It occurred to me that neither of these players was really gaining anything, money or brains wise. They were basically swapping money while creating rake for the site. And I’m sure we’ve all seen this occur numerous times AND I’ll admit (and I’m sure you do too) that I‘ve been affected by this same brain-dead syndrome. So, why do we decided to pull these sorts of antics?

Is it tilt? yes, for sure.

Is it ego? Yes, no doubt

Is it that we’ve watched too much poker on TV and thought that if we bluffed the other player were the better player? Yeah, probably.

Well people, this is how you lose money, quickly! It’s basically an extended form of tilt that will cause you to lose money. As an example, if you know you’re Car is faster then a bike but about the same speed or a bit slower (or faster) then another car. Why would you race the other car if you could race the bike? Dumb analogy I know but it gets the point across.

We’re not trying to race the other car/player to make it ‘interesting’ or ’show we’re better’. We’re playing poker to win money. Yes, money.

Why try to play someone at a silly ‘raise-em’ war? You can simple just wait and feed on the players who are truly bad playing your normal game. Eventually if you are the better player, you’ll take that persons money and then you can laugh all the way to the bank. But for now, throw the ego into the syrup and let it drown.

So, in my prior post on this subject I promised a discussion about using this strategy when you’re an underdog to your opponents. What I mean here is that there are situations where you recognize right away that you are playing against people whose skills are superior to your own.

What? You’ve never been that situation? You’re always the best player at the table? Every time? Really?

Oh. Guess it’s just me then. Anyway…

Most poker players I know refuse to admit they are in a game where they aren’t the best person at the table. It’s an ego thing, and it can be deadly for your bankroll. We never want to believe we’re the fish in the game, but the fact is all “fishiness” is relative. Sometimes, you’re the shark; other times you’re the guppy. Just depends on who you’re up against.

You can control your game selection in live games because you actually have to go someplace, usually with people you know, sometimes with some intelligence about the skill level of your opponents. But online, especially in the tournament and SNG world, you’re flying blind.

Is donkalicious99 a high-buy-in, solid player on a bad run and stepping down to $10 SNGs? Is HotMary69 a newbie?

There are some tools out there that can give you a little insight into your opponents - Sharkscope, PokerDB, etc -but they’re limited because they can’t track players using different screen names on different sites. They also typically cost a few bucks to subscribe to, so you’re limited in how many searches you can do.

So, long story short, you get in a game and find 2 players are listed in Sharkscope as “Sharks”, and 420Bong420 sitting on your left is chatting away but hasn’t played a hand since Jesus Christ was pitching pennies against the temple wall.

Hmmm.

As you suspected, you survive the $10 SNG down to the bubble in, oh, 30 minutes, because the rest of the field is that bad. Now, it’s you and 3 solid folks, and you’ve seen a couple of advanced moves from each already. You know you’re the fish among those who are left.

How does that feel? (I don’t know, I’m never the fish… )

I keed, I keed.

You’re intimidated. You’ve already put up the buy-in, so it’s not like you can cash out and leave. You know you’ll be outplayed in the long run.

And therein lies the answer: Don’t let there be a long run.

Reduce the number of decisions to be made. Force the other players to make big decisions as early as possible with the BARE MINIMUM of information.

DO NOT PLAY THEIR GAME!

This is NO-LIMIT poker - don’t fall into their traps of “oh, let’s just see a flop,” and “why so big a raise so early?” You MUST set the tone and control the table. You don’t want to be mindless about it - if you’re a middle-stack and there’s a short-stack you want to be very selective about the hands you play. But, you can’t give up either, or you’ll be broomcorned out of the game. Every other player needs to be aware that if you’re in a pot, you’re playing for all of your chips, and all, or most, of theirs. This will make THEM be more selective about getting into pots with you. Change gears, be unpredictable, and watch who seems to be content to fold into the money and push on that person with any reasonable hand.

Solid players understand the Gap Concept very well. This is what you’re exploiting. The hand they’ll call off all of their chips with is going to be a lot better than the hand they’ll bet all of their chips on, and those hands don’t come around often enough. When this is the only decision they get to make in the hand, you’re playing the game that gives YOU the best opportunity to beat the better player.

 Comments or discussion? Shoot them to me at Big Slick Nuts Poker Blog.

One of the more controversial strategies in texas hold ‘em tournament poker these days is going all in pre-flop, otherwise known as the “Push”. Those who consider themselves better players want more decisions to make, believing that if they make more decisions correctly than their opponent, they will win most of the time. The other camp will point you to Independent Chip Models and show you mathematically that they are ‘right’ to push.

So, who’s right?

Both.

Absolutely, if you know you are the superior player, you want to take luck out of the equation, slow the game down, and outplay your opponent. And, it can be mathematically proven that getting all of your chips in the pot with 1 or 2 or 3 players to act behind you is the proper play. Depending, of course.

So, when is it right to push pre-flop? Surprising, there are several clear-cut STRATEGIC situations where this is the best play, and not necessarily mathematically correct. First, is the easiest: The Short-Stack.

In general, you’re considered a short stack if your M (as defined by Harrington, the size of your stack divided by the sum of the blinds and antes for one orbit) is less than 10. You have very few moves you can make here, because the big stacks, and some middle stacks, will call standard raises with any two cards to try to hit a flop and bust you. You’re playing for fold equity here, as much as you are for an opportunity to double-up. To truly understand this situation, read the second volume of ”>Harrington on Hold ‘Em.

This situation is most frequently played out in SNGs, especially Turbo SNGs, where blinds rise rapidly and it’s not unusual for all remaining players to have M’s below 10 just 30 minutes into the tournament. Many multi-table players, especially at the highest levels, rely exclusively on this strategy. It is not unusual to see well-known, respected players fold every hand until levels 4-5, allowing the field to narrow and play to tighten up near the bubble. At this point, they have a very wide open-pushing range, and utilize it with any hand that can conceivably be considered a favorite over a random hand, knowing other players (including themselves) will respect the gap concept and wait for big hands before calling for the majority of their chips. They’re content to chip back up with blonds and antes, and will shift gears as they move in and out of the danger zone.

Next post: When you’re a ‘dog to your opponents (like me!)

Since the pull out the major sites that continue to support US players have continued to flourish, gaining customers who were regulars on other sites.  Although this is an option for international players it can be argued that the bonuses and players are tougher at these sites.  Leaving us the option to search for different places to play.

The sites that have pulled out of the US have moved the concentration of their marketing dollars to other big markets, ie. Europe and to some degree Asia.

What can be seen at the poker sites that do not allow Americans is a dramatic shift in the peak hours of operation.  The peak hours (for any country) occur in the evening between 7-11pm.  Observing the graphs at the bottom of the page at pokersitescout shows this dramatic shift.

Prior to the UIGEA the peak hours of operation for Party Poker were from 3-10pm Pacific Standard Time.  Now the peak hours are 12-4pm  PST.
What does this all mean?  Well, a dramatic shift in the number of players at each site.  Thus creating a shift in the ‘optimal’ playing hours.

Now when we log-on after work to a smaller site that focus mainly European Customers (eg: Cryptologic Sites, SunPoker, Interpoker, etc.).  The number of ring-games running is significantly lower.  However, logging on to the same site at Noon, 5-10 times as many tables are running per limit.

It’s still a good time to play poker online from Canada. And having access to all the poker sites is definitely an advantage. The optimal hours of playing have changed and adapting accordingly is important.

Related Link: Poker Academy is a site where you can learn about poker and how to improve your playing skills.

Do a Google search for �poker odds� to get started and you�ll find plenty of material that will get you up to speed on poker odds.