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John D’Agostino
Full Tilt Pro

Let’s face it; nobody takes up poker because they love the idea of sitting idly at a table while folding for hours on end. But, in a full ring game with eight or nine other players holding cards, it’s proper to spend most of your time folding because there’s too great a chance that one of your opponents holds a powerful hand.

But, in short-handed play when only three or four people have cards, you’re forced to open up. With the blinds coming around so frequently, you need to be playing and winning a number of pots just to stay even. And, with only a couple of opponents, you can be less concerned about running into a big starting hand. On most deals, everyone’s holding trash.

Here’s some advice for altering your strategy for short-handed no-limit cash games. Keep in mind that all the advice here is geared toward short-handed play while players have deep stacks. The advice given here won’t work especially well in a tournament, or against players who come in with less than 100 times the big blind.

My love of short-handed play is one of the reasons I play online so much. It’s rare to find a three- or four-handed table in a casino, but online, I can find short-handed games any time I want.

Pre-Flop Strategy

Three- or four-handed games are usually very aggressive, and I will never limp in. I open-raise or I fold. In a typical short-handed game, I’m raising one in every three or four hands when I’m not in the blinds. I recommend raising with every hand you’d raise with in a full ring game (big pair, AK, AQ). In addition, I raise with any pocket pair, including twos and threes. I’ll also raise with suited-connectors, such as 4s-5s.

What might be something of a surprise is that I’m extremely wary of hands that seem to hold some promise. Hands like A-J, A-T and K-J, are hands that most know to treat cautiously in a full ring game, but I will often fold these in a short-handed game as well. Why? Well, these are hands that are likely to get me in a lot of trouble. For example, if I were to raise with K-J, and the flop came K-T-3, I’m either going to win a small pot, after betting my top pair and seeing my opponents fold, or I’m going to lose a much larger pot as my decent hand goes down in flames against two-pair, a set, or an out-kicked top-pair.

It’s also important to note that A-J, A-T are just about useless against re-raises and must be mucked against most opponents. With a hand like 4s-5s, however, I can call a re-raise with hopes of catching a big flop (two-pair, trips) or a big draw, and then taking my opponents entire stack when I hit. If I miss a flop with a suited connector or manage to hit only bottom pair, I can easily fold to a flop bet. But if I call a re-raise with A-T and then catch top pair on a Ten-high flop, I may get in real trouble against a bigger pair. Or if I flop an Ace, I could be out-kicked.

Post-Flop Strategy

If a pre-flop raise from the cutoff or button has been called by one of the blinds, it’s important to make the most of your positional advantage. Keep in mind that in a short-handed game, your opponent isn’t likely to hold much of a hand and that even if he held something decent, chances are he missed the flop. (In hold ‘em, unpaired hole cards will fail to make a pair on the flop about two-thirds of the time.)

So, if I missed the flop completely while holding something like 6-high, I’ll almost always bet the flop. If I get called or check-raised, I’ll happily shut down. But, I pick the pot up often enough to make the bet in this situation worthwhile.

If, however, I’m holding a decent Ace and miss the flop, I’ll usually check. In a short-handed game, Ace-high can win at showdown, and taking a free card gives me a chance to hit my hand on the turn.

I’ll also bet most of my draws on the flop. Often, I’ll win the pot with a bet. Even if I’m called, I’ve got the added benefit of building a large pot. If I happened to hit my draw on the turn or the river, there’s a good chance I’m going to take my opponent’s stack.

Psychological Strategy

Short-handed play takes some getting used to. The pace is furious, forcing a lot of tough decisions in very short periods of time. The swings are far more dramatic than in a full ring game but, I think that after adjusting to the pace of the action, most players will come to love the excitement that accompanies short-handed play.

John D’Agostino
Full Tilt Pro

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Jay Greenspan
Friend of Full Tilt Poker

I’ve had the good fortune to cover the World Series of Poker for PokerWire.com and Full Tilt Poker. For six weeks, I watched world-class players ply their trade and, in that time, I learned a ton about poker. What follows are three lessons I learned from watching Full Tilt Poker’s pros during their long days of play.

Never Rush a Big Decision

Even in the top ranks of poker, there’s a tendency among players to act rashly and blurt out an action – "All in!" or "I call!" – without having taken nearly enough time to carefully consider the situation. Of course, a player shouldn’t delay while holding the nuts. But I was often surprised to see the time the pros took to mull over situations that seemed to have only one clear-cut action.

One of the best examples of this came in the final hand of the WSOP*’s first event. Allen Cunningham was heads-up with Scott Fischman. Fischman bet the flop of T-6-3 and Cunningham raised. Fischman called, then checked the turn, a 4. Cunningham made an aggressive bet, but Fischman then quickly check-raised all-in. Cunningham stopped and thought. He had two-pair, 3s and 6s – a hand that usually requires a call in heads-up play. But, he didn’t rush the decision. After a few minutes of thought, he called. When Fischman showed 4-5, it was clear that Cunningham made the right choice. The river, an Ace, gave Cunningham the pot and the bracelet.

I was impressed that after 13 hours and 300 hands of play, Cunningham didn’t automatically put his faith in a fairly big hand. He took the time to stop and review the conditions in their entirety. This sort of thoroughness is one reason the pros are less likely to make big, costly mistakes.

Never Talk During Play

In one of the early WSOP* tournaments, Mike Matusow was playing very aggressively. He had a huge stack and used it to bully the table. In one early orbit, he raised on the button. The big blind re-raised all-in.

Mike had spent most of day chatting up the table. He turned to the man and asked, "You gotta hand?"

The man replied, "Best hand I’ve seen in hours."

"Best hand in hours," Matusow echoed, "That means you don’t have Aces… I only have King-five, but I think I have to call."

And Matusow was absolutely right. The big blind had pocket 10s, and given the size of the pot, Matusow correctly determined that with one over-card, he was getting the right price to call the bet.

Through a seemingly vague and innocuous statement, the big blind had given Matusow vital information, which he was able to use to make the best possible decision.

The lesson here when playing, keep your mouth shut and don’t do your opposition any favors.

Bet Your Hand

The great players – Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, etc. – usually err on the side of aggression. That is, they sometimes find themselves betting with hands that are underdogs to win. But, in my time at the WSOP, I can’t remember a time when I saw a top pro miss a bet in a vital situation.

By contrast, many novice players in this year’s WSOP seemed determined to check-raise or slow play their hands. They were trying to be tricky. But often, their failure to bet was

disastrous. Opponents were permitted to check down hands with which they might have called bets, and others were allowed to draw for free.

The best players are aggressive, and by following their lead, you’re less likely to make mistakes that could cost you valuable chips.

We’ve all heard that poker is a game of skill rather than luck, and watching the top pros play – either live or on television – only proves the truth of that statement. Watch how they act at the poker table, and it quickly becomes clear why the same players consistently finish in the money. Follow their examples, and it’s a good bet that you’ll pick up a few tips that can improve your game.

Jay Greenspan
Friend of Full Tilt Poker

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Team Full Tilt

In the premier episode of our show, "FullTiltPoker.Net Presents Learn from the Pros" broadcast on FOX Sports Net, five of our pros engaged in a roundtable discussion about stepping up in limits.

Everyone agreed that one of the best ways to improve your game is to play against better players. Jennifer Harman said she faced more tough decisions at her first table with Doyle Brunson than she’d faced in all her previous years of playing poker. Layne Flack and Howard Lederer agreed that the constant pressure can be a good thing, forcing you to weigh each decision more carefully and rethink old habits and patterns. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson said his best learning opportunities come at World Series final tables, and Phil Ivey remarked that, with time, you start to look forward to playing out of your comfort zone. Perhaps the adrenaline helps keep you focused.

But maybe there’s a corollary to this; the idea that being a first-timer relieves you of the pressure that can only come from having already had a taste of victory.

It’s true that you see a lot of the same names winning tournaments, but some newcomers have had some incredible finishes, and many of today’s pros started out with very early success. Erik Seidel finished second to Johnny Chan in his very first World Series of Poker Main Event. Andy Bloch won the first No-Limit Hold ‘em event he ever entered. Phil Gordon finished fourth in his first WSOP Big Dance. And Howard Lederer has made the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event just once – the first year he entered the event. When Howard survived to Day 4 in 2003, he made this observation:

I am playing for more money than I ever have, and this kind of chance at the WSOP will probably only come up for me a few more times in my life. But, for some reason, I am only thinking about this table, this hand, this moment. I have read some Zen Buddhism in the last few years and it is really helping me now.

In particular "Zen and the Art of Archery", a short little book, has everything you need to know about staying in the moment. Thinking about the recent past or the possible future at moments like these can only hurt your ability to make the plays necessary to win. And, those thoughts can actually make it impossible to win. I have started to think that players like Varkonyi and Moneymaker have an advantage over experienced tournament players. Yes they would like to win, and they know this is an important tournament, but they don’t feel that importance deep in their bones like a seasoned pro who has been trying to win the WSOP for years. It frees them up to play their best when it matters. My best finish was in my first try. It wasn’t real to me. I remember having a great time, and not feeling a lot of pressure.

Getting back to the roundtable… everyone agreed that tournaments are a good way to get out of your comfort zone without risking your bankroll. Try to let inexperience work for you, not against you. If you’re at your first final table and you see enough bracelets to fill a Tiffany display window, use it as a learning opportunity. Also use it as a chance to enjoy the moment and focus on the here and now. You don’t yet have a past, and living in the moment is the best way to ensure you have a future.

Team Full Tilt

Phil Gordon
Team Full Tilt

When I’m thinking about my actions after the flop or turn, I look to the "texture" of the board – i.e., what cards are in play, and how might they interact with my opponent’s likely starting hands – to help determine if and how much I will bet.

My normal post-flop betting range is one third of the pot to the full size of the pot. The texture of the board dictates where in that range I choose to bet, and I determine that based on the following four factors:

1. How strong is my hand with respect to all of the likely hands for my opponent?

If I have a very strong hand with respect to all of the likely starting hands for my opponent, I’ll usually go for the lower end of the spectrum, betting around 1/3 of the pot. I want my opponent to call.

If I have a moderate strength hand with respect to all of the likely starting hands for my opponent, I’ll likely bet 2/3 of the pot. I want my opponents to fold some hands that are better than my hand and call with some hands that are worse than my hand.

If I have a weak hand with respect to all of the likely starting hands for my opponent and I want to bet, I’ll bet the pot. I want my opponents to fold hands that are better than my hand.

2. How likely is my hand to improve?

If my hand is unlikely to improve, I tend to bet more than 2/3 of the pot. I want to take this pot now.

If my hand is somewhat likely to improve, say about 15% to 20% of the time, I am more apt to bet 2/3 of the pot.

If my hand is very likely to improve (about 34% of the time or more), I am more apt to bet 1/2 of the pot.

3. How likely is my opponent to have "hit the flop" and have a pair or better?

If my opponent is unlikely to have hit the flop and have top pair or better, I tend to bet 1/3 of the pot whether I think I have the best hand or not.

If my opponent is likely to have flopped exactly one pair, and I think I have the best hand, I tend to bet 2/3 of the pot.

If my opponent is likely to have flopped two pair or better and I think I have the best hand, I tend to bet the size of the pot. If I don’t think I have the best hand, I’ll almost never bet.

4. How likely is my opponent to have a primary draw? (That is, a draw to the best possible hand on the board, like a straight or a flush.)

If I think my opponent is likely to have a primary draw and I think I have the best hand, I’m likely to bet the size of the pot.

If I think my opponent has a primary draw and there is a good chance I don’t have the best hand, I’ll almost never bet.

When the four factors above lead to different conclusions about how much to bet, I average

the recommendations and bet that amount.

Over time, you’ll develop a more immediate sense of the "texture" of the board, and the amount to bet based on that will become almost automatic. Then, you can spend less time calculating your actions and more time observing your opponents.

This lesson is from Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold’em , published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Phil Gordon
Team Full Tilt

We have been trying something new this week. It’s called Rush Poker and you can play it on Full Tilt Poker.

In this format you are placed into a pool of players. Each table is filled from the pool. The game and table are just like any other poker variant, but in this format when you fold you are immediately placed at another table. Suppose you are dealt a junk hand. In a traditional format you fold and then have to wait until the next deal before you can play again. Many players play multiple tables to speed up the action and increase their hands/hour rate. In Full Tilt’s Rush Poker on the other hand, once you fold you immediately jump to a new table and begin a new hand. In fact, you don’t even have to wait until the action gets around to you. If applicable there will be a quick fold button that you can click and you will jump to your next table and hand before the action gets to your seat.

This is a true rush.

On the up-side your hands/hour rate skyrockets and there is no chance for boredom.

On the down-side you don’t get a chance to characterize the individual players since from hand to hand you get a new set of opponents.

Strategy-wise, we have not played enough to get a solid strategy, but a few things come to mind.

1. Only play premium hands. Consider folding AQo, for example, from early position. In one minute you can jump to many table and see many hands. No need to gamble on marginal openers. We think this is an obvious strategy so assume many of your opponents are also playing this strategy and when you do play the flop you may be up against a quality hand.

2. Conversely the ability to fold and immediately get a new hand means that some opponents will be more likely to give up marginal hands preflop and postflop. In late position you can buy more pots on a bluff/semi-bluff.

3. Stall a little when you are the first to act preflop. Everyone except the BB will have a quick fold button. If you are in early position and you do the standard 2x BB raise quickly then the action may get to a player with a marginal hand who has not made a decision yet. When faced with a call for 2x the BB with a marginal hand some players may pay to see the flop. If you stall a little bit those marginal hands may get impatient and just quick fold to get a new hand.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Steve Brecher
Full Tilt Pro

While playing on Full Tilt Poker, I have said that there are three topics I won’t discuss in table chat; politics, religion, and whether Online Poker is rigged. That’s because many people’s opinions on those topics are hardened and not amenable to friendly or productive discussion.

Away from the table, I’ll venture a couple of comments about improbable events in poker. While not direct instruction in the tactics and strategy of play, these comments may help you take "bad beats" in stride — and that, in turn, is an essential part of poker maturity.

First, let’s consider what most would view as a typical "bad beat" — a lower pocket pair winning against a higher pocket pair in hold ‘em, such as KK beating AA. When those hands share one suit, the chance of the worse hand winning is about 18%. The chance of the lower pair winning twice — that is, the next two times that such hands happen to go against each other — is about 3%. If in one session of play, a lower pocket pair beat a higher pocket pair twice, that might seem a little, well, weird to some players.

Consider another situation involving chance. When two dice are thrown, the chance of rolling "snake eyes" (1-1) is about 3% — about the same as a lower pocket pair beating a higher pocket pair twice.

Suppose there were 600 craps tables using standard, unaltered dice with nine players around each table — a total of 5,400 players — and these tables operated for a three-hour "session." How many players would observe snake eyes being thrown at least once? The statistical expectation result is not important. The point is that it’s easy to intuitively see that a large number of players would.

Further, do you think some players might see snake eyes thrown several times in an evening — say, three or four times? (That is equivalent to six or eight poker "bad beats.") And if some of those players would be inclined to report their observation on forums and in chat, then it might seem to some as if the dice were "fixed."

Let’s go back to poker. Recently, I played a hand of No-Limit Hold ‘Em on Full Tilt Poker. An opponent four seats in front of the button open-raised pre-flop. It was folded around to me in the big blind, and I called. I semi-bluff check-raised the flop, continued with a semi-bluff bet on the turn, was raised all-in, and called the raise. I made my draw on the river. After the hand my opponent chatted:

opponent: ur horrible steve
opponent: why the [****] did u call that?
opponent: horrible that this site rewards that

(Confidential to opponent: I know these comments were made in the heat of the moment after a big loss and don’t necessarily reflect your considered view.)

Let’s take a look at my call on the turn. I held Ad Td; my opponent held Kd Kc. The board was Qd 9d 7h Jc.

With my opponent’s actual holding, I had 16 outs to win the pot on the river, making me a 1.75 to 1 underdog. Of course, it could have been worse for me against other holdings, but even the worst case for me would have been to be up against K-T (a made straight), and then I would have been only a 3 to 1 underdog.

After my bet and the opponent’s all in-raise, I was getting pot odds of 3.7 to 1 to call, so the call is clearly correct. But it seemed to my opponent — and to at least one observer — that I made a bad call, and that my winning with a 36% chance to do so when I called was a bad beat for my opponent.

The moral of this story: While "bad beats" (low-probability events) do occur, sometimes a closer examination of a poker hand can change first impressions and allow you to continue to play with a cooler, clearer head.

Steve Brecher
Full Tilt Pro

Paul Wolfe
Full Tilt Pro

I was at my first World Series of Poker in 2002, talking to a player who had made the final table the year before. He told me something I’ve never forgotten, and it’s helped me ever since.

I had raised pre-flop with A-K and he called from the button. The flop came all small cards. I checked and he fired a pot-sized bet. I looked at him and said, "You must have a good hand." His reply caught me off guard; "It doesn’t matter what cards I have if I know what cards you have."

At first I thought I might have a tell – maybe I hummed when I missed the flop, or I looked away from my chips. It was later that I realized I did have a tell, but it had nothing to do with my physical demeanor. It was the way I played my cards.

Poker is often not so much about the cards you have, but knowing the way your opponent plays. Keeping track of which hands your opponent raises with – and the position from which he raises with them – is a large part of the game.

In a live game, it is hard to remember exactly what cards your opponent has raised with over the years and, if they’re good players, those hands will change from time to time. But many poker players are creatures of habit, playing the style they are most familiar with. Online, there is no excuse not to have this knowledge at your fingertips.

While playing on Full Tilt Poker, I get to write notes on players and it is a great help. I am always referencing my notes, and they will often tell me which hands an opponent has played in the past. The color-coding makes it even easier for me. I use one color to mark the players who only bet when they have a strong hand, and another color to mark the action players.

When I see a player marked with a certain color, I can safely assume that he’s going to overplay his hands. This is a guy I am more willing to call with a hand that might be a little weaker, or a drawing hand after the flop. Why? Because I know that if I hit my hand, he’s going to pay me off; I have implied odds to call. With another player, I’ll play a little tighter because not getting paid off means my implied odds aren’t there. This one bit of information has both increased my winnings and minimized my losses.

Self-awareness is an important part of any endeavor. But in poker, knowing your opponent is just as important as knowing yourself.

Paul Wolfe
Full Tilt Pro

Perry Friedman
Full Tilt Pro

For those of you who are unfamiliar with seven-card stud, there are some betting quirks in the game that you should understand. During the opening round of betting (also called "third street"), the player with the lowest up card is forced to act first. There are two choices: Bet the "bring-in" amount (which is usually one-third of the full bet) or "complete" the bet (make it a full bet). If the player chooses to bet the bring-in amount, another player has the option of completing the bet. Note that this is not considered a raise, because it is only increasing the initial bet to one full bet. This means there is still a bet and three remaining raises allowed during the opening round.

You should almost never bring in for a completion in Stud Hi, except in very rare tournament situations. There are a number of reasons for this, including the need to conceal the strength of your hand and the desire to keep your options open later in the round.

If you make it a habit only to bring in for a completion when you have a good hand, an astute player will pick up on this and will steal from you every time you don’t complete the bring-in. Conversely, if you always complete the bet, you are throwing away money when you are forced in, which is usually when you have a bad hand since you already have the lowest up card.

Furthermore, bringing in for a completion limits your betting options. If you bring in for the minimum and someone else completes the bet, you can raise back for a full bet, whereas your opponent can only complete for a partial bet. You can also decide to slow play your hand if someone completes. Completing the bet exposes you to being raised back a full bet. By always bringing in for the minimum, you do not give away the strength of your hand and leave your options open on third street.

When playing in a live ring game, I will seldom even look at my down cards when I am the bring-in. Whether or not you look at your cards first is a matter of personal preference, but by not looking, you can’t give a tell. However, one of the important aspects of stud is being aware of what cards have already been dealt out to your opponents. If you decide not to look at your hole cards, you should still peruse the table and take inventory of what cards are already out.

For some people, cataloguing all the upcards may be a tedious and exhausting process, and they will prefer to look at their downcards first so that they immediately know which key cards will improve their hand, or if they even have a playable hand at all. The only flaw with this shortcut is that when you do have a playable hand, you need to be aware of what your key cards are and know which cards will help or hurt your opponents. I recommend getting in the habit of always mentally keeping track of all of the up cards.

In heads-up play, keeping track of the cards is much simpler; they are always there to see and you don’t need to remember who folded which cards. This makes it even less important to check your down cards before acting.

In online play, you will always be aware of your down cards, but you should still get in the practice of tracking your opponents’ cards. One way to keep the game interesting – and to work on your skills at the same time – is to track all the cards even when you are out of the hand. As the hand progresses, try to figure out what hands your opponents are likely playing. At the showdown, you can see how well your reading skills are coming along.

Stud can be a very enjoyable and interesting game, but it relies less on intuition and more on keeping your mind focused and your eyes open.

Perry Friedman
Full Tilt Pro