Tournament Poker Quiz: Let's Try Something Different To Improve Your Game

And now for something completely different..

Let's see what you would do with this hand. There are going to be two different tracks on this hand to help you to learn more about your game.

It is the $25,000 buy-in event at the WPT Championship in Ls Vegas. Since it is only $25,000, you overslept and arrived late to the event.

It is still early on, and you have $49,100 in chips...lots of chips. You take a seat.

Hand #1. Now don't get yourself knocked out on your first hand!

The blinds are $100-$200.

You are in the hi-jack position--which is the position to the right of the cut-off. I also have seen it called the power position.

Image by Soul Safari via Flickr

Since you are late, you don't know anything about your opponents.

A middle position player raises to $600. He has $50,000

You have J-8 suited with spades and call. It is heads-up, with $1,500 in the pot.

The flop is 10c-9c-3s.

Question 1: Your opponent bets out for $800. What should you do?

a) Fold
b) Call
c) Raise and to what amount?

If you selected a. Bad choice. You have an open ended draw and a chance to win a big pot.
If you selected b. Go to Question 2.
If you selected c. Go to Question 3.

Question 2: You called your opponent's bet. Why was this the right move? If you call the bet, I think that is because you have a draw and you believe you could win a big pot if you hit your hand. That is the typical play. It is not wrong, but it is not aggressive enough.

What if you raised here? What can happen?

1. Your opponent re-raises you and you would have to fold your hand.
2. Your opponent could fold and that would be a good thing.
3. You take control of the hand. Are you a bold enough player to make this move?

While b is not an incorrect answer. The result of the call is that your opponent is still in control of the hand. And the pot is now $3,100.

The turn is the Kh. Your opponent bets $2,400. What should you do?
a) Fold
b) Call
c) Raise, and to what amount?

See what happened here. Now you missed your straight, and you can't control the pot size. That call may have been a typical play by most players, but it may have been the wrong play. That call resulted in putting yourself in a difficult or unpleasant situation.

Question 3: You raised your opponent. Why? Did you make that raise because you thought your opponent was weak? Did you make that raise for another reason?

Raising here to get a free card is the reason the Pro player gave when asked. Or, he said if a scare card hits on the turn, he could win with a bet on the turn.

He raised to $2,200. He was called. The pot is now $5,900.

This is a bold play, and one you should consider adding into your game.

Question 4:

The turn card is the Kh. Your opponent checks and you decide to check. It's a scare card, but the Pro said he didn't think his opponent would fold to a bet here.

The river card is the Ac. That completes a potential flush. Your opponent checks.
What should you do?

a) Check
b) Bet and how much?

Answer tomorrow.

Poker Quiz & Answer: River Play-What should you do?

Poker Quiz and Answer

It is the 2008 World Poker Tour Championship. You buy-in for $25,000 and you get $50,000 in chips. Sounds like a deep stack tournament to me=)

Because of the deep chip stack players are coming in with all sorts of hands. Including you!

Blinds are $100-$200, two players limp and you have the 6c-3s. A power house of a hand. Instead of raising or folding, you call. There are lots of callers. Seven see the flop. The pot is $1,400.

The flop is Qc-6h-3c. You hit two pair. There is the potential flush draw.

After three checks, the solid player in front of you, bets $1,200. You call.

The real loose player next to you, raises to $4,200.

Everyone folds back to you. What does your opponent have? He is a loose player, so who really knows for sure. But, I'd guess anything from a set, two pair (doubtful), a flush draw, and maybe even a straight draw--after all it is a loose player, with players coming in with any two cards.

You don't fold. You just call to see the turn. The pot is now $11,000.

The turn is an Ah. You call. Your opponent bets $10,000. What does your opponent have?

Hmm...maybe a set, a flush draw, a straight draw...what about if the Ace helped his hand..maybe A-Q? At this point, I am thinking that I can either fold, or move all-in and just go home. I don't really want to see another card because if it is a club, it will be a tough decision.

Instead you just call. The pot is now $31,000.

The river is the 7d.

What should you do?

Answer

This is an actual hand. You are playing Marcel Luske's hand in the WPT event at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

Image via Wikipedi

Marcel bets out on the river for $5,000. He says it is a value bet as he puts his opponent on a flush draw. His opponent folds.

Now this is one of those hands which I think is being played poorly. I truly don't get it. If Luske puts his opponent on a flush draw, move all-in on the turn. You are an 84% favorite, and those are nice percentages if your opponent is crazy enough to call. If he folds, you win the same amount. (Maybe he calls if he has the nut flush draw since you would be moving all-in with such a big overbet?)

Could Marcel's opponent have pocket Q's, 6's or 3's? Yes. If so, you are going to be losing a ton of chips on the river anyway.

Risk is good.

By just calling on the turn, what was Marcel going to do if the club hit on the river? Fold? That is a big loss in chips even with a starting stack of $50,000.

Also, if you do call, why not check the river and see if you win more from your loose opponent? Or maybe it wasn't really a value bet. Maybe it was a blocking bet that didn't get called.

What do you think? What did you decide to do in this situation? Were you right or wrong? Is my thinking right or wrong?

It is interesting that I read so many poker articles that try to present an idea, but just doesn't work for me. At least by turning them into quizzes, it helps to demonstrate whether the thinking in these articles are right or wrong.

Patrick Antonius loses over $200,000 in one hand of NL poker

This must hurt, right? Well, I'm in pain just watching someone lose over $200k.

Replay this hand at www.pokerlistings.com

Poker Quiz: River Play-What should you do?

Poker Quiz-River Play

Image via Wikipedia

It is the 2008 World Poker Tour Championship. You buy-in for $25,000 and you get $50,000 in chips. Sounds like a deep stack tournament to me=)

Because of the deep chip stack players are coming in with all sorts of hands. Including you!

Blinds are $100-$200, two players limp and you have the 6c-3s. A power house of a hand. Instead of raising or folding, you call. There are lots of callers. Seven see the flop. The pot is $1,400.

The flop is Qc-6h-3c. You hit two pair. There is the potential flush draw.

After three checks, the solid player in front of you, bets $1,200. You call.

The real loose player next to you, raises to $4,200.

Everyone folds back to you. What does your opponent have? He is a loose player, so who really knows for sure. But, I'd guess anything from a set, two pair (doubtful), a flush draw, and maybe even a straight draw--after all it is a loose player, with players coming in with any two cards.

You don't fold. You just call to see the turn. The pot is now $11,000.

The turn is an Ah. You call. Your opponent bets $10,000. What does your opponent have?

Hmm...maybe a set, a flush draw, a straight draw...what about if the Ace helped his hand..maybe A-Q? At this point, I am thinking that I can either fold, or move all-in and just go home. I don't really want to see another card because if it is a club, it will be a tough decision.

Instead you just call. The pot is now $31,000.

The river is the 7d.

What should you do?

Answer tomorrow. Yes, this is a real hand. And I got it wrong, because I'd move all-in on the turn and get ready to party in Vegas, or keep playing. Risk is good.

So...now, it's up to you...

Good luck.

Poker Quiz and Answer: An Excellent Poker Challenge

Poker Quiz and Answer

This quiz question is taken from an actual hand played at the 2008 WSOP Main Event. The player is Jordan Morgan (that is a different Jordan in the photo) and he is faced with a difficult decision when his blocking bet on the river is raised.

Here is the situation again:

Image by Vedia via Flickr

You are down to $15,000 in chips from the starting stack of $20,000.

The blinds are $150-$300, and you are in the small blind with Kc-7s.

Everyone folds to the player in the cutoff position. He is a passive player and just limps into the pot. The button also limps. You decide to call for a half-bet. The big blind calls. There is $1,200 in the pot.

The flop is 7c-3s-2h. You have top pair with the second best kicker.

You bet out $600. After all it's doubtful anyone has a big pair, your opponents probably have calling hands like mid-rank suited connectors, and you only have to worry about a big blind special.

Only the player in the cut-off calls.

The turn is a Jd.

Now what? This kind of overcard is expected on a flop 7 high. You check.

Your opponent bets $750 into the $2,500 pot. What does that bet mean? It doesn't look like much of a bluff. Your opponent could have a monster or he could be making a small value bet with a hand like...what range of hands do you put him on?

It's such a small bet, you call.

The pot is $4,000. This pot is starting to get rather big relative to your chip stack. You don't want to be crippled with a pair of 7's.

The river is a 6s.

You don't want to make a call of a big bet, so to control the pot size you make a blocking bet of $1,000.

Your opponent raises to $3,000.

Have you figured out what hands your opponent may have?

Based on what you are thinking here, what should you do?

a) Fold
b) Call
c) Re-raise
d) Move all-in

Answer

Jordan called the bet on the river since he couldn't put his opponent on a hand that beat him.

Let's review. His opponent called his small bet on the flop. When the Jack hit on the turn, he check-called a small bet bet by his opponent.

If his opponent had a better hand on the flop, he would have likely raised. For example, A-7 or a pair higher than the 7's He would not want Jordan to get lucky on the turn and he'd want to know where he stood on the hand.

When the turn was a Jack, his opponent bet like he had something but nothing he was too proud about. My thinking would be that he has a hand like A-3, A-2, or a pocket pair between 4's, 5's and 6's. A $750 bet into a $2,500 is one that tells me he fears a raise since his hand can't beat top pair. If he had a set, he may bet this small or bet more for value. And if he had a Jack, he would most definitely raise--but J with what other card to call on the flop?

When the 6s comes on the turn, I like the blocking bet. The raise is a small one which could mean his opponent rivered a big hand, but you have to make the call for two reasons:

1) you are priced in to make the call for another $2,000 into a pot of $6,900 and

2) you need to think about what your opponent is probably thinking about your hand! You bet out small which could mean you may only have hit second or third pair on the flop. You check-called the small turn bet which would confirm that thinking. And now you are making a small bet on the river which again suggests a hand like second or third pair was hit on the flop. In all those cases, your opponent may think he has you beat with A-3, A-2, pocket 4's or pocket 5's.

Well Jordan Morgan called the raise and his opponent showed pocket 5's to lose the pot. The answer was b to call.

You can't play poker always fearing your opponent's small bets means he has the nuts. In fact, it is usually better to think the opposite and take him at his word that he is not strong. Monster hands don't come along that often--well, at least not for me, so why assume that they happen more often for your opponents?

Tournament Poker: What should you do when your blocking bet is raised?

A Difficult Poker Question

Here is a difficult question for you. It involves hand reading and a blocking bet that gets raised. Good luck!

Image via Wikipedia

You are playing in the $10,000 WSOP main event. You are down to $15,000 in chips from the starting stack of $20,000.

The blinds are $150-$300, and you are in the small blind with Kc-7s.

Everyone folds to the player in the cutoff position. He is a passive player and just limps into the pot. The button also limps. You decide to call for a half-bet. The big blind calls. There is $1,200 in the pot.

The flop is 7c-3s-2h. You have top pair with the second best kicker.

You bet out $600. After all it's doubtful anyone has a big pair, your opponents probably have calling hands like mid-rank suited connectors, and you only have to worry about a big blind special.

Only the player in the cut-off calls.

The turn is a Jd.

Now what? This kind of overcard is expected on a flop 7 high. You check.

Your opponent bets $750 into the $2,500 pot. What does that bet mean? It doesn't look like much of a bluff. Your opponent could have a monster or he could be making a small value bet with a hand like...what range of hands do you put him on?

It's such a small bet, you call.

The pot is $4,000. This pot is starting to get rather big relative to your chip stack. You don't want to be crippled with a pair of 7's.

The river is a 6s.

You don't want to make a call of a big bet, so to control the pot size you make a blocking bet of $1,000.

Your opponent raises to $3,000.

Have you figured out what hands your opponent may have?

Based on what you are thinking here, what should you do?

a) Fold
b) Call
c) Re-raise
d) Move all-in

Answer tomorrow.

If You Have Ever Gotten Angry Playing Poker This May Help

Anger and Poker

I admit I have a temper. While it runs in the family, it's my responsibility to control it.

The first few years I started playing poker tournaments, I never got angry when I took a bad beat. Never. I used to find it stupid for players to get so mad about losing.

Image by Akbar Simonse via Flickr

The tournament director at one of my local clubs used to tell people I was the nicest guy at the club. I think he may have got confirmation of that opinion when the following situation came up:

I had arrived on-time to a Sunday afternoon poker tournament at Lucky Chances. It takes about 45 minutes for me to get to the club. The buy in was $220. Everyone gets seated as the first hand is dealt. I am in the 6 seat, and the big blind is in the 3 seat. The blinds are $25-$50, and everyone has $2,000 in chips.

I get dealt A-K offsuit and I'm the first in the pot with a raise to $150. Everyone folds to the big blind who calls.

The flop is K-7-2 rainbow. I like that flop.

The big blind looks at the flop and does nothing for about 20 seconds. Then he says, "all-in."

Uh-oh. What could this guy have to move all-in with that flop? What hands can he possibly be holding to make a play like that? I am also wrongly thinking that I just got to the club, and I'd feel stupid driving home after a few minutes of play. I'm thinking and thinking.

Now my opponent says to the dealer, "clock."

The dealer calls over the tournament director. He walks over and tells me I have one minute. I really didn't know what to do.

And then it hits me. This is the guy who did the same thing about one month ago. When his opponent folded, he showed a total bluff.

"I call!" I say it loud to make sure the TD hears me.

I turn over my A-K and my opponent turns over Q-6 suited. The players at the table react by poking fun at this guy. He's got nothing. No backdoor nothing.

The turn is a 6.

The river is a....Q!

Now the table reacts with that "Oh!!" And start laughing. I don't get angry. I joke to my opponent, "you're good," as I get up from my chair and calmly walk away. I guess the tournament director expected me to storm off.

While it bothered me that I lost that hand, it's just poker. I actually felt good about making the call.

The point is that I never got angry playing poker. It always seemed a stupid waste of energy.

And then internet poker arrived.

Internet Poker

I did not jump into playing online poker at first, since I only had a Mac. Internet poker only worked on PC's in those days.

I was a winning tournament player at the clubs, so my Dad kept pushing me to get a PC. I finally relented and got a cheap PC laptop on ebay. It was a horrible computer.

When it arrived, I signed up with Ultimate Bet. I had to sign up with one of those deposit services, I think it was called firepay. It took a couple of days to get the money into UB.

Anyway, when I finally had money in UB, I entered my first online poker tournament. I had been playing for $200+ at the club, so I entered a $105 event. I could not believe how bad everyone was playing. As it got down to the final table, I was in third place.

After another 15 minutes, it was down to 6 players and I was tied for the chip lead. I knew for sure, I was going to win.

The next hand was dealt and I was under the gun. Pocket Aces! Since a couple of players were low on chips, I was thinking about slow-playing. But I decided to raise. I selected the amount of my raise. When I went to press the button to raise, the computer screen goes dead. As does everything else in my apartment.

In fact, the power to my area of town goes out. Unreal! What am I suppose to do? This never happened to me at a card room. I was going to call UB, but I didn't have the internet connection to find out their phone number.

After about one hour, the power goes back on. I log in to UB as quick as possible. I can't even find the game I was in anymore!

I call up UB. The person tells me that I was blinded off, and ended up in 5th place. That sort of pissed me off.

In fact, the more I played online poker, the more I got pissed about playing poker. So many unreal, stupid things happen all the time. Bad beat, after bad beat, after bad beat. It's so absurd. Did I feel like breaking the mouse, keyboard, and computer? Yes, yes and yes.

That anger about the game was present even when I played at the card rooms. I would be pissed when I lost...not some of the time, every time I lost. The funny thing is that I was a winning player overall!

Despite the winning, I couldn't take the way I was losing. It was just so stupid. It would just get me so pissed.

The result was that I just stopped going to any local major events, and cut back on my online play. Of course, it did give me time to write a book or two.

Why My Anger Is Practically Gone

The past year I have been playing a few more tournaments. One thing I have learned is that poker tournaments really are a combination of skill, luck, luck and luck. Players today are much better than they were before. The skill difference among very good and great players are not nearly as wide as they used to be.

My understanding of the game is deeper than before. And it has resulted in my being able to put anger aside in these events. There is no reason for you or me to get angry when you realize the following is true:

1. You are never that big of a favorite in any heads-up, all-in situation.
No one is a big favorite. Is 4-1 really that big of an edge? No! In horse racing a long shot is 20-1 or higher. The guy with the small pair will beat your pocket aces one out of five times. (One out of three times online:))

2. You have to play to win. Which means you have to push the action.
You will rarely get enough big hands to take you all the way to a win. (I think it's happened once where I got pocket Aces six times in a tournament--I still only finished 2nd!) Pushing the action results in being in more precarious situations and risking all your chips. It makes the game a lot less emotional when you know that anything can happen.

It used to be that I never put a bad beat on anyone because when the chips went into the middle I was always ahead. Now, I actually put bad beats on players...and get called names. But that's what happens when you embrace the risk in the game.

3. The top poker stars don't win tournaments that often.
Check the stats on the name players. The top poker stars today are getting better results in tournaments that are not the no-limit events. Why? They have a lead on knowledge and experience on these other games, like they used to have in no limit events. Also, there are fewer players to beat.

Chris Ferguson took $0 and turned it into $10,000--which is amazing. But you know what..it took him 7 months to win enough money in a tournament to play in games higher than a buck or two.

4. The top poker stars, the best players online and the best players at your local club have a big edge: it is their net worth.

For top poker stars, if it wasn't for their financial ownership and/or sponsorships with online poker sites, they would be having a much more difficult time and not be taking as many risks in a tournament. You may not know it, but there is a lot of deal making going on in major events.

It's like that player at the 2008 WSOP who told Hellmuth...it was something like.."No, you are an idiot! I put in my $10,000 and play my way. You risk nothing, you put up no money to play. You shut up!"

The fact it is an uneven playing field.

It's also true online and at your local club as well. Online players will have bigger bankrolls and will enter hundreds of events in a year. They play multiple events at the same time, so at a few of those events they can get enough chips later on, which can put them in an excellent position to win. They can use their chip lead to bully opponents in the later stages of the event, and it gives them a big edge.

You and I will be playing one event and put all our attention and effort into that one game. If we get knocked out, we shut off the computer.

You may not know it but it's also true at your local club. The players who have the biggest net worth, are the ones who can afford to take the biggest risks. More risk equals more reward. There is this one player (he dresses like he's homeless) who gets knocked out more often than other players, but he will also get to the final table with more chips, more often than other players.

I thought he was a great player, until I jokingly said to the tournament director, "That guy plays like he already won the main event." The TD replied in a serious tone, "Mitchell, he's one of the richest men in the Bay Area." I was shocked.

By the way, I am not saying that these star poker players are not the best poker players. I am saying that the top players have an edge but not as big as used to be in no limit tournaments. There are a lot more "best" or "almost as good" poker players, which results in luck being more and more of a factor in any one event.

Suggestion

I no longer get angry when I get knocked out with a bad beat. I am disappointed, but not angry. I mean it's just part of a game that is filled with skill but a lot more luck.

Now I try to be the player who is a little more aggressive and pushes the action a little more than my opponents. I will get knocked out sooner, but I will get more chips faster.

Give it a try. Embrace the risk. Take chances. Don't be angry if it doesn't work the first time, the first 10 times or the first 20 times. It doesn't matter, it's only a game...learn from it and improve your game.

Just please remember that you should not be playing with money you can't afford to lose. A reminder that is especially pertinent in today's economy.