Poker: Playing Small Pairs on the Flop

You have 4-4 in the fourth position, and the player in the second position (two seats to the left of the big blind) makes it two bets to go. You’re playing my theory—“three-bet with small pairs”—before the flop, so you make it three bets. No one else calls, and the flop is Q-10-3. The player in the second position then bets out into you and you raise him, thus “representing” a queen (or perhaps K-K or A-A) but also gaining information.

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Casino Q&A with John G. : Get the Answers that Help You Win!

As a game that allows players to exercise their skill along with having a strong element of chance, blackjack has more subtleties than most casino games. It also leaves plenty of room for question and comment. Let’s try to answer a few questions and relay a few comments submitted by readers.

 

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Texas Hold ’em: Changing Gears

blackjack The residual effects of watching thousands of hands has been tremendous for my game, and I’d love to share some observations with you, as I do regularly as an instructor at the WPT Boot Camp. We have taken the time to match WPT footage with specific instructional material. Classes are taught by, not only me, but our Boot Camp core instructors, Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, Linda Johnson, Scott Fischman and Ron Rose.

The process of watching and analyzing thousands of hands from simultaneous camera angles offers me a significant amount of data to see consistent patterns develop.

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Texas Hold ’em: Phil Hellmuth and Playing the Top 10 Hands

Knowing how to play the top ten hands in Limit Hold â??em can mean the difference between winning and losing. In this column, 13-time World Series of Poker Champion Phil Hellmuth, Jr. offers some examples of correct play strategy. This is an excerpt from his best-selling book, Phil Hellmuthâ??s Texas Hold â??em available on Amazon.com and major bookstores everywhere.

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