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April 27th, 2007
Author: Chris Ferguson
Ferguson Goes From Zero to Hero
I had a losing streak there and had to go down to $5/$10. That was tough.
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April 16th, 2007
Author: Karina Jett
Playing Low
There's no shame playing for lower stakes than you think you can afford.
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March 30th, 2007
Author: Ben Roberts
How Much Luck? How Much Skill?
The fact is, these kinds of events should have less of an impact on your overall results the more you play.
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March 23rd, 2007
Author: Lee Watkinson
The Weak Lead
And if you check-call, the pro will probably check the turn and then fold to a bet on the river.
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March 1st, 2007
Author: Team Full Tilt
Satellite Savviness
The fact is, satellites provide much more than the chance to save some money on a $10K buy-in.
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Feb 9, 2007
Author: Joe Beevers
The Pain Barrier - Manipulating Your Opponent
If you're hungry, tired or even a little drunk, you're not likely to play your best.
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Jan 15, 2007
Author: Mike Matusow
Finding the Low Cards in Omaha Hi/Lo
You really can't do these sorts of things in Hold 'em.
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Jan 6, 2007
Author: Erik Seidel
Looking at the Long-Term
Many refuse to admit mistakes and insist that a bad run is due to bad luck alone.
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Dec 29, 2006
Author: Perry Friedman
Playing Small and Medium Pairs in Seven-Card Stud
Small and medium pairs are among the trickiest hands you'll encounter in Seven-Card Stud.
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Dec 21, 2006
Author: Andrew Black
Playing Aces in PLO
Omaha is a game where what you catch with the community cards is usually more important than what you start with.
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Dec 15, 2006
Author: Mark Vos
Playing in Australia
For a serious poker player, the Aussie Millions offers one of best structures of any tournament anywhere.
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Dec 7, 2006
Author: Jennifer Harman
Playing Mixed Games
It's tough to go back to any one game once you start playing mixed games.
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Nov 30, 2006
Author: Gavin Smith
Pot-Size Manipulation
keeping the pot small will get you pretty good value when you're ahead and help you avoid disaster when you're behind.
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Nov 20, 2006
Author: Gus Hansen
Betting out of Position
...by checking, you give control to the late-position player.
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Nov 13, 2006
Author: Team Full Tilt
How a Pro Thinks Through a Hand
I was half hoping for a King on the river and half not, because it could bust me.
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Nov 6, 2006
Author: Rafe Furst
Cash Equity at the Final Table
I needed to win the pot only about 27 percent of the time to justify a call.
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Oct 30, 2006
Author: Perry Friedman
Getting Beyond Your Cards
Moving beyond your own cards is a key step in coming to think like a winning player.
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Oct 23, 2006
Author: Kristy Gazes
The Mindset of a Winner
It's impossible to overstate the importance of money management to your poker career.
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Oct 16, 2006
Author: Clonie Gowen
Balancing Poker and Life
Don't even consider going pro until you can cover all of your bills for at least six months in advance.
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Oct 9, 2006
Author: Erick Lindgren
Play More Pots
My overall goal is to pick up a lot of small pots without a lot of resistance.
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Oct 3, 2006
Author: Andy Bloch
Heads-Up vs Multi-Way Hands in Omaha Hi/Lo
If you're playing a multi-way pot, you need a very strong hand going one way or the other.
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Sept 25, 2006
Author: Paul Wolfe
Playing Big Slick in Deep Stack Tournaments
Top-pair/top-kicker is probably no good if another player is willing to risk all of his chips.
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Sept 18, 2006
Author: Ben Roberts
Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone
If you take a shot and lose, you shouldn't have to worry about rebuilding your bankroll from scratch.
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Sept 11, 2006
Author: Howard Lederer
Playing Cap Games
You'll be able to take some shots at pots that you probably wouldn't take in deep-stack games.
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Sept 4, 2006
Author: Richard Brodie
From No-Limit to Limit
By the river in Limit Hold 'em, you're often getting odds of 9, 10, or 11 to 1 to make a call.
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August 28, 2006
Author: Steve Brecher
Check-Raising on Draws
Rather than check-call, I often like to check-raise when I flop a draw out of position.
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August 21, 2006
Author: Andy Bloch
Betting the River with Marginal Hands
In spots where your opponent might hold a busted draw and bluff, it's often more profitable to check and then pick off the bluff with a call.
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August 14, 2006
Author: Jay Greenspan
Learning from Allen Cunningham
The pros often say they're not going to play big pots without big hands.
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August 7, 2006
Author: Team Full Tilt
Acknowledging Mistakes
The best players have the ability to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes.
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July 31, 2006
Author: Gus Hansen
Playing the Main Event
When playing against weak opponents while holding lots chips, you should try to see more flops as cheaply as you can.
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July 24, 2006
Author: Mark Vos
Managing the Short Stack
In No-Limit tournaments, it's very important to do your stealing when you have at least eight to 10 big blinds.
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July 17, 2006
Author: Rafe Furst
Playing Pot-Limit Tournaments
In Pot-Limit tournaments, I prefer to be the player re-raising the open-raise.
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July 10, 2006
Author: Brian Koppelman
Red for a Day
I felt like every raise, weak call or foolish bluff I made was magnified.
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July 3, 2006
Author: Phil Gordon
A Big Stack Mistake at the 2006 WSOP*
Given the table dynamics, there was no need for me to risk one-third of my chips on this hand.
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June 26, 2006
Author: Ben Roberts
Winning Poker - It's About More Than Money
There are a couple of common mistakes new players make that lead them to draw faulty conclusions about the strength of their play.
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June 19, 2006
Author: Keith Sexton
Seventh Street Decisions in Seven-Stud
Some of the tougher decisions on seventh street arise when you're holding one pair.
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June 12, 2006
Author: Jennifer Harman
Big Blind Play in Limit Hold 'em
Even if the check-raise doesn't win the pot, this move helps keep a tough, aggressive player off balance.
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June 5, 2006
Author: Greg "FBT" Mueller
Firing the Second Bullet
If you're up against an opponent who is unwilling to play without a very big hand, firing the second bullet can force them to make some bad lay downs.
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May 29, 2006
Author: Keith Sexton
Fourth Street Decisions in Seven Stud
If fourth street builds straight or flush possibilities for my opponent, I'm likely to muck a lot of hands; if it appears to be a complete blank, I'll usually continue.
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May 22, 2006
Author: Greg "FBT" Mueller
Finding Your Inner Maniac
I had convinced him that there was no difference between a $25 raise and a $4,000 raise.
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May 15, 2006
Author: Phil Gordon
Beware the Min Raise
Every time I've been faced with a minimum re-raise, I've been up against a monster - pocket Kings or Aces.
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May 8, 2006
Author: Rafe Furst
Playing Bottom Two Pair
Many players overplay top pair and over-pairs, and will either call or re-raise all-in.
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May 1, 2006
Author: Howard Lederer
The Other Danger in Slow Playing
If he bets on the turn and you raise, you're signaling that the turn card helped you.
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April 24, 2006
Author: Huckleberry Seed
Why I Prefer Cash Games to Tournaments
If you're attuned to your opponent's moods, you'll find opportunities to profit from their weakened states.
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April 17, 2006
Author: David Grey
Early Tournament Play
I'd rather gamble early and bust than cling to a short stack for hours on end.
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April 3, 2006
Author: Howard Lederer
Bad Position, Decent Cards
In spots like this, your best move is to press an edge while you have it - before the flop.
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March 27, 2006
Author: Layne Flack
Inducing a Bluff
It's hard to bluff on three consecutive streets, and most players won't launch that third bullet.
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March 20, 2006
Author: David Grey
Back to Basics
As players improve, they inevitably see more opportunities for profit, and thus, see potential in a greater number of hands.
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March 13, 2006
Author: Huckleberry Seed
Representing a Bluff
If you had the nuts, he'd reason, you'd bet smaller, trying to get some value.
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March 6, 2006
Author: Howard Lederer
Viewer Beware
In the last couple of years, I've noticed that some of the less experienced players who have entered $10,000 buy-in tournaments don't fully appreciate what they've seen on TV.
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February 27, 2006
Author: Chris Ferguson
When Passive Plays
Ideally I want to get one decent sized bet in over the course of this hand and by checking, I prevent my opponent from giving me more action than my hand can handle.
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February 20, 2006
Author: Erik Seidel
Book Smarts vs. Table Smarts
Just as there is no right way to write a song or paint a picture, there is no right way to play poker.
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February 13, 2006
Author: Jay Greenspan
Playing with John D'Agostino
After such a difficult opening, it's not uncommon to see even very good players overwhelmed with resignation.
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February 6, 2006
Author: Ben Roberts
On Cavemen and Poker Players
Endeavor to leave each session in the same emotional state.
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January 30, 2006
Author: Gavin Smith
Small-Pot Poker
I'm looking to pick up a lot of small pots by applying a constant level of pressure to my opponents.
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January 23, 2006
Author: Andy Bloch
Tips From Tunica
When he check-raised, he failed to ask himself a critical question: What hand can I call with that he could beat?
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January 16, 2006
Author: Team Full Tilt
How Big a Bankroll?
If you're nervous about what you stand to lose in a given pot, you're probably playing too high for your bankroll.
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January 09, 2006
Author: Jennifer Harman
Thoughts on Omaha-8
Whenever possible, you need to position yourself to take every chip from a big pot.
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January 02, 2006
Author: Gavin Smith
In Defense of the Call
A strategic call might keep me from going broke in a hand where I hold a good, but second-best hand.
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December 26, 2005
Author: Kristy Gazes
Stepping Up, Stepping Down
Early in my poker career I set a simple rule for myself: I would never move to a higher limit until I won three consecutive sessions. If I lost three consecutive sessions at a given limit, I would move down to a lower limit.
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December 19, 2005
Author: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Playing a Big Draw in Limit Hold 'em
Playing big draws aggressively against multiple opponents can create very profitable situations.
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December 12, 2005
Author: Paul Wolfe
Know Your (Table) Limits
As I play, I take note of the loose players and tight players, and then use that information to decide which seat will be most profitable.
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December 05, 2005
Author: Jennifer Harman
Getting Started in Stud-8
The major mistake that new Stud-8 players make is that they play aggressively with hands that might serve them well in a regular game of 7-Card Stud.
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November 28, 2005
Author: Steve Brecher
What's Your Starting Hand Really Worth?
There is no universal definition of what "better" means when comparing hold 'em starting hands.
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November 21, 2005
Author: Rafe Furst
Big Slick: A Slippery Hand
Many people fall in love with A-K pre-flop in No-Limit Hold 'em because they know that they can rarely be much worse than 50-50 to win the hand if they get all of their money in heads up.
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November 14, 2005
Author: Team Full Tilt
Bad Cards or Bad Plays?
I know that some days, even if I play perfectly, I'm going to lose.
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November 7, 2005
Author: John D'Agostino
Strategies for Short-Handed Limit Hold 'em
The position raise puts me in control of the hand and, even if I'm holding total trash, the pressure puts the blinds in a spot where they need to catch a piece of the flop.
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October 31, 2005
Author: John D'Agostino
Taking on a Short-Handed No-Limit Game
Three- or four-handed games are usually very aggressive, and I will never limp in.
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October 24, 2005
Author: Jay Greenspan
What I learned at the WSOP*
When playing, keep your mouth shut and don't do your opposition any favors.
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October 17, 2005
Author: Perry Friedman
Back to the Drawing Board
If you're against a player who likes to slow play or a player who will bluff you out with a big bet, a small bet gives you the best chance of seeing the turn.
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October 10, 2005
Author: Team Full Tilt
It's Not Easy Being Green. Or Is It?
Everyone agreed that one of the best ways to improve your game is to play against better players.
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October 3, 2005
Author: Phil Gordon
Texture Isn't Just For Fabric
If my hand is unlikely to improve, I tend to bet more than 2/3 of the pot. I want to take this pot now.
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September 26, 2005
Author: Paul Wolfe
Know Your Opponent; Own Your Opponent
Poker is often not so much about the cards you have, but knowing the way your opponent plays.
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September 19, 2005
Author: Steve Brecher
How Bad are the Beats?
After my bet and the opponent's all in-raise, I was getting pot odds of 3.7 to 1 to call, so the call is clearly correct.
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September 12, 2005
Author: Perry Friedman
Third Street in Seven Stud
You should almost never bring in for a completion in Stud Hi, except in very rare tournament situations.
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September 6, 2005
Author: Richard Brodie
Flopping a Monster
Big hands can mean big pots. But, with a big hand, it's even more important to strategize and figure out how strong your opponent is.
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August 30, 2005
Author: Team Full Tilt
Our Favorite Poker Books
Chris Ferguson believes David Sklansky's Hold 'em for the Advanced Player and Theory of Poker are perhaps the two best books out there.
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August 22, 2005
Author: Aaron "GambleAB" Bartley
Holding On To Your Winnings
One slip-up can spell disaster for a bankroll, and watching six months of hard work disappear in six hours of foolish play is enough to crush anyone's spirits.
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August 15, 2005
Author: Andy Bloch
No-limit by the Numbers
In poker, it's the long run that matters, so he should only call if his probability of winning is greater than 40%.
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August 8, 2005
Author: Phil Gordon
Chip Sandwich
If my raise gets the initial raiser to fold, the meat of the chips will very often be coming my way.
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August 1, 2005
Author: Chris Ferguson
Sizing Up Your Opening Bet
Poker is like real estate. The three most important factors in deciding how much to raise are: Location, location, location.
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July 25, 2005
Author: Rafe Furst
So You Wanna Go Pro
Poker is a great game; it's tons of fun, and has never been as potentially profitable as it is today. But try to keep it in perspective.
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July 18, 2005
Author: Greg Mascio
Dealer, Leave the Bets in Front of the Players.
The first and most important thing, especially in Omaha/8, is knowing where you're at on every street.
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July 11, 2005
Author: Phil Gordon
Not Playing By The Book
Poker is not a game that is best played by the numbers. Poker is a game of situations.
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July 4, 2005
Author: Erick Lindgren
Playing Two or More Tables at Once
...the best way to keep up with the action is to look for hands you can fold automatically.
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June 27, 2005
Author: Chris Ferguson
How To Win At Tournament Poker, Part 2
Most people would be better off making no changes at all, rather than the changes that they do make
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June 20, 2005
Author: Chris Ferguson
How To Win At Tournament Poker, Part 1
How much of a difference is there between ring game strategy and tournament strategy? The answer: Not as much as you think.
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June 13, 2005
Author: Howard Lederer
Specialize At Your Peril
Playing the other games will develop skills that will simply make you a better poker player.
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June 6, 2005
Author: Phil Gordon
Common Mistakes
I will very rarely bluff against a "calling station".
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May 30, 2005
Author: John Juanda
Don't Play a Big Pot Unless You Have a Big Hand
All of a sudden, I don't like my hand -- so much.
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May 23, 2005
Author: Erick Lindgren
Ask And Ye Shall Receive Part II
Wouldn't Casey have been more than happy to raise with his A-A, knowing the older gentleman would reraise him?
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May 16, 2005
Author: Erick Lindgren
Ask And Ye Shall Receive Part 1
I want him to view me as a young hot-shot, with the hopes that he'll bully me later when I have the goods.
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May 9, 2005
Author: Jennifer Harman
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Usually a losing player is scared to get involved with a winning player, so it's easier for you to pick up pots.
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May 2, 2005
Author: Chris Ferguson
Keep Your Toolbox Well Stocked
One essential element of playing winning poker is forcing your opponents to make difficult decisions.
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April 25, 2005
Author: Howard Lederer
Why I Leave My Sunglasses And iPod At Home
I am confident that the information I take in with my eyes far exceeds what I give away.
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April 11, 2005
Author: Clonie Gowen
In Pot Limit...
What many beginning pot limit Omaha players do not understand is that Omaha is really a game of redraws.
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April 4, 2005
Author: Phil Gordon
The Script
After a careful analysis, if I'm not sure if I should raise and I'm not sure I should fold, I feel confident that calling a bet (or checking) is correct.
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March 28, 2005
Author: Jennifer Harman
Just A Few Things When Playing Razz
If your opponent catches a baby and you catch big, you should let it go.
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March 21, 2005
Author: Clonie Gowen
A Way To Approximate The Odds
Knowing the approximate likelihood of making your hand is a good beginning step on the road to better poker.
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March 14, 2005
Author: Howard Lederer
Sit N Goes Made Easy
The Sit N Go is the flight simulator of Final Table play, and mastering it should be considered mandatory homework for the serious student.
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