Poker Strategies

“Texas Dolly” Doyle Brunson is regarded as the only true living legend in the Poker world. Playing a lot of competitive poker games, it is hard to imagine him not taking part at the World Series of Poker. To date, Doyle has won 10 WSOP, winning his first in 1976. Back then the World Series was much smaller. He won his last bracelet in 2005. His story as a poker player is of the type you make movies about. He has been through it all, playing against the best in four different decades and eventually becoming one of the best.

He wrote a book entitled Super System, known as the “poker bible”. It is said to have changed the poker world forever. Now, the average player can see how the pros were making money playing Texas Holdem. This book will teach you how to play the game like a pro. A lot of Online Poker amateurs are playing better because of the things Doyle wrote about in his book.

Doyle is best known as a Texas Holdem Poker player although a lot consider him to be the best all around poker player ever. He has won bracelets in No Limit Holdem, Deuce to Seven Draw, 7 card stud, Razz and HORSE, and even a Mixed Doubles event with Starla Brodie in 1979. Of his 10 bracelets, four were won playing No Limit Holdem.

The 10 – 2 is Doyle’s hand. He won back to back main poker events holding those two hole cards – one in 1976 and another in 1977. In ’76, he beat Jesse Alto Heads up coming from behind to make a full house. In’77, again holding 10 – 2, he came from behind making a full house against Gary Berland. Although considered one of the worst hands in poker, 10- 2 is will always be known as “Doyle Brunson”. Doyle will even play the hand once in a while on television just for show.

Doyle didn’t win any bracelets in the 80s. In 1991 he won his first bracelet since 1979, taking home the $2,500 No Limit Holdem event for more than $200,000. In 1998 he won a RAZZ tournament. Back in 2003 he proved he could still win big tournaments when he bagged the HORSE event. In 2005, “Texas Dolly” won his tenth World Series of Poker bracelet and took home the Shorthanded event.

He was always a family man and married his wife Louise in 1962. They had three children. His son Todd became a professional poker player also, making him and Doyle the first father / son combination to win World Series of Poker bracelets. And it seems the game runs in their blood. Pamela, his daughter, also plays and found some success in the 2007 Series.

Life hasn’t always been easy for Doyle despite his success in his career as a pro poker player. He was diagnosed with cancer in the early ‘60’s and it was said to incurable. After he had an operation, no cancer was found. The doctors were stomped and said it had to be a miracle. One of his daughters, Doyla, passed away at the young age of 18 and Doyle turned to religion to get him through the tough times.

To this day, he can often be seen at the biggest cash games in Vegas and even plays multiple tournaments a year. He plays in the World Series of Poker every year – in both Las Vegas and Europe. He has made an estimated $2,800,000 in his World Series career, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon. He continues the chase for his 11th bracelet and in 2008 had big runs in tournaments, finishing 21st in event eight and finished 16th at the World Championship of HORSE.

Without a doubt, Doyle had revolutionized the game of poker. A lot of people regard him as the very face of poker. He continues to inspire not just through his game but through the way he lives his life.

Last September, 11 poker pros gathered at the World Series of Poker Europe for the final of £2,500 H.O.R.S.E Event. They were Howard Lederer, Raul Paez, Erik Albinsson, Ivo Donev, Sherkhan Farnood, Jeffrey Lisandro, Mark Gregorich, Phil Ivey, Yuval Bronshtein, Jeff Duval, and Spencer Lawrence.

One of them was eliminated immediately on the very first hand. It was an Omaha-8 round. Paez raised to 8,000 and Lederer called from the big blind. The flop fell 7c-6h-2d. Lederer placed a bet of 4,000 and Paez called. The turn fell 4c and Lederer put Paez in for the last of his stack at 5,500. Paez had a holding of 10h-Ah-10c-8c for a flush draw, gutshot straight draw, and a bad low. Lederer held 5h-5s-6s-7h for two pair, a straight draw, and a seven low. The river fell the Jd, eliminating Paez. Lederer scooped the pot while Paez took home £6,188.

Finishing 10th in the game was Yuval Bronshtein. It was the Stud 8 round and he was all in on fifth street. Phil Ivey made the call. Bronshtein was on an 8 gutshot draw on the sixth street with a holding of 5s-9h-Ad-8d (Jh-Qd). Ivey had a pair of kings. The final card for Bronshtein was a 4c, eliminating him from the tournament. He received £6,875 for his finish.

Next to fall was Erik Albinsson. He went all in on fourth street while in a Stud 8 round. He held 3d-6d-5c-Qd. Jeffrey Lisandro made the call. He had Ah-4s-10c-10d. Albinsson caught a 5h on fifth street, giving him a pair. Lisandro caught a 4c and that put him in the lead. Albinsson lost one of his outs on the 6th when Lisandro caught a 5s. Albinsson caught a 9h but missed a 6h on seventh street. He finished 9th and took home £6,875.

The final table was now set. All that remained were Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Spencer Lawrence, Sherkhan Farnood, Jeffrey Lisandro, Ivo Donev, Mark Gregorich, and Jeff Duval.

The next elimination took place almost three hours later. Lawrence was all in on Third Street and three Poker players were in the pot. Duval made an open pair of tens on fourth. Ivey ducked out. Duval bet out on fifth into Lederer, who was showing three spades and made the call. On Sixth Street, Duval opened three cards to a straight on board while Lederer had three wheel cards. Both of them checked. The same happened on the seventh. Lederer only had a pair of aces while Duval showed buried kings for kings up. Lawrence only held nines and threes. Lawrence was eliminated in 8th place with a finish of £8,938.

Like in the past two years, Lisandro was the strongest players at the poker tournaments this year. During the Holdem round, the board was 6h-4c-Kh-8h and Lisandro raised all in to 15,000. Lederer made the call and Lisandro showed Jh-Jd for a pair and a flush draw. Lederer showed 7h-5s for a straight and a weaker flush draw. The river fell the Ac and Lisandro ended up finishing 7th with a loot of £11,000.

For half an hour after this, Ivey was in a losing streak and had only 14,500 left. During the stud round, he became involved in a hand with Gregorich who bet him out on every street and even bet dark on seventh. Ivey made the call with the last of his chips. Gregorich showed buried queens with a pair of sizes for queens-up. Ivey headed for the rail and finished 6th. He received £13,750.

After this, Gregorich only had about 32,000 chips left. The limits were 6,000-12,000 so he had to make a stand. During a holdem round, the pot was three bets between Farnood and Gregorich with the flop Kc-9c-8c. Gregorich bet. Farnood raised. Gregorich made the call. The turn fell the 4d at which point Gregorich checked to Farnood. Farnood bet. Gregorich onlu had 13,000 chips left and put it all in. Farnood called and showed 5c-5s for a pair and a flush draw. Gregorich showed Ad-Jh for air. The river fell the 9s and eliminated Gregorich in 5th place with £17,188.

Lederer was in control now of the game and had moved up to 553,000 in chips at one point four handed due to a big stud pot with Farnood. While Lederer was the chip leader at this point, you have to remember that things in Limit poker can change quickly. By the time the players were four handed, the limits were 8,000 and 16,000 and a couple of pots could create a big swing in chips. All that in part two of this article.

One of the most common misconceptions in Texas Holdem is that you must be match-inclined so that you can figure out pot odds and drawing odds calculations. Yes, a lot of people out there are not math brainiacs. But it does not take a genius to learn poker math. There is a simpler way of figuring out pot odds using simple multiplication and division that are almost as effective as those requiring advanced poker math. This is the 4-2 method.

First, you need to learn how many outs you have. This is the number of Holdem poker cards in the deck that may help you win your hand. For example, you have a holding of A-10 of clubs. When the flop falls Jc-9c-8h, how many outs do you think you have? But since you have an open-ended straight draw and a nut flush draw, you still have to ask yourself: what do you think will win? A good chance is that an ace will hit the board, then you win your hand with a 5 card draw. So this means now that you have 9 clubs, all queens, all sevens, and all the remaining aces. Calculate it this way: 9+4+4+3 = 20. But this way you are counting 2 of your outs twice because Qc and 7c are part of the 9 outs for your flush. Take that into account and you end up with a total of 18 outs to hit your hand.

The next step is calculating the percentage or odds of you hitting your Poker hand. On the flop, multiply the number of outs by 4 and then add 2 to the result. Let’s take our previous example. In this case, your result will be 18×4 = 72+2 = 74. This is by how much chance you have of hitting your hand by the river. If you are at the turn, take your number of outs and then multiply it by 2. And then you add 1 to the result. Our previous example will compute as 18×2 = 36+1 = 37. You have a 37% chance of winning your hand by the river from the turn.

The next part may be a little tricky to some: you must compute the percentage of the pot you must call when facing a bet. You are on the flop and there is $75 in the pot and you have the same cards as what we illustrated above and then your opponent bets $50. You must compute for what percentage of the pot you must call so that you can continue? First, consider what the current amount of the pot is. Let’s say it is at $125 when it comes to you. This is now the original pot size plus the bet your opponent placed. Your call must be included in the pot so that you can proceed with the calculation. Divide 50 by the pot size. In our example, this will be 50/175. The result (.285) is your decimal percentage. Move the decimal over two places and you come up with a percentage of 28.5%.

The next part is simple. In the example we gave above, you know that on the flop you have a 74% chance of hitting your hand by the river. On the turn, your percentage is at 37%. On the flop, your call is 28.5% of the pot. Next you need to know what odds are in your favor to make a call. If your call percentage is equal to or less than the percentage to hit your hand, then the odds are in your favor. In the example above, you have the odds to make the call. If the flop is checked and a bet of $100 is made at the turn, your percentage will be at 37% while your bet is equal to 44.4% of the pot. Here, the odds are against you.

The 4-2 method makes calculating percentages and pot odds simpler and easier. With enough practice, you will find this becoming a natural part of your Poker Games.

A split pot version of your regular Omaha Poker, Omaha 8 or Better follows rules that are similar to those followed in Omaha High. There is only one difference: a qualifying low hand will take half the pot.  This hand is a five card hand of five unique cards eight or below.  Straights and flushes don’t count against low hands while aces play both high and low. That makes the wheel best low hand (A-2-3-4-5).  This variation is typically played in either a limit or a pot-limit fashion but here we discuss only Limit Omaha-8.

When playing Omaha Online Poker, you must use two cards in your hand and three from the board.  The same holds true in hi-lo. The only difference is that you do not have to use the same two cards for both high and low.  For example, you have A-2-K-Q and the board ran out 3-6-7-K-Q.  You can play your K-Q for two pair to take high. You can play your A-2 to give you the nut low too.

The key to long term success in Omaha Hi/Lo poker is knowing what a good starting hand is.  The object of the game is to scoop pots as much as you can.  This is when you win both the high and low sides of the pot, and when there are no qualifying lows. You need to play hands that give you a decent chance to do this and will want hands that have an ace and one or more wheel cards.  Hands containing A-2 or A-3 are powerful hands.  A-4 and up are a bit tricky and should be played only in the blinds. You should for cards that are suited and connected in your hand and would want cards suited with your ace.

Remember that this is a drawing Poker game which means you will constantly be drawing to either a low, a straight, flush or full house.  You need to always be aware of the possibilities on the board.  When you are not drawing to the nuts in one or more directions, you may want to get out of the hand.  Do get out if you are drawing to a straight and there are three suited cards on board.  A full house is likely if you are drawing and the board is paired. In this case, you will want to get out.  Fold if you have only 2nd or third nut low and more than one opponent is in the hand. Don’t play second best hands because they will only cause you money.

A player is said to be quartered when he has tied another player for one side of the pot. This will most probably occur on the low side of the pot.  In this case, a player will receive only one-third of the total pot.  If there are only two or three players are in the pot then a player will lose money in a quartered pot.

A player is counterfeited when a card falls on the board and eliminates the ability for the player to make low.  For example, you are counterfeited if you hold A-2-10-J and the flop falls A-7-8.  You can only make a low if a fourth low card falls, and it will not be a nut low.  This term also applies when a player whose nut low is eliminated and left with a weaker low.

The various combination of starting hands among other things makes Omaha hi-lo a more complex than most variations. But armed with the basics, you can now go on and play the game. You’ll eventually pick up along the way and learn more.

When playing Omaha 8 or better, starting with strong holdings is one of the most important things.  Playing speculative hands may make large portions of your stack disappear quicker than any other poker game you have played and will ever Poker play.

One of the things to consider here are starting hands that include an ace.  The Poker ace is the most powerful card in Omaha 8 or better. This because an ace is the only card that plays both ways.  It is can make nut straight and flushes and it is also required to make nut lows.  In Omaha 8 or better, you will almost always need to either hold or to draw to the nuts.  Most of the time, not doing so may cause you the game.

Hands that have an A-2 and two coordinating Poker cards are the strongest in Omaha 8 or better.  It will be ideal to have an A-2 with another wheel card and a card above 9 or hands that have at least two cards suited, preferably with the ace.  Other very strong hands in Omaha 8 or better is A-A-2-3 with the two aces suited as well as hands with A-3 and two coordinating cards, which are generally raising hands pre-flop.  A-4 and two coordinating cards can be played too but should if you area a beginner you should be cautious about doing so.  A-5 and two coordinating cards could be played from the blind to no raise while A-6 and two coordinating cards should only be played from the big blind to no raise.  A-7 and A-8 hands should not be played. They will make the worst lows possible and will be outdrawn most of the time.

In Omaha Hi/Lo, high hands become very tricky to play. Most of the time, they can lead you to only winning half the pot.  The problem here is that when the board comes low or is drawing low, you are drawing to half the pot at most.   As a beginner, you should probably only play high cards in one of two cases.  First is if you are in the blind to no raise, you may see the flop with high cards.  Second is if you are in a tight game and a lot of players are seeing the flop, then there is a huge chance they are holding a lot of low cards.  In this situation you can speculate with high cards.  If the flop comes low or middling, it will be a good choice to just fold.

Omaha 8 or better is a game that relies on hands and that rewards solid plays.  It comes as no surprise that the winner in most Omaha 8 or better games is typically the one who plays a rock solid tight game.  For the most part, this is due to their ability to get away from weak hands and capitalize on weak and looser players. While you’re just beginning to learn the ropes, it is better to stick to a tight strategy. Stay away from weak and mediocre hands to try to hold on to your stack.

If you are playing Texas Holdem and you see pocket aces in your hand, you might feel inclined to do a little leap inside your head. The same thing tends to happen to players who see pocket aces when playing Pot Limit Omaha Poker. But you should keep in mind that not all poker hands that have aces are strong. They are called “uncoordinated aces” or “naked aces”.

Many players know that the best starting hand in this variation of poker is A-A-K-K double suited. This is considered a monster hand in Pot Limit Omaha Poker and pre-flop this hand will always be ahead. Other powerful hands are those that have aces in them and a couple of coordinated cards.

But when the aces are not coordinated or suited, it can get a little tricky as Poker players will usually assume that it is a strong hand also. They sometimes start playing it as they would a Holdem poker game, treating any starting hand with two aces like the nuts. The problem here is that aces that do not have any backup will force you to rely only on the aces to win your hand. Either that or you need to be extremely lucky.

Let’s look at this situation. Player X is an aggressive player type who raised from the middle position in an Omaha Poker game. The player on the button reraised the pot. The LAG player then reraised all-in and was called. He showed A-A-4-9 off suit and the opponent had a holding of Qh-Jd-10h-9s. In this case, the aces only have a 58% chance of winning. It is too close a poker game. The flop falls 8s-10c-2d, which suddenly brings the aces down and leaves them the underdog. The player with the wrap now had a 57% chance of winning and actually hit his straight. The aces were busted.

While the situation above required the wrap to hit the hand, it also demonstrates that a player needs to backup his aces. Any random hand with two aces may be a favorite pre-flop but it needs to hit in order to stay ahead in the game. Majority of the time uncoordinated aces will not hit the flop.

How you should play uncoordinated aces depends on a couple of factors. You should consider what your position is at the table, what type of players your opponents are, what the limits are, and how much you have in your stack. This is the type of hand that you may even want to consider doing a limp-reraise with just to see if you get lucky on the flop. Limping with aces seems to be a pretty bad thing to do but you should keep in mind that this is an Omaha Poker Games hence it is a drawing game. If you pick up a draw on the flop, you will actually be ahead against other players who have uncoordinated aces. If you are playing on the button against only limpers and you know that a raise will eliminate some of them out, you may consider putting in a raise. Just remember that if you do not hit the flop, you should tread lightly or you might just end up giving your chips all away.

During a certain game at the World Series of Poker,  David “DevilFish” Ulliott had flopped a set of kings holding Ks-Kh-7c-2s.  The flop fell Kd-Jc-5d.  His opponent, Markus Golser, had a holding of Ad-Qd-10c-4s.  He had both a nut flush draw and a nut straight with 17 outs to hit his hand (Jd would give Ulliott a full house and this had to be subtracted from the equation).  At this point, Golser was around 70% to make his poker hand but Ulliott was behind.

Omaha Poker is a game of big cards and big draws. The game between Ulliot and Golser was a very good example of how a big draw can actually be better than a made hand.  Golser caught a 9 on the fourth street and had a hand that had multiple straight and flush draws. In the end, he was able to knock out a player when his draw got there.

A wrap is a poker hand that has at least 3 coordinated cards that can help make a straight.  An example of this is A-Q-10-4.  Hands such as J-10-9-8 are also very powerful hands because these can make any potential winning hand from a nine high straight to broadway.  Hands that are also suited and coordinated will be even more valuable.

Players who have a big wrap like A-Q-J-10 or J-10-9-8 will usually raise pre-flop. This is not a really bad play, actually. If the board flops low or paired then you will have some kind of a straight draw with many flops. There is also a very good chance for flopping high pairs and even sets when the board comes paired. You get additional outs when you catch a flush draw if your wrap is suited.

When doing flop a solid draw, many Poker players get a bit confused as to how they should play a wrap. Some recommend pushing draws like what Golser did. This play is solid because a lot of times you will have a lot of outs to hit your draw. Just be careful pushing if you only have a gutshot draw because then you will only have four outs and you want at least an open-ended straight draw with at least 8 outs. If you have a straight and flush draws, you will usually have 18 outs. You can feel confident about your Poker Games now as the odds are in your favor for hitting your hand.

Be a little more careful if you’re pushing a wrap on the turn. Here, your odds will be reduced by half due to the fact that only a single card can come and you might not hit your hand. Thus, at this point, it becomes more important to look at your pot odds, which you can compute for using the 4-2 method. If you have 18 outs, then the possibility that you will make your hand is 36%. In most cases, the odds will be for you to make a draw. But if the odds look a bit bleak, then you might want to consider just folding your hand.