Nathan's Guide to Good Poker

[Nathan Butler]

Now... I know im surely going to be critized by players or my peers, But i still thought i would get in here and post a little wisdom to hopefully help get some players on their feet.

Tip 1 - NO ONE LIKES A BULLY! Basiclly this tip speaks for itself. What i have found in the past, the nicer you are to your opponents the easier they come to terms with losing their chips to you. You don't want to develop grundes, you don't want people calling you just to see if they can give you a bad beat after you abuse them. What you want to have a fun social exprience. If you bring a good image to a poker table you will be more successful than if everyone dislikes you.

Tip 2 - Don't Abuse the ALL-IN move. Hears the theory. When playing in free role poker if the blinds a cheap enough then just call the raise, or only raise when you have a good idea your strong. I see so many poker players move all-in while the blinds are cheap, fair enough when they get out-drawn they walk away from the table saying "i put my money in the pot with the best hand" but just because you can say that doesn't make you a good player.

FOR EXAMPLE -

blinds are 25/50
UTG - Raises to 200 (holding AK, but you don't know that)
You have QQ on the dealer button.

You have 2 choices, raise or call, you certiainly wouldn't fold pre-flop and you have position.

If you move ALL-IN than its an INSTA call from UTG... and Bang he could hit an ACE on the RIVER and its ALL OVER!

What you could have done instead is, call the raise.... if its a low flop then bet at it. AK would fold missing the board and you win the $475 pot. If scare card comes out then you can make GREAT lay down and fold only to lose 200 in chips. Its much better to win small pots then lose one big one that costs you your tournament life.

Tip 3 - Dealing with BAD BEATS.... The next time you get your aces cracked, CALM DOWN, TAKE BREATH.... Then shakes the hand of your oppentent and say WELL PLAYED! If that poker player leaves thinking he is playing well when clearly he isn't EXCELLENT, thats what you want. Wait till you see him again, sit at his table and i garuntee you, taking his chips will be as easy as 1,2,3! You want bad players thinking there are playing well..... if everyone was as good as you making money would be MUCH MUCH harder... its the weaker players that help you win. So remember most of the time the best hand wins.

Well there my tips for today, ill see what else i can come up with!

Regards

Nathan Butler
Mr CBD

[MATTY G]

no criticism here thats so true!!

[Origami]

Thanks Nathan ---

need all the advice and strategy you can offer.

Its of some comfort the tips you offer already form part of my play.... Pity however all forum posters who take the opportunity to use your advice and expierence will be now sooo much harder to beat ....

[Goose]

Now... I know im surely going to be critized by players or my peers, But i still thought i would get in here and post a little wisdom to hopefully help get some players on their feet.

Tip 1 - NO ONE LIKES A BULLY! Basiclly this tip speaks for itself. What i have found in the past, the nicer you are to your opponents the easier they come to terms with losing their chips to you. You don't want to develop grundes, you don't want people calling you just to see if they can give you a bad beat after you abuse them. What you want to have a fun social exprience. If you bring a good image to a poker table you will be more successful than if everyone dislikes you.

Tip 2 - Don't Abuse the ALL-IN move. Hears the theory. When playing in free role poker if the blinds a cheap enough then just call the raise, or only raise when you have a good idea your strong. I see so many poker players move all-in while the blinds are cheap, fair enough when they get out-drawn they walk away from the table saying "i put my money in the pot with the best hand" but just because you can say that doesn't make you a good player.

FOR EXAMPLE -

blinds are 25/50
UTG - Raises to 200 (holding AK, but you don't know that)
You have QQ on the dealer button.

You have 2 choices, raise or call, you certiainly wouldn't fold pre-flop and you have position.

If you move ALL-IN than its an INSTA call from UTG... and Bang he could hit an ACE on the RIVER and its ALL OVER!

What you could have done instead is, call the raise.... if its a low flop then bet at it. AK would fold missing the board and you win the $475 pot. If scare card comes out then you can make GREAT lay down and fold only to lose 200 in chips. Its much better to win small pots then lose one big one that costs you your tournament life.

Tip 3 - Dealing with BAD BEATS.... The next time you get your aces cracked, CALM DOWN, TAKE BREATH.... Then shakes the hand of your oppentent and say WELL PLAYED! If that poker player leaves thinking he is playing well when clearly he isn't EXCELLENT, thats what you want. Wait till you see him again, sit at his table and i garuntee you, taking his chips will be as easy as 1,2,3! You want bad players thinking there are playing well..... if everyone was as good as you making money would be MUCH MUCH harder... its the weaker players that help you win. So remember most of the time the best hand wins.

Well there my tips for today, ill see what else i can come up with!

Regards

Nathan Butler
Mr CBD

(Tip 1) Nathan become a bully often when he tries to steal my blinds

(Tip 2) Go over the top all in when Nathan tries to be a bully and steal the blinds and watch him scream

(Tip 3) Yea right. I made his hit list because my 2s sucked out on his 3s

[Nathan Butler]

Hehe!

I remember that hand.... but as my advice said,

I checked my big blind to your small blind limp (Q3 vs 22)
Flop: 3,4,4 Rainbow

You see bet the flop i believe, 6,000 (min bet)
then into a pot worth 18,000 i raise to 22,000 Not moving all in.

You moved all-in, i called only 5,000 more.

90% i would win that pot. I still think my play was sound, but if i were you i may have also called in your spot with that board.

None the less, it wasn't a bad beat, i just got unlucky.....

I STILL CAN"T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T WIN hehehe.

Always fun to play you Goose!

Regards

Nathan Butler

[steve b]

Tip 3 - Dealing with BAD BEATS.... The next time you get your aces cracked, CALM DOWN, TAKE BREATH.... Then shakes the hand of your oppentent and say WELL PLAYED! If that poker player leaves thinking he is playing well when clearly he isn't EXCELLENT, thats what you want. Wait till you see him again, sit at his table and i garuntee you, taking his chips will be as easy as 1,2,3! You want bad players thinking there are playing well..... if everyone was as good as you making money would be MUCH MUCH harder... its the weaker players that help you win. So remember most of the time the best hand wins.

Since this tip is about deception how do we know that the rest of your advice isnt designed to deceive us so that you can steal the pot with your continuation bet

[AJG]

blinds are 25/50
UTG - Raises to 200 (holding AK, but you don't know that)
You have QQ on the dealer button.

You have 2 choices, raise or call, you certiainly wouldn't fold pre-flop and you have position.

If you move ALL-IN than its an INSTA call from UTG... and Bang he could hit an ACE on the RIVER and its ALL OVER!

What you could have done instead is, call the raise.... if its a low flop then bet at it. AK would fold missing the board and you win the $475 pot.

Depending on the size of your flop bet, and whether or not opp also had say a flush draw with his 2 overcards, Im not so sure he'd fold AK HU. Certainly HU I would probably call a std c-bet with AKo, maybe more if I also had a flush draw... (50% of my poker time is in HU SnGs, and I am way ahead on them, so I have plenty HU experience) Many would say this should be an easy call with AK on a low flop HU...

Tip 2 definitely needs to be read my more than a few players out there! And doesnt just apply to freerolls....
But I have found in some of the larger buyin events, allin can be very effective as a bluff on a funky draw heavy board (like low straight, double paired low cards like 4455 etc) or when you have a strong hand against a draw heavy board and want to protect it. In my experience the allin call ratio from freeroll/micros to large events like the PStars Sunday Millions is about 10:1, especially earlyish in the tourney. I totally agree theres usually no reason to shove before say, antes begin, or SB+BB is ~20% of your starting stack in ANY tourney.

Note: I do not say this as criticism of your post, I enjoyed it, its just my opinion on a few HU details, and observations about your TIP 2