Topic: Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tips

[PaulF]

Fooking brilliant got it tonight at 4 pm Started with $52 now on $107.  Buzzing my tits off with poker spy.  Only really looking at the calculator for now, but still, well worth the $50 pay into party poker.Above comments are all true, I love it so far.  Only problem is that you spend alot of time watching the data rather than the players

I thought that too, but the data you are watching should be just what you'd learn by watching other players plus more. Seeing what's been mucked is pretty helpfull too.
I'm not sure how useful it is at very low limit tables where there are a few lose aggressive players knocking around, but I guess over the long run it really helps your game.  I just hope it doesn't become so popular that everyone you play against has it!

[Hightown Phil]

I've just had a hand you have dreams about. Got 23 suited and called the bet (don't ask why). Flop comes down 252. Only two in the hand he bets, so I raise, to which he calls. Turn is a 7, he bets, I raise, he calls again. I'm starting to think he has 55. River comes down as a 7. I again bet, to which he raises, so I raise again, he calls. He shows A5, I show my 23 and he probably cried. A £12 pot on a £0.25/£0.50 table.

From four winning hands tonight, my motto is always play 23.

[Fiend]

I've just had a hand you have dreams about. Got 23 suited and called the bet (don't ask why).

Is it because you are a donk? Or you thought you were playing bingo?

[Hightown Phil]

It was cos I'd had it big blind twice and hit a straight and two pair. It had been nice to me, would have been rude to stay away.

[anon-y-mouse]

That damn midnight 7S8 freeroll has me again. Getting quite handy at this hi/lo lark.

[PaulF]

Signed up for partypoker $50 outlay.played beginer $0.10 and £0.25 for 50 hands to qualify for 20% outlay bonus so got $10 for free. then sorted it with poker spy now on $147.  The best free thing I have ever got!! great piece of kit.

It does seem to take some of the skill out, but mostly that related to memory.
I just played for about an hour, I did very badly to start with as I'd lost the calculator and was just playing hands to try and figure out how to get it back. I lost around 3 quid this way in 20 mins. In the following 40 mins I clawed it back and added another 3 quid.
What I find is helpfull, is that anything that's in group 1 or 2 I raise,  maybe with consideration to position. Anything in group 3, I play according to position, anything less I junk. Now I don't know how much effort it would be, but I've postponed learning the groupings. The player chart is really helpfull too. You can see a tight aggresive player in pretty colours, saying I'm only going to play if I have a very very good hand. You steer well clear of them. If it's also an aggresive player you steer well clear until you have the nuts. Then you just thank for handing over wads. You can see players you suspect are playing badly, look at their graphs and see how much they've lost. You can see the hands they played and know why they lost. I still think next to the calculator though, the best thing is the way it picks up mucked cards.

It even tells you when you've played a not so great hand, although it doesn't seem to warn you against playing it.....

[M|chael]

Glad to hear its helping you Bez and Paul. 10% will do.

[M|chael]

After putting £22 in my account last Friday night and withdrawing a total of £490 come early Monday my bankroll was empty because of that hand in the other thread. I stuck £30 in my account before, went upto £70 then lost the lot. Decided to put another £30 in, lose this and I'm going to bed. After 4 hours I turned that £30 into £191. Withdrew £150 and had £41 left in my account. Played for another hour and I'm on £87 £100 back to what I started now.

Another good night.

Edit: Had that £100 but back down to £37 now due to another unlucky moment.

------HAND 5------
Game #2976862544: Hold'em NL (£0.50/£1) - 2006/07/12 - 05:37:16 (GMT)
Table "Nirvana" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 2: Mwesty (£85 in chips)
Seat 3: 5427champ (£172.72 in chips)
Seat 6: tiltertom (£99.25 in chips)
XYZ123: posts small blind £0.50
tiltertom: posts big blind £1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Mwesty [Kh Jc]
Mwesty: raises to £3
5427champ: folds
Hajmat: calls £3
XYZ123: folds
tiltertom: calls £2
----- FLOP ----- [Ts Ad Qd]
tiltertom: checks
Mwesty: bets £3
Hajmat: raises to £9
tiltertom: calls £9
Mwesty: raises to £45
Hajmat: raises to £45.25 and is all-in
tiltertom: folds
Mwesty: calls £0.25
----- TURN ----- [Ts Ad Qd][Ac]
----- RIVER ----- [Ts Ad Qd Ac][2h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Hajmat: shows [Tc Td] (A Full House, Tens full of Aces)
Mwesty: shows [Kh Jc] (A Straight, Ace high)
Hajmat collects £106 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £109 Main pot £106 Rake £3
Board [Ts Ad Qd Ac 2h]
Seat 2: Mwesty showed [Kh Jc] and lost
Seat 4: Hajmat (button) showed [Tc Td] and won (£106) with A Full House, Tens full of Aces

Edit: After going back down to £37 on that hand I crawed up to £144.50 and withdrew another £100. About £750 profit in 4 days.

Tonight:-

Deposited: £60
Withdrawed: 251.50
Account: £44.50

[PaulF]

I've just installed poker-spy on my work computer and reused my betfair account. Hands remaining is back to 200, so I guess if you are prepared to keep reinstalling your operating system or run poker-spy in a virtual machine environment you can get round the 200 hands limit that way.

I think I might stick to seeing if I can use it to win enough money to pay for it (and notice how long it take), then buy a second monitor and a dual head graphics card to improve useability!

[bez]

Glad to hear its helping you Bez and Paul. 10% will do.

10% my arse!!! was about $90 up for the night,then alcohol and tiredness kicked in, Lost $60 of that,by not trusting the program!!!  You live and learn as they say.

Cheers anyway mate for the tip.

[Throxenby]

10% my arse!!! was about $90 up for the night,then alcohol and tiredness kicked in, Lost $60 of that,by not trusting the program!!!  You live and learn as they say.

Cheers anyway mate for the tip.

dont have a problem playing pissed, but playing tired then not heeding advice yer have paid for is plain daft.

[Reddave7]

Decent start to the morning for me in the lower level cash games, 23_Carra is myself :


------HAND 2------
Game #2977800624: Hold'em NL (£0.15/£0.25) - 2006/07/12 - 11:18:20 (GMT)
Table "Antares" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: 23_Carra (£20.80 in chips)
Seat 2: mapen75 (£19.26 in chips)
Seat 3: stringee (£34.31 in chips)
Seat 4: Yrogerg (£46.22 in chips)
Seat 5: MkZo (£43.83 in chips)
Seat 6: Dav091022 (£6.37 in chips)
mapen75: posts small blind £0.15
stringee: posts big blind £0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to 23_Carra [Jh Jc]
Yrogerg: raises to £1.25
MkZo: folds
Dav091022: folds
23_Carra: calls £1.25
mapen75: folds
stringee: folds
----- FLOP ----- [9s 6d 8h]
Yrogerg: bets £1.25
23_Carra: raises to £4
Yrogerg: calls £2.75
----- TURN ----- [9s 6d 8h][Ad]
Yrogerg: checks
23_Carra: bets £1
Yrogerg: raises to £7
23_Carra: calls £6
----- RIVER ----- [9s 6d 8h Ad][8d]
Yrogerg: bets £13.75
23_Carra: is all-in £8.55
Returned uncalled bets £5.20 to Yrogerg
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Yrogerg: shows [5s 5h] (Two Pairs, Eights and Fives, Ace high)
23_Carra: shows [Jh Jc] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Eights, Ace high)
23_Carra collects £39.90 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £42 Main pot £39.90 Rake £2.10
Board [9s 6d 8h Ad 8d]
Seat 1: 23_Carra (button) showed [Jh Jc] and won (£39.90) with Two Pairs, Jacks and Eights, Ace high
Seat 2: mapen75 (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stringee (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Yrogerg showed [5s 5h] and lost
Seat 5: MkZo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Dav091022 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Don't know why that guy was in that pot with 55 but who cares, I really thought I was beat when he check raised me on the turn. He's a bit of a loose player so I just went for it.

In that game I'd bought in at £13 and I've just left it at £30, not a bad morning

[PaulF]

Decent start to the morning for me in the lower level cash games, 23_Carra is myself :


------HAND 2------
Game #2977800624: Hold'em NL (£0.15/£0.25) - 2006/07/12 - 11:18:20 (GMT)
Table "Antares" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: 23_Carra (£20.80 in chips)
Seat 2: mapen75 (£19.26 in chips)
Seat 3: stringee (£34.31 in chips)
Seat 4: Yrogerg (£46.22 in chips)
Seat 5: MkZo (£43.83 in chips)
Seat 6: Dav091022 (£6.37 in chips)
mapen75: posts small blind £0.15
stringee: posts big blind £0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to 23_Carra [Jh Jc]
Yrogerg: raises to £1.25
MkZo: folds
Dav091022: folds
23_Carra: calls £1.25
mapen75: folds
stringee: folds
----- FLOP ----- [9s 6d 8h]
Yrogerg: bets £1.25
23_Carra: raises to £4
Yrogerg: calls £2.75
----- TURN ----- [9s 6d 8h][Ad]
Yrogerg: checks
23_Carra: bets £1
Yrogerg: raises to £7
23_Carra: calls £6
----- RIVER ----- [9s 6d 8h Ad][8d]
Yrogerg: bets £13.75
23_Carra: is all-in £8.55
Returned uncalled bets £5.20 to Yrogerg
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Yrogerg: shows [5s 5h] (Two Pairs, Eights and Fives, Ace high)
23_Carra: shows [Jh Jc] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Eights, Ace high)
23_Carra collects £39.90 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £42 Main pot £39.90 Rake £2.10
Board [9s 6d 8h Ad 8d]
Seat 1: 23_Carra (button) showed [Jh Jc] and won (£39.90) with Two Pairs, Jacks and Eights, Ace high
Seat 2: mapen75 (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stringee (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Yrogerg showed [5s 5h] and lost
Seat 5: MkZo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Dav091022 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Don't know why that guy was in that pot with 55 but who cares, I really thought I was beat when he check raised me on the turn. He's a bit of a loose player so I just went for it.

In that game I'd bought in at £13 and I've just left it at £30, not a bad morning

Good spot on him being loose, would most people agree that pair of jacks would generally not be strong enough to support that play? Your opponent was unlikely to have two paired with the flop (else he'd have had poo in his pocket and really shouldn't have been there). But after the turn he could well have held an Ace. Did you just assume he was bluffing?

[Throxenby]

wouldve re raised before the flop. see where yer at. showing strength and ridding of shite. if he comes over the top again then yer get a decision to make. you showed weakness after the turn, and shouldnt of raised to 7. yer bet weakly then go and call, after which he bets big and yer call. if hes that loose he could quite easily have had A shite. maybe yer played it well because yer took him for a bluff, and it paid off, however yer showed too much weakness with the A and still took no heed. you'll bum out playing like that. this game is all about position and aggression. he can call after the flop as he has a GS straight and whilst not getting immediate odds, hes getting implied odds if he hits.

[SM Online]

Do you know of any other free software like poker-spy? I've already got an account with party poker and don't fancy using the other poker rooms in the promotion.

[PaulF]

wouldve re raised before the flop. see where yer at. showing strength and ridding of shite. if he comes over the top again then yer get a decision to make. you showed weakness after the turn, and shouldnt of raised to 7. yer bet weakly then go and call, after which he bets big and yer call. if hes that loose he could quite easily have had A shite. maybe yer played it well because yer took him for a bluff, and it paid off, however yer showed too much weakness with the A and still took no heed. you'll bum out playing like that. this game is all about position and aggression. he can call after the flop as he has a GS straight and whilst not getting immediate odds, hes getting implied odds if he hits.

What is a GS straight?

oh and sorry I don't know of any free poker software. I suspect it isn't worth anybody's time to make it.
Download the trial of poker-psy and see if you can make the $60

Don't know how the activation code works and if you can just swap codes or what happens if you accidently delete it.

[SM Online]

http://www.holdemspy.com/ looks good but I've already got an account with titanpoker so I can't get it for free lol. I'll just have to wait untill I've got some money and just buy it or summet.

[Reddave7]

maybe yer played it well because yer took him for a bluff, and it paid off

I thouht he may have top pair which would be 8's and I had jacks.

Paul - I think he's meaning gut shot when saying GS

[blurred]

I thouht he may have top pair which would be 8's and I had jacks.

But top pair with an Ace kicker would have been dangerous. He wouldn't have gone in on 8 and 2, for instance.

[Reddave7]

But top pair with an Ace kicker would have been dangerous. He wouldn't have gone in on 8 and 2, for instance.

As I said, this guy was a loose player. Maybe the correct play was to pass after the check raise on the turn but I just thought I'd go for it. Maybe in the long run this will be a losing play so I will have to re think this through but I'm just pleased it payed off today.

[PaulF]

Ok, theoretical study time.

You're at a ring game.(no, not THAT kind of ring ). You've identified a loose agressive player at the table. Under what circumstances are you prepared to play against him? Or do you just avoid playing hands while he is in?

[Throxenby]

Ok, theoretical study time.

You're at a ring game.(no, not THAT kind of ring ). You've identified a loose agressive player at the table. Under what circumstances are you prepared to play against him? Or do you just avoid playing hands while he is in?

i would personally only play him on a raising hand pre flop. if i can creep in with connectors and hit then yep, but they're too dangerous when first seen after a short period of time yer know what he could have, but initially i'd just creep in or play top hands.
when yer get into a hand with this person be extra aggressive, make sure they know yer playing it big and if they wanna draw, it'll be fukin exspensive.
thats how i play em, initially anyway.

[PaulF]

i would personally only play him on a raising hand pre flop. if i can creep in with connectors and hit then yep, but they're too dangerous when first seen after a short period of time yer know what he could have, but initially i'd just creep in or play top hands.
when yer get into a hand with this person be extra aggressive, make sure they know yer playing it big and if they wanna draw, it'll be fukin exspensive.
thats how i play em, initially anyway.

That appears a sound strategy. I know I'd be too scared to risk much money against them and would steer clear. In the long run that type of play should prove expensive for them, but over the short run it could be me that loses out. I figure over a longer period of playing against that type of player I should make money, but is it worth the short term hit? I guess this is where bankroll is important.

[Reddave7]

Ok, theoretical study time.

You're at a ring game.(no, not THAT kind of ring ). You've identified a loose agressive player at the table. Under what circumstances are you prepared to play against him? Or do you just avoid playing hands while he is in?

Against these players I like to get involved with hands like 7,8 etc. of course not every pot but say the loose lad limps in and I've got 7,8 or 10,J I may flat call but I'd never call a raise. I reason I call his limp is when I hit two pair, maybe trips, straight he pays me. That makes it a profitable play in the long run. The more players in the pot the better when you hit your hand.

When I get big hands against them I play them strong, I might make the minium raise with aces in the hope he comes over the top and I re raise.

[PaulF]

When I get big hands against them I play them strong, I might make the minium raise with aces in the hope he comes over the top and I re raise.

This is the bit I'd worry about, the pre-flop raising. If he is loose agressive, he's in a position to hit trips with 9s or something daft. Sure he'll lose in the long run, but do I want to be the statistical average that's unlucky on the day, but part of the bigger picture that shows him lose?

[Reddave7]

This is the bit I'd worry about, the pre-flop raising. If he is loose agressive, he's in a position to hit trips with 9s or something daft. Sure he'll lose in the long run, but do I want to be the statistical average that's unlucky on the day, but part of the bigger picture that shows him lose?

It doesn't matter what you bet I doubt a loose player would pass 9's, so if you have aces and he hits trip 9's you'll loose your money everytime so that is why bankroll is important. You should really have at least 30 times you maxium buy in in a cash game and around 100 times the buy in in a sit n go. We'll focus on cash as that's what we're on right now.

As I said you'll loose your 30 quid say if your aces are busted by his 9's hitting trips. It doesn't matter if it all goes in pre flop or after the flop. You wont pass aces on a flop like 4, 9, K will you? But if your bankroll is big enough you can come back and you will win that contest ( your aces against his 9's ) 80% of the time so you can come back and will make money in the long run.

[PaulF]

That makes sense too. Possibly I'll play ultra conservative while I build up a bankroll and get more accostomed to what happens at the tables.
Incidentally, what experience do other players here have.

Time Playing: less than a month
Average time spent playing: I'd say 3 to 4 hours a week.
Typical Games:
£1+20 tourneys (one table, I believe these are called sit 'n' go?)
25/50p Ring Games
Best Game: Winning RAWK tourney
Worst Game: Second out in a tourney, All in on something ok, but really wasn't watching what the other player might have.


I've probably spent equal times doing both and have probably lost about a tenner in that 4 week period. Most of the loses in a couple of days when I wasn't concentrating. I've learnt to only play when 'comitted'.

[Reddave7]

As I was talking about bankrolls mate, those are the facts but I don't have anywhere near those ammounts. I'm still building mate, up to £54 from £1.37

Incidentally, what experience do other players here have.

Time Playing: less than a month
Average time spent playing: I'd say 3 to 4 hours a week.
Typical Games:
£1+20 tourneys (one table, I believe these are called sit 'n' go?)
25/50p Ring Games
Best Game: Winning RAWK tourney
Worst Game: Second out in a tourney, All in on something ok, but really wasn't watching what the other player might have.

Times Playing : I'm only 15 but I've been playing since I was 14 with mates, then on to play money on net (what a load of shite), freerolls, then with my dads details online for real. Been playing online for real for about a month with betfair.

Average time spent playing a week : 1-3 hours as mostly play fast sit n go's

Typical games : £5 fast 6 seat sit n go's. Just started £0.15/£0.25 cash games.

Best Game : Coming back from 298 chips to win one of my fast sit n go's (see rawk tourney thread for details)

Worst Game : Going on tilt and losing £15, in my first cash game other than than pennies, in a matter of minutes.

[Reddave7]

Paul have you read any of the harrington books? If so were they helpful?

[M|chael]

Time Playing : About 2 years for real money.

Average time spent playing a week : 25 hours

Typical games : £20 Sit N' Go NL Short Handed or $0.50/$1.00 NL Short Handed Ring Game.

Best Game : Placing 1st in the North West Student Challenge and reaching the Finals.

Worst Game : Placing 8th in that Final.

Average Poker Earnings per-Week: £550

[PaulF]

I've just got Sklansky and Harrington's first and am planning to plough through them in the next few weeks.

M!chael, that sort of money is enough for a full time job!

[Fiend]

Have played about 2 years and have made about €25000 in total since the start. Dont play as much as I used to. Just regard it as a hobby, would hate to have it as my full time job. Hoping for a big win at some stage in the next few years

[PaulF]

lol, most hobbies COST me money!

[SM Online]

Have played about 2 years and have made about €25000 in total since the start. Dont play as much as I used to. Just regard it as a hobby, would hate to have it as my full time job. Hoping for a big win at some stage in the next few years

Jesus christ, did you win all that playing online?

I've been playing poker on and off for about a year, mainly table poker though, and I'd be surprised if I'm even nevermind in profit. I'd love to win big amounts of money but I haven't got the patience, I guess it took you a long time to get as good as you are, what do they say? "Takes a day to learn and a lifetime to master" or something.

[Fiend]

Most of it I won in the first year actually. I used to play 30 or 40 hours a week.

Won feck all this year - About 300 average a month. Havent got the nerves for cash games so just concentrate on tourneys

[SM Online]

300 a month is fuck all to you? lol  That said I'm an 18 year old student so that sort of money probably means more to me then you.

I think I'll pick up a copy of Harrington on Hold'Em if I can earn my self anything around what you guys have been winning.

[bez]

Times Playing : 8 weeks ish on Ladbrokes, Poker room and Party poker

Average time spent playing a week : 15-20 hours

Typical games : $ fast 6 seat sit n go's. Just started £0.15/£0.25 cash games.

Best Game : $20 six seat tourney.  Last 25 chips out of 1500, Won the game from that position.The guy against me was on 6750ish to my 750, and i did him in about 12 hands

Worst Game : To many to mention, lost about £150 up until recently.  Where I'm on my my way up.

[PaulF]

300 a month is fuck all to you? lol That said I'm an 18 year old student so that sort of money probably means more to me then you.

I think I'll pick up a copy of Harrington on Hold'Em if I can earn my self anything around what you guys have been winning.

You'll have to read it too

[Throxenby]

nearly finished it. will try re reading sklanskys after it. not sure its helped as me major problem is putting internet players on hands. anyone got any suggestions ?

[Fiend]

nearly finished it. will try re reading sklanskys after it. not sure its helped as me major problem is putting internet players on hands. anyone got any suggestions ?

Its not much use at lower levels where 6 people llimp into a pot. some with AJ some with 84s.

Generally you can put people on a range of hands like - he raised from 5th pos so he's likey to have 99+ or AT+ maybe KQ.  After the flop you can try and narrow it down.