Saturday, July 22, 2006

Bursting Bubbles

Last couple hours has definatly been a good run, hadn't failed to make the cash in 10 tournaments, then had 4 wins in a row. I had been playing NLHE, on different sites, levels and sizes of tournaments. CDPoker was the next port of call, a $2 jackpot SNG, 12 runners, 4 places paid. We were down to the last 5, all of the stacks, were pretty much level, and close to ten or 15 times the big blind. At this point i was sitting third, as I was dealt JJ in the BB, action was folded round to the SB, who put in a minimum raise. This guy had been stealing all night, so i just pushed, he flipped over AA. The board was no help at all. There was me stranded on the bubbled, the good run of the past few hours felt long gone.
Hopefully will turn it round soon!
Im going to give Omaha a go for the rest of the night

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Slow Playing in NLHE

Quite simply, I see slow playing as a way to get more action from your opponents, the way to do this is to check to give them a free card. Obviously this gives your opponents a chance to catch up on your hand(which is what you want) or better your hand. The slow play is a great tool in poker, although should be used sparingly, i would advise to use the play when you have the nuts or very close to it. If your opponent betters your hand, you could be the one throwing away your chips. If you feel yor hand is not the strongest, put out a bet, try to win the pot there and then, remember a small win is better than a big loss. Another thing to remember, as many often forget, checking and calling are very weak moves, where as betting shows strength. I am definatly not discounting the slow play as a move, although I would say be "choosy" of when you apply it.