For future reference....
I'm sure most of you have already seen something of the kind, but this was pretty helpful...it's a complete ranked list, percentages and all, of all 169 possible starting hold'em hands. Worth a look.
Also, Joel, what's the full skinny on this tourney tomorrow? I'm in, but i need to know me some details.
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Position, position, position. I base how I play pre-flop almost entirely on what other people do. Of course most of you schlubs simply call, but there's a lot of unsaid stuff floating around.
What kills people left and right, I think, is holding two overcards and following someone who's on a low straight draw or is holding top pair. If the board isn't floating your way, good cards mean nothing.
Ok, it's going to be a $25 buy-in for the tourney, with 12 players. Brian think they're going to have the top 3 finishers get a payout of varying proportion. Basically, it'll be like the tourney at Laura's, but with people who know how to play Hold 'Em...
Heh, i almost liked it better when the buy-in was 40...but a split off 25 bucks from 12 people isn't too bad either. I'd suggest 50, 25, 15, and the house keeps the rest. But that's just me.
Well, he told everyone that $40 is the buy-in, that way people will come with money left over to play once they've lost in the tournament.
men wiser than me have said raise or fold. calling exhibits, in several common circumstances, an element of weakness. 'well, i kinda wanna see what the next card is.' that being said, i'm always astounded when i raise with top pair, get called, raise again, get called, raise again, get called, only to have some one turn over a dominant straight or a full house or something like that. those cold calls aren't strategic, they're scared. if you put me on top pair against your winning straight, you want to raise me back. if you put me on a higher straight, then you'd want to fold. calling lets me know you're probably looking for a card, and lets me know to watch your face closely when the turn and river hit. watch fees hit a straight or trips on the river: it's like a little fireworks show. i can bow out gracefully at that point, or, far more often, take the pot without ever having to show down.
those ne'er-do-wells, pot odds, suggest that you bet a likely draw as you would a made hand, so that if/when you make your draw, you've forced everyone to pay you the true value of your flush or straight. thus the battle begins. people with top pair, or large pairs in the hole, cannot afford to let those betting implied odds get away with it. you have to come back at them, not simply call their bet. if they don't hesistate to raise you back, ok, they've got a made hand and you can consider ditching the hand then (without losing more than you were prepared to lose with your raise). if they call, they're either playing scared or soft playing (the difference between witch can be sighted from neighboring counties). or, lo and behold, they fold, and your pocket aces have done their job: preventing some one from shooting for a straight.
this is also why you should always fold potential straights that are likely to be low. it seems to me that holding the TOP TWO middle cards in a straight (7-8 of a 9 high, for example) seems like the best position to be in (provided there isn't a 10-J on the board, or something like that).
i've been exiled to another office to answer phones for the rest of the day, and i have nothing to do. theorizing tangentially about poker is a welcome diversion from nothing.
i read about some famous poker player that won consistently with 9-10 suited. it was his favorite hand; he made his fortune on it. it gave him an opportunity to make 1 or 2 big pairs or draw to a high straight/high flush. he knew precisely how to bet this hand when he got it, and became so familiar with it after a while that he knew when he was doomed and when he could do nothing but win.
i guess my point is that i've come to the conclusion that hand ranking is retarded. phil hellmuth's 'only play the top ten' is great for people that have never played poker before, but after the honeymoon, you have to put down the cheat sheets and play situationally.
I agree....i mean, for being the ranked #1 hand, i've lost more times with A-A than i can count.
By the by, i'm going to play pool at the Rec Room tonight, if anyone's interested.
One of the key things for me is to figure out who will play pot odds and whose heart is full of hope/frustration.
there is an off chance i will be able to attend this tournament tonite, as de la soul and wyclef aren't performing until tomorrow night.
Well that's good news for my sister, too, as she was looking forward to seeing them...
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