Texas Holdem Poker
I am going to visit San Jose in a few weeks and i want to check out some casinos and card clubs.
Which ones are the best??
I only know of 2 card clubs in the San Jose area Bay 101 and Garden City. I just picked up the game, so I don't have the experience yet to tell you which is the better of the 2. I can tell you this much Bay 101 is more modern brightly lit, while Garden City a little older, I think it has a lot more tables. Hope this helps!!!
I have played both at Garden City and at Bay 101. I used to play at both places a lot. The highest limits ive played at either place is 3-6. I think the next jump up from there is 6-12 if im not mistaken. If playing 2-4 or 3-6 be ready for some no foldem holdem. The preflop raise gets little respect. People will cap because they want to gamble. Expect anywhere from 4-8 people seeing the flop, with 3-5 showing down at the river. However with that being said there is money to be made at both card rooms. You can easily make 200 playing three six in a few hours no joke. Be ready for some rivers. I do not know much about the higher limit games, sorry. If tournies are your thing then bay 101 has daily tournaments in the morning around 50 dollar buyins with rebuys (holdem that is) one day might be omaha if i remember right. Garden city has some good tournaments that start at 7pm. Some nights its limit some nights spread limit. Around 80 for the buy in is average. Small amounts of starting chips in both casino tournaments so you have to be aggresive early.
I live up in the Bay Area and know the places well. Garden City, Bay 101, and Lucky Chances are all well-known. GC and Bay are much closer to San Jose, neither more than a 15 min drive north. Bay is off the 101 freeway and Brokaw Rd. and GC is off the 280 Freeway and Saratoga Ave. LC is much farther off the 280, probably almost an hour away. Both Bay and GC have (for Hold 'em) 2-4, 3-6, 6-12, 8-16, 20-40. Bay has 40-80, 80-160, and 20-200 spread limit as well. They both also have 4-8 stud and I think Bay spreads an Omaha HL game sometimes. LC doesn't have 2-4 I don't think, but they are the only one that has 9-18 and NL games, and I believe they always spread Stud and Omaha. Bay probably has the loosest play, although they are all comparable. The best times to go are Fri and Sat nights (after 10, and particularly after midnight), when there are lots of drunk people willing to literally give away money. You'll find plenty of action at all of them. They all can get pretty crowded at times, so I would recommend you call your name in. I think Bay only allows this for 8-16 or higher and GC's policy changes with whoever is answering the phone. I don't know about LC though. Good luck playing, I don't think you'll need it.
I have played at the Bay 101 many times (I get to San Jose a lot on business). I think its a great place to play. A lot of action at the hold em tables at all levels. I usually play the 20/40, but the 4/8 and 8/16 have a ton of action. There is a strong mix of really good players and really bad players which keeps the money moving.
People are very nice, food is good (and unlike Vegas and Chicagoland, you can eat while you play). Free coffee - what more could you ask.
I've been playing in tournaments for a couple months now, and have recently started playing well (i.e. placing in the money). I tried a more expensive buy-in tourney than I had been playing, and am wondering if I played this right and got unlucky... I had pocket A's in second position early in the tournament. Blinds at 25/50 and I have about $1000 in chips (we all started with $1500). I raise to $200, and everyone folds except BB who has about $2000, so I have the cards and position. Flop is K-10-7 rainbow. BB checks to me and I go all-in on my read that he paired up with the K. He calls and turns over K-10 offsuit. The board does not pair up or show an ace, and I'm out. The pot had about $600 before the flop, so I thought at that time is was worth going for. I was correct on my read that he only had a single king, but was unlucky that his kicker paired up. Since I'm here to learn, I'm willing to take suggestions on how else I could have played it. I personally cannot see, with the exception of maybe going all-in preflop and risk not winning anything.
I think your opponent made a very bad call and he got very lucky to catch 2 pair. However, any flop with 2 broadway cards in it deserves a bit of respect if you only have an overpair. I'm not saying to be scared of it, but it is a flop with a lot of potential good draws or even 2 pairs, as you fell victim to. I think I would have pushed in on the flop also to get out the draws, if it's any consolation. Your opponent trapped you nicely. One other thing, you said you put him on a king, so what kicker did you expect?
Live and learn, so get 'em next time!
A 5.25 hour session at 40 hands per hour is 210 hands. That is a very small number of hands to determine how your play is going. I think of a session as 1150 hands. Of course it requires multiple seatings to aquire this many hands. I play mostly online and I fiqure it takes me 24 hours to play 1150 hands on average.
I have had a bad run once where I hand 189 losing hands in a row (LIAR) and many runs of 80 to 100 LIARs. Usually this bad run will occur once per session (1150 hands). My style is tight aggressive. When I have the goods or a draw to the goods I bet and have a good instinct on when to back down and fold or to call or check down. I only play low limit fixed and low stake maximum buy in no limit holdem. I play AA-99, AKo-AJo, and AKs-JTs. I consider these my premium starters. I will play 88-22 depending on the number of players and position. Also I play AXs depending on position and number of players. I keep notes on every hand I play so I have very good statistics of my play.
The cards are running very good for you preflop if you can recieve the premium starters I listed above at a rate of 7.75% or above the total hands dealt. Remember I calculate this rate for a 1150 hand session. I calculated you had 15 premium starters in 210 hands for a percentage of 7.14. That is a bit on the low side so the cards were not running your way preflop. I didn't notice but one small pocket pair and no AXs hands. That is a pretty poor rate of starting hands. I would not have played 15 other hands in your list, so I would have saved an additional 60 dollars or so if I was in your seat. I may not have played as many AJo hands either. It would depend on position and what the other players did before me or what I might predict they would do after me. I keep detailed statistics and AJo is a very marginal profit maker in a loose 7 to 10 player ring. When you play holdem, what you don't lose is as important as what you win. You have to be disciplined in your starting hand selection and know when and how to play those marginal starters. You have to be careful when you have a maniac raising preflop frequently. You need to try to isolate yourself with a better starting hand than the maniac and bet when you have the best and maybe call the maniac down to see what he will stay in with. Maybe you can win with Ace high. Maybe any pair will do. Be careful when you have multiple players calling though with marginal starting hands.... it is usually going to require at least top pair top kicker with no scary flops threatening better showdowns.
I don't like A3o in the small blind unless there are 4 or less limpers. I won't call a raise with it. This hand is extremely marginal with 4 or more players and is not worth the time. Dump it if the flop doesn't hit you. If you hit an ace someone probably has a better kicker so be very careful. If you hit two pair the other ace could have a better two pair. Usually its better to just save your dollar. KQo I would play only on the button or cutoff and with 4 or less limpers. It is also a marginal profit maker. You have to hit a flush or a straight in no foldem every now and then to be profitable and you cannot make mistakes. Forget J5o and 32o, those hands are just playing the lottery. 32o will lose to a higher straight even if you hit lucky. You will always lose more than you win with those kind of hands.
I have been keeping records for 22 sessions now and I have logged 18 winneres and 4 losers. I think I have low limit holdem figured out. It is a grinding style but it works. I have had one disaterous session in no limit, where I lost 525 big blinds for the session. I hit only 5.45% premium starters, 3 sets in 64 pocket pairs, and won only 26 hands with the premium starters I had. It was one of those ugly sessions that can and will occur many timesif you play poker long enough. I can see why you should bankroll 1000 big blinds for a no limit game and 300 big blinds for a limit game. If you loose half of your bankroll drop down in limits to correlate to the bankroll you currently have. That would be good bankroll risk management.
Hope this helps and I welcome any comments or questions. I have only been playing online poker for 1.75 years so I am hardly an expert, but what I am currently doing is working for me. I didn't start to climb out of my hole untill I started this strategy. I was a loser in my first 8 months, but have broken out of that period since and have continuously made money. I am using this technique with aggressive positional play in tournaments as well and it seems to be working.
It's great to know that this was to some degree a bad run of luck. BTW, I forgot to mention in my initial post that when I say I missed all the flops for 5 hours straight, I didn't just mean that I lost all the hands. I meant I never hit as much as top pair and I'm including draws. I got absolutely ZERO straight draws and ZERO flush draws and no pairs. If I had wired pairs, I never hit trips and almost always had 1 or 2 overcards on the board. The only exceptions to this statement are the 3 hands I won (seperated by 5 hours and 200 hands of play) - two of which came after coming in with garbage.
I'm going to try playing online now and I'm definitely going to try upping my starting hand standards. I was basically playing any group 5 or better but I see you are more selective than that and maybe I should be too.
I know its tough to stomach at the time, but I try to think of it this way. Missing the flop is kind of a blessing. At least it makes your play easy. Fold and wait for the next hand. I would rather totally miss 4 straight flops and then nail the 5th one then get a peice of 5 flops and then miss my draws on them. Same idea with the cards preflop, its not the really bad hands that cost you money, just chuck em. Its those darn second best hands that cost you.
Very broadly speaking, when I'm running cold it's raise group 1-2, group 3 early, 4 middle and 5 late with minor adjustments for the relative tightness and looseness of the table. I had a bad run the last 2 weeks myself and this, combined with playing some 7-stud and multis online, and some better cards, helped get me back up and running.
The way the cards are dealt out and put on the board is uncontrollable. Sometimes the way you play the cards doesn't even matter. It's funny, I read this and it reminded me exactly of my last session I played (5/10 B&M). Fortunately for me, the opposite happened. First hand I had AKs in big blind. There was mad raising throughout. I think I caught a K on flop and I ended up losing around $60 (bought in for $200). Next, I get 77 in the small blind. Same crazy raising. Flop comes 10 4 6 rainbow. Pissed from the previous hand, I stick around to the end and catch my set on the river winning around $100. Next hand, as the dealer, I flop quad 5s. Someone catches their full house on the river and pays me off good, pot of at least $150. I got a run of good cards in long stretches afterwards (about 16 hours straight), and they paid out. Pocket pairs led to sets, big blind cards led to two pairs. Cashed out up over $800. Could have been higher (I was up around $1100), I didn't play smart towards the end. Anyways, my point is that, contrary to popular belief, luck runs hot and cold.
In low limit hold em, the cards play themselves alot of the time.
A 5.25 hour session at 40 hands per hour is 210 hands. That is a very small number of hands to determine how your play is going. I think of a session as 1150 hands. Of course it requires multiple seatings to aquire this many hands. I play mostly online and I fiqure it takes me 24 hours to play 1150 hands on average.
I have had a bad run once where I hand 189 losing hands in a row (LIAR) and many runs of 80 to 100 LIARs. Usually this bad run will occur once per session (1150 hands). My style is tight aggressive. When I have the goods or a draw to the goods I bet and have a good instinct on when to back down and fold or to call or check down. I only play low limit fixed and low stake maximum buy in no limit holdem. I play AA-99, AKo-AJo, and AKs-JTs. I consider these my premium starters. I will play 88-22 depending on the number of players and position. Also I play AXs depending on position and number of players. I keep notes on every hand I play so I have very good statistics of my play.
The cards are running very good for you preflop if you can recieve the premium starters I listed above at a rate of 7.75% or above the total hands dealt. Remember I calculate this rate for a 1150 hand session. I calculated you had 15 premium starters in 210 hands for a percentage of 7.14. That is a bit on the low side so the cards were not running your way preflop. I didn't notice but one small pocket pair and no AXs hands. That is a pretty poor rate of starting hands. I would not have played 15 other hands in your list, so I would have saved an additional 60 dollars or so if I was in your seat. I may not have played as many AJo hands either. It would depend on position and what the other players did before me or what I might predict they would do after me. I keep detailed statistics and AJo is a very marginal profit maker in a loose 7 to 10 player ring. When you play holdem, what you don't lose is as important as what you win. You have to be disciplined in your starting hand selection and know when and how to play those marginal starters. You have to be careful when you have a maniac raising preflop frequently. You need to try to isolate yourself with a better starting hand than the maniac and bet when you have the best and maybe call the maniac down to see what he will stay in with. Maybe you can win with Ace high. Maybe any pair will do. Be careful when you have multiple players calling though with marginal starting hands.... it is usually going to require at least top pair top kicker with no scary flops threatening better showdowns.
I don't like A3o in the small blind unless there are 4 or less limpers. I won't call a raise with it. This hand is extremely marginal with 4 or more players and is not worth the time. Dump it if the flop doesn't hit you. If you hit an ace someone probably has a better kicker so be very careful. If you hit two pair the other ace could have a better two pair. Usually its better to just save your dollar. KQo I would play only on the button or cutoff and with 4 or less limpers. It is also a marginal profit maker. You have to hit a flush or a straight in no foldem every now and then to be profitable and you cannot make mistakes. Forget J5o and 32o, those hands are just playing the lottery. 32o will lose to a higher straight even if you hit lucky. You will always lose more than you win with those kind of hands.
I have been keeping records for 22 sessions now and I have logged 18 winneres and 4 losers. I think I have low limit holdem figured out. It is a grinding style but it works. I have had one disaterous session in no limit, where I lost 525 big blinds for the session. I hit only 5.45% premium starters, 3 sets in 64 pocket pairs, and won only 26 hands with the premium starters I had. It was one of those ugly sessions that can and will occur many timesif you play poker long enough. I can see why you should bankroll 1000 big blinds for a no limit game and 300 big blinds for a limit game. If you loose half of your bankroll drop down in limits to correlate to the bankroll you currently have. That would be good bankroll risk management.
Hope this helps and I welcome any comments or questions. I have only been playing online poker for 1.75 years so I am hardly an expert, but what I am currently doing is working for me. I didn't start to climb out of my hole untill I started this strategy. I was a loser in my first 8 months, but have broken out of that period since and have continuously made money. I am using this technique with aggressive positional play in tournaments as well and it seems to be working.
It's great to know that this was to some degree a bad run of luck. BTW, I forgot to mention in my initial post that when I say I missed all the flops for 5 hours straight, I didn't just mean that I lost all the hands. I meant I never hit as much as top pair and I'm including draws. I got absolutely ZERO straight draws and ZERO flush draws and no pairs. If I had wired pairs, I never hit trips and almost always had 1 or 2 overcards on the board. The only exceptions to this statement are the 3 hands I won (seperated by 5 hours and 200 hands of play) - two of which came after coming in with garbage.
I'm going to try playing online now and I'm definitely going to try upping my starting hand standards. I was basically playing any group 5 or better but I see you are more selective than that and maybe I should be too.
I know its tough to stomach at the time, but I try to think of it this way. Missing the flop is kind of a blessing. At least it makes your play easy. Fold and wait for the next hand. I would rather totally miss 4 straight flops and then nail the 5th one then get a peice of 5 flops and then miss my draws on them. Same idea with the cards preflop, its not the really bad hands that cost you money, just chuck em. Its those darn second best hands that cost you.
Very broadly speaking, when I'm running cold it's raise group 1-2, group 3 early, 4 middle and 5 late with minor adjustments for the relative tightness and looseness of the table. I had a bad run the last 2 weeks myself and this, combined with playing some 7-stud and multis online, and some better cards, helped get me back up and running.
The way the cards are dealt out and put on the board is uncontrollable. Sometimes the way you play the cards doesn't even matter. It's funny, I read this and it reminded me exactly of my last session I played (5/10 B&M). Fortunately for me, the opposite happened. First hand I had AKs in big blind. There was mad raising throughout. I think I caught a K on flop and I ended up losing around $60 (bought in for $200). Next, I get 77 in the small blind. Same crazy raising. Flop comes 10 4 6 rainbow. Pissed from the previous hand, I stick around to the end and catch my set on the river winning around $100. Next hand, as the dealer, I flop quad 5s. Someone catches their full house on the river and pays me off good, pot of at least $150. I got a run of good cards in long stretches afterwards (about 16 hours straight), and they paid out. Pocket pairs led to sets, big blind cards led to two pairs. Cashed out up over $800. Could have been higher (I was up around $1100), I didn't play smart towards the end. Anyways, my point is that, contrary to popular belief, luck runs hot and cold.
In low limit hold em, the cards play themselves alot of the time.
Texas no-limit hold-em
Player "A - Left of Dealer" has $96
Player "B - Dealer" has $113
Player "C - Right of dealer" has $150
Player A goes all in.
Player C checks.
Player B States "I am all in as well" but only puts in $96
Player C informs B that they said they are all in and have to put in all their remaining chips.
Player B says that he was said all-in to match player A, and insists that the correct call to match the chips player A wagered to say All-in and not call or check. He further states that he said "I am all in against player A"
Is this correct?
Question 1. Should player B be forced to wager all his remaining chips because he said all-in rather than call or check?
Question 2. What is the proper phrase for player B to use to match players A wager?
Question 3. What is the difference between call and check?
Question 1, If a player states he/ is all-in that person has to play the hand for all their chips regardless of how many chips they actually put in the pot. My guess is that the B player only put $96 for the main pot and left aside the remaining chips for the side pot. But if a player declares he is all-in all of his chips are in that pot.
Question 2, If player B wanted to just put the $96 in he should have said CALL.
Side Note: If he was going to call the $96 he was just as well off going all-in. He is getting odds on his money.
Question 3, A call is when someone bets and another player puts the same amount of chips as the bettor in the pot, without a raise. A Check is when a player has the option not to bet but does not also forfeit his hand.
A check means you neither bet nor fold. You can only do that if no one else has made a bet yet. For example the first player to bet may check, then the next guy may check also and the next. Sometimes the entire group will check and no bet will be made on that round of betting. But if 2 guys check and the 3rd bets now everyone after him must at least call (match his bet in order to stay in the game, they may also raise) of fold. It will come around to the guys who checked and they must either bet (call or raise) if they want to stay in or fold otherwise.
Your example actually doesn't make sense because if player A goes all-in he is placing a bet. Player C can not check at this point, he must at least call to stay in the game. Otherwise he must fold. You can not check once someone has made a bet.
Another tip if you want to learn. Join one of these on-line poker site where you can play against other people for free or buy a game for your computer such as "Hoyle Poker" of "The Best of Poker" (I think that what it is called, I found in at my local COMPUSA in the $9.99 rack and it is actually really good). If you do this you will have the basics down in no time (Except the All-In thing, I haven't found an on-line free or PC game that has No Limit yet).
