21st May 2007

Hello there raine and welcome to Hold or Fold -
The UK's only Poker E-Letter dedicated to helping YOU become a better player!

In this week's E-Letter:
        * Advice my Daddy gave me
        * How to lay a good hand down and
        * A GUARANTEED way to make money in Poker !!

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So - How has your Poker week been?
Have you had any good results?
Or learn't anything you want to tell us about??
You can always tell me your Poker stories at: megarana@hotmail.co.uk

As for me - I came 74th out of 1460 in the Sunday 300K - a MUCH better result than last weeks 150th place and this time I felt I really played well (even if I say so myself).

At one point I was nearly crippled when I raised with AK and came up against Pocket Aces - With an Ace on the Flop - I was lucky I didn't go all-in and even more lucky as he tried to trap me and I sensed something was up so just called!

So I survived that hand and worked my way up again only to go out when my Pocket Jacks came up against Pocket Aces again ! - I really don't mind losing to this hand as I felt that I played well and I received $540 which was luvverly !

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Advice my Daddy gave me
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I was chatting to my friend over a Home game the other night and he said that the best lesson to learn in playing Texas Hold'em is to know when to fold your hand. I mulled this over for a while and remembered the two pieces of advice my Daddy gave me regarding poker.

a) Never draw to an inside straight and

b) You'll only lose big with a big hand

Then I remembered a final table I was watching a few months ago when I could only watch on in amazement at the strong hands that players were laying down.

It was the final table of the WSOP 2006 HORSE Event and the players on the table read like a Who's Who of Poker - Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Chip Reese and Andy Bloch...

The hand I want to highlight went like this...

First off - the commentators, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, wax lyrical about Doyle Brunson's hat and Doyle picks up Pocket Queens - QD & QH.


The blinds are 10000/20000 so Doyle puts in the standard raise of 3 1/2 times the big blind which is 70000. Action moves to Chip Reese who picks up Pocket Kings ! KD & KC.
 

He flat calls the raise and action moves to Andy Bloch who folds and then to T.J. Cloutier who also folds. Next to go is a young rookie called David Singer who calls with Pocket 6's - 6S & 6C.
 

This isn't a great move as there is a Raiser and Caller before him but he decides to gamble for 70000 and puts his chips in the pot.

Phil Ivey decides to fold and there are three players are in the hand.

The flop comes down 2C, 3H and 7S.
   

Doyle puts in 220,000 to find out where he stands - as he sees it - with his pair of Queens, he has a very powerful hand.

Norman Chad makes a very observant comment: "That's a spot where a lot of younger players would have pushed All-In. The older players, though, are not as reckless - Doyle will wait and see what happens with his bet."

Chip Reese Re-Raises by doubling Doyle's bet and puts in 440,000 chips.

David Singer folds his sixes and action is back to Doyle.

As Chip has just doubled Doyle's bet - he is inviting Doyle to go All-In - it is a very provocative bet and should be regarded with big respect !

Doyle Brunson says:
"I know you have some kind of pair" and throws his Queens into the dealer showing just one of them as he does so.

"WHAT a fold!!" exclaims Lon

Chip asks Doyle - "you had Queens?"

Doyle nods and Chips says "Good Lay Down"

TJ Cloutier asks: "He show two Queens?"

Andy Bloch replies: "He showed one Queen, the other was probably an Ace -
he's not holding two Queens there !"

"He might" says TJ - "Why not if he thinks they're beat he'd fold them"

"Not many people can make that laydown" says Lon with respect.

Would you have laid it down? Have a look at the clip at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyZdGTVAalE

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Post Mortem
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I don't know if I could lay down those Queens in that situation - it seems to be my biggest weakness - having a big hand and not believing someone has a bigger one - and in a Tournament situation, sometimes it is better to lay down a good hand and stay in to fight another day and in a better position.

The only other information you can think about is the player - do you know this player? Is he prone to making big bluffs? Or is he a solid player who would only re-raise with a big hand??
If you play online - you can gain statistics with PokerTracker - More details about that in my very first ever e-letter which you can read at: www.holdorfold.co.uk/eletters/070403.htm

Having said that, it still takes a lot of instinct and experience to put a good hand down.

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A Guaranteed way of making money in poker
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One of the biggest explosions going on the UK is the Pub Poker Leagues - You can become an Agent and run a weekly game - then you will earn £1.50 per player per night !

All you have to do is find a pub or venue that is willing to pay £3 per person per night to host the Tournament - They will get their money back from the bar easily - so if they have a night which is quiet - this is a good way to get people in. For more information - go to the website: www.pokerinthepub.com and if you contact them - then MAKE SURE you mention HOLD OR FOLD !

If you do this - then the pubs will get £10 off their first night -
This is a special offer for all Hold or Fold Readers !!

I run a weekly league locally and it has brought together a great bunch of people and one of our guys is in the National Final this week and is up for winning a trip to Las Vegas - Good luck Tom !!

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Anyways - I've already qualified for this Sunday's big tournament - I hope to do better than 74th - let me know how you get on too.

All the best

Meg Arana