pat_s_lee

Hey Daniel,I missed the game - but seeing the lineup, I'm just curious if you ever threw Gilmour, Nieuwendyk and Roberts on the ice at the same time? Glory day re-union from days as Flames and Leafs!McCabe and Nattress back there as well? ...Pat

One thing I like from Doyle's book (on pg. 31):"It's also to your own advantage to think of chips as units, and not as money. You may consider your money status before the game and after the game, but while the game is in progress it is only a game, and the chips are just units. You're trying to win as many units as you can."Just food for thought when you move up in limits.

Another one...8-8 in SB. Short stack.2 limpers. I decide to try to slow play and just call.Flop comes 6-6-7. Everyone checks.Flop comes 8 for my full boat. I hope someone is on the straight draw. Late position bets a small amount. Everyone calls.River comes blank. I check expecting button to raise (which he/she does). I check-raise. Next folds, one after raises. Dealer folds. I put raiser on a straight, so I re-raise him. He re-raises all-in. I call. He says "you're going to like this". 6-6- hole cards for quads to beat my full.Oh well.

10-10 on the button. Everyone folds to me.I raise 3x BB.SB folds.BB thinks I'm trying to steal the blinds and raises all-in.I have him covered. I figure he is trying to bluff.I call.He shows 6-9 off vs. my 10-10.Flop comes 6-6-6. 10 on the river to rub it in.Go figure.

Few things:1) I don't like to always assume the BB has a hand worse than yours. I've seen too many players get caught up in that and when BB slow plays a KK, they start wondering. Personally, if I'm going to get involved with a hand like AQ, AJ, I like to raise it preflop just to get some information on where players stand (esp. the blinds).2) Hands like AJ, AQ off, etc. are potential trouble hands. Doyle has a section in his book about it. If I do play them, I do play then cautiously.So maybe to answer your question, your read was correct and I would probably have bumped it pre-flop.

Probably real...Daniel's talked about chewing on paper cups before and the reasoning behind it!

I think it's definitely important to steal blinds in tournament play, esp. in bubble situations (when most players tighten up) and when the blinds are about to go up. Mostly I do it from late (i.e. with Ax off) and there aren't any callers, or if my table image is of a tight player, even UTG.I don't go crazy on the raises (never all-in on rags)...you have to leave yourself outs. If you get played back at, you have the option to release. If you get called and catch some ragged flop that works into your advantage - boom. That's how the Devilfish plays!The best is in online play when BB has disc

Skipping back a few messages - this is interesting. Because in Doyle's book, he talks about never slow-playing a set, especially if there's a flush draw on board. If Lederer had made a healthy sized bet off the flop, I'm not sure Doyle would have moved all-in at that point. To me, Lederer did put himself in a situation he could have avoided (the all-in against a bigger stack) if he had played this right. Doyle made his nut flush on the river. Doyle talks a lot about best hands (at that point) and favoured hands. What would the situation in be in this case with Doyle having 8 outs (the 4 spade

Wow - I posted this just a few hours ago, and the speed of the responses!Yes, I did as the majority of you would have. I called. The real thought was "there are 2 hands that can beat me at this point, what are the chances". That and I did put him on a set.Turned out he had A-6 spades for the nut flush. Turn and river didn't help me (I would have needed Ks and 9s to fall for a straight flush). I was down to about 100 chips, grinded it out until the break and was eventually blinded out because I couldn't get anything together.I think if I had to do it again, I would still have called. Doyle says

Here's another...Early on in a Pokerstars tournament, I'm on the button with 10-J suited (spades). 5 limpers come in. I usually like to raise, but with 5 limpers, I just call. I want to see the flop and not get played back at. Flop comes 2 - 7 - Q spades. Everyone checks to me. I decide to make a reasonable size bet (by Doyle's definition, the size of the pot). I figure I can take down the pot here and make it expensive for anyone with 2 pair or A spade or K spade to draw to.BB calls. The other players fold to a player in 6th or 7th spot (don't remember). He raises all-in. (I have him covered

Here's a quote from an article I read a little while ago. I've always kept it in the back of my mind when some guy with 5-9 off calls 3 bets pre-flop and makes some miraculous boat."John..I make my living outplaying people that aren't as skilled at the game as me. If I was to snarl every time I lost to bad cards, there's a good chance they may not bring my money back tomorrow."

Hi Srblan, True - reverse situation, I would probably have done that (if I had Queens, go all-in). But I thought about it - if he thought I was stealing the blinds, an all-in call might scare off a blind stealer. If he wanted to double up, a re-raise would keep me interested (and hope that a K or A didn't fall). That was another consideration. But even though AK is rated a top 4 hand by many people, to me, people do often forget it's still a drawing hand (somebody mentioned it earlier). That's why I don't like putting all my chips in AK preflop. Maybe it's a different style, I just don't li

Thanks Coran!I think the betting on the flop is good advice (to retrieve information) any time there is uncertainty. I catch myself slowplaying too often (which players pickup on or sometimes it burns me), or check-raising to find information which is actually more costly if you don't have the goods and your opponent comes back over the top. (1 bet vs. 2 bets to find information).I think the reason I checked it was (like you said): 1) I was confident that my hand was best 2) With him only having 1000 chips left and a chance to eliminate, I wanted him to bet into me 3) Having such a lar

Thanks Wilderness. Guys like you are why I'm telling my friends to put the books down and come and check out this forum.This and Daniel's poker blog.

Thanks ddudley and others for your comments.JFarrell20, although harsh and cold: a) I don't think you quite captured the spirit of the post. Just a simple question by a newbie. B) The only thing I take offense to from your banter is being called a kid. Your read is totally off there!