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I’ve played quite a bit of 4-8 hold ‘em in the past months. I devoured Ken Warren’s book on low limit hold em. The last time I played, I sat for nine or ten hours and broke even against piss-poor no fold em players. I felt alright about that considering the fact that my cards were pretty cold. I think it’s time to move to 10-20. What kinds of questions should I be asking myself right about now? How do I know when I’m ready? I think the higher limit will cut down on the few times I start with weaker cards or chase pots past the flop when I shouldn’t.

Answer 1:

Actually since your bankroll/limit ratio will probably be less than it is now it will probably be much harder for you to exhibit the requisite patience. The last phrase in your sentence must be reduced from a “few times” to *no times*. If you can’t maintain against weak players for small stakes there’s no reason to expect you’re “ready” to move up. Several people recommend that you have a BR of $5k to comfortably play 10/20 and long years’ experience tell me that’s not far off in most cases. The swings are unbelievable in all these games for those who haven’t experienced them – and the runs of “bad luck” are longer than we might care to admit.

Answer 2:

Move up!!! Those lower limits suck. It’s like you aren’t even playing poker. You are just kind of sitting there waiting to catch cards.

Answer 3:

I think once you move up the players are more aggressive with the exception they have a clue. I had stopped playing holdem, but I think you may want to do more studying if you want to hold your own at higher limits.

$10 $20 Hold-em game inSeattle. Average game – 7 handed – 2 or 3 average taking the flop – sometimes raise and take it. Pre-flop raise about 40% of the time. Loose aggressive player Under the Gun raises, I am thinking maybe 7′s or 8′s. I am next to act and see A Q off-suit. What should I do?

Answer 1:

Is this a loose-aggressive player who would raise under the gun with hands like A-8, A-9, A-10, A-J, and K-Q? Or is this a loose-aggressive player who would raise under the gun with middle pairs and up, but not usually with an unpaired hand worse than A- Q? In the first case, I’d say raise. There’s a good chance you’ve got him dominated, and if he’s got a pair you’re usually only a slight underdog (assuming he’d raise with 7s and up, as you said). In the second case, I’d say fold. You’re rarely a favorite, usually a slight underdog, and sometimes a big underdog. Incidentally, most of the loose-aggressive players I’ve seen are of the first type, so knowing only that the player is loose-aggressive, my recommendation would be to raise.

Answer 2:

No need for isolating. Call. Either you are badly bead or a bit ahead. If ahead, you don’t mind callers with their JT/QJ/KQ etc. behind and you certainly don’t want A9/AT/AJ to fold. QQ/AK will call three cold anyway. As Abdul’s sims indicate, you can only profitably re-raise a sane early raiser with AKo/KK/AA. This guy is loose, as you say, so re-raising is an option, but the call is better.

Answer 3:

It’s seven-handed.  Call or raise. I’m not a big A-Q fan, so I call. If it were ten-handed, I might consider folding due to my poor position (eight players, including blinds to act behind me) and marginal hand. Even given the description of the raiser (loose/aggressive) there’s no law saying he can’t pick up a big hand. In addition, if I call and a more solid player re-raises behind me I may wind up being dominated by A-K. I think I’ve talked myself into folding.

I am going to Vegas this weekend and I am not an expert at poker. Any advice on which casinos I should check out? I like to play 7stud and Omaha HL. I will be staying at Ballys… and never played poker in Vegas. I want to play low limit (1-5).  Any casinos have daily tournaments for under $30.

Answer 1:

Try theOrleans, they have tourneys there every day for less than $30.

Answer 2:

Many casinos have tourneys for short money. Get the latest issue of Card Player or Poker Digest (or view them on line) for the listings of where they are. I think this is a better way to play some poker if you are new to the game in Vegas. The 1-5 no ante 7 Stud games are, in general, populated by rocks, have a very stiff rake as a percentage of what you win, and don’t really prepare you for winning at a higher level.

Answer 3:

I don’t disagree with this in general, and it sure seems very logical to me. FWIW my 1-time recent experience at 1-5 stud, which was at MandalayBaywhile waiting for a show was exactly the opposite – it was laughable. With no ante and a 10% rake I figure most everyone’s strategy would be to dust off their chips every hour or so. Would you believe there was four or five way action in nearly every pot. I figured the ones playing five out of every six hands would fold when I bet since I played maybe once in 6-8 hands. Heck no, they didn’t seem to notice. True, there were some gimmick jackpots, but not enough to loosen it up nearly that much. Interestingly, one of the (too) many rules for the jackpot precluded a player from verbally reminding another player to stay in the hand to collect the jackpot. I’d be curious to know if my experience was typical or just a fluke. The game broke up at 7:30pm, prime time. I suppose the house “raked” in most of their chips (unfortunately I didn’t get them). I remarked to the dealer I couldn’t believe the action considering the high rake and no ante. He said “look around – notice most of the tables are empty?” He was right the room and tables are beautiful. What a waste. He complained that all 5 (or 6?) Circus Circus Vegas properties (the MandalayBayis one) have the exact same rules, rake, etc. and most of their tables are empty. They refuse to change. He was frustrated at
this and was at a loss to explain why.

Are there any tactical or strategic considerations for playing 15-30 that are different than 10-20 or 20-40?

Answer 1:

I think the most obvious consideration is the different blind structure in 15/30 — usually the small blind is $10 (or 2/3 of the big blind amount rather than half of the big blind amount as in 10/20 or 20/40). This tends to create slightly more multi-way pots since it is more often correct for the small blind
to call. In the new edition of HPFAP, page 45, M&S state: “[I]f it costs only one-third of a bet to enter the pot, every hand should be played. In this spot, it is just too cheap to throw away your hand, no matter how bad it is. The one exception occurs when the big blind is a frequent raiser. Why waste even one-third of a bet, since you have to fold if he raises.”

Answer 2:

If the small blind is $5 then tighten up a little, because the pot odds start out lower. If it’s $10, you can be a little looser, because you’re getting better pot odds at the start. When you’re on the small blind in a 2/3 game, you can now afford to call just about anything, because it costs you so little. Conversely, if
you’re small blind in a 1/3 game, then you would fold more hands than in a 1/2 game.

Answer 3:

Stating the obvious: 15-30 has a 2/3 small bet small blind ($10), whereas 10-20 and 20-40 have a 1/2 small bet small blind ($5 and $10, respectively.) As others pointed out, this means you can play almost any two cards in 15-30 in the small blind if there is no raise. I don’t subscribe to the 2+2 mantra that you can play literally any two cards, feeling that hands like T5 and 72 are in such trouble even if they flop two pair that they are not always worth it. However, it’s pennies one way or the other and not worth arguing about. When there is a raise, you still have to play relatively tight, but implied odds hands like 86s are easier to find spots to play versus a raise when in a 2/3 small blind than a 1/2 small blind. When outside the blinds, there’s not a huge difference in strategy, but in a tight 2/3 game you should be less inclined to limp-re-raise with big pairs than in a tight 1/2 game.