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Holdem: Raising out of the blinds
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Surprisingly, there are very few instances where you should raise out of the blinds. The first is where everyone at the table folded to the blinds. If you are in one of the blinds with a good hand in this spot, raising is recommended. The second is where you have a chance of isolating a late position raiser. |
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Holdem: The communal card nature of the game
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Hold’em is a communal card game and as a result, you must be weary of the fact that a card that helped you may have also helped another player. A classic example is as follows: you have 8-7 of diamonds and the flop is 5s-6s-Kc. If the turn is a 9s, you must keep in mind that while that card gave you a straight, it may also have given another player a flush, in which case, you cannot win the hand. |
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Tournaments: Pressure the short stacks
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Throughout the tournament, you have to keep working on making small additions to your stack wherever possible. That way, when you take a chance in a big pot, a lot of these small additions will cover you if your contribution if you lose. One of the best ways of making small additions is by attacking small stacks. |
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Tournaments: Don't make weak bluffs
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The biggest problem that many players face is knowing how much to bet to pull off a successful bluff. The most common mistake is under betting a bluff. Now some players think that you should move all-in if you want to bluff, but I don’t subscribe to that theory unless I’ve got lots of outs. However, if you decide that a bluff is warranted, you will need to put in a substantial amount of chips to discourage opponents making easy calls. |
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Omaha: Be aware of backdoor hands
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The most "annoying" aspect of Omaha is when an opponent is going for one hand and accidentally backdoors another hand. This is a problem in Omaha that you simply have to live with. |
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Omaha: Watch out for defensive players
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Limit Omaha, in particular, can have multitudes of extremely defensive players, who will not open up their game until the river – once they are sure that they have the pure nuts. This is significant because you must learn to resist the temptation to raise the river when this highly defensive player comes out betting. |
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7 Card Stud: Raise for a free card on fifth street
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In seven card stud, free cards are invaluable when the bets double in size (fifth street and beyond). Accordingly, you should be raising on fourth street when you are acting after the bettor and you have a hand that could either improve on its own merit (become two pair or trips) or improve to a powerful draw. |
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7 Card Stud: An opponent who pairs his door card is more of a danger than an opponent who simply has an open pair
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Tight players and preflop raises will always present a problem when they pair their door card. When this occurs, you can almost guarantee that a pair higher than his door pair will not win the pot. |
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Holdem: Don't suddenly start bluffing on the river when you miss your draw
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Many experienced players (and several amateurs) attempt a bluff as follows: Player X has Qs-Js. The flop is As-Kd-4s, giving X many outs. One player bets, two players call and then X calls. The turn is a 5h. The same player bets again, one player folds, another calls and X calls. The river is a 3d and both players check to X. X suddenly fires in a bet. |
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