Posts Tagged ‘Money’

Free Poker Online Swift Quick Guide To Implied Odds And How You Use Simple Math To Calculate Them

In this free poker lessons online article we look at the poker math area of implied odds and how you can use it when playing tight aggressive poker.

In the last 2 articles we looked at Outs and Pot Odds. See the link at the bottom of this page to find them.

Pot odds are of most use where there is no future play in a hand, that is you are in the final win or lose stage. For spots where there’s future play, there’s another (slightly) more complex concept, called implied odds.

Working out implied odds is trying to figure how much value our hand may have in the future if we hit it.

Lets look at an example using deep stacks.

> Let’s say we’re HU against an opponent and we’re each 10,000bbs deep and have 9 flush outs.

> Our opponent raises to 3bb preflop and we call.

> We flop a 4 flush.

> Our opponent bets pot (6bb).

> We have only an 18% or so chance to hit on the Turn if our 9 flush outs are good and we have pot odds of 1-1 so by Pot Odds we should fold.

Implied odds, however, are attempting to estimate our future value when we do hit.

> Let’s say we call and hit the turn.

> On the turn, our opponent bets pot again (now 18bb, 6bb due to preflop action plus his 6bb bet on the flop and our 6bb call).

> We flat again.

> The opponent pots River, that’s 54bb now and you raise to 150bb and get called by the opponents Top Pair.

While you didn’t have pot odds to call at the flop you did so anyway for the possibility of winning a much bigger pot if you hit at the turn or river due to your opponents bets.

Against an opponent who will be aggressively betting the turn and river a high percentage of the time, we can definitely call the flop bet (and maybe even the turn bet) even when we know we don’t have the best hand.

> 300bb pot win on the river.

> That’s

> 50:1 on our money, and we only needed

But this is how implied odds is an imperfect science.

In our specific example we got 50 to 1, but say the opponent pots turn and river with any hand, but only calls our river raise with top pair.

> Let’s also say our opponent has top pair 20% of the time (just making up a number here).

If that’s the case, our calculation grows more complex.

> On the turn our opponent puts in another 18bbs every time, and on the river our opponent puts in another 54bbs every time, but our raise to 150 is only called 20% of the time.

> Which means that the value of our raise is 30bbs (150x.2).

> So long term, we have to call 6bbs on the flop to win 102bbs (18 on turn + 54 on river bet + 30 from our river raise).

Your implied odds now are not 50 to 1 but 102:6, or 17 to 1. 4:1 we needed to call the flop, so it’s still profitable of course.

But actually the estimations are far more cloudy.

> Let’s say our opponent is just betting the turn with top pair and is turning off at the river with no top pair top kicker?

> Or our opponent is betting top pair on the turn only 70% of the time and is betting the turn as a bluff 15% of the time (with his bluff range)?

> It’s not really possible to sit at the table (or at your computer) looking to estimate the precise implied odds of a play.

At best implied odds are an estimate, and that means never perfect. Whereas pot odds are simple definite math concept.

To try and more accurately “guess” implied odds, we need to think about our opponent’s tendencies (as usual).

> If our opponent is loose and aggressive, our implied odds are usually much higher than our direct odds.

> If our opponent is tight and nitty, our implied odds and direct odds are usually closer.

Overall the idea of implied odds tells us that it is often profitable to draw even if you do not have the direct pure odds to do so.

We have to estimate our implied odds to understand what the “genuine” cutoff is for when chasing our draws is mathematically unprofitable, but this is good guessing in the best case and requires plenty of training to be even OK at.

Fundamentally it is about figuring an opponents range accurately and being able to assess with decent accuracy what he or she will do at each step of a hand with that range, so yes, not easy!

If you have grasped everything up to this stage, you’re doing pretty good. In the next free online poker lesson we’ll look at reverse implied odds.

Alternatively you can go and check out my much longer full lesson on poker math with Calculating Outs, implied odds, reverse implied odds and more at the NoPayPOKER.com free poker online games training blog where you will discover all and get a link to a helpful pro if you’re stuck.

Why Can’t I Win at Online Texas Holdem?

How many times have you… said to yourself, “this has to be fixed.” More than a few? You might want to consider that your game isn’t as strong as you previously thought. In fact, it is quite possible that there is still a good deal of work to do.

You need to figure out whether or not you are playing to make money. That’s right! The evidence suggests that you are playing to play, not to make money.

Perhaps, you arbitrarily grab the first open seat and start blasting. This may accomodate your need for action and that’s great, however, since loss is not our objective we want to do something a little different.

We suggest that thoroughly scouting games at the desired level of play to be a preferred method. You are attempting to identify weakness in one form or another. Typically, you want to zero in on tight passives, calling stations and maniac play.

This is the internet and there is nothing preventing you from taking all the time you want in locating that soft seat.

Unlike the live brick and mortar rooms you are not stuck with whatever they give you.

You found the perfect seat for your style of play. There could be any number of reasons why that particular seat is open. You discover why soon enough.

The past twenty minutes has produced the coldest wave of cards in your entire playing history.

Do you press? Do you play those marginal and rag starters?

Of course not! You get out of there! There’s dozens of games to choose from. For that matter go open another account at another site. Give yourself an even wider selection. There is absolutely no rule that requires that you sit there and get your brains beat in.

You like to see a lot of flops. On the internet this approach is a real cash killer.

We have found that a range of 30-33% seen flops from all positions combined is about right. There is no hard and fast rule here, but evidence suggests seeing a greater number of flops to be from players who tend to rely more on luck.

Speed is a factor. Don’t kid yourself. These hands are being dealt at a very rapid clip.

As a general rule you will be dealt approximately twice as many hands on the internet in the same time frame compared to a regular brick and mortar card room. What this means is that your errors translate into cash losses at an accelerated clip. This is the greatest argument for playing premium starting hands.

It has been said, “that the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing.”

Although mildly amusing, the statement contains nothing but an attitude that places your finger squarely on the self destruct button.

Do you increase your bankroll threefold or more only to blow it back along with your original stake? I have no problem leaving the table with a double or triple. You shouldn’t either.

I have heard the professionals discuss this subject repeatedly. Apparently the conventional wisdom supports continued play as long as you continue to play well.

We disagree with this position for one main reason. This is a classic apples to oranges comparison in our view. First of all they are world class professionals playing live with advanced skill sets. You are trying to survive for the chance to win in an entirely different venue.

Don’t be in a hurry! There is always a game somewhere. Like the ads point out, non-stop action. If it’s money you want you will need to play emphasizing discipline and focus.

Don’t make it so hard on yourself. Life already has plenty of challenges. Do the scouting. Pick your spots and don’t force it. Put these practices into play now and you will see vast improvement.

Confessions of a Female Poker Player

My girlfriend and I have a wonderful relationship that started with our enjoyment of gambling. We were co-workers when we discovered that we both enjoyed going to casinos. We started taking day trips together to area Indian gaming casinos. Before long we were venturing to casinos that were further from home and staying over night. Within a year we decided that we had a great deal of fun together so we would book a trip to Las Vegas. We both loved Vegas. Our husbands were willing to go there occasionally, but did not like to take annual trips. After our first trip my friend and I decided that we travel well together so we would take an annual long weekend to Vegas to play the slots and see some shows.

During our second trip we were having a day where neither one of us were lucky on the slot machines. Both of us had played poker before but we did not think we were good enough at the game to play the poker rooms of Vegas. We were too intimidated to go in. We decided to take a break from gambling and go up the room for a while. The hotel television had a special channel to teach you about the different gaming tables in the casino. We looked up poker rooms Vegas and found that the poker room in the next door casino was rated the friendliest in Las Vegas. We decided that we would go down and play a few hands to see how it would go. The site outlined poker rooms in Vegas catering to all playing levels and all budgets. We found a table with a low minimum bid that had room for two players. We both one a few hands and had a good time with the group we ere sitting with. We took our winnings and decided to try the slot machines again.

Since that experience we have spent more time playing poker at the local casinos. We thought that if we would get used to playing for money with strangers we would be more confident on our next trip. We both still enjoy playing slot machines, but we do take breaks once in a while to check out the poker rooms. The poker rooms in Vegas are more plush and comfortable than the ones in the local casinos. The locals have a tendency to be a bit more serious than in Vegas, which we never would have guessed. We are looking forward to our next trip away. Being in Vegas, even if it is only over a weekend is a great break for both of us.