players will want to play an aggressive style against a more cautious bunch than that.

In short, playing a live cash game like it was online poker can be a very effective defense. That is the poker tip for today.

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Sunday, March 2, 2014

Kings and Things in Texas Holdem

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Search this site: HomeNewsPoker RoomsPoker RulesPoker Tips Holdem RulesHoldem StrategyHoldem TipsPoker SchoolLive Tournaments Kings and Things in Texas Holdem Published by Brian Cherry on Sep 22, 2010 Kong

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Today’s poker tips are about playing a pair of Kings from the early position in live poker and online poker. Most poker players have had this happen to them. They are seated in the early position during a game of Texas holdem, and are dealt a pair of Kings. The first thing you should do if this happens during live poker is suppress the smile of self satisfaction that will no doubt try to creep across your face. If you are playing online poker, feel free to celebrate. Pump your fist, give yourself a high five, do a wrestling style crotch chop, it doesn’t matter, the rest of the poker players at the Texas holdem table can’t see you. So your free of prying eyes looking for tells. The second thing you should do is heed the copious number of poker tips that talk about big preflop pairs, and realize that in Texas holdem a pair of kings is not the hand to try to slow play the rest of the poker players at your table with. This truth from the poker tips bible holds true for poker players engaging in live poker or online poker.

So you are seated in your early position with your pair of Kings, and put in an opening bet, perhaps five times the big blind. You haven’t exactly gone all-in, but your aggressive action from a dubious position should convey the point to rest of the poker players at the table that you don’t fear a raise from behind you. In most cases you would be expecting the rest of your Texa holdem competition to fold, but the guy in the last chair raises. What do you do?

This is a tough situation because in Texas holdem, a preflop pair of kings is almost the best hand you can have. The only thing better is a pair of aces. The odds that the other Texas holdem player is holding the other pair of kings are 110 to 1. The odds that he has a pair of aces is 220 to 1. The odds that he is bluffing is going to vary. If you are playing live poker, while it is still likely he is bluffing from a power position, the stereotype of live poker players says it is possible he is holding either a pair of kings or a pair of aces. If you are playing online poker, the stereotype of these poker players is that they are more aggressive. There are also other factors to consider in this Texas holdem game. The likelihood of a bluff goes up if you are in a low limit game, and there is less on the line. The more money that is involved, the lower the chances that the other poker players will be lying about their hand in the face of your aggressive, out of place bets. With all that said, all the gamesmanship of poker aside, the odds are still 220 to 1 that your opponent is holding a pair of aces. From a poker tips standpoint, it is at least worth your time to see the flop instead of folding some big cards to positional aggression. It may also be worth it to test his resolve and try to drive them out of the hand by re-raising your opponent. If they are not bluffing, it is likely that they are holding a pair of queens or jacks and are trying to scare you out of the hand.

Playing the odds means you will occasionally lose on this gambit, and the person you are challenging will actually be holding those two aces. In the long run, you will win far more often then you lose in this situation.

That is the poker tips for the day.