“Games are much tougher than they used to be!”

“Sites that used to be thriving are dead!”

“You can’t get the bonuses you used to get!”

“I’m from the US and it’s getting harder and harder to fund my account or even play!”

“Bots are everywhere!”

I’m sure you’ve been hearing a lot of things similar to the above lately and unfortunately there are elements of truth to these proclamations. It’s definitely true that the games are not as good as their equivalents two years ago. It is also true that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA from hereon in) has caused a myriad of problems for US players.

Very few players succeed in both tournaments and cash games. Generally, you find players who are specialists. Maybe they travel the tournament trail around the country, playing the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit events. Maybe they play sit-and-go tournaments on the Internet all of the time. Maybe they specialize in small-stakes no-limit hold'em cash games. Or, maybe they specialize in online multitable tournaments. Generally, most poker players are specialists.

This is the second of a two-part article on schooling. The first part can be found here.

Schooling is a controversial poker concept describing the behavior of groups of weak players, typically in low-limit games. The theory suggests that a large number of loose players in a limit hold’em game help each other out by pooling outs and giving each other better pot odds. In fact, some say that games with too many players are actually harder to beat than games with only a few loose players.

selected as the Article of the Month, December 2006
The contest articles can also be viewed at the Internet Texas Holdem Forum

“… for as a man shall sow, so also shall he reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

We normally see the above in a slightly simpler proverbial form, along the lines of: “… as ye sow, so shall ye reap.” However it is worded, the message seems clear: We get what we deserve in the end. There is a clear and definite link between our actions and the consequences. We are in control of our own destinies. Many poker players – particularly those with at least a moderate level of experience and a degree of commitment to the game – are acutely conscious of these sentiments.

You are dealt AcKc in early position, and you raise your premium holding. Three players cold-call your raise, as do both the blinds.

The flop is a nice looking Kh6s4s. You bet and all five opponents call.

The turn is 9c. You bet and three of your five opponents call.

The river is Qd. You bet and get raised. You make a crying call and are shown JdTs for the straight.

“If you can’t spot the sucker within 30 minutes of being at the table then you’re the sucker.”

I’m sure we’ve all heard this cliché before. It’s true that if you are a competent player, you will usually spot several mistakes made by your opponents at the table quite quickly. If you don’t spot any you should probably find a better game. Providing you are observant (or cheat by using Poker Tracker and a heads-up display) within half an hour you should have a good idea who the weak players at the table are.

History of Texas Holdem
Texas Hold’em is the most popular community card poker game and is the most played poker game in casinos in the United States. It origin is unknown but according to Wikipedia.org, “According to legend, the earliest game played was in Robstown, Texas, in the early 1900s and it first came to Dallas, Texas in 1925.”

After the introduction of lipstick cameras that allowed audience members to see what cards the players at the table had, the popularity of Texas Hold’em skyrocketed. Many events are now showcased on television including the World Series of Poker (WSOP). With the risen popularity of Texas Hold’em, tournaments such as the WSOP raised significantly in entrants. At the 2003 WSOP there were 839 entrants and at the 2005 WSOP there were 5,619 entrants. Along with the excitement, the roller coaster of emotion will help continue to drive to popularity of the game.

A backdoor draw is one in which you need to hit a card on both the turn and river to improve your hand. For example, you hold the Ac 4c and the flop is Qs 9c 6d. A club on the turn and the river would give you a flush. Backdoor draws are of little value by themselves, as you rarely are getting sufficient implied pot odds to draw solely on the merits of a backdoor draw; however, sometimes they add just enough value to your hand to draw when you have other outs, such as overcards or bottom pair and an overcard. I often hear people at the poker table say, “I had middle pair and a backdoor-flush draw.” Backdoor-flush draws should rarely impact your strategy, yet I frequently hear players talking about them.