When it comes to poker variants, Razz gets a bad rep. Burdened with the stereotypes of being a cranky old man’s game, a fast-track to tilt or an exercise in sheer torture, Razz is actually a fairly simple game to learn. If you can get past the...
When it comes to poker variants, Razz gets a bad rep. Burdened with the stereotypes of being a cranky old man’s game, a fast-track to tilt or an exercise in sheer torture, Razz is actually a fairly simple game to learn. If you can get past the...
Stud games are typically the games that beginning mixed-games players struggle with the most. They require much more attention to detail than flop games due to all of the cards that are exposed during the course of a hand. For example...
There are hundreds of strategy considerations in stud. Most are based on a few broad principles: 'Good starting hands turn into winning hands.' 'Don't chase without sufficient pot odds or implied odds.' 'Be aggressive when you're...
In the last column I asked you what your best betting action would be with a certain hand on fifth street. Let's reprise the hand situation: The game is $20/40 stud with a $3 ante and a $5 forced bet from the low card. It's a casino game...
Let's focus on fifth street for a while. For me, it's the trickiest street to play, since one frequently has difficult decisions about how to play one's hand. Third street might be a more important decision, but in my book it's...
I've been staying and playing poker in Las Vegas. It's a long way from my home in Boston; I've been here for about a week now. It's longer than I normally stay – and it comes with certain risks to my game. Let me outline them...
I'm leaving for the World Series of Poker today, June 28th. I'll be playing in the H.O.R.S.E. tournament tomorrow, Sunday. I'm excited, but realistic. Even so, it's a heady thing to contemplate – playing among the best...
In my last column we looked at an extreme case when it made sense to 'take one off.' Here we'll look at the other extreme and then look at some guiding questions to help you figure out what to do in less extreme cases....
Hold'em players say, 'Let's see the flop.' Stud players say, 'I'll take a card off.' They mean roughly the same thing: They'll pay to see the next round. But the decision is very different. In hold'em, by calling preflop and then seeing...
I've been playing in a lot of home games lately. That's a product of the price of gas. As the price goes up I am less willing to drive the 200 miles or so round trip to play at Foxwoods, my nearest major poker room. I've got to get...
The strategy for multi-way stud games on fifth street and beyond varies significantly from heads-up play. There is a new dimension introduced – the importance of getting the pot heads-up. Let me explain...
Multi-way games can diverge from heads-up games in two significant ways. First of all, they can be passive -- meaning that you will be unlikely to have to call more than one bet per round -- much as in a heads-up game. Generally...
I've recently read through my stud-poker literature. There isn't a whole lot out there. What there is focuses almost exclusively on heads-up situations. At the higher levels of stud, that's typically what good players face...
I made the greatest mistake anyone has ever made in a high/low declare stud game. Little children learning this game for the first time don't make this error. Old people, infirmed from Alzheimer's disease, with the few remaining intact...
I see it all the time. The poor schlemiel in the three seat who has been calling along waiting for a big draw finally hits one. What does he do? See below. The hand starts off five-way when a player with a queen showing raises...
Most of the time, against the typical stud opponent, you will make most of your money by playing in a straightforward manner. You will make money from the mistakes of your opponents, mistakes that he makes because he is not...
In the first part of this two-part series I addressed strategy considerations for the loose and passive low-stakes spread-limit game, often played with no ante, like $1-5 and $1-3. It can often be frustrating to play...
I write about fixed-limit stud – primarily $20/40 and $10/20. These are the games I tend to play and enjoy. However, as I've realized from recent emails from readers I've received both here and on my radio show, there is also...
A stud player often has to decide whether to draw a card or fold to a bet. This decision is especially important on fifth street when the bets double. I had an interesting hand in a $10/20 stud game at Foxwoods where I had...
I wish I could watch the WSOP final table happening right now!
6 minutes agoThe #WSOP final table and crowd http://pic.gd/5d398d http://pic.gd/4061ea
6 minutes agoBreak time. Chip counts - moon 61M, buchman 40M, begleiter 31M, shulman 15.5M, cada 12M, schaffel 11M, saout 10.5M, ivey 10M, akenhead 3.5M
11 minutes ago@MichaelGilks I meant to be at WSOP final, but had the wrong date on my calendar & scheduled things in NY, including MS charity tourn
18 minutes agoFirst break. It felt like the first round of a boxing match where there was more feeling out than punches thrown.
18 minutes ago
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