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Poker is a game that consists of many layers, but it all starts with the hand you’re dealt. Figuring out what hands to play, when to play them, and how to do so properly is one of the first and most important things any of us needs to actually become good at poker.
These days, there are dozens of various poker courses and coaching videos addressing different aspects of the game. When it comes to preflop play, there are quite a few products promising to teach you how to construct your ranges and how to balance them with your opponents’ perceived ranges. As with most things, a majority of these courses deliver on their promise to an extent, but with poker being such a complex game, there are always gaps to be filled.
In my search for a good video series to address this particular topic, I came across Preflop Master – Unexploitable Strategy created by MyPokerCoaching. The course came with a reasonable price tag of €197 for what it promises to deliver (as well as a 30-day money back guarantee), so I decided to give it a go.
MyPokerCoaching.com is run by two experienced professionals, Tadas Peckaitis and Dominyaks Mikolaitis. While Tadas is a fellow Cardplayer Lifestyle contributor, these names may not ring a bell for most of you. Nonetheless, both of their graphs are quite impressive, so it is safe to assume these guys know what they’re talking about.
That said, here’s what I discovered about Preflop Master – Unexploitable Strategy.
The course is split into three different videos, covering three major areas of preflop play, namely:
Clearly, each of these segments addresses an important issue of preflop play. As someone who’s been around poker for over a decade now, I may not be an expert but I believe I at least know what to look for in a coaching series.
This systematic breakdown looks promising, as it separates different segments of preflop play. Sometimes, training videos tend to try to squeeze too much into a single video, so it gets hard to keep up with the concepts. With the course broken down like this, I expected not to have a hard time keeping pace, and I was right.
Having seen a number of videos on this particular topic, I had a pretty good hunch as to what this video was going to be about, and I wasn’t mistaken. There may be more than one way to skin a cat, but when it comes to preflop ranges in Texas Hold’em, there isn’t too much wiggle room.
The video breaks down opening ranges by the different positions (early, middle, late, and play in the blinds), and it explains the difference between GTO ranges, which will be correct regardless of the kind of players you’re up against, and wider opening ranges to take advantage of weaker players in the big blind.
This segment also touches upon the subject of defending against 3-bets using calls and 4-bets (when appropriate), although this isn’t covered in too much depth. To be fair, this is a very wide topic on its own, so it would be impossible to give it extensive coverage without making the video last a couple of hours. However, some good fundamental elements are presented and whether you are a new or an experienced player, the advice on how to behave when facing a 3-bet from various positions will come handy – as a lesson or as a reminder (because it is always so hard to fold those suited connectors even when you know you should).
The only thing that this part lacks to some extent is the explanation of basic concepts – positions at the table, GTO, etc. Of course, the series isn’t aimed at completely new players, so it is understood that most of people watching will be familiar with these terms. Nonetheless, having these explanations inserted somewhere along the way might increase its appeal to a wider player base.
All in all, the Opening and Defining Ranges video offers a very solid and fundamentally sound approach to preflop hand selection and correct plays in various common situations. It is an excellent resource for anyone struggling with building their preflop range of hands, regardless of whether they feel they play too tight or overly loose. Sticking to the hand selection presented in part one of this series should help pretty much anyone improve their overall results.
The second part of this preflop module was much more interesting from my personal perspective. As already explained, there isn’t too much new to be said about the selection of hands you want to play from various positions once you get that part right. Of course, it is still good to remind yourself from about the topic from time to time, and not everyone has a solid preflop range to begin with.
However, 3-betting is one of the trickiest parts of the game, as there is so much to consider. If you do it right, it can be hugely profitable. Go about it wrong and you’ll be bleeding chips without even realizing it. That’s why this part of the series really piqued my interest.
First of all, the video covers GTO 3-betting preflop ranges, which basically means hands you can 3-bet against any type of a player correctly. For the purposes of the video, a standard 3x open is considered, which seems reasonable enough, as it would take a long time to cover all the differences against various possible preflop open sizes.
The video first addresses 3-betting from the big blind when facing a small blind open, which is a very important aspect of the game and one many players have problems with. Since blinds, in general, are the worst position you can be in, and it is virtually impossible to make profit playing from the blinds, having a solid 3-betting range and knowing what to do when faced with a 4-bet is essential to cutting your losses and making your play from the big blind as close to optimal as possible.
In general, much of the video covers small and big blind play against opens from different positions. It doesn’t just cover 3-betting; it also covers situations when you’re facing a 4-bet and how to proceed: when to give up, when to jam, and when just to call to set a trap and keep opponents’ weaker hands in the range.
After these initial considerations, the video dives quite deep, covering other 3-betting dynamics, as well as situations involving various 4-bets and other common dynamics, with a great breakdown of hand ranges to guide you.
If anything, this part contains a wealth of information and, unlike the first one, where you can just watch it and pretty much memorize it, this one will require you to stop and go back to various points and really think about them. Mastering the art of preflop 3-betting isn’t something you’ll do in a day and there is no book or video that can do that for you. Nonetheless, 3-Betting Like a Pro offers a great deal of useful material you can learn from. Take note: it does require the viewer to pay very careful attention and really think about what’s being explained.
The first half of the video addresses the GTO play. The second half goes a step further, explaining how to construct your 3-betting ranges against different categories of players. While this isn’t an exact science, most players will belong to one of the three main categories and sub-categories described in the video.
Overall, the 3-Betting Like a Pro segment seems like an invaluable tool for anyone looking to up their preflop game and add more variety. It goes to great lengths in explaining what hands make for good 3-bets and 4-bets, also offering a detailed explanation as to why. Since it is essential for your game to know why you’re doing something (rather than just mindlessly trying to emulate the play of other people), this part of the course is really useful!
In full disclosure, it can get a bit tiring after a while, because there is a lot of math and talk of ranges involved, but that’s the only right way to approach the subject. My recommendation would be to break up the study of this part of the course over a few sessions for the best learning experience.
The third part of this course clearly indicates what will be covered, and, once again, it touches upon an important segment of the game, namely playing from the blinds. Although this has been covered quite extensively in the 3-betting section, this is a nice addition to the overall course, which helps nicely round up what’s already been explained, adding new insights into the mix.
Like the other two parts, it breaks down the correct play into two parts:
The video tries to explain what kind of hands you should be simply calling with when in the blinds and which ones make for good 3-bets, referring back to the previous module. It is definitely best to watch this part after you’ve already seen the 3-betting section; i.e., don’t skip, because a lot of the things discussed here can be understood better if you’re already familiar with the concepts explained there.
I think it is fair to say that this video will help anyone looking to improve their play from the blinds, which should be quite a few players, as this is one of the trickiest things in Texas Hold’em. At the same time, reducing your losses from the blinds can really help improve your win-rate quite substantially, so it is easy to understand why it is always a good idea to keep working on improving your blind play.
MyPokerCoaching’s Preflop Master – Unexploitable Strategy course definitely offers great value for the money. People are often reluctant to pay for poker coaching as there is a lot of free material out there. This makes sense to an extent, as why would you pay for something you can get for free?
However, a lot of free stuff lacks proper structure and the dedication required to make a teaching tool that will really help you improve your game in the shortest possible time, and you have to look around to find explanations for topics not covered in the free materials.
With Preflop Master – Unexploitable Strategy you get a few hours of well-structured and easy-to-implement guidelines for under €200. This is a great bargain for anyone serious about improving their preflop game.
As mentioned, the series does require you to put in some work and some of the concepts aren’t that easy to understand, but if you’re ready to put in the effort and are willing to listen to a poker professional who knows what they’re talking about, this coaching series offers great value for your investment, which should pay dividends quite quickly. At least it has, for me 🙂
The first time I walked into a poker room, I took a deep breath and thought to myself, “I’m home.”
Before this moment, I was the only person in my group to quote Rounders, watch an incessant amount of the World Series of Poker on TV while dreaming about someday playing in Bobby’s Room wearing a gold bracelet, the only one having a talent crush on Daniel Negreanu. An intimacy happens for me when I play poker no matter where I’m playing, whether it is Hawaiian Gardens or the Orleans, a feeling that I’ve found one of my tribes.
The riffing of chips, players complaining to each other that they’re stuck $80 for that session, the guy eating a foot-long tuna sandwich at the table while in a hand while I’m wondering why it smells like corned beef, someone bringing me a coffee that will be the best coffee at that moment in my life. I could walk into a poker room from California to Reno, and some version of these archetypes will be there. We spend hours with strangers, yet they’re familiar before we even walk in the room.
I live on an island at the moment, so no one understands this particular language if I try and speak poker. If I were a kitesurfer, regular surfer, into SUP, or hiking, I could have conversations for days. And when you find one that speaks “poker” on Maui, you grab each other like a life preserver, feeling like you met a soulmate in the ABC store over Vanilla Macadamia Nut coffee, one that knows who Phil Ivey is.
READ MORE: Interview with Phil Ivey
Our families are usually outside this intimacy, not understanding why we want to play for hours, how poker is different from playing online casino games at sites like SimbaGames.co.uk, or why saying “I’m going to play poker” might mean hours away from my phone. I’m lucky that my mother understands; she was the one to teach me poker when I was young. The rest of my family, however, just doesn’t get it. They will like anything I post on Facebook; I could post a picture of a leaf, a tree, or a squirrel, and they’d enthusiastically like it or comment. I post a picture of me at the World Series of Poker – the best job I’ve ever had – and it’s total radio silence. It’s as if they don’t quite know what to make of it, as in when I try and explain what a half kill versus kill pot is.
Yes, when I step into that room and sit down at the felt I want to win your money and you want to win mine. I’m not going to be best friends with everyone at my table, and I can’t count the amount of times I’ve been asked if I’m a teacher or nurse. Chips will stick together, and sometimes I feel like Seinfeld at the table trying to draw everyone out of their shell. But there’s a commonality, a community of people that just “get” that part of you in that room. You don’t even have to explain it to them; it’s a quiet and unspoken understanding.
I have other tribes in my life that have nothing to do with poker; most of us do. However, I know the next time I walk in a poker room, I’ll be surrounded by people that have the same love for a game that I do, and will never be alone in that room even if I’m alone. I think I already smell corned beef…
Poker is – mistakenly, I must say – often considered to be a form of gambling. To be honest, it is similar to gambling (at least on the outside) as it does involve playing cards and real money bets, a lot like the vast majority of table games and casinos. And casinos do often host high-profile poker games, either in their back rooms or in their lobbies, in a more or less organized form. To add a lot more to the confusion, casinos are filled with games inspired by, similar to, or simply called “poker”, even if they have little or nothing in common with the game. These games, often commonly referred to as “casino poker”, are sometimes similar enough to poker to deserve their name, other times almost completely different in gameplay. But do they have a raison d’etre – and should we care for them?
Well, here at Cardplayer Lifestyle our focus is obviously on poker, but there’s more under the general “poker” umbrella than just live poker and online poker that we’re all familiar with, whether it’s plain old Hold’em, mixed games, or even wild games. Casino poker is familiar to anyone who has ever gambled online or in a casino. The difference, of course, is that in casino poker games, you’re always playing against the house, which has a built-in mathematical edge.
Some websites claim that casino poker games can help you learn the optimal poker strategy to increase your playing skill. One might think that the people writing these words have never ever played a game of true poker in their lives. Casino poker games, like the ones you can play at Vegas Palms Casino, are missing the very essence of a poker game: the betting. Because this is where strategy is needed the most – the rest only depends on the random order of the cards in the deck.
While playing video poker at the Vegas Palms (not to be confused with this place, by the way) can help you recognize good poker hands easier – it’s a game with a very fast pace, with the machine holding the cards for the player – speed is not necessarily the most valuable skill in a game of poker.
If we are to point out a “raison d’etre” for casino poker, it’s the entertainment value it has. Poker is not about speed but casino poker games are, which makes them a fun pastime for many players. As I said above, video poker is a game with a very fast pace – you can play a hand in half a minute or less. Games like Triple Pocket Hold’em, Three-card Poker, and Pai Gow, are equally quick. These games can suck you in and, before you know, you may end up playing dozens of hands.
Do these games need skill? Not really – they rely almost exclusively on luck. They don’t have the betting rounds where players can measure their people reading skills against each other (this is what makes them so fast). They are fun games to play, with rules easy to learn (basically, anyone with even a rudimentary poker knowledge can play them in no time), which makes them an attractive way to kill time and spend (or perhaps win) some money.
You play poker for money right? I mean, the money is why you play isn’t it? The truth is that there are probably other reasons that are more important to you, but this isn’t a psychology article. This is an article about making money playing poker tournaments, and one of the biggest ways to increase your poker income is by improving your game selection.
I preach table selection to my cash game students on a regular basis. In tournaments we don’t get to choose to move to a new table, so what can we do to find the softest opponents? We have to find tournaments where we end up at soft tables as often as possible. In the year after Black Friday, with my bankroll decimated and a mortgage to pay, I went hunting for the softest tournament fields. Here’s what I learned.
Image used for illustrative purposes only; copyright WWE
We obviously don’t want a bunch of solid grinders or world-class pros at our table. We don’t want people who are members of training sites or have read multiple books or worked with a coach. We want players who are readable, predictable, and who play either too loose or too tight. In my opinion, readable and predictable are much more important than any other errors because they cut down our variance drastically; in tournaments that translates directly into money. The greater the advantage you have over the field, the less interested you should be in taking coin flips. Winning tournament players hate to take a big risks without a big upside, especially in a soft field or at a soft table.
There are many factors to weigh when trying to find soft tournament fields. For this article, I’ve put together a list of seven of the most important ones. Let’s look at each factor and how important it is.
The part of the country, or even the planet, where you play poker can influence how strong the players are at different buy-in levels as well as how they play. A typical weak player in Minnesota may be very different from a typical weak player in California, and having played in both places I can tell you that the difference is huge.
California has a lot more action! There are a lot more people in California that have big money and there is a less conservative culture. People in Minnesota have very high literacy rates and the culture is conservative when it comes to money. Stealing pots in Minnesota can be profitable in spots where it would be insane in California. Calling a big overbet in California on the river might work to pick off a bluff, but in Minnesota you are usually just paying to see the nuts.
The softest tournament fields tend to be in places where poker hasn’t been around for long. In places like Las Vegas where the locals have often been playing for 20 years or more, the typical player is much stronger. In Florida or on the East Coast where casino poker is fairly new, fields tend to be a little softer. When poker first comes to a new area, the games are very soft for a few years.
Tournaments in one room can be much tougher than the room right across the street. The cash games in Vegas are a good example of that. The best players like the Aria; it’s a great room and a very comfortable place to play. Even more important, it’s a place to be seen. Playing at the Aria is something to brag about, while playing at a lesser-known poker room may not impress the folks back home. This can make the games tougher at the Aria simply because the players who make a living want to make a living in such a nice room and the games can fill up with grinders.
To find a soft venue, look for a place that would bring in tourists or recreational players at the buy-in level of the event. If the buy-in for the tournament is less than the cost of a room for the night, there will be recreational players who don’t care about the money. If the venue promotes the tournament heavily in places where recreational players will hear about it, you will definitely find a softer field. Free drinks and a party atmosphere always help too!
The buy-in of the event will usually have the biggest effect on the strength of the field, but it also combines with other factors in some important ways like the venue advice about the cost of a room for the night. Typically, a player at the Wynn cares less about $200 than a player at the Golden Nugget.
An event with a big guarantee will usually draw a much stronger field, and any buy-in over $200 brings players from a greater distance who tend to play better. When the buy-in reaches $1,000 the field gets much tougher because very few recreational players will risk that much. Dropping $300 can be classified as entertainment. $1,500? Not so much. Assuming you’re not single, there is only so much money you can hide from your partner before they notice that you’ve lost serious money playing poker, and a $1,500 buy-in is too much for most recreational players.
Events that have a large number of satellites will have more recreational players. Much softer players will play a $200 satellites than those who buy-in directly to a $1,000 event. Satellites are important and the more people that are in them the better. Big satellite fields are an important factor, especially in places where the money would mean a lot to locals. A $500 event might not mean much to people in San Jose where a two bedroom condo can cost a million dollars, but in Minnesota it will be a lot of money to many local recreational players.
NO! Not these kinds of satellites 🙂
Getting ready for the $2,500 buy-in tourney @runaces tomorrow. Lots of soft satellite winners and an amazing structure, so I prob win it.
— Chris Wallace (@foxpokerfox) August 11, 2012
A nearby event can draw strong players away from a tournament. If a $300 tournament in your city is in conflict with a $1,000 event, you will find much softer players in the $300 event than you would otherwise because many of the best players will be playing in the bigger event. Likewise, an event with a soft field nearby will often draw the weaker players away from an event. This is very true in Las Vegas during the summer, where $1,000 events at other poker rooms can be much tougher because so many of the lesser-skilled players are playing the World Series of Poker bracelet events.
Speaking of the World Series of Poker, it is a great example of an event that brings in soft players simply because of the prestige associated with it. The $1,500 events at the WSOP are much softer than a typical $500 event because so many recreational players are dreaming of a bracelet and playing much higher than they usually would.
The WSOP Circuit, WPT, and any special events in your area that draw big fields and have some prestige for the winner will be more profitable than a weekly event of the same size. Players pay twice as much rake in a WSOP Circuit event as they would pay in any other tournament and they still get huge fields because so many locals show up dreaming of winning a WSOP Circuit ring and years of bragging rights.
This doesn’t necessarily make these events more profitable, since the rake is so high, but they will definitely draw the soft players away from other tournaments in the area. Note that the cash games in rooms with prestige events tend to be much softer during those events because the recreational players who wouldn’t usually play will come join a cash game after they bust out of the tournament.
The more tourists that an area has, the better the games tend to be. Without tourists, the games in Vegas would be terrible! And it’s not just an area that brings in tourists; it can also be a special event or even a time of year. Grinders are in Florida all year round, but the tourists come in droves during the winter and the games get much better.
Special events can be a huge boost. A charity poker tournament, a blackjack freeroll for high rollers, or a convention in town can really help soften a tournament field. When the rodeo is in town you will definitely find me in the cash games at the MGM Grand, where many of the tourists stay during the event. Cowboy hats abound and so does the money. Pay attention to what is happening in your area and think about whether it is likely to bring in tourists who don’t usually play much poker.
Holidays can be another source of tourists. A Thanksgiving weekend event like our Next Level Poker series in Iowa should draw a softer field with so many tourists in town to see relatives. Many players can’t spend all weekend with their family and a poker tournament is a great excuse to get out of the house.
It is the nature of poker players to think that every game is soft. We see other player’s mistakes much more clearly than the mistakes we make ourselves, and every game looks soft to a good player with a winning attitude. Don’t believe that a tournament is soft just because you hear a player talk about it. Every tournament is incredibly soft if you listen to grumpy old grinders who think everyone is bad at poker. Do your own research and think outside the box to find soft tournament fields and keep your travel expenses to a minimum.
Welcome back to the Great American Poker Trip. My name is Jack Laskey and I’m a co-host of the Just Hands Poker Podcast. My partner in podcasting and other degeneracy, Zach Resnick, and I started in Washington D.C. and have slowly made our way towards California on a poker-fueled road trip. Along the way I’ve been taking some time to reflect on the trip highlights and the poker scene across the United States. Last week we were in Vegas, and now we are in our ninth stop, California’s Coachella Valley.
The obvious poker destination heading west from Las Vegas is LA, and don’t worry, we’re getting there – that’s the final stop on our road trip. But for Zach, our friend Jon, and myself, a detour to play in a legendary game was necessary.
OK, “legendary” might be an overstatement. This game obviously doesn’t have the celebrities of a Molly’s Game or the nose-bleed stakes of Bobby’s Room (thankfully so, since we would have been out-priced and out-classed in either of those environments). Rather, the legend brewing at the Agua Caliente casino in Rancho Mirage, CA was that of a semi-private mid-stakes PLO/PLO8 game of the juiciest caliber.
Zach, as had others before him, stumbled upon this game by chance while attending his grandfather’s 90th birthday party about 10 minutes down the road. He checked the Bravo Poker Live app and saw a peculiar selection of games: a few $1/$2 NLH tables and one $5/$10 PLO/PLO8 table. Intrigued, he made the short journey and discovered something of an El Dorado for the mid-stakes pro.
This was the game any self-respecting PLO player would dream of. Loose players with deep pockets and strategic ignorance to match. Typically, many great games are formed around one or two whales. This was a game formed around one or two competent players with the whales making up the majority of the field. But poker, even great poker, is still a game of chance. Zach, in his one chance to fill his bag with this mythic gold, was robbed losing a $10k pot where he got his money in as a 5:1 favorite. Naturally, he was anxious to return, and Jon and I were eager to join him.
Along our road trip, we prepared for the game, studying PLO and PLO8 during long car rides through the South. We called friends, coaches, and anyone else we could think of to add to our already substantial edge. Worryingly, however, the game was rarely appearing on Bravo, maybe once a week. Was our detour going to be worth it? After weeks on the road and long sessions in Vegas, we considered skipping the Agua Caliente altogether to head straight for LA where we’d have beautiful weather and lots of things to do outside of playing poker. Ultimately, Zach’s commitment to see his grandfather was the deciding factor.
After an initial trip to the casino, we concluded that the game that had brought us across the country would be running once during our three-day stay. We arrived ready to play as soon as the game popped up on Bravo, but found a full game. We placed our names on this list and sat at a $1/$2 table to bide our time. The $1/$2 felt like an extremely sharp contrast to the promise of great action on the horizon. Adding to the strange feeling of sitting in this $1/$2 game were the chips. For whatever reason, the largest chip in play at these tables was a brown $2 chip. My $200 max buy-in was given to me as a full rack of brown chips. It was quite discomforting in the interim, but eventually seats opened up, first for Zach and then for myself, and it became clear that we had been delivered to the promised land.
The browns were turned to reds ($5 chips), greens ($25 chips), blacks ($100 chips) and purples ($500 chips) and the retired $1/$2 squatters were turned into delirious gamblers frenzied by the amount of money on the table. Moods swung violently as chips flew across the table, turning great friends into bitter adversaries and back again. Zach and I sat back, somewhat apart from the rest of the tumult, simply accumulating what we could along the way. A game of this nature promotes tight play as an effective counter-strategy, thus much of one’s time is dedicated to observation and taking notes.
By the time I had arrived, Zach had built up a stack and was playing some serious post-flop poker. I decided to short-stack the game to limit variance and was committing as much of my stack pre-flop with premium holdings as I possibly could. The strategy proved successful in the sense that I got all-in several times pre-flop with aces, but was less successful in terms of winning once I had put myself in such an advantageous position. A whale nicknamed “Magic” (for his propensity to dispel such odds) was the chief beneficiary of my misfortune.
Eventually, with Zach a few buy-ins ahead and myself a few bullets in, the fish grew tired of putting more money on the table. Perhaps feeling like a positive day was becoming out of reach, they punted off whatever was left and took their leave. At a certain point, with Zach coming out way ahead and me having successfully climbed out of the hole, the game organizers announced the conclusion of the evening and we took our leave.
In many ways this room felt a lot like Florida. The lower-stakes games felt like daytime activity for retirees while the higher-stakes games had a totally different feel. This room was particularly heavy on the daytime activity vibe. There was heavy participation in room contests relating to the current NBA playoffs. Many local events were advertised on the walls and attendance was discussed at the $1/$2 table. Also, it was the brightest poker room I’ve ever played in.
The PLO game had a much more exploitative feeling. There was a camaraderie among the game organizers (who were the more competent players) and the fish, but there was still an understanding of where the money was flowing. Rather than the somewhat delusional sense of equal competition historically skewed by variance that often arises in these settings, there was more of a acceptance around the transactional nature of this gambling. That, however, did not halt the excitement surrounding individual hands.
Overall, my experience in many other games along the trip was a lot more fun. Most other games are used to outsiders and are much less used to the exact same set of faces time after time. I felt most like an outsider by far at this casino. It was totally worth it.
Game Selection: 6/10
$1/$2 NLHE could easily be the biggest game in the room at any time. While some $2/$5 got off in our time there, it was not a constant in the room. The PLO/PLO8 game is a great draw, but it’s too big of a game for most and it doesn’t always run.
Game Quality: 9.5/10
$1/$2 is always a good game, but the $2/$5 and the PLO were exceptional. Our friend Jon, who got to play a lot of $2/$5 while we were in the PLO game, said it was the softest action he’s ever experienced at the $2/$5 level.
Table Atmosphere: 6.5/10
I’m normally the youngest at the table, but not normally by 30 years! For me, the atmosphere was quite dull outside of the PLO game, where the level of action kept a high-floor in terms of engagement.
Service/Amenities: 7/10
There was a soft drink station, which is great for someone who like me who drinks a lot of water but doesn’t like to go through 10 plastic bottles in a session. The food was fine, although they messed up Zach’s order in a way that was particularly devastating to him… I won’t get into the specifics here.
Location: 6/10
The Coachella Valley is really beautiful, but it is not convenient to get to. I suppose a great game has to have some barrier to entry, and being tucked away in a snoozy California town helps.
Overall: 7/10
As I explained above, the main attraction of Agua Caliente as a poker destination is the very special and lucrative semi-private PLO/PLO8 game. Much like the mythical El Dorado, it’s likely the rare few players who can claim to have had the privilege of experiencing said game. For the rest of the poker travelers coming upon the Agua Caliente poker room, there’s always the standard $1/$2 games you can find pretty much anywhere else on the map. But for the lucky few passersby who time things right, the California Gold Rush is still on.
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This article is brought to you with the help of Upswing Poker. We at Cardplayer Lifestyle would like to thank them so much for their support, and we encourage you to check out their site.
“Outs” is a term commonly used while playing poker. Though it’s usually discussed with regard to games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha, outs are also relevant to a casino game like video poker when in reference to the likelihood of catching the cards you need when drawing (e.g., to a straight or flush). Simply put, outs are the unseen cards remaining in the deck that will significantly improve a hand that is not deemed as the best hand at that point. Hopefully, catching one of your outs will gain you the winning hand.
This concept is best used after the flop, when your hand is better defined. (Then, you see your two hole cards and the three cards flopped – over 70 percent of your final hand.)
Suppose you’re playing poker online. You hold two hearts, and the flop gives you two more. Now you have four hearts; you need one more for the flush. Of course, it’s best if one of your hole cards is the Ace of hearts; then you can make the “nut” flush. Accounting for these four hearts, there remain nine more hearts – 9 outs!
There are charts available that list the card odds based on the number of outs; or, you can use the 4-2 Rule, which I prefer: With two cards to come (the turn and the river), assuming you would stay to the river, simply multiply your outs by 4. With 9 outs, then, the probability of making your flush is approximately 36% (9 x 4). So, expect to catch your flush about 36 out of 100 such hands. Then, the odds are approximately (100 – 36) divided by 36 = 1.8-to-1 against. (The more precise number is 1.86-to-1.) Round it off to 2-to-1 against making the flush. If you play much Hold’em, you soon know this information without doing any math.
So, he has flush draw, str8 draw, and an Ace he can catch. I only have to dodge 15 outs. Twice. He’s mathematically ahead, but I’m ahead now
— Jason Farkas (@face_poker71) November 5, 2017
In this example, before the flop, let’s assume there are 4 Big Blind (BB) bets in the pot. An early-position opens the betting on the flop and is called by one other player. Now there are 6 BB bets in the pot. Should you call to see the turn? Compare the pot odds, 6-to-1, to your card odds, 2-to-1 against. Since the pot odds are so much higher than your card odds, calling to see the turn is a “Positive Expectancy” bet. Most of the time, it will be highly profitable.
If there are three (or more) opponents staying to see the turn, you might even want to raise. Most likely, all of those opponents will call your raise. Thus, you are getting 3-to-1 “betting odds” on your raise versus your card odds of 2-to-1 against – thereby increasing your expected profit. In that case, the only time you might just call the bet on the flop is:
Of course, you could easily miss on the turn. Now you have just one more shot at it. Your card odds increase to about twice what they were before the turn. (Multiply your outs by 2 instead of 4.)
Now, it is appropriate to recognize the “implied” pot odds: How many more bets would go into the pot after you (hopefully) catch your flush on the river? You can only estimate (guess) that number, primarily based on the types of opponents still in the pot – loose versus tight – and the range of hands they might be playing. So long as the implied pot odds are higher than your card odds, you have a Positive Expectancy. By all means, call to see the river – and hope…
MORE, BY GEORGE: What about Your Outs?
There’s no denying that if I gamble, I prefer to do it on something with as many decision points as possible. Poker is a perfect example of this; raise, call or fold on any street and the decision tree grows almost exponentially.
Sports betting is also chock-full of decision points; things that change whether you are more or less likely to place the bet, but it’s not sports betting I want to talk about today.
I remember when I first started going to the casino to play a poker tournament, and on break I was just sitting at the table, waiting for the other players to come back from either a cigarette break or a short stint in the pit. The latter ones would come back and their tournament stack would be joined by a cash stack from whatever game they played.
As time has gone on, the opportunities to play table games myself have increased. Below, I’ll go through a couple of the games I have developed a real soft spot for.
For someone who likes decision points as much as he likes simplicity, blackjack is perfect. I don’t profess to have studied the style guide but I know simple things. 20 is good. Dealer showing a six is good. My twelve is going to make 22, I just know it.
So, if you’re looking for free blackjack strategy, you’ve come to the wrong guy. But what I will tell you is that for a simple came of ‘21’ there are a myriad of options. On some tables there’s a bonus if you hit 22. A table I played at recently gave you an automatic win – better than blackjack – if you drew three sevens. I once played at a Paddy Power free bet table, where the house put up the stack if you wanted to double your ten or eleven.
Another game, another decision point. Although this one comes with a sweat. I was always fascinated by poker players “sweating” their cards; knowing that it was a four-sided club or a picture-card diamond.
I fell in love with three-card quite recently in Vegas, after one night where I miraculously turned $20 in to $500 at the Mirage. Nothing beats looking down at an Ace and just plonking your money back on top and feeling happy with yourself. Until the dealer turns over a flush.
Or looking down at a king and feeling pretty happy. A king is good right? The dealer than turns over your cards and spreads three of them and suddenly you’re more than just “pretty happy” with your hand.
If you’re looking for decision points in roulette, think again. I have probably placed <20 numbers bets in my life. And that’s it! On a couple of occasions this summer, when walking through the hallowed hallways at the Rio I would ask my housemate “Red or Black” and each time he would duly pick a colour, I would place the table minimum, and start our day with a sweat.
In a stunning turn of events, I actually went five-from-five on these colour bets, which certainly puts a spring in your step when it comes to going about the rest of your day.
A minor footnote when it comes to roulette is that I do love to sweat the numbers. I have a, some might say, annoying habit of pointing at a table and announcing 22 Black. Then waiting to see what comes up. Twice in the last six months it has come up 22 Black and the assembled roulette players have looked back around at me with amazement.
So next time you’re at a roulette table and wondering just bet to place exactly. Go for 22. Black. High. Even.
Felipe Ramos is already known as one of the best poker players in the world. But what all of his accomplishments in the game won’t tell you is that he is also one of the best human beings I’ve ever had the privilege of getting to speak with.
I met up with him during the PokerStars Championship Barcelona just days after the August terrorist attack in the Las Ramblas area of the city that shocked Spain and the world. He was very close to that area on the day of the attack, and shared an incredible story of how he just narrowly missed being right in the epicenter of one of the darkest moments in Spain’s history.
Felipe exudes a warmness that is rare to see, fun to be around, and a joy to experience. But most of all, as the interview below illustrates, Felipe is a kind soul who has spent a long time being introspective about who he is, what he stands for, and how he can fight for what he believes in.
This interview with him was conducted impromptu when I noticed him sitting on the floor after busting one of the tournaments. I sat down next to him and we just started talking. He’s just that kind of guy — willing to give me over an hour of his time to speak about his poker career, passion for the environment, and thoughts on how he reconciles his love of charity and desire to do good with the aftermath of nearly being in the middle of such a shocking display of human cruelty.
You are very active on social media. What’s it like to have such a large fan base?
My Instagram is very active; people ask me all kinds of stuff. And they keep requesting favors. For example, sometimes I get people who ask me to help them with a poker tournament they are running. So if person sends me a flyer with all of the information, I will do things like use my Snapchat to help people do the promotion. It’s pretty cool. I’ll do things like an “Instagram show” where you the person can get three snaps to talk about what they are trying to do.
And you just do this for free?
Yeah. It’s like payback for all of the great things people have done for me.
I read your PokerStars bio and was surprised to learn you used to be in Finance. Is that natural transition to poker? Did you work as a trader?
Yes, I worked as a trader. But I worked in a bank for six years, and for the last three years I was a relationship manager for medium and large companies. So, I would be a company’s financial advisor within the bank. So, I could do whatever was needed. Say a company needed a payment solution; I would make sure they had it. If a company wanted to invest money, I would look at its profile and suggest the best investment. If a company wanted a loan, I handled that, too.
I liked the job. It required a lot of skill and was always busy. I’m very active, and hate doing one thing at a time. The only bad thing about that job was that commuting in Sao Paulo can be difficult. I had to visit all of my clients in their offices and it was always very stressful with horrible traffic. Or, I was sitting in an office every day. That’s not my thing.
It’s known that you’re active in charity. What are some of the charitable activities you enjoy?
I do a lot of charity work every day. I’m trying to do a little more nowadays. Today, I feel the pain and so it makes more sense to me. In the past, I used to do it without really having my heart in it. Today, I do environmental activism in Brazil, trying to protect forested areas and national parks.
I was working on getting some new laws blocked that would have done damage.
As a non-Brazilian, it’s always been interesting to me that the rainforest is such an integral part of the global environmental balance. At the same time, the way the world is governed, the rainforest is also within Brazil’s sovereign borders. So, in a way, you are the custodians of a precious resource. Does that make you proud? Fearful? Do you feel the weight of the responsibility? Do you not care?
I do care and I feel the weight. Before, when I mentioned that I didn’t have my heart into my charity work, I was talking about raising money to help out. I wasn’t doing anything specialized or trying to understand the issue. I was just a stupid guy trying to do nice things.
Nowadays, I know a lot. I’ve done a ton of research and have attached myself to many different environmental organizations. I don’t want to be politically involved with anything, so anytime there is a political decision I just walk away. But the reactions I get are still hard. I started to talk more about it on my social media, and it’s really not popular.
If there is a new law that will cause serious deforestation and I post about it, I will get at most 500 likes and maybe 1,500 sign-ups. But tomorrow, there is a players party; if post a picture there, it will be super popular and get tons of likes.
????? [Link/Translate] Como brasileiros devemos proteger nosso patrimônio. https://t.co/lsQCTvdvfx #TogetherForTheAmazon #JuntosPelaAmazonia pic.twitter.com/DGTwt44foI
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) August 26, 2017
Why do you think that is? Do you think people just don’t care? Or do they feel like it’s such a big problem they can’t do anything about it?
No, it’s because the issue doesn’t affect them right now, and so they don’t care. Because they feel like they can get away from it, that it’s not their problem and so it really isn’t a big issue. For example, there is a big rain forest called the Atlantic Forest that Brazil has a huge part of. How much do you think remains of that forest today?
I’m guessing you’re going to tell me a lot less than I’m going to want to hear…
11%, and people want to destroy more. And so my point is that if a company wants to do something that will create jobs or the government wants to do something like build a road, I’m going to say — stop. It doesn’t matter how many jobs you are going to create, you’re going to kill everyone else.
How do you balance being a PokerStars brand ambassador with your political activism? Where is your comfort level with that?
I don’t have any comfort level with it. I know I’m stepping into something that can get me in trouble, and I don’t care. A few people, when I post about global warming or something related to it, there are still some people who are going to go over my posts and say “you were bought,” and tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about. That I’m just some rich guy who should shut up.
But they have no idea… they know that I have a genuine interest in the subject but they still react that way. For instance in the Amazon, there is a big a portion of the population that believes destroying the rainforest is good, because they don’t have any job opportunities. So as long as they are destroying the forest there will be opportunity for them.
What kind of opportunities do they get?
Most of these people, when I post, they tell me that it’s easy for me to say because I live in a city and have a job, while they don’t except for the opportunities created by destroying the forest.
That’s the real problem, and it’s bigger than the government. It’s a culture problem. We need to separate out what’s important here; the government should try to provide people who can’t get a job with other types of jobs.
Why doesn’t it?
Because too many people only care about themselves. It’s been like that forever. I know Brazil is a developing country, but I still feel like we aren’t learning quickly enough. It’s hard to make things move if there are only a few people trying to do it.
So why do you keep fighting?
Because if you can reach more people, then there will be a little bit more light. My goal is not to move mountains. If I can get one person every day, just one person to change their mentality, they are going to go and talk to their friends and family and then it keeps growing.
Some people will only love/like you if you fit in their box. Today is a new opportunity/week to disappoint all of them, with kindness ??? pic.twitter.com/ccVrWJ0GV0
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) August 14, 2017
It’s really no different than poker. I was playing the WSOP Main Event this year and we played down to the last 300 players. Two years ago I lost a big hand on Day 5 which would have given me a top 10 stack. So this time, when it was late on Day 4, people were excited for me and telling me this was my time.
But then again this year, the last three hands I played, I checked back a full house in a moment of inspiration and my opponent had quads. Then I lost AA<44 and QQ<99 all-in on the flop, and I busted.
My ME ends: chk-behind nut-full on river (guy had quads), losing AA to 44 and QQ to 99 aipf. Feel pretty powerless right now, gg #WSOP2017 pic.twitter.com/Ss41eh6iHK
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) July 15, 2017
Most poker players won’t talk about that, but I need to and want to. I won’t just complain or hide. So I started talking about it, about how I was sad and mad that I wanted to win but couldn’t despite trying my best,
Some people will come back and tell me to stop complaining. Others will criticize me. But I’m opening myself to receiving this type of thing because I’m open and willing to talk about these kinds of things. So, I know it’s going to come. And I’m fine with that; I want that.
But you know what? I also woke up the next day after that to a bunch of messages from people telling me things like I had changed their life, because they weren’t going to show up to work, but then they saw my difficulties and started to believe they could go on, too.
That’s why I raise any subject, whether it’s poker or the environment.
Look who I ran into, and had breakfast w, one of the greatest South American poker players, and a really good guy: @FelipeMojave #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/sR223fnpwj
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) October 29, 2017
That’s amazing. How else would you say that poker mirrors life?
I don’t even really think of myself as just a poker player any more. I use the game to share what I do and inspire people to get better themselves. I think everything is related. I’m currently writing a book about how people can use poker in their personal lives and businesses.
Tempo, perseverança e 10 anos tentando vão fazer você parecer ser um sucesso da noite pro dia. pic.twitter.com/71mKpwAYon
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) October 26, 2017
Every time that I talk about poker either in front of a company, or when I do my private coaching, people get locked in and want to hear more. For example, I was hired by a trading company to speak for just four hours, and they ended up rehiring me to coach their entire executive board. They loved the applications the game can bring.
I also recently coached a soccer team in Brazil’s first division. I started talking about how my thought process works during a poker hand, and how they can do the same before they make a play — basically how to think properly when they play. The coach was amazed; we started comparing poker hands to strategic soccer plays.
And then they won the game using the play we had discussed during my coaching session! The coach sent me a message afterwards; it was insane!
Do you think people realize how important and valuable this foundational thinking can be to them, even if they aren’t in poker?
They have no idea. People don’t have any kind of idea what it means to be a professional poker player. They see you sitting at a table and think you’re gambling, or just having fun most of the time, or that you don’t have anything else to do.
When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I play poker. But then they ask me, “and what else?” They have no idea.
In fact, I would even say that the really nice thing is that most poker players don’t even think about the game that way. That’s the beauty.
You think that’s still the case today? Even at the level you are playing at?
Nope. Especially at this level.
I spent two years not having a sip of alcohol to prepare to play. I also did some work with a nutritionist and a tennis coach who came up with a diet for poker players. I actually got down to 7% body fat at one point, and people just assume that I was always like that. They don’t realize the work it takes to do things like that.
One of my best friends is a famous footballer who has access to all these kinds of amazing people. When they were in the Champions League two years ago, I was at the final and I went to the after-party. Everyone was going crazy drinking, I was drinking sparkling water.
People will never believe me. Only my friends who saw me do, and even they say I’m crazy.
So what’s your goal in poker? Are you looking to be considered the best player? Do you have a monetary goal?
I don’t care about money.
So are you looking for respect from the community?
No, I think I have that already. I’m a very accomplished poker player and I don’t worry about what people think.
So then what keeps you going?
My goal is to make people understand what poker is. To spread the word that our game is really good and healthy for everyone. That everyone can play, and to try and be a good ambassador for the game.
That’s my main goal.
“Vamos viver nossos sonhos… Temos tão pouco tempo”. ⏳⭐️?? #CBJR #LiveYourDreams pic.twitter.com/oWtfzrAf7L
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) October 5, 2017
And my second main goal is to try and be number one in the poker rankings. But it’s not for my ego. It’s because in Brazil we only have two sports, soccer and volleyball. We’ve always been the best in the world at these two sports, and that’s all Brazilians think about.
But there was also a professional tennis player from Brazil, Gustavo Kuerten. He was the first Brazilian player to win back-to-back majors and became #1 in the world. Everyone in Brazil was talking about him, and now we have a lot of great tennis courts, tennis schools, and people developing the sport.
I just want to do that. What he did for tennis, I want to do the same thing for poker.
Would you say that there’s a “Brazilian” way to play poker?
Yeah, 100%. The one thing I teach in my poker coaching, especially in the poker mentality seminar, is that people bring their personal lives to the table. Brazilians are very emotional, so it’s really hard for us to let go. This is why if we lose a hand against somebody twice, we tend to go on tilt.
AA x KK 🙁 mas depois de conhecer a turma do PokerFamily no HomeGame num dá pra chatear. Somos apaixonados por Poker, diversão, somos irmãos pic.twitter.com/pYCFDCU7Rw
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) July 30, 2017
But this also makes it really hard to be good at poker. I’m the exact opposite at the table, and sometimes people ask me if I’m really Brazilian. We have a very bad reputation as calling stations and bad players. We have no background in the game. I was the first Brazilian to cash in and appear on a televised event (EPT), and that was 10 years ago. I’m 34 now.
Where are you from?
New Jersey.
Especially you guys from New Jersey! You’ve been playing poker since when?
Since I was a young boy.
So there you go.
It’s also hard for Brazilians to travel, which is a huge barrier. If you really want to be a professional, you need to give 100% of yourself. 110%. And that’s really hard. You have to grind the lower levels of the tournament, and then you’ll bust anyway. Other times you build a stack and you still lose.
There’s a lot of variance involved; you can win a lot of hands in the beginning and then lose a big hand in a critical spot at the end. It’s very situational. In the long run, that doesn’t matter though. I’ve been very successful over my 10-year career, and I’ve still never won a really big event.
You have to put a lot of time into it, and time is the most precious thing you have. And you have to have your mind in great shape, too. If you don’t, you’re going to dump money 100% of the time. That was something that used to happen to me, too, even though I’m very good at separating things and blocking out outside influences. It’s a reality.
And 99.9% of people have no idea. They think poker depends on luck or that if they play enough events they will eventually win one. I want to show Brazilians that that isn’t the case.
How do you work on your technical game in the live area, without all the tools that online players use to collect and analyze hands?
When I started coaching people, I have a large number of questions they have to answer first so I can understand how they think. And if they don’t play online a lot, I make them play online so they can understand the stats and find the leaks in their game. So, I force them to do it. And if they are unwilling, then I tell them to go and hire someone else.
So basically, we develop a big portion of selected memory and then release people to the table to do the process on their own. And they become monsters; they know exactly what info they need to gather and how to gather it.
So do you improve your own game by coaching?
I started coaching because of that. I make more money playing that I do coaching. My time at the poker table is more valuable. But, I review my own game when I coach. And that’s what makes a good player — consistency. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best — if you aren’t interested in playing your best then you aren’t going to play well.
You have to play the game like if you lose the tournament, you are going to die. That’s the mental aspect for me; to better understand my own strategies through coaching, and develop them further. I get to process a lot of information from a lot of players, so I’m able to grow a lot more.
Right now, there are tons of people who coach at all levels and all buy-ins. That gives me a good idea of the state of the games across the entire poker ecosystem — $1Ks, Spin & Go’s, etc. I get all that information. So, I’m never outdated. That’s why I keep doing it.
My coaching business was actually doing so well that I needed to cut back on it. I wanted to remind people that I’m a poker player first, then a coach. Some other players decided to become coaches instead of playing, but I went the other way.
Right now I’m just trying to improve my own theory and game so that I can coach even better in the future.
I heard that you were at Las Ramblas during this past August’s terrorist attack in Barcelona. Would you be willing to share your story?
Basically, it was a normal day in my life. I came to play in one of the $10K high roller events. I woke up a little late, which I don’t mind in those events, and when I got to the casino I saw one of my best friends from Brazil out in front. It was very funny because I was actually riding a bike and taking a photo for my social media accounts when all of a sudden I saw him. So I went over and after catching up I suggested we go into the casino and buy in to the tournament.
But he said that he was actually an alternate for the day, and that he could only play Day 1C, which was the next day at noon. So I said, OK, great, we have the day off. And he asks me “what should we do?” It was already later in the afternoon, so I said that because it doesn’t get dark here until really late we should go buy a guitar. This is something new I’ve been doing — everywhere I go, I buy a guitar and play and then donate it to charity afterwards. So I suggested we buy one, head to the beach, and have a great time. He thought it was a great idea.
Mondays in Barcelona be like… ??? pic.twitter.com/P1N4lR60lB
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) August 21, 2017
He was with his sister, and his wife was actually doing some shopping elsewhere because she thought he would be playing in the event. So, his sister suggests we get a taxi, go pick her up, buy a guitar, and go to the beach. I said that was a great idea, but because it was such a nice day out we should all rent a bike and go biking instead. My friend was complaining that it was too late; but I asked him — when the last time was that he rode a bike? He said it had been over 10 years. So I said, great, let’s get a bike. And he agreed.
So we all go rent a bike and go biking through the city towards Las Ramblas where my friend’s wife is supposed to be. As we get closer, we start to hearing all the noise; we see people running over and screaming and asking if we’ve seen people who look like members of their family or their friends. Still, we have no idea what’s going on. And then we learn that there is a terrorist attack going on.
I started to shake and we all became instantly emotional. The thing was we were so close but we weren’t actually right there, so we couldn’t totally see what was going on. And then we stopped for like five minutes and we see helicopters, police cars, ambulances. The police started isolating the area, so we knew that something really serious had happened but we still weren’t sure what.
Then suddenly, I started getting messages on Instagram saying “you’re right in the middle of a terrorist attack, get out there.” My dad sent me a message asking where I was; asking if I was still inside the casino. At that point, we were aware (something was going on) but we still didn’t know what exactly had happened. Then I saw a video on social media what had happened. All of us started crying. After a little bit of time had gone by we got back on the bikes and rode back to the casino.
Was there any sense of communal grief or was everyone still in so much shock that they were just running?
It was a bad experience in that way as well. My friend’s wife was actually locked in a store when we got there, and they weren’t letting anyone in or out. They said it was for security reasons, but I don’t understand that. All I saw was everyone taking care of themselves. I didn’t see anyone helping anyone; anyone trying to help. What I saw was people replying to my Instagram posts saying “get closer! We want to see!” I saw some people actually doing that, trying to get closer so they could get photos for their own social media accounts.
I saw the worst. I’ll tell you, that part made me more sad than anything. Because I know, I know I’m not a doctor or a policeman and I can’t help in that way. But I don’t need to be only concerned about myself in that moment, either. I saw a lot of people acting in an individualist capacity, which made me really, really sad.
It’s really interesting you say that. How do you keep a sense of positivity and hope? How do you reconcile your desire to help people with seeing the worst in them on social media?
I think I’m going to answer that question by telling another story and then coming back to it.
The next day, I had to play in the tournament. So, I came to play and lost count of how many times I lost track of the game because I was looking at my phone. I cried at the table; people had to remind me when it was my turn to act. Then, on my dinner break, I decided to go check out the exact location of the guitar store. I knew the store was on Las Ramblas, but I had no idea if it was far away and nothing would have happened to me if I had been there or if it was at epicenter of the attack.
So I walked there and I saw that the store was exactly where the attack had happened. I either would have been inside the store — which might have saved my life — or, we would have been walking right on the street right where it happened. There was a 100% chance that I would have been in the middle of the attack and dying right there. We were just late because we decided to go by bike. If we had gone by cab, we would have been there exactly at the same time as the attack.
And so that’s why I know, figuratively speaking, that the bike saved my life.
Aproveitei meu intervalo do jantar para prestar minhas homenagens no local. Que Deus cuide e proteja. #PrayForBarcelona ??????♥️ pic.twitter.com/QdQa2Xbs7S
— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) August 19, 2017
When I was walking back and saw all the candles and flowers and everything, I was instantly moved. People’s families were there, TV was there; it was very upsetting. People were glad I am alive, but my reply was that my life isn’t worth any more than the lives of those who died. So, it’s the same thing to me as if I had died. And it’s not only that; it could happen to anyone, but people still think that people are different. It’s insane to me. Even people who would agree with that statement will still act differently.
It’s the same thing as when people say they are going to plant a tree to save the forest, even while 90% of the forest is being cut down. It shouldn’t matter if the trees are being cut to feed your family — you still shouldn’t want the tree to be cut. That’s the point. Because people are only thinking about themselves, even in matters that concern everyone.
So in the end, I had a tattoo of a bike done to remind myself that I need to be more active and happy, regardless of the outcome of stuff that happened in my life. That I can never be sad about busting a poker tournament — because so many people would love to be in my position. And that’s why I need to keep going.
???????????
Talvez a bicicleta que salvou a minha vida e a de meus amigos. Ofereço as flores… #PrayForBarcelona https://t.co/CyWpR36bjo pic.twitter.com/k44kYXTvCg— Felipe Mojave Ramos (@FelipeMojave) August 18, 2017
That’s why I’m doing this interview. Because I was just playing and was telling people on my Instagram that I can’t go on playing today. And they wrote back and said “yes, you can; you can play, you can win, you talk about the difficulties and people will hear you. You can do this because you are living my dream.”
And so people remind me that I need to keep going. And that’s the only way we can all make the world better.
Texas Hold’em and Omaha are the games that pretty much every poker player knows, and both variants are far more popular than anything else these days. However, that should not discourage you from playing or at least trying other different poker games online.
Quite the contrary; you can have so much fun playing less popular poker variants! You might even fall in love with these games just like I did. So, without further ado, here are three awesome poker variants that I recommend you try playing.
If you’re purely a Hold’em or Omaha player, Razz is quite a different game from what you are used to seeing. With that said, it does have a steadily growing player base. Importantly, there are no community cards in Razz; everyone plays his/her own hand. In terms of how the cards are dealt, the game is very similar to 7-Card Stud.
At the start of the hand, each player is dealt two face-down cards and one face-up. After a betting round, three more face-up cards are dealt to each player remaining in the hand (one at a time), with additional betting rounds after each street. A seventh, final card is dealt to each remaining player face-down, followed by a final betting round. By the end of the hand, each player remaining will see four of their opponents’ seven cards.
In my opinion, what makes Razz so awesome is that the winner of each hand is actually the player with the worst possible combination, not the best one, as in most other poker variants. Moreover, in this game, straights and flushes do not count against you. Thus, the best possible Razz hand is A 2 3 4 5.
So, when playing Razz, you’re aiming to avoid pairs and instead trying to catch the lowest possible cards. This “new approach” to poker is certainly an adjustment for seasoned Hold’em/Omaha players (all of a sudden, you’ll be upset, instead of happy, when you pair up), but there’s still plenty of skill involved in Razz.
As the name suggests, 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball is a draw poker game. You’re likely familiar with the classic 5-Card Draw, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
Gameplay is relatively simple. Everyone is dealt five cards face-down, and betting starts just like in any Texas Hold’em game. After the first betting round, each player who is still in hand can discard any amount of cards and drew new ones, or “stand pat” by keeping all his/her cards. There are three drawing rounds in total, and there’s a round of betting after each. Thus, you have three chances to draw new cards and improve your hand, but you’ll usually “have to pay” for the opportunity.
Much like Razz, the lowest possible combination wins in this game as well. However, in 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, straights and flushes do count against you. So if you’ve got 3 4 5 6 7, you’ve actually got a very weak hand and must draw to improve. Another crucial thing to remember about this game is that aces only play high, with twos being the lowest card. In other words, if you’re dealt an ace, get rid of it!
The game’s rules thus make 2 3 4 5 7 the best possible combination; hence the game’s name.
Irish Poker is chock full of action This will probably be the easiest variant for you to pick up from the ones presented in this article, as it’s very similar to Texas Hold’em and Omaha. Actually, some would say that it takes the best features of both games and combines them into one.
In Irish Poker you are dealt four cards, just like in Omaha. Play begins like any flop game, with a betting round. What makes Irish Poker unique is what happens after the flop. Once you see the community cards, you have to muck two hole cards from your original four. Thereafter, play continues like in Texas Hold’em. As each player starts out with four cards, that means holdings will usually be a lot better among the remaining players after the flop. You won’t be sitting there “bored” and waiting for pocket aces; rather there’s likely going to be tons of action.
With so much action in Irish Poker, the game practically guarantees a good time. While you likely won’t find this game available in a live poker room or even at the best online poker real money sites, it will be a great addition to your home games with friends. Just try it, and I am confident you will start developing more of a taste for the game with each new hand you play.
As you see, there are plenty of poker games you can play besides Hold’em and Omaha while still ensuring you’ll have fun at the table. In general, it’s always good to be up for trying new poker games. Beyond having a good time playing them, you’ll also learn new things about poker that may end up helping you in your “main” games of Hold’em and Omaha. Have fun, and good luck!
Online gambling in the United States is about to change dramatically over the next couple of years. With Pennsylvania slated to become the next state to regulate online gambling, players in the United States looking to play at the top casino online will have more choices than ever.
PA House passes gaming reform bill by a vote of 109-72.
— Steve Ruddock (@SteveRuddock) October 26, 2017
In the short-term, Pennsylvania will be the biggest winner as iGaming sites begin operation and growing relationships with players. Taking a long-term outlook, the entrance of Pennsylvania into the regulated iGaming market will have broad interstate implications and should finally start the national growth of online poker that the industry has been anticipating since Black Friday.
Fingers crossed. I’m tired of (a) having to drive to NJ to play, and (b) sitting around waiting for my Spin & Gos to fill.
— Eric Raskin (@EricRaskin) October 26, 2017
Once Pennsylvania establishes online gambling regulations and starts taking licensing requests, expect PokerStars to be one of the first providers to apply. While there’s been little news thus far of their Pennsylvania plans, expect The Stars Group to ramp up their negotiations to find a partner casino and start the ball rolling on penetrating the PA market.
within the regional gaming industry. The Stars Group looks forward to working with Pennsylvania and its gaming regulators 3/4
— Eric Hollreiser (@erichollreiser) October 26, 2017
What this should eventually lead to is an interstate partnership between PokerStars NJ and PokerStars PA to create one of the largest regulated online poker networks in the United States. PokerStars NJ presently ranks sixth in the US for online poker sites according to PokerScout.
PokerStars PA should pull in double to possibly even triple the traffic of NJ. A combined PA-NJ PokerStars network would provide a viable player pool that will compete with unregulated networks such as Winning and Chico. However, PokerStars may wind up playing second fiddle to WSOP.com.
You may have already heard that New Jersey has signed an interstate compact with both Nevada and Delaware. This should eventually result in WSOP NJ, WSOP NV, and the DE iPoker Network joining forces to become the fourth-largest regulated online poker network in the nation. The present interstate poker network ranks fifth while WSOP NJ ranks eighth.
Should WSOP.com expand to include WSOP PA, that network would not only have a stranglehold on the fourth spot but would provide players with a second viable option for regulated online poker.
Remember when PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker used to battle it out for supremacy in online poker? Pennsylvania players can expect the same level of competition between the two regulated networks. While the PokerStars network would have the backing of the World’s Largest Poker Site, the WSOP network would have the advantage of including player pools from Nevada and Delaware.
There was a time when some thought that the NV/DE network was a bit of a joke. After both NJ and PA join such a network, players will be laughing all the way to the bank.
RT @WSOP: Statement regarding news of interstate compact pertaining to @WSOPcom players in Nevada and New Jersey: https://t.co/uN15Jp2HvZ pic.twitter.com/tk6j6jopwG
— Bill Rini (@billrini)
It’s no secret that online poker is not the cash cow that some have hyped it to be in the past. Casino games are always going to be king of the gambling world. However, with the addition of Pennsylvania to the regulated market and eventually what should be a pair of interstate networks, online poker may start becoming a more attractive piece of iGaming legislation.
No longer will states have to solely rely on online poker player pools in their state, but now they will have up to two viable options for an interstate network. After Pennsylvania joins, interstate networks will be robust enough for iGaming proponents to use as an extra bargaining chip.
READ MORE: 5 People to Consider for Pennsylvania Online Poker Sponsorships
Few are naive enough to think that online poker alone will sell iGaming to other states. However, a pair of robust interstate networks could provide that “little something extra” that could persuade some lawmakers to take a chance.
To borrow a line from former WCW and WWE Champion Goldberg, “Who’s Next?” As already alluded to, the passage of iGaming legislation in Pennsylvania will likely be a springboard for other states to pass similar legislation. The question now is which state will pull the trigger first?
States like Michigan, Illinois, and New Hampshire are presently considering iGaming while other states like New York, California, and West Virginia have unsuccessfully floated iGaming measures over the last two years.
Despite various reports regarding present regulatory efforts, it is hard to see any states pulling the trigger before the end of 2017. That’s not a negative viewpoint, but rather a realistic one (there’s just a couple months left to the year after all). However, 2018 could be a banner year for our industry depending on how motivated lawmakers become in some areas.
The passing of iGaming legislation in Pennsylvania should light a fire under lawmakers in New York, Massachusetts, and even West Virginia as three states in the Northeast now have regulated iGaming. Those states wishing to keep pace will need to act fast or risk falling behind.
With Pennsylvania now on board, will California lawmakers and tribal interests put aside their squabbling and finally come to a compromise on iGaming? California could have easily been at least the fourth state to regulate iGaming, but now they risk falling far down the list if they continue to kick the issue down the road.
In sum, the states to watch in 2018 will include New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, West Virginia, and California should they decide to start discussing the matter seriously. My personal estimate is we will see at least two additional states regulate online gambling in 2018. With any luck, that number will prove to be a conservative guess.
Who said learning how to be a better poker player had to be boring? Long gone are the days of those boring training videos, where some poker wizard drones on unenthusiastically in a monotone voice, unnecessarily crunching equities to the thousandth decimal point. Of course these types of videos still exist and will always serve their purpose, but training courses like these also come at a cost. A new form of poker media/content has exploded in recent years: “poker vlogs.” Poker vlogs are great because unlike the aforementioned training videos, they appeal much more to the recreational player.
A poker vlog is produced through the medium of a camera documenting everyday life as a poker player. Poker vlogs are educational, adding insight beyond what any training video will provide, as you are able to witness the intangibles required to make it as a professional poker player beyond the basic fundamentals and GTO strategies. Poker vlogs are highly entertaining, with episodes usually ranging anywhere from 10-30 minutes in length. Did I mention they are free to watch?
READ MORE: Behind the scenes of Daniel Negreanu’s 2017 WSOP poker vlog
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play live poker professionally? Poker vlogs give you a bird’s eye view of what the grind looks like close up, on a day-to-day basis, in its rawest form. It is not the the glamorous depiction of poker you see on TV where guys like Chris Moneymaker satellite into the Main Event and navigate their way through a large tournament field to win millions of dollars. Poker vlogs show you the good, bad, and ugly of what the grind really looks like.
Most poker vloggers are your everyday, blue collar, live low-stakes No-Limit Hold’em poker players. Poker vlogs allow you to vicariously live through each of their journeys, all of which are unique in their own right. The great thing about the current landscape of poker vlogs is that there is a wide array of choices. You have guys of varying skill levels playing $1/2 NL, $2/5 NL, 5/10 NL, $40/80 Limit, and PLO. There are also a few sickos who play the nosebleed stakes, including the likes of Doug Polk, Matt Berkey, and Daniel Negreanu.
In short, there is a poker vlogger for everyone depending on what you are looking for, and who resonates with you the most. Coming to you from the top poker markets across the US including; Las Vegas, Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, the East Coast, the Midwest, and South Florida, the options are endless.
The recipe for a good poker vlog tends to be the same across the board. A good, engaging on-camera persona with creative editing skills, quality hand histories, and of course the random moments of comedic gold. So where, and whom do I start watching, you may be asking yourself? Below I have included a few options, and cherry-picked an episode from each respective vlogger that encapsulates some of their strengths.
Andrew Neeme
Andrew Neeme is the gold standard of poker vlogs. He is the consensus top poker vlogger, as evidenced by his subscriber count of 72,000+ as of writing this article. When you do venture down the rabbit hole of poker vlogs, starting with Andrew is a pretty safe bet. When it comes to the recipe for a high-quality poker vlog, Andrew has it all. Residing in Las Vegas, NV, Andrew is a local $5/10 NL crusher, which is very respectable considering the $5/10 games in Vegas are some of the toughest in the country. He has the perfect combination of cinematography skills, editing chops, and next level hand history analysis. He is the Anthony Bourdain of poker vlogs, often taking his vlog on the road to places like San Diego, LA, New Orleans, Detroit, Sacramento, Arizona, and even overseas to Barcelona and London.
READ MORE: Interview with Andrew Neeme
Tim “TheTrooper97” Watts
You can’t speak of poker vlogs and not mention TheTrooper97. Without TheTrooper97, the poker vlog boom and phenomenon might not even exist. TheTrooper97 is the OG and inspiration behind all of the current vloggers. He is the pioneer and brains behind the current format most poker vloggers follow. At one time he had a monopoly on the market, as the only vlogger for nearly two years, before other people decided to take a shot at it themselves.
READ MORE: Interview with Tim “TheTrooper97” Watts
Some of his oldest videos actually date back almost five years, but his true journey started a little over two years ago when he decided to up and leave everything in Jacksonville, Florida and head West to Las Vegas with only $2,000 to his name and a dream. I will spare you any spoilers of what happened next, but as you can imagine the evolution of his journey gets pretty interesting from there. TheTrooper97 has one of the biggest personalities of all of the poker vloggers, which makes him a very entertaining character. TheTrooper97’s audience is smaller than Neeme’s, with a subscriber count of 29,000+. Noentheless, TheTrooper97 is the only vlogger who pumps out nearly daily vlogs, with over 800(!) archived on his YouTube channel. He mainly plays $1/2 NL, and is still living in Las Vegas, so head over and check him out if this sounds interesting to you.
Brad Owen
Next up is Brad Owen, sitting at a cool 25,000+ subscriber base. Brad also resides in Las Vegas, and mainly plays $2/5 NL and $5/10 NL. Brad’s strengths lie in his creative comedic skits that have included guest appearances from Andrew Neeme, and the infamous Doug Polk. Brad’s best and most valuable attribute for viewers is his excellent hand history analysis. Brad and Andrew offer some of the best hand analysis in the game. They take you through their thoughts in game, and are humble enough to admit their mistakes afterwards. Despite being crushers, it is refreshing as a viewer to know that everyone makes mistakes, even winning players.
You can view poker vlogs on YouTube, or 9to5poker.com. 9to5poker is a poker vlog website dedicated to all things poker vlog-related. They host all of your favorite poker vlogs, uploaded the moment they are released, and are organized for convenient viewing if you are a poker vlog junkie like me. There are a lot of other vloggers putting out great content beyond the guys mentioned above. A few honorable mentions go to PokerPriest, Jaman Burton, Matt Vaughan, Ryan Frechette, Solve For Why, and Jeff Boski. Check them all out, and see who you like the best. Enjoy!
If it’s an odd-numbered year, it must mean that the World Series of Poker Europe is on the agenda. Now in its 10th incarnation (the first WSOP-E was played in 2007), the WSOP-E is visiting its fourth different country (following London, United Kingdom, Cannes and Paris, France, and Berlin, Germany) in stopping at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. The series began just a few days ago and it will be running until November 10. The eyes of the poker world will be watching the largest poker enclave in Europe as the world descends for the chance at winning one of poker’s greatest titles.
Shuffle Up and Deal! The 2017 World Series of Poker Europe is officially underway!
— WSOP (@WSOP) October 19, 2017
But what, specifically, should we watch for? Here’s three things that you should keep your eye on as the 2017 WSOP-E schedule rolls out.
One of the most difficult things to gauge in advance of any international tournament series is whether the players will come out for said events. There’s arguably nothing worse for poker than to put on a tournament and not have enough players show up to take part. With this in mind, WSOP-E officials must be able to balance the uniqueness of the European market with the bottom line.
King’s Casino and WSOP-E officials have put up a grand total of €17 million in guarantees on the 11 events that make up the festival schedule, hoping that the guaranteed money will bring out droves of players. Of course, No Limit Hold’em is going to dominate the schedule and, so far, it has done well. Event #1, the €1,000 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack tournament, had a €500,000 guarantee on its head that was shattered when 561 entries were logged (players could re-enter the tournament on the subsequent day if they were eliminated on Day 1A or 1B).
The real test will be with the non-Hold’em tournaments. Today marked the start of the €550 Pot Limit Omaha tournament (Event #2) which should have a great deal of success due to the popularity of the Omaha discipline of poker in Europe. There are two more Omaha tournaments on the schedule (a €2,000 Eight Max and a €1,000 Hi/Lo version) as well as the penultimate event, the €10,000 Main Event, which has already been seeded with a €4 million guarantee. These tournaments could be the ones that make or break the 2017 WSOP-E.
Coming into the final 11 events of the overall WSOP, the battle for the WSOP Player of the Year award has become a hotly contested issue in particular because of who is leading it.
A fight for Player of the Year. Chris Ferguson (1st), Ryan Hughes (2nd), & John Racener (4th) are all in Flight A.https://t.co/sCeVpvrdMX
— WSOP (@WSOP) October 19, 2017
Chris Ferguson, one of the people allegedly tied to the fall of the original Full Tilt Poker during “Black Friday,” has surreptitiously stepped back to the WSOP felt and done quite well. In Las Vegas this summer, Ferguson serially cashed at the Rio, eventually making it to the money 17 times, to rack up 898.46 points. That was good enough to take the lead heading over to Rozvadov, but it wasn’t without controversy.
Because of his proximity to the Full Tilt Poker situation and his continued non-apology that he has maintained since returning to the WSOP felt (the WSOP is the only schedule he has played in the last two years; prior to the 2016 WSOP, Ferguson had not cashed in a tournament since 2010), Ferguson has received a great deal of vitriol from the poker community regarding the potential for him to receive the POY award. There are no rules that would preclude Ferguson receiving the award, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t players looking to take him down.
Just arrived to @PokerroomKings for the WSOPE…200 tables in the poker arena and chills watching them setup final table area #POYhereIcome
— John Racener (@racener) October 18, 2017
John Racener went to Rozvadov with the express idea of taking down Ferguson and he is within a min-cash of catching the 2001 WSOP Main Event winner. But it is Ryan Hughes, who had 15 cashes at the WSOP this summer, that has drawn first blood with a 20th place finish in Event #1. Ferguson, for his part, is certainly still in the thick of things. Others in contention for the award include John Monnette (who has already declared he will not participate in Rozvadov, along with current seventh-place contender Daniel Negreanu), Raymond Henson and Alex Foxen (who is on the grounds in the Czech Republic).
Ryan Hughes is the new WSOP POY leader, but he busted the €550 PLO while Chris Ferguson is still in, meaning a mincash puts him back in 1st
— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) October 23, 2017
In a departure for the WSOP, the host King’s Casino has put a guarantee on the WSOP-E Main Event. The €4 million guarantee represents the first time that there has been a guaranteed prize pool on the penultimate event of a major WSOP tournament schedule and, with the €10,000 buy in, should see a throng of players come out. The (€4 million) question, then, is are there 400 players (the break-even mark) who will be able to take part in the tournament? While that’s not something you can bet on at destinations like this site here, it’s nonetheless intriguing.
In the previous eight runnings of the WSOP-E Main Event, only twice – in 2011 and 2012 when the tournament was in Cannes, France – has the number of players passed the 400-player mark (a massive 593 in 2011 and 420 in 2012). The last time that the WSOP-E Main Event was held, only 313 players stepped to the fore for the tournament. Thus, King’s Casino is taking a pretty big risk that their poker palace and the lure of the WSOP will be enough to bring the players out.
Over the next three weeks, the WSOP Europe promises to provide more history for the lauded event. It will also provide excitement for the players and, of course, for all you poker fans out there. Be sure to check out all the action via live stream.
The first live stream of the 2017 WSOP Europe is on Monday! Full streaming schedule available here: https://t.co/K58kq9Kz4u
— WSOP (@WSOP) October 20, 2017