Crushing Live Poker With Twitter

September 12 – You’re burning money if you are completing your entire range in the small blind in a limped pot. Some hands you have to fold.

We all know how enticing pot odds can be. And there isn’t a better example of “getting a great price” then when completing in the small blind (SB) after several people have limped in. Sometimes you can be getting as much as 10-to-1 in this spot, and a lot of people feel like they are forced to complete especially when the big blind (BB) is the type of player that would not raise without a premium hand. However, I have seen a lot of people make mistakes in this particular situation.

I remember a long time ago reading something from Phil Hellmuth discussing which hands he completes in the SB in limit hold’em. He said that after several people have entered the pot for a limp, you should complete with any two suited cards. As much flack as Hellmuth gets for his cash-game pointers, I actually think that this was good advice. When more than three people have come into the pot, but have not raised, I will complete with any two-gapper such as 9-6 or Q-9 — or any two suited cards. I will fold everything else except for weak aces. The fact of the matter is that position is paramount in big-bet games, and when you complete from the SB you are first to act for the rest of the hand.

I cannot find good reasons to play hands like 9-3 offsuit and K-6 offsuit, but I see people do it all the time. You actually have reverse implied odds when you hit top pair, especially when you are uncomfortable playing postflop. Often times I will see players lose a fair bit of money with hands that they should never have even completed with. I have commentated on “Live at the Bike” at the Bicycle Casino for over five years and it is amazing to me that guys will fall into a check/call shell with a hand like 8-4 offsuit on a board of 8 6 3. They have no idea where they are in the hand, and do not seem to realize that their equity against a field bettor’s hand is not good, especially if there is a caller in between. The next time you are thinking about completing “any two” in the SB, ask yourself “what do I really want to flop here?” If you cannot come up with a good answer, there is nothing wrong with pitching your hand, even if you think you are getting a good price.

September 10 – Opening garbage hands in the first few spots in a full ring game is very likely to be negative EV.

No matter how good you are at no-limit hold’em, the simple fact of the matter is that in a nine or ten-handed setting, in general, you will need a good hand to win. This concept is sometimes lost on cocky, overconfident players. I remember right after Black Friday an influx of Internet players dove into the mid-to-high stakes live poker scene. These players were very good and had better fundamentals than most of the live regulars, but were accustomed to playing in a six-max setting. These guys made it a point to LAG (loose-aggressive) it up and play a lot of hands without regards to position. I observed their play very closely and noticed that they were getting absolutely killed versus weaker players when they opened a wide range from up front.

Opening hands like 6-4 suited or 10-8 suited is going to be a very tough proposition full ring — especially at the lower stakes. The value of these hands is getting paid off through deception, but most of the time when you raise from up front you are forced to bluff with these holdings with very little showdown value.

If you look at online, full ring statistics, the biggest winners played super tight from up front. I cannot stress enough how important position is in big-bet games. It is one thing to isolate a weak limper from the button, but playing inferior hands at a positional disadvantage is an absolute losing proposition.

One of the things that I battle with in my own game is playing at a variety of different stakes. Sometimes I am playing up to $10-$20 no-limit and other days I am playing $5-$5. When I play higher, I am very conscious of the tougher competition and play fewer hands. Sometimes at the lower stakes, however, I feel that my skill level is so superior I want to run over the table. The problem is, however, that so many people call raises preflop, that garbage hands become very difficult to play because there is little fold equity, especially with the nature of smaller stacks in capped games.

If you want to up your win rate, tighten up from the first three spots. It is one of the easiest things to do, but especially for some of us younger players, it sometimes takes discipline.

September 18 – To get better you must work on your game. Most concentrate on situations that rarely appear, however, making bad use of time.

No matter how much information you take in about no-limit hold’em, the game is still 90 percent about winning the most money with the best hand. The great players shovel money into the pot when they know that they are good. Getting maximum value is paramount if you want to be a successful player.

Often times players come to me for private lessons and ask me the wrong questions. They want to learn about four and five-bet bluffing ranges or exploiting some of the other winning players that frequent their games on a regular basis. Although learning about these things has merit, I always tell them that they should be spending more of their mental energy on the more common situations that appear on a regular basis.

One of the most overlooked spots that you really should be paying attention to is what your opponents’ flop and turn calling ranges are when you continuation bet (c-bet). Some players will call the flop very wide and fold to further turn aggression where as others represent a much stronger hand when they put money into the pot. If you want to be a top-notch player you really need to pay attention to the most common situations, even when you are not in the hand. Most of the money that is won and lost is through these fundamental situations. Once in a while you run a big bluff or make a hero call, but the meat and potatoes of maximizing value is correctly evaluating your hand strength versus your opponent’s range. The next time you are thinking about “advanced” levels, reaffirm to yourself that you have the most basic things down, because that is where you should be spending most of your mental energy. ♠

Follow Bart for daily strategy tips on twitter @barthanson. Check out his podcast “The Seat Open Podcast” on seatopenpoker.net and his video training site specifically for live No Limit players ­—CrushLivePoker.com. He also hosts Live at the Bike every Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 pm ET at LiveattheBike.com.