Trouble Hands in Texas Holdem
Loading ...Just as there are many hands in Texas Holdem that will win you a lot of money, there are a number of deceptive hands that may lead you into believing that they are profitable when in real fact they will often lose you decent sums of money from your bankroll. The sooner that you learn about the hands that are costing you dearly, the sooner you can start saving yourself from losing money. This article will address the most common hands that novices play with and highlight the reasons as to why they can be dangerous hands to play.
Chasing a flush in Texas Holdem Poker
The “any two suited cards” is a very popular hand that all varieties of beginners like to play. A flush is a pretty strong hand in the game of Holdem, and so if you manage to make one there is good chance that you will win a nice bit of money with it. Therefore many new players to the game will be prepared to enter pots with any two cards as long as they are suited just in an attempt to catch a flush at some point during the hand. There are two reasons as to why playing any two suited cards is dangerous.
Firstly, it is not that much more likely that you will make a flush just because your cards are suited. The probability of making a flush in Holdem is pretty low, and so it does not justify calling bets and raises in an attempt to catch one on the flop. On top of this, amateur players will often continue to call bets and raises with bad pot odds to make a flush on future streets, which just adds to the problem of playing such hands. The second reason is that you can catch half a hand like second pair on the flop, and end up losing money to another player that has formed a better pair than you. So by playing random suited cards you are setting yourself up for two great opportunities to leak money, so don’t do it.
Playing Low Unsuited Connectors
Another type of hand that always manages to cause the beginner poker players a problem is the low connecting cards. These are almost identical to the problems caused by any two suited cards and can help players to lose money over the long run. It is not too likely that you will form a straight every time you enter a pot with connecting cards like 5c 6h, so don’t enter the pot under the false pretences that you will. You will simply be losing more money in the long run, as well as losing money in pots where you catch half a hand and your opponent catches a stronger one. So save yourself some money and fold before the flop.
Aces With Bad Kickers
One final hand that amateur players get overly attached to is a rag ace. Rag aces are simply aces that are accompanied by a low ranking holecard below a Ten. The problem that these hands cause is that players find it difficult to let the hand go after they pair their ace, and so they will often end up losing a lot of (if not all) of their stack to a player that also makes a pair of aces but with a better kicker. The best way to play these types of hands is to exercise a little self-discipline and fold them before the flop. It is unlikely that you will win a big pot with them, but it is likely that you will lose a big one. Save yourself a bit of money by folding and catch out the other amateur players the next time when you hold a stronger ace than them.
Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Poker Strategy
Betting out of Position – By Gus Hansen
Loading ...Every Hold ‘em strategy guide talks about the importance of positional advantage. The standard thinking is that the player who acts last has more information than his opponents, so he’ll have a better sense of where he stands in a hand and can, therefore, make better decisions. There’s no doubt that this is true, but it’s important to understand that the power that comes with position is often granted to the late-position player by the early-position player.
To see what I mean, consider a pretty typical No-Limit hold ‘em hand. Say that I’m in the big blind with 7s-8s – a nice, flop-worthy hand. The player on the button raises to three times the big blind and I decide to call. Many players would check the flop under almost any circumstances. But, by checking, you give control to the late-position player. He can bet whether or not he has a hand, putting you in a tough spot if you don’t get a piece of the flop.
In a hand like this, I believe it’s best to look at the flop and ask, “Is it likely that these cards helped my opponent?” Once I have an answer to that question, I can decide how to proceed.
If the flop is Ah-Kd-9c, I’d probably just check and fold to a bet, as my opponent was likely raising with big cards and caught a piece of the flop. However, if the flop is 9c-5h-2d, I’d probably be more skeptical. I know that in Hold ‘em, two unpaired hole cards will fail to make a pair on the flop about 66 percent of the time, and this seems to be a flop that the pre-flop raiser might have missed.
If I suspect my opponent didn’t connect, I’m going to take the initiative and bet out about half the size of the pot. Betting here with my gutshot draw offers several advantages. First, I might take the pot down right here, and I’m always happy when a semi-bluff forces a fold. But even if I get a call from my opponent, I’ve forced him to react. That gives me a chance to pick up a read. If my opponent seems uneasy, I might continue with my semi-bluff on the turn and try again to pick up the pot. Or, if I feel my opponent is strong, I can check and fold to any bet on the turn if I fail to make my hand.
Stabbing at pots when out of position can be very lucrative. In tournaments, I’ll open-raise out of position fairly frequently because I think there’s a lot of power in being the first one to fire at the pot on the flop. I pick up a lot of small pots that way.
As you work on your Hold ‘em game, remember that you don’t have to give the advantage in the hand to the player in late position. Look for opportunities to bet out and seize the initiative.
Gus Hansen
Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under How to Play Poker
Joan Rivers Calls Poker Players Trash
Loading ...The confrontation between Joan Rivers and Annie Duke was taken to a new level on this week’s episode of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. Joan’s daughter, Melissa Rivers, took the fall as a result of her team’s loss, leading the elder Rivers to label all poker players “trash” and call Duke a Nazi in a profanity-laced tirade. Note that this article contains language that is not suitable for all audiences.
Previous episodes have been highlighted by Joan Rivers comparing Duke to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. This week’s task challenged the teams to create a four-page spread in Sports Illustrated (SI) for Right Guard Fast Break. Each ad would prominently feature New York Knicks Power Forward David Lee, a rising star in the NBA. Because of last week’s loss, Kotu was down to just two members. Show host Donald Trump sent West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James to the team, which ultimately chose country music star Clint Black to be its Project Manager. Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick became Project Manager of the all-female team Athena, which featured Duke and the younger Rivers, who is a producer by trade.
Melissa Rivers immediately threw out ideas for the spread, but was given the cold shoulder by Duke and Roderick, who had formed a bond during recent installments of the popular reality series. Duke told NBC cameras, “Melissa came up with some cockamamie idea. This isn’t for Redbook. This isn’t for some women’s magazine. This is for SI. Men read SI. If that’s her main idea she’s going to offer up, she’s going to be cut out of the process.” Duke devised the idea of shooting Lee entirely nude with a basketball covering his private parts. The idea was later tweaked to include only the waist up. The shot would be paired with a tagline reminding readers that Right Guard was the only thing Lee needed to wear.
The younger Rivers’ annoyance with Roderick and Duke continued to build throughout the episode. She explained, “The way Annie talks and the rudeness and the sense of entitlement and thinking that she’s so much better than everybody else – That annoys me. Annie is beyond arrogant.” Meanwhile, her opponents, Kotu, met with Right Guard executives, who emphasized the importance of the “power stripe,” an important branding element. For Athena, this component of the product was not discussed on air.
Duke created a four-page spread showing a typical day in Lee’s life. Each shot showed the NBA star being comfortable and, more importantly, being dry. Melissa Rivers commented, “Brande thinks she’s in charge of the task, but it’s clearly Annie. Annie is totally manipulating Brande.” The tension in Athena paralleled the strife in Kotu, where Black chose to run with his own ideas, as has been the case in previous episodes. James created the concept of showing how Lee, a small-town kid from Missouri, entered the high-pressure New York City NBA market. While Black incorporated parts of James’ vision, he still brushed off others, leading the motorcycle enthusiast to become detached throughout the episode. He could regularly be seen staring at his Apple computer.
Athena went to a local club to shoot images for its spread. Melissa Rivers directed the photography, but Duke commented, “I think Melissa knows she’s the odd man out, but frankly I don’t need to conspire against Melissa. I think Melissa is doing a good job of conspiring against herself.” James was equally unhappy, stating in a side interview during the task, “Clint sucks. The ad’s cheesy. The layout’s cheesy. The photos are cheesy. It’s a bummer.”
Duke attempted to make Melissa Rivers feel more at home on the team. However, she later told NBC cameras, “Brande told me that Melissa was having a paranoid fantasy about us conspiring against her, so I tried to make sure I was pulling her in privately. It absolutely made it seem like I wasn’t on Brande’s side. Playing cards is all about game theory, managing your opponents, and trying to figure out very logical strategies to counteract. There are ways to manipulate your competitors.” Duke then checked in with the Kotu, attempting to gauge her adversaries’ moods. Joan Rivers, who was seated next to James at the time, critiqued, “Annie plays people so brilliantly. She’s so despicable. She’s so duplicitous. I can’t wait for her to get her first facelift because she’s going to need two doctors.”
James’ frustrations finally boiled over. In the waning hours of the night, he told Black that he disapproved of the team’s final project. The conversation was highlighted by James telling the country superstar, “You need to pack your shit and go home.” The star of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Jim Cramer, who served as Trump’s eyes and ears during the episode, then visited Athena. His stay included Duke pointing out various areas of the task that she was responsible for, which included branding and the team’s presentation. Cramer was impressed by Duke’s positioning: “I think that Annie set it up so that if they lose, Annie doesn’t take the bullet. It’s a rather remarkable position to be able to take credit for the good, but certainly not be hit if they don’t win.” Duke gave Athena’s presentation to the Right Guard executives, while Black explained Kotu’s message. In the end, the executives sided with Kotu, sending Duke and Athena to the boardroom.
In the boardroom, Ivanka Trump questioned why Roderick delegated the key elements of the task to Duke. The World Series of Poker bracelet winner told the panel, “I doubt that there’s anyone in this game who wants to win more than I do.” While watching from the team’s suite, Kotu’s Joan Rivers quipped, “You’re damn right. You’ll bury your mother for it.” In the middle of the boardroom, Trump passed a note to Cramer, whispered to him, and then reminded the contestants that raising money for charity would mean a considerable amount in the later stages of Celebrity Apprentice. Duke and Roderick are the number one and two fundraisers on the show to date, respectively, leaving Trump to fire the younger Rivers.
The dismissal ignited a melee among Duke, Roderick, and the Rivers family. Joan Rivers told her team, “You have a Nazi and a follower. I don’t work with scum.” Instead of exiting the building immediately, as is customary, Melissa Rivers instead fled to her mother, telling off Celebrity Apprentice staff in the process. To two producers, she stated, “Fuck you. Fuck you. I’m not doing an interview.” Between the edited profanity, the words “whore” and “pit vipers” were clearly audible. Passing Duke and Roderick in the hallway, Melissa Rivers greeted, “Fuck you both. Goodbye.”
Joan Rivers, who was packing her belongings to leave as well, told Duke and Roderick, respectively, “You are a piece of shit. You are a stupid blonde.” Joan Rivers then fired a shot across the bow of poker players everywhere, stating, “Your people give money with blood on it. I met your people in Las Vegas. None of them have last names. You’re a poker player. A poker player! That’s beyond white trash. Poker players are trash, darling, trash.” Both Rivers entered an elevator and left Trump Towers, with Melissa Rivers shouting, “Lying fucking whores.”
Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Poker News
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