Saturday, February 7, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
Plenty of history and prestige were at stake at the World Poker Tour’s no-limit Hold’em Championship at the Bellagio in December 2004, not to mention a first-place prize of $1.8 million dollars. On the third day of the five-day marathon tournament, the following hand came up between Player X (an amateur) and me.
Everyone had been randomly reshuffled to new tables at the $15,000 buy-in event, with 45 players remaining (out of 400 entrants). With the blinds (required bets) at $3,000-$6,000 and a $500 a man ante, Player X (with $164,500 in chips) opened for $15,000 in the 7-seat, and, sitting in the 3-seat, I looked down at K-K (holding $285,000 in chips).
What to do? Although I loved having pocket kings, I couldn’t decide how to play them. Should I “smooth call” (underbid) the bet and hope to extract a lot of chips from my opponent later on in the hand? Or should I re-raise the bet before the flop and give the amateur a chance to re-raise me?
On the one hand, smooth calling entailed merely calling the current $15,000 bet in order to disguise the strength of my hand and make it seem much weaker than it was. Later on in the hand, I would try to draw another $40,000 to $120,000 into the pot when everyone would assume my hand was weak. However, a re-raise before the flop would alert my opponent to the strength of my hand and likely cause him to fold before the flop. The benefit of the re-raise was that it might cause my opponent to move all-in with a hand like J-J, Q-Q, A-K, or worse; thus causing me to be a huge favorite for a ton of chips.
Finally, I chose an extremely safe play. I would make a huge re-raise before the flop for two reasons. First, I wanted to protect my hand from being beat (in case players with weak yet still potentially winning hands decide to wait for the extra cards given the relatively low stakes). Second, I wanted to simply move all-in for the rest of my chips on the flop, in the event Player X called the massive re-raise, and a non-ace flop hit (such as Q-9-4 or 2-2-7) — thus protecting my hand from losing one more time. So I raised the bet up to $80,000, making a relatively huge $65,000 re-raise into the $40,000 pot.
One minute later my opponent moved all-in for $164,500. “I call” I immediately announced and turned my K-K face up. My opponent’s face looked ashen as he showed me Ad-Jd (I was a now a 2.5-to-1 statistical favorite). Then the flop came down K-Q-J, and I was about to take the chip lead with $460,000 — the $340,000 in the pot plus the $120,000 I still had in my pile — when the turn card came in as a 10 for him to make straight (K-Q-J-10). I still thought that I would win the hand with a king, queen, jack, or 10, but alas, the last card was an eight.
Oh well, that’s poker!
RAISE OR FOLD
The benefit of re-raising with K-K before the flop is:
a) You take a big chance
b) Risky plays work well
c) You protect your hand from losing
d) All of the above
Answer: C
Tags: Bellagio, pocket kings, Poker Poker Poker, Poker Strategy, World Poker Tour, WPT
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Thursday, February 5, 2009 - smokin_aces
This week’s ‘Ask A Pro’ is with Tracy “FATCATS” Scala. Most of you are familiar with his track record here at Ultimate Bet. Now one lucky UB Blog reader has been selected by Tracy for a one on one Q & A session.
Our blog reader dp_burnsy asked this of Tracy “FATCATS” Scala.
“Hey Tracy,
I’ve been a huge fan of yours since Season One of the Best Damn Poker Show. Actually, I’ve seen you in many big events but you manage to avoid the spotlight for the most part. Nice work, i get the sense you play solely for the love of the game.
Anyway, my question is in two parts and the first is this. When you first sit down to a table, do you have any sort of checklist that you go through to assess the field? Also, when you’re deciding whether to get into a hand, do you have a checklist in terms of what things help you decide to play the hand or not?
Basically I’m trying to become a more disciplined player, and i’ve heard that this approach can help.
Thanks!
DP”
Here’s Tracy’s answer.
“Thank you for your question-it is a good one. I do not have a specific check list when I first sit down at a table to play but I definitely make assessments about my opponents often based on very limited information. I immediately start to label each player with broad titles such as amateur or pro, loose or tight, weak or aggressive and so on. Sometimes the way they play a single hand, something they say or even the way they are dressed is enough to make my initial judgment. I stick with my decisions until their play proves me wrong.
When deciding which hands to play in tournament poker, all good players assess numerous variables. For me, position is the most important factor. I would much rather play any two random cards on the button than A7 under the gun! Another important consideration of mine is whether or not any of my opponents have already shown strength in the hand. For example, I will almost always raise with KJ in the cutoff but seldom call with it.
Being a disciplined poker player is important but I would caution you against trying to apply a checklist to every situation. I feel that poker is a game with so many variables that is impossible to be played the same every time. I think the players that are able to look at each situation as a unique challenge and make intelligent, well thought out decisions every time are the ones that succeed in poker.
I hope this was helpful. Thank you for your question.
Tracy Scala”
Next week the ‘Ask A Pro’ blog is coming full circle. Annie Duke was the first Ultimate Bet Poker Pro featured for ‘Ask A Pro’ and now she’s back to answer one lucky question. To ask your question to Annie Duke, simply enter it into the comments section of this blog post by Sunday Feb 8 at 8 PM EST.
Then check back next Thursday to see if your question was chosen by Annie Duke!
Ask Annie Duke a question now!
Tags: Annie Duke, Ask A Pro, Poker Strategy, poker tournament strategy, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala
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Monday, February 2, 2009 - John Greene
You ever have one of those friends who loves to make sure that you know they’ve read more than their share when it comes to poker books, poker websites, poker news, etc? Not that I’m not guilty of it myself, but I generally assume that my associates know that I am a hyperintelligent poker oracle and I don’t really need to show it off by spouting off knowledge when we could be talking about something else, like how I shouldn’t be buying any more rounds because I paid for the first two or three. (This strategy, by the way, is one of my favorites. When your first few friends arrive at the pub, cover them. By the time the group reaches critical mass, you’re out of the rounds loop because you covered the first few.)
Anyway. This hanger-on in my circle of pals is Jimmy. Jimmy is one of those guys. He’s always using the slang, to the point where a conversation with him requires a translator. Someone wanted to know how the tables were treating me and I told them fine and we all moved on, until Jimmy suddenly pipes up with “Hey, John! I was in a game at the Wynn a couple of weeks ago and punched out at the best time. When I was up by $3,000, I got a Doyle Brunson and saw it was a sign.”
This grinds the entire rest of the conversation (which I think was about Blu-Ray players and how I’m not going to buy one) to a halt. I ask Jimmy which Doyle Brunson and he lets me know it was Ace/Queen, a hand that “the man never plays.”
At this, I rolled my eyes. “Brunson plays that hand all the time. He even changed the wording in his SuperSystem book a while back to say he tries not to play it.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jimmy responds.
Don’t you love it when you can wipe a smile off a schmuck’s face when they’re being extra schmucky?
“I know I’ve seen him play it on at least two of those poker shows, plus he got bumped from the WSOP main event in 07 while holding it.”
Jimmy still didn’t believe. He was willing to wager some single-malt on his sureness. Well, then it got interesting for me. I pulled out my Blackberry, fired up Google, and had him at the bar within 60 seconds. While I do think there’s a lot of pocket cards you shouldn’t play, or hands that look stronger than they really are, there’s very few hands that you’ll never play.
Tags: ace queen, doyle brunson, Poker Strategy
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Sunday, February 1, 2009 - P0ker H0
I havent picked up a book in awhile let me tell you. Maybe since grade school. I’m not much of a reader, except for poker magazines and sports scores in the paper.
One of my favorite reads though has to be Phil Hellmuth’s book “Play Poker Like the Pros”. I say this not just because Phil is a good friend of mine, but because of one of the last chapters in the book titled “CheeseHead Poker”. This chapter is a collection of stories of Phil and myself, along with all the other people we grew up playing poker with. This chapter really takes me back to how much fun we had and helped me realize how poker has really grown to be a big part of my life. I can remember walking Phil to his car after long 12-hour poker sessions at the bar. He would just crush everyone and be sure to let them know it. With that much cash, and that many people who had enough of him calling them the worst player ever certainly required a body guard:). That’s really how we became good friends. In the book, you can even read about how my brother choked him after he showed my brother a bluff. To this day we have an annual hometown cash game every Christmas.
This chapter is not all the book has to offer. If you are looking for a book that tells stories while providing the best poker strategy, this book is for you.
Enjoy!
p0ker h0
Tags: Phil Hellmuth, Play Poker like the Pros, Poker Strategy
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Friday, January 30, 2009 - smokin_aces
Next week we’ll be treated to an answer by Ultimate Bet Pro Tracy “FATCATS” Scala. I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with Tracy’s proven track record of poker success. He has many top finishes in both online poker and in various WSOP and WPT tournaments. As well, he finished in first place during the first season of the Best Damn Poker Show. Tracy Scala is a calculating player with stacks of experience.
Don’t miss your oppourtunity to get your question answered by Tracy Scala. Post your question in the comments section of this blog post by this Sunday at 8pm EST. Then check back next Thursday to see if Tracy chose your question.
Ask Tracy Scala a question now!
GL
Aces
Tags: Ask A Pro, Best Damn Poker Show, Poker Strategy, Tracy "Fatcats" Scala, WPT, WSOP
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 - smokin_aces
Last week we announced that Adam “Roothlus” Levy was going to answer the Pro Question this week. We received one question so potentially enlightening, Adam just HAD to choose it.
The question was posed by paulodiablo and is as follows.
“Hey Roothlus, I’ve got a couple of questions for you. You’re pretty well known in the online community for your success at tournament play. What’s a good ROI and in-the-money statistic for a decent winning tournament player online… or what should a player be aspiring for statistically? Also when you were crafting your game, how did you go about assessing your own gaps and weaknesses, and put together a plan to remedy them?”
And here is Adam ‘Roothlus’ Levy’s response.
“Hey paulodiablo,
Thanks for the question. I’ll do my best to answer it. While I can give you a ballpark figure, there really is no correct answer as to when an ROI(return on investment) starts becoming a ‘good’ ROI. I’d say that if you have more than a 40% ROI over a decent sample size that’s a good ROI. In the past games were a little bit softer so I would’ve said 50% 2 years ago but nowadays with more people having an understanding of the game, things have gotten a little tougher. A good ITM (in-the-money) would be 15% although theoretically you could have a 40% ITM rate and still have a negative ROI. So what I’m getting at is, your ROI is your bottom line and is all that should matter. Yes, looking at your ITM and other stats are fun to look at but nothing is more truthful on how much you make than your ROI.
When I was coming up through the ranks circa 2005 I would constantly watch the top players at the time and see what they did that I didn’t. I’d also talk to many players about the game. One thing you can do to point out some of your leaks is review hand histories and see if there was anything you could’ve done differently. Sometimes I would ask players their opinions of me just to get some outside perspective. In order to improve as a poker player you must be humble enough to admit that you need to improve. Sounds kind of obvious but ego can get in the way of things sometimes. Hope this answered your questions and good luck at the tables.
–Adam Levy a.k.a Roothlus”
A big thanks goes out to both paulodiablo and Adam Levy for being a part of this week’s Ask A Pro.
Be sure to check back tomorrow, and every Friday afternoon to find out who next weeks ‘Ask A Pro’ guest will be.
GL
Aces
Tags: Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Ask A Pro, paulodiablo, Poker Strategy
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 - P0ker H0
If you haven’t been listening to my radio show, “The Ultimate Poker Show”, 8pm, EST on http://www.roundersradio.com/, you really have been missing out! Besides the great guest that joins us each week, Annie Duke has been wonderful sharing her insight of the game we all love. But now the show has even gotten better! The http://www.wsopacademy.com/ , http://proplaylive.com/ and UB have put together one fantastic promotion. All you have to do is listen to the show, and we will give out a password for the UB 10pm $5.50 private roundersradio tournanment every Sunday night. If your make the final table all 9 players will get put into our free roll in March to win a FREE seat into the March 14-15th WSOP Academy, along with $1000 compliments of UB and a private night out to dinner with Annie and me. We are also giving away free Proplaylive packages too. If you really want to improve your game and take it to the next level, this is a GREAT way and you can do it for free with this promo. Annie will be one of the many pro instructors for this camp, and believe me, after you spend a day listening to her, your game will improve immensely! I have had the great pleasure of working at a lot of these camps. And I can guarantee you that this will be a life changing couple of unforgettable poker days . Do yourself a BIG favor and try to win this seat. I really hope to cya all there!
Ho
Tags: Annie Duke, P0ker H0, Poker Strategy, poker tournaments, proplaylive.com, rounders radio, ultimate poker show, WSOP
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - HollywoodDave
So after months of playing primarily online at UB…ever since Aruba, really…. I’ve officially been thrust back into the live poker scene and man oh man what a joy its been! The Commerce Casino LA Poker Classic started a few days ago and HD has been down there in the trenches, playing some tourneys and kickin ass at the cash tables! The first event was INSANE — slated to start at 1 pm, a $300 NLH event with a $200k prizepool that ended up with a 600k prizepool instead!! Needless to say, I was alternate # 606 (!!! no shit !!!!) and, after waiting in line for over an hour and a half to register (read: showed up at the last minute like a douchebag), didn’t get my number called & seated til 4 pm!! 3 hours in, my 3k starting stack ended up only being 15 big blinds. Oh well, time to look for a hand to shove with! I found it when an UTG player raised to 500…and i looked down at QQ and insta-shoved. Action folded around to the original raiser (who’s sitting on like a 14k stack) who begins to hem and haw and stall…he asks me what i have…and then laughs, calls, and flips up the slowplayed KK!! Dick!! Well, you guys know what hit on the river….instant karma in the form of a beautiful fucking Queen! As i raked in the pot, i made sure to ask him if he knew why the queen hit….because that’s what happens when you slowplay, baby!! Unfortunately, that was as exciting as my first LAPC event got…i lasted a few hours but finally ran into back-to-back flushes and found myself in a stud cash game instead. Made some $$$ for my trouble and took off once traffic died down. That’s LA for you — live and die by the freeway traffic patterns! Monday i came back for the first Stud event, and after the first few levels i found myself shortish on chips. I took some quiet time on the first break and realized that i was playing too loose, not only for that early in a tournament, but just peeling off too many cards once i was involved in a pot. We all need to check ourselves sometimes, and I took the time to do just that. Came back from break, played right, and found myself going deeper…and deeper…til i emerged as one of the chip leaders by the dinner break. Had a chance to grab a bite and catch up with friends Frankie O’Dell (also a 2-time WSOP bracelt winner) and Jean Gaspard (who goes by ‘Prince’) who I had the good fortune to not be seated with them the entire tournament — since they’re both pretty good players. The streak couldn’t last, however, as a few missed opportunites after dinner had me treading water til I was finally taken out by Prince hours later in 20th place when my straight ran into his flush. Of course only 2 tables got paid, so close but no cigar, but both Prince and Frankie would go on to make it deep on the final table, so I was glad they both got a nice cash out of it. Most recently, I played Tuesday’s Omaha 8/b event, which due to Annie’s intense training and countless hours in cash games online, I consider it to be one of my best events. And lo and behold, I had what had to be one of the SOFTEST table draws ever for an O8 event — 2-3 complete ATM’s on the table with basically no clue how to play the game just shipping away their money. But unfortunately, after picking up 1000 chips (in the 25/25 blind level!!), they ended up drawing out on me a few times to leave me short as the blinds increased. Eventually the ATM’s busted without me being able to take enough chips from them, and I found myself on the rail a few hours later. No dinner break for me this time! But hey, traffic was bad so I sat in a very juicy stud cash game and picked up a couple thousand, so I guess I’m freerolling in the next few LAPC events! Hopefully I can do more damage as we get into the larger and larger events. In particular i’m looking forward to the HORSE events this time around. I’ve been doing so well in the individual mixed games but so far no major cash in a HORSE event, no matter how deep I go. Rock on, guys — -hd.
Tags: Annie Duke, Commerce Casino, Frankie O'Dell, h.o.r.s.e., Jean Gaspard, LAPC, Los Angeles, Online Poker, Poker Strategy
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - Tiffany M
Man, I am WIPED OUT! I’m writing this while sitting on a six hour flight (yuck) from Atlantic City back home to LA from a two week whirlwind poker trip – I had only intended (and PACKED FOR) a five day trip to Biloxi for the WPT Southern Poker Champs.
My plan for January was to stay in Los Angeles to play all the preliminary LAPC events but a few friends were headed to Mississippi for the WPT event and convinced me to come join the fun since it would be a soft field with PCA and Aussie Millions happening simultaneously. ‘Soft field’ for me on Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Champs Main Event meant Erick Lindgren, Brandon Cantu and Hoyt Corkins all directly on my right (thank god for that).
During my run in the WSOP Main Event I didn’t actually run into many recognizable pros with that kind of star power at my tables so I have to admit it was a new experience for me to sit at such a stacked one. Knowing these player’s reputations I was a bit nervous when I sat down to play. My brain had a short circuit for a second, wondering what I was supposed to do and how I was supposed to play. Then I just reminded myself that these guys are just poker players like any others. None of them had super powers like being able to see my cards. Yes they have a few tricks in their bag and would probably be more observant and aggressive, preying on weakness and their reads but there was nothing I could do to change my table draw so I made a mental note to stay alert but not to shy away from game. I think that’s a really good mental tip for those of you who might be newer players but making the transition to playing live in pro heavy fields. If you find yourself at a “pro’s” table *Don’t freak yourself out – *Don’t be stupid, but Don’t shy away – *And Don’t lose confidence in your game. This little pep talk I gave myself helped restore my confidence and play a solid tournament.
I made it through Day 1 but I was steaming towards the end of the day when Brandon Cantu got dirty on the button with a garbage hand at the same time I woke up with KJ suited in the big blind… of course as the luckiest player in THE WORLD he hit a miracle flop (while I hit my flush draw and had overs) that left me with 20 big blinds.
Here’s another tip that I’m noticing more at the tables. Coming into Day 2 I was frustrated by the beat Brandon put on me the day before. I was not optimistic about my 20 big blinds but if I’ve learned anything from my Main Event run it’s that IT’S NEVER OVER. Most of you know on Day 2 of the Main Event I was UNDER TEN BIG BLINDS and somehow I managed to survive five more days and take 17th. I see so many players get tilted when they lose a huge pot and most of their chips. A lot of players end their tournament all on their own accord and can’t blame anyone but themself. They get chip envy, they throw a pity party about having a short stack and mentally give up on the game and somehow get all in with a poor hand in poor position when they could actually regroup and with a double up or two be right back in the game. I call it “commiting poker suicide.” JUST DON’T DO IT!
I was dejecting doing into Day 2 as the short stack but I knew a comeback was more than possible so I decided to play patient and grind it out. Grinding it out with a short stack is definitely no fun but I did exactly that. I went between a stack with ten big blinds to 30 big blinds… THE ENTIRE DAY. I’d picked my spots and mentally decided not to give up. The encouragement I always give my poker friends when they take a big hit and are unhappy with their chip count, “Push the rest button and pretend like you JUST sat down at the table for the first time and this was the amount of chips you were given!” There’s no going back once the chips are gone, right? You can only start where you’re at.
At my first table on Day 2 I sat with Bill Edler (directly to my left) and once again Brandon Cantu appeared at my table, I jokingly said that God was giving me the chance to get my chips back. Later on in the day when I worked my stack up to a healthy amount I was moved to a table with Greg Mueller, Anna Wroblewski and Jordan Morgan. After my roller coaster day and finally collecting some chips it took just TWO back-to-back hands to eliminate me. I shipped a majority of my chips when I made a big lay down to Jordan (who is a very solid player) and then the very next hand he delivered the final blow picking up Aces to my 8’s shove.
I thought the poker trip was over when I was kidnapped for a relaxing little weekend in Tennessee (where I got to see a fresh snowfall). But just a few days later I was convinced to jump over to Atlantic City for the Borgata Winter Open since I was still on the Eastern side of the country. The main event was a $3k buy-in and 2mill guarantee, which I couldn’t pass up. While hanging out with Maria Ho, Lacey and Etay we joked about how it was almost impossible to bust out on Day 1 of the event since you start with 50k chips (blinds starting at 25/50)! I guess Maria and I like doing the impossible… we both busted out Day 1 with the same hand scenario; Queens verses Kings! However Maria’s beat was worse than mine, flopping set verses set.
After two weeks on the road, between three different states (from what was supposed to be a five day, one city trip) I walked out of the Borgata Poker room upon getting knocked out, literally threw my clothes into a suitcase, hopped in a limo to the airport and took a flight out of Philly 2.5 hours later. My own bed has never sounded so good.
Oh yeah, besides watching the snowfall in Tennessee the other highlight of my trip was in Biloxi during one of the main event satellites where I flopped QUAD ACES (two in hand, two on board) and got paid off! THAT was fun… thanks Rock 
Tags: Brandon Cantu, Erick Lindgren, Hoyt Corkins, LAPC, Poker Poker Poker, Poker Strategy, Poker Tips, poker tournaments, world series of poker, WPT, WSOP
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Monday, January 26, 2009 - John Greene
Sometimes, I get asked for help by my friends who are just getting into poker, whether it’s online at UltimateBet or the live games that are taking place in rec rooms, dens, and even in actual casinos across America. I had an interesting experience with one of them the other day. Doug (I’ll call him that, anyway) wanted me to watch him play in some low-staked online games and help him analyze his game after. He’s got a beer fridge that’s usually stocked pretty nicely, so of course I agreed to help out.
Doug is actually pretty sharp and picks up on patterns in betting and the like quickly. He’s really good at knowing when to slowplay and when to just go bezerk. He’s got a real knack for bluffing. I complimented him as I watched him play and learned that he really didn’t have a lot to hear from me, or so I thought. He was on this fourth table of the night when I saw him betting heavily when he had what I’d consider nothing: three-six off-suit. The flop was 7 9 K.
If you’ve never had to watch a friend chase a straight without saying a word until it’s all said and done, I can’t recommend the experience at all. After he lost way, way too many chips, I made him log out and demand to know what the hell he was thinking.
“Well, I was already in because I was the Small Blind and when the Flop hit, I thought I had a chance,” he says sort of meekly.
“You didn’t have a five or a ten in that weak hand, so why didn’t you just take the lumps on the blind and wait until the next hand?”
“Wait, why a five or a ten?”
“Well, those are two cards where at least one of them is in every straight. If you’re going to pin your hopes on a chasing a straight like that, you might as well have your ducks in a row first.”
“I never knew that!”
This guy, who had shown a natural knack for the finer points in the game, never had thought about one of the most basic elements, and this sort of thing happens to all of us at one time or another. When was the last time you looked at the rules or watched a friend play? Even seasoned players like myself learn something new when we review and observe.
Tags: chasing a straight, Poker Strategy, Poker Tips
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