troutsmart

Depending on chip counts and blind structure, it is difficult to determine if this was a poor or good move. It sounds as if you were trying to protect your hand, and simply wanted to take the pot down vs. gaining value from your hand. Not to criticize your play, as I don't know the total picture, but one thought I have about protecting a hand: In a scenario such as the one described, an all-in bet often appears suspicious of a bluff or a mediocre hand. It is a rather natural suspicion I think, by both poor players and good players. Why would this be a natural suspicion? On a board of KKJ,

Great read AllenRay4.I love stuff like this! I read one of the original posts when you were on the tables, and my first thought was, "okay. What's the big deal?" However, I decided to go check out the table, and play a railbird for a bit. I have to admit, I was quickly drawn into the excitement. You were right about the $600 mark at this time, and I saw the hand when you made the set on the turn or river with 44 (I think).Anyway. Great job. I love to play the little pot limit tables over on Absolute as a break from my regular limit games. I don't know, you might have inspired me to d

Bet this hand in most cases. However, you very well might get a check-raise from the SB or BB here. In such a scenario, you'll need to evalute a the situation. If a check-raise narrows the field to you and that player, I would reraise, gaining some information. If I don't improve my hand on the turn, I will take a free card to the river in most cases, based on my opponents tendencies. Of course, by checking the turn, you give away a lot of information on your hand. I said bet in most cases above, the exception being when I am nearly certain the SB or BB is going to check-raise based on t

Taking a real business situation, lets look at a small business and a scenario that many in the business world face. Lets say James Doe has decided to go into the service industry. He wants to clean carpets, so he takes some of his savings and buys the necessary equipment at a cost of $5000. He needs customers, so he also invests another $1000 for various advertising (flyers, yellow page listing, etc.). He proceeds to recieve a favorable respone and his schedule quickly becomes full. A few months later, he is able to draw an income of $2500/month for his living. He has also managed to pa

Interesting read, and good use of the written word, btw. I'm curious if any universities are planning or currently doing studies on poker players, especially those who have recently taken up the game. A long-term study, done accurately, could provide some very interesting information.

I personally find myself reverting to "math-based decisions" on a regular basis. I try my best to play a game based on feel, and try to follow my instincts. However, when my insticts fail me, I have to go with the math and make a call if the pot odds dictate that I should. It is my opinion that most players that I encounter would be better served incorporating more math into their game. I see it with both good players and poor players. The good players fold many hands, almost as if they were competing for some kind of mythical prize, "and the greatest laydown goes to... ." The poor playe

I don't doubt James Wood's IQ or capacity as a poker player. I took his comments in humor, and don't believe he pretends to think he is a world class player. Does he have the potential to be? Maybe so.As for IQ, as stated above, 187 is rare indeed. So extraordinarly rare that you might meet one person in your lifetime with such an IQ, and I even doubt that. Statistically, we shouldn't have such a person in the U.S., but I personally feel that the figures that the orginal test were based on might not have been accurate with their deviation, though not by far. I've always been viewed as int

I had a previous bankroll, which I now term as 'buried', though I didn't exactly go broke. I played off that for a year and a half, and then decided I needed to make some changes with my poker game. I took some time off online poker, and decided to come back into the game in November of 04'. My primary concern this time was proper bankroll management. A friend and I challenged each other to see who could turn nothing into the largest bankroll. I took the challenge seriously, so I started playing freeroll tourneys at Absolute in November. I shortly won $17, and have strictly followed ban

Physically, I don't think I do anything, but scream at the computer. Wait, I take that back. I tie flies for flyfishing quite frequently. Other than that, I study stocks. I would like to put a keyboard next to my computer in the near future and work on blues riffs. On the same note, I've been wanting to learn guitar, so I'll have to decide which. Maybe I'll alternate days between keyboard and guitar.

BTW, for those of you who don't know, Vince Burgio is a regular columnist with Pokerpages.com

Just thought I'd give Vince Burgio a little recognition for his recent 3-peat at the World Poker Classic. To win 3 tourneys in a row against Vegas pros is pretty impressive stuff. http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result11370.htmhttp://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result11371.htmhttp://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result11372.htm

I believe this to be a very interesting arguement and have given it some thought. If IQ equates to memory, than I believe a high IQ to be an enormous asset at the poker table. Top players can describe hands that took place decades previous, down to the miniscule details. The more information we can retain on our opponents and situations, and the proper application of such information, the more we can potentially profit.Above IQ, I believe creativity plays a large role in a players capacity. Most people are either left or right brain dominant, correlating to analysis and creativity. The hi

I personally prefer to play at the shorthanded tables vs. a full ring game. I've found that many players don't properly adjust their strategy in such a game. As stated in previous posts, proper decision compounded more rapidly result in greater profit.For those who are new to shorthanded play, I'd suggest the following.1) Those suited connectors we all love, don't have much value shorthanded. Toss them unless the table is soft with nearly the full table in the hand.2) High card value increases. It is suprising how often the high card will hold up at showdown. Hands such as A2, which are

Note to self: They don't check I.D.'s in VegasI'm 26 and get checked everytime...everytime I stop and pause better said. Of course, that might be because I look far younger than my age. I've contemplated just wearing my ID around my neck attached to a chord, and maybe then I won't get checked. Then again...maybe I sould grow a beard, but wait... that just isn't possible. I actually enjoy being ID checked though. I get quite the rise out of seeing peoples faces when they see I was born in 78.

Great read booboom. In vegas a few years ago about 3am, I was playing craps for just my 2nd time. The table was empty with the exception of a lady who busted out. They handed me the dice and I went on tear of nearly 30 minutes without crapping out. About 5 minutes in, a player walked up and withdrew a pocket full of chips. I remember him looking at me and soon as he got the chance, he threw bets out on every number. As I continued hitting the numbers, he kept saying "press". He talked with the pit boss and signed a paper, while I had no clue what was going on. I was just happy about my

Good story dead money. Reminds me of my opponent headsup on the pot limit tables last night. He talked me into making several "bad" calls with his chatter.A few players I respect (in no particular order)1) Milt- A very impossing figure, who looks as if he should be the bodyguard to some celebrity, rather than running intramural at the local college. Though he has never read books on poker, doesn't watch it much on TV, and would never dream of going to a poker forum, he has a very innate card sense. His style coincides with his image, with a contant barrage of raises and reraises. He figur

We often discuss pro level players and disect their plays. For many of us, we watch a player like Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, or Phil Ivey and we recognize genius. However, for the vast majority of us, our basic understanding of name players is limited to the hands we see on tv, and following Mike Paulle's blog. Very few have significant or any time on the table (yes, I am jealous SuitedUp) with these players. We also do not see them play games other than holdem, except for the limited world series coverage of a few other games. We don't see John Juanda's reported dominance of 2-7 tripl

Sorry to offend you Smash. I can be an ass, I admit. I don't dispute your statement, but rather dispute your timing.

What a sense of timing Smash. Completely tasteless humor at the wrong time. I've been a supporter and fan of yours, but this remark shows very little human understanding from a man who has tremendous poker understanding.

With your stack at $125 in a 2/5NL, you don't have too many options. You must raise coming in or see a cheap flop and be ready to fold to a raise. You simply don't have a deep enough stack to play the hand post flop without jeopodizing your stack. After you called the preflop raise, you essentially committed yourself to this hand if you hit. You could have bet out half the pot, but when raised, you would still have to call based on pot odds. Thus, going allin was your option, or a checkraise allin. Basically, your stack size in relation to the blinds and calling a raise preflop under su

I have losing sessions frequently. As long as my winning sessions outweigh my losing, I'm perfectly fine with that. My last month of playHands: 16000Sessions: 27Winning Sessions: 21Lossing Sessions:6

I was an avid sports fan growing up and if there ever was a Rudy, then I am he. Unfortunately, Rudy could sprint as the story goes. Me... I might just have the slowest 40 time ever recorded, can't lay up off my right foot, am about 155lbs. after I eat a steak, and one more thing... I have a rare condition called Mirror Motion, which means that my hands do identical actions beyond my control. To draw a mental picture, imagine a guy dribbling a basketball down a court with his right hand...now picture that same guy dribbling an imaginary basketball in his left hand at the same time... this g

Make friends with an older California player and pick their brain, as lowball was one of the few games spread for a long time there, although the triple draw format is reletively new. Daniel's section in Super System 2 is probably the most informative text written thus far. Several reads through this section will give you a good basis.There are other sources I've used in my learning and I'll try to locate them and post them here. Experience is enormous in triple draw. It is a feel game, in the sense that those players with great intincts can excel. Great triple draw players are superior a

2-7 triple draw, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot limit Hold em, No Limit Hold em, Omaha 8 or better, Stud H/L, Limit Hold em, Razz.That probably reflects my favorite games and my order of preference, though the disparity is slim, as I particularly enjoy limit holdem, yet I think I would first play in the games listed ahead when given the option. I play Pot limit Hold em and Limit Hold em most frequently.