Previous Game-play Analysis

It is very important, for every poker player, to make analysis of your previous sessions played, comparing the decisions you made, figuring out what you could have done better in certain occasions, therefore improving your future game-play.

 

I was recently in an online tourney with a $20,000 payout. 5,000 people entered and unfortunately I finished 352nd. I have one hand in that tournament that since haunts me every night before I go to sleep, and I have to replay it in my mind over and over again, I have even dreamt about it.

**Please let me know what (you think) I did wrong so I can give myself a different angle for reviewing my own game-play.**

Alright, the blinds were at 400/800. My stack was about 10k. I get A-J off 1 spot before the button. Everyone folds to me, and since I think A-J isn’t that strong, and it is one of my “unlucky hands”, I only called the BB. The guy on the button called as well, the SB folded, and the BB doubled the bet. So, I said, well, another 800 is OK cause I will probably be getting 5:1 on my money, assuming that the guy on the button calls.

He does, and the flop comes K-A-8. No flush draws are present and the big blind checks to me. I bet about 2,500 as a feeler bet, with top pair to see where I stood in the hand. The guy on the button

goes all-in for his remaining 8,000, I figured he was playing position and I was going to call him.

But, the BB goes all in for his remaining 7,000, and that scared me because he was the original raiser preflop.

I knew he didn’t have A-K, but A-Q was a possibility and A-8 was too, as well as a pair of 8s in the hole.

After reviewing in my mind the betting sequences, I folded thinking that one of them had either 2 pair, or trip 8s.

They turned up their cards, and the guy on the button had K-5, and the BB had A-6… I was STUNNED! I could have taken that pot, and the chip lead in the tournament and could have either worked with that lead, or sat all the way to the money, but instead I was forced to later go all in with a moderate hand, and get beat by a pocket pair. 

My logic about the hand seems good, the only mistake I think I made was not raising a considerable amount pre-flop in the position I was in, I think that if I did it and they still called I woulda been pot committed to call and would have won.

The most important thing is to review the sessions played, ie to analyze what you could have done to avoid this, which is crucial to keep the same mistake or bad play from occurring again

There are various online tools which can help you analyze or keep track of your gameplay over the sessions. Most pro players will tell you that analyzing the sessions is the only way to improve your game.

First of all, let’s talk about the strategies that SHOULD have been going through your head at the time.

ON POSITIONING…

I was sitting one seat to the right of the dealer button. In this position, when you get a strong starting hand you want to RAISE and “steal the button” if possible.

This technique is simple. You basically just want the player to your left to FOLD, that way you get to act last after the flop.

You don’t have to make a huge raise, just a simple 2-3x multiple of the big blind. Most players will try to limp-in when they’re on the button because it’s the best position at the table.

Your raise will stop them from doing so– assuming they have a mediocre hand.

ON ACE-JACK…

Have you ever called Ace-Jack offsuit one of your “unlucky hands”? The truth is, you are NOT ALONE in this thinking. Far from it.

A-J is one of those hands that seems to get run down all the time… and it drives many players nuts.

The REASON Ace-Jack is tricky is because you never know if your opponent has A-Q or A-K… or if they have something like A-10 or A-9.

The obvious solution is that you MUST ALWAYS find out “where you stand” BEFORE THE FLOP.

Do not– I repeat, DO NOT– limp-in with Ace-Jack! When you do, disasters like this occur.

Think about it: The REAL reason you lost such hand is that you “psyched yourself out” because you didn’t have a good read on your opponents after the flop.

And why didn’t you have a good read?

Because you didn’t make a raise BEFORE the flop.

If you had made a 3x big blind raise, the player on the button most likely would have folded… and the big blind might have called with his A-6.

After calling, you could be confident that you’re ahead in the hand… AND you wouldn’t have to worry as much about someone hitting a lucky two pair, because it’d be heads-up to see the flop.

If the big blind decided to RE-RAISE you, you’d know that your A-J was probably beat… and in that case, you wouldn’t commit more chips when the flop hit with A-K on the board.

Get it?

ON CHIP STACKS…

When the action came to you, there were 1,200 in blinds in the pot, and your chip stack was at 10,000. That’s not many chips– just over 10x the big blind.

But fortunately, you still had MORE chips than your other two opponents.

That means stealing the blinds would have been an EXCELLENT move in this situation.

I mean, chances are your opponents do NOT have strong hands. So without the chip stacks to bully you, you could have confidently guessed they’d FOLD to a pre-flop raise.

Winning the blinds as often as possible is a CRUCIAL TACTIC that you must implement, especially in a tournament like this…

ON TOURNAMENT STRATEGY…

OK, so let’s review. Your positioning, your cards, and your chip stack were all reasons you should have made a pre-flop raise!

But if it makes you feel better, you DID make a smart move with your post-flop feeler bet.

Now given the fact that you didn’t raise pre-flop, SHOULD YOU HAVE FOLDED TO THE TWO-WAY ALL-IN?

To quote Matt Damon’s character in my favorite movie “Rounders”:“You can’t lose what you don’t put in the middle. But you can’t win much either.”

Possibly more important than the decision itself is what you should have been THINKING ABOUT in order to MAKE the decision.

If this had been a ring game, you would have wanted to make the decision based on the betting patterns of your opponents.

But since it was a tournament, you probably didn’t have time to develop much of a read on these opponents…

Had I been in someone else’s shoes, I would have CALLED. I would not have folded.

Here’s why:

After committing 1,600 chips pre-flop and 2,500 post-flop, you’ve only got about 6,000 left. With the blinds at 400-800, that’s considered “short-stacked”.

As a general principle, when you have LESS THAN 10 times the big blind, it’s time to make a move. (The exception to this rule, of course, is in the VERY late stages of a tournament– like a final table– when the

blinds are ridiculously high.)

But anyway… with just 6,000 chips, my guess is that you were too afraid of LOSING the tournament.

And I’d venture to say you weren’t thinking enough about WINNING the tournament.

The reality is, the chance to TRIPLE up with top pair and a solid kicker is not common. Especially since there were no flush or straight draws on the board.

This was your “golden opportunity” to build a respectable stack and set yourself up for a nice payout.

The ability to take a risk and “go for it” in this situation is what often times separates the AVERAGE tournament players from the PROS.

If you analyzed the players at the final table of a 5,000-player tournament like this– or even a 500-player tournament– you’d find that ALL of them won a couple HUGE pots earlier.

Maybe even more than a couple.

Just remember this mantra:

IN ORDER TO WIN, YOU MUST RISK LOSING.

That’s why you see “pros” often get eliminated from tournaments in the very EARLY stages. It’s not because of the bad beats, it’s because they TOOK A BIG RISK and it didn’t work out.

Next time you’re in this situation, stick to your game plan of “tight-aggressive”. If you’re going to enter a pot, do it with some gusto.

Raise pre-flop, bet post-flop when you hit top pair, and call the all-in in hopes of tripling up.

Of course… what’s done is done, and there’s no sense beating yourself up about it.

Believe me, I’ve made PLENTY of mistakes that were probably a HUNDRED times as dumb as this one…

You’ve just got to get over it. Learn from the experience and move on.

The best thing you can do right now is go and play an online tournament (poker room of your choice). The next time you’re playing an online poker tournament, you won’t have this problem. Because (I hope) you’ve learned from my mistake and won’t make a similar one!

 

P.S. If you opened this post and then immediately scrolled to the end to find out whether it was a “bad play” or a “bad beat”, here’s your answer: BAD PLAY. (Now go back and read the whole email! 😉 

 

P.P.S. Please pass these poker tips on to your buddies. Thanks!

Good luck at the tables!

The dealer position (known as the “button”) is the best position at the poker table.

 

The reason is because when you’re on the button, you get to act LAST after the flop… giving you the chance to see what your opponents do first.

 

This lets you get a “read” on your opponents at the table… and decide who has a strong hand, who has a weak hand, who’s bluffing, and so on.

 

OK, so that’s common knowledge.

 

What’s also common knowledge is the fact that LATE P SITIONING is preferred over EARLY POSITIONING… because once again, you get to see what your opponents do first before it’s your turn to bet, raise, call, or fold.

 

Of course, being on the button is BETTER than just plain late positioning… because the button GUARANTEES that you will be LAST TO ACT post-flop.

 

OK, now here’s what is NOT common knowledge…

 

Once you understand positioning and its enormous implications, you can begin “improving” your positioning and setting yourself up for more pots each game.

 

The technique is called STEALING THE BUTTON.

 

It’s simple… it’s practical… and right when you’re done reading this newsletter you can immediately start using it.

 

Stealing the button is LEVERAGING your late positioning when you’re NOT on the button… but getting all the same benefits as if you WERE on the button.

 

Remember, the dealer position is SO POWERFUL because it means you’re LAST to act post-flop.

 

Being SECOND TO LAST to act isn’t nearly as good, especially considering there’s usually only three or four players to a flop at an 8-man table.

 

So what you do is make a reasonable pre-flop RAISE when you’re in late positioning… and therefore force the player on the button to fold.

 

Having done this, you’ll be last to act after the flop… the same as if you actually were on the button. (Hence the name, “stealing the button”).

OK, let’s look at an example so you can see what I’m talking about:

 

Let’s say you’re sitting two seats to the RIGHT of the button at a 10-man table. The game is $1-2 no limit Holdem.

 

Two players limp-in… and you look down at your cards:

J-9 of clubs.

 

I call hands like these “semi-connectors”– they’re not quite connected… but almost.

 

The great thing about semi-connectors is that they’re a “hidden hand”. When they HIT (straight, flush, two pair…) your opponents NEVER see it coming.

 

You decide to play your Jack-9 suited. Now remember, there are two players BEHIND you that will act post-flop if they both call the blinds.

 

So it’s YOUR JOB to make sure they DON’T limp-in.

The solution is to crank up the pressure…

 

You make it $15 to play. Nothing crazy (after all, you don’t exactly have a monster). You simply want to force the two players to your left to FOLD… which will happen most of the time.

 

Of course, they won’t always fold… because sometimes they’ll pick up a big hand. But odds arethey’ll fold.

 

The RESULT, of course, is now YOU have the button.

 

Well, not the button exactly… but all the advantages that it brings.

 

Sure enough, the two players to your left fold, and John– who’s in the big blind– is the only caller.

 

The flop comes out:

10h-8d-Ks

 

No flush possibilities for you here, but BINGO, you’ve just flopped an open-ended straight draw.

 

This is the type of flop you hoped for.

 

Now it’s on John to act first. And this is where your positioning is so important. Not only do you get to see what John does first… but you also have the CONTROL in this situation.

 

Since you made the pre-flop raise, John will likely check the flop to you… giving you the opportunity to play aggressively and take down this pot.

 

No matter what happens after this, you’ve set yourself up to win this pot. Sometimes John will pick up a real hand and come out firing… but usually not.

 

Sure enough in our example, John checks.

 

You throw out a $30 semi-bluff. This is a bet you should make even WITHOUT the open-ender… because you made the pre-flop raise.

 

John mucks it, and you rake the chips… leaving the table wondering what you had.

 

That’s how you “steal” the button. It’s a simple, surefire way to gain control at the table by improving your positioning.

There are five main steps you need to know…

1. You need a playable hand.

If you’re going to bluff, make it a “semi-bluff” by raising with a hand that can hit… something like semi-connectors.

I personally don’t like raising with 7-2 offsuit or crap like that. It seems to me like an “ego raise” more than a logical play.

Remember, the key is to gain that extra bit of control and power by acting LAST after the flop.

 

2. Force out the player on the button (and possibly the player to his right).

The whole point to stealing the button is to ACTUALLY STEAL THE BUTTON. If you make a wussy raise that doesn’t scare anyone, you’ve failed.

If you’re one seat to the right of the button, you want to raise enough to force the player on the button out. If you’re TWO seats to the right, then you’ve got to force out both players to your left.

One of the “secrets” to this process is to ALWAYS pay attention to the pre-flop betting patterns of your opponents on the left.

If you’re sitting on the right of “Tight Tim” who only sees flops when he’s got pocket pairs, then you can steal the button quite often.

On the other hand, if you’re on the right of a LOOSE player, you won’t be able to steal the button nearly as much.

So pay attention.

 

3. After the flop, your opponents will usually check to you.

Notice if someone bets into you, beware. That’s a red flag. Usually players will check into you since you raised pre-flop.

When players check into you that gives you the power to either BET and try to steal the pot right there… OR… get a free turn card by also checking.

While I normally recommend a bet, you can check to mix it up once in awhile or in the case that you’re getting short-stacked.

 

4. Don’t get pot-committed.

Remember, stealing the button is a simple technique that improves your position and sets you up to have a BETTER CHANCE at winning the hand.

Don’t get stupid. Don’t get stubborn and bet any amount in hopes of bluffing out someone with a real hand.

Like I said, you need a playable hand to steal the button in the first place.

Don’t become pot-committed… Never bet so much that it’s PAINFUL to fold your cards after the flop.

 

5. Sometimes you don’t need to raise to steal the button.

 

Often the blinds will be high enough where you figure simply CALLING the big blind will get you the button (this is especially true when you’re to the right of a tight player).

Also, someone in front of you might raise the pot enough that all you have to do is CALL THE RAISE and you’ll get the button.

 

OK, so that’s the process…

 

Here are the two types of situations where you DO want to steal the button…

 

DO STEAL THE BUTTON WHEN:

 

1. You sense weakness and want to steal the pot on a bluff or hidden hand.

 

2. You have a good hand that you want to play post-flop.

 

On the other hand…

 

DO NOT STEAL THE BUTTON WHEN:

 

1. You have a poor hand and you sense someone else has a strong hand.

 

2. You think someone to your left will call a raise no matter what (that defeats the purpose).

 

The MOST IMPORTANT lesson you can get from all this is to realize that winning poker depends on ALL THE LITTLE THINGS. 

 

Stealing the button is just a little technique for setting yourself up for better positioning… it’s not a “game changing” strategy that will double your poker profits or anything.

 

But when you combine it with ALL THE OTHER LITTLE THINGS– like establishing the right table image, throwing out feeler bets, representing the flop at the right times, buying free cards, picking up betting patterns, spotting tells, and more– then you will become a DYNAMIC and POWERFUL poker player…

 

AND THEN your poker profits will double.

A lot of amateurs base their games on the “big hands” and might get lucky once in awhile. But over time, the REAL MONEY always goes to the GRINDERS… the guys who know how to CONSISTENTLY take down pots.

 

It takes a lot of discipline, don’t get me wrong.

 

But you can do it.

 

And I can SHORTCUT the amount of TIME you spend doing it by showing you the STEP-BY-STEP PROCESSES for all those “little things” that will transform you into a winning poker player…

 

Not to mention… I’ll show you the “big things”: the pro-level tactics that most players never EVER learn.

 

So if you’re ready to take your skills to the next level, visit here and download my easy-to-read eBook “No Limit Holdem Secrets”.

 

It’s jam-packed with hundreds of strategies and tactics, along with step-by-step examples and more. After reading it many players have reported up to DOUBLING their profits… instantly!

 

So have the discipline to INVEST in your skills– rather than LOSING that money at the tables because your competitors know THESE secrets…

There is one KEY PRINCIPLE to keep in mind when deciding if someone is BLUFFING or has a GREAT HAND…

 

Here it is:

If a player acts STRONG, he is probably WEAK.

If a player acts WEAK, he is probably STRONG.

It’s simple human nature.

This is NOT an original idea… Mike Caro was the first to put this amazing insight into words many years ago.

And after I had heard this wisdom, my poker winnings soared to a NEW LEVEL.

Because every poker TELL boils down to this fundamental principle.

Now, the UNFORTUNATE thing about this advice is that even though it is SO SIMPLE, most card players just don’t “get it”, or don’t apply it properly.

So let’s discuss how you can use this concept to spot bluffs

QUICKLY, EASILY, and CONSISTENTLY…

First off, it’s important to remember that in order to spot BLUFFS, you must be tuned into signs of STRENGTH as well.

For example… if you only look for “tells” that suggest a player is BLUFFING, you’re only getting half the picture…

When trying to get an accurate read on an opponent, you must be looking for both signs of strength AND weakness.

Let’s go back to our main “rule” again and look at the first part:

“If a player acts STRONG, he is probably WEAK.”

This means that when a player does something that makes it LOOK like he’s got a monster hand, he’s probably bluffing.

The CRUCIAL point to keep in mind is that most players don’t TRY to act strong. They just do it unconsciously…

I know that sounds strange, but think about it.

Let’s say you’ve got 9d-2s and you decide to make a bold bluff by going all-in pre-flop (which I don’t recommend, by the way!).

Anyway… in your mind, you’re thinking, “Damn I sure hope no one calls!”… but when someone starts contemplating a decision, you REALLY start to get worried.

So what do you do? 

Well, the NATURAL thing to do… the thing that MOST players do… is to act like you’re NOT afraid.

Obviously you don’t want someone to know that you’re SCARED of getting called, right?

So you sit up straight, your hands don’t tremble, your voice has a little “arrogance” to it…

And ultimately, all of those things are signs that you’re BLUFFING.

But you didn’t MEAN to act that way… it just kind of came naturally. You didn’t think, “Oh, I don’t want him to know that I’m scared, so I’m going to sit up straight and act smooth and talk with arrogance.”

It just kind of HAPPENS…

Still with me?

Ultimately, a BLUFF is a LIE.

That’s right… just a plain old lie.

So when someone is bluffing by betting, they’re simply LYING about what they have in their hand.

Which means technically, the real skill is not the ability to spot a bluff… it’s the ability to spot a LIE.

But anyway… back to my point…

When the player acts strong, he’s probably weak. But he didn’t really CHOOSE to act strong… this is just a

“mechanism” inside of him that turns on, simply because he’s LYING to you about his hand.

Let me show you a few practical examples. Here are THREE valuable “tells” to look for:

1. When a player “flicks” his chips in the middle with extra OOMPH or tosses them in aggressively… What’s going on there? I’ll tell you what: The player is ACTING strong… which means he probably doesn’t have a very good hand.

2. When a player speaks aggressively and talks a lot… Once again, this is usually a sign of weakness, since the player is “covering up” his bad hand by acting like he’s got something.

 

BUT… this poker tell is very easy to confuse and get

COMPLETELY WRONG, and here’s why:

There is a major difference between SPEAKING AGGRESSIVELY and DEMONSTRATING CONFIDENCE.

Here’s what I mean…

If a player talks a lot in a manner that’s NOT normal for him, it’s usually a sign of WEAKNESS.

The way to sense this is to look for any signs of DESPERATION with his voice…

But if the player is chatting along, having a good time, and seems quite CONFIDENT in general, it usually means he has a strong hand.

It’s a very subtle difference, and takes time to learn.

 

3. When a player looks you dead in the eye… This usually means the player does not have a strong hand. The “death stare” is simply an ACT of strength, but what it really means is WEAKNESS.

Now…

Let’s flip this over and look at poker tells that will show you when a player is sitting on a monster hand…

Because knowing when to FOLD is often times MORE IMPORTANT than just knowing when someone’s bluffing you.

So, repeating the second part of our mantra:

“If a player acts WEAK, he is probably STRONG.”

ACTING WEAK is usually more subtle than acting strong… it’s usually demonstrated in a way that is more like DISINTEREST.

And once again, the player doesn’t usually MEAN to act weak… it’s simply a NATURAL MECHANISM.

Of course, sometimes a player will INTENTIONALLY ACT WEAK, but the meaning behind it is still the same:

He’s got a strong hand.

Here are three poker tells when a player is acting WEAK, but has a really great hand:

1. Looking AWAY and acting disinterested… and NOT making eye contact with you…

This is the opposite of STARING YOU DOWN, which is a sign of weakness.

This poker tell is ESPECIALLY apparent when the flop hits… if the flop REALLY helped a player, he’ll usually just glance at it for a brief moment and then look away.

(On the other hand, if a player stares at the cards on the flop for a long period of time, that usually means the flop did NOT help him.)

2. Being very quiet…

When a player is PRAYING to himself that you’re going to call his bet, he usually stays very quiet and to himself…

If everyone at the table is laughing at something and a player suddenly gets QUIET… or kind of “forces” his laugh… then that’s a sign he just picked up a monster hand. 

Beware!

3. Getting shaky…

When a player’s hands get very shaky, watch out. 

Some people think it’s a sign of BLUFFING, but I sure hope you’re not one of those people. Shaky hands is almost always a sign of a MONSTER HAND.

Also… I might add here… that after someone WINS a really big pot, sometimes they get shaky as an “after effect”.

Honestly, I have no idea why. But I do know that it happens.

So if someone just won a huge pot and is looking kind of shaky, that’s probably why.

Knowing about poker tells like these… both signs of WEAKNESS and signs of STRENGTH… is a very important part of WINNING POKER.

P.S. Be careful not to study the poker players on TV for

bluffs and “tells”. Most of these players are two or three

steps FURTHER than anyone you play with…

The pros will try to trick their opponents by doing stuff

like INTENTIONALLY giving off a tell that is the OPPOSITE of

the tell that would actually MISLEAD the opponent…

It gets crazy. And that’s why it’s hard to learn how to spot

a bluff by watching the pros.