POKER STRATEGY

September 2010

Suited connectors Suited connectors

Dear Dr Tom


I know that it is usually correct to call before the flop with any small pair, if stacks are deep enough, in the hope of flopping a set, but what about other implied odds hands like 5-6 suited? Should I play them like small pairs or take advantage of my deception and 3-bet
bluff?


Matt, London

My Main Event My Main Event

My first table at this year’s Main Event was a little more difficult than one could reasonably expect. It included Vanessa Rousso, who may not always play optimally in marginal spots, but is never going to throw her chips away, and also Brian Hastings, who is very good player and very good reader of the game, but fortunately for me was running bad, and no matter how good you are, if you’re running bad you’re not going to win any race you enter.

August 2010

How strong is your macro-game? How strong is your macro-game?

There are many different player attributes that contribute towards profitability. At MyPokerLab, we split these attributes into two groups: micro-game and macro-game.

July 2010

Combating the LAGfish Combating the LAGfish

In the good old days, categorising players was quite easy. The dimensions of “tight or loose” and “passive or aggressive” gave us a two by two matrix with four rough categories of player (such as TAG, for tight and aggressive, or LAG for loose and aggressive). This provided a template for pigeonholing players. Granted, reality is never so easy, but for everyday grinding, this was a remarkably simple and useful approach.

Six-max… the FAQs Six-max… the FAQs

Dear Dr Tom


I’ve recently moved from playing nine-handed NL to six-max cash games. I like them and I feel they suit my game, but the swings seem to be bigger. Any specific advice for this particular form of poker? I play anything up to 0.25//0.50.


Owen,


Kingston

Playing like a micro-durrrr Playing like a micro-durrrr

If you were to read an item of poker strategy before 2003, or even as little as four years ago, you would find a myriad of what can now only be described as "Hellmuth-esque" tactics for beating the game: play super-tight, value-bet well and time your (rare) bluffs wisely.

Ask the Right Questions Ask the Right Questions

Have you ever asked a fellow player “Should I 3-Bet from the big blind with
A-Q when an opponent raises on the button?”
Is this a great question?
Nope.
Is this a terrible question?
Nope.
So what is it?
Well, in a word, incomplete.

Five ways to pretend to be good at poker Five ways to pretend to be good at poker

At the WSOP you can really play some poker. Without the distractions of everyday life back home, for the last four days I’ve basically done nothing but wake up, shuffle around for a couple of hours, head to the Rio, play poker for 12 hours, come back to my hotel and fail to get to sleep because I’ve been playing too much poker.

Set mining Set mining

Dear Tom,


In a cash game I will seldom throw away a pocket pair to a single raise because set-mining so often gets all the chips, but should I be paying more attention to implied odds? What are the conditions to make set-mining profitable and when is it unprofitable in the long run?


Leo, London

You are absolved my son! by Paul Jackson You are absolved my son! by Paul Jackson

As I have said before, and no doubt will say again, it is an unfortunate trait of many card room supervisors that they seek to control players, often at the expense of fair and equitable decisions. Also, they will do everything humanly possible to absolve themselves of any blame or responsibility for any controversial occurrence during a tournament.