DTrain

Kabul, Afghanistan. Yes, you read that correctly. I work with emerging political parties out here. There's a group of about 20 people who play regularly in this game, mainly aid workers, people involved in reconstruction, and security contractors. It is a great game, but it took me a while to get used to how loose it was. I've played with a table full of drunks in Vegas and haven't gotten this much action. Once I got used to that though it was just a matter of playing my game. My average win rate so far is about $45/hour, and I think that will go up over time. Before I started playing

Sorry, I was being facetious when I said "oddly enough". Probably should've made that more clear. Like Mike McD said, you never see pirrhanas eating their own.But you're right. I can only remember one time when 3 of us were isolated post-flop, and we had all flopped big hands or huge draws.

That's pretty much exactly how I play it: first couple hours play tight and try to build a stack, because nearly all of my good hands get paid off, then loosen up a bit and try to flop a monster. There's only 2 or 3 players in the game I consider good. Oddly enough we almost never tangle with each other. We keep the max buy-in at $100 to encourage people to play, but everyone in this game makes plenty of money and has no problem dropping $500-$1000 in an evening. It's very common to have a couple $1000 winners and losers at the end of a session.

For the last two months I've been playing in a regular 1/2 NL game twice a week. This is an extremely loose game where a $10 preflop raise will often see several callers (I once made it $30 to go with AA just to see what would happen and still got 2 callers), and by the end of the night there is usually $5-$6K on the table. It's been a very profitable game for me so far, but I've never played at a table that's this loose, and I'm still trying to figure out the optimum strategy. One scenario I'm having trouble figuring out is a weak ace on the button.In a normal game I'll often go for a blin

Yeah, in a game like this I can probably expect some swings, people sucking out on the river etc, but it also looks like it can be a profitable game going forward, so I'm prepared to reload a couple times if needed.

I've been working overseas in Afghanistan for the last 9 months, and have finally found a decent poker game to sit in. Before I came overseas I was playing 4-5 times a month, with 3 trips to Vegas and a few to AC every year. My usual game at the casinos is either the 1-2 or 2-4 NL cash games (usually at MGM or Mandalay), and in my last year playing turned a decent profit. Tonight will be my first poker game in almost a year. Here's what info I've gathered about this game: $100 buy-in, 1-2 blinds. The guy who invited me said it's a loose game, where a $10 preflop raise will see 5-6 callers, and

Norman Chad brings nothing to the table other than the fact that he doesn't absolutely kill the coverage. I hate the Celebrity Poker show, but Phil Gordon can actually speak intelligently about poker without grating on your nerves, which is a HUGE plus over nearly everyone doing poker commentary today.

I was in Vegas about a month ago and heard the 1/2 nl game at Imperial Palace was one of the softest around. I was not disappointed. The game at IP nearly always had a drunk or two at the table who would make ridiculously bad calls. That caused a couple suckouts for me, but in 7 hours of play there I had a profit of about $500.I also played the 2/4 nl, $200 buy-in game at Mandalay. Tougher competition, but there was usually at least one weak player at the table. The only time I really ran into problems there was one particular table where 2 people each had over $2000 in front of them, whi

You're costing yourself a lot of money if you play like this in nl. A lot of nl play is about table image, and you can't get a reputation as a guy people can run over any time.When I sit in a game with a very good player I've never played with before, I will go over the top of him the first time we're heads up after the flop, no matter what I have. With my style I like to win pots without a showdown, and I want to let people know they can't muscle me. If he puts in a reraise or moves in I have to evaluate, but this is a play that usually works for me if I'm in position and pick my spots.

Anyone not very familiar with game theory but wanting to learn more should check out:Thinking Strategically by Dixit and NalebuffThis isn't a scholarly work, more of a series of real-life applications of game theory from politics, business and other examples. No math involved, and the book is written at a level that doesn't require an advanced math or econ degree to understand. I still refer to it, even though I read it in college over 10 years ago. A good book to help understand the thought process involved in making complex decisions.Prisoners Dilemma by William PoundstoneIt traces the or

Her call on the flop doesn't really mean anything. What I would do is raise to find out where I am against the aggressive player. If you just call this bet here you don't have any information that can help you on the turn. If both players call proceed with caution, but you have a lot of outs.

Very interesting thread. There's actually some decent discussion going on here.It's a borderline call, although the pot odds do tip the scales in your favor slightly. Given the situation, I probably would've folded. Most of the lines of reasoning for this thread have been exhausted, but I'd like to bring up one point that nobody has really gone into yet:What I'm most concerned about is the size of your pre-flop raise. You committed nearly a third of your stack, when making it $20 to go would have accomplished the same result. With those cards, he probably would have taken the same amount