Several of you have written in asking how to deal with aggressive poker players. Obviously there are lots of tactics to suit different situations but I’ll outline what I call the “snare”.
Let’s assume you’ve been playing with the same group for a while and you’ve spotted that a particular player is aggressively raising pre-flop every hand. Play tight and let the player win the blinds until you land a premium hand pre-flop in the pocket. Then nail him.
That’s a “snare” strategy.
Mike “the psyche” from Newcastle writes in with a simple but useful beginner’s observation. If a table has ten players, the odds of someone else having a premium hand in the pocket are very much better than a short-handed game. More competition literally means stiffer competition. Start your poker career in short-handed games.
POKER F.A.Q.
Q:What is a "backdoor flush"? A: You require two perfect cards in the same suit to complete your hand. Let’s say you have the jack of hearts and ten of hearts and the flop is the queen of hearts and the four of spades and the three of spades. This means you require two hearts in succession. If that happens, it’s a backdoor flush. Be warned. It’s a twenty to one shot.
Q:I keep hearing the expression "gutshot". What does it mean? A: A gutshot is a straight draw when only one card can complete a perfect hand. Let’s say you have the queen and king and the flop delivers the ace and a ten. If fate delivers a jack as your next card you’ve landed your straight and that’s the gutshot. Most players will draw all the way to the river for the gutshot with odds of success at around six to one. Your odds of hitting it earlier at the turn are eleven to one. These are good stats to keep in mind. Q: Carol from Dorking writes that she keeps getting emails about "hold ’em smart cards which cost around £35. She wants to know are they any use to a beginner and are they value for money? A: Save the £35. Smart cards don’t convince me they really add anything of value. A beginner needs experience, not reliance on a smart card. I think they’re an unnecessary distraction. Buy a book by Doyle Brunson instead. It’ll cost you a hell of a lot less than £35 and you’ll be plugging into the best poker brain on the planet. Now that’s smart!
