Recently, PokerStars released a statement that they are considering raising the minimum buy-in on most of their PL and NL cash games from the current low of 20-BB. I know a few players who have been taking their business to Full Tilt. Full Tilt implemented a similar policy a few months ago, and it looks like PokerStars is set to follow suit.

I’m guessing that the reason both sites have had to do this is player complaints. If played correctly, a short-stacking player can win by getting a mathematical edge over the other players especially in PLO games. I’ll explain but the days may be numbered.

The way to get the mathematical edge basically requires a player to play extremely tight. When he catches a strong starting hand, his goal is to get as much of his money in the pot pre-flop or ideally to go all in. Often, he will try to limp-reraise preflop to trap as much money in the pot as possible.

Once he is all-in, the short-stacker simply watches the action as any of the other players in the hand compete for both the main and side pots. If the hand began with 4 players on the flop, 2 of those players will likely have folded before the river – giving the short stacker protection of sorts. Let’s say the short-stacker is able to go all-in pre-flop with 3 other players, which gives him the possibility of quadrupling his money. By the time he gets to the showdown, he only has to beat one other hand. In this example, as long as he wins the showdown greater than 25% of the time, he will show a profit in the long-run. He has a good chance to win these showdowns, because he only chose strong starting hands to begin with.

This strategy is particularly effective in Omaha games, where multi-way pots are much more common. For more information on how you can exploit this strategy to your advantage, read the short guide over at http://www.omahaplanet.com/pot_limit_omaha/potlimit_strategy/Short_Stacking_In_PLO_Cash_Games.html.

For players with a normal to large stack size relative to the blinds, these short-stackers cause all kinds of problems. It is difficult for the regular players to counteract them. It also forces them to be ultra aware of every player’s stack size at all times (which they probably should already be doing) and adjust their play in sub-optimal ways.

Let’s say that you are in late-position and you raise. The BB is a short-stack and he re-raises all in. Mathematically, you may be forced to call because of the size of the pot.

What began as a solid raise or a steal has turned into a coin flip. You raised pre-flop, hoping to pick-up the blinds. Normally, you don’t mind getting called because you’ll have position for the rest of the hand. This positional advantage is completely eliminated, and now you are forced to call and often are behind.
Yes, you could adjust your strategy if one of these short-stackers is on your left. You could tighten up your raising range. But that would mean that you give up a huge amount of the advantage you gain by raising pots in position. Now you are playing out of fear of the small stack and giving up much of your positional advantage.

So the short-stackers are a problem. What’s the solution? So far, it has been to move to another table with a higher buy-in requirement. Unfortunately, this higher buy-in requirement often discourages the fish from playing at those tables.

As for the short-stackers? I’m not worried about them. They will just adjust and short stack with a 35BB stack or whatever number Pokerstars comes up with.

This new rule change by PokerStars, if implemented, will in my opinion be good for both the players and the site. As someone who enjoys the strategic elements of poker vs flipping coins, I like this possible change.

Full Tilt vs PokerStars: Which is Right For You?

One question that frequently comes up amongst online poker players is “Full Tilt vs PokerStars: what is the best site to play at?” Although there are many options across the internet, these are really the only two major sites that any in the know poker player gives serious consideration to. I have been using both sites for many years now, and I like them both. However, I have noticed that there are a few differences. Here are some of my impressions.

The first thing you’ll notice about Full Tilt vs PokerStars is the graphics. Many of the poker sites out there, like PokerStars, have semi boring, formal graphics, but the Full Tilt graphics are better. You have a large choice of many attractive avatars, and a wide variety of background images. I personally enjoy playing with the beach theme background. This gives the entire playing experience a different vibe, which can’t be overstated when talking about poker. Your mental state is extremely important.

Another difference between Full Tilt vs PokerStars is the number and quality of players. Most of the time, there are more than 100,000 poker players on Full Tilt and about 250,000 on PokerStars. This means that you’ll usually be able to find the exact game you’re looking for with minimal waiting time on either site. PokerStars has more players, but I haven’t found there to be any benefit to having more players after a certain threshold is reached. Furthermore, the quality of players at Full Tilt vs PokerStars is different. From personal experience I have found that the players at Full Tilt Poker are overall weaker.

Why does it matter if the quality of players is different? Because the worse players that you play against, the better your chances of winning and making profits. There is nothing better than making money playing a game that you love. You can make money at either site but I have found it easier to make money at Full Tilt vs PokerStars.

I think the main reason for this is their advertising. If you watch even a minimal amount of television, you have no doubt seen advertisements for Full Tilt Poker. These advertisements are what attract new players (fish) to Full Tilt. The more fish you play against, the more you’ll win.

If you’ve seen these commercials, you’ve probably also noticed how many poker professionals endorse Full Tilt. Full Tilt has a roster of professional poker players that is unmatched by any other site, including PokerStars. The Full Tilt interface allows you to instantly see which tables the pros are playing at so that you can watch them  and possibly learn from their play. You can even chat with them. Maybe they’ll give you an invaluable tip that will help your game.

Available Games:

Full Tilt and Pokerstars have a wide variety of games, both in terms of game type and stakes. The games they offer are the usual suspects such as:

Texas Holdem – Limit, No Limit, and Pot Limit
Omaha Hi/Lo – Limit, No Limit, and Pot Limit
Omaha Hi – Limit, No Limit, and Pot Limit
Stud Hi/Lo
Stud Hi
Razz
and more..

They also have a wide variety of mixed games, in which the type of poker rotates. Full Tilt has an innovative new game called Rush Poker. This is a game in which you are dealt into a new hand at a new table as soon as you fold your hand. It is perfect for the action junkie in you. This is the fastest poker game on the internet, and you can only play it at Full Tilt. Make sure you read my [Rush Poker Strategy] before you head over to Full Tilt to play. Rush poker is a truly unique poker experience that PokerStars doesn’t offer.

Both sites allow you to easily sort and sift through all these games to find the exact one you want, and the stakes start as low as $.01/$.02. It’s pretty much impossible to play for less money than that, which means you could get a lot of poker experience by only risking a dollar or two! If low stakes aren’t your cup of tea, then you’d better head to Full Tilt, because they have the biggest cash games on the net. In addition to the cash games, Both sites offer tournament and Sit-n-Go (single table tournament) format games. The Sit-n-Gos generally fill up almost immediately so you never have to wait long to get in the action.

Both sites have excellent customer service and respond to emails in a reasonable amount of time. As a test I emailed the same question to both sites. I received a reply from Pokerstars in 42 minutes and from Full Tilt in 48.

In the battle of Full Tilt vs PokerStars, it is very close. Full Tilt has bigger games, Rush Poker, better graphics, and the real item that tips it big time for me.. worse players. As far as bonuses go, Full Tilt has offered a 100% match bonus of up to $600 since its inception. PokerStars only offered a 100% match bonus of $50 until recently. If you ask me if it is Full Tilt vs PokerStars? I still play on both sites but the winner is Full Tilt.

If you don’t have an account yet why not give it a try and see for yourself. Use our Full Tilt Poker bonus code: 3456 for the 100% match bonus up to $600 offer.

The biggest stars of poker are playing the ultimate bluffing game with the U.S. government. At stake is the future of online poker and $30 billion of betting. Click the picture to read the full story at FORBES.COM

March 2010 issue of Forbes Magazine.

Pokerdailynews reports that Clonie Gowen’s lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker was dismissed on February 10th, 2010. Does anyone really believe she is such a draw that she is worth 1% of FTP? Gimme a break.

Here is the story:

http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/clonie-gowenfull-tilt-poker-civil-suit-dismissed-8327/

and here in the only positive thing about Clonie that I have to say

Rush Poker is an interesting new spin for our beloved game from Full Tilt Poker. Basically it is the same as a regular poker game; except that as soon as you fold your hand, you are immediately dealt into a new hand, at a new table, with all new opponents.

What this means is that the speed of poker is greatly increased. It is a “rush”. This might is good if you are a winning player, because it means that you will get to see many more hands per hour. What is more important, however, is to focus in on the unique aspects of this game and make some strategic adjustments.

It’s Virtually Anonymous

This is a plus and a minus. If you are good at getting a handle and reading your opponents then your advantage is almost wiped out in Rush Poker. On the other hand they will not get a read on you either.

Every hand that you play, you are against a table of new opponents. They have no idea how you play, and you have no idea how they play. What this means is that you generally want to play a solid plain vanilla poker game. It doesn’t matter if you’ve folded your last 30 hands in a row; when you open with AA, no one will know how tight you’re playing and won’t fear your bet any more than they would fear anyone else’s. No one can use hand tracking software to determine your playing style.

You won’t be able to tell the sharks from the fish, but most of your money will as usual likely come from the fish who play sub-optimally. They’ll play cards out of position, overpay to draw cards, and call even when they’re beat. Pay close attention to your position!

Some Important Considerations

It’s important to remember that players have the option of folding even before the action gets to them. If they are dealt a poor hand it is unlikely that they are going to sit through a round of betting just to try to make a move to try to win the pot. If you raise from early position and the small blind or a late position player calls, watch out. They probably have something.

It may make sense to call a raise in late position if someone right in front of you raised as many are doing this with no cards to pick up the blinds. It depends, but that late position player will often just click the fold button so they can get the next hand immediately dealt to him.

This doesn’t apply to the big blind. The big blind doesn’t have the option to instant-fold because he already has a stake in the hand.

The Strategy

So far, I have said that the best strategy in this game is to play tight fundamental poker and to raise in late position with a wider range to pick up the blinds. While this strategy is good and will allow you to win small amounts somewhat consistently, there may be a few adjustments you make to increase your profit even more.

From playing a few thousand hands at these tables, it seems as if the vast majority of players play like a very tight nit. This means that you are able to loosen up your raising hands preflop. (NOT your calling hands, except for obvious steal attempts). If your raise gets called, you should be able to get away from your hand as the typical player in Rush Poker will have a real hand in this spot. The nice thing about blind stealing in Rush Poker is you get a new table of players every hand. So you don’t have to worry about the other players getting sick and tired of your constant stealing and calling or raising you.

Rush Poker is a unique and innovative game that those folks over at Full Tilt have developed. It may not be for everyone. I would say it benefits the Full Tilt Poker site the most since the more hands that are played the more of a rake they collect. That said, if you are an online poker fan, this is one game you definitely need to at least check out.

The Continuation bet, or C-bet, is the strongest bluff commonly used in poker. I went into more detail in the previous post, but basically the c-bet is a continuation of pre-flop aggression. The pre-flop bettor takes advantage of the 70% chance that his opponent didn’t hit the flop. This works often enough to be profitable and many players will do it 80% or even 100% of the time. Learning to recognize and defend against the c-bet is important yet difficult. It would be an understatement to say that you must have position to properly defend against the c-bet. Though it is important that you defend against c-bets, you will still need to fold to them most of the time. Too many defended c-bets will lead to exploitation by opponents the same way that too few will. My rule is 1 out of 5 times.

You must first put your opponent on a range before you try to defend against his c-bet. It’s always possible that he hit the flop hard and is making a legitimate bet. So why should you defend against the c-bet? There are two reasons: one, to prevent your opponent from stealing every pot from you. Secondly, you need to disguise your hands so that it isn’t obvious when you do hit the flop. The 1 out of 5 rule will help with this.

To put your opponent on a range, you need to gather some information on him. Whether you take mental or paper notes or use a program, check out his stats. If he’s a tight player, odds are that he’s got a good hand. Likewise, if he’s a loose player, it is more likely that he’s just making a c-bet. In addition, note his position. A player who raises under the gun or in early position is more likely to have a good hand than one who raises on the button or in the cutoff position.

So if you have determined that your opponent is making a c-bet and you want to defend, you now have two options: call or raise. Just calling is a good idea against tight players, who are likely to check/fold to you on the turn. Call rarely, as a player who notices your line might fake weakness by checking on the turn and then proceed to re-raise you. Keep in mind what hand you’re representing. Against these tight players consider calling on a flop with an ace or king, because your opponent will likely put on you a pair. If you call on a low board, though, your opponent will probably put you on a draw. This will make it hard to raise on the turn if the “draw” isn’t completed and you will almost certainly be facing another barrel.

Raising is a good option on low boards that aren’t likely to have hit your opponent, like 268, or flops that look like a draw. If you raise a tight opponent on such a board, he may put you on an over pair and fold.

Be careful and remember that defending too often is a mistake…

A Continuation Bet, or C-bet, is just a bet made by the pre-flop raiser, often made regardless of whether he actually hit the flop. The c-bet is designed to win the pot by betting aggressively. The purpose is to get players who didn’t hit the flop to fold. Statistically, In Holdem there is roughly a 2/3 chance that players will not pair the flop. The primary goal in making a continuation bet should be to win the pot. Therefore, a good c-bet must win the pot when the player misses the flop, or build it when he connects.

Poker players often use a wide range of continuation bets. Each extreme- betting too much or too little- carries with it some distinct advantages and drawbacks. Players usually stick to three common c-bet sizes: half the pot, ¾ of the pot, or the whole pot. When a player bets half the pot, he needs to be successful just 34% of the time for the move to be a profitable one in the long run. As bet size increases, the play needs to be successful more often. When betting ¾ of the pot a player must win at least 43% of the time, and in the case of a full pot bet the percentage increases to 51%.

Although a smaller continuation bet doesn’t need to win quite as often as a larger bet, it isn’t always the answer. If a c-bet is too small it can give opponents good pot odds to call, even if they didn’t pair the board. Bets that are too large represent a greater risk, on the other hand. A player who consistently bets more than the pot when ¾ would have done it is putting more money in play then he needs to. In the long run he will probably lose money from the play.

In addition, good players will quickly catch on to a standard bet size. If a player tends to bet half the pot every time he raises pre-flop and misses the flop, he will soon be taken advantage of by better players. Therefore, a player must be careful to vary c-bet sizes unpredictably to avoid giving away his hand or always use the same size whether you hit or not. One good way to do this is to have two standard bet sizes that vary based on how the flop comes out (also known as flop texture) and opponents’ styles of play. A ‘dangerous’ flop-one with three spades, for example-might require a larger bet. Similarly, looser players or those less likely to fold after calling pre-flop raises will require larger bets.
For lower levels of Hold’em a varying bet size of ¾ pot up to full pot is generally best. To give an example of how to use this varying betting scheme, let’s say that you have three actions when you miss a flop. For this example let’s say you don’t bet 20% of the time when you miss the flop, bet ¾ of the pot 35% of the time, and bet the full pot the remaining 45% of the time.

To provide some numbers for this example and make the math simple let’s say the average pot size at some Hold’em game is $50. Assume your opponent folds half the time you make a c-bet of ¾ pot size and 60% of the time you make a pot sized bet, which is a reasonably accurate assumption (in some games!). Also assume, for the sake of making a conservative estimate, that your hand never improves after the flop.
Then the 20% of the time that you don’t bet on the flop, you win $0. 35% of the time you bet ¾ of the pot. When your opponent calls you lose $37.50. When your opponent folds you win $50. For the 45% of the time that you bet the full pot, if your opponent calls you lose $50. If he folds, you win $50. Then you would expect to win: $0 from not betting, (.35)*[(.5)*(-37.50)+(.5)*(50)] = $2.18 from betting ¾ pot, and (.45)*[(.4)*(-50)+(.6)*(50)]= $4.50 from betting a full pot. This adds up to $6.68 per hand, on average. On a given night a C-bet might be made many times and the play will add to your bottom line.

Of course this example is an extremely simplified version, and other factors come into real play. Position is very important, and you must always take into account your opponent’s play style. If he’s a hyper-aggressive player or a calling station, a c-bet often isn’t the best choice. In the right situation the c-bet is an extremely powerful tool.

Next time I will talk about defending against the c-bet…

I was in Philly this week for business, and flew in one day early to take a side trip to AC.

I arrived at the Borgata at 9:00 pm to check in. They told me they were giving me an upgrade from a standard room to the an Opus Suite, which is their second largest suite. They must have been sold out, because I’m just a poker player and the Opus suites are reserved for the high rollers. The Room was a huge 1000 square foot beast. It was wasted since I only used the room for sleeping and I was only in there for maybe 6 hours.

After arriving, I dropped my bag in the suite and headed to the poker room. I played 2-5 NL and the game was pretty snug. A couple of hours into the session an interesting hand came up. I was sitting one off the button and I was dealt 33. The UTG (Under The Gun) player raised to $15. I called the raise and so did 3 others.

The flop was 3 5 J with no suits, very dry which made me happy. Everyone checked to me and I bet $55. The initial raiser re-raised to $125, and the next player went all-in for about $300. The next player folded and another player went all in for about $750. I had $600 and folded because the action was a little too extreme. All 3 players put their money in! The initial raiser had an over pair of kings and the other 2 players both, amazingly, had J-5 for top 2 pair. No help came with the turn and river and I would have won a huge pot. I still love my fold.

The next day I was playing the same 2-5 game. I found myself on the button with snowmen (88). There were 4 limper’s and I raised in the cut off to $25 to fold the blinds and buy the button. 4 of us saw the flop, which was 5 8 K. They checked to me and I bet $65. The UTG player raised to $125. The next player folded and the following player made it $260. This hand is of course very different because a set of Kings was very unlikely based on the preflop action. I moved in for $650 and got called in 2 spots. The first re-raiser had 67 for a straight draw and the other player had K5 for 2 pair. There was no help for anyone and I took down a 2100 pot. It was a fun and profitable 24 hours in AC.

There has been a lot of talk in my poker circle about Pot Limit Omaha variance. PLO has higher probabilities of big hands coming out, which in turn leads to big pots. This leads to high variance. Some would say variance is basically poker-speak for bad luck. There’s several reasons for the high variance in Omaha. One is that players love calling just about any hand pre-flop, as many hands appear to be playable with six 2 card combinations. This in addition to the bigger hands makes it harder to put another player on a hand. When your opponent just happens to complete a back door runner runner straight on the river with the cards he wasn’t even looking at, that is variance and everyone experiences it. Gamblers embrace it, pros try to minimize it. Here are a few way to minimize it.

To minimize your variance, first learn what makes a good starting hand. Tighter play preflop in general will lower variance. Much of what people think of as variance is just poor play. Also, quit buying in short stacked. Being short stacked means you’ll be forced to go all-in often, which makes the game pure probability. If you are better than other players, you want to be able to actually play post-flop. If buying in for the max amount is too scary, then you should be playing lower limits. Fear of losing is a great recipe for going bust.

Working on your post-flop play and hand reading abilities will work wonders, too. Without hand reading skills, every hand is like a shot in the dark. The only way to work on your skills is to play and read everything on the game. You should avoid making neutral Expected Value calls with no more money to bet in large pots. Calling in these spots with no more money to put in the pot is essentially gambling. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, but it will lead to higher variance. Betting, on the other hand, is a different story due to fold equity.

Preflop, don’t 3-bet too often with stacks bigger than 100 big blinds, especially out of position. 3-betting guarantees a big pot when you get multiple callers, which you will probably get when betting out of position. This leaves you with poor position to play the rest of the hand. The same goes for “bad” aces hands and aces out of position even if high quality.

If the high variance of PLO is just too much for you, consider playing another game. No reason to throw good money after bad; if you aren’t cut out for Omaha then just don’t play it.

This hand took place at a Rockford Charities Poker Event and was witness by my friend Eddie.

There were 9 players with an average stack of $200  each in a $1-$2 no-limit game
The player under the gun calls $2 and 4 players behind him calls–pot total now is $10
The flop is–4h, 4c, 5c—All players check the flop
Turn card is 9s—All players check
River card is Qc
The board now is—-4h, 4c, 5c, 9s, Qc
All players check the river
The hands are now shown
Player under the gun showa–5d, 5s for a full house Fives Full of Fours!
Next player shows—4s, 4d for Quad Fours!
Other 3 players mucked their hands
The players holding these hands said they both were trying to TRAP—each hoping a late position player would bet since a third club hit on the river.
The player with quad 4’s won $10 – Nice slow play Alex (Asian Brad Twitt)