Your table “image” is the way your opponents view you at the table.  This “image” will affect how other players at the table play against you.  If you have a conservative image, players will respect your bets and raises and most likely not tangle with you unless they have a good hand.  On the other hand, if you have a wild image, the other players will often play more aggressively against you and not give you credit for having a quality hand.  Players form this image of you by watching what cards you play preflop and how aggressively you play your hands that get shown on the river.  If every time you bet or raise you show down a strong hand you will definitely project a tight image.  If you frequently get caught bluffing and bet with little or no hand, you will have a wild image.

After your opponents have an image of you firmly entrenched in their heads, you can play in a manner that is opposite to what your opponents think about you.  If you have a tight image, you should now play more aggressively and possibly find an opportunity to bluff as your opponents now respect your bets and raises.  On the other hand, if you have a wild image, you can play big hands super fast and still get action because of your wild image. Don’t bluff as your opponents don’t respect your bets and raises, but instead bet aggressively when you think you have the best hand and expect your opponents to call you.

Establishing an image and then exploiting it to your benefit is what poker is all about.  Try and play hands to the opposite of your current table image for the most profit.  Observe your opponents images as well and adapt your play accordingly.

Draw poker is a variant of poker in which each player receives 5 cards down and “draw” from 1 to 5 cards to improve their hand.  The most common variant of draw poker is usually played for high only with the best high hand taking down the pot.  Players will commonly keep a big pair such as aces or kings and draw 3 cards to try and make 2 pair of 3 of kind. If you are dealt a “pat” hand like a full house, straight, or flush, you stand pat and tell the dealer you don’t want to draw any cards.  Tells are a very important part of draw poker because you can judge if your opponent has helped their hand by closely watching their reaction after receiving their draw cards.

In the early eighties, draw poker was very popular in the card clubs in California before Texas Hold’em was invented.  Now draw poker for high is played almost exclusively on the internet as live games rarely exist.  Other versions of draw poker include lowball, triple-draw 2-7 lowball, no limit 2-7 single draw, and badugi. These versions, especially triple draw 2-7 and badugi, have become quite popular and are often included in larger mixed games in Las Vegas and California.   These other versions are played for low in which players try and make the lowest possible hand, usually 2,3,4,5,7.

I have always wondered why most poker dealers are poor poker players.  Nothing seems to make a game better than a dealer who just finished working and then hops into the game.  I don’t know if it is because they are tired from work but they always seem to play poorly and immediately start to gamble it up.  You would think that a dealer would become a better player simply by watching all that poker while working.  They certainly should become better at reading hands from seeing a couple hundred hands a day.  Dealers could also imitate things that the winning players do and incorporate it into there own games.

So why do most dealers play poorly?  Maybe they see 2 3 off-suit crack aces for a big pot and they figure they can do it too.  If approximately 90 percent of poker players are losing players, then your average poker dealer is watching primarily poor play and then do it themselves.  It seems that most dealers know how to play good poker but choose not too most of the time.  They seem to want to blow off steam and “gamble with the boys” instead of playing good, fundamentally sound poker.  Maybe that’s the reason they are dealing in the first place; because they couldn’t make it playing and are now trying to rebuild their bankroll by dealing.

On the other hand, there is a long list of successful professional poker players that started out dealing poker.  Mike Matusow, Johnny Chan, Scott Fischman, Ted Forrest, and Scotty Nguyen top the list of dealers that have had success on the other side of the table.  Most of them attribute their good card reading sense to the countless hours they spent in the box dealing cards.  I think anyone who spends 40 hours a week watching poker should quickly become an expert at reading hands.  A dealer should certainly be aware of the pitfalls of playing professional poker such as playing out of your bankroll, gambling in the pit, and going on tilt.  They see it ruin poker players every day!

I think that any poker dealer who wants to become a good poker player certainly has the opportunity to become one.  It comes down to deciding to play your best game all the time and having the discipline to play good solid poker.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see more dealers make it “big” and reach professional status as a result of the poker boom.  There are certainly more people dealing poker at casinos around the country than ever before and just on strictly a numbers basis, some of them will climb to the top of the poker ladder.

A belly buster straight draw is simply an inside straight draw.  It is a low probability draw that has only 4 cards to help you hit your straight.  For example, if the flop is A K Q and you have 10 9  in your hand, you need a jack to complete your “belly buster” straight draw.  It is usually a sucker play to draw at a belly buster or “gut shot” straight draw because you seldom have the correct odds to chase to make your hand.  You will complete a “belly buster” straight draw on the next card approximately 1 out of 11 times you draw at it.  In addition, it will be hard to get paid off it you hit your hand as the board will now show 4 cards to a straight on the board.  Your opponent will be unlikely to call further bets if you bet with your obvious straight.

On the other hand, a “double belly buster” straight draw is similar to an open end straight draw in that you have 8 cards to make your straight.  However, both of your outs are not on the “outside” of the draw but instead you really have 2 inside or “belly buster” straight cards.  For example, if the board is A Q 10 and you have J 8 in your hand, you can make a straight with either a king or nine.  These draws can be very deceptive, especially if you hit the nine as it will look like a blank to your opponent.  This will increase the chances of getting paid off by your opponent if you hit your hand..  If you draw to a “double belly buster” straight draw you will hit your hand approximately 1 out of every 6 times on the next card.

A belly buster straight draw is simply an inside straight draw.  It is a low probability draw that has only 4 cards to help you hit your straight.  For example, if the flop is A K Q and you have 10 9  in your hand, you need a jack to complete your “belly buster” straight draw.  It is usually a sucker play to draw at a belly buster or “gut shot” straight draw because you seldom have the correct odds to chase to make your hand.  You will complete a “belly buster” straight draw on the next card approximately 1 out of 11 times you draw at it.  In addition, it will be hard to get paid off it you hit your hand as the board will now show 4 cards to a straight on the board.  Your opponent will be unlikely to call further bets if you bet with your obvious straight.

On the other hand, a “double belly buster” straight draw is similar to an open end straight draw in that you have 8 cards to make your straight.  However, both of your outs are not on the “outside” of the draw but instead you really have 2 inside or “belly buster” straight cards.  For example, if the board is A Q 10 and you have J 8 in your hand, you can make a straight with either a king or nine.  These draws can be very deceptive, especially if you hit the nine as it will look like a blank to your opponent.  This will increase the chances of getting paid off by your opponent if you hit your hand..  If you draw to a “double belly buster” straight draw you will hit your hand approximately 1 out of every 6 times on the next card.

Along time ago, I got some of the best poker advice that I have ever had even to this day.  One of the older pros and consistent winners tracked me down one day after I busted from a cash game.  He said he noticed that I was frustrated with my game, and wasn’t doing so well lately.  I was a bit embarrassed but invited the idea of him helping.  “Your style should never change because of the amount of money in front of you,” he said, “It should change because of the players around you.”  He continued, “ I noticed that when you are down, maybe at $600 from your original $1000, you tend to tighten up and play scared.  The more experienced guys know this too and take advantage of it.”  I thanked him for his honesty, bought him lunch, and then went home to think.

He was right.  After taking a beat and being down, that’s all I could think about.  I would constantly count my stack, seeing how many bets I was down, and it affected my game.  I realized other players would come over the top of me a lot more when I would bet.  In most cases, if I didn’t have a monster, I would reluctantly let the hand go, worried that they had me beat.  I went back the next day, and when I dropped below my buy-in, I continued to play tight aggressive poker.  My opponents were caught off guard and I ended up having one of my biggest cashes to date.

The reason I bring up this conversation is not to gloat about my big win, but because I see this a lot in both inexperienced and good players.  How you play, should be based on the players around you, not the money in front of you.  As well as tightening up when down, I see players do the same type of thing when they are up.  Often I notice a player who, after winning a few pots, separate their original buy-in into different stacks from their profit.  They feel very comfortable playing a bigger range of hands and seeing more flops with the money from their profit, but when that money runs out, the go back to tight play.  In most cases, the reason they are back to their original buy-in is that they didn’t observe the other players at the table.  They didn’t realize that the style they were using when they first sat down was a better suited for the table, and the loose aggressive style they were using when they were up was not.  Don’t end up like this player, loosen up when the game is tight, tighten up when the game is loose, don’t let the chips in front of you justify how you play.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #222

Slumps, bad streaks, and rough patches, whatever you call them, they all feel the same.  If you have played poker long enough, then it’s a guarantee that you have experienced of all these and that you will experience them again.  For most of us, we just continue to play through; waiting out the storm, then hope there wasn’t too much damage.  Is this the only thing that we can do when running bad?  Is there a better, less painful approach we can take?  Unfortunately, no…but there are things we can do to ensure, that no matter how hard it hits, the storm doesn’t damage our bankroll as bad.

The first step to take is to take a day or two off.  You need to clear your head, analyze your game, and study your favorite book.  During these days off, your main focus is your mental game.  Regaining your confidence is the key to ensuring you will be back on you’re A-game.  When you come back to play, step down to a smaller, more comfortable limit or switch to a different game or game type. (i.e. switch from NL Hold’em to Omaha 8 or from NL to Limit)

In most cases, the playing through the storm method,  isn’t necessarily the best approach to take.   When a golfer continues to shank their tee shots and miss their puts, they don’t continue entering tournaments, trying to grip-it and rip-it.  They head back to the driving range or their favorite course and get back to the basics and fundamentals.  By working on just the basics, it helps to center their minds.  In terms of poker, you should go back to playing by the book.  Remove yourself from those advanced plays and playing on multiple levels of thinking.  Bring yourself back to ABC poker and the time tested winning strategy.  When taking this approach, you may not record huge wins, but wins non-the-less that will build confidence.

The worst thing to do when running bad is to start adjusting your style.  Sometimes, no matter what you do, nothing goes right.  If you suspect there is a flaw in your game, switching every time something doesn’t work, will only make things worse.  If you are constantly changing your style you never going to have a well rounded game.  Like I said, get back to the basics.  As you regain your confidence and slowly add those advanced plays back into your game, you are sure to catch the flaws.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #221

You are in early position, there have been no callers yet, and it is your action.  You look at your hand, Ace…and…King.  You decide to raise it 4x the big blind and get 2 callers behind you.  The dealer puts out the flop, blank-blank-blank.  What do you do next?  Much is deliberated about this situation.  This is also one of the most commonly misplayed situations.  A great hand preflop, now turned into complete rubbish.  But this doesn’t have to be.  In this article I will give a quick explanation of how to play this and similar situations the correct way.

The most probable reason missing the flop with big overcards is misplayed so often, is that players have a tendency to define their playing style to their opponents.  By this, I mean, their play becomes stale and obvious.  Their opponents know that they only raise from early position with big cards and that they always continuation bet when they miss the flop after being the preflop raiser.  So, if you decide to continuation bet here and lead out, your opponents know exactly where you are.

The first step you need to take is to mix up your play.  Too many players get into the habit of always raising big cards from early position and always calling mediocre cards.  This means sometimes raise your 5-6 suited or pocket 8-8 as well as just limp with your A-Q, A-K, and K-Q suited.  Like I stated earlier, most players define their play by always continuation betting when the miss after being the preflop aggressor.  The best ways to avoid this problem are as follows:  Do the first step above and mix up what how you play your hands preflop.  This way when the board comes low or straight cards your opponent knows that those are the type of cards you play.  Next would be to mix up the frequency in which you bet or slowplay when hitting the board.  If you always continuation bet when you miss and always slow play your sets, you have defined your playing style.  As well, by sometimes checking with hands like A-K and A-Q , when you flop an Ace, you will keep those opponents in with A-J and A-10 all the way to the river.

I hope this article has helped you learn how mixing up your play will make playing those big cards from early position much more profitable.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #220

When flopping a set, one of the most common mistakes inexperienced players make is slow playing too often.  By betting out when we hit, we gain three things that slow playing wouldn’t:  We build a pot, disguise our hand, and don’t give our opponent a chance to draw for free.

By betting out and building the pot, we are going to get maximum value out of the hand.  Let’s assume our opponent flops a pair but wouldn’t bet out on their own.  If we bet out on the flop and they decide to call, when they improve on the turn their bet will have to be proportionally larger due to the size of the pot.  As well, when betting out first, if our opponent decides to raise us, whether it is a bluff or with a legitimate hand, their raise will have to be larger because of the extra bets in the pot.

If our opponent has a draw on the flop, we can protect our hand with a bet while also making it more expensive for them to hit their hand.  Even if they call, whether they hit or not, we can feel justified in knowing that they didn’t have the correct odds, thus making their call unprofitable in the long run.

Keeping your hands disguised is crucial to profitable poker.  Most players expect you to slow play such a strong hand, so by betting out, we make it look like a weaker hand than it actually is.  If our opponent assumes we have top pair or a pair in the pocket they may try to take down the pot with a bluff.  Additionally, they may assume that what they hold is a winner and play it all the way to the showdown.

In the end, bet your set.  If you slow play it to the river, you may gain a few extra bets, but give your opponent a chance to draw for free.  If you lead out and take control, you may lose a few customers along the way, but when one does call, by the time you get to the river the pot will be huge.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #219

When players are really gambling it up at the table, they often announce “I’m going to straddle.” So what is a straddle? A straddle is a third blind that is usually double the size of the big blind.  It is placed just to the left of the big blind.  In a $5/$10 no limit holdem game, the small blind is $5 and the big blind is $10.  If a player wants to straddle, the first player after the big blind or the “under the gun”, player places a third blind of $20 into the pot.  The action continues clockwise around the table and if a player wants to enter the pot they must call $20 instead of the original $10 big blind.  The “straddler” then has last action before the flop and has the option to raise.

So what effect does a straddle have on the game?  It makes the stakes of the game bigger by putting in a third blind and placing more money in the pot before the flop.  It sometimes causes more “action” as players now have an increased interest in playing for a bigger pot.  The disadvantage of straddling is that you are putting more money in the pot without looking at your cards and often times receive a poor hand.  You also will be playing a bigger pot out of position throughout the hand which is definitely another disadvantage.  To overcome this positional disadvantage, some poker rooms allow a “Mississippi straddle” which is the same as a regular straddle except it can be made from any position.  Players often use the “Mississippi straddle” in late position in a big bet game such as pot limit Omaha or no limit holdem because it creates a bigger pot while they are in position.

So the next time your poker game has hit a lull in the action, spice things up with a straddle and watch the fireworks start.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #218