Most players who start a hand with 25 or more big blinds seem to be paying attention to two things: what are my cards and has anyone raised so far. I am not going to knock these two pieces of information. It helps in making your pre-flop decisions to know what the action has been so far, and what are the cards you are holding, and I would add, probably in that order of importance. However, it is a very a small piece of what one should be considering when making their decision to raise, call or fold in a poker game.

 What players are not considering are things related to stack sizes. How much did that person just raise in relation to their stack? Will they be committed on any flop? On any re-raise? Another way of thinking of this question, will I have any fold-equity at any time during this hand? Will I only win by having the best hand?  In relation to odds, set mining or playing small suited connectors require deep stack play, at least 10 times the bet for set mining and at least 20 times the bet for suited connectors.  Remember, both you and an opponent have to have those stack sizes for it to be close to mathematically correct (I know we’ve had discussions about whether we need much deeper stacks for set mining, but these are just rules of thumb for easier math at the table).

 Time and time again I see players calling with hands that are probably dominated or behind, but not considering whether players have the correct size stacks to offer them implied odds to play their hands.  Now, if they were in position, and attempted a well-timed bluff with a three bet, that would not require implied odds, but it does still require the opponent to have enough of a stack to have fold equity and to be the type of player that is able to fold to a 3bet.

 But that’s the issue with our second point, the typical Michigan player is playing too passively.  Too many times I’ve heard players complain after a hand where they knew they were ahead but their opponent made their draw, usually without a bet on the turn. Why just call when you think you’re ahead, especially in a situation where your hand is vulnerable to a draw?  Also, if you’re not sure if you’re ahead because of your kicker or the type of player that is raising you, folding top pair should be a consideration and maybe revisiting if you’re playing too many dominated hands (e.g., KQ, KJ, QJ, KT, QT, etc.) in raised pots.

 This category of weak play includes plays we’ve seen from many Michigan players: limping out of position, calling raises from loose players with medium pairs from late position, just calling or limping with premium hands without a plan, not raising draws in position on the flop, not betting when checked to on the turn, not betting when opponents have checked on two streets, etc.  The bottom line is that just too many opportunities to bet go by the way side. I think of the main causes of passive play is that so many players are playing with “scared money”.

 Scared money is very common at NLHE. People are not playing to maximize profits, so they come to the game just for fun and with less than one buy-in.  Also, if you can afford a full buy-in, why buy-in for a little at a time? You are taking away your ability to bet/fold, the most winning strategy at low stakes NLHE right now. If you don’t want to bust out too early, or lose all the money on the table, why play NLHE? Limit Hold’Em or Limit Omaha might be more your game. I try to tell friends that play NLHE, the point of the game is to get your stack in the middle. If you’re adverse to getting it in, this is not your game. The ideal NLHE line is to raise pre-flop so you can bet enough on the flop and get called, and then have a stack to pot ratio to get your stack in on the turn or river with a call from a hand that you have beat. If you’re not looking for the opportunity to play this line, you’re probably playing too passively.

 I think the mistakes weak poker players continue to make in cash games have to do with playing too passively and not paying attention to stack sizes.  Too many times I see players get into difficult situations because they didn’t realize that there was no way that their opponent was folding.  Many Michigan players also play too passively, allowing their opponents to get to cheap showdowns and not getting paid enough money with the top of their range.  Try not to be one of these players, and you should see your profits begin to grow!

I got my second wind started upon looking down at my very first hand: pocket queens.  There was a raise from early position to $13, and there was a lot surprised looks around the table, like what, you can raise?  Imagine the looks I got when I popped it to $30 from the cut-off.  I believe someone even said in disbelief, “Thirty dollars?”  The original raiser thought for a moment and then called.  We were heads up on the flop which comes Kd-5h-4h.  Pretty wet, but my opponent checks as expected.  I’m thinking in my head, is this the way this is going to start? I’m going to spend $70 on a 3-bet and continuation bet only to fold to a jam with KQ or AK?  Still, I know this is a good flop for me even if I had air, so I bet for value $40, and my opponent thinks for a moment and says as he folds, “I think I was behind from the start.” Smaller pocket pair, obviously.

It only got better from there.   I played tight for an orbit, and then raised with KJ, hit a jack high flop and got two streets of value.  I raised with A6hh, got three callers. Someone donks on the flop with a nine high board with two hearts.  I raise in position to get a free card on the river, get called by the bettor, make my flush on the turn and get two more streets of value.

One of the biggest pots I won I had pocket jacks in the big blind.  It got raised from middle position by an older lady who was pretty rocky to $22.  Had to be a big pocket pair.  I decided that I didn’t want to let her shove on me pre-flop so I just called to set mine.  We got one more caller and the flop comes Q-J-4 rainbow.  I check, another player checks and she bets $35 very confidently.  I am pretty sure she’s not folding, so I declare all in. The other player folds and the old lady snap calls with her aces.  I show her the bad news, and I hold as she laments how she always loses with aces.

Another hand I feel kind of bad stacking another lady at the table as she just went to the ATM for less than a full buy-in when we get into this hand.  I raise to $10 with pocket eights from middle position and get called by the young lady and two others in late position. Pot is about $40 and the flop comes K-8-2 two hearts.   I bet $25 and the young lady calls with only $50 behind.  The turn is a 6 of clubs, and I bet another $25.  She calls and the river is another blank. I’m thinking she might have been on a heart draw and will give up on the river, but when I bet $25 again, she makes the crying call and sees the bad news and shows her K-T.

Yet one more hand I make a set of four on an ace high board, get called by what I’m pretty sure is an ace.  The turn is another ace and there’s no need to slow play, I jam and get called by trip aces and win with my fours full of aces.  I run good.

I am pretty happy to move to the main game with my $700 where the bigger stacks are playing.  I grind out another $66 in a game that’s looks to have a lot of gamble (straddles on half the hands, lots of loose calls), but post flop it’s very nitty.  My friends don’t make it to the poker room after all, so I call it a night and book what looks to be a promising start to May after a pretty good April.

I have had a recent couple of big upswings in April that brought me back to the black on my winnings for the year, although my hourly rate is atrocious. Bankroll is anemic to say the least, but at least my confidence is high after a winning February, March, and now a big April. Yes, January was that bad.

Even though my last two sessions have been losers, I’ve felt really good about my play.  This weekend I played a private game that was a lot of fun. Play was dealers choice, round by round and mostly PLO8, PLO, PL Stud 8 (yes, pot limit), and PLHE was played. Stakes were small .25/.50, but it wasn’t unusual to have double straddles at the table.

I started the day with $25, playing limit hold’em, Omaha 8, and Stud 8 for a few hours so no one would bust too early. After some terrific food from the host, we switched to pot limit games. At the time my stack had come down from $150 to about $45, and most people were rebuying to 100bb stacks. Win early and lose late is my motto.

I actually built my stack to nearly $200, showing some bluffs early and catching good on some big pots. But then I started playing too loosely and ended up getting stacked when I got my money in with a set and a flush draw against top two pair. My opponent hits the miracle card on the river, and I rebuy for $200.

I get my stack in again in the Holdem round against the same opponent with AcTs, on a Tc6c4s board when the turn is the 4c. It is a great card for my hand and I shove. My opponent is reluctant, but he calls with T8, and of course catches a ten on the river for a chop.

It was just one of those nights where I got my opponents to do as I wished but my hands didn’t hold up when it really counted. Finally, the last hand of the night is announced. I’m down about $40 for the night at this point, so not too bad. I am in the small blind and call the raise from the button (same opponent as the other two hands) with 68cc.  We go to the flop four handed.  I have a little under $200, villain has me covered.  Flop is 5d-7c-9c. I can hardly believe it.  Flopped the nuts with the straight flush re-draw on the last hand of the night.  I check to the raiser.  The button decides to bet the pot: about $32. I have two others to act behind me, and they don’t look interested in the pot. We’re probably going heads up to the turn, so I need to build the pot enough to get the chips in on the turn. I min-raise to $64 hoping to get a call from an over pair.  Everyone folds to the button, who deliberates for all of two seconds before asking me how much I have and pushing all-in.  Snap call, and I see that he actually has a real hand, AKcc. Turn is the 3 of clubs, river is a blank, and I go home broke on the last hand of the night.

I played my first session of straight PLO last week, and it was a little of a mixed blessing. It was great because I recorded my first winning session of PLO. I’ve played PLO as part of a mix a lot in the past two years, but any time I played it straight up, I had lost.

It was not as good for improving my game because I ran so good. I must have flopped top set six or seven times throughout the night. The first hand where I got my stack in I had middle set on the flop, turned the open ended straight draw (OESD), and hit it on the river for the nuts. I was ahead the whole hand, but again, I was just running good.

It was a mixed blessing because I’m really interested in improving my PLO game, and the run good made it difficult to differentiate between good luck and good play. One change to my game that I wanted to try was betting less when I had a hand I could continue to the turn, but that had poor or no redraws, like a set or top two pair. In the past I might have bet pot and inflated the pot for the turn or check called any bet.  This time I tried taking control of the pot size myself.

The other change I tried was playing a lot looser.  I have to admit that the few times I had played PLO straight up, I felt like I was playing so tight that I don’t think I gave myself enough of a chance to practice the game.  A lot had to do with the advice I read in Jeff Hwang’s Pot Limit Omaha, The Big Play Strategy book.  I eliminated the marginal hands talked about in the game, and tried to only play hands that had four connected cards.  I tried playing three connected cards, and I felt like I got a lot more chances to mess up post flop play.  Danglers (unconnected cards) are always a problem in PLO, but I wanted to splash around in some pots and this was my way of doing so.

I also noticed during my session that some of the players that I thought would be pretty solid were making what I thought were common PLO mistakes, like playing for small straights (6 or lower) or playing small sets (again 6 or lower) very aggressively.  This can lead to a lot of dominated hands or hands that are very vulnerable.  That gave me the confidence to push my chips in more frequently, knowing that I could recognize some of the mistakes others were making.

I also saw a lot of play with totally unconnected cards, sort of the any four cards can win. This was also surprising to me in that straight up PLO doesn’t run very often, and my guess was that most people would play in that game would be the more experienced players.  Not so!  I didn’t see the other perennial PLO error as often that night, over playing aces post flop. 

One of the things that I was pretty happy with was my strategy to raise any pot with four connected cards (since most other players were raising with premiums only) and then not continuation betting unless the boards were really dry.  I was able to take down a couple of pots on the flop with air this way where people just assumed that I had top set (again, quite a few other times they were right about top set!)

I leave you with one of the hands that I thought I played fairly well, but I let you be the judge of it.  It has been some time so all the details may not be exact.  I was in the cut-off with J-J-A-3, ace and three were suited and I have about $450.  It gets limped around, and I call and so does the button who has about $400.  Flop is J-T-3, two clubs.  Gets checked to me, and I bet pot. Button calls, and everyone else folds. Turn is another 3, flush draw still out there, and I bet about half pot since I have everything pretty crushed. To my surprise button raises me close to pot.  I think for a moment, not sure what he is putting me on to make this kind of play.

The only hand I am behind is pocket threes. Maybe he is putting me on straight and flush draws, and wants to end it here.  I think about my river play.  I am fairly certain that villain has a made hand here, maybe three of a kind or pocket tens, and I’m pretty sure there are few cards on the river (a jack?) that he will check behind.  So I just call.  River completes the flush, but is otherwise a blank.  I check as planned and button bets over $100.  I think for a moment for effect, and check raise all-in.  Villain tanks, which is great for me, since now I know there’s no quads.  He flips over Q-6 of clubs for a flush to get a read on me. I stay calm and try to look down like a bluffer would. I finally make a mistake (because I like the guy) when he asks me if I will show if he folds, and I nod my head.  He folds and flips up T-3 as his other two cards.  What a great fold!

I later told him thanks, because the only way he can call there is if he thinks I am a bad player and would check raise there with a flush.  The check on the river was a calculated risk, but I could have easily lost two streets of value.  I think bet/folding the river was perfect, as I could have easily looked him up with the nut flush, but I don’t think he expected my check raise on the river or he would not have tanked for so long.  What do you guys think?  I am looking forward to more PLO in my future!

 First, position is a big advantage. You should be raising almost every time you have the button.  I noticed a couple of my opponents folding or limping in to pots from the button, but once you realize that flop bets are so inconsequential in limped pots early on, and that a lot of flops are uncontested, it makes no sense to limp into pots in position unless you are trying to play tricky.

 Second, playing tricky is a necessity. You can’t be predictable heads up.  You shouldn’t try to be predictable any time, but it is a lot more noticeable when you don’t switch things up heads-up.  You might want to lull your opponent into a false sense of security by playing straight forward the first few hands, and then check-raising light or slow playing semi-big hands in position.  The key is that you will be playing almost every hand, and your opponent knows you could have anything, so betting patterns become more important than specific hand ranges.

 Here is a hand that won me the first game of my first round match. My opponent raised their button, as they had been doing consistently (although not 100%), and I three-bet with QQ out of position.  The flop was A-K-4. I continuation bet, and my opponent decided to call.  He appeared weak, so it was surprising to me that he called.  The turn was a queen.  I checked expecting my opponent to check behind and allowing me to bomb the river, but my opponent bets small instead.  I thought he had to have a strong hand or a total bluff to try to bet in that spot.  So I go all-in, over betting the pot. I know that if he had aces or kings he would have re-raised pre-flop. If he had JT, there is very little likelihood that he would be calling on the flop with only a gut shot and two over cards already on the board.  And there was a good chance that my all-in would get called here since he had a strong enough hand that he thought he should value bet on such a board.  I didn’t think he would put me on JT after I 3-bet pre-flop, so I wanted him to think that I was just trying to represent the nuts.  He called with two pair, and I faded an ace on the river for the win.

 Eventually I ended up losing to my co-host, Gambit, in the second round.  It was an unfortunate pairing so early on, but if I was going to lose to someone, I was happy it was him.  He ended up making it to the finals and winning second place.  In our match, I noticed that he was not only hitting hands, but playing then tricky, and when he was out of position, he was substituting aggression for position to give him an edge.  If you haven’t tried heads-up play, I would recommend it. It is a different game than full-ring poker, but it allows for more creativity and strategy.

The first thing you notice on the home page is that there is tons of content to explore on this site.  Check out some of the videos and pictures that have been posted by members.  Second, it has the typical interface that most people have become used to with Facebook and other social media sites, so most people should find it pretty intuitive.  There are neat features like polls, photos, articles and blogs.  They even have contests where players can win prizes, like a buy-in to a $250 tournament at Cada’s Poker Room in Sterling Heights.

One thing I would recommend is “friending” all poker players that you see posting on the site.  After all, you probably already have two things in common, you love poker and you listen to the Michigan Poker Monster!  I hope to see your comments on there soon as I will be checking the site daily.  Make sure you send me a friend request on http://www.mipokernuts.com/

 The first hand was earlier in the session, I isolated from the small blind with AAQQ double suited (clubs and diamonds). Not a hand that plays both ways, but a hand that has big potential on a two-low-cards board.  There were already five limpers into the pot, and I managed to get it heads-up against a new player I had not played with before.  I had about $180 left behind, and he had me more than twice covered.  Flop was 9s8s3d. Not really a good flop for aces or queens in PLO8.  I had no straight draws nor flush draws nor low draw and no set.  But if you’re going to raise from early position pre-flop, you might as well continuation bet on the flop if you’re heads-up, just in case your opponent missed completely.  I bet pot and get called pretty quickly by the new guy.  The turn is a 7 of clubs.  A low draw gets there and a straight is now possible. This is just a bad board for me all around.  I check.  New guy bets the pot, and my little adventure is done.

 There is some merit to check/calling the flop since it is sometimes viewed as much stronger than leading out in that spot. But frankly, after that turn I am done with the hand regardless.  I could have maybe lost less, but I was happy with the way I played it.  Some people might question raising there without a low draw, but I think as long as I don’t get committed when a low hits, I can avoid reversed implied odds.  After all, my opponent doesn’t know I don’t have a low draw.  Turned out this new guy was very solid, and he ended up winning most of the medium size pots of the night.

 The second hand I played badly with aces, I had AcAd3dTd. On the turn I ended up heads up and hitting the nut low, but a spade flush was possible, and I had not played enough with my opponent to know if he would bet out with low hands only, or if he was more conservative and played only high/low hands.  I decided to call a big bet on the turn with the nut low but only a pair of aces for a high, not a good idea in most heads up situations!  The river paired a deuce on the turn, so now there is a low, a paired board and a flush possible on the board. 

 After a long thought, my opponent checked to me.  I thought about betting pot with the nut low to try to represent a boat, but again, I wasn’t sure if my opponent was sophisticated enough to recognize that he might be beat.  I had a pretty good idea that my high hand was no good (although I just improved to the best two pair), and I was fairly sure that my opponent didn’t have a good full house, or a full house at all (why check then?)  Since he had led the turn, he probably had a flush, and maybe a low with it.  I decide to check behind for half the pot, and turns out he had As3sxx for the nut low and nut flush.  He was probably calling a big bet for sure with the nut low, so it was a good check behind by me, but I probably should have folded the turn with no high hand or draw.  I just didn’t know enough about the player.  That’s how you get quartered, folks.

 There were a couple of more spots where I didn’t like my play, but there are more fun things to talk about in the game, like the pretty lady who stumbled into our game with $50 and a Bud Light, and rebought four more times after playing almost every hand to the river.  To her credit, she did have a set almost every time, but experience shows you that a set is usually not good enough for a high hand in this game. Every time she busted out she would leave to get $100 more to play. Not sure if it was the Bud Light or the tricky, knee-high roller tables, but one of those times she tripped and fell, taking down a guy’s beer from the table next to us.

 Then there was the guy who didn’t like how much time I was taking on a big river bet by Dharzhak and asked the dealer where the TV cameras were for my little show.  This was the same guy who took off his shirt to get a massage at the table later in the night (please, sir).  It was a tough spot.  It was for most of my chips, and I had the third nut low (which I didn’t think was good in that spot) and a low two pair that I was pretty sure was good for the high.  I ended up folding since I thought at most I was just winning my money back, and Dharzhak showed the nut low and nothing for the high.  I hate being right sometimes!

 Even though I didn’t win, it felt good to be back at the PLO8 game and that it was so in demand.  I am hoping to play it again and maybe play better.  There’s been some talk of changing the game to a round by round PLO8/Stud8 or PLO8/PLO/NLHE.  Chime in if you’re interested.  I’m sure most of the guys in the game would be up to playing a mix of some kind.