Phil Hellmuth: Short Stack Strategy

Pot odds in Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem common mistakes

Texas Holdem (with Daniel Negreanu)

Reading Poker Players at the Turn & River

A Personal Example of Spotting a Poker Tell

There are a few poker tells that I've witnessed across several players on several different occasions. One amateur poker tell is to hit the flop big, yet force a sigh, mumble a curse word (that's meant to be heard), or some other ridiculously poor acting job, and then to bet on the flop. To Mike Caro's point, acting is an important factor in tells. These examples above would be false tells, obviously over-acted by an amateur player. The fake sigh, or faking disappointment, demonstrates that the opponent wants you to think he is weak, so when they bet, they want you to bite. So, act opposite to what they want if you don't have the cards to win, and fold out.

That's an example of a common, more generic tell, but I really try to hone in on actions specific to the player. It helps to know the player somewhat, I played in a NL home game this weekend (08/15/04), and had a couple of interesting hands against the same player, which may help demonstrate utilizing poker tells during a game.

First hand: My opponent was to my left. I'm in middle position. Blinds are $1-2, I think maybe there's one caller before it got to me, I raise the bet to $10 on my JJ. Opponent to my left calls, everyone else folds.

Flop comes Q 7 2 rainbow. I bet $15, my opponent raises me all-in $72.

So, I'm lookin at him, he's quiet, staring at the cards. This, in itself, doesn't mean much. I start asking him questions about why he wants one of us to go broke...no answer...I know that he's been drinking a lot. I asked him if that was his empty beer next to him... he answered that one.

Then I start staring at the pot, counting out my chips, I notice from the corner of my eye that he squirms a tiny bit and takes a slightly deeper breath (not acting). I interpret these signs to mean that he is uncomfortable with my consideration of calling his bet. This poker tell is the final piece of information that swayed me to make my decision.

I call his bet, he flips over 55, I win the pot.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Same opponent to my left, I'm the big blind, he opens raising the bet to $6. One caller (I think), then it's on me, I have the same hand JJ. I raise the bet to $15. Same opponent goes all-in, raises over $70 again. Everyone else folds. It's my decision again, basically same scenario but pre-flop.

But this time, my opponent's acting differently. He's more vocal, more natural and confident (not acting, in my opinion)... I take my time, he doesn't fidget. I show my cards, JJ, and fold. He flips over QQ.

So, in general terms, strong may be weak, weak may be strong (and are they acting?), but really you want to notice a change in a particular player's actions. In this case, strong was strong, but the important factor was being able to see the first hand played out and tie his actions to a weak hand. Now, I knew his actions were different, and his hand was different. We took a break after that hand, I went out for a smoke, one of the players was complementing me on that laydown, he asked me how I knew, I responded with "Did you see the difference?" (I meant in my opponents actions). I'm not sure he did, but I did, and it saved me a lot of money.

Typical Hands in Texas Holdem

Mike Caro's 10 Ultimate Poker Tells

Poker tells are one of the most important aspects of poker, however they are often deemed less important than the math involved. While playing, it is crucial to observe your opponents in order to get clues as to the cards they are holding or the actions they may take. Even when not involved in a hand, you should be observing your opponents to see if you can identify any kind of behavioral tell that relates to cards, actions, or even emotions. You can also try to guess their poker hands before the showdown, and as you become better, you will start to become more accurate. Betting, obviously, reveals the most information and is the most important tell when playing online poker.

Odds of Winning a Poker Hand

How to play JJ

Online poker tips

Stealing Blinds Poker Strategy in Texas Holdem

How do you put players on specific hands

Phantom poker

It is hard to give Negreanu full credit for this style of play, because there is a very good chance that this style of play had previously been employed by many professional poker players but just hadn't named it.

What is small ball poker?

Essentially, small ball poker involves playing a wider range of starting hands more aggressively, but only using small bets and raises to save you from losing too much money when certain plays do not work out.

Small ball poker is intended to primarily be used in MTTs as opposed to SNGs and cash games.

learn to win at Texas Holdem

learn to win at Texas Holdem

Bonus for poker: Profiling Online Opponents

Today’s poker tips are about profiling your online poker opponents. Most folks whose Texas Holdem experience involves more live poker then the internet poker variety have an easier time when it comes to profiling. Those who show up to play poker live give off a ton of clues about their Texas Holdem game before they ever play their first hand. Everything from how various poker players look to how they speak and interact will help those who play poker against them get an idea of the sort of person they are dealing with. This is more difficult in online poker. Those who are seated at an internet poker room have the anonymity of the internet to hide behind, and are harder to pin down during hands of Texas Holdem when it comes to typical means of profiling. Of course it is not impossible.

Most poker tips that talk about online poker tells will say that the betting patterns of internet poker players over multiple hands of Texas holdem will help those who play poker against them create an accurate profile. This is absolutely true. Nothing defines poker players more then what they do with their chips. With that said, there are also some subtle cues that online poker players radiate that can also help turn an internet poker opponent from a two dimensional avatar into a three dimensional profile.

Those who play poker in cyberspace will have chosen avatar to represent them at the internet poker table. Most Texas holdem poker players don’t simply choose the first avatar they see. What you see in an online poker room is usually the product of at least a little thought. Chances are they will choose a character that in some way represents who they are. Some sites people play poker at allow for their users to create some very detailed and elaborate avatars. It is at those sites, where players can really get into the creation of their avatars, where you will learn the most about them. So from a poker tips perspective, pay attention to what your opponents are silently telling you with that avatars they choose.

While poker tips that talk about the unspoken messages your opponents are sending you can be valuable when nailing down an opponent’s personality type, the spoke messages (or rather typed messages) that they give you should not be ignored. While most opponents will benignly comment on a nice hand if you won a big pot, there are those players who will make a point of using the chat or instant message functions to tell you that they should have won, or gloat when they do win. These types of players are generally less thoughtful and can be pushed into making bad decisions. They tend to be looser and bluff more often. In general, their aggression doesn’t need to be taken as seriously as someone who presents a more composed front.

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Online Poker Video Tips: Bluffs