PokertardThe best lessons from the poker books

In his chapter entitled “The Art of Defense“, Dan Harrington provides some rules of thumb with regard to defending against certain player types. The chapter isn’t extensive, but it really shouldn’t be; in considering defense tactics, the psychology of the moment is at least as important as the cards being held.

For conservative players, Harrington just gives you the obvious advice that it takes a real hand to enter a pot after they’ve taken the lead. For aggressive players, he argues for smooth-calling with quality hands and coming over the top with what can be argued as modest hands.

Again, these are just rules of thumb. Pay attention to the behaviors and tendencies of the other players and find opportunities to test them.

For more about the elements of Texas Hold ‘em in strategic play, read Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play. I can also say for a fact that this strategy works great in the tournaments at Full Tilt Poker, where you can get a 100% deposit bonus.

As has been stated by many authors on poker strategy, starting hand rankings are a key concept to learn. Sklansky and Malmuth take the idea further, categorizing hands into groups then detailing which groups of hands can be played based on the situation. They use 8 groups, with the first group being exactly what you would expect:

Sklansky Groups

How do you use Sklansky’s Groupings?

Get thee to Amazon and pick up Hold em Poker for Advanced Players. Sklansky and Malmuth do a fine job of explaining the nuances involved, moreso than can be done in this space.

Short answer: Play tight.

Need more information?

Ok, with no raise in front of you, big Aces and big pairs can be raised. Middle pairs and painted one and two gappers can be called, but must be played very carefully after the flop. If you’re a beginner, fold them. So much of the play associated with these cards is situational that you can easily get yourself into trouble with middling hands. Tight is right.

With a raise in front of you, you’re looking for a reason to fold. You should only attempt to re-raise with big pairs and maybe AK. The range of hands you should be willing to call with pretty much begins and ends with AQ and TT. Other than that, you’re looking to fold.

Lee Jones has a great section about this, including a breakdown of hands to play if you’d like to build yourself some starting hand charts, in Winning Low-Limit Hold’em. I would also suggest spending some time at the low-limit tables at Full Tilt Poker, because there is no substitute for experience.

At every table online there is always one person that bluffs indiscriminately. Bluffing is a tactic that needs to be used in context. That is, the bet has to make sense when considered with the preceding action and the strategic considerations (when playing tournaments).

The first consideration is who to bluff. For instance, in a tournament the size of the chipstacks relative to your own is paramount. A large stack is more likely to call the bluff because losing the hand won’t cripple them; a small stack will have a much wider calling range because they’re just looking for a decent hand to get their money in with and is willing to take the worst of it just to get lucky. In tournaments, it’s best to go after the medium stacks. These players will be more likely to play tight and respect the gap concept (the theory that a player will only call with premium hands, but will raise with a wide range of cards). Frequently, they are just waiting for an opportunity to get their money in with a great hand and are willing to fold into a higher finishing position if they do not get that opportunity.

Additionally, it is critical to consider the number of players in the pot. Someone that bluffs into two or more players needs to have the table image to do so, and the nature of the online game does not permit much in the way of establishing this image. Best to run bluffs against a single player, because it is more likely someone will have enough of a hand to look you up when you have two or more opponents.

For more about the bluffing in Texas Hold ‘em, read Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 2: Endgame. I can also say for a fact that this strategy works great in the tournaments at Full Tilt Poker, where you can get a 100% deposit bonus.

Back in the post about Pot Odds, we discussed knowing the odds of making your hand in relation to the size of the bet you are facing and the size of the pot to be won. But, how do you know the odds of making your hand?

1. Count the number of cards that will give you the hand you need to win at showdown. For instance, if you have four cards to the flush, and there are 13 cards of each suit, you have 9 outs (13-4=9).

2. At this point, there will be 46 unseen cards. These are all of the cards left in the deck, the muck, and your opponents’ hands. They are all unseen to YOU. Divide the unseen cards (46) by the outs (9) and you get 5.1

3. Subtract 1, and you have your odds: 4.1 to 1

The table below can be memorized, or you can keep it handy when playing online:

A thorough understanding of the concept of outs and odds is critical for success at Full Tilt Poker, where you can get a 100% deposit bonus. For this reason, read Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big With Expert Play by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth.

Another subject on which I’d like to have some recurring posts is in the area of advice from the masters and legends of poker. For this post, I thought it might be appropriate to start with Mike Caro’s general winning advice. Just a couple of nuggets:

“Here’s how to play your strongest hands on early betting rounds… If a raise looks natural, raise. If a call looks natural, call. Do what opponents expect.”

“When you’re caught between the bettor and the player who made the last bet on the previous round, consider passing or raising.”

“Deception. It’s often wasted on weak opponents, because the most obvious strategy is usually the most profitable.”

For more great advice about how to approach the game of poker, read Caro’s Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker, then go take other people’s money at Full Tilt Poker.

I’ll probably make this a recurring post, because while the number of events that can occur on the flop is not infinite, there are certainly more than any one person can hope to grasp in a single sitting. So, for now, here’s a couple things to think about as you decide which hands to play pre-flop:

You can learn more about odds and pre-flop play by reading Winning Low-Limit Hold’em by Lee Jones. If you want to try your luck against a bunch of people that don’t know this information, head over to Full Tilt Poker and take advantage of the 100% deposit bonus.

David Sklansky’s Theory of Poker is considered a seminal book for the discussion of mathematics and statistics in poker. He introduces the concept of Expectation as applied to gambling, but really it can be applied to any risk-based transaction from the stock market to the lottery.

The basic example he uses of a coin-flip makes it easy to conceptualize Expectation - in the long run, a coin-flip is a 50-50 proposition, so an even-money bet has an expectation of zero. You will neither win nor lose money in the long run. But, if you are able to get favorable odds by finding someone willing to give you $2 for every flip you win against $1 for every flip you lose, you know have a positive expectation. In the long run, you will win money.

Applying this to poker, any time you get favorable odds on a bet, you are compelled to make the bet. Going back to our post about Pot Odds, you will see this concept in practice: If you’re offered the opportunity to make 4x your bet, and your odds of winning the hand are 3:1, you take the bet because mathematically, you expect to win money in the long run. Thankfully, the majority of poker players don’t understand this concept, and of those that do, many have trouble applying it. This is one of the ways winners are separated from losers.

Don’t worry; Skalnsky explains it in very simple, easy-to-understand terms. A copy of Theory of Poker is a must-have for every poker players library. To apply this concept, Full Tilt Poker is giving new players a 100% deposit bonus.

Without a doubt, the best and easiest text to read on tournament play is Dan Harrington’s Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play. In this book, Harrington lays out how to “think” during a tournament - understanding that your strategy is constantly changing as elements around you change. These elements include:

1. Status of the tournament
2. Number of players at the table
3. Who are the other players
4. How your stack compares to the blinds and antes
5. How big are the other stacks at the table
6. Where do you sit in relation to aggressive and passive players
7. What bets have been made in the hand
8. How many players are left to act after you
9. Pot Odds
10. Position at the table after the flop
11. Your cards

Notice - he lists your cards last. For more about the elements of Texas Hold ‘em in strategic play, read Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play. I can also say for a fact that this strategy works great in the tournaments at Full Tilt Poker, where you can get a 100% deposit bonus.

Phil Hellmuth’s Play Poker Like the Pros is a controversial book because, in part, he advocates a strategy that is what most experienced players consider weak-tight; that is, he doesn’t think beginners ought to be playing many hands, and when they play they should be looking for reasons to lay down the hand.

At least, that’s how I read it.

However, if you ARE a beginner and you’re looking for a guide to playing conservative poker, here’s the top ten hands in Texas Hold’em, as considered by Hellmuth and the rest of the world:

1. AA
2. KK
3. QQ
4. AK
5. JJ
6. 10-10
7. 9-9
8. 8-8
9. AQ
10. 7-7

While there is debate with regard to the exact ranking of the top ten hands (a pair has a slight mathematical edge pre-flop to any Ace-high, and suited AK and AQ are better than unsuited), most can agree this is a very conservative range of hands to play in any position.

For more about how to play Texas Hold’em from 11-time world champion Phil Hellmuth, read Play Poker Like the Pros.