The poker thread...

[Walter Payton]

Raising to 50 was too low, should have been raised to 150 or all-in. Action after the flop suggested you were already beat, but you kept pumping it. He can easily hit a set.

 

A reraise to 150 would have got a call from a maniac with AK, AQ, KK, QQ, JJ, All hands you stand an excellent chance with.

 

He was never going to fold any hand for 30 quid when theres already nearly 100 in the middle.

 

You have to learn to low ball your big pair and check the flop.Call down his bets making good money when you win and not lose your stack when he's ahead.

 

Unfortunately it looks like she was first to act though- when you've got a monster like A,A you've got to be able to get away from it and realise it's not always going to stand up but equally you've got to realise it only comes along once every 200 or so hands and make the most from it when it comes along. Its more difficult playing most hands out of position, but with Aces on a flop like that I definitely wouldn't suggest checking and letting the other person take the initiative for 2 reasons- it lets them make you make a decision and secondly it gives them an opportunity to check behind you then hit another card that makes their set.

 

As far as reraising to 50- I know what you're saying when you suggest 150 as a better raise but personally I quite like the 50- it's got DikT down to headsup with one opponent and I think it has narrowed down the range of hands that you can put your opponent on. It sounds like this guy isn't much of a poker player if he's happy to call 2 raises with 2,4 and you've just got to be happy that 86% of the time you are going to win- raising to 150 might have got rid of him as well but statistically you're not going to get Aces for another 200 or so hands so I look to maximise my winnings in that situation (I'd rather lose that ?50 14% of the time and win the ?140 86% of the time). I think DikT's biggest mistake was getting the fish sent away!

[DikT.]

Good advice both of you. Week before last I slow played AA with him and took a fair bit so thought I would vary it when I hit it again this week. I see what you are saying about him hitting the set but really could not see it in this instance (playing the man as opposed to the cards)As CC says probably my biggest mistake is getting the clown transferred but it is has general demeanour as opposed to his poker playing that bugs me. An extreme gobscheidt. Plus he doesn't drink. Still, I am still well up for the trip so that is all that matters.

[The Merse]

Raising to 50 was too low, should have been raised to 150 or all-in. Action after the flop suggested you were already beat, but you kept pumping it. He can easily hit a set.

 

A reraise to 150 would have got a call from a maniac with AK, AQ, KK, QQ, JJ, All hands you stand an excellent chance with.

 

He was never going to fold any hand for 30 quid when theres already nearly 100 in the middle.

 

You have to learn to low ball your big pair and check the flop. Call down his bets making good money when you win and not lose your stack when he's ahead.

 

I think a raise to 100 would be too much tbh. Probably 70/80 might have been better, 100 would scare way too many hands off, but the 50 bet potentially gave him what he thought were decent odds to hit. Obviously a complete fish but got to try and realise that as often as you think you seem to lose these hands unluckily you forget all the times they hold up.

 

I keep trying to tell myself that the luck will break even in the long run anyway.

[wibble]

Unfortunately it looks like she was first to act though- when you've got a monster like A,A you've got to be able to get away from it and realise it's not always going to stand up but equally you've got to realise it only comes along once every 200 or so hands and make the most from it when it comes along. Its more difficult playing most hands out of position, but with Aces on a flop like that I definitely wouldn't suggest checking and letting the other person take the initiative for 2 reasons- it lets them make you make a decision and secondly it gives them an opportunity to check behind you then hit another card that makes their set.

 

As far as reraising to 50- I know what you're saying when you suggest 150 as a better raise but personally I quite like the 50- it's got DikT down to headsup with one opponent and I think it has narrowed down the range of hands that you can put your opponent on. It sounds like this guy isn't much of a poker player if he's happy to call 2 raises with 2,4 and you've just got to be happy that 86% of the time you are going to win- raising to 150 might have got rid of him as well but statistically you're not going to get Aces for another 200 or so hands so I look to maximise my winnings in that situation (I'd rather lose that ?50 14% of the time and win the ?140 86% of the time). I think DikT's biggest mistake was getting the fish sent away!

 

Flawed arguement because you assume that you can only lose your pre-flop 50 quid. You have to bet at some stage post flop so you are going to lose another 100 when he comes over the top on you and you fold.

 

Also, you base your arguement on knowing his cards - which you don't. To be clever with your raise you have to assume he has a pocket pair and raise him to a position where the implied odds pay significantly less than 7-1 if it so happens that he stacks you. So if you have 400 in front of you, you have to put in about 80 over the initial bet (20). That way he is only getting odds of 5-1 on his money. Even if you get stacked then you know you made the right move preflop.

 

I still think 100 is a good bet against this player - about 1.5 times the pot (she knows he's a loose canon). You have to assume that theres a very high chance that all your money is going to go into the pot against this guy, so you get plenty in up-front to ensure that he pays a high price for his gamble or that he comes along with a massively dominated AK, AQ or pocket pair.

 

The 50 made it a cheap gamble.

 

I assume he took about 400 off her, so for the extra 30, he was getting about 12-1, so he had implied odds at a stretch - even with his garbage hand.

 

Pls don't pick me up on my arithmetic, I didnt use a calculator.

[Walter Payton]

Flawed arguement because you assume that you can only lose your pre-flop 50 quid. You have to bet at some stage post flop so you are going to lose another 100 when he comes over the top on you and you fold.

 

Also, you base your arguement on knowing his cards - which you don't. To be clever with your raise you have to assume he has a pocket pair and raise him to a position where the implied odds pay significantly less than 7-1 if it so happens that he stacks you. So if you have 400 in front of you, you have to put in about 80 over the initial bet (20). That way he is only getting odds of 5-1 on his money. Even if you get stacked then you know you made the right move preflop.

 

I still think 100 is a good bet against this player - about 1.5 times the pot (she knows he's a loose canon). You have to assume that theres a very high chance that all your money is going to go into the pot against this guy, so you get plenty in up-front to ensure that he pays a high price for his gamble or that he comes along with a massively dominated AK, AQ or pocket pair.

 

The 50 made it a cheap gamble.

 

I assume he took about 400 off her, so for the extra 30, he was getting about 12-1, so he had implied odds at a stretch - even with his garbage hand.

 

Pls don't pick me up on my arithmetic, I didnt use a calculator.

 

I'll reply in greater detail later (I'm still at work just now) but I guess this is just going to come down to individuals style of play- I'd never (maybe?!) check with the Aces preflop and sometimes raise it BIG to chase people out preflop depending on the stage of the tournament but generally speaking I'd agree with D-McG that a reraise to 100 chases out too many hands. Yes you might invite people with a wider range of hands to see a flop and run the risk of drawing out on you but IMO if you back your reading ability and your instincts to get away when the board goes against you (IE your postflop play) I think the smaller raise can be more profitable.

[wibble]

I'll reply in greater detail later (I'm still at work just now) but I guess this is just going to come down to individuals style of play- I'd never (maybe?!) check with the Aces preflop and sometimes raise it BIG to chase people out preflop depending on the stage of the tournament but generally speaking I'd agree with D-McG that a reraise to 100 chases out too many hands. Yes you might invite people with a wider range of hands to see a flop and run the risk of drawing out on you but IMO if you back your reading ability and your instincts to get away when the board goes against you (IE your postflop play) I think the smaller raise can be more profitable.

 

The trouble is there is no getting away from this hand after the flop. He will be putting you on AK, so when he starts betting after the flop you have to assume that he has an un-paired AK beaten. Of course that could be any pair, so you have to go all the way with him, especially because he is a bluffy loose aggressive.

 

As I said before - when a player like him bets into you after the flop, can you really lay down top overpair to what is likely a bluff or top pair type hand?

 

The only way to protect yourself in this situation is with your betting before the flop. That means you sometimes miss out on a bigger win, but protect your stack from decimation.

[Goonieref]

Can agree, however playing against idiots does not help. The same guy that metaphorically raped me last week keeping a J2 offsuit did it on Saturday again!!! Me AA, we were playing $1/$2, I went $6, guy next to me raised to $20, he called, I raised to $50 just to see who was serious. Guy next to me folded sensibly, ***** across from me calls. Flop was nothing 4,2 and 9 rainbow. Nothing to worry me, bet $100, he called. Turn was crap, betted big, he called, river was crap, could not see athing that could beat me and he turns over a 4 2 offsuit!!! Who in their right friggingh mind goes that amount preflop with that cr@p???? I ended up winning about $200 so quite happy but this dick has annoyed me. In fact I got my hubby to transfer him to Warri on Monday morning so he won't be playing again!!!!

 

Ok doke

 

Lets forget the guys 1st call with 4/2 as that is just plain terrible but when you reraise so light if I was in his spot I would call in an instant. You both sound like you are deep stacked and he can firmly put you on aa/kk so 30 to call into a 120 is a bargain. The worst part of his play is if he did not stack you as your hand is so obvious and with his reputation he should be raising you on unscary flop as you will assume you are massive. If you do re-raise so small you must accept that you are punching up the variance and beats are going to happen.

[The Merse]

Trying to create a proper structure for my poker at the moment. No job or real prospects at the moment thanks to credit crunch!

 

I've decided winning 100 quid a day is very do-able so my target is to win 100 every day then stop.

 

I started this on Sunday.

 

Managed to win 100 on Sunday, 100 on Monday, broke my strategy yesterday and didn't stop at 100 as I had it won pretty early on in the afternoon, won another 100 at night. So technically a day ahead of schedule for this week.

 

50 up this afternoon so 50 more to go.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

[Walter Payton]

Trying to create a proper structure for my poker at the moment. No job or real prospects at the moment thanks to credit crunch!

 

I've decided winning 100 quid a day is very do-able so my target is to win 100 every day then stop.

 

I started this on Sunday.

 

Managed to win 100 on Sunday, 100 on Monday, broke my strategy yesterday and didn't stop at 100 as I had it won pretty early on in the afternoon, won another 100 at night. So technically a day ahead of schedule for this week.

 

50 up this afternoon so 50 more to go.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

 

 

What stakes are you playing and where?

[The Merse]

What stakes are you playing and where?

 

Just playing 25/50p on Sky Poker.

 

I'd been going a fair bit higher than that recently and took some hellish beats which put me right off. Going back where the damage is limited if I suffer them.

 

See how I get on in the next couple of weeks or so before deciding if it is a persuable option.

[Era Macaroons]

Trying to create a proper structure for my poker at the moment. No job or real prospects at the moment thanks to credit crunch!

 

I've decided winning 100 quid a day is very do-able so my target is to win 100 every day then stop.

 

I started this on Sunday.

 

Managed to win 100 on Sunday, 100 on Monday, broke my strategy yesterday and didn't stop at 100 as I had it won pretty early on in the afternoon, won another 100 at night. So technically a day ahead of schedule for this week.

 

50 up this afternoon so 50 more to go.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

 

Who needs job prospects!! just become a dealer at the cash games in casinos!!

 

It will be interesting to see how you get on with this project.

 

Whats happens when you have a day of NOT winning? stop at -?100?

 

I'm sure it will also be difficult to STOP playing when surpassing your ?100 target, especially (as has already happened) you achieve it quickly, or you feel you are creaming pure fish, or your getting a great run of cards, or your pashed!

[The Merse]

Who needs job prospects!! just become a dealer at the cash games in casinos!!

 

It will be interesting to see how you get on with this project.

 

Whats happens when you have a day of NOT winning? stop at -?100?

 

I'm sure it will also be difficult to STOP playing when surpassing your ?100 target, especially (as has already happened) you achieve it quickly, or you feel you are creaming pure fish, or your getting a great run of cards, or your pashed!

 

The plan if I'm having a bad day is to stop if I fall down 100.

 

As you said the hardest thing might be to stop if I'm on a roll. Not sure if capping a days winnings is the best way to go about it. All I know is I need a proper structure otherwise I'll fritter away my winnings as I have been doing fairly regularly recently.

[Era Macaroons]

The plan if I'm having a bad day is to stop if I fall down 100.

 

As you said the hardest thing might be to stop if I'm on a roll. Not sure if capping a days winnings is the best way to go about it. All I know is I need a proper structure otherwise I'll fritter away my winnings as I have been doing fairly regularly recently.

 

fair enough.

 

If protecting winnings is the main reason for this, I had a wee notion online a while ago, I would simply move tables when I doubled up and start with my original stake again....so constantly 'banking' winnings (and stop if I ever lost my initial outlay that I was prepared to lose). Simple but effective.

[The Merse]

Ended up on a loser yesterday.

 

Was 80 up then lost a biggy with jacks to AK when the guy called big bet on flop and turned his ace.

 

Then had pocket 6's which I called a raise with. Flop TKT. I check, other guy checks. Turn is a 6 giving me a full house...

 

Turned out he'd raised with KT and flopped his house. So that was a sickener.

 

Anyhow. My target was 100 a day and seeing as I made 200 the day before yesterday wasn't too much of a setback.

 

I started on Sunday with 100 quid. 4 and a half days in im up to 615 so I'm 15 quid ahead of schedule at the moment.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

My mate did summin simlar to what yuo are doing.

 

However he didnt really set a limit on when to stop. He went from 50 to a cfew hundred after a couple of days. Then from 3/400 to 800 in that week.

 

The following week he decided to up the ante and played ?5/10 blinds "For the hell of it". He began to win some big pots and after a day or so was upto ?3,000. Then the bad beat came along...

 

Still on the 5/10 pound blinds looks down at 3's. Flops a set with 2 clubs on the board. Not sure how the betting went but he was in the hand with one other player who bet and my mate raised a fair amount. Turn a nothing card. Other guy bet 400 odd quid, mate raised it up to pushes all in for around ?2-2500. Pot was around a grand on the turn. Other guy calls with a flush draw- He hadnt hit and didnt even have a high card. Of course the river brings another club to take down a 6K odd pot.

 

Crazy.

 

Just stick to your plan and dotn go wondering on to "high stakes". Could get messy

[The Merse]

My mate did summin simlar to what yuo are doing.

 

However he didnt really set a limit on when to stop. He went from 50 to a cfew hundred after a couple of days. Then from 3/400 to 800 in that week.

 

The following week he decided to up the ante and played ?5/10 blinds "For the hell of it". He began to win some big pots and after a day or so was upto ?3,000. Then the bad beat came along...

 

Still on the 5/10 pound blinds looks down at 3's. Flops a set with 2 clubs on the board. Not sure how the betting went but he was in the hand with one other player who bet and my mate raised a fair amount. Turn a nothing card. Other guy bet 400 odd quid, mate raised it up to pushes all in for around ?2-2500. Pot was around a grand on the turn. Other guy calls with a flush draw- He hadnt hit and didnt even have a high card. Of course the river brings another club to take down a 6K odd pot.

 

Crazy.

 

Just stick to your plan and dotn go wondering on to "high stakes". Could get messy

 

Definitely sticking to lower limits for the time being. Will only ever go higher if im rolled for it, which will be a long way away.

 

Lost a few horrendous pots playing ?1.50/?3 over the last month which has made me drop back down again.

 

Folk calling my 300 quid all-in when I have JT on a J82 board, calling me with AK and it coming T, Q to give them a straight!

 

My mate lost a horror pot on $5/10 before. He'd been on a complete roll and took a shot at the big game. Got dealt aces with about $1500 in front of him. Lots of raising and re-raising preflop.

 

Flop comes down A55. So he's flopped a full house but the other guy has flopped quad 5's and stack the lot off him!

[Walter Payton]

Anyone fancy playing in a home game tonight? I'm trying to setup a regular game and about 7 or 8 people have commited to playing regularly but 4 have confirmed so far for tonight so far. PM me for address and details if you're interested...

[The Merse]

Anyone fancy playing in a home game tonight? I'm trying to setup a regular game and about 7 or 8 people have commited to playing regularly but 4 have confirmed so far for tonight so far. PM me for address and details if you're interested...

 

I might be interested depending on time and buy-in mate.

[Walter Payton]

I might be interested depending on time and buy-in mate.

 

Going to try and start at 8, but anyone that wants to come up and have a few games of pro ev or fifa first is more than welcome. Buy-in for the first week will probably just be a fiver or a tenner (depending on those that attend)- more want to run tonight so everybody can have a say in the future format if they want to play regularly. Going to run it pretty deep stack with about 15 minute blinds so we can get a reasonable amount of play as well.

[Era Macaroons]

next time maybe see PM

[The Merse]

I'm going to pass for this week Andy.

 

Early kick off tomorrow has persuaded me to stay in.

 

And had a bad day at the "office". Aces cracked 3 times and ran QQ into KK twice as well.

 

[Walter Payton]

I'm going to pass for this week Andy.

 

Early kick off tomorrow has persuaded me to stay in.

 

And had a bad day at the "office". Aces cracked 3 times and ran QQ into KK twice as well.

 

 

No worries mate. Hopefully it's going to be a regular game (I'm going to try and make it every Friday night) so send me a PM if you fancy a spot in the game.

[Civil Jambo]

anyone going to circus tonight? me and brianfantana is going too

[The Merse]

Witnessed the worst poker player I've ever seen on Sky poker tonight.

 

I'm still trying to scrape my jaw up from the floor over some of the hands that went on.

 

The biggest mystery is this one.

 

I raised to ?2.50 with KQ (25/50p blinds). got Re-raised to 4.50 by this guy who had doubled up at some point before I joined table.

 

Flop AT9. He bets out 3 quid. Looked weak so I called.

 

Turn was another 9. He bets 1.50 this time. I thought he's definitely weak so I raised it to 15 quid. To my disgust he called. River was a complete blank.

 

He bet 3 quid. I thought he's still weak so raised it to 36 to try and get rid of him.

 

My heart sinks when he calls. Until I found out my KQ high was actually the best hand and he had called me with worse!!!!!

 

He called 36 quid on the river on an AT994 board with worse than KQ!!!!!

 

That was just a sign of things to come. I had JQ on a JQ8 board against him and shoved all in and he called 70 quid with J6.

 

He lost around 300 quid in an hour on the table, all players laughing their heads off and taking this guys cash. Unbelievable.

 

I'm up over 400 quid playing 25/50p blinds today.

 

[Era Macaroons]

Think I'll need to give Sky poker a go!!

[In Absentia]

I play 10/20p on sky poker when I have the spare time. Quite often you will find someone droping by to dump there chips on the table. Quite funny really.

[DikT.]

Did something last night that I was regretting 5 minutes after suggesting it but in the end became very happy. Anyway, as probably noticed we usually play on A saturday night here. However with it being the holiday weekend (Eid, Muslim holiday) and all the guys are not working today or tomorrow we decided to play last night. I am up about $1,000 for this trip and going home on Tuesday so foolishly suggested instead of the usual $100 buy in and seeing as it was the holidays and I wouldn't have another game till after Xmas we make it $1,000 buy in. The bampots agreed. After two hands I was just about rooked but came back. Anyway a couple of hands from the end I got AA for the first time, so was going hard (10 x big blind) as previously suggested. Three stayed, flopped AAK, bet the same, one went all in, other called with chips left so obviously I called, but still with chips left, 10 on the turn, other guy is all in so I follow and that is me no chips this time. Turns them over, my 4xAs win obviously, one guy with KK and the other 10 10. Whoopee dippy doo!!!!!! K on the river never mattered obviously apart from the Yank being sick at 4 Ks getting beat!!!! Bottom line is, and this is why I am up so bloody early, I cannot sleep for worrying, I won altogether about $20,000 and I am shaking like a leaf. I have never been short of money in my life but I have never had that amount in my pooch at one time before.

 

My problem is this, as I said I come home next week, can I just put that amount of money into the bank or is there a limit before you get investigated? Probably stupid blonde worrying about nothing but I need to know. Didn't really want to start a new thread on this as it would end up with silly comments whereas the people in here seem rather more intelligent :-) Any advice welcome. Going to either hide tonight or get so ****ed I fall asleep before they start playing!!!!!

[Bigsmak]

If you give me the cash I'll look after it for you!

 

Bank will be fine

[The Merse]

Did something last night that I was regretting 5 minutes after suggesting it but in the end became very happy. Anyway, as probably noticed we usually play on A saturday night here. However with it being the holiday weekend (Eid, Muslim holiday) and all the guys are not working today or tomorrow we decided to play last night. I am up about $1,000 for this trip and going home on Tuesday so foolishly suggested instead of the usual $100 buy in and seeing as it was the holidays and I wouldn't have another game till after Xmas we make it $1,000 buy in. The bampots agreed. After two hands I was just about rooked but came back. Anyway a couple of hands from the end I got AA for the first time, so was going hard (10 x big blind) as previously suggested. Three stayed, flopped AAK, bet the same, one went all in, other called with chips left so obviously I called, but still with chips left, 10 on the turn, other guy is all in so I follow and that is me no chips this time. Turns them over, my 4xAs win obviously, one guy with KK and the other 10 10. Whoopee dippy doo!!!!!! K on the river never mattered obviously apart from the Yank being sick at 4 Ks getting beat!!!! Bottom line is, and this is why I am up so bloody early, I cannot sleep for worrying, I won altogether about $20,000 and I am shaking like a leaf. I have never been short of money in my life but I have never had that amount in my pooch at one time before.

 

My problem is this, as I said I come home next week, can I just put that amount of money into the bank or is there a limit before you get investigated? Probably stupid blonde worrying about nothing but I need to know. Didn't really want to start a new thread on this as it would end up with silly comments whereas the people in here seem rather more intelligent :-) Any advice welcome. Going to either hide tonight or get so ****ed I fall asleep before they start playing!!!!!

 

Wow, nice win!!

 

Pretty sure the bank will be fine.

 

[DikT.]

You sure??? Had a couple of hours sleep now so feeling less paranoid :-) Maybe even play again tonight.......................

[Statto]

The other night, I was in a Tournament on SkyPoker, the SPUKT 4th leg Semi Final.

 

On one of the hands, A guy raised, I had AQ in the small blind. Me + 2 others called so there was 4 of us in the hand. The flop was 677. The pot was about 1200, he was 2nd to act, I had checked to him and he bet just under a pot sized bet, about 900. The other 2 folded and then it was me to act with only the 2 of us in the pot.

He was the pre-flop raiser, I doubted he had a 7 because if you had the 7 and the other card is an under card (6) you would surely bet less to keep others in the pot while also building it up. I also thought if he had AA, KK, or QQ, would he bet so much when the flop is no real danger as he raised pre-flop and the table had been playing very tight, therefore someone calling with a 7 is unlikely pre-flop.

I decided to raise it up, I simply thought he was betting as though he didn't hit on the flop and/or didn't want a call, and a check raise is a very aggresive move that means opponents have to genarally put you on a hand. I raised it to 2,500, about 2/3rd's of my stack, he then raises all in -about another 1300 for me to call. At this point, there is 7,000 in the middle. If my logic was right, he either had a 6, 88, 99, TT or JJ. Which meant I had 2 over cards, 6 cards in total to hit out of 47 possible cards in the deck and 2 streets to come = a 25.5% chance of hitting and I'm getting about 6/1 on my money to hit a 3/1 shot AND I've invested over 70% of my stack already.

 

I called. Do you think it was the correct decision?

 

 

 

 

 

The cards were turned, he had TT, one of the hands I had thought, I had 6 cards to hit, 3 remaining Q's and 3 remaining A's. Unfortunately for him, I hit an A on the river.

 

The abuse started, I apologised for him going out and explained my decision and that was the end of it.

 

Do you think I played it badly and got lucky as he suggested or was it the correct play at the wrong time and then hitting a calculated out?

 

 

I ended up finishing in the top 7 to qualify for the land based tourney in Newcastle in March.

Edited December 6, 2008 by Statto

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

I'm a newbie to poker but I've started playing the freeroll tournies on Sky Poker. Enjoying it but I'm finishing like 100th out of 300 people or whatever. You get to many dickheads who go all in when they have feck all and it's hard to progress!

 

Any tips on how I can start improving a bit?

 

Where do you have to finish to actually win some money?!

[The Merse]

I'm a newbie to poker but I've started playing the freeroll tournies on Sky Poker. Enjoying it but I'm finishing like 100th out of 300 people or whatever. You get to many dickheads who go all in when they have feck all and it's hard to progress!

 

Any tips on how I can start improving a bit?

 

Where do you have to finish to actually win some money?!

 

Playing freerolls, your going to encounter alot of absolute idiots who just don't care what they do as it isn't for money.

 

Even if you win a freeroll you'll win a tiny amount, but is obviously good for gaining some experience in how to play tournies.

 

The only real way to improve I feel is through play, experience is priceless in poker.

 

Finally, Sky Poker probably has the worst standard of play that I've ever seen (which is why I play on it) so your bound to suffer some bad beats, the structures of their tournaments are designed to get them finished quickly, quick blind levels removes alot of the skill involved in tournament play.

[The Merse]

The other night, I was in a Tournament on SkyPoker, the SPUKT 4th leg Semi Final.

 

On one of the hands, A guy raised, I had AQ in the small blind. Me + 2 others called so there was 4 of us in the hand. The flop was 677. The pot was about 1200, he was 2nd to act, I had checked to him and he bet just under a pot sized bet, about 900. The other 2 folded and then it was me to act with only the 2 of us in the pot.

He was the pre-flop raiser, I doubted he had a 7 because if you had the 7 and the other card is an under card (6) you would surely bet less to keep others in the pot while also building it up. I also thought if he had AA, KK, or QQ, would he bet so much when the flop is no real danger as he raised pre-flop and the table had been playing very tight, therefore someone calling with a 7 is unlikely pre-flop.

I decided to raise it up, I simply thought he was betting as though he didn't hit on the flop and/or didn't want a call, and a check raise is a very aggresive move that means opponents have to genarally put you on a hand. I raised it to 2,500, about 2/3rd's of my stack, he then raises all in -about another 1300 for me to call. At this point, there is 7,000 in the middle. If my logic was right, he either had a 6, 88, 99, TT or JJ. Which meant I had 2 over cards, 6 cards in total to hit out of 47 possible cards in the deck and 2 streets to come = a 25.5% chance of hitting and I'm getting about 6/1 on my money to hit a 3/1 shot AND I've invested over 70% of my stack already.

 

I called. Do you think it was the correct decision?

 

 

 

 

 

The cards were turned, he had TT, one of the hands I had thought, I had 6 cards to hit, 3 remaining Q's and 3 remaining A's. Unfortunately for him, I hit an A on the river.

 

The abuse started, I apologised for him going out and explained my decision and that was the end of it.

 

Do you think I played it badly and got lucky as he suggested or was it the correct play at the wrong time and then hitting a calculated out?

 

 

I ended up finishing in the top 7 to qualify for the land based tourney in Newcastle in March.

 

I'd say that you played that hand fairly well, despite a bit of flawed logic on your part.

 

Any sort of overpair to the board will be wanting the hand done and dusted there and then, even aces! So I wouldn't just assume a big bet as weak always. I tend to bet my hands when I know I'm ahead to try and avoid any sort of outdraw.

 

The check raise was good if you thought he just had overcards though, and the eventual call was mandatory as you had now invested too much to fold.

 

Well done on qualifying though. My mates in the Edinburgh one, I forgot to try and qualify and now its full.

 

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

Playing freerolls, your going to encounter alot of absolute idiots who just don't care what they do as it isn't for money.

 

Even if you win a freeroll you'll win a tiny amount, but is obviously good for gaining some experience in how to play tournies.

 

The only real way to improve I feel is through play, experience is priceless in poker.

 

Finally, Sky Poker probably has the worst standard of play that I've ever seen (which is why I play on it) so your bound to suffer some bad beats, the structures of their tournaments are designed to get them finished quickly, quick blind levels removes alot of the skill involved in tournament play.

 

Aye, the blinds increase every five minutes!

 

How long would a tournament last you think?

 

I'm usually playing for about half an hour before getting pumped out.

 

One of my problems is I get pretty bored easily so I often play daft hands when I know I shouldn't just to speed things up. I really need to cut that out if I want to get decent.

 

So ... no tips at all?!

[The Merse]

Aye, the blinds increase every five minutes!

 

How long would a tournament last you think?

 

I'm usually playing for about half an hour before getting pumped out.

 

One of my problems is I get pretty bored easily so I often play daft hands when I know I shouldn't just to speed things up. I really need to cut that out if I want to get decent.

 

So ... no tips at all?!

 

The Sky Poker tourneys are designed to last 2 hours max. Proper tournaments on other sites will last a hell of alot longer than that though.

 

Quite hard to give tips tbh.

 

Don't get involved in pots with a rubbish ace basically. Don't call a raise with anything less than AT, even AT and AJ are poor hands to be playing up against a raise, if your going to be playing these hands make sure you are the one raising and have position on the player you are playing against.

 

The most important thing in poker is to make sure you are puting your money in first and that you are the aggressor. Gives you two ways to win the pot, by getting the opponent to fold his hand or by you showing down the best hand at the river.

 

Position is so important, you really don't want to be calling a guy before the flop when you are going to be first to act after it. Most of the time you are going to miss the flop and have to check fold to a bet from the opponent. Unless you are feeling brave and can stick in a bet with nothing whilst hoping he hasn't connected either.

 

Just keep playing, I pretty much learnt the game myself.

[Statto]

I'm a newbie to poker but I've started playing the freeroll tournies on Sky Poker. Enjoying it but I'm finishing like 100th out of 300 people or whatever. You get to many dickheads who go all in when they have feck all and it's hard to progress!

 

Any tips on how I can start improving a bit?

 

Where do you have to finish to actually win some money?!

 

For freerolls, i think the best site is pokerstars. You get a lot of choice of games with play points and it's where I started. If you develop your game for free there first for a while (until you feel you are playing well and understand the aspects of the game, position etc.) and then move back to skypoker.

 

If you start with investing maybe up to ?10-20 a month, it means you can play the 30p-55p sit and go's without needing to think if you lose you're losing half your balance. Play them not for winning money but just to practice. Once your comfortable with playing with real money, move onto satelites and the ?1-3 games. It can get you into the bigger tourneys and give you more experience at a higher level without you risking a lot of money.

 

When you have played for a while you can then buy-in to big tournaments directly.

 

 

When you play freerolls for money, you can get very little out of it, the majority are beginners and might make bad calls. The way I've seen some play them, you'd get no valuable experiences out of it, and you win very little money even when you reach the top 10 or whatever it is. It can be quite dis-heartening at times.

 

Watch Sky poker on the TV as well, they give great tips on developing you game.

[Statto]

I'd say that you played that hand fairly well, despite a bit of flawed logic on your part.

 

Any sort of overpair to the board will be wanting the hand done and dusted there and then, even aces! So I wouldn't just assume a big bet as weak always. I tend to bet my hands when I know I'm ahead to try and avoid any sort of outdraw.

 

The check raise was good if you thought he just had overcards though, and the eventual call was mandatory as you had now invested too much to fold.

 

Well done on qualifying though. My mates in the Edinburgh one, I forgot to try and qualify and now its full.

 

 

I was playing one of the Maybury Semi's one night, I finished on the bubble in the last one, I got ?22 for my troubles but I'd rather had be there.

[Bigsmak]

I'm a newbie to poker but I've started playing the freeroll tournies on Sky Poker. Enjoying it but I'm finishing like 100th out of 300 people or whatever. You get to many dickheads who go all in when they have feck all and it's hard to progress!

 

Any tips on how I can start improving a bit?

 

Where do you have to finish to actually win some money?!

 

http://www.cardschat.com/

 

Join this site and read as much of the advice as you can... They also have freeroles ($200 added) when you hot 50 posts.. (please don't ask for passwords or spam to get the 50) ... and the guys there are really friendly and helpful!

You can post specific hands and they will analyse them with you and see if you can improve the next time.

 

also - this is a good site - http://www.thehendonmob.com/pokercalc/index.html for working out odds of specific hands!

[Larry]

I would say freerolls are probably only good for getting to understandthe rules and structure of online tournaments. Like you say there are so many people who just go "all in" with nothing, or just generally play bad poker so its hard to gauge how well your developing as a player untill you get onto the real money tourneys/tables.

 

When im skint i play freerolls every now and then when I fancy a wee game, so i would advice just playing it patient. In the first hour before the break I wait for big hands and play them aggressively because the chances are your going to get paid off for them in the erly rounds of freerolls.

 

Usually in real money i'll limp in with small pocket pairs and raise(depending on position,chip stack,opponents etc) with medium pocket pairs, but in the early rounds of a freeroll i limp with medium pocket pairs, as i tend to find you get too many callers in a freeroll, so just take a cheap flop and see if you hit a set, and wait for your bigger hands, 10 10, AK, JJ,QQ,KK,AA to do your pre-flop raising.

 

Also i'd say the further you get in freerolls the more you can start to play your "normal" style of game as most people who have been in a freeroll for severall hours will be more determined to make it to the cash and begin to tighten up, there will always be one or two at your table who arent like this though but you should be able to tell who they are and exploit them.

 

But this is just my advice on how i like to play freerolls, and i get some success playing this way. For advice on how to play real money i'll leave that to the regular posters, as the words earlier of "when im skint" will tell you i dont have as much success as i'd like.

 

though one bit of real money poker advice i can give is that no matter how much you fancy a game of poker when you roll home from a club at 4am, JUST DON'T!! go to bed and play tomorrow. I still have'nt learned though:mad:

[DikT.]

I actually like playing on pkr.com. Seems to be a bit more experience there and not so many idiots.

 

BTW, another good night, $100 buy in as normal and walked away $4,000 up. I wish WSOP was on I'd be over to vegas in a flash the way my luck is going. Favourite hand (not the most financially rewarding) was a full house Qs over 5s and my hubby had flopped Qs over 4s. I had the Q5 and was BB so just checked. He flopped the boat with QQ4 but I thought I had him, he was raising so I just kept calling, turn was nothing and a 5 on the river. Whooppee. Raped him!!!!!

[Statto]

Anyone know of a site that tells you of up and coming British poker competitions, like the British poker tour etc.?

 

Or does anyone know if there is any Poker tours anytime soon in Edinburgh?

[In Absentia]

Anyone know of a site that tells you of up and coming British poker competitions, like the British poker tour etc.?

 

Or does anyone know if there is any Poker tours anytime soon in Edinburgh?

 

Blonde Poker has a tourament schedule. However it hasnt been updated for next year yet.

 

http://blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/2515

 

Tours of note for next year that I know of will be

 

The Sky UK Poker on the 31st January at the Maybury.

 

The Gala GB Poker tour will be end of Feb/ early March. Date not released.

 

Gukpt Festival in Newcastle 18th to 21st May.

 

Gukpt Festival in Aberdeen 18th to 21st June.

 

Also the APAT Scottish Amatuer National at the Maybury should be the middle of next year too.

[Era Macaroons]

Did something last night that I was regretting 5 minutes after suggesting it but in the end became very happy. Anyway, as probably noticed we usually play on A saturday night here. However with it being the holiday weekend (Eid, Muslim holiday) and all the guys are not working today or tomorrow we decided to play last night. I am up about $1,000 for this trip and going home on Tuesday so foolishly suggested instead of the usual $100 buy in and seeing as it was the holidays and I wouldn't have another game till after Xmas we make it $1,000 buy in. The bampots agreed. After two hands I was just about rooked but came back. Anyway a couple of hands from the end I got AA for the first time, so was going hard (10 x big blind) as previously suggested. Three stayed, flopped AAK, bet the same, one went all in, other called with chips left so obviously I called, but still with chips left, 10 on the turn, other guy is all in so I follow and that is me no chips this time. Turns them over, my 4xAs win obviously, one guy with KK and the other 10 10. Whoopee dippy doo!!!!!! K on the river never mattered obviously apart from the Yank being sick at 4 Ks getting beat!!!! Bottom line is, and this is why I am up so bloody early, I cannot sleep for worrying, I won altogether about $20,000 and I am shaking like a leaf. I have never been short of money in my life but I have never had that amount in my pooch at one time before.

 

My problem is this, as I said I come home next week, can I just put that amount of money into the bank or is there a limit before you get investigated? Probably stupid blonde worrying about nothing but I need to know. Didn't really want to start a new thread on this as it would end up with silly comments whereas the people in here seem rather more intelligent :-) Any advice welcome. Going to either hide tonight or get so ****ed I fall asleep before they start playing!!!!!

 

what a win, how many folk do you play with?

[Era Macaroons]

I'm a newbie to poker but I've started playing the freeroll tournies on Sky Poker. Enjoying it but I'm finishing like 100th out of 300 people or whatever. You get to many dickheads who go all in when they have feck all and it's hard to progress!

 

Any tips on how I can start improving a bit?

 

Where do you have to finish to actually win some money?!

 

Normally the top 10% ish of the field will get paid out, but a lot of it will be chicken feed till you get to the business end of the tourney.

 

I wouldnt bother with free rolls AT ALL. you wont learn very much of use.

 

Go straight to low entry fee tournaments and keep playing them until you finish in a winning position. If you cant win anything at that level you wont win anything at a higher stake level....do not play CASH tables until you've played a fair bit...you'll get raped!

 

study your opponent, inc online....and watch poker telly.

 

remember what happened when you get bombed out tourneys...learn your own weaknesses/what could u have done to avoid it etc.

 

gl

 

 

 

 

 

Just start

[deesidejambo]

Normally the top 10% ish of the field will get paid out, but a lot of it will be chicken feed till you get to the business end of the tourney.

 

I wouldnt bother with free rolls AT ALL. you wont learn very much of use.

 

Go straight to low entry fee tournaments and keep playing them until you finish in a winning position. If you cant win anything at that level you wont win anything at a higher stake level....do not play CASH tables until you've played a fair bit...you'll get raped!

 

study your opponent, inc online....and watch poker telly.

 

remember what happened when you get bombed out tourneys...learn your own weaknesses/what could u have done to avoid it etc.

 

gl

 

 

 

 

 

Just start

 

What he said. Avoid freerolls - you will not learn much from them that would help you at real tables.

[The Merse]

Not really been sticking to my ?100 strategy, well when I say not really I mean not at all.

 

I was up to like ?650ish the week I started it, tilted a bit (aces bust 3 times, twice to Q8!) and withdrew ?320 and blew the balance.

 

Stuck ?100 in last Tuesday, now up to ?1,180. Not really sure what to do now. Whether to withdraw some or leave it all in. I'm really bad for if I drop below a certain threshold I'll do something stupid until I'm back above it!

[Bigsmak]

I played twice this week

 

Went to the casino on Monday night. ?30 rebuy. Finished 10th out of 55... Had to go all in on final table.. was about 3rd in chips when only 11 left and walked my AK right into AA>.. lost 20k of my 9k stack. Sheep!

 

 

Played a freerole yesterday to get into a 100k game on Full tilt. Top 3 from 3600 qualify... Played for hours and was first out of the last 16 with 900,000 chips..300k ahead of 2nd. I had to go out with the lass, pre-booked meal etc. so I got my Brother.. who has won a lot of tournements in the casino to play for me. Went for dinner and he managed to spunk my chips away and finish 9th....... Jeeze.. 4 hour of very very good play down the tubes...

 

I think I was all in only 2 times in 4 and a bit hours.. I played very very good poker...

 

SO...... I might have a bit of the bug back...

 

I know I can play... Lets do it!

 

WOOT

[Era Macaroons]

Not really been sticking to my ?100 strategy, well when I say not really I mean not at all.

 

I was up to like ?650ish the week I started it, tilted a bit (aces bust 3 times, twice to Q8!) and withdrew ?320 and blew the balance.

 

Stuck ?100 in last Tuesday, now up to ?1,180. Not really sure what to do now. Whether to withdraw some or leave it all in. I'm really bad for if I drop below a certain threshold I'll do something stupid until I'm back above it!

 

was meaning to ask you about that.....its very hard to stick to such a plan!

 

You suffered the 'withdraw a bit and blow the rest' syndrome that I get as well. I'm sure something is flagged that you have withdrawn dosh and you get bad beats/duff cards to make you put cash back in but that may just be soor grapes!

 

The next time I win a wad im just going to keep it with the site and try and build it up as much as I can to have an ever rolling bankroll.

 

In my last post ending 'just start'.....i was about to start another paragraph and didnt notice it was there when posting....I wasnt meaning 'just start playing poker!'

[Era Macaroons]

I played twice this week

 

Went to the casino on Monday night. ?30 rebuy. Finished 10th out of 55... Had to go all in on final table.. was about 3rd in chips when only 11 left and walked my AK right into AA>.. lost 20k of my 9k stack. Sheep!

 

 

Played a freerole yesterday to get into a 100k game on Full tilt. Top 3 from 3600 qualify... Played for hours and was first out of the last 16 with 900,000 chips..300k ahead of 2nd. I had to go out with the lass, pre-booked meal etc. so I got my Brother.. who has won a lot of tournements in the casino to play for me. Went for dinner and he managed to spunk my chips away and finish 9th....... Jeeze.. 4 hour of very very good play down the tubes...

 

I think I was all in only 2 times in 4 and a bit hours.. I played very very good poker...

 

SO...... I might have a bit of the bug back...

 

I know I can play... Lets do it!

 

WOOT

 

 

Is Monday night the popular midweek night? seems a lot of you go on Mondays. Also what time does the Monday tend to finish?

 

oh...ul with your AK

 

I can just picture you sitting with your misses talking pash over some nosh when all you really wanna be doing is finishing your poker game.

 

 

" Ohhh monsuir Bigsmak, tell me more"

 

" I hope that eejit kens whit hes daein, I was 1st ye knaw....was gonna pure qualify easy........"