Articles
Updated April 11, 2005
You
will often read in poker books and also hear players say that 7 2 off-suit
is a terrible hand. This article denounces these critics and shows
through the simple math that YOU can win with 7 2 off-suit and fool your
opponents.
72 off-suit is known in Texas Hold Them circles as the worst hand in
poker. If you pick up any book on Hold Them, the experts will tell you to
throw away this hand without a single thought. It is my opinion that
these experts are flat out wrong. While I haven't won many poker
tournaments and am really not that good, I have noticed a pattern that is
common not only in poker but in the rest of the world. People often lie
in order to get ahead, whether it is money or power. You don't have to be
the Premier to realize that he lies to us constantly or that the
government doesn't tell us everything we should know. Therefore, you
don't have to be a poker professional to realize that they often lie to
maintain their power over amateurs. Given this conclusion, you should
listen to what I have to say.
The point of this article is that experts don't want you to play 7 2
off-suit because they know it is actually a good hand. Think about it,
Doyle Brunson has the hand 10 2 off-suit named after him. He won two
titles with this hand and has a lot more money than I do. Ladies and
gentlemen, I am no math expert but 10-7=3. 7 2 off-suit is only three
cards away from a world championship hand used often by a world
championship player. Another point to make is this. You will often see
the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker on television, it's a family
pot, all the "experts" are playing and one of them gets 7 2 off-suit. All
of a sudden he raises big time with this hand, forcing the other players
to fold. Think about it, these are the same guys that tell you to fold
this hand? Don't believe them for a second. Now, you still have your
doubts, let's look at some empirical evidence.
Have you ever been playing Hold Them or watched it on television and seen
something like this happen. The board comes up 7 7 2 or J 2 7 or 7 7 7.
I bet you wish you had 7 2 off-suit with this board! Let me give you some
odds to reinforce this statement. IF you have 7 2 off-suit, your opponent
has AA, and the board is 7 7 2 you have a 91.4% chance of beating him by
the river. Of course the so called "experts" would tell you to throw away
7 2 off-suit and raise with AA. If that happened with that flop you would
get beaten by a dominating hand! A lot of "experts" even go as far to
tell you that even if you hit a pair, you should often toss it if there
are higher pairs on the board. Let me give you an example. Suppose once
again you have 7 2 off-suit and your opponent has AA. The flop comes A J
7. The guy with Aces has just made a set, so he bets out big. What do
you do? You should raise or go all-in. Why? Sometimes the turn and
river end up being 7 and 7. You my friend now have a 4 of a kind and have
taken down pocket aces.
With this in mind, I would like you to consider one more thought. Why is
it that the pros like Hellmuth, Brunson, and others always end up at the
final table of big tournaments, over and over again? It is obvious, they
are playing 7 2 off-suit all the time, every time. Why is it that I
constantly lose at poker? I listened to them and only play AA, to see it
constantly beaten by 53, 76, and
K2.
My advice is simple: The pros lie, don't follow their advice and whenever
you get 7 2 off-suit or even 7 3 off-suit, raise and raise forever!
back to the top
There is nothing
like being a winner, raking in pot after pot. We all want to win. This
article reveals some of my secrets to winning more than anyone else.
1) When you fold, you lose.
This should be obvious, but it isn't! If you want to win more, fold
less. No matter what the betting is before you, any hand can flop quads,
and quads USUALLY win.
2) When your opponent folds, you win.
Your opponents will rarely fold to no bet, unless they don't know the
rules. To give them a chance to fold, you need to bet often, raise often,
and re-raise often. Your cards don't matter, since your opponents don't
see them when they fold. In Unlimited Texas Hold Them poker, you can move
all-in a lot, giving your opponent a chance to fold, and making sure you
never make that mistake yourself.
3) Lay down big hands.
At first, you may think the key to winning the most pots is never to fold
anything. However, you need to strike fear into the hearts of your
opponents, so that they fold more. You can do this by making big lay
downs. If you raise pre-flop with 9 6 and catch a flop of 9 6 5, you have
a great opportunity. If your opponent bets, you can fold and show the 9
6, saying, "Not good enough for me!" This will make a deep impression on
your opponents. They will see that you are willing to fold top 2-pair.
The next time they are in a pot with you, and you raise them, they will
think, "This guy must have better than top 2-pair. He must have a
straight or a set. I better fold." This is such a good opportunity that
you can make the same play if your opponent checks to you instead of
betting. You only get so many big hands, so you might want to use this
every time you have 2-pair or better.
However, this is an advanced play. If you are new to winning, don't fold
anything.
Well, there you have it. Poker isn't such a complicated game after all.
If you follow these tips, you will win more pots than anyone else at the
table, and players will flock to your table to try to learn your secrets.
Don't tell them, just keep winning!
back to the top
The "experts" tell
us that pocket aces are the best hand in the game. This is true but ONLY
after they improve, this is especially true in low Limit Texas Hold Them.
Pocket aces only hold up about 1 in 5 times against loose callers. For
this reason you should minimize the amount of money invested with the
pre-flop. Just call pre-flop and then if an ace doesn't flop and there is
a raise you should probably get out as this is likely one of those 80% of
the time that your aces are beaten.
If you manage to make it to the turn with unimproved aces and the turn
makes either a flush or straight possible then it is a must that you get
out. At lower limits with more than three players to the flop the chances
of someone having a straight or flush are simply too high for you to
invest two or more bets with only top pair.
If you reach the river with unimproved pocket aces (which should be rare)
and you do not improve to a set...GET OUT IMMEDIATELY. A single pair is
only good between 5 and 10% of the time when three or more players see the
flop.
This is not to say that pocket aces are not a valuable hand. Indeed they
are, but only AFTER they improve to a set. If you flop a set with aces,
YOU HAVE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL HAND. Your hand is so strong in fact that
you don't want to let the other players know you have such a big hand so
early on in the hand. Since the flop bets are only 1/2 as big as turn
bets you should check and call on the flop to disguise your hand.
On the turn you ALSO should check and call to induce as many calls as
possible and not scare off players until you can extract the maximum on
the river.
Now, once you reach the river with your set or even full house of aces you
can start to bring the hammer down. You should now be in perfect position
to use the most devastating move in all of poker...THE CHECK RAISE. Check
your monster hand on the river and if someone bets, raise them. Now they
will likely call you and you have won yourself a lovely pot. If they
raise you however you should probably just call as they may have a
straight-flush or the like.
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Unlimited Texas Hold
Them is a tough game because you only have two cards, so you have no way
of knowing what will win! Here's a helpful guide:
Before The Flop
Big Pairs - If you have a big pair, like AA or JJ, just call the flop, and
hope to see it cheap! These pairs lose more than they win, because
somebody always out-flops you. A bet saved is the same as a bet won, so
save a bet, and just call with AA.
Middle Pairs: If you have a middle pair, like TT or 5 5, raise! You want
to charge people with big hands like K 8 to see the flop! If they don't
fold, they'll probably win.
Small Pairs: 2 2 or 4 4, go all-in. You're a favorite against almost any
hand, if you can just make sure you don't get out-flopped. If you let
them see the flop for free, you will get out-flopped though.
Suited Connector: A suited connector is any two cards that could make a
straight flush. A straight flush is one of the best hands in poker! If
you have two of these, like ace king, suited, or seven three suited, raise
at least five times the initial bet! This is Unlimited Texas Hold Them
poker, don't be shy!
Other Connectors - These are hands that can make a straight. J 8, 2 5 and
KQ are all connectors and can make straights, but they're not as
good cause they're not suited. Only raise three times the initial bet
with these.
Two Suited: If both of your cards are of the same suit, raise it up!
Right now you're closer to a flush than anybody else, and a flush is a
really good hand in Unlimited Texas Hold Them poker.
On The Flop
If you make a big hand, like a pair, you need to bet to protect your
hand. They can't call a big bet without a big hand, and the odds are on
your side, most people actually don't get any pairs at all on the flop!
For best results, go all-in.
If you make a big draw, like if you have 8 4 in your hand, and the flop is
7 6 A, you have a good hand. Any five will make you almost unbeatable.
Go all-in!
If the flop missed you completely, like if you have queen ten, and the
flop is K 5 3, your only way to win the pot is to bet most people will not
call if the bet is big. Go all-in!
If you make an okay draw, like 9 3 in your pocket, and a T 8 A flop, just
call until the river.
On The Turn
Go all-in!
Good luck, and have fun with Unlimited Texas Hold Them!
back to the top
The books tell you that AQ suited is a good
hand where AQ off-suit is a bad hand. This is utterly false. The suited
starting cards provide only one chance to make a flush and 75% of the time
cards of a different suit will come up on the flop. You have a 25% chance
that all three cards will be your suit while there is a 75% chance they
won't. Now if you hold off-suit cards you have two chances to make the
flush. 50% of the time vs. 25%. That alone shows that off-suit hole
cards are TWICE as likely to improve to a flush since you now have 2 suits
to work with.
This backs up the article that 7 2 off-suit is a great hand. Look at your
chances: 2 ways to make a flush, 3 7's and 3 2's (which are more likely
not to be in your opponents hand since all these "good" players fold these
cards meaning if 7 7 2 flops you won't have to worry about someone else
hitting). 7 2 off-suit gives you the following outs: 11 of one suit 11 of
your other suit, 3 7's 3 2's, 4 each of A's 3's 4's 5's and 6's for
straights giving you a whopping 62 outs pre-flop. That's why all the
books tell you to fold this hand as it's the best hand pre-flop. If
everyone played 7 2 off-suit correctly all of the so called top "pros"
would have to find real jobs.
Play 7 2 off-suit every chance you get and if you get raised you can push
all your money in without any fear.
back to the top
1. Know your odds.
It's important to understand the concept of "being a favorite". For
example, let's say you go all-in with a pair of sixes, and are called by
an Ace-Two off-suit. You're a 70% favorite, which means you're 100%
guaranteed to win, every time you will play in this situation. In the rare
event something else happens, you must immediately warn the other players
that something is amiss, by posting "rigged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111" or "pp
sucks" (please note that you must say "pp sucks" even if you are playing
on, say, Ultimate Bet. It's a poker pro thing).
2. Explain the game
to others. Much like the moral obligation to alert players when the house
is deliberately causing improbable events to occur (they do this to
increase action, so they get more rake), you must assume players don't pay
attention in other situations, and it is your duty to point things out to
them. For example, if you're all-in with a pair of sixes versus an Ace
Queen, and lose because a queen hits on the river, you mustn't ignore the
possibility someone may have not have noticed WHEN the Queen hit.
Therefore, you must immediately post "rivered!!!!!", to let everyone know
just when the offending queen hit the board (it's important to use many
exclamation marks; they make you look more important). Similarly,
situations might arise when a player beats another on virtue of simply
having a better hand. For example, if two players are in a pot with a lot
of action, and in the showdown one of them shows an Ace-Two and loses to
an Ace-King over the kicker, it's important to explain to the other
players what just happened, as it's unlikely any of them can figure it
out. So, a comment along the lines of "see, that's why you don't play Ace
Two to a raise pre-flop" is certainly called for.
3. It's personal. Oh
yeah. People don't play good hands because they're trying to win pots and
make money. They play good hands to screw you, personally. See that guy
who just re-raised you? He only did it because you raised, if anyone else
had raise he'd just called with his aces. So, it's important, when losing
a pot, to take the matter personally. A recommended course of action would
be to hound the player who beat your top two pair with a rivered trips,
calling him names and repeatedly wishing everyone BUT him "gl". I know
this seems harsh, as many a tournament has been won or lost over "gl" and
"gg" advantage, but he must learn not to be an asshole (=not to play his
good hands versus you).
4. Play fair. There
is only one way to play poker. Should anyone stray from this path, you
must immediately complain to him (advanced: complain to the technical
support) about his unfair behavior, which is only legal by a technicality,
but obviously was MEANT to be illegal. A classic example is when a chip
leader begins raising freely pre-flop and betting on the flop. This
strategy is clearly unfair, ergo the correct course of action would be to
first of all repeatedly call him a "bully", then goad other people into
calling him (make sure to never call him, yourself), then contact customer
support to alert them there is an unfair player in table sng-050399s. They
will be delighted.
5. Bluffers always
lose. Let us assume someone raises a large amount pre-flop and you call
him, holding J9s. The board comes 258 rainbow, and the original raises
bets all-in into you. It's obvious he's bluffing, so the right move is to
call him. The moment you call a bluffer, he automatically loses,
regardless of his hand. Ergo, make sure not to consider your own hand when
determining whether to call an all-in or not.
6. Built for the
tilt. Let us suppose pp rigged the server again, and you lose with aces to
kings (those of you who've been paying attention know this event only
happens once in a million trillion times, and not, say, one in five). If,
miraculously enough, you are left with enough chips to still have a
chance, you must begin going all-in every hand, in every opportunity. What
happens is, the poker God notices there's something fishy about the table,
digs up the history, and sees that oh no, someone lost with a favorite! He
promptly sets out to right what's wrong, and so you are guaranteed to
double up with your J6o. It's STATISTICS.
There is, of course,
more than this to no-limit tournaments. We haven't even begun addressing
issues like "posting 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz' - the surefire way of
making people play faster" and strategic concepts like the semi-bluff
call, but then again, I wouldn't want to share ALL my secrets.
back to the top
Psychologists often
refer to the 7 stages of grief that accompany any significant loss in an
individual's life. We certainly think AK qualifies, and know the stages
all too well:
1) Denial: "There's
no way I could've missed the flop. They were suited. I can call here, I
probably still have the best hand. Shoot, I should raise to narrow the
field"
2) Anger: "I raised
pre-flop. The board is 239. What the fuck are they calling on? Oh, now
they're re-raising me? Well, we'll fucking see about that. Fine, your 23o
hit? Congrat-u-fucking-lations. Cap!"
3) Guilt: "Man, I
missed the turn and they're still betting into me. I am such a terrible
player. I should really let go of this hand. Let go if it, dumbass. Let
go. See, this is why you never make money at poker because you
can't lay a hand down you stupid fuck
JUST FOLD."
4) Depression:
"Call"
5) Forgiveness:
"It's ok, you have to look that guy up every once in a while with A high.
He might've been on AQ or AJ, and you would've had the best hand then.
It's good for your table image anyhow. People won't mess with you now.
6) Acceptance: "Ok,
next time I'll just limp and see a flop."
7) Recovery: "Hey,
AKs, alright - RAISE!"
back to the top
Many years ago, some
caveman or another came up with the brilliant idea that "hey, fish don't
fight as well as dinosaurs, let's eat them instead". Thus fishing was
born. However, fishing is about as exciting as an extreme aging
competition in your local home, so to pass the time, the aforementioned
cavemen invented fish stories.
Fast forward a couple of decades. Some cowboy or another comes up with the
idea of robbing fish instead of trains, and invents poker. However, to the
professional player (which everybody is, really. I dare you to find
someone who'll define himself as an "average" or "poor" player) poker is
about as thrilling as quadriplegic racing, bad beat stories were invented.
Bad beat stories
serve two purposes. A really good bad beat story serves to show both what
a great player you are, and what a complete retard everybody else is.
Moreover, because all poker players are hardcore gamblers who'd shoot you
in the back for a pretty penny, the community as a whole is fairly
distant, and the stories help draw people together, because nobody ever
tires of hearing about aces getting cracked.
This article will help you master the fine art of writing bad beat
stories, as there is nothing sadder than cracked aces going untold about.
The stakes have to
be high.
Nobody is interested in what happens in penny ante games, and rightfully
so. How much anguish can one derive from losing 37 cents? And if you don't
care, why should your audience?
No, the right way of going about things is to tell about astronomical
stakes, preferably so high none of your readers has ever played in them.
"I was playing in the $50-$100 pot limit in the Belagio..." – Good.
"I was playing in the $5000 ante tables in Texas with a bunch of oil
tycoons" – Better.
"I was playing for fun..." – Terrible.
The odds against you
have to be irrationally slim.
Losing as a 70% favorite happens all the time (it can be proven
mathematically; however, this is a subject for another article
altogether). Nobody's impressed by that. What you want to do is make sure
your story features odds so amazing, anyone who hears it will immediately
petition the Supreme Court to reverse that stroke of bad luck, as it
offends both man and God in its hideous unfairness.
"I went all-in with kings, got called with jacks and lost to a rivered
jack" – Good.
"I went all-in with Ace-King suited on the flop with a made nut flush, and
got called by a bottom pair who proceeded to hit runner runner quads" –
Better.
"I made a small bet with a top pair and lost to someone with a better
kicker" – No.
The people you're
playing against have to be despicable.
Every story needs a good guy and a bad guy. Seeing as the position of
"good guy" is currently being occupied by you, the other guy will have to
settle for the less desirable role of "the bad guy". What this means is
you have to make the audience really despise the other guy, usually
accomplished by making sure his move was so grossly inept and
mathematically incorrect, the only reason he won was through sheer evil,
and nothing more.
"I went all-in under the gun with pocket aces in the first hand in the
game, got called with 57 suited and lost to two pair" – Not bad.
"I went all-in on the flop with aces, the board was AKQ rainbow, got
called by 57 suited who also called my huge raise pre-flop, and lost to
runner runner flush" – A lot better.
"I kept going all-in because those idiots kept folding to me, and then
when I got kings I got called by Ace-Jack and lost because he flopped an
ace. PP sucks" – Not as good.
Use as many poker
terms as possible.
We earlier explained a part of the point of a bad beat story was to
illustrate what a great player you are, in contrast to everybody else on
earth except for Phil Helmuth. This is further strengthened if you make
sure to use the obscure poker terms and names for anything and everything.
Remember, if nobody has any clue what the hell you're on about, there's
less chance anyone will doubt your story.
"I went in with bullets and lost to big slick on a rivered Broadway" –
Pretty good.
"I chiseled with hooks only to be double-trapped by wild Billy and eat a
spaz, of all things, on the jump. Those fish, I tell you" – Pretty damned
good.
"I had two cards with the same funny picture on them, so I put some of the
chips from my pile in the middle, then the other guy did the same" – Could
use some work.
Those are the basic
concepts. To help you understand them and put them to good use, I've
included one of my own bad beat stories. Enjoy.
I was playing heads
up in the final table at WSOP, which also happened to decide for
US presidency that
year. Because the dealer is a Sh'akr'a of mine, I knew my Ace-King suited
would hit a royal flush, and I could tell from there my opponent's got
golden boys. So we went all-in, when suddenly one of the spectators took a
break from molesting children, and said "sure, I'll play. Will this trust
fund for cancer research money do?". The perplexed dealer dealt the turn
and river cards, which gave me the absolute pure nuts. As I started
grabbing the pot, the spectator, who in the meantime chain-smoked two
packets of cigarettes and annihilated a tribe of Native Americans,
revealed two Magic: the Gathering cards, yelled "I attack you for 20!",
hit me on the head with a hammer and ran away. When I came to, I was
laying face-down in a ditch in Mexico with a large scar on my side, and
scribbled on my forehead were the words "welcome to the AIDS club". Damned
fish.
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Would you like to submit an article? Feel free to contact me at
richardt@ualberta.ca |