Most people know that all of the great Hold'em players play their opponents and not their own hands. Most players believe this is just a matter of sensing weakness in their opponent and then exploiting this weakness by stealing a pot.
A Hand on the Final-Table Bubble at the World Series of Poker - Many players struggle to distinguish between the situations in which they should attempt to knock out an opponent and those in which they should merely try to accumulate more chips.
The situation dictates how they are played - Volume II of the Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series by Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet was recently released.
There has been a lot of talk within the poker community about the future of the World Series of Poker. The central debate has focused on whether or not the main event is too big in terms of the number of entrants.
This article was written soon after the birth of my first son, Joshua, back in January of 2004. I guess my estimate of the WSOP reaching 5000 entrants was off by about 20 years!
'The River Rule' I have a rule on the river that I follow religiously, which I appropriately call "The River Rule": Never try to make a good laydown on the river in limit hold'em.
One of the great things I love about the World Series of Poker main event is the big stacks you get to play in relation to the blinds. When starting out with $10,000 in chips, you can find spots to make plays that would be difficult to make in other types of events in which you start out with a small amount of chips.
When and when not to do so Editor's note: This column is an excerpt from the, expanded edition of Internet Texas Hold'em: Winning Strategies for Full-Ring and Short-Handed Games. It includes a new chapter on playing multiway pots, as well as two new chapters for shorthanded games.
Players need more than the technical skill set to achieve success There are dozens of poker books on the market that are designed to teach the technical aspects of the game.
The Aussie Millions If there is one poker trip that every poker player should make, it is to the Aussie Millions, held in the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.
A mission to beat 900 players begins This article looks at some of the more interesting hands I played while winning the PokerStars Nightly Hundred Grand tournament.
Marginal Hands - This is the fourth column in a series that highlights some of the hands discussed in the new book Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, Volume II, by Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet.
Hand examples of applying odds and 'douts' when making drawing decisions A column I wrote a couple of months ago, titled "Outs vs Douts," generated a lot of discussion, as I received more e-mail than usual about the topic.
Matthew gives beginning poker players a few online poker tips - I receive lots of questions by email and in the Poker Forum from beginners asking for poker tips on getting started with with online poker.
My last column looked at a couple of bluffs that I made during the World Series of Poker main event. One of them was successful and one of them cost me some chips.
How do you lose weight and gain pounds at the same time? OK…maybe I have played a little with the word pounds (except for those in the UK) but read on a little further.
Improving your game - People write to me all the time, telling me their poker history, which inevitably ends up with the same question: “What can I do to improve my game?
I read a lot of hand examples and answer a lot of questions in the poker forum at my website, and there are some common errors that I consistently see. Beginning poker players, and even some players with a decent amount of experience, have misconceptions on when they should raise and when they should call.
The days of smoke-filled rooms, whiskey, cheeseburgers, and late nights are gone. I think the new-school poker players — the ones who are dominating the games today — are players who look very different.