Logic behind Watson's bluff is elementary
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Poker
BC-POKER-ADV26:TB (759 words)
One of my oldest friends in poker is a talented Canadian player named Mike Watson. Although Watson has accumulated some excellent tournament results over the years - including a win at the Bellagio Cup in 2008 for more than $1.6 million - he's not well known among the poker-playing public due to his modest and nonchalant personality. That started changing in 2012, when Watson strung together a ...

May/23/2013 12:42 PM

In cash games, map out a money strategy
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Poker
BC-POKER-ADV19:TB (912 words)
Scott, As a regular no-limit hold 'em cash-game player, I have a pretty good grounding in pot odds and make a lot of my plays based on this knowledge. Some of the friends I play with in home games, however, are less astute. When I figure them for a draw and make a bet that offers them incorrect pot odds, they often call where more experienced players would fold. How do I stop players like this ...

May/16/2013 09:09 AM

'Doyle's Law' still applies
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BC-POKER-ADV12:TB (946 words)
A long time ago, poker legend Doyle Brunson wrote that the key to no-limit hold 'em is to put a man to a decision for all his chips. He was right, and Doyle's Law is fundamental to accumulating chips in tournament poker. We all know those spots. Your opponent puts chips in the pot, and your decision is to shove or fold. The key to winning pots without a showdown is to threaten your opponent ...

May/09/2013 10:05 AM

Milking value from a medium-strength hand
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BC-POKER-ADV05:TB (919 words)
I'm used to having a hyper-aggressive image at the table. One of the things it lets me do is get a lot of value when I make a medium-strength hand. The opponent in this hand, "The Villain," and I have played lots of hands together, often putting in three- and four-bets preflop against each other. We have also played lots of pots in which I've bet on all streets postflop (known as ...

May/02/2013 10:07 AM

Don't make the mistake of playing too many hands
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BC-POKER-ADV21:TB (964 words)
By Scott Fischman Tribune Media Services Scott, I enjoy reading your weekly poker column in the Sun Sentinel down here in South Florida. I am fairly new to poker, having been playing for about three months. I feel as if most hands shouldn't be folded until I see the flop. You never know how potentially good the two cards in your pocket are until at least seeing the first three pool cards. But ...

Apr/18/2013 09:36 AM

Planning for potential pitfalls
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BC-POKER-ADV14:TB (968 words)
It was Day Three of the World Poker Tour's L.A. Poker Classic main event earlier this year. I'd been short for much of the tournament but had built my stack to 125,000, just behind the average stack of 140,000. About 110 players remained, and blinds were 1,000-2,000 with an ante of 300. A player with 200,000 opened under the gun to 4,600. The next player had 50,000 and called. My turn, and I ...

Apr/11/2013 10:27 AM

Anatomy of a 'float'
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BC-POKER-ADV07:TB (910 words)
One of the biggest things separating the strong players from the weak players is the willingness to battle over pots without a hand. While many players will take a flop and then fold when they miss, strong players have some tricks up their sleeves to stay in the hand and turn a miss into a profit. Today, I'm going to teach you how to float. A float is a call on the flop with the intention of ...

Apr/04/2013 09:29 AM

Don't get attached to a hand
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BC-POKER-ADV31:TB (810 words)
Make a read and stick with it. Far too often, I see people go through each stage of a hand with the notion that they will wait to see what their opponent does next and then re-evaluate. This is a fancy cover-up for two silly mistakes: being indecisive and getting attached to a hand. Anybody who has played a lot of poker is familiar with this faulty pattern. I recently observed a perfect ...

Mar/28/2013 09:25 AM

Knowing opponent's range, betting patterns is critical to playing ace-king
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BC-POKER-ADV24:TB (1036 words)
Ace-king. This ever-enticing Texas hold 'em starting hand has many nicknames, my favorite being "Anna Kournikova." The comparison with the attractive former tennis player seems apt, since it's been said of both the hand and Kournikova, "Looks good, never wins." The secret to profitably playing this feisty, fickle, ripe-with-potential hand lies in knowing your opponent's hand range and betting ...

Mar/21/2013 10:43 AM

The importance of being a good storyteller
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BC-POKER-ADV17:TB (898 words)
Scott, Is raising under the gun with rags on a very tight table ever something you would do to indicate a strong hand in a tourney when the blinds are worth stealing, in the hope that everyone will fold? - Billy - Dear Billy, Yes! What you've found is a good example of a particular spot where you know a raise would indicate strength. Starting out with just that one idea, you can build an ...

Mar/14/2013 11:22 AM