Back to basics

Okay, before I get started, I stopped using Titan because there was not much going on in terms of tables to play so I signed up with Pokerstars. There's hardly any difference just Pokerstars has a lot more people on line at any one time. I just looked, it's 10:30am in the UK and there are 70,000 players on right now! What an amazing business they have. Back in 1996,CJ, a good friend of mine suggested we start a poker site on this new web thing. I said, 'Naaa. Let's go to the pub instead.' Knobhead.
These are the basics I gleaned from Ken's book: (btw: I always think in terms of a 10 seater table)

Position and starting hands: it is true what they say - they do three things; 1) make the game boring 2) increase your chances of winning enormously and 3) make the game boring! (There is a cunning solution to the 'boring factor'. More later.) It really is important where you are sat relevant to the dealer. The closer to being the last to play the better. Honest. It's true.
Here's a suggestion for starting hands:
Early position (UTG and UTG + 1): AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AQs, AK, AQ (AKs = AK same suit)
You can raise with these and call raises too.
Middle: JJ, TT, 99, 88, AJ-Ts, KQ-Js, KQ - call one raise with these
Qj-Ts, A9s, AJ-9, KJ-T, QJ-T - I wouldn't call tight players with these.
Late (D-1): 77-22, A8-A2s (be careful), KT-9s, Q9-8s, JT-9s, T9s, 98s, K9, Q9, JT

These are a suggestion but there's nothing better than trying your own and THINKING when you play. This is simply more-or-less the set I start playing with until I get to know the table and players.


You can't beat the odds: making a $1 bet to an inside straight draw where the pot is $4 will lose you money in the long term.
A little on pot odds: if you have AhTh in the pocket and the flop is Qh 5h Ac you need one more heart to make your ace flush. (tip: use the multi-coloured deck when playing on line - avoids confusion)
The odds of making your flush on the turn are about 4.3:1. If you miss you have more or less the same odds for making the flush with the river card.
Lets say the pot holds $3 and you need to decide if you should bet $1 on your flush draw.
The pot will pay you back $3 for your $1 (if you win) but will only do it 1 in 5.3 times. That's $5.3 paid out to get $3 back. Not good.
But: if the pot holds $7 you will be paid $7 for your $1 bet 1 in 5.3 times. That's $5.3 paid out and $7 paid back. Cool.
If the pot odds look a bit low, is someone behind you definitely going to bet? If so, add their bet to the pot and see how that looks. These are called Implied Odds.
There's loads on the net about calculating outs (number of cards that can complete a winning hand) and odds. These are the basics:
Flush draw (19%) - you need pot odds of 4.3:1
Open-straight (17%) - you need pot odds of 4.9:1
Inside-straight (8.7%) - you need pot odds of 10.5:1
Flush or o-straight (32%) - you need pot odds of 2.1:1
Flush OR i-straight (26%) - you need pot odds of 2.8:1

With these few basic rules I actually made money on the 5c/10c tables. Unbelievable. Not much money granted, but I was a little ahead or broke even.
When I went onto the $1/$2 tables I got thrashed though.
I realised two things: 1) the blinds were being stolen from me and costing me money over a couple of hours playing and 2) I needed to read Ken's book again.

These are what concerned me at the time:
How to deal with overcards (cards higher than ones in your hand),
What to do when the board pairs,
How to stop getting bored and maintaining discipline,
How to get more action when the other players realised I was a very tight player,
How to defend my blinds and steal others.

I'll talk about those things next.