06 January 2010
Do the math!
Dear Dr Tom,
I always sucked at maths at school, but I’ve think I’ve got good “card sense” and have pretty much taught myself all the maths necessary for solid tournament play. The problem I have is, if I make it to the top three or four in a tournament and someone suggests a chop, I’m not smart enough to figure out if I’m getting a good deal or not. Is there a simple formula I can learn so I don’t get ripped off?
27 November 2009
String-bet Nazis must die!!
What a wonderful word “jobsy” is. It’s a peculiarly British word. Not because being jobsy is a peculiarly British thing to be, but because only the British would actually come up with a word to slag someone off who was being so.
21 November 2009
Going Pro
Dr Tom,
I have just become a full-time online poker pro and am looking for tips on how to best keep 1) healthy 2) happy 3) my friends.
Stephen, Edinburgh
11 November 2009
Dealing with LAG-tards
Dr Tom,
I am playing cash. There is a maniac on my table who raises 5BB every time he’s on the button, when there has been no action behind him. He often continues to play aggressively post flop regardless of whether he hits. Being out of position to this guy is a little tricky as you can imagine.
10 November 2009
Never Mind the Bollocks
Very often, the most potent threat to a poker player’s poker playing life comes from sources completely unrelated to the game of poker itself.
02 November 2009
No bluff, no win?
Dear Tom,
Is it possible to win at poker without bluffing?
Jepser, Uppsala
28 October 2009
Stone cold bluff
By Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro
Is poker a young man’s game?
There’s an experience in poker which I want to put a name to. Let’s call it the Grinder’s Lament. It runs something like this: when you win, it feels like just another day at the office; you make money playing poker, that’s what you do for a living; Plan A worked – it’s nothing special. But when you lose it feels like the world’s caved in.
26 October 2009
Creative Thinking
If you are a winning player, you play more hands and you will make more money. Simple, right? Having just come back from a hectic schedule of tournaments in Vegas with the promise of fame and fortune (I came 549th in the Main Event, am I famous now?), I felt that I needed to get back to the grind and put more time in online.
19 October 2009
Cracking aces
Dear Tom,
Say you had a hypothetical tell on an opponent which 100% guaranteed that his hole cards are aces. Should you always call him hoping to bust him? Does it all depend on stack sizes? Could you call with any two cards with a deep enough stack, or just pocket pairs and suited connectors? Or is it simply bad poker to call with what you know to be a worse hand?
Folco, North London