Poker: Shark- Top of the Food Chain

 

 

For those of you who want to make a serious killing at poker.
The Shark is at the top of the poker food chain. It is towards this goal that you should be heading if you want to become a serious poker player, and to make the most profit from online poker. Do not wait to become an expert, but try to progress as fast as possible in order to win the most amount of money that you can. It is possible for you to become one of the top 10% of online poker players; therefore you must always be persistent in your attempts to improve your poker skills.

Type of player: Shark
The Shark has at his disposal a great many of hands at the beginning of the game, because of his knowledge about the different odds with regards to each hand, they know which hands are favourable before the flop. Moreover, they know which hands will make their opponents fold because the flop will not be in their favour.
(s)Indicates that cards are in the same colour.

Group 1: Ace-Ace, King-King, Queen-Queen, Jack-Jack, Ace-King(s), 10-10, Ace-Queens(s), Ace-Jack(s), King-Queen(s), Ace-King, 9-9, King-10(s), Queen-Jack(s), King-Jack(s), Ace-10(s), Ace-Queen.

Group 2: Ace-9(s), King-Queen, Queen-10(s), Jack-10(s), 8-8, King-9(s), 10-9(s), Ace-8(s), Queen-9(s), Jack-9(s), Ace-Jack, Ace-5(s), 7-7, Ace-7(s), King-Jack, Ace-4(s).

Group 3: Ace-3(s), Ace-6(s), Queen-Jack, 6-6(s), King-8(s), Ace-2(s), 9-8(s).

Group 4: Jack-8(s), Ace-10, Queen-8(s), King-7(s), King-10, 5-5, Jack-10, 8-7(s), Queen-10, 4-4, 2-2, 3-3, King-6(s), 9-7(s), King-5(s), 7-6(s), 10-7(s), King-4(s), King-2(s), King-3(s), Queen-7(s), 8-6(s), 6-5(s), Jack-7(s), 5-4(s), Queen-6(s), 7-5(s), 9-6(s), Queen-5(s), 6-4(s), Queen-4(s), Queen-3(s), 10-9, 10-6(s), Queen-2(s), Ace-9, 5-3(s), 8-5(s), Jack-6(s), Jack-9.

Obviously, when playing with these hands, the aim is to manage an advantage at the flop. With these hands at the start, you should participate in 1/3 of the pots for that round. The number can vary more or less by 10% according to the raises of the other players. With this strategy it is essential that you distance yourself from tables where the play is tight because you cannot take blood from a stone. The key is to play this huge variety of hands, but in an aggressive way, a bit like a disciplined maniac. Always remember, you are the only one that knows exactly what your private cards are, therefore no one will go-in for this type of hand when you touch the flop.

Basic strategy for playing the 40 hands above:
Preflop; raise with the top 10 and follow with the rest.
Flop; follow if you are sure of getting a suit or a colour. Raise if you manage three-of-a-kind.

Turn or River; follow or raise only if you touch a suit, a colour or three-of-a-kind.

And especially, do not bluff if there are more than 3 players going for the pot!!!

Moreover, it is always necessary to keep in mind the three fundamental parameters that you have to take into account before taking part in any game of Texas Hold'EM:
1. Observe other players! Are they tight, loose, passive or aggressive?
2. Take a good position at the table; in general you want the aggressive players on your right and the passive players on the left.
3. Be certain to have enough chips. The amount of your stack is very important in poker.

Let us take an example of a hand in order to illustrate the system:
You have a king of hearts and a nine of spades in hand. The first thing you need to do is work out whether your hand is a good one or not. For this, you should make use of the Charter of Starting Odds (see below links). On the chart, you will see that King-9 has a 14% chance of winning. Now, look at the amount of the pot. Let us say that the pot is $80. 14% of $80 is $11.20. This is your calculation of the maximum you should put into the pot. This will influence the amount of your bet and how you use your chips. Thus, if you bet $10 since it is slightly lower than the limit of $11.20. This way, you under-pay in order to stay in the game. Let us say that the other players continue to bet. It is your turn again and the amount of the pot is $120. Calculate 14% of $120 and it gives you $17. Because you have already bet $10, this leaves you with $7. Because you need $10 to see the others, it is better for you to fold if you use these calculations. Of course the $3 difference does not seem like very much. You are ready to bet $20 if necessary.

Except that you should not go any further. Quite simply because the probabilities are against you and you will pay too severely for the cards that remain to be dealt. The old adage goes "the secret to winning Texas Hold'EM is to bet the probabilities by knowing exactly the probabilities". It is a question of beating others by mastering better than them the probabilities of each hand.

Let us return to our starting hand, King of hearts and nine of spades. The flop shows the eight of hearts, the seven of diamonds and the king of clubs. You will be excited because you have managed your top pair. The question you must now answer is whether a pair of Kings is sufficient in order to win the pot. Do you have the balls? Often in Texas Hold'EM, the pots are won on a pair of 9's or above.

Everything seems to be going well, except that there are more cards to deal at your table. At this level, after the flop, you have to consider 3 things:
1. What hands do your opponents have?
2. What are the chances of improving my hand?
3. How much will it cost me to see an extra card?

What hands do your opponents have?

It is time to get out your portable x-ray machine or master the art of body language and other tell-tale signs, in order to estimate the type of cards your opponents hold.

Initially, you have to look at the possible bets of your opponents. In our example, there are two connecting cards on the table. Another player needs to posses a hand such as 5-6, 6-9 or 9-10 of any colour to be close to continuing. It is very probable that the table includes a player who possesses colours and that they will benefit from two of the additional cards to continue (Turn and River).

Clearly, you need three-of-a-kind to assure yourself of a win, ideally a King. You know that there are two Kings left in the game, and the costs are very easy to calculate; there are 17 distributed cards (based in three cards burned-out and seven players with two cards each). How much do you need to bet? 11.7% of $180= $20.

Since you know that you definitely need a King to be sure of winning the pot, the maximum you should be willing to bet to see the Turn is $20. At this stage you possess an other important piece of information because you observe how others have bet. This gives you a good estimate of the stake of the pot by combining the amount of the bets with the texture of the flop.

At the turn the next card dealt is the.................six of hearts! With this card you need to ask yourself the question of whether you should fold in the case where you know that another player will continue. It is a basic rule of poker that if you are beaten and you know it, fold immediately.

The question is to know how to work out which cards are held by your opponents. If you base your estimates on the amounts that your opponents are betting, you might fall flat on your face, because they might be bluffing.

In fact, you know that a suit will beat your pair or your possible three-of-a-kind. Against your king, the communal cards show three cards that are suitable for forming a suit of five cards.

The probabilities are stacked against you at this stage; therefore it is advisable to fold as soon as one of your opponents becomes too aggressive. Tough luck if it turns out to be a bluff, because it is better to lose a reasonable amount than to carry on in the hope that your opponent is bluffing.

Why is it preferable not to play all the cards under Ace-10 same colours? Why is it better to have (assorted colours) Ace-5 and lower or (assorted colours) Ace-10 and above, rather than (assorted colours) Ace-8?

In fact, any Ace of assorted colour with a 10 or less can create a dangerous situation in a number of cases. Some people consider that even Ace-10 and Ace-Jack are difficult hands to manage, but if you have studied well the table of odds you should be better armed from the start.

The reason why hands like Ace-8, Ace-7 and Ace-5 of assorted colours are dangerous to play with is simple. With these hands you will not be able to get a very good hand. If you start with a weak card like an 8, you will not have any chance of getting either colours or suits. The only way of winning if you meet an opponent with an Ace, is to hope that they have a card even feebler than yours.

Playing poker is like investing on the stock market:
When it comes to the stock exchange, you will be willing to buy shares that are likely to bring a good return. In poker, an Ace-8 is not the right kind of investment.

With regards to Ace-10 (s) and over or Ace-5 (s) and lower against Ace-9 (s), Ace-8 (s), Ace-7 (s), Ace-6 (s). The first choice works because you can construct a suit on this basis, contrary to the second choice.

If you play Aces with small cards, like a 5, you need to be vigilant in the case where you get another Ace at the flop. Because you do not know if your 5 is going to be sufficient, you have to think twice as long before going onto the next stage of betting. If you are playing this type of hand in one of the last positions around the table, you will be at an advantage because most people will check if they do not have an Ace or a hand that can beat it.

 

Why do hands like Ace-Ace, King-King, Queen-Queen, Ace-King and Ace-Queen work better when there are fewer opponents?Imagine the scenario where all the players on a normal table (6-10 players) participate in the hand. You have two Aces in hand. Your heart starts racing...then you observe the table and note that everyone is following. At this stage, you know that your chances of winning are slim since the great cards like a pair of Aces rarely win when too many players are in the round.

How to improve this hand?
In all the big pot games, the victory usually goes to colours or suits rather than pairs. What, then, should you do?

There remains only one tactic. You need to bring about a check raise at the flop in the place of a bet. The idea is to force other players out of the game, thus limiting the field in order to increase your chances of winning.

Why are hands like King-10 (s). Queen-Jack (s), Jack-10 (s), 8-9 (s), 7-9 (s) and 4-6 (s), better to play when there are more opponents at the table?
You are seldom in danger with such a hand. If you got to the flop, you are quite likely to get a really strong hand. On the other hand, if you do not find the cards you are looking for it is easy to fold.

For example, if you have a hand like Jack-10 (s) or 8-9 (s) against and Ace-Ace, the latter hand will stay in right until the end of the round. However, it only consists of a pair, therefore, colours or suits will beat it. This is why cards that are of assorted colour and suit can become amazing hands in a number of cases.

The only disadvantage is that you will get suits or colours in a low number of cases (1/118); therefore it is vital to go to the flop before engaging in a life or death situation with this type of hand. When you have seen the flop, it is 70% of your hand that is formed, thus you will be better informed for taking a decision.

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