One of the key leaks in weak players games is that they bluff for very obvious reasons.

The most obvious of these is desperation, usually in situations where their hand has missed and the only real option that they have to win the hand is to bluff - regardless of what signals of strength have been given off by their opponents.

This kind bluff nearly always occurs on the river, when they have missed their hand, and are basically thinking along the lines of ‘Well I’m at the river, my hand can’t win at showdown, I was hoping to hit my gutshot/flushdraw/straightdraw/over cards/whatever, and now my only option left is to bluff’. This is not their only option of course, as they could fold or check fold, saving themselves a great deal of money over the long run.

The main reason for these situations occurring with bad players is they usually have not planned the hand in advance. They have fired on flop and turn, built a large pot out of position, and are now left in a horrible spot on the river. If you can plan your actions for multiple streets you can avoid ever getting in these situations.

Once you have taken these sorts of plays out of yoru game, you can start taking advantage of other players making them. These bluffs are nearly always the same, in that the line taken by the player makes no sense considering their normal style of play. Much of this is up to the read on the player, but typically they happen on boards that just don’t fit the story that you are being told.

A typical example of this is when an opponent raises pre flop, you defend on the button with a suited connector, flop middle pair and call a flop bet. Both players check a low turn, and then the pre flop raiser fires out a big bet on another low river. This nearly always indicates a desperate attempt to win with their two high cards (God forbid a bad player should ever lose a pot where they started with ace king), as they would have usually bet the turn with any hand that was made.

Bad players actually bluff a great deal, they just tend to do it out of frustration and desperation more than for reasons to do with a certain player or a certain board. Always remember that bluffs have to form a coherent story that you are telling about your hand, and vice versa, and if you ever see that story start to breakdown, it is probably worth your while making a few thin calls.

Related Readings

Bluffing - How to pull the trigger - Marcus Bateman
Beating weak poker games - Marcus Bateman
Bluffing in PLO - Marcus Bateman

A whopping 3,837 players took to the field for the last Sunday Warm-up before Christmas in 2008, and 585 of those players found at least $383.70 in their stocking by the end of the day. As the stores began to close on the east coast for shoppers, the final nine players gathered for their shot at the big money, including an impressive $99,762.00 for first place.

As the final table bubble neared, chip leader dan82mur amped up the aggression, taking out several players on the final table bubble to increase his chip lead. After a lengthy hand-for-hand period, etn99 busted in 10th place and the final table was set, with dan82mur taking a big chip lead into the final nine.

Caution was the watchword to kick off the final table, as the players took their time committing chips to the pot. Finally, with blinds at 100,000/200,000 and a 20,000 ante, liverdracon moved all in preflop from late position. He found action in the form of cadillacsa moving all in over the top with As-Qc. Liverdracon tabled Qh-9c, and needed help to stay alive. The board brought a little help, but not enough for liverdracon, as it ran out 6h-5h-3h-Qd-Ad to give cadillacsa two pair and send liverdracon packing in 9th place ($6,599.64).

With the first elimination, the floodgates cracked open and players began to be willing to commit chips to the pot. Next time around, it was eitishoo moving all in preflop with pocket jacks and snowking_85 making the call with Ac-Jh. That cracking sound you heard? That was the sound of an ace on the turn cracking eitishoo’s jacks as the board ran out 4s-7h-2c-As-4c. Aces and fours for snowking_85 was good enough to best eitishoo’s jacks and fours and send eitishoo home in 8th place, good for $9,592.50.

In an ironic 7th-place exit, AhKhQhJh10h moved all in preflop with Ah-Kd and found one caller in jas21, who showed Ac-Qc. The flop was certainly interesting, coming down Js-10c-9d to give both players the inside straight draw. The 4h on the turn was no help for anyone, but the Kh on the river made jas21’s Broadway straight and busted AhKhQhJh10h in 7th place for $15,348.00.

Cadillacsa made a move from early position when he open-shoved with Ac-5c, but he ran into trouble when jas21 made the call with Ah-As. Cadillacsa needed help to stay alive, and the flop left him drawing even thinner when it came down Js-Ad-2c. Jas21 made a set on the flop, and cadillacsa needed running straight cards to survive. The Qc on the turn left him drawing dead, and when the 7d hit the river, cadillacsa was done in 6th, with $23,022.00 for his troubles.

Raising with marginal hands from the button is a tried and true method of increasing your stack late in a tournament, and there was plenty of that on display at the final table. It went wrong for OMGSHIPIT when he shoved all in from the button with Ks-7d, but only because snowking_85 woke up with a real hand in the small blind. Snowking_85 made the easy call with Ah-Kc, and OMGSHIPIT was dominated. The flop brought a pair for both players, as it came down 2c-Qs-Kd. OMGSHIPIT needed a seven to survive, but it was not to be as the turn and river ran out 6d-Qc to send OMGSHIPIT home in 5th place ($30,696.00).

With OMGSHIPIT’s elimination, the remaining four players were very close in chip stacks. Talks of a deal surfaced but were quickly quashed, and play continued. Four-handed play continued for quite a while as the players jockeyed for position, and when the dam finally broke, it was ael1979 headed to the rail in 4th place with $38,370 for his troubles. Ael1979 raised preflop, and snowking_85 made the three-bet in position. After a long think, ael1979 moved all in over the top with Jh-10d. Snowking_85 quickly called with Ad-Qh, and the flop made things even uglier as it came down 2d-10s-As. Ael1979 picked up a pair, but so did snowking_85 with the ace. The Qc on the turn made two pair for snowking_85, and only a ten on the river would save ael1979. It was not to be, as the river brought the 3d, and snowking_85 took a commanding chip lead with three players left.

Dan82mur had built a stack repeatedly by aggressively stealing the blinds and antes and making solid moves in position. Every once in a while, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and that’s exactly what happened to him when pay got short-handed. After getting called on an all-in shove with 8-6o, he found himself the short stack and needing to make something happen. He made his move from the button with Qh-3h, and jas21 made the call with pocket nines. Dan82mur needed to pick up a queen to stay alive, but the board ran out 2h-Ac-7s-5c-Jh and he was done in 3rd place. $46,044 is a pretty good day’s work, and that’s what dan82mur collected for his 3rd-place finish.

That big hand left the remaining players close to even in chips as heads-up play began, as jas21 and snowking_85 battled it out for the top spot. Heads-up play was a lengthy duel, with jas21 taking a 2:1 chip lead going into the last break of the evening. Snowking_85 wasn’t going to go easy, though, as he climbed back into contention to bring things close again. As the back-and-forth heads-up match continued, it was snowking_85 with the chip lead going into the final big hand. After a raise from snowking_85, the flop came down 10h-Qs-9h. Snowking_85 led out with a bet and jas21 moved all in over the top with Kh-10d for second pair and a straight draw. Snowking_85 made the quick call with 9s-10s for flopped two pair. The 9d on the turn ended all hope for jas21, and when the Ah hit the river, jas21 was done in 2nd place ($69,066.00). Snowking_85 came out on top after a tough back-and-forth heads-up battle, and pocketed $99,762.00 for his first-place finish, with no chop.

Congrats to snowking_85 on a hard-fought victory, and to all the 585 players who cashed in this week’s Sunday Warm-Up!

I was recently sitting say anything in the event that the players didn’t catch it. After another minute of consideration the opponent called the $500, and after a weak bet from Tim on the river, went all in to take the pot down. Tim was fuming and proceeded to at a 5/10 live game in Las Vegas. For the sake of this story, I have given some of the players fake names to make it easier to understand. Player Tim had gotten into a bit of an argument with Jill and her boyfriend about the mandatory straddle that was in place when the couple sat down. Jill didn’t want to do it, but the couple wouldn’t take the open seats on the other tables. A few hands later Tim was involved in a hand with someone across the table. Tim was a pretty aggressive player who was known to raise with any two cards. Preflop Tim raised $50. He had one caller to the flop. The flop came out 6s 7d 6h. Tim bets $100 and his opponent says, “You don’t want to lose all of your money on this hand. I call.” The turn comes a 7c. Tim bets $500, and his opponent goes into the think tank. It seemed pretty obvious to me that Tim was bluffing, but his opponent was really struggling with the decision. He began to run through the hand out loud and then stated, “I shouldn’t call this because I really think you have a 7.” From this Jill, who was not in the hand said, “Well there is only one way to find out.” EEeeeks! I immediately knew her comment was out of line, but didn’t chew Jill out for opening her mouth and influencing his opponent in the hand.

Of course, Tim was right to be upset because in the end Tim’s opponent confessed that he was thinking of folding on the turn. Jill’s comment influenced Tim’s opponent to make a decision that he probably wouldn’t have made on his own. Jill’s comment also influenced Tim’s play. Had Jill not said anything, Tim could have made a better betting decision on the river. However, the comment put Tim on tilt and caused him to be distracted from the hand. The moral of the story is: If you are not in a hand and there is one in progress don’t say anything regarding the hand or its players until the hand is over. I regularly run into the situation where a flop comes out 6 6 2 and someone says, “Oh man! I threw away a 6.” As disappointing as that might be, it is not ok to announce this to the table because it inhibits an involved player’s ability to bluff at the pot. It could also induce someone to call a bet, knowing the chances of a 6 in hand is slimmer, though in actuality they are calling into a set. For this reason, it is bad etiquette to comment on a hand when you are not involved and/or if it is a multi-way pot. When the chips are being pushed to the winner, it might be ok to open up about your hand or add commentary. Just remember that comments that you make about a hand might influence someone’s decision in the end, and you wouldn’t like it if you lost money because another player influenced your opponent.

Dominic Kay, who made the final table of the WSOPE in 2007, recently had another decent live tournament cash at the Luton Christmas Cracker Festival though it was a tournament he very nearly didn’t play in….

I travelled down to Luton on Thursday to catch up with a few mates, have a few beers and rail a few people actually ‘rich’ enough to play poker. Having gone pretty much busto recently I knew any tournament over £50 was out of my bankroll for the time being. So although I was aware of a £250/£250 nicely structured two-day event, I wasn’t planning on getting involved.

As I arrived in ’sunny’ Luton I received a tip via text from a particularly shrewd friend of mine. Apparently there was a horse that would be good value if going off around the 4/1 mark. Therefore, I stuck on a reasonable bet from my online account and set off to the casino. Once inside my resolve not to play started to crumble. What if I back the horse for a bit more than usual and play if it wins?

A quick visit to the local books, via Subway for sustenance and the pub for Dutch courage saw me with a very large wager on a nag I knew absolutely nothing about. I’d dragged along two mates, one of whom was ‘brave’ enough to put the same amount on as me. We watched it storm home then ran (well, slowly jogged) back to the casino.

The tournament started slowly for myself and I stumbled along playing rather erratically. After one 3-barrel bluff failed to work I decided to de-tilt at the bar. The few beers must have worked as before long, with the rebuy added, I was winning pot after pot. Now I had a stack, I wouldn’t lose it right?

I should have lost it, as I plodded on with rather less skill than I’d have liked and even started moaning about being card dead. Always a sign of a great player!

Luckily I dished out a suck-out to one unfortunate player who made a good call with A10 v my low stacked shove with A7 suited. A pair of 7s sent me into Day 2 with a shortish but playable stack.

The hangover the next day was harsh but totally deserved. When the chance came along early to flip for a double up I thought “Yay lets do it” My two lucky eskimo’s holding up against another A10. Another flip was won with AQ suited v jacks and I started to believe I was golden and now had the stack to really push my luck. I was 3 betting galore with air and my opening range was now huge. I was liking it and on the final table.

On the final table I won a huge pot with the ladies holding up v jacks and AQ. After I flopped a set, knocking out another to leave four left, I knew I’d be getting a nice payday. At three-handed we did a chop that I would have rejected if I was more flush.

So 5.7k later (minus many swops) meant a nice score for someone who wasn’t ever, ever….ever playing that event. It’s a nice little ending to a tough year in poker for me, but hopefully a change in luck and in how I’m playing. The light bulb has come on in my brain finally. Hope it doesn’t turn off.

Related Readings

18 year-old girl stuns poker world with £1 million win - Betfair Poker
Squeeze Plays - WSOPE
Hammer time for Annette Obrestad v Dominic Kay - WSOPE
3rd day of the WSOPE - James Keys
Dom’s Poker News - Dominic Kay’s Blog

There have been several times in my poker career where I am in the small blind and look down at 4 6 of hearts and say, “I hope I can see a flop.” Inevitably, someone will raise and I end up folding the hand, wishing I could have seen a flop.

Lets imagine, that we are playing 2/5 No Limit Texas Hold’em. In this scenario, we are the small blind with a hand like 4 6 of hearts, facing a raise of $25 dollars. There are 6 callers and the action is on us. What are we going to do?

Though 4 6 of hearts is not the best hand we can hope for, our cards are live with that many callers ahead of you. Since we are in the small blind, the pot is laying us $23 to $150, or roughly 6 to 1. There are several possibilities that we have with your hand, so there is no reason not to see a flop. We decide to call the $23 and the flop comes 2h 5d 7h. Not only do you have a heart draw, but you also have a double gut shot. That gives you 15 drawing outs to hit a flush or a straight, and probably four more outs to go runner-runner 44 or 66, giving us a total of 19. This would be a great opportunity to raise $75 to see where you are at.

As the scenario plays out, everyone folds except the original raiser who just calls. There is a wide range of hands we can put our opponent on, so lets try and narrow down the choices. A big pocket pair, 9-9 to Q-Q is most likely. Q-Q become questionable, but if he had a pair like AA or KK he defiantly would have reraised on the flop. He could possibly have a bigger flush draw, like AK suited to QJ suited, so with our flush we will have to play accordingly. As well he may have that same range of hands but unsuited, looking to turn an over card. From this point on, it is important to use any scare card to bet on in order to get your opponent off their hand.

This means if you put your opponent on an medium to medium large pocket pair, you bet at the turn if an A, K, or Q comes, and if you put them on a big pocket pair or overcards, you bet any small connecting card. So in this case we could also bet a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. If you do hit your straight you bet in order to gain the maximum value out of the hand. If you hit the flush, and still put your opponent on a possible higher flush, you will have to use your reads to evaluate if you have the best hand.

The key to playing a raise out of the blinds, is the deception you gain from the hand. Most people put you on garbage to begin with, so you have more opportunities to bluff at boards you expect no one has hit.