Go Green With Eco Playing Cards

http://www.bicyclecards.com/products/playing-card/bicycle-eco-edition

These cards are made from sustainable forest papers, starch-based laminating and vegetable-based inks.

Come on Phil...

In my opinion, this is just a terrible call here. Phil said it himself after Annette moved all-in, what could he possibly have beat? She would have needed to be holding 65, 45, AK, 78, or some crazy bluff. There was just way to many hands on this board that had him beat here. As I said, I just think that this was a terrible call. Come on Phil, your better than that. On the bright side atleast we didn't see a Hellmuth blowup.

SUCK HIM OUT

This is pretty much the worst fold in the history of poker. This kid is the biggest donk to ever play in the history of the tournament. If you try to fold kings, putting somebody on two aces, this is going to absolutely lose you money in the long run. There are going to be many times, like this situation, where you have to best hand going up against AK, QQ, AQ, JJ. The times that you are actually going up against aces are going to be so slim that you are going to fold when you are ahead too much and this will cause you to lose money in the long run. NEVER FOLD KINGS, IF HE HAS ACES - SUCK HIM OUT!

Ayyy Phil

This is a well played hand by both players. Tom Dwan has the best hand after the flop but Phil Ivey with position makes the call with mid-pair to see what Tom does on the turn. The turn is a DREAM card for phil giving him two pair. Tom still thinking his top pair is best, bets on both 4th and 5th street. Phil just calls on both streets and picks up a massive pot. The plays of both players were justified and it was just a tough turn card for Tom.

Phil is the man!

This video is two of the best players in the world grinding it out in a hand pre-flop. Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan are two of the most well-known players world wide. This is a video of the two fighting over this hand with air. Phil Ivey has 10 8 and Dwan with only 8 7. Dwan makes a standard re-raise pre-flop and Ivey comes over the top with a re-raise. Dwan must be reading Ivey for a weak hand as he comes over the top of Ivey's raise. Ivey playing the opponent and his read off of Dwan comes over the top once again. After this raise Dwan is forced into a fold pre-flop. This is a great hand between two of the greatest players.

2011 WSOP Top 25 finishers (Excluding remaining November Nine)

10
[Costa Rica] John Hewitt
$607,882
San Jose
-
Costa Rica
11
[Canada] Khoa Nguyen
$607,882
Calgary
AB
Canada
12
[United States] Bryan Devonshire
$607,882
Henderson
NV
United States
13
[South Africa] Konstantinos Mamaliadis
$478,174
Durban
-
South Africa
14
[United States] Scott Schwalich
$478,174
West Carrollton
OH
United States
15
[Russia] Andrey Pateychuk
$478,174
Moscow
-
Russia
16
[United States] Ryan Lenaghan
$378,796
New Orleans
LA
United States
17
[United States] Sam Barnhart
$378,796
Little Rock
AR
United States
18
[United States] Kenny Shih
$378,796
Azusa
CA
United States
19
[Russia] Aleksandr Mozhnyakov
$302,005
Himki
-
Russia
20
[United States] Gionni Demers
$302,005
Jackson
NJ
United States
21
[United States] Chris Moore
$302,005
Countryside
IL
United States
22
[United States] Lars Bonding
$302,005
Las Vegas
NV
United States
23
[Australia] Andrew Hinrichsen
$302,005
Melbourne
-
Australia
24
[United States] Gregory Kaplan
$302,005
Deerfield
IL
United States
25
[United States] Jerry Van Strydonck
$302,005
Fairport
NY
United States

Poker Brat

This is just a classic Phil blow up here. What is he doing with 10 4 though.....

durrrrr

In this hand durrrr went all in with a seven and a two which is one of the worst hands you could have. Pre-flop with a very large raise, durrr was either had a 7/2 or a very strong hand trying to represent 7/2. By making effective bets on every street and representing a flush, durrrr was able to get sammy to fold his two pair on the river. This is a great example of a great player executing a good bluff. Sammy is a good enough player to be able to lay down his two pair realizing that it was a weak hand on that board.

Rick Bennet

"In the long run there's no luck in poker, but the short run is longer than most people know."


- This is a very significant quote, that accurately explains a player's experiences at a poker table. Some things will happen in the short term, like losing a hand that they were highly favored in. This is known as a "suck out" and can set players off on "tilt". Poker players have to keep their composure and realize that unlucky things can happen in the short term, but by getting your money in while you are ahead, you will make money in the long run. Bad players don't realize that when they win hands in a "suck out" this isn't going to happen consistently over time. Good players make money in the long run by not making a lot of mistakes. 

Large raise goes bad

My stack: 195 chips, opponents stacks: 105 chips
Blinds 3/6, levels raised every 15 minutes
My hand: 7, 7, in the big blind
Action: Opponent raises it to 12 total.
Answer: An opponent raise on the button is a common play in heads up. With two 7's you probably have the best hand right now. I would recommend calling about 40% of the time and raising about 60% of the time. I prefer to raise here because with just a call, its hard to figure out what cards he could be holding and in the big blind you are going to be acting first post-flop. Here, I would recommend making a raise somewhere around the size of the pot. You should mix it up and raise a little less then pot, pot, and a little more than pot to make it hard to read what you have.
Action: I actually raise it to 44 total. Opponent moves all-in and I call. He shows two aces.
Answer: Although the two 7's end up taking the pot with a straight, it was the wrong play pre-flop. By making a raise significantly more than the size of the pot, the odds being offered by the all in made it a tough fold. The pot was 149 and I only have to put in 61 more for a call. With odds a little less than 2.5-1 the call was justified as i was a slight favorite against AK, AQ, AJ, A10, KQ and about a 4-1 underdog against any higher pair. The real mistake made here was a 3 bet that was too large, practically pot committing myself into a call if he were to move all-in. A better play here would of been a raise of 20-28.

Tough Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7nDEBkPN-E
In this playing situation Phil Ivey's opponent is put into a tough spot. Both players have very good hands and neither one of them want to fold. Phil Ivey knew that he couldn't lose so he went all in hoping that his opponent would call him. This move forced his opponent into a tough spot because he had a full house which is a very good hand but Phil had quads which was superior. This hand was very well played by both players and its rare that both players had such good hands.

Types of Players at a Table

There are three basic types of poker strategies - conservative, aggressive, and super-aggressive.
Conservative -
- Play less hands with more strength
- Play hands that make decisions easier post-flop
- Avoid all-ins unless really strong (AA, KK, QQ)
- Win the big pots and try to double up with strong hand
Aggressive -
- Play all pairs, face cards, ace-x, suited connecters
- Win all of the small pots
- Play several hands, makes it harder to read you post-flop
- Put in harder situations and have to be able to make a discipline fold
Super-agressive -
- Aren't many starting requirements, play any two cards
- Play many pots and see several flops cheaply
- Hard to look at a flop and see if one of these players hit the specific flop
- To be successful with this strategy is much more difficult and requires a lot of observing at the table