the gist: This is simply one of the best guides to learning pot odds.  Even as a seasoned player there are minor details that every player should review.  This might be the best article written on that subject.

Poker for Dummies from Cardschat

the gist: This is an article written by Daniel Negreanu that appeared in many newspapers.  The article is meant for new players to talk about the etiquette of poker.  It is an interesting read even if you have been playing for a while.

Daniel’s syndicated column-this version on slowplaying friends.

the gist:  If the money doesn’t matter to you or even if it does why not entertain the idea of a deal with you dictating the terms.  As with all negotiations you should probably say “no” at least once.

Cardplayer magazine on final table chops

In poker, if you keep track, your time has a very specific value. I would argue that your time should have that same value in everything that you do, which is sort of the point of this article. What I am specifically referring to in this instance is someone saying “I will only play this if I win a satellite”. Not that the act of winning the satellite is the problem because it certainly is not, it just may or may not be in line with your hourly rate. Here are a couple of examples that are my life guide. When I am playing serious poker I am likely doing best at Limit Poker. I can win multiple bets an hour at 15-30 and 30-60 but I have certainly had moments where I have done this at 50-100. This amount of success is a result of a very clear focus and analyzing my game. For this example I am going to say my hourly rate is about $100 an hour but that really only happens when I have an amount of focus I do not normally have. At the moment poker is little more than a hobby and anything that I make is sort of “fun money”.

Without going into a ton of details my hourly rate at work is between 200-300 dollars. Which is likely the bigger point of what this article is about because that is my true compass. Whatever I do needs to result in a net win at least higher than 200 dollars otherwise it is not smart to do. Of course I could be just doing it for fun which is something entirely different but even by that compass is poker more fun than say a movie or spending time with my kids? Sometimes it is, most times it is not.

All of this course brings me back to “I will only play if I win a satellite”. If you know what your hourly rate for poker and life was your decision would be a lot easier. In fact, you may learn that satellites are your most profitable way to play poker.

Paul “Beanie” Nobles

Poker wise I am not an expert on much but I think I can easily claim to be an expert on satellite play. The reason is simple, it is my best form of poker. I have won satellites for about 500k in big dollar events. I am a closer when it comes to satellites. What do I do different that separates me from the crowd? It’s simple, I play not only to win the seat I play to knock people out. Which is exactly contrary to what almost everyone who would teach satellite strategy would tell you to do. The key difference is that when I am trying to knock people out I am at no risk.

Here are a couple of ideas that I use.

1. For better or worse I am a home run hitter. I am constantly going for the knockout and I am comfortable being the lead dog. I want the chip lead.

2. Tournaments are about chip management. If you have a 200k chip lead on your next opponent who has 90k, you might be willing to take a few more risks and in my opinion you should because there just aren’t enough people willing to step up to knock people out in satellites. Especially at the end.

3. The end game is where things get tricky because usually people have caught on to what I am doing and frankly they are a bit pissed. It is not uncommon for one or two people to get really aggressive with me. Though I am typically at a big advantage on them because I have huge chips and they don’t, there all in plays can really neutralize my aggression. I tend to do a little more trapping at this point and try to play smaller pots, which once again I don’t think most people would recommend. But remember all of this depends on having built up a good stack. If you don’t have a good stack you would be silly to be trapping, you would be best off playing uncontested pots.

4. Uncontested pots is like poker nirvana. For me, the fact that I have won so many satellites puts me in a comfortable position against my opponents because I know when I get there at the end I am going to close more often than not. That is big leverage to have against a guy that might have qualified for $3 who is trying not to lose.

5. Go for the kill, if you have a hand like 44 in the big blind and an active player is raising a lot from the cut off play for the knock out. Of course if you re-raise him he might fold but that won’t get his whole stack. Winning stacks is what puts you in position to ultimately win the seat or seats.

6. Understanding concepts of leverage in tournament poker is the difference between being a winner and a loser but it gets amplified in a satellite. When you are in a regular tournament if you come in 6th place you might still win money, in a satellite paying only 2 spots you won’t. Here is an example. Let’s say you are on the button with 2 stacks that are small in the blinds but not small enough for them to necessarily be all in, depending on your stack you might want to move all in on them as a rule. The percentages are in your favor that they will not have a hand that they can call with and in satellites people will even lay a hand like Ace Queen if it means they will be eliminated. By the time they catch on and call you hopefully you aren’t dominated and have two live cards. Using the same example where the small blind has a big stack obviously you need to tread lightly, it is a very common play for the big stack in the small blind to re-raise a button raiser because most of the time they are going to be right.

If you had to say online players are this and live players are this I would think that my style fits in the live player category. Online players tend to want to win all uncontested pots which is possible but not always likely. So what I like to do is put people in a situation where they are uncomfortable. Post flop play is where I win most of these satellites.

Of course all of these ideas get scrapped when you are the short stack, you won’t always have the big stack but the fact that you will be willing to see flops actually puts you in rare territory for satellite players. Here is one of the keys that you want to focus on when you see flops, nothing is a definite, you do not have to play any one hand any one particular way. If I raise with a bad hand it doesn’t necessarily mean that I will be making a continuation bet if I am called by someone out of position that checks to me. In fact, doing this occasionally sets up slow plays down the line.

Obviously all of this sounds easy but it is far from that. Situationally I have seen almost any scenario. The situation I see the most though is panic. Which is something I rarely do and what allows me to evaluate my opponents on the fly and gives me my edge. Most people know that aggression is a big part of winning poker but that is where their game ends. To be really good at something you can’t have a formula, you have to be able to adjust on the fly.

Beanie

The simplest bet is an offer between two teams, which can take one of two forms. The first, and most commonly known, is called a point-spread bet. One team is considered, the favorite, the other the underdog. As an example from the 2007 NFL season, the New England Patriots are 16-point favorites over the Washington Redskins. If you bet on New England and they win the game by more than 16 points, you win your wager. If Washington wins the game, or loses by less than 16 points, you lose your wager. If New England wins by exactly 16 points, you tie on your wager (also called a “push”) and you simply get your money back.

In a point-spread bet, the vig is applied upfront, usually at a 10% rate. You bet $110 to win $100. The point spread is set by the book to provide equal betting on both sides, thereby maximizing the book’s profit. If there is too much action on one team, the book can do one of two things. Most of the time, they will change the point spread, called “moving the line”, to make the other team more attractive of a bet. Or, some books will change the balance on the vig to encourage action. I have seen instances where the vig was changed from -10% to -30% on one team, and from -10% to +10% on the other, to balance out an extreme swing.

Grapsfan

The other way a bet between two opposing sides can be made is called a money line. The money line is usually offered between individual opponents (two fighters in a boxing match, for example), but is also provided in low-scoring sports like baseball, soccer or hockey, or in games where the point spread is fairly close. If the point spread on an NFL game is “Chicago -4 ½ over Detroit”, the money line might be offered as “Chicago -240 Detroit +200”. This means that a bettor would have to wager $240 on Chicago to win $100 back, whereas a $100 wager on Detroit would return $200. Point spreads are not involved in this kind of bet; it’s solely a matter of who wins the contest.

In a money line bet, the vig is applied as the gap between the two offerings. In this case, Detroit pays out as a 2:1 underdog…but Chicago is set as a 2.4:1 favorite. The 10% on either side of the middle (in reality, the book is saying that Chicago is a 2.2:1 favorite) produces the same vig as a point spread bet does.

Grapsfan

A favorite of many gamblers is a total bet, also known as an over/under. A sports book places a line as to the total number of points to be scored between the two teams, and you wager whether or not the point sum will be over or under the line. It does not matter which team wins the game. In the aforementioned New England v. Washington game, if I wager over the total line of 47½, and New England wins the game 31-17, then I win (31 + 17 = 48). If the game ends in a 20-20 tie, I lose my wager.

Many sports bettors like totals because the larger point value lessens the variance of one individual play within a game. Most football lines are +/- 6 points, so a fluke like a punt or fumble return for a touchdown can have a huge impact. Same with basketball, where most lines are +/- 10 points, and the final spread can greatly depend on the performance of a single hot-or-cold player. Such impact is lessened significantly when the two scores are combined together into one total line.

The vig on a total bet is applied the same way as the point spread: an upfront fee of (usually) 10%.

Grapsfan