1. Aisthesis does the math - Calculating your EV

    Posted 26 Aug 2009 - 3:00pm by Administrator

    EV, or "expected value", is the amount of money you can expect to win or lose on average in a given betting situation. In poker, if you are in a situation where your hand is the favorite and you win, your EV is typically lower than the actual amount you win because with EV, you also have to average in the times that your superior hand loses to draws that your opponent has. Obviously, if you are the favorite but lose the hand on a bad beat, your EV, or expected winnings, were much higher than the negative return you actually got on the hand, but since EV is an average, whatever probability you did have of losing the hand has to be figured into your calculation of whether or not you made a good bet in a given situation.

  2. What features make a good O8 hand? (by Ian Berry aka Felonius Monk)

    Posted 26 Aug 2009 - 2:47pm by Administrator

    In Omaha High/Low 8's and better (O8), as in straight Omaha high, the strength of a starting hand is dependent on numerous features. These are the game structure (limit/pot limit, fixed or max buy-in), the type and quality of opponents, and (by far the most important) the constituent features of the hand itself.

  3. What makes a PLO high hand? (by Ian Berry aka Felonius Monk)

    Posted 26 Aug 2009 - 2:44pm by Administrator

    Well, lots of people seem to be asking this question. There’s a large number of things to take into account preflop in this game, but perhaps the first thing to consider is... don’t worry. It isn’t possible in PLO high to have a massive leak in your game by making poor decisions preflop, unless you are literally limping every single hand. It is possible to consistently beat the online games with flop percentages anywhere between 20 and 50%, providing you can play reasonably well beyond the flop, and choose juicy games. HOWEVER, understanding the power of PLO starting holdings is CRUCIAL to being successful in this game. Whilst you can get by using a very loose selection strategy preflop, being able to play the marginal and weaker starting holdings requires a good knowledge of their strengths, and how they play on the flop.

  4. On Hand Reading (by Mark Vos)

    Posted 25 Feb 2009 - 2:08pm by roy

    Common questions a new player trying to improve their game will ask an established player are:

    "How often should I raise pre flop?"

    "What should I do when someone with position on me is very aggressive?"

    "What's your tournament strategy?"

    There is an inherent problem with these questions - they are non-specific. As a result, the answer is almost always "It depends."

    Winning poker strategy is, essentially, three steps repeated over and over again.

  5. When NOT to CB (by Mark Vos)

    Posted 25 Feb 2009 - 2:00pm by roy

    When not to continuation bet.

    Most poker players are already at the level of knowing what a continuation bet is and that they should be making them most of the time that they raise preflop and find a caller. A mistake I find with a lot of players however is that they tend to continuation bet too much. So rather than focusing on what a CB is and when you should make one, I’m going to talk about when not to c-bet.

  6. 3-betting in Pot Limit Omaha, Part 1 (by GodlikeRoy)

    Posted 25 Feb 2009 - 1:46pm by roy

    I'm writing these series of articles in an attempt to discuss all aspects of 3betting in PLO. What hands should we 3bet with, how should we react when someone 3bets us, how position and stack sizes factor in, postflop play in 3bet pots, and how all these change depending on our image or the opponent we're playing. 95% of my experience is playing 6-handed mid stakes PLO so that’s the situation I’ll be focusing on. If you have any questions or wish to discuss things further then there is a thread set up here for deeper analysis and discussion:

  7. Learning to Think for Yourself (by Mark Vos)

    Posted 25 Feb 2009 - 1:38pm by roy

    A common situation that occurs when I am at a table watching somebody play and the question “why did you do that?” is asked of them, they can’t provide a decent answer. It might be as simple as asking a player why they raised preflop with AQ and their response is “Isn’t it standard to raise with AQ?”. Yes, it is, but sometimes a non-standard line may be the optimal line to take.

  8. Developing a Strong Thought Process (by DoctorHandles)

    Posted 5 Dec 2008 - 3:55pm by Administrator

    One of the most frustrating things I’ve encountered when trying to help micro and small stakes players is how frequently their beliefs contradict one another. Granted, humans having the ability to believe in two concepts which contradict each other shouldn’t come as anything new, as it’s often very easy to recognize.
     

  9. Exploiting the TAGs (by GodlikeRoy)

    Posted 5 Dec 2008 - 3:45pm by roy

    In the state the games are in today you need to be able to easily and quickly identify spots in which you can take pots away from your opposition.

    You generally want to have a decent read on the type of player your opponent is before you try this and want them to be a competent player capable of throwing hands away (preferably on the nitty weak/tight side). Trying these things on unpredictable maniacs or calling stations is a recipe for disaster.

    Here are some basic scenarios: