by Fred Thompson
One of the biggest and most important tells in online poker is the speed of betting. I had to think long and hard about giving up this little secret because it’s been such a profitable one for me. Many online players will literally give away their hands pre-flop or post-flop with the speed at which they bet.I first noticed how important this aspect of poker was while sitting at a short-handed cash game with a few friends. I was on the button with a marginal hand for a short-handed cash game, A-J, when I decided to raise. The small blind folded, but the big blind instantly called me.

I was immediately suspicious at his lightning quick call, but I flopped an ace and bet out. He immediately called again. On the turn I checked, and he waited a long time before betting. I called his big bet on the turn and rivered a jack for two-pair. Although I had made a very good hand, I was still suspicious of his betting speeds. I checked the river and he bet big again. I instantly called him knowing that I was beat, but just couldn’t get away from a two-pair. He flipped over…. read rest of article at PokerListings.com

By Eric Lynch
Spotting and attacking various types of players to accumulate chips

In my inaugural column, I discussed how we can both spot and attack weakness in players at the table. Another situation that we often encounter is choosing how and when to attack various players by opening the pot. So, rather than attacking people who already have shown weakness in the pot, we have to choose what kind of players to target without seeing any action in front of us.

There are several methods we can use to do this, and I’m going to try to provide a few examples of each type.

One way to attack players is to figure out what kinds of players are weak post-flop and single out those players’ blinds for raises. That gives you the double advantage of taking control of the pot preflop and having the weak player play from out of position. If I find that some players are particularly weak post-flop, I’ll try to raise their blinds as often as possible in an unopened pot. I try not to be so overt with it that other solid players pick up on what I’m doing and reraise my raises, though. There is a bit of an art to recognizing how often you can get away with things before people start to pick up on what you’re doing, but with some practice, it becomes second nature.

Another good way to single players out for target practice is by…. read rest of article at Card Player Magazine

by Daniel Negreanu

The strategic thinking and analysis of making a big move with a hand early in a tournament

I recently played in a World Series of Poker Circuit event at Bally’s-Paris in Las Vegas and was involved in a hand that seemed pretty straightforward to me. Later, when I opened the message boards at http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/, I saw that many of the posters were questioning my play of the hand. It ended up becoming a pretty heated discussion, so I thought I’d use this column to share my thoughts on the hand.

We started with $10,000 in chips, and despite showing up about an hour late, I was able to get my chip count up to $11,400 by the time we hit the second round of blinds: $50-$100.

Everyone folded around to me, two spots from the button, and I raised with the 8 7 to $250. Now, this is a very standard play, but I did have a few people question what I was even doing in the pot with 8 high.

Well, in no-limit hold’em, hands like this play extremely well in deep-stacked situations. By making a small raise with the hand, you also add some texture and deception to your game that is crucial to becoming a successful player.

So, anyway, to my left, the current leader for the Card Player Player of the Year award, John Phan, called the raise. Then from the button, another top player and new father (congratulations!), Paul Phillips, called. The small blind folded, and yet another player in contention for the Player of the Year award, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, called from the big blind.

Strangely enough, I had all three of my opponents covered at this point. The flop came 10 9 5. I looked at that flop and thought to myself…. read rest of article at Card Player Magazine