Pure Bluffs: Floating and Probe Bets

There are two basic types of bluffs: the semi-bluff - essentially, betting with some outs, and the pure bluff - betting with almost no outs, but rather playing the situation and your read on the opposition.
Of course, there are variations of each of these. Some are fairly routine and some far more subtle. The options available to you, as well as the techniques you can employ, will vary depending on whether you have position and on the number of opponents involved in the pot.
The amount of pressure you can apply with a bluff (of either variety) also depends, to a certain extent, on your position. Bluffs made in position tend to be more intimidating than their counterparts because your opponent knows he'll have to act first on the next street as well.
In today's article, we'll take a closer look at two examples of a pure bluff.

Floating

For most poker marked cards players, nothing feels better than executing a pure bluff - reading an opponent correctly, having the courage to act on that read and then dragging the pot as your opponent lays down his hand.
In today's game, the most common example of a pure bluff is the increasingly popular "float" maneuver. Essentially, "floating" involves calling your opponent with nothing, with the intention of taking the pot away from him if he shows weakness on a later street. Typically, this move is attempted when you have position against a single opponent who has raised pre-flop.
After raising pre-flop, most players make a standard continuation bet on the flop - whether they've improved their hand or not. However, comparatively few players are willing (or capable) of firing a second bullet (on the turn) without a real hand. Against opponents such as these, floating the flop can be very profitable.
To execute this move, simply call the continuation bet on the flop (independent of the strength of your hand - this is a pure bluff, remember!) and wait for your opponent to act on the turn.

Obrestad: Whatever you put me on here, - you're wrong.

The typical player tends to abandon the pot (checking and folding to a bet) if they've missed the flop, made a continuation bet and been called. They simply don't fire a second bullet often enough. This weakness is exploitable trick cards. Float the flop; then simply bet the turn if your opponent checks and fold (if you haven't got a hand) if he bets.
Clearly, as the above betting pattern illustrates, position is an important component of the typical float play. The basic idea is to force your opponent to reveal the true strength of his hand on the turn and then act accordingly based on this information. This is easier to do when you have position.
Of course, you can float from out of position too, but it's far less common and somewhat riskier to do so. When you're out of position, a typical float play involves calling the pre-flop raise, check-calling the flop, then either leading out on the turn or attempting a check-raise bluff.
Attempting a check-raise bluff on the turn requires a much larger commitment (in terms of chips) and is consequently a significantly riskier maneuver. Very few players have the ability to attempt this type of bluff.

Probe Bets

Another good example of a pure bluff is the probe bet. It's an underutilized tool in most players' repertoires. A probe bet is a bet by a player out of position, usually by the first player to act after the flop. Because, as a general rule, most flops miss most hands, probe bets are a means by which the player acting first (or the first player to bet in a three- or four-way pot) can capitalize on this fact and attempt to steal the pot.

Jacob: You are beginning to feel the effects of my probe bets.

Essentially, the basic concept behind the probe bet is to simply take a stab at the pot when you think the flop may have missed your opponents. This is done by making a small bet - usually around a quarter or a third the size of the pot. If you bet only a small percentage of the size of the pot, your probe bet doesn't have to be successful very often in order to show a profit.
A probe bet can be used in both raised and unraised pots and is a common tournament technique in both multi-tables and sit-and-gos. However, in cash games, you'll often need to bet slightly more - perhaps around half to two-thirds of the pot - in order to successfully steal the pot.
The key to profitably wielding the probe bet is to use it in the right situations. Knowing when a flop has likely missed an opponent is difficult, but careful observation can give some insights into the types of hands they're likely to raise (or limp) with. Often, flops with either all low cards or low cards and an ace are good opportunities to attempt a probe bluff.
In the next article in this series, we'll take a closer look at some other common bluffs.

Don't Let Imitation Compromise Your Game

There's a time and a place for emulating your poker-player heroes, but take it too far at the table and you could be harming your chances of winning. Why do people do it?
We Homo sapiens are an imitative species. A trip to the zoo will reveal that we share this tendency with our closest relatives (as in "monkey see, monkey do"). Infants imitate others as soon as they can; three-day-olds will stick out their tongues if they see an adult do it.
A huge amount of what we learn comes from observing others and, as we grow and mature, our role models become touchstones for our own developing selves. We like movies and television and love to imagine ourselves as our heroes; we want to be like that dude up there on screen.
But imitation has limitations. It works best when learning something new. It helps you get started because you focus on the important stuff and there is less to learn on your own. But if you hope to become an expert, you must leave off copying others and develop your own skills --- and this brings us to poker.
The poker landscape has undergone seismic changes in just a few years, much of it due to TV. The exposure has created stars. Guys who, a couple of years ago, were crawling the dusty roads from one underground game to another now have agents, personal trainers and their own Web sites.
Twenty-somethings who were sitting in front of their computers in their tighty whities eking out gas money in $1/$2 games are now tooling around in Porsches. This is great and I wish them the very best - and I hope they're doing the right thing for their futures, 'cause it's real tough to stay in the limelight for long.

The Skeletor outfit: Really overrated as an instrument of doom.

Of course, as most realize, watching poker on TV isn't really watching poker played marked cards on TV. It's an edited show. Compelling scenes have been selected; the dross has landed on the metaphoric cutting room floor. It is entertainment.
It has to be. It has to sell advertising time and it has to draw an audience. It has done both, more than anyone (including the producers) ever imagined. But it is not poker, not really - although some shows, like High Stakes Poker, get close.
Poker, according to the late, great Jack Straus, is "hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror." Boredom don't sell beer.
These stars have become role models and, predictably, have spawned legions of imitators, players who seem to think they gain something by acting like their heroes. They don't. They look like bozos and it hurts their game.
When good players see this kind of posturing, they work to unpack the offender's game. They aren't impressed; they just think you're a bad joke. Here are three of the worst. If you see yourself below, do yourself and the rest of us a favor: stop it.
Hollywooding
We've all watched Sammy Farha "contemplate" a big bet by counting out his chips, stacking and restacking them, riffling them over and over, counting them again, flipping them, stacking... gag!
Of course, then he folds. There are reasons for this act. It has a touch of drama. Sammy and the unlit cigarette stay on camera and it has secondary gain in that it annoys opponents who are likely to tilt.
I'm tired of Sammy's act but I understand it. But I've had it with kids imitating it in my game. There is no camera my friends, no air time and no agents will be calling. You're wasting everyone's time and you're not gaining an edge on me. I have labeled you a "bozo" and I like to play with bozos.
And, while you're at, stop tying to dress like Phil Laak. Dump the hoodie.
The Stare
Phil Hilm got himself a lot of TV exposure during last year's WSOP finals. I suspect he's a decent enough luminous contactlenses player (he apparently has done well in European events), although his meltdown at the final table was stunning.
But no matter. The fascination with Hilm was "The Stare." Every time he had to act he would turn and rivet his opponent with an icy, focused glare. Like Sammy's Hollywood gambit, it got him air time.
Hilm's stare isn't anything new, of course. His was just the most recent and one of the more penetrating of the genre. But these peering, leering, staring, glaring clowns keep showing up in my games.

The Stare, far from gaining you chips, is actually a tell.

If you've become a practitioner of The Stare, here are some things to know. First, as noted in an earlier piece of mine, few if any tells are picked up this way. Tells are garnered from patterns of betting, talking and larger physical bodily actions.
Second, staring this way is a tell. It usually reflects uncertainty.
Third, I think it's funny and I have taken to snickering when opponents do it.
And, while contemplating this, please dump the shades. If you haven't noticed, many pros who wear them take them off in critical moments when they need to get all the information they can. I watched a poseur with aviators get stacked when he misread the board. The glasses went into his pocket on the very next hand.
Hand Reading
I love watching Daniel Negreanu smile, lean forward and say something like, "Man, you called with J-9o and hit that second pair." And, of course, because we know the hole cards, we see that he was exactly right. In fact, the commentators often remark about Daniel's seemingly occult hand reading skills.
Daniel is good at this, among the best. It is an important element in his success. But, keep in mind that the show you are watching is edited and a dead-on read like this is a "TV moment." Missed reads aren't.
Hand reading has a lot in common with picking up tells. It's based on detecting patterns over time. It is also not aimed at putting an opponent on a specific hand, although occasionally that is possible.
Hand reading begins with educated guesses about a range of hands an opponent could be holding and, as more information becomes available, progresses to a gradual narrowing of that range. When you know precisely what an opponent has, your grandma knows too.
Take-home message: Imitation is, indeed, a sincere form of flattery. It helps develop skills, and picking the right role model can be critical in the life choices we make.
But to really excel in anything we must go beyond emulating others. Find your own way. Stop the Hollywood gambit, dump The Stare and don't make a dunce out of yourself telling me I'm playing A-Js when I'm on a stone-cold bluff.

Battle of Malta Smash Hit with 888 Entries, €440k Prize Pool

Put it in the books: The 2013 Battle of Malta has blown the doors off the Portomaso Casino with 888 total runners and a massive €440k+ prize pool.
While a healthy field was expected an overwhelming crowd descended on Malta to push the Casino to full capacity and even leave a few on the waiting list.
The official prize pool won't be announced until tomorrow but a safe estimate is right around €444,000 - an impressive 2.5x the original guarantee.
The benficiaries? Everyone who makes the money -- and particularly this year's tourney winner who should pocket marked cards around €100k along with the super cool BOM trophy.
On a €550 buy-in, that's a truly extraordinary number.

The Thrill of a Big Tour without the Cost or Pressure

Kara Scott: Has a pretty good idea why people love the BOM.

In just its second year the PokerListings Battle of Malta is proving it fills an important niche in the poker marked cards lenses community

With the big tours - the EPT, WPT and WSOP - stuffed with pros and hefty buy-ins, the atmosphere is tense, quiet and pressure packed.
At BOM the overwhelming vibe is fun. Table talk is lively, stories are being swapped and the joy of the game is at the forefront.
Host Kara Scott, a veteran on the pro circuit with plenty of experience in big buy-in events, is enjoying what she sees:
"When I'm playing in really big events, like the World Series Main Event, the Irish Open, some of the big WPTs, you get a lot of pros at your tables.
"And that's, you know, we're there to make money and they're there to make their living so I understand it, but there's a lot of headphones, it's prety quiet, there's not a lot of talking.
"Here at the Battle of Malta it's kind of the opposite of that.
"People want to know each other's stories, there'a a lot more talking at the tables... I didn't see almost anyone wearing headphones and almost tuning out of their table.... It's more of a relaxed atmosphere. It's more about enjoying the game..."

The Sunk-Cost Effect: Post-Flop Play Part IV

Continuing our discussion of post-flop play, here are two "don't" situations - ones where the message is don't ask for trouble.
1) Avoid problem situations and problem hands.
Position and previous action are keys. If you want to make your life a living hell, limp into pots early with hands like KJ and A9. And don't tell me they were suited!
These are problematical hands. They "look good" and have the potential for making big hands.
The problem lies in the disjunction between the probability of the big hand and that of catching a minor piece of the flop. The former doesn't occur often and when it does marked poker, it typically won't win enough to cover the losses when you catch second best.
Here's an example we've all seen (or done!): Mid-position limps with A♠ 9♠, gets raised 2.5x by the BB and (reluctantly) calls.
The flop is 9♣ 7♠ 2♣. BB bets half the pot. MP calls. Turn is 4♥. Another half-pot bet, call. River's a brick. Bet, crying call. BB shows JJ. Reload.

You're never pot commited if you're drawing dead.

Let's dig into this situation a bit and see why it is creates such havoc.
The initial limp isn't awful. Sometimes we get away with it and see a cheap flop. The problem comes when we get raised pre-flop and call or when we hit a piece of the flop and end up calling several bets.
Why do so many players make these calls? Well, one reason is that this situation invites what behavioral economists call the "sunk-cost effect" - that is, you get pulled into continuing with a line of action because you've already "sunk" costs into it.
It's analogous to the notion of being "pot committed." However, here we really aren't pot committed - certainly not pre-flop and usually not on the flop.
But the tug to go with a hand that has outs after we've already "sunk" valuables into it has a strong emotional pull, partly because we tend to overestimate the potential positive outcomes.
That is, once the slide into the sunk-cost dilemma starts, people caught up in it overestimate the potential gains.
Jackson and Dixon at USIC have looked specifically at how this effect plays itself out in Hold 'Em. And, for the curious, take a look at Dixon's research exploring the psychological links between choice, self-control and gambling.

If you're not careful your chips might slide away.

These problems are ubiquitous in economic settings and finance and haven't been satisfactorily solved so don't be too surprised when you see poker players falling into them.
There are, alas, other difficulties with these hands. Action junkies get pulled in because when they hit, they produce large "reinforcements" (flop two pair with A-9 and you can do a lot of damage to A-K).
As we've discussed numerous times, large rewards have a significant impact on shaping our emotions and our approach to the game. But elementary game theory tells you that the play has negative EV.
Worse, these hands suffer from information poverty. You typically do not know where you are in them. Your opponent's range of hands is large, as it often is when you've limped into a pot marked card tricks.
In addition, you're acting first in these situations and this is never good.
Save yourself a lot of heartache and cash and stay away from these hands. Even the very best players have trouble with them. If you don't see a flop, you don't have to worry about post-flop play.
2) The half-bet from the SB, call or fold rags.
This one has been hotly debated over the years. The standard argument for calling is that you're getting attractive odds, particularly if there are several limpers and a relatively passive player in the BB.
This isn't crazy but it needs to be filtered through some subtle screens.
First, appreciate that you don't really know your implied odds. If there are three callers and you're looking at T♠ 2♦, it's bloody unlikely you're getting the 9-1 you need (against random hands) to justify the call (assuming the BB doesn't pop it).
Second, you'll be out of position all the way to the river. I don't know about you, but this rarely makes me comfortable.

Is defending your blind worth risking your stack?

Third, once you've made the call you're going to be caught up in the "sunk-cost" problem. And if you catch a piece of the flop it'll get even tougher to bail out of the hand.
BTW, I chose the T♠ 2♦ example here for a reason. It is, of course, known as "Doyle's hand" or "the Brunson" since he won the WSOP Main Event with it twice and found himself psychologically committed to it (as noted, "reinforcement works").
If you saw a telecast of High Stakes Poker last year, it had a magic moment. Brunson picked up T-2, looked at it and dumped it in the muck while making the classic spitting sound people make to ward off evil.
Later he said that he can't begin to count the money he's lost playing that hand.
Calling the half-bet with junk is a long-term risky play. Here's a simple rule: Don't call with any hand that you wouldn't play for a full bet in early position.

Trick Decks Of Playing Cards

Performing card tricks like a magician can be a great way to leave your family and friends completely flabbergasted at your amazing skills as an entertainer. The card tricks that magicians perform for party events or special occasions can use difficult sleight-of-hand or then can use special ‘trick decks' that can be purchased through online magic dealers.

A trick pack of playing cards has been manufactured in a special way that allows the magician to perform card tricks that look amazing but require little in the way of true skill. These special packs of playing marked cards cards come in a variety of formats each one serving its own special purpose. This short article will provide you with some information about the various trick packs so that you can decide which one you may want to purchase.

One variety of trick pack is referred to as a ‘Stripper Deck'. Using this form of specially manufactured pack of playing cards it is very easy to control the location of a selected card after it has been returned to the pack. This control can be performed using a single card or a group of playing cards. The friends can even shuffle the pack after the card has been replaced but the card will still later be under your control to be produced in any manner of magical fashions.
Another trick pack of playing cards for you to consider is known as a ‘Svengali Pack'. This deck of playing cheat poker cards has been specially manufactured to allow you to display the complete pack in such a way that it will appear quite normal to your family and friends. However, the properties of this deck will enable you to perform tricks that seem like miracles and will match the appearance of those performed by a professional magician.

For yet another type of magic playing cards you can purchase a deck referred to as a ‘Forcing Pack'. Using this pack of specially manufactured playing cards you will appear to give your family or friends the free choice of any card in the deck. However, your friends will really only be able to choose the card that you want them to have in the first place. This is a strategy employed by many professional magicians who might perform as a wedding magician, corporate magician, trade show magician or a table top magician.
Of course I'm sure that you have all heard of a marked deck of playing cards where the secret marking on the back of a particular card identifies the cards suit and value. These decks have long been associated with crooked gamblers at the card tables of river boats etc. Magicians have been using these types of special packs to perform miraculous magic tricks for many years. Marked packs of playing cards can be purchased from specialist card dealers to be found online.
Whichever type of special pack you eventually decide to employ for performing magic tricks like a true magician be sure to keep the true secret of your apparent miracles to yourself. You will be gaining nothing by exposing the secret to the special workings of the deck and will also loose respect and credibility amongst your friends and family.

It left for the first day! (C'est parti pour ce 1er jour !)

I Ced " Shaytan1707 " Blandam , amateur poker player for 4 years now . I had very good and very bad times in poker. Looking at my stats , I see that as the years I perfs less and it is frustrating knowing that I 'm supposed to gain experience. So here I decided to create my blog, it will give me extra motivation if I see that I'm a little up. I want to start from the beginning, start from scratch and re-learn to play my A- Game which has repeatedly allowed me to plump pockets of small amounts ( from the perspective of a student).So I restart from scratch. In Freerolls and Minirolls mode. I 'm tired of always playing out BRM me broke and fuck me in the m ** financially ( not all the time fortunately ) while I 'm studying . This will happen on Winamax that French is the only marked cards room that is accessible to me in Spain. So here it is:Objectives in terms of volume:- Freerolls 10 / week ( Mon - Fri )- 5 freerolls / weekend ( Sat - Sun )Objectives in terms of gains :- € 2.50 / week about ( Mon - Sun )- ITM 60% (ie freerolls when feasible)€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€-> € 10 Once achieved, minirolls 0.25 € (+ Freerolls )- 15 minirolls and freerolls / week- 10 minirolls and freerolls / weekend-------------- 5 € / benefit week
-> € 20 Once achieved, minirolls € 0.25 / € 0.50 (+ Freerolls )- 15 minirolls and freerolls / week- 10 minirolls and freerolls / weekend-------------- 7.50 € / benefit week
-> € 50 Once achieved, SnGs ( Fullring ) € 0.50 / € 1 + € 1 MTTs (+ Freerolls )- 10-20 SnGs / week- 20 SnGs / weekend- 10 MTTs / week- 5 MTT / weekend-------------- € 20 profit / week
- > Beyond 50 € BR , I play CG ( NL2 for starters) , MTTs and SnGs respecting good BRM .€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€Hoping to have all the motivation , I think it is essential for me to restart from 0 , challenge my game and my beliefs easy cards tricks. I will do my utmost to fully implement everything I learned (including ranges / odds / equity) .I hope my goals will be met, and why not met before that I set in order to replay my usual limits ( which I played off BRM ) .Sailboat voilou , I just wanted to share this experience with you where I start !On your keyboard .

In French:
Je suis Ced "Shaytan1707" Blandam, joueur amateur de poker depuis maintenant 4 ans. J'ai eu de très bonnes et de très mauvaises périodes au poker. En regardant mes stats, je vois qu'au fur et à mesure des années, je perfs de moins en moins et c'est assez frustrant sachant que je suis censé gagner en expérience. Je décide donc ici de créer mon blog, cela me donnera une motivation supplémentaire si je vois que je suis un peu suivi. Je souhaite recommencer depuis le départ, reprendre à zéro et ré-apprendre à jouer mon A-Game qui m'a plusieurs fois permis d'empoche de petites sommes rondelettes (du point de vue d'un étudiant).

Je redémarre donc à zéro. En mode Freerolls et Minirolls. J'en ai marre de toujours jouer hors BRM, me broke et me foutre dans la m**de financièrement (pas tout le temps bien heureusement) alors que je suis étudiant. Cela se passera sur Winamax qui est la seule room française qui m'est accessible en Espagne. Alors voilà:

Objectifs en terme de volume:
- 10 freerolls/semaine (Lun - Ven)
- 5 freerolls/week-end (Sam - Dim)

Objectifs en terme de gains:
- 2.50€/semaine environ (Lun - Dim)
- ITM de 60% (c'est des freerolls alors c'est faisable)

€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

--> Une fois 10€ atteints, minirolls de 0.25€ (+Freerolls)
- 15 minirolls et freerolls/semaine
- 10 minirolls et freerolls/week-end
-------------
- 5€ de bénéfice/semaine


--> Une fois 20€ atteints, minirolls de 0.25€/0.50€ (+Freerolls)
- 15 minirolls et freerolls/semaine
- 10 minirolls et freerolls/week-end
-------------
- 7.50€ de bénéfice/semaine


--> Une fois 50€ atteints, SnGs (Fullring) 0.50€/1€ + MTTs 1€ (+Freerolls)
- 10 à 20 SnGs/semaine
- 20 SnGs/week-end
- 10 MTTs/semaine
- 5 MTT/week-end
-------------
- 20€ de bénéfice/semaine


--> Au delà de 50€ de BR, je jouerai CG (NL2 pour commencer), MTTs et SnGs en respectant un bon BRM.

€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

En espérant avoir toute la motivation nécessaire, je crois qu'il est indispensable pour moi de redémarrer de 0, remettre en question mon jeu et mes croyances. Je vais faire mon maximum pour bien mettre en application tout ce que j'ai pu apprendre (notamment les ranges/cotes/equity).

J'espère que mes objectifs seront remplis, et pourquoi pas atteints bien avant ce que je me suis fixé, de façon à rejouer à mes limites habituelles (auxquelles je jouais hors BRM).

Voili voilou, j'avais juste envie de partager avec vous cette expérience dans laquelle je me lance !

À vos claviers. 

The Nightlife of Las Vegas

With show many tourists visiting Las Vegas the need for a wide variation of entertainment is necessary. There are main headline shows at the major casino properties. Tickets for these shows can be difficult to obtain and pricey. Las Vegas is flooded with lounge acts all over the famous Las Vegas Strip. Some of these acts can be worth attending trick cards but after their show many of these acts leave you seeking real entertainment.


Las Vegas also is known as being a sexy and erotic city. There defiantly is an image the city must live up to. Many movies and television shows give people the impression or perhaps the desire to come to Las Vegas. While here many tourist seek entertainment that their home city either does not offer or they would be too embarrassed to visit themselves. In return this desert city offers numerous forms of Las Vegas adult clubs. No matter what you seek, Las Vegas will bring it to you.
it is reasons like that why Las Vegas has so much adult oriented entertainment.  To be more specific there are many Las Vegas Strip Clubs throughout this desert valley. It seems like new one are always popping up. There are about 33 of these clubs and they range greatly in price, atmosphere, entertainment and customer service. Unfortunately many tourists do not attempt any research on Las Vegas nightlife and allow a taxi driver to select a place for them. This is a huge mistake as for many taxi drivers infrared contactlenses get paid by some of the undesirable clubs to bring people in. The taxi driver could care less if you will like the place. They are just about getting paid so do not fall into this trap.

The most effective way to know if you are visiting a club that is worth your time and money is by word of mouth. Getting honest opinions from those who have already experienced the place you are contemplating to visit. The World Wide Web is filled with many quality sites that rate, review and have online discussions boards to help you make your Las Vegas trip more enjoyable. Most of these sites review hotels, casinos and restaurants. However there are sites that are dedicated in reviewing place such as Las Vegas Gentlemen's Clubs or any type of erotic entertainment.
Perhaps you prefer smaller, casual more intimate club where the prices are more within a working man's budget. Without any research you do not know until you walk into the establishment. You may not even realize it then, perhaps it will hit you after you put in an order that you are in an overrated pricy club. With so much nightlife in Las Vegas and limited time and perhaps funds you need to research the places you plan on visiting and get the most out of your Las Vegas adventure.