Really dumb question.....what is a 3-bet? What is a 4-bet?

A 3-bet is a re-raise, and a 4-bet is a re-re-raise.

Keep in mind that pf, the bb is the initial bet, so the action after the bb posts, could be raise, 3-bet, 4-bet, etc., and possibly even have a caller(s) somewhere in between.

Find a site with a nice promo (you can even find ones that will give you money to play), some rakeback plan and go for it.

http://www.rakeaway.com/

There's a CoTW post about that.

If No-Limit Hold'em is the "Cadillac" of poker, then what's the "Yugo" of poker?

5 card stud

Most would say Razz. But I always quote Ted Forrest who said that Razz is "the purest form of poker because the good players will win the money and the bad players lose the money."

But it is pretty darned simple on it's face.

What do you do with old bills? (ex: electricity, internet, phone, etc.)

Do you keep them? if so, how long? if you throw them away, is it necessary to shred?

what stuff do you/should you shred?

Seriously??

Here, let me google that for you

Does anybody know where to find standard deviation in PT3? Or how to calculate it?

Something like...

Texas Holdem Tab --> Reports Tab --> Select "holdem cash sessions" --> Go to the stats and add what you want, including standard deviation ---> save --> run report

Hi, I have a question about a hand I played that stumped me. I'm new to this forum. My first post

Here it is:

PokerStars Game #29751812759: Tournament #174441022, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/06/24 22:46:08 ET
Table '174441022 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: Takezo974 (2808 in chips)
Seat 5: spud13x13 (8337 in chips)
Seat 7: blueskys004 (2355 in chips)
blueskys004: posts small blind 100
Takezo974: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to blueskys004 [Jh Kh]
spud13x13: folds
blueskys004: raises 400 to 600
Takezo974: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [3d 9d 8d]
blueskys004: bets 500
Takezo974: raises 1300 to 1800
blueskys004: calls 1255 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (45) returned to Takezo974
*** TURN *** [3d 9d 8d] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [3d 9d 8d 5s] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
blueskys004: shows [Jh Kh] (a pair of Fives)
Takezo974: shows [4d Kd] (a flush, King high)
Takezo974 collected 4710 from pot
spud13x13 said, "gg blue"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4710 | Rake 0
Board [3d 9d 8d 5s 5h]
Seat 4: Takezo974 (big blind) showed [4d Kd] and won (4710) with a flush, King high
Seat 5: spud13x13 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: blueskys004 (small blind) showed [Jh Kh] and lost with a pair of Fives

Do you guys have any suggestions on how I could have played this hand more effectively?

My thoughts:

I'm thinking I could have gone all in before the flop, but I dont think the blinds were big enough to do this. I mean the blind I would be stealing would just be 10 percent of my stack.

So I dont think I should have moved in with this hand because of that.

In addition, I'm thinking that I shouldnt have made the c-bet and that maybe I should have decided before hand whether I would have made the c-bet and if i was going to, then i should have just gone all in before the flop because I would be pot commited by the time i made the c bet.

And i never really considered my opponents calling range. I actually didnt expect him to call my raise with K4s. And I still don't know whether he would have called my all in pre flop either.

My own conclusion from analysing this play is that I should have decided before hand whether I was going to c-bet on the flop before hand. Then, if i was planning to, then i should go all in preflop. In addition, If I wasnt planning to, then I would just bet if I had a strong flop.

And if i just wanted to steal the blinds, i would probably wait a few minutes until they were about 400.

And also, about opponent calling ranges, any ideas or tips on how to estimate them?

Any suggestions welcome. I'm still a newbie and i'm sure any input will help.

Thanks!

I guess I'm stupid, because I posted this question in the Omaha High forum and got 30 views but no responses.

If I'm playing microstakes and I have rakeback, is the money I've won from rakeback considered part of my "win rate"? I've played 15,000 hands of PLO10 and am only up like $2, but I've made $100 in rakeback, so that would be just under 7 BB/100 win rate if rakeback is included but break-even if it's not.

Thanks.

You should look at your winrate with and without rakeback separately. The reason for this is that if you're break even at 10PLO, you should expect to be -EV playing 25PLO. You want your pure win rate (not including rakeback) to be positive before moving up, even when you get the the point that you've made enough from rakeback that you could "take a shot".

It's still worth looking at your winrate with rakeback though, just so that you have a general idea of how much money you are actually making when you play. When you see someone say "my winrate is x ptbb/100" they generally do not include rakeback in that number (and if they do so without clearly saying that they have included rakeback, they're basically lying about their winrate, fwiw).

No. However, you would consider rakeback as part of your hourly rate. Your win rate is a measure of how well you're doing at your level, your hourly is a measure of how much cash money you're actually taking home. (two players with the same win rate can have very different hourlies depending on what kind of bonus and rakeback deals they're playing under).

I'm very new to Poker and don't quite understand the rules to 'Check' when can you check and how often? It looks to be quite random.

What game do you play? If it's hold'em, and since you're very new to the game, you should look into a book titled Getting Started in Hold'em.

To answer your question, a check is when there have been no bets ahead of you, action is on you and you choose not to bet. If there has been a bet ahead of you, you may fold, call, or raise. This is all very general though and there are exceptions depending on the game played.

ok, one stupid question: as a cash player i'm receiving my full tilt rakeback of what? i have "rake" column and "MGR" column right of "rake" in my pt3.

MGR

thanks

Slightly dumb question instigated by a bad run - is it worth my time and effort studying and playing Sng's? A lot of posts seem to suggest that these are pretty much "solved" games, with little money to be made. All opinions on this would be welcomed.

Also, I play on a macbook, which means I have limited site choice and also no access to PokerTracker. I was considering purchasing a cheapish (I'm a student) netbook to use for Poker. Is PokerTracker and similar software really essential? It feels like cheating to me, but I accept it is so widely used that it is required to gain an edge.

Thanks in advance.

They're hardly "solved" in any mathematical sense. It's just a different way to play poker, with different skills and different rewards. Many people can get a higher winrate for a given bankroll in cash games, particularly at higher levels, if they're highly skilled. This is because the tournament structure forces a little more variance into your playing style -- rather than wait for a good spot, you'll be forced to make more moves.

But lots of people do well specializing in them, and they're also good for bankroll building, particularly if you're still learning. The ROI available at low stakes is substantial. Basically, cash vs SNG comes down to personal preference.

A HUD (on-screen statistics while playing), is not cheating, and it's not essential. Many people advocate playing without a HUD, and many people find a HUD helpful.

Where PT or HEM are essential is evaluating your own play between sessions. This software tracks your results and your own statistics, and is invaluable in spotting trends in your own game.

You can think of a check as the same as a bet, except you are betting zero dollars.

So when would you be allowed to bet zero dollars? If nobody has yet bet more than zero dollars on the current round of betting.

Preflop is a unique animal because of the "blinds." The blinds are live, compulsory bets made by the two players to the left of the dealer. So during the preflop betting round it is not possible to ever check, because there was a bet already made before the cards were even dealt.

It is in fact these blinds which are what we are figting for in the first place. If there were no blinds, there would be no reason to play. But, I digress...

Dumb Question:

When I want to offer to put up $3 to win $1 in proper gambling terms, what do I say to the other person? ("I'll lay you 3-to-1", "I'll bet you 3-to-1", something else?)

What if I want to offer to put up $1 to win $3? Then what do I say?

Thanks

I am sorry this is prob very stupid question, this forum is huge so not sure if i am missing it, i was curious if it has a tradign section like for moving money site to site