Posts Tagged ‘Dean’

How effective is pot control?

Why pot control is an essential part of the game

Article written by best selling author Carl “The Dean” Sampson

In deep stack situations in no limit hold’em cash games then pot control is an essential part of the game. This is because there are times where your hand strength simply does not merit the pot becoming too large. Like for example if you open raise with A-Js and both blinds call you. The flop comes A-Q-6 with two suits and you c-bet and get two callers. The turn card is the 9h which doesn’t make the flush but you bet again and you get called again by both players. The river card is the 4h which still doesn’t put the flush on board but the small blind bets the pot……what do you do?

Well a pre-flop raise begins the process of defining the hand because you are already starting to escalate the pot. You raise before the flop for different reasons but one of those reasons whether you realise it or not is to build the pot. This is fine if you have the best hand or can get your opponent out of the pot with them having the best hand because in both cases you make money. But these pots are usually small to medium pots but when the pot escalates with you having just one or two pair and it looks like it is shaping up for an all-in situation then this is where you can start to have problems.

However your stronger opponents will suspect that when you check that you are slipping into pot control mode because they have seen you either keep on betting when you have the goods or keep on betting when you are bluffing. Pot control is a very effective strategy for novice and intermediate players because it prevents them from making very big mistakes in escalated pots. This is a pivotal stage for novice players because the biggest leak for them at the outset of their poker lives is that they make big errors in deep stacked situations too frequently. So when you play at higher levels then you need to mix up your play by value betting on lighter holdings so that your opponents cannot exploit a polarised range.

Why not play poker with Carl at www.pokerstars.co.uk

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Why many poker players just never master no limit cash games

Want to know why many poker players just never master no limit cash games?

Article written by best selling author Carl “The Dean” Sampson

One of the biggest reasons why nearly all poker players fail when they try and move up from micro and low stakes games into the middle stakes levels is that for the first time they are playing against thinking opponents. In many instances then their opponents are not only thinking on a much deeper level but they are also capable of highly complex thought processes. Now before we go any further then I am not saying that low stakes poker players do not think because they do.

It is that they think about very simple things. They think about what hand they are holding and what hand their opponent could be holding. They think about pot odds and implied odds; they think about position and rakeback and sign up bonuses. They may even think about stack sizes and how to deceive their opponents. So these people are thinking about all these things and this kind of makes them decent poker players. However this is nowhere near deep enough because the players who think at these levels are not thinking deeply enough to combat higher levels or play and better opponents when playing poker becomes a totally different game.

A clear example can be seen by the following hand situation. Our hero raises from the cut-off with 9c-7c because he has a decent hand and he has position. He can also win the pot in numerous ways by flopping a big hand or a big draw or by being able to represent a big pair as the pre-flop raiser. The big blind calls him and the flop comes 4-4-3 rainbow. His opponent checks and our hero bets. He thinks that he only has one opponent to get past to win the pot; he also thinks that this board is unlikely to have hit his opponent. He also thinks that he may be able to fire another barrel on the turn and win the pot that way.

In short then he is thinking lots of different things and so in no way is he not thinking. However what he may not be realising is that his opponent has noticed his playing pattern of nearly always raising pre-flop and the c-betting the flop. So in this instance then our observant opponent check-raises him and forces our hero to fold. When it gets really interesting is when you know that your opponent is a multi-level thinker. Then when they play back at you like this then you can four bet them with light holdings because you know that they are three betting you light also. But this is when playing situations becomes the primary objective and playing cards comes a distant second.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk