Putting an Opponent on a Range...

Out of all the strategy concepts we hear discussed in poker, putting an opponent on a range has to rank right up there at the top.  After all, being able to determine a specific range of cards your opponent could have is crucial to understanding what cards they hold.  With that in mind, here is a look at how to put your opponents on a range and figure out how your hand stacks up.

Define “Range”

The first step in being able to put your opponents on a range is to clarify the whole meaning of range to yourself.  When you put an opponent within a specific range of cards, you’re merely identifying certain card values that they could have.  For instance, if your opponent is betting heavily pre-flop, you can probably assume that their range is A-A to J-J, A-K.  With this being the case, you’ll need to have cards in this range to even consider calling.

Range Example

Let’s assume that you’re holding pocket jacks on a board of A-2-J-7-5 with no flush possibilities on the board.  In this case, you’d be sitting pretty good since you are holding pocket jacks.  However, an opponent is betting heavily which indicates that they either have top pair or A-A.  Your trips jacks will no doubt hold up against top pair, but they will most certainly lose to trips aces. 

In either case, you should definitely make the call.  There are 3 possible combinations which could make A-A left in the deck while there are 12 possible combinations that could make A-K in the deck.  With 15 possible combinations and 12 combos that will leave you a winner, simply divide 12 by 15 to find your answer.  You are an 80% favorite in this instance after doing the math.

Reasons to Play Poker on Christmas...

Christmas is a time of caring, sharing, spending time with family and, for those who are die-hard about poker, hitting the tables.  Sure poker may not be a holiday tradition for many people, however, it certainly can be if you enjoy the game enough.  After all, why put your passion on hold for a whole day?  With that in mind, here’s a look at a few reasons why you should play poker on Christmas.

Major Poker Points

The best reason why you should play poker on Christmas is because rooms are willing to jack up the amount of poker points they give out during this time of year.  Some rooms triple or quadruple the amount of points given out which makes it very enticing to play.  And we all know that poker points are awesome because you can use them to get into tournaments for free or even cash them out for real money!

Lots of Bad Players

Christmas is a day when many people get the work day off.  Seeing as how this is the case, you can find a lot of recreational players online who are really bad at the game.  Since your goal is to make money, playing against these awful players is an excellent way to pad your bankroll.

Earn Money Back

Anybody who has a heart is willing to spend money on their family in the form of presents.  Of course, some presents are really expensive so this can put a hole in your bank account.  So after all of those presents have been opened and the food has been eaten, hop online and start playing some poker so you can earn that money back!

2010 WSOP Schedule Released...

Harrah’s Entertainment isn’t wasting any time preparing for the 2010 WSOP since they have already released the schedule.  And this year’s schedule definitely includes some very big changes!  The biggest change is that the prestigious $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament will no longer be offered in the WSOP.  This is really interesting because a lot of the top pro players like playing in this event since there were fewer people involved.  However, it is hard to justify keeping this tournament when the amount of entrants dropped from 148 to 95 in one year.

And Harrah’s is replacing this tournament with another $50k event so people probably won’t care too much.  The event that will be replacing the H.O.R.S.E. tourney is the $50,000 Mixed Event.  The Mixed Event includes all kinds of poker games like Seven Card Razz, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud, No Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.

Another huge change is that many of the mid-range buy-in Omaha and Stud events are gone with lots of $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em tourneys taking their place.  The most obvious reason for this move is because few people played in the mid-level Stud and Omaha tournaments so the decision was made to get rid of them.  Taking their place will be six $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em tourneys.  Harrah’s is trying to use the momentum of last year’s Stimulus Special, where 6,102 people signed up, to bring in more players.

One more move that is sure to be unpopular is Harrah’s decision to take a 10% rake instead of a 9% rake from the $1,000 and $1,500 tournaments.  Players definitely won’t like this since the money will be coming directly out of their prize pools.

Playing Draws Aggressively...

It’s easy to push your advantage when you’re holding a big pocket pair before the flop.  And there’s a very good chance you could have the advantage after the flop hits the board.  However, it is much tougher deciding what to do when you’ve only got a drawing hand.  It is so tough that many players decide to limp in before the flop and on the flop, then fold as soon as their draw doesn’t hit.  But the key to playing draws correctly is to play them as aggressively as possible.  Here is a look at how to do so.

Advantages of being Aggressive

When you limp in with a draw, the only way you’re going to win is by hitting your hand.  You’re unlikely to bluff an opponent if you merely call everything that comes your way.  However, if you raise with a drawing hand on the flop, you can either win by making your opponent fold to the raise, or by hitting your hand if the opponent calls.  In either case, you have one more chance to win the pot by playing your draw aggressively.

An Example

Just knowing the advantages of playing a draw isn’t enough so here’s an example of how to properly handle one.  Assume you are in a $3/$6 game of No-Limit Hold’em and you’ve got a $200 stack while holding 7c-8c in late position.  The flop is 2c-Qd-4c and your opponent bets $14 into a $9 pot.  Everyone else folds leaving you with the decision of whether or not to call. 

In this situation, you’ve got to consider that your opponent has a set of queens at best which will be a winner if your draw doesn’t hit.  If your opponent doesn’t have a set of queens, and you raise, then they may think you have a set of queens.  Even if you don’t, you could still force them to fold.

The Gap Concept...

If you’re sitting in late position with pocket queens then it’s pretty much a sure call or raise.  After all, you’re not only holding one of the best hands in all of poker, but you’ve also got position over other players at the table.  Even still, there are times when you may not even want to call with a hand like pocket queens.  This especially comes into play when you’re up against the gap concept.

For those who are unfamiliar with the gap concept, it involves someone making a raise and somebody else re-raising in pre-flop play.  The gap concept also takes into account that a much stronger hand is needed before the flop to re-raise rather than just call.  So if you’re facing a raise and a re-raise before your turn to act, it’s likely that you’re up against one or two tough hands.  In fact, you could be facing pocket aces or kings, which are better pre-flop hands than what you’re holding.

Assuming you are in this situation, it would be risky to make the call with both raises out in front of you.  It’s likely that you’re up against at least one of the aforementioned hands so you won’t want to risk too many chips in this situation. 

You could make the call and assume that the 3-bettor is being overly aggressive while trying to steal the pot.  However, the person who made the initial raise could have a stronger hand than you as well, which makes a call even tougher in this situation. The best move in this instance might be to muck your cards since there are likely one or two hands that have you beat pre-flop.