Drawing Considerations

If the flop is two-suited and you’re holding a pair of the same suit then you will almost always want to draw.  The reason being is that your pot odds will be 2-1, and you will especially want to draw if you’ve got additional outs like overcards and/or a straight draw.  But there are also times when you’ll want to avoid drawing for the flush on a two-suited flop.

One of these situations is when you’re heads-up with only a flush draw to your credit.  In this case, the other player will most likely have better odds to win the hand.  Another situation is when there is a pair on the board and somebody is betting heavily.  Here someone probably has trips, and could hit a full house even if you get your flush.  One more time when you’ll want to fold your hand is if you have a small flush draw, and the flop sees a lot of action.  This scenario probably means your small flush will be beaten by a bigger one.

Playing 3-Suited Flops

Having 3 cards of the same suit on the board requires a little different strategy than having 2 suited cards.  In most cases, everyone will be a little more cautions unless they’re holding a suited ace so it’s hard to get any heavy action on the flop.  Unless your hand has additional value then you should avoid playing too aggressively on flops like this.

Reasoning

In poker there are plenty of ups and downs and this can put a major strain on one’s bankroll.  Fortunately, this problem can be combated by aligning with a financial partner.  Using a partner in poker allows two players to pull their resources together in tournaments or cash games and share the spoils of victory afterwards.  Plus it can be pretty fun as well as motivating having a poker partner too.

Pros and Cons

There are definitely positives and negatives to playing with a poker partner.  One big positive is that you will have somebody to keep you motivated and to share a bankroll with.  This is a big advantage when you are experiencing those days when you just don’t wanna play poker or are having trouble funding your bankroll.  Another advantage is that you will have a fellow poker buddy to hang out with which is great from a social aspect.

The biggest con to playing with a partner is the money issues that arise from any normal partnership.  Whether it’s the fact that your partner isn’t good with money or a dispute about how the cash should be spent, it is never easy sharing a bankroll with another player.  Another big problem with partnerships is that two players may have a difficult time agreeing on how long to play each week.  Some players like to keep a light poker schedule while others want to grind all of the time.

Colluding

If you have a poker partner then it can be all too tempting to want to cheat.  When somebody cheats with a poker partner, this is commonly referred to as colluding in the poker world.  While some players may get away with colluding for a short while, most of them eventually get caught.

And when you’re caught colluding there can be major repercussions such as having your account banned, money taken away from your account, and possibly the shame of having everyone know you cheated if you’re a big name.  The most common type of colluding involves players sharing hand information with each other in order to gain an unfair advantage.  It goes without saying that you should avoid colluding at all costs!

Betting Every Time

The simplest way to capitalize on a big hand is to bet every time the action comes around to you.  This means laying down a wager on the flop, the turn, and the river which can be tough to pull off if players can put you on a monster hand.  However, this way can work if you’ve got a loose table image and other players think you’re likely to bluff.

Overbetting

Another good way to maximize profits on an excellent hand is to overbet.  Overbetting involves betting far more than the pot which can lure players into the trap of thinking that you’re betting big because you are bluffing.  Overbets are especially effective when other players are left guessing as to what you’re large bets mean.  The only problem with overbetting is that it may scare tight players away from making the call.

Check-Raise

The obvious advantage to a check-raise is that it allows you to have two bets in a single round rather than just one.  But while check-raising may be very advantageous from a chips standpoint, the big drawback is that you can lose a whole round of betting if an opponent decides to simply check as well.  All three of the aforementioned methods are great ways to build a big pot….it’s just up to you as to which situation calls for which method.

Getting Quartered

Much like Hold’em, Omaha gives the full pot to the player with the best hand.  Omaha Hi-Lo, on the other hand, gives half of the pot to the best qualifying low hand if there is one.  And one thing about qualifying low hands is that players can often tie for the best one which means they’ll split a quarter of the pot (both players usually hold A-2).  For this reason, you can’t get overly excited when holding the low nut hand because you could actually lose money if you over bet and get quartered.

Starting Hands

When playing Omaha, you’ll find the best hands will be the ones that give you the best possible shot at the nut like A-A-K-K.  In Hi-Lo, you want to get both a hand that is capable of taking the high hand and one that is capable of taking the low hand.  With this being the case, you’ll be hoping to get A-A-2-3 or close to it as far as starting hands go.  So it is in your best interests not to bet too heavily with a hand like A-A-3-10 because the 10 puts you in no man’s land for a high hand.  Obviously this can still be a good hand for half the pot, but just be careful.

Bluffing

Naked bluffing in Omaha is something that can be pulled off sometimes in the later streets of a hand.  However, your luck won’t be quite the same in Omaha Hi-Lo since many players will call you if it goes down to the river.  The reason is that they’ll think they can still get the low hand and this is worth a call to them.  In short, you will almost always be called on the river if somebody thinks you’re bluffing.

A Game All of its Own

Pot-Limit Hold’em is interesting because it combines both the mathematics of Limit and the reading skills involved with No-Limit into one game.  Your betting limit is the amount of money in the pot, and this only increases as more bets are made.

With this being the case, it’s hard to get a read on pot odds sometimes so your reading abilities come into play heavily in Pot-Limit.  Since you are betting at the size of the pot (or less), you’ll often be seeing 2-1 pot odds which is pretty close to No-Limit.  So you will definitely have to exercise some reading skills in these cases to make the call.

Controlling the Pot

Another important skill in Pot-Limit games is controlling the pot.  And when controlling the pot, you need to capitalize on your opponents’ mistakes while minimizing your own.  When doing this, you need to make solid value bets that will also minimize losses if you don’t have the nuts.  Of course being able to do this requires that you know your opponents so make sure to pay attention to others at the table.

Any Bet can make a Big Difference

Due to the fact that potential bet sizes increase as the pot grows, you can dramatically affect the action with a small bet.  A simple $5 wager could potentially turn into a $20 or $30 raise on down the line.  Always keep this in mind when making decisions on how you can effectively control the pot size.

Value Bets

When you hit a strong hand it’s definitely good to get paid.  And getting opponents with weaker hands to call your bets in this situation is how you get paid.  Value bets are extremely important in any form of poker so you can extract maximum value from your hand.  That’s why you need to make raises that are large enough to help you get value from a great hand, yet not make opponents fold.

Continuation Bet

Many players mistake continuation bets as a fashionable way to get more money into the pot.  But this line of thinking is definitely wrong since c-bets are actually a way to get opponents to fold right away.  If you raised before the flop and didn’t improve your hand then it’s a good idea to knock people out so nobody hits a drawing hand on the turn or river; c-bets can accomplish this goal.

Bluffing

The bluff is by far the most discussed play in poker by beginners and those who don’t know much about poker.  But typical bluffing isn’t quite as glamorous as it’s portrayed in the movies with people making dramatic cold bluffs.  Instead, most bluffs consist of simply trying to make better hands fold.  With this being the case, you really have to think about the cards your opponent holds based on the wagers they’ve made and also consider if your opponent would actually fold.  If it’s unlikely that your opponent will fold then you have no reason to bluff.

Sure some poker greats may fall into the aforementioned categories in that they hit it big a couple of times or earned their cash in an era where poker strategy was in its infancy.  However, the large number of successful Internet players that are springing up today can’t be explained quite so easily…or can they?

If you ever read the exploits of most great Internet or live players, you’ll find that they dedicate more time than anyone else to learning how to improve their game.  These people will finish a playing session or major tournament, and then review their play to see what they did right and wrong.

They will then go back later and apply what they’ve learned to the next playing session until they’ve perfected what was wrong before.

There is certainly no luck involved in working hard and putting in hours at the table; this is just the kind of behavior that makes people good in any profession.  As in anything else, those who are the most dedicated and determined to succeed will be the best poker players in the end.

Poker isn’t some kind of glorified lottery where people just get lucky, win big, and live the rest of their lives in bliss.  Great poker players make themselves through hours of hard work and dedication while everything else eventually falls into place.

Sometimes a person will get lucky and already have a made hand here while the large majority of players are looking at drawing hands or hoping to hold onto the advantage they have.  But no matter what you’re looking for, you simply cannot fall in love with a flop.

For instance, let’s say you were able to limp into a pot with Ks-Qh and see the flop for cheap.  The flop comes up Kd-9s-4d which means you’ve seemingly got the advantage at this point with top pair.  And by having top pair, it would certainly make sense to throw out at least a pot-sized raise so you can push other players out of the hand who will be looking for that flush draw.  But what if your raise doesn’t push everyone out of the hand and one person is willing to call?

You are still in good shape with what seems to be top pair on a raggedy board which is only saved by the flush draw chance.  If the turn comes up 6h then you’re still looking good because that possible flush hasn’t landed and there is no potential for a straight either.  The only chance the person has you beat is if they’re holding some kind of set which does actually happen on these boards – especially when dealing with the big blind!  So another raise should be in order so you can get the other player to pay for the river or fold.

But if the person stays and the river brings up a 10d then you’ve really got some issues to deal with since they could have a flush or even the aforementioned set.  This is when many players will make a raise or call anything their opponent throws at them because they fell in love with the flop.

Sometimes a person will get away with falling in love with the flop while other times it will really burn them   The key is knowing your opponents at the table as well as knowing when to get out of a hand even if you hit the flop.

Falling in love with a hand

We all know that AA, KK, and QQ are considered premium hands and warrant jamming the pot pre-flop.  However, some players will not only jam the pot pre-flop, but also continue jamming the pot even if their hand goes sour later on down the line.  It’s important to realize that, even though these are great starting hands, they’re just a pair and can easily be beaten down the line.  Don’t be afraid to fold your pocket aces if you’ve got a good mind that someone has you beat on the turn or river.

Betting too much on drawing hands

Getting a flush or straight draw is definitely a good thing when you can control the pot and get a lot of players in on the action.  However, some players like to treat drawing hands like they are a made hand which can really come back to bite a person in the end.  If the price is too steep on a drawing hand then fold, and make sure to avoid large bets and raises on paired boards.

Using blind aggression

We’ve all heard that most of the good players are aggressive ones.  However, there’s nothing worse than somebody who mistakes aggression for being a maniac.  You should never make thoughtless big raises and bets just because you want to appear aggressive.  There needs to be some method to your bets and raises, and you need to know your opponents before doing so.

The only problem with playing hands like these is that they can get you into a lot of trouble since you’re dealing with a dichotomy.  The dichotomy is that you have a hand which is best for big pots, but you are in a position where it’s best to keep the pot as small as possible.  Seeing as how there is no easy way to play a huge hand in early position, you’re going to have to know the people you are playing against.

Raising

The most universal way to handle this situation is by raising.  When you raise in early position you not only build the pot, but you also get loose players to call your big hand with a weaker hand which needs help from the board.  The only problem with this technique is that it might only succeed in stealing blinds on a very tight table since everyone will know you have a big hand.

Calling and Reraising

Calling then reraising relies on an aggressive player to make the initial raise so you can reraise when the action comes back around.  This is a great way to get more money into the pot, but it’s also dangerous because somebody with AA might go all-in (dangerous assuming you have KK or less). One more problem is that a limp/reraise will leave you playing out of position the whole hand if somebody actually does hang in there.

Calling a Raise

If you simply call the big blind then there’s a good chance somebody will make a raise later in the hand.  The benefit of this is that nobody will know you have a monster hand when you call the raise.  On the other hand there is no guarantee that a raise will be made, and if it isn’t then you’ll be in a multi-way pot where several limpers have a chance to beat your hand.  This move should only be used when you can safely assume somebody is likely to make a raise.