blackjack without counting cards is -EV, whether 1,2,6,8 decks... if you're counting any number of decks can be +EV, depending on how much spread you can get away with. Although most of the crap games I saw recently that only pay 6/5 on blackjack make it really hard to beat even if counting...
And someone with near zero poker experience will be able to play those hands optimally? Even people with years of poker experience who know to play those hands still can't earn money at the game.
Anyone can always add or change this strategy as soon as they start to think they're giving away too much money folding jj, aq, or kq
It definitely won't work against players who have seen the play for more than a couple hours. But if you start to see the same people for a few sessions, you've had enough time to understand the game enough to make changes
ok so i just bought in somewhere online. can one of you guys explain to me these odds that were posted in a link above. so these tell me what i should be doing after the flop, but they dont tell me what hands i should even see a flop with. id assume i would want to mix this up as to keep my opponents "off guard". thats fine.
now, once im in a hand and i see a flop. according to the chart showing how many outs i have etc, how do i use this to justify a call or fold if someone bets in to me?
for ex, in a hand i was just playing .05/.10 nl, there was say .38 in the pot and the bet to me was for .05. lets just say i had one overcard, so according to the chart 3 outs. based on the % chart, with one card to come, it was 7/1 odds for me to hit my card. .05 x 7 = .35, close enough for me to call? or am i interpreting this all wrong?
now, once im in a hand and i see a flop. according to the chart showing how many outs i have etc, how do i use this to justify a call or fold if someone bets in to me?
for ex, in a hand i was just playing .05/.10 nl, there was say .38 in the pot and the bet to me was for .05. lets just say i had one overcard, so according to the chart 3 outs. based on the % chart, with one card to come, it was 7/1 odds for me to hit my card. .05 x 7 = .35, close enough for me to call? or am i interpreting this all wrong?
If you've only seen the flop and your two cards your chances of hitting an out is 3/47 which is a lot less than 1/7. Given that the call is .05 you'd need 47/3 * .05 in the pot to make it a worthwhile call given the current pot odds. Once you've got pot odds down, you should start learning how to calculate implied pot odds which includes estimated addiotional money that will likely be in the pot on future streets.
You also need to take into account the fact that even if you hit your overcard it may not be good. Someone might already have a set or 2 pair, or that card might make them 2 pair.
Example, if the flop is 4 7 9 and you have A8, someone may have A4 A7 or A9 or AJ. So the ace is what they call a dirty out, meaning it improves your hand but might not make you the best hand. Drawing to naked overcards (no other draw) is a generally not advised, you will end up leaking more chips than you ever take in. It's typically -ev (more to come later on more advanced play, such as floating with overs and trying to take the pot away later even if you miss, but for now stay away from doing this).
Now, if you had A8 of spades and the flop was 4s 7h 9s, then you have nine clean outs.
Clean outs are much more valuable than dirty outs, of course. That's why you always want to be drawing to the nuts when you're drawing, cause your outs are always clean. You don't wanna be drawing to the bad end of the straight, or a low flush (there are exceptions of course, there comes a time when the odds are good enough that it is worth it - or if you get good at hand reading and you are reasonably certain your non-nutted outs are clean).
Also to be considered is, if you hit your hand, are you likely to get more money out of your opponent(s). If so, how much? That concept is called implied odds.
So if you have KJs and the flop comes down As 8s 3h, you have 9 clean outs, and are about 36% (if 2 cards to come, your %age is roughly 4 times # outs, if 1 card to come, your %age is roughly 2 times # outs.). So if the betting ended after the flop, the pot should be offering you about 2/1 odds to call. However, let's say the pot is $1 and you and your opponent each have $20 behind. It is worth calling a $2 bet. Even though the pot would only be offering you 3/2 odds (not enough to make it mathematically correct to chase it), there is a reasonable expectation that you will get more on 4th and 5th street if you hit.
So when you are considering calling with a draw, you want to think about your equity (%age chance to win the hand) vs your pot + implied odds.
You can use this as a general guideline as far as what to do before the flop.
http://www.pokerology.com/charts/nlhe-starting-hands-chart.pdf
There are many more out there like this, but this is fine.
If you haven't figured it out yet, position is king in NLHE. The guidelines for what starting hands to play and how to play them vary greatly based on your position, and the action in front of you. This is because you are at a major disadvantage playing postflop out of position. Therefore, (generally speaking) good hands become marginal and marginal hands become trash when you are in early position (one of the first few to the left of the button).
You caught onto a key concept with what you posted, as far as keeping opponents off guard. At higher levels you will want to stray from the posted starting hand chart strategy because it's too predictable. It's called "range balancing". You don't want your opponents to be able to reliably read your hand; and the good players will do just that if you play too ABC. But that's a concept you should not worry about quite yet, it's more advanced. You can easily beat microstakes playing ABC, simply by waiting for your opponents to make mistakes and capitalizing on them.
Low limit holdem is a battle of who can make the fewest mistakes.
It's not til you get up to higher limits that you have to move behind just playing mistake-free poker and actually have to actively do things like balance your range.
http://www.pokerology.com/charts/nlhe-starting-hands-chart.pdf
There are many more out there like this, but this is fine.
If you haven't figured it out yet, position is king in NLHE. The guidelines for what starting hands to play and how to play them vary greatly based on your position, and the action in front of you. This is because you are at a major disadvantage playing postflop out of position. Therefore, (generally speaking) good hands become marginal and marginal hands become trash when you are in early position (one of the first few to the left of the button).
You caught onto a key concept with what you posted, as far as keeping opponents off guard. At higher levels you will want to stray from the posted starting hand chart strategy because it's too predictable. It's called "range balancing". You don't want your opponents to be able to reliably read your hand; and the good players will do just that if you play too ABC. But that's a concept you should not worry about quite yet, it's more advanced. You can easily beat microstakes playing ABC, simply by waiting for your opponents to make mistakes and capitalizing on them.
Low limit holdem is a battle of who can make the fewest mistakes.
It's not til you get up to higher limits that you have to move behind just playing mistake-free poker and actually have to actively do things like balance your range.
I see where you're getting that number now. You can't use that column because it is the probability of hitting your card on the turn or river. The problem is you're likely to face more bets on those streets. In order to make a decision on the flop, you have to use the 14.67-1 figure in the other column.
I know this, I totally suck at poker, I'm too aggressive. Which makes me a great setback player
I'm not sure anyone can teach me to be less aggressive, that's like a personality overhaul or something
But maybe someone can redefine aggression for me :wink:
I'm not sure anyone can teach me to be less aggressive, that's like a personality overhaul or something
But maybe someone can redefine aggression for me :wink:
