Did they see the flop?

If you did not improve your hands upon the flop, it is best that you do not bet with more players to act after you. Most likely the greater the number of opponents who saw the flop, the higher the possibility that someone is holding a good set of cards.

Behavior on Preflop

If you raised prior to the flop, it will be a more reasonable move to bet and represent that flop. Whatever cards are revelaed during the flop, good players will bet as long as they already raised before the flop. Since you made the raise preflop, your opponents will respect your next move of betting rather than committing then limp out as if saying oops sorry weak cards.

Stack sizes

If you are dominating the table in terms chips, you can control the betting and represent the flop even when you are on the first position. In short, you can bully your opponents. But if you have a smaller stack and the flop did not give you anything, it will be your best move to just be on the side and keep out of the action and wait for a better hand.

When you are talking about stealing blinds, there are two realities you must face: you will steal their blinds, and other people will steal your blinds.

Tournaments

Stealing blinds is most effective during poker tournaments be it multi table or single table. If you need additional chips, you cannot wait for the premium cards. Blind stealing is a good opportunity to get some chips.

It is not worth it though to go for it at the early parts of the tournament when the blinds are small and has a high potential of encountering raises from opponents.

Cash Games

The blinds on cash games are fairly small which means that this move will not be very profitable for you. Stealing blinds though during cash games should be based on the opportunity to out maneuver your opponent and making them put more money into the pot and then taking their money later on. Generally though, stealing blinds is not recommended in cash games.

How to defend against players who steal your blinds

Rule of thumb is that you do not protect your blinds every time someone tries to grab it. Remember that you will be the first to move when one tries to snatch your blind, but you are in a poor position and most likely you will not have an idea what your opponent has and it will be a big risk .

Remember that once you have posted your blind, the money is no longer yours.

It is part of the pot and you do not defend it all the time. If you feel like defending it though to deter your opponent, make sure you put in a decent re-raise and make them feel that they cannot do it to you later on in the game. This is not effective though when the blinds are quite big and the risk is just too much.

I love someone coming out so openly and so intelligently. Respect to Chris!

The bigger the field ofpoker players, the longer before you reach this middle stage. At this period, the lesser skilled poker players are most likely eliminated. Some donkeys though will be a bit lucky and end up doubling their chips at this stage.

One thing is for sure though, majority of poker players at mid stage of the tournament will be having that winning mindset and winning strategy.

Make sure you spend some time studying your opponents and just play the premium hands.  It can be boring but some slow play will be favorable in the long run.

Take note though that a lot of players will also be playing tight so you also need to change gears at times and play really aggressive when you have some strong hands.

When you have the position be sure that you can push those chips forward and if you have a big stack, bully some players and eliminate them from the table. This is the time when you will use what you learned during your down time while studying everyone around the poker table.

You also have to consider that your kind of play will be read by other players

Kenny Hallaert

Imagina this: you’re playing the €10k buy-in Main Event of an EPT event in Monte Carlo, you’re down to 40 players, and you’re by far one of the biggest stacks. You look down on Pocket Aces, and you have an All-In in front of you by the one guy that has you covered at the table.

Mouth-watering, no?

Well, yes – especially when on showdown, you see KK as your opponent’s hand, and the SB claims an AK fold. That is why it’s sometimes better playing slot machine games so big decisions don’t need to be made but big amounts of money can be accumulated.

Well, just that happened yesterday to Kenny Hallaert, right before he busted from the tournament. The one-outer hit the turn, and his pair of aces lost to a set of kings.

I was crying.

Sam Farha makes a sick call pre-flop, but Curtis bets 6000 into a 2000 pot, and really just commits suicide. Sammy is a genius!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jamie Gold is MY HOMIE, and Alan “Boston” Dvorkis is a DONKEY and a MORON and he’s probably bisexual.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“That’s not even poker”?

IT IS, DUDE!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Later that final table Barry got knocked out by a huge bad beat holding A9 losing a pre-flop shove-battle against K9. BAH!

Did you know?

The cards meant for playing were invented in China and then transported to Europe in the 13th century. One of the most popular games for the riverboat gamblers in 1800’s was poker. They used to play the game of poker on their way to American waterways.

You will be surprised to know that the French were successful in manipulating the suits in the compact deck of cards. The spades represented royalty, diamonds were the merchants, hearts symbolized all the members of the clergy and the peasants were represented by clubs.

A man names Richard Nixon had won $6000 in poker during his stay in USA Navy. He later went on to become a great political leader. His poker earnings funded him for most of his election campaigns.

The famous comedian Groucho Marx would amass his poker amount or the bankroll in a grouch bag. Hence he was given the name Groucho.

One of the pioneers in the game of poker was Doyle Brunson who had successively won two World Series of poker tournaments with a hand of 2 and 10. You will be surprised to know that as of today both the hands are named after him.

Another eminent personality who was addicted to poker was John Montagu. He was the Earl of Sandwich. He was obsessed about the game of poker so much so that he would refuse to even eat his meals. He could play for hours together. A big vote of thanks to the Earl John Montagu. It was because of him and his love for poker which resulted in the creation of our favorite snack-sandwich.

The origins of the game of Poker are still being debated upon. With an incredible history and ardent poker fans the game is here to stay for a long time.

Are you aware that 50 million Americans participate in poker tournaments every year? A 22 year old man has won the world poker series and an eighty year old man has participated in the world tournaments as well. Doyle Brunson is still playing loads of cards at over 70! Most of the historians agree on the fact that Bill Hickok was bad poker player.

Here are some excellent photos taken by Hung Tran at the event. Thanks, Hung!