♠ ♦ Online Casino Junky! ♥ ♣

A stage performing Yorkie probably has one of the best poker faces in the business. This one would know. Jilli (that’s her stage name too!) plays 3 card poker with her master. While not requiring to much skill beyond random card selection, its still a cute trick to watch.

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While at a poker tournament last week, there was a player at my table who was obviously VERY new to poker. When I encounter players like this I usually go out of my way not to try and bluff them out of pots. A new player is much more likely to call you down with 2nd or 3rd pair and win against your ace-high steal attempt. This is exactly what happened to a player who was sitting to my left. The player to my had raised before the flop. Made a bet on the flop and a bet on the turn. After the river was dealt (7 of hearts) he had missed his club flush draw. The new player was first to act and he checked. The player to my left bet about about half the pot. When the other player called and showed Jack / 7 to make 1 pair (third pair), the player to my left started ranting about “How could you call that?” He went on and on for at least 5 minutes explaining to the guy that he had no pair and no draw on the flop or on the turn, etc, etc, etc…

The end result of all his ranting was that the new player changed the way he was playing. He played much tighter protecting his chips and ended up lasting MUCH longer in the tournament than the player who had gave him the free poker lesson at the table.

It is up to each individual to go out and learn how to play poker in their own way. Read a book. Discuss hands & situations with other players. Do whatever you have to do. But you are only hurting yourself when you teach the guy at your table how to play. If he’s a fish who’s willing to chase 3rd pair all the way to the river to win, don’t you want this guy calling your bets all the way to the river? Next time, pat the table and just say, “good call, nice hand” and much your cards. Then, wait until you have 2 pair or trips and overbet the pot. You are more than likely going to get all your money back and more when he catches 3rd pair on the river and pays you off.

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Is Vegas Geek a real person contributing to this site? Absolutely. (I don’t see what benefit I’d have by creating a second persona as an author here).

There are two people (so far) writing for this site. Myself and Vegas Geek. We both reside in Las Vegas, but Vegas Geek is a lot more familiar with the poker tournament scene. He runs GotJacks.com, a popular site that lists all the poker tournaments in the Vegas valley. He also runs a personal blog at Geeeek.com (that’s 4 e’s not 2) where you can find out a lot more about him, his love for tattoos, gadgets, and caffeine. Oh, and watch out for the pics of him in his aviator sunglasses.

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I realize that through my writing, I’ll I’m really doing is expressing what I need to tell myself while at the poker table. This topic is something that is a struggle for a lot of people. Present company DEFINITELY included.
Let me set up a scenario for you. You are on the button. In your hand you have 8/8. Two players limp in in front of you. You raise to 4 times the big blind. Both the little blind and big blind fold. The first limper re-raises 4 times your bet. The second limper re-raises, All-in for 10 times the pot. The action is on you. To make the call is going to cost all of your chips. In your mind you feel you are behind and likely facing at least 1 big pair if not two. And, if the first limper calls, at best you are facing 3 or 4 over cards to your pocket 8s. Feeling that you are likely behind you muck your hand. The original raiser calls and you see that the first guy has A/K and the second guy has J/J. The flop comes out A/8/3 and you would have flopped a set. The turn and river are no help and you WOULD have won the hand if you had made the call. Does this mean you made the wrong decision? Absolutely Not! When you are judging whether or not you made the correct call, you can ONLY USE THE INFORMATION YOU HAD AT THE TIME YOU MADE THE CALL. You thougth you were behind, folded and it turns out you were right. Good For You!!

Time after time I hear players (including myself) berate themselves over a call they wish they had made after all 5 cards are turned up. If you never fold a hand that would have turned out to be the absolute nuts, you aren’t folding nearly enough. And, just because J/2 made you the winning straight when the board came out A/K/5/4/3 doesn’t mean you should start playing J/2 on a regular basis.
Next time you fold a strong hand when you know you are way behind and, even though you would have won the hand, you find out made the right play at the time you layed down your hand, pat yourself on the back. You made the right call.

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I played in a tournament this weekend and saw something that I knew I’d have to write about.

In tournament play, you have got to be patient. You are only given a certain amount of chips. It’s not like a cash game where you can pull more money out of your pocket. In a tournament, once your chips are gone, so are you.

Sure, there is definitely something to be said for picking up chips early on but the doesn’t need to come at a huge risk to your stack. In the tournament that I played over the weekend, it started with 4 tables. I didn’t play a single large pot until I was at the final table. I picked up several small-ish pots on the way to the final table, but never did I have even half my stack at risk. And yet, I watched player after player putting all their chips in with small pairs or a weak suited ace.

Here is a play I saw at the final table that really stuck out. A player in first position moves all in for roughly 5 times the BB. The chip leader at our table calls him. Everybody else folded. When the turned over their hands, the first player had J/J and the chip leader had J/6 offsuit. When somebody asked why he’d make that call he said he was trying to get lucky and knock out the player. While the idea of knocking out the other player makes sense, you are going to need to get awfully lucky to win a hand by calling an all-in with J/6. It was gratifying for me to be the player that ended up busting the guy who made the call with J/6. He finished in 5th place. Two spots out of the money.

Protect your chips. Play with patience. Don’t be in a hurry to accumulate chips or knock players out. You will consistantly go deeper in tournaments by following these simple suggestions.

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For my first post on OCJ I thought I’d tell you about a lesson I learned the hard way in two separate tournaments. I’ll defend my play in both situations, I just chose the wrong time, err, opponent to try these plays.

The first situation happened at a home-game tournament. I was on the button and had 2h 3h. One player limped in from middle position. Since it was unraised, I simply called. The flop came out 4s 5s 10d. While I missed the hearts entirely, I like the open ended straight possibility. Especially because if an ace hits, I’ll likely be paid off if somebody hit their pair of aces. I checked, the big blind checked and so did limper. The turn came 8c. I made a bet of just less than the size of the pot. The big blind folded and the limper called. Here comes the important part. The river was the 4d. As it was turned over, I watched my opponent shake his head. I put him on a missed spade flush draw and bet the size of the pot expecting him to fold. After nearly a full minute of consideration, he called. He flips over his cards. Qs 6s.
The second situation happened at a tournament at a casino here in Vegas. The blinds were 50/100. I was one seat off the button and had A/10 of spades. The player under the gun (first to act after the big blind) limped in for 100. Everybody folded around to me. I raised to 600. Everybody folded back to the original limper. He called. The flop came out 2s 4c Jd. The first guy checks and I bet out 600. He thinks a minute and then calls. The turn was a Qh. Now I know there is no possible flush draw, he may have a straight draw at this point so I want to get him off the hand right now. He checked over to me. I see he has 1500 in chips left. I bet out exactly 1500. He considers for a minute and finally makes the call saying, “I just have to see it.” He flips over Ah Kc. The river was a blank and he took down the pot.

When you put money in to a pot initially, you will likely have to put more money in later in order to defend it. The saying goes, “Don’t leave your children in the pool to drown.” Both of my opponents showed weakness by not betting and I took the initiative to “rescue my children.” If I’m on the opposite end of either of these plays, I fold in both situations. Though, I would likely have played both hands different given the situations.

The point being, be careful who you try to bluff. You may get called down with an embarrasing hand that still beats your embarrasing hand.

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We have a new contributor here in Online Casino Junkyland. I’m pleased to announce that Vegas Geek will be mucking up the place a bit, for the better of course. He’ll be giving hints and tips for all you Poker players out there, as well as recount his stories of recent tourney outings online and here in Las Vegas. Which reminds me, If you’re looking for a place to play in Las Vegas, check out his site at GotJacks.com, its a full listing of the popular poker tournaments in the area. Check his list, secure a seat, and who knows, you may just end up siting at the same table as Vegas Geek.

Welcome aboard, dude!

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