Made a deep run in the sunday million ..we will be playing almost every sunday now on pokerstars under the new handle PokerBetterS

There are countless amounts of spots at the online  poker tables where utilizing the three bet properly will allow you to chip up hopefully without going to showdown. When I say without going to showdown I am talking about making a bluff move with a nothing hand like 45 offsuit preflop. Before I discuss this theory in detail I’d like to explain what a three bet actually is.

Three bet Stealing preflop

Here’s a few more ways to get chips when you are deep in a tournament.I recommend using these moves ONLY when you have acquired reads on your table and adjusted to your opponents tenancies. If you are at a super aggro table, you might want to skip using these steal moves. But lets face it, if your a good player, you can tell when players are just trying to fold to make the money and protect their stacks. Now have you ever sat at the table with that guy that always repops you when you raise taking the action away from you preflop, always seems to be raising your blinds and your folding because you pick up 29 suited. But lets face it here, poker tournaments aren’t won by sitting back and waitin for pocket AA’S. Turning your nothing hands into a situation where you can potentially represent thast you have a hand even when you don’t, and get your opponents to fold. 

Well what is a Three Bet resteal ? The word pretty much dictates the action that you must take. You are stealing a pot from your opponent by reraising his raise when the situation allows you to do so . These moves are usually used deep in the tournament once u build your stack.  This is where the fun starts! The anties are high, the blinds are going up and this means you are closer to the money!! So now is the time all the weak donkeys who went crazy in the beginning should shine right? Wrong! Deepstack poker with the pressure on is about playing without any pressure on you and making sure you put the pressure on the other players by raising and reraising. You must also be fully aware aware that you want to control the table. There are things that you can do such as 3bet, under the gun steal, button steal and reraise a raiser in an attempt to defend your big blind. Listing these moves you need to understand that performing tricky moves like this leaves you vulnerable postflop. Players have a tendency to tighten up and make a lot of mistakes when the tournament is deep and they have invested a time commitment. Throw in the fact that this might be their first deep run in a tournament . Keep the pressure on! If you use your best judgment and be a selective aggressive poker player, you will succeed. 

Three bet- Utilizing the three bet is a necessity and a huge part in advancing your tournament game. So what exactly is a three bet? When someone raises the pot and you reraise their raise, you are three betting your opponent.  Now three betting can spark a tournament players creativity because you generally don’t always need a hand to three bet. Using the three bet as a steal move is a way to get chips in a tournament hopefully without going to a flop. Three betting gives you a lot better of a chance to take down the hand whether its preflop or postflop. Since you took the initiative to put the pressure on your opponent, if they call you but miss the flop, you can continuation bet and have a good chance to take down the pot right there without showdown. Now Three betting light is when you are reraising your opponent with any two cards and use the three bet as a steal. Now when I say light I mean any two cards. You have to make sure there are no short stacks at the table that are capable shoving on you because they are getting desperate. This move is based on the thought process that most people raise when its folded to them and they will raise fairly light in an attempt to get in the action. Keep in mind it takes a pretty strong hand to raise and call a reraise as long as your three bet is sized properly. There are a few solid positions at the table that the three bet can be used to your full advantage.

Three betting to defend your big blind- – How many times in tournaments have you gone completely card dead and someone consistently raises your big blind and you fold because you’re not calling with 45 offsuit. Instead of just folding in those situations you can pick a good time to three bet your opponents open raise. The ideal situation would be when its folded to someone in late position and they raise your blind . The button and small blind fold, leaving you heads up with your opponent preflop and a rag hand. Now faced with a raise most people might just throw their garbage hands away which most of the time is correct. But if you are mixing up your play and taking chances you want to be picking up these pots to increase your chipstack. Again remember, this move is a steal move so your cards are irrelevant. You are not playing the strength of your hand you are playing the situation. Another benefit of three betting your opponents out of the big blind is of you do it enough players might stop raising your blinds light since you are defending them and this might lead to more walks. You are just playing the fact that you are taking the lead in the hand and being aggressive preflop, allowing you to take down pots without going to a flop. The best situation to resteal is when you are pretty deep and your opponent has a medium sized stack and is raising into you. You don’t want to resteal someone who is desperate and will most likely come over the top of your reraise. Try to pay attention to who is raising a lot and if the person raised and folded to someone else’s reraise. You can pick up valuable pots and turn a hand that most people will fold into a hand where u can ship chips into your stack.

Defending button There are a few things to pay attention to when trying to defend your big blind. Before you decide to reraise your opponent make sure he has enough chips left behind if he makes the fold. The same thought process goes for reraising your big blind. The value of three betting your button with any two cards as a steal move is the fact that you have position postflop and if you get called u can possibly continuation bet or check-raise the flop and take down a pot with a nothing hand. The problem with three betting on the button is that it’s sometimes and obvious steal move. Good player might pick up on it but you generally don’t have to worry about it if you have are good with your postflop play. The beauty about three betting your button is the simple fact that if you have position on your opponent for the remainder of the hand. Think about the hand your opponent must hold for him to continue the hand. Sit in your opponents chair for a second and look at the situation you are putting him in. Its folded to him and he puts in a raise with any standard opening hand let’s say for instance he’s raising with KJ. Now he’s probably thinking I can take down the blinds with this hand. But now someone reraises him making him think about the strength of his hand. When faced with a reraise most opponents will downgrade the strength of their hand. Now a good player will fold the KJ just because they don’t want to play put of position but the donkey calls you to “see a flop” which is an excuse used by donkeys from the beginning of time. Flop drops 2 5 Q rainbow. He checks and you continuation bet. Little does he know you hold the 78 off suite and he’s actually ahead! If your opponent hits the board, most of the time they will check to you so if he check calls or check raises you, obviously dump your hand. But this is a little trick that can be used in your tournaments. So go try it out and see how many nothing hands you can turn into opportunities to ship chips to your stack.

     Well in case you all are wondering where the hell all the cool blog posts are, I am coming through with a nice update!  Any of our subscribers following the blog might be pretty dissapointed in the fact that there hasn’t been much action on the blog.  But, that my freinds, is all going to change.  What have we been up to you ask? Before we launch this product and make it available to the public for the first time EVER, I am presonally testing the PokerBetter and playing a wide range of tournaments online. Not only do I have a couple of screen shots from tournaments I’ve taken down since my last blog post, but I have the videos of me playing live and the PokerBetter in action! While playing on Cake ,Ultimate bet, Pokerstars, and Full Tilt, I have grinded my bankroll up signifigantly in the last month or so. Here’s a couple shots of the wins…and better yet…soon to be live vidoes of my hand by hand MTT  (Multi Table Tournament) wins adding up to over 10k!! Tournament cashes and wins include a 1st place win on Cake Poker’s $30 rebuy for a cash of over $4800!!  A 1st place finish on Ultimate Bet sniper 5k gaurntee for a cash of $1770. Also a $1100 win on Full Tilt Poker in the daily 38K guaruntee, a $1600 1st place finish in a Ultimate Bet $8k deep stack. the And the best part is you get to see how I did it using the PokerBetter side by side every tournament!

Cheers-

PokerBetter

Hey Guys,

So about a few hours ago I had sent out everyone who had opted in to be on my email list. I was playing on Pokerstars and wanted to give you the opportunity to see my software in action. The reason for this is so you all can see me live in action with no editing how PokerBetter helps you get deep into low buyin tournaments. Anyways, below i listed the screenshots I took. You can read a more detailed description of what happened at the end if you want.
If you are not signed up to Pokerstars and wasn’t able to watch me play, you can Sign Up Here to watch me on future possible tournaments I will play.

Here Is When I Was In 9th Place on Pokerstars

Look At This Bad Beat! The Guy Was All In And Hits His Club On The River!!! That Would Have Put Me In 1st Place.

This Is The Tournament Lobby So You Can See More Details

Closing Details…

Today I took 17th on the 15k on Pokerstars using the Pokerbetter software to guide me along

the way. There were a few crucial hands that helped me go deep in the tournament. I posted

one of them so you can see how the software gave me a perfect sized bet to but pressure on

my opponent and make him fold. Even though I didn’t win the tourney I made a decent score

for coming in 17th. Overall I think I played very well. There was a time in the tourney

where I raised 4 hands in a row and took down the blinds each time. I had a lot of tricky

spots but I felt confident in my play and my bet sizes.

Heres a hand where I used PokerBetter to reraise a raiser and win a huge pot.

PokerStars Game #29963185007: Tournament #175253065, $10+$1 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXIX

(5000/10000) - 2009/06/30 20:26:12 ET
Table ‘175253065 62′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Walleye4ever (110780 in chips)
Seat 2: IamSky (166962 in chips)
Seat 4: GMCarlsem (100605 in chips)
Seat 5: gruz80 (379877 in chips)
Seat 6: P0kerbetter (250280 in chips)
Seat 7: charlie770 (120572 in chips)
Seat 8: SamuraiPlaya (315587 in chips)
Seat 9: Jarconian (132210 in chips)
Walleye4ever: posts the ante 1250
IamSky: posts the ante 1250
GMCarlsem: posts the ante 1250
gruz80: posts the ante 1250
P0kerbetter: posts the ante 1250
charlie770: posts the ante 1250
SamuraiPlaya: posts the ante 1250
Jarconian: posts the ante 1250
P0kerbetter: posts small blind 5000
charlie770: posts big blind 10000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to P0kerbetter [Jd Ad]
SamuraiPlaya: folds
Jarconian: folds
Walleye4ever: folds
IamSky: folds
GMCarlsem: folds
gruz80: raises 16999 to 26999
P0kerbetter: raises 48598 to 75597
charlie770: folds
gruz80: folds
Uncalled bet (48598) returned to P0kerbetter
P0kerbetter collected 73998 from pot
P0kerbetter: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 73998 | Rake 0
Seat 1: Walleye4ever folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 2: IamSky folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: GMCarlsem folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: gruz80 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: P0kerbetter (small blind) collected (73998)
Seat 7: charlie770 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: SamuraiPlaya folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: Jarconian folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

The later stages of the tourney consisted of a lot of blind stealing and I got lucky one

hand. Using the PokerBetter software I knew exactly how much to bet and came 16 people away

from winning the entire tournament!!

What is a block bet?

A block bet is used in No Limit Texas Hold em tournaments to control the size of the pot or see a cheap river card. Its called block bet because it actually blocks your opponent from betting because you are the ne betting Instead of betting too many chips or checking and calling your opponents bet, you make a small sized bet to tke the action away from your opponent. This betting strategy might deter your opponent from making a big bet to try to steal the pot. If you have a drawing hand, it might be a good idea to make a small block bet instead of checking and calling your opponents bet. Block betting can trick your opponent on the actual strength of your hand. This way instead of them making  big bet, they may just call your small bet if they have a medium strength hand.. The block bet can save you tons of chips during online tournament play when you are the one betting instead of the one calling a huge bet and losing. This strategy also can define where you stand in the hand. If you make a small block bet on the turn with  a hand your not sure about and get raised, you will be able to get away from the hand cheaper than just check calling. Keep in mind when using a block bet you can always takre down the hand if your opponent folds. Keep in mind, just becuse you are unsure of your hand doesn’t necessarily mean you are to block bet everytime.  Use the block bet to prevent your opponent from betting at you and to control the action.

As most No Limit Texas Hold Em tournament players know there are four windows of opportunity to get your chips into the pot.  The preflop, postflop, turn, and river.  In this article I will be discussing postflop strategy and the various tactics you can use to give you more information on what to do when the flop comes out.  The three cards dealt across the board are known as “the flop”.  It is extremely important to have post flop skills if you expect to take down an online poker tournament! If I didn’t emphasis this enough go back and read that sentance again!  You can’t  rely on the flop every time to improve your hand.  The flop can come out and signifigantly change the strength of your hand.  Being able to read the flop and decide whether to bet or fold to a bet is a valuable skill.  You have to take into account your position throughout the course of your hand as well.  If you started  in the small or big blind you will have to act first for the remainder of the hand.  Pay attention to the amount of players in the hand as well.  If there is more than two players in the hand and a scary flop comes out relative to what you’re holding, you might consider folding and saving your chips.  Sometimes a good fold is better than continuing with the hand and losing more chips. If you decide to lead out and bet, always bet for a reason.  If you hit the hand you were looking for, bet for value.  If you miss you can bet on a bluff.  Either way, its generally better to come out firing  a strong bet as opposed to just checking.  This way you can gain information on your hand.  Sometimes if you pick up a huge hand in the tournament such as a flopped set or straight, you can actually check and act like you have nothing.  This might spark the other player to fire out a bet  in an attempt to steal the pot from you.  If you hit your hand super strong and your opponent has absolutley nothing, a bet might scare him way.  You really have to have a good read on the hand.  This is where paying attention will reap its benefits.  Check raising is a strategy in which you check the flop and then when someone bets, you raise their bet.  This can be used as a stone cold bluff when you miss the flop and you think your opponent is just betting to steal it.  You can also use this tactic to build the pot if you hit a relatively strong hand like a set.  Building the pot on the flop is important so you can get maximum value out of your hands and possibly avoid a bad beat by going all in preflop.

The Money Bubble in No Limit Texas Hold Em Tournaments
This is the part of the poker tournament where you either end up “in the money” or you walk away with nothing at all. If you lose all your chips and the “money bubble” has not yet been broken, you get no money and walk away empty handed. Every poker player knows that at the end of a poker tournament there is a profit to be made. Otherwise what is the fun in playing?! Most of the times a lot of novice players will play ultra tight and fold all of their hands just to ensure a cash.  This is a weakness that can be exploited for huge value. Most of the time a poker player might get scared or nervous on the money bubble for fear that they will lose their stack and be left with nothing. If there is a time in the tournament where being aggressive might pay off this is that time! People may be afraid of losing chips so why not try and exploit them by raising or re-raising their bets. You don’t necessarily have to pick up a premium hand to do so. By simply betting and putting pressure on other players who might be scared to go bust, you can build yourself a huge chip stack. Making it into the money should not matter.  Play the tournament to win or don’t bother playing at all. You are playing to win and not to just cash right?

Making it into the money gives back your buy in to the tournament plus a little extra which does not pay for your hours of play. Building your stack now will significantly increase your chance of going deeper into the tournament. If you raise with a garbage hand and get called, don’t be afraid to continuation bet a.k.a. “C bet” the flop. Some players may call your raise preflop but be too afraid of losing more chips once they don’t hit postflop

Pretty much the goal is to put fear in the hearts of your opponents by betting and raising with a looser range of hands. Stay aggressive and take advantage of the tight players in the tournament.  Unless of course all you want to do is cash and get your money back….

Re-Buying in Your Online NL Texas Holdem Poker Tournaments

When playing a online poker tournament that allows you to re-buy and add on, it is important to have a proper bankroll to fund your re-buys. If you can re-buy right away, it is always wise to do so. The reasoning behind this is you always want as many chips at the table as possible. If you have the option to re-buy to get more chips then do it! I see players shove all in with any two cards and just re-buy if they lose. They will do this over and over again just to try and win a huge pot. Eventually, you will end up spending more money than you are cashing if you keep re-buying in your poker tournaments.  Although you may have cashed you still might be down in the grand scheme of things. This is why the strategy of constant re-buying into tournaments is not recomended. Be prepared to spend between 5-6 buy ins on any re-buy tournament you play.

How should the re-buy period be played?

You can use the same strategy as if you were playing a freeze out and apply this strategy towards your re-buy tournaments. This strategy is not too complicated and goes as follows:

1. Buy into the tournament
2. Re-buy
3. Play like you would any other tournament

Players tend to gamble much more in re-buy tournaments. So if you pick up a hand don’t be afraid to call! After all this is poker! Don’t be the player at the table who has 12 buy ins on the table and ends up with a small stack at the break anyways.

Add Ons!

Your goal is to win money right? The more chips you have the better chance you have at taking down a tournament right? So why pass the opportunity to get more chips?! Most re-buy tournaments allow you to add on in the poker tournament after the first break. I would recommend always adding on no matter what your chipstack is. Figure this. It might only be 2,000-3,000 chips, but if you double up with those chips you will notice bigger stacks compared to not adding on. You want to play your big hands strong because most players will be playing extremely loose. If you can’t seem to build a stack and the first hour break is coming up you can consider quitting if you go bust. You might want to save your money for another tournament.

Bluffing During a Re-buy Poker Tournament

If you are going to consider bluffing during within the first hour of a re-buy tournament, you might want to look at what you are trying to accomplish. If you bluff successfully you will only be winning the small amount of chips in the pot. take into account the size of the pot when deciding whether or not to bet.  Since the blinds are so low there is really no point to steal pots with a junk hand is there? Play solid poker and you will have a decent sized chip stack after the first break even before the add on.

Re-buys Are Over!

Wait a few hands to let the other poker players who are still in “re-buy” mode settle down and play normal poker again after the first hour or so when re-buys are no longer allowed. You will see some players still betting all in and making crazy plays. Its best to not get involved unless of course you have a hand.

When you are playing online No Limit Texas Holdem poker tournaments, you can lose your entire stack in one hand.  Raising will allow you to control the action and make it so less players will see the flop. You want to build pots and win chips, but you don’t want to have to go through the whole table who wanted to see a cheap flop. If you raise preflop, you give yourself two chances to win the pot. Everyone might fold and you will take it down right there. If you happen to get called, you have a better chance of winning the pot after the flop since you were the preflop aggressor. Sometimes you can even justify a raise with any two cards just to steal the blinds. This will allow you to add to your chipstack and make it less likely for your opponents to get a read on your hand.  In the later stages of an online poker tournament the blinds and anties are worth stealing. If you allow your opponents to see cheap flops, they might hit a flop and continue with the hand when all you had to do was raise and they would have folded. Raising also gives you imformation about your opponents hands. If you limp all the time you will have no idea where you are in the hand. Your opponent could have anything and decide to call because they are getting “good odds”.

Check out our forum at www.pokerbetter.com/forum and post any other questions you may have there. Later.

If you play online poker, you know that the tables are filled with people who have no idea what they are doing. The players who are new to poker might end up taking all your chips by bad beating you with some outlandish play or call. The key is to not be the player at the table who makes consistent mistakes and never learns from them. With new players flocking to the poker table every day, you can’t expect everyone to play “good” stratigic poker. If you pay attention to your table, you might notice the players losing chips fast and making bad decisions. This leads into the first mistake:

• Not paying attention to your table
  Sometimes, if you’re playing poker online it is very easy to lose your concentration. Distractions are everywhere! If you are not in a hand you should be paying attention to the other players. Look for their hands at showdown and see what they are playing and raising with. Take notes on players. My favorite catergoization is just labeling these players as “donkeys” in my side notes.

• Playing Out Of Your Bankroll
  What most players who play online poker don’t understand is that you are going to lose more tournaments than you will win. Some pro poker players might go a few weeks without a big win. Eventually if you play well and get your money in ahead enough you can make a profit playing poker online. The key is to play only with money you can afford to lose. You don’t want to smack down the rent money on a table and take a bad beat and lose your shirt.

• Not bluffing enough
  Some players will only bet and raise in their poker tournaments when they have made a hand. Keep in mind, since the other players have no idea what you have, betting and raising on a bluff will allow you to build your chipstack without actually having a hand.

• Don’t fall in love with your hand
  Just because you have the best hand preflop, does not guarantee you will have the best hand postflop. If you think you are beat, just fold. Live to play another hand.

OK.  This concludes part one of my attempt to teach all you poker junkies a few pointers.  Keep posted and I will put up a part 2 and you may just be on you way to winning a poker tournament.