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Playing with the Big Guys -- And Winning!
I'm sure I'll be adding more to this in the future. When I do, I'll send an email to those who have purchased the book and I'll highlight them here to make them easy to locate.
In my January newsletter, I talked about a new approach I've been using and winning. I just kind of fell into it while earning bonuses at FullTilt, and realized over a period of a few weeks that I was winning more, winning it faster, and enjoying it more. For clarity, I'm going to refer to my earlier approach (as described in Chapter 4) as the lower limit games approach, and this one as the higher limit games approach. The earlier approach seems to still work well for me in $.25-$.50, $.50-$1, and $1-$2 games. This new one works better in the $2-$4, $3-$6, $5-$10, and $8-$16 fixed limit games. Yes! That's right! As cheap as I am, I've actually gotten into some $8-$16 games. They require a slightly bigger bank-roll than I'm willing to commit, though, so I generally stay at the $3-$6 level. Seems like if I've got around $100, I can hang in there until I ultimately win. So, first the story, then the details of the new system.
In January, FullTilt was offering a 50% bonus on deposits up to $600, so I went and got $600 out of my bonus reserve account, racked up the $300 bonus, then sloooowly embarked on the games required to qualify for the bonus. I've forgotten the exact formula for earning bonuses at FullTilt, but it's much slower than at Paradise. I was playing along at the $.10-$.25 and/or $.25-$.50 levels, playing 2-3 games at a time, and making about 1/3 of a point per game. I figured it took 500 points to earn $30 of bonus, so you can calculate how many games I'd need to play at that level. I was winning a little, having a little fun, and slooowly earning the bonus money. Then, around Christmas, might even have been on Christmas Eve, I thought to myself, "Hey! You've got the money in the account. You can probably afford it. Let's get into some real games, like $3-$6." One reason I decided to do this was to see how much faster the bonus was earned. A second was that I still harbor an urge to play live in a casino and thought I'd better get some experience at those levels, since that's what is offered in most casinos. Well, what a surprise! Read on!
How should I play? .. .hmmm ... let's pretend we're in a casino and can only play one game. Let's try a somewhat aggressive style and see how it works out. ... IT WORKED OUT! From December 17th through about January 5th, I found myself over $1000 ahead. I was on top of the world. I played mostly at FullTilt, but used my "new system" at Paradise and Party Poker a few times and did fairly well there also. Then, on January 8th, I sat there and lost $400 in one night. OOPS! Didn't enjoy that! I decided to lay off, re-analyze what I was doing, and come back later. I moved all the money except $100 back to my bank to create a slight hurdle to losing that amount again. I didn't play at all for two weeks. Then, on January 22nd, I jumped back in again. Now, a week later, I'm up about $300, feeling more comfortable again, so decided to take a break and write this chapter. So, what have I changed? .... I'll get back to that after I describe my somewhat simple, but surprisingly effective system.
I've read a few Hold'Em books, watched one of the Lederer CDs (reviewed in Chapter 16), and followed the games on TV with interest. I know what the pros think is a playable hand, and much of my system flies in the face of (their) reason, so I leave it to you to consider it carefully before trying it out. Consider that it might work for me and not you, for some reason, so start slowly and be wary, because you can lose a bunch in a short time if things don't go well.
So here 'tis. I'm going to explain it in terms of the Basic Rule, then list some "corollaries" to the rule -- additional variations to consider, based upon the conditions of the game that you're in.
Basic Rule: On the first two cards, call with any Ace, any two cards greater than or equal to 10, any two suited cards, and any pair. Now, as I said in a previous chapter, online people don't raise as much as what most of the books recommend. I think that difference allows you to play hands like any two suited cards without risking much money. I notice, however, that many more players raise or re-raise on the deal in these higher limit games than was the case in the lower limit games. If it looks like there's going to be a "raising war" (betting the full three raises on each card), you might need to tighten up a little on what's played. In most cases, however, I play exactly those hands listed above. That's the basis of my new approach -- there are several nuances that go along with it.
Corollary 1: If you're in early or middle position (1-3 left of the Big Blind), depending upon the amount of raising there's been on the deal, you might consider folding extremely low suited cards or a pair of 2's-4's. Up to you.
Corollary 2: If you're in late position (button or immediately right of button), I sometimes play a little looser, like including any King, etc. Again, depends on the "feel" of the game, if you've been winning, etc.
Corollary 3: Note that the Basic Rule says to Call. Most Poker books will tell you that you should either Fold or Raise, but seldom Call. I found this to be somewhat true. Nothing bothers you more than to be beaten by someone who played from the blind with a hand that they'd have probably folded to a single raise. I base my "call versus raise" decision upon where I am at the table, whether I have somewhat high cards that will win if I pair up and I squeeze out players who would stay with a bad hand if nobody raises, and simply gut feel. I usually mix it up, sometimes calling and sometimes raising, just based upon more-or-less random choice. What I don't do is only raise when I've got really high cards, like A-K. I've played against people who do that and a small-card flop will usually result in them folding to a single bet -- I've stolen a few pots that way. My decision also is often affected by how well I'm doing -- if I'm about to lose my stake, I probably will call most of the time. If I'm way ahead, I'll probably raise more often.
That gets you to the flop. Now, the question is how well do you have to do to continue to call, raise, re-raise, etc.? BIG QUESTION! Here again, it's based largely upon gut feel, how the other players are behaving, how well you're doing, and several other factors. What I said way back in Chapter 6 pretty well describes my play in this new approach. Go back and reread the Loose Play paragraph under Basic Strategies, then reread the Strategy Variations. With that, you've pretty much got the whole system.
Beyond the Flop: Totally impossible to provide much guidance here. It's so dependent on so many factors, you're really on your own after the flop. That's where the real experience and learned skill shows up. Knowing when to call, when to raise, when to bluff, when to fold ... it's a real puzzle, but a real joy when you get it right!
Recent changes: So, what did I change since restarting in late January? I've noticed a few things that may be only true in my case, but possibly worth mentioning here. I think I chase low pairs too long -- e.g., if I've got 5-K suited, then flop a pair of 5's, I often get pulled into playing longer even though higher cards are showing. This is especially true if my non-paired card is an Ace or King. I've also realized that I seem to win during the first 2-3 hours, then often lose when I play longer -- to compensate, I've started taking a break every three or so hours, then starting "anew" after the break of an hour or more. I also have found it worthwhile to drop out of the game if I've doubled or tripled my original entry amount, then come back in later with my original stake (usually $100 in a $3-$6 game). Don't know if it's purely psychological on my part that maybe I play looser if I'm winning, if others react more aggressively when someone wins that much, or if it's just the fact of taking a short break. And -- the old stand-by -- I sometimes get over-confident when I've won a little, and start playing too loose. I've learned that, in Poker as in the Stock Market, it seems that one can lose much faster than one wins. As evidenced by my story above, I spent a couple of weeks winning $1000, then managed to lose almost half of it in just a few hours in one evening.
Bluffing: Another thing that I've noticed in these higher limit games is that bluffs seem to work much more often. I've decided to create Chapter 19 to discuss Bluffing separately, just so it will be in the index for later reference.
Now, I've got something for you that may or may not interest you. I mentioned back in Chapter 16 that FullTilt presents the previous hands in graphic form. As I play along, on any hand that's of special interest, I do a PrntScrn and save the screen photo in a JPEG file. I've got over 20 that I've saved, but that's more server space than I can really afford on my website. I've put some of the more interesting ones onto a separate page for those who want to look. These are hands where I (or someone else) has had an especially great win, a remarkably bad beat, or just a really unusual hand that you wouldn't expect to see "in a million years." These unusual hands really aren't that unusual online, however, merely because you're playing so many hands in a short time.
To check out my Sample Hands, CLICK HERE.
Below, I've repeated those two hands shown at the top of the page, but in a larger view. The first shows me winning $292, the second shows me losing $159. Special Reminder of the Last Hand Secret: One thing that's obvious if you recall previous hands is that you get to see all the cards that were active at the end, rather than just the winner, as is the case on the table. Many of the players don't seem to know this. They'll lie about their hands, even though you can peek into the "Last Hand" window and see exactly what they had. I just laugh quietly and don't let them know that their lie is noted by all who know the Last Hand Secret. You also see your own cards every time, whether you've folded or played to the end.
WebBook #18
Before I start, let me show you two interesting hands demonstrating the Power-of-the-River. On the left, my King-high Flush (made on the River) beats a Jack-high Straight for $292. On the right, an Aces-full Boat on the River beats my Ace-high Straight (also achieved on the River) for $159. To scroll down for a larger view of these, CLICK HERE.
Much of the content in the WebBook assumes you've already read the Ebook Chapters 1-7. To get your free copy of the Ebook, CLICK HERE.
This is the WebBook portion of the "Secrets for Winning Online Hold'Em Poker" Ebook+WebBook
