by Niche Poker
Small pocket pairs can be very profitable starting hands in Texas Holdem poker. However, many people misplay these hands or play them in the wrong circumstances – ending up losing money with them. This article looks at how to play small pocket pairs both before and after the flop in order to maximize your profits.

We start by looking at the reason why small pocket pairs are so valuable – the opportunity to hit a hidden monster hand. Next the circumstances in which small pairs are playable before the flop are covered. Finally we look at how to play small pocket pairs when you miss the flop entirely.

If we define small pocket pairs as 22 through to 66 it is easy to see that you will rarely hit an over-pair to the flop with them. The real value of these hands comes the one in eight times that you flop a set with your small pair. In these circumstances you can win many times your initial bet by taking the entire stack of an opponent, for example if someone holds pocket aces.

The potential for a big reward from a small investment is known as your ‘implied odds’. That is to say the times you hit you will often win a huge pot – this makes up for the times when you miss your hand and need to fold to betting action on the flop.

When playing a hand with implied odds value such as small pocket pairs the critical factor is the size of the bet pre-flop compared to your potential gain. On average you will flop a set once every…. continue reading at Niche Poker

By Jennifer Harman
In Limit Hold ‘em, the big blind is one of the toughest position to play. You’re out of position, and that’s never a good thing, but usually, you’ll be getting excellent odds to continue with the hand. Against a single opponent who has raised, you’ll be getting better than 3 to 1 and, in most hands, you’re no more than a 2 to 1 dog. The problem is, you’ll often find yourself going into the flop with shaky cards and, at that point, you’re sure to face some tough decisions.

Before I talk about some tricky situations that develop in the big blind, I want to note that you can make your life a little easier by folding some hands pre-flop. If you’re holding a medium Ace and you’re facing an early position raise from a player who you know plays only good cards up front, then fold. It may seem like you’re getting a nice price to continue, but in this spot, you’re only going to get into trouble. When you miss the flop completely, it’s going to be tough to continue and, if you hit an Ace, you may lose a lot to a hand that has you dominated. I’d rather play 6-7 against an early position raise from a tight player than A-7.

There are some hole cards that are just hopeless. If I’m facing a raise from any position and I find something like…. read rest of article at Full Tilt Poker

By Wil Wheaton
During this year’s WSOP, I had the extreme pleasure and good fortune to sit in on a few strategy lectures that Barry Tanenbaum gave in the Poker Stars hospitality suite. I was so impressed, and learned so much from the brief sessions, I hired Barry for a two-hour private consultation to identify and plug a few holes I thought I had in my no-limit tournament game. They helped tremendously — even though I didn’t make it far in the Main Event (my own fault for getting a case of the stupids) I subsequently used Barry’s advice at a Legends of Poker preliminary event and finished 40th out of 395, and in my first WWdN after returning home from the WSOP, where I final-tabled.

In other words, Barry Tanenbaum is The Man, and when he speaks, people who want to improve their game should listen.

Every week, Barry posts a Thought of the Week at his blog, which provides insight into a specific poker strategy or concept, and every week I read it and get one step closer to growing a level in poker.

This week, Barry addresses open-limping in hold’em, and why you should never do it:

read rest of article at Card Squad

Hand reading is one of the toughest skills for many aspiring poker players. It’s easy to read a book and learn about pot odds, learn about playing aggressively, and so forth. But many players, especially many new players, are lost at sea when it comes to hand reading. They don’t even know where to start.

A lot of hand reading is deductive reasoning coupled with thousands of hands worth of observation with a little psychology thrown in. In other words, it’s a fairly complex process. But some hand reading is pleasantly simple.

The most simple form is the “giveaway” where your opponent does one thing that’s just a dead giveaway about what they have. You may not be able to nail it down to two exact cards, but you can narrow their range enough that you can really take advantage.

Every player performs a “giveaway” once in a while, but the inexperienced and amateur players you’ll find in your local $1-$2 NL game or home game probably do them all the time. Obviously, every player is different, but here are four common preflop “giveaways” that I see and exploit a lot while I play….  read rest of article at Noted Poker Authority

by Jim Woods
You’re seated at a $1/$2 NL holdem table where the action has been moderate. You’ve limped in late position with suited 87 and no one raised. Five players see the J 3 4 flop. When the first three players check, you figure, “Hell, SOMEONE has to win this $10 pot,” so you buckle your chinstrap and fire in ten bucks. Why?

You can think of LOTS of reasons, right? “That flop probably missed everyone. I have position on all but one player. My opponents may think that there are lots of hands containing a jack with which I might have limped. Even if I don’t win the pot now, I’ll probably scare out the only player behind me and then be in primo position for the rest of the hand. C’mon, Woodsie, you wuss — I didn’t come here to WATCH!”

In my humble opinion, none of those are good reasons. There are plenty of holdem flops and turns that DON’T warrant a bet. So someone exclaims “Pot for sale!” after a checkaround or two–who cares? I don’t know about you, but I don’t sit down at a poker table to watch, either. I want to go home a winner, and bets like the one above aren’t usually in the winning formula.

Let’s review. First, it’s a $1/$2 game, so the odds are high that your bet will be called, even by people who didn’t hit the flop. Picture, for example, a player with 65 offsuit–think he’ll be too afraid to call you, even out of position? Further, suppose you make a pair of 7’s on the turn. He’ll check, and you’ll…. read rest of article at PokerPages.com