Perfect Poker Play

If I have a pocket pair and after the flop I have NOT made a set under what circumstances… other than the obvious of it being an over pair. Under what circumstances would you pay to see the turn card? Or would u always just dump it as there are only 2 outs… Thanks for your advice. It’s always hard or me Not to take another one off. And i know that a BAD move

Answer 1:

I would continue if I flopped an open-ended straight draw with my pair. Also if there was only one over card to my pair and based on the previous action I thought my pair might be good, I might proceed.  It also depends on the amount of money in the pot and how cheap I could see the turn. For example, let’s say eight people call before the flop and I call with a pair of sixes. Flop comes down 742o and it gets checked around and then one player bets. I probably would take off a card and try to hit a six or a five on the turn. There is a possibility that the flop better has a pair of fours, but even if he/she has a pair of sevens, the pot odds combined with the chance that I might have the best hand merit a call.  Generally, you need to have an over pair to the board, flop a set, or flop an open-ended straight draw to continue beyond the flop.

Answer 2:

I always pay to see. It is a bad move. Period. But, there’s a reason why they call it gambling. You have to have some fun with it.  That’s what gets my blood flowing.

Answer 3:

“It depends.” In a strong game, you have JJ on the button. Someone limps under the gun, you raise, and everyone folds except the limper calls. Flop comes KT2 rainbow. Limper bets. In a loose-aggressive game, you have JJ on the button. 6 players call in front of you, you raise, the small blind re-raises, you cap, and everyone stays (total of 32 small bets in the pot). Flop comes KT2 rainbow. Small blind (a maniac) bets. Three callers. In a passive 6-12 game, you have JJ on the button. 4 players call in front of you, you raise, everyone calls. Flop comes KT2 rainbow. Big blind bets. Two callers. I’m taking a card off in situations 1 and 2, certainly. 3 is iffy; depends on how well your opponents play on later rounds.

Speaking of players who actually depend on playing and winning at poker to make a living: what is the lowest level one might find a professional player? Do working pros bother with 3-6 games? How about 2-4 or 1-5 limit games?

Answer 1:

I have played against pros in $1-$5 stud games. However, you need to keep a couple of things in mind bucko – all pros aren’t the same. For every big-time high limit pro, you’ll find a dozen lower limit guys who are just scraping by, or trying to supplement their retirement or income from another job. In addition, being a pro does not automatically make you a good player and there are times having a pro in a game can even be an advantage.  Bottom-line – I never worry about pros, props ro off duty dealers – just play your best game.

Answer 2:

I guess what I’m really getting at is to find out if pros (or we could call them successful, consistent winners, or enlightened/experienced players, etc.) actually make it a practice of bothering with the lowest limit games.  I’ve now had one year of study and practice at 1-2, 2-4, and occasionally 3-6 stud. At this stage it seems to me that even if I do everything right and am sharper than my competition, it’s still like a crap-shoot due to the rake and the fact that it’s hard to move anyone out of a hand. I’m wondering if people who actually understand the game well enough to make income from poker feel the same way and simply avoid these games. When I move up to 4-8 or 5-10 it is going to be a significant investment for me to play, so I want to do it at the right time and for the right reasons.

Answer 3:

I’m not a pro, but I regularly play $5-$10 stud with a $5 rake and I win an average of 1.4 big bets per hour. It is the lowest stud in the casino I frequent and has the worst players. People keep telling me you can’t beat the rake in the smaller games and bad players make it a total crapshoot, but it isn’t true for me. With a 10% rake, you simply have to be much tighter and much better than your opponents.  I find at this limit, game selection is critical. I also play the higher limit games and occasionally HE and Omahaand I find
they are much harder to beat.  If I wanted to make an easy living as a pro, I
would probably play the majority of the time at the $5-$10 stud tables. As it is, I blow all my low limit winnings in the bigger games and at the craps table and make my living elsewhere.  I don’t want to turn fun into work.

I’ve playing some O/8 on IRC to help learn the game. I’ve got a pretty good grasp I think, except for one thing. I know that two cards must play (duh), but was left wondering about a couple of things. For instance: a player has AA58 in his hand, and the board is A234J. This player won both ways with a 5 hi straight and 5 low. How can this be? For sure two cards from his hand didn’t play. I don’t think the IRC bot is wrong, so I’m definitely missing something here, and don’t want to play any live O/8 until I understand this. Another instance: the board reads AAA8Q, and a player wins the hand holding AT34. Huh? I thought for sure since he didn’t have a K kicker that quads couldn’t be made.

Answer 1:
Player used the same two cards for hi hand and the low (A-5) that were in his hand.
Answer 2:
He plays the 234 from the board and the A5 from his hand. Wheel makes high and low. 56 would have beaten him for High. (Assuming there was not three to a suit on board) AAA from the board and his AT made him AAAA with a T kicker, Q and 8 are not playing (remember, three from the BOARD, two from your hand). Kicker is actually irrelevant where three of a rank is on board, and someone has the fourth of that rank.
Answer 3:
1. Since he has A5 among his hole cards he uses those with the 234 on board to make the nutlow.
2. He use AT from his hand with the AAA on board to make quads, kicker not interesting since there are only 4 aces in the deck..