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October 11, 2005
With no pair against all but the most aggressive Pokerparty competition, overcards are a loser. It is better to dump them quickly and move on to the next hand. But good players will be quick to point out one possible impact of such a strategy. If you find yourself against either type of bluffer, your calling standards (and in fact, the whole way you would play a legitimate hand) should be adjusted to overcome their style.
Finally, we guess how much the button would earn or lose in each scenario. In possibility 1, that's easy. A blank means any card NOT a King, Queen, Nine, or Eight. For those who are wondering, the blank card in the second half of the equation can not include a King or Queen because the first part of the equation already includes the times that a King or Queen falls on both the turn and the river.
That Idiot I Saw on a CPT Event
Casinos and online Pokerparty rooms make money by charging a rake or seat charge. When I first began to play poker, I purchased Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold'em and ran a simulation of ten players sitting in my local casino's game, a $3/6 table with $5 max rate and $1 average toke. It is an area that requires every good player's attention and effort.
If we assumed the button would fold to either a flop bet or flop check-raise, a check-raise is preferred because it earns an immediate additional small Pokerparty bet. Even if the button calls on the flop, they will probably not call past the flop unless a good turn card falls. In that case, the check-raise only earns an extra bet when a blank falls (any card except a diamond, Ace, Jack, or Ten--24 out of 45 cards.) Even if the button might also call with a King or Eight, there are still 18 blank cards for a profit of .4 small bets resulting from a check-raise.
Looking Cool at the Table
There is a fundamental truth in short-handed Pokerparty. The only real disaster occurs when the preflop raiser sniffs out the big blind's strength and lays down a strong holding such as top or middle pair because they were able to make a good read. It is for that reason that we must disguise our big hands and not play them uniquely from other holdings. Likewise, marginal hands that want the preflop raiser to fold cannot be played radically different.
In short-handed poker, the difference between numerous winners and losers can be measured in damaging free cards. In any of the three scenarios above, there is a small chance the preflop raiser has outs. Second, if a slowplay is not in order, should the big blind bet out or check-raise the flop? By answering these two questions, we can expose the core arguments for any scenario where the big blind has flopped something worth playing to see the turn and/or river.
The first evidence I noticed was at the online Pokerparty site I frequent. It is a smaller site, or at least it was a smaller site until the WPT began airing. Six months ago, I often had serious difficulty finding a single table, especially during off-peak hours. Now, I can pick and choose between several tables and limits at the slowest times. Table selection is important to me; it should be important to any player once they reach the middle and high limit games. And the growth goes beyond specific tables.
Ah wait, I have another Pokerparty secret. Or, maybe it's really a secret within a secret. See, I've told you that you don't need to know why you are winning. But, most people try to realize that high degree of proficiency first, and then try winning second. The order of learning should be opposite. Learn how to win first. Learn why you are winning over the long run. It may seem a subtle distinction, but it is not.
