Cards Poker (Texas Hold'em)

[FnX]

My belief is, you're either a natural poker player or not. I suppose it's possible to learn poker in a mathematical way, all the odds, what to do in which situation etc, basically the way very good bots play. This will net you money of course, especially at low level cash game grinds. As long as there aren't other grinders at the same table. You should learn the basics, what kind of starting hands are good, how your position regarding to the dealer button affects your game, when to shift gears/strategy in tournament play, but what you can't exactly learn from books is intuition. That will probably cost you some learning money, but if you stick with poker, you will earn all that money back and more if you have the gift, for lack of better word. Intuition in poker is extremely important, it allows you to read other players, know when they're bluffing and how much, allows you to bluff, when to call quits and fold even when you're half committed etc. Doesn't matter if it's internet poker or irl. You can read people in internet poker too based on their decisions, bets, and how long they take time to react. One way to bluff is when you immediately know what to do but wait a random amount of time, and you need to be able to smell this too. You need to learn your opponents play style asap when you face them and notice when they switch it.

Poker is about skill and luck, that's what makes it quite exciting. Don't get me wrong, I love games like chess too, which have zero luck in them, but in poker, luck does play a role too. Like already mentioned in this thread, sometimes you make the right decision but still lose a hand, it's all part of the game. Sometimes you make a bad decision and win a hand, that's all part of the game too. But the odds of winning and losing due to pure luck get smaller and smaller the more skilled player you are, even though you can never completely eliminate luck from the game, no matter how good you are.

 

[infectedmushroom]

The Poker Thread

So I thought I'd start up a poker thread! What's your game? Do you play with friends for low-stakes at home or head to the casino to play seriously? Are you a Texas Hold-Em type or an Omaha enthusiast?

I personally love games with my mates because if we're all feeling brave enough the stakes can get pretty high but it's still a relaxed vibe all round. I sometimes play tournaments in pubs and clubs and once came seventh in a $1000 garuantee tournament getting through 70 other players. The funniest thing about that was I decided to go on a whim and was at the time completely wasted on weed, booze, dexamphetamine, and xanax, and it's the best i've ever played.

Sometimes I play full tilt but I try to avoid cash games because I often forget the numbers aren't just numbers but real life money and inevitably I do stupid shit only to realize afterward I've blown my bankroll.

Who else likes straddling with 7 2, and getting a full house on the river?

 

[airthe]

Poker

who here are poker fanatics

 

[alasdairm]

already in progress:

The Poker Thread
Learning how to play Poker (Texas Hold'em), where??

alasdair

 

[alasdairm]

so i recently moved back to south lake tahoe which means i get to play poker at my favourite local casino regularly. amazingly, the wednesday night home game that i used to play in 6 years ago is still going so i have picked that up again too.

i've decided to start formally tracking my tourneys so i know how i am doing. i chose rungood as it was free and easy to use. so far i have played 7 casino tourneys and 3 home games and i'm up $998:

alasdair

 

[alasdairm]

i played the thursday night deep stack at my local casino last night. about 20 people so 2 full tables. i was down to about 50% of my starting stack after an hour and got lucky with pocket 7s. caught a 7 on the flop and the two other cards were paint so i was hoping somebody hit top pair. i bet like i had the top pair and got a call. the turn came another 7 for quads. bet and a call. river meaningless. all in and a call to double up.

i added a few chips until we were down to about 7 people at the final table. i get

under the gun. blinds are 200/400 so i raise to 2200 to thin the pack. looking for one call, or maybe a raise so i can come over the top all in. the button calls. flop is:

i'm first to act so i bet 3500. button calls. i don't think he has a jack. he's a little wild this guy so i put him on an ace-something trying to catch the ace or split a board showing two pair. the turn comes:

i feel like that doesn't change much and i'm in great shape. i bet another 3500 to induce a raise. he calls. the river:

there's no flush on the board and i'm pretty sure he's not got the jack so i bet about 6000. he thinks for 30 seconds then comes over the top all-in putting me all-in. now i'm putting him on his missed ace or maybe a pocket pair between 5s and 10s. i call.

he slow rolls

for the straight and i'm gone. at least two shitty calls on his part. the thing i hate most is that home is about a 20 minute drive and i have to think about that shitty beat all the way home...

oh well.

alasdair

 

[alasdairm]

i took down the thursday deep stack at my local casino last night for $560 ($60 buy-in). happy with the way i played generally - when it got to heads-up, i was out-chipped 4 to 1 but i battled back for the win.

there was one interesting hand i recall. blinds were maybe 300/600. i'm in the big blind with about 25k chips and the small blind has about 10k. it folds round to me and him. he limps. i raise about 3x and he goes all in. i call with:

he turns over:

flop is:

turn:

at this point i have so many outs - any ace, king, queen, jack, ten or four and i win. the river:

he dodges about 18 outs and doubles up. we got in the next hand together again and i took about half of them back with a good bluff.

nobody playing poker out there? no shitty bad beats tales to tell?

alasdair

 

[alasdairm]

didn't last long last night. i had pocket aces cracked by a guy with 10-6 off who called a big pre-flop raise, big bet on the flop and on the turn. i hate when i see somebody chase a real long-shot hand even in the face of heavy betting, and get there in the end. ultimately, there's nothing you can do if somebody decides to chase an inside draw all the way...

i lost almost all my chips when i raised all-in with KK under the gun and it folded round to the big blind who called with A7 clubs and hit his ace (on the river, of course ).

alasdair

 

[alasdairm]

nobody playing poker?

played the saturday night bounty last night. $25 player bounties. the turnout wasn't great. got down to 4 handed and it was going round and round. we played for about 20 or 30 minutes but nothing changed so we chopped four ways for just $145 each. but i knocked out 4 players so left with $245.

tonight is the $230 buy-in bounty. $100 player bounties! i won a seat in a $40 satellite a month ago. can't wait.

alasdair

 

[Vagina Lover]

I'm keen to get back into playing poker again. I haven't played since my uni days. There was a pub near my uni that had a weekly poker tournament, and I used to go there regularly. My old man taught me to play poker, 500, bridge, and other games when I was a kid, while my pop was a high school principal and mathematician, who was also an avid card player. I think it's in my blood. There's a casino just around the corner here in Malta, I just realised. Maybe I'll get down there tonight for a few hands

 

[d0wN]

I play on average 2 times a week, almost exclusively tournaments, trying to explain downswings and variance to my wife after dropping 3 buyins at 1/3 just became a non-starter. I don't know about $2/5 or $5/10, but the variance of $1/3 cash games and low buyin tourneys seem pretty comparable, as the players at both are just so bad. A lot of the concepts I studied and used playing online on Stars and Tilt just really don't apply at the low buyin tournament level. Raising suited connectors from UTG+1 was standard playing online, but given the usual dynamics of the $65 dailies they run here in Kansas City, I won't open with them any earlier than the cutoff. They just don't flop well enough to play 5-6 handed.

Which is a long winded way of saying that luck is a much more prominent component now than it was playing online. People defend their horrible play by using pot odds without even knowing what it means. They will chase their gutties and crappy Aces all the way to the end, which clearly is what you want with your flopped top 2 pair. But with 5 people peeling a turn card and 3 or 4 a river card, well...you're gonna see a lot of train wrecks when your AKo flops 2 pair and 5 people still in with 2 to a straight and 2 to a flush showing. It's only $65, who cares, right? It's harder to beat a table full of horrible players than it is a table with 2 or 3 bad players. If you're gonna bink a tournament you have to win your flips, you know that...but every time I bink or score a good cash I can always point to one or two hands where I got a knockout or a double up with a runner runner or a 2 outer. No luck at de pokeh, you no win the monies.

Which is why I also really enjoy playing the $235 black chip bounty tournaments. The prize pools are better and the play is less passive. But the competition is usually of a higher caliber.

Once a year a buddy of mine and I spend 8-10 days in L.A., usually in Feb, playing poker until our eyes bleed. The Commerce is usually nearing the main event of the LAPC, so we'll play a couple of their $150 sattys that feed into a $2200 super satty to the Main. First time I binked a $150 I was stoked as hell, until the next day when I sat down at the $2200 with Nam Le on one side of me and Will Givens on the other. In a situation like that, you quickly realize you're in a different universe. But God, what a rush! Having now failed twice to win a seat in the 10k main event (as has my pal), he wondered aloud if maybe we just shouldn't sell the seat for 2k and pocket the $. I just don't think I could do that, unless I was just getting murdered and was almost broke. Gambooool!

Sorry for the ramble, just hit the glass a bit ago. But yeah, I'm down for bullshitting about poker with y'all whenever...

 

[alasdairm]

^ i agree with a lot of what you say in your first two paragraphs.

i feel like i've been card dead for about 4 weeks now. in my home game last wednesday i had AA and KK cracked in back to back hands. AA were cracked when one guy called a 6x pre-flop raise with J6 and flopped two pair. KK were cracked when, in the very next hand, same guy called KK with 78 off and flopped a straight. about 10 hands later, i got JJ on the button, shipped my chips and the small blind called. he had KK of course and flopped a set to send me home.

in the local casino, i usually cash about one every 4 to 5 tourneys but it's been a while there too...

alasdair

 

[d0wN]

There are tournaments available every day of the week except Friday, the best of which is, surprisingly, Monday mornings at 11:15 at Hollywood. Always draws in excess of 100 people, I think their record is 144. So for $65 with a shot at a first place payout of $1700-1800 or more it' a hell of a deal. I chopped that one 3 weeks ago 5 ways for $800. Since then I haven't made it to first break even once, so I share your pain on running bad and being card dead. I had KK the last time I played and got called down all the way to the end by a guy with 7 8 off. He hit an 8 on the flop and called 3 big bets plus a raise to open. Bless his heart, he was rewarded with a red 7 on the river, TYVM, Good Night Irene. We've all got war stories like that obv. I think it' good to get them off of your chest sometime, if you can find someone willing to listen heh.

 

[alasdairm]

I chopped that one 3 weeks ago 5 ways for $800.

nice!

Since then I haven't made it to first break even once, so I share your pain on running bad and being card dead. I had KK the last time I played and got called down all the way to the end by a guy with 7 8 off. He hit an 8 on the flop and called 3 big bets plus a raise to open. Bless his heart, he was rewarded with a red 7 on the river, TYVM, Good Night Irene.

yep - how do you think you could have played it differently? or do you get the feeling that some people will just chase to the end regardless?

i played a hand in the casino last night. i had

in middle-late position. big blind was 200 and there were 5 calls in front of me. i raise to 1750. the button calls and everybody else folds. flop comes:

the button has been playing a little recklessly so i check to see where i am. he moves all in. so i fold and he shows

for two pair.

i'm a little exasperated and i ask him "how do you make that call with Q9 off?". he snaps at me "I HAD TWO PAIR!". so i tell him "i'm talking about pre-flop. you called a huge raise pre-flop with Q9 off" to which he responds "err, i don't know...". pretty frustrating

We've all got war stories like that obv. I think it' good to get them off of your chest sometime, if you can find someone willing to listen heh.

i'm always happy to lend an ear for a shitty beat story. everybody's got one but i like to try to learn something from any hand.

alasdair

 

[d0wN]

There is a fair percentage of old guys who are retired who are regs in the local tournament scene, if you played 6 days a week you would see them every day. A few of them can be SUPER annoying. I'm 61 myself, but I'm more of the metal listening, polyester hating, jeans t- shirt and Nike's wearing, "you have a migraine I have some Percocets in my pocket would you like one?" type 61 yr old. Its frightening that I can look at some guy who I would swear is 75 and come to find out he' s, like 58!! Sends chills down my side.

Anyway, there's this one old guy, horrible player, and yet it seems like you ALWAYS see this douchenozzle at the FT. Every time he wins a big pot or an all in, he jumps up, claps his hands loudly and shouts WOO HOO, SHIP THE SHERBERT TO HERBERT! And you just wanna yell FUUUUCK YOU ASSHOLE but of course you don't. Thing is, his name's not even Herbert.

Anyway, he did that to me last night, and I've wanted to break something ever since. MotherfuckermotherfuckermotherfuckerFUUUUUCK!

That' all I really needed. I'm fine now. Thanks for listening.

 

[Squizz1985]

under the gun. blinds are 200/400 so i raise to 2200 to thin the pack.

LOL. Dummy calls a 4 bet (or so) pre-flop with a/5 suited. He was going to live, or die with that hand.

he slow rolls for the straight and i'm gone. at least two shitty calls on his part. the thing i hate most is that home is about a 20 minute drive and i have to think about that shitty beat all the way home...

oh well.

Hey, at least he hit a straight on the river. That's not a terrible beat, beating your two pair. He played the hand awful, but sometimes those are the hands you need to play like that. Like Doyle Brunson always says, "That's poker."

alasdair

I'm playing in a tourney right now. I won $960USD about a month ago, and have been havin a hard time finishing in the money since. It's all part of the game. Hope you at least are having fun playing.

 

[Squizz1985]

There is a fair percentage of old guys who are retired who are regs in the local tournament scene, if you played 6 days a week you would see them every day. A few of them can be SUPER annoying. I'm 61 myself, but I'm more of the metal listening, polyester hating, jeans t- shirt and Nike's wearing, "you have a migraine I have some Percocets in my pocket would you like one?" type 61 yr old. Its frightening that I can look at some guy who I would swear is 75 and come to find out he' s, like 58!! Sends chills down my side.

Anyway, there's this one old guy, horrible player, and yet it seems like you ALWAYS see this douchenozzle at the FT. Every time he wins a big pot or an all in, he jumps up, claps his hands loudly and shouts WOO HOO, SHIP THE SHERBERT TO HERBERT! And you just wanna yell FUUUUCK YOU ASSHOLE but of course you don't. Thing is, his name's not even Herbert.

Anyway, he did that to me last night, and I've wanted to break something ever since. MotherfuckermotherfuckermotherfuckerFUUUUUCK!

That' all I really needed. I'm fine now. Thanks for listening.

LOL. That's why I hate playing live. One time I shoved pre-flp with qq for $38 in a cash game. Two people called. One guy had 6/6, another 4/7spades. 4/7 hits his flush on the river. Everyone at the table was like: "OHHHHH."

I was really close to getting another assault charge that day.

 

[China Rider]

Hope you at least are having fun playing.

do you really....

 

[Squizz1985]

do you really....

Why wouldn't I?

 

[bomber]

I've wanted to learn how to play poker for a while now, when I say poker I mean Texas Hold'em. As this seems to be the most popular form here in the UK and also seems to be what they play at the local casino's and on TV.

The problem is I don't know anyone who plays it.

Does anyone know any free games I could download (PC or Android mobile) that are also training programs?

Another thing, is poker (Obviously electronic forms are more a game of chance if you're playing against a computer because of the way they're programmed) more than just gambling/a game of chance? Does the psychology/bluffing element make it less than just 'gambling'/a game of chance such as Roulette or Blackjack?

Thanks in advance!

Why don't u try zynga for start, so you don't loose money untill at least u learn the basics?