After a poetry reading from our resident Poker Laureate Mike "Fatso, Bard, Pesto" Fasso and an amusing anecdote from Scott about buckeyes and nutmeg, we actually got down to some good old fashioned poker talk.
FIREPAY AND THE LIKE: One of our listeners, PLO champ pokerslut, called in to ask us what we thought about the FirePay incident and the future of Neteller. We agreed that we weren't sure what the future of these institutions will be, but we think there are so many loopholes that there inevitibly will be ways around it. I suggested maybe Full Tilt should buy or start an "electronic wallet" of its own, sort of the way eBay bought PayPal. After all, if they are thumbing their noses at the government by being defiant with their site, why not open a wallet too? I also said if you could trust someone in a country where this isn't "illegal," you could send him/her money (via Neteller or FirePay or check). They could transfer it to their FTP account, and then transfer it to you inside Full Tilt walls, if you will. You could do the same thing in reverse when cashing out or just ask for a check from FTP. But you have to REALLY trust that person, so we aren't recommending this, just offering it up as an option. Erwin? Beware, you may get a few thousand people asking you to transfer funds. LOL!
HOUSKEEPING: Scott and Fasso are going to Niagara Falls (aw, isn't that sweet?) next week to play in the casinos there and across the border, so the show will be Thursday instead of Wednesday. Also, don't forget the new Ante Up! photo gallery. If you want to see your picture there just send it in. I've added a few more pics in the past few days.
PPL: Captains and teams were announced for the league that features team play at the Venetian. I mentioned the capatains and some of the big names tied to this. Plus coverage includes an impressive 500+ hours, but we're not sure of the network just yet. Look for a media push in late November-early December.
A.I.P.S.: We looked back at the two tournaments we played (Razz and SHNLHE) and then looked ahead. Since next week's show is going to be Thursday, Scott decided to combine his tips for Stud/8 and O8B into one SPLIT GAMES tip jar. Here they are:
SCOOP THE POT: You want to win the high and low pots. If you have a hand that only goes one way, you need to be pretty sure it will win to make it worth continuing.
STARTING HANDS: In O8B: any A2, or A3 with a suited ace, or four cards 10 or higher or four cards 5 or lower. In Stud: 3 suited babies, or 3 somewhat connected babies, or 3 of a kind. Split pairs can be played, too, in the right situations, but be careful.
QUALIFIER GAME: Low hands must be 5 cards 8 or lower. If no one has a low hand, then the high hand takes the whole pot.
UNDERSTAND HOW TO READ A LOW: Low hands are valued from the highest card to the lowest. So an 8-4-3-2-A is a worse hand than 7-6-5-4-3. The best way to remember it is to make your hand a number. 84,431 is higher than 76,543. Because there are community cards in Omaha, you have the lock low if you have an A2 in your hand and three unpaired, uncounterfeited cards are on the board. But just because you have A2 and three other low cards in Stud, you may not have the lock low.
READ THE BOARD: In Stud, you can easily figure out whether an opponent is going low (though beware that someone going low can backdoor a straight or a flush for high). In O8B, it’s a little harder to figure out. However, if you read the board correctly, you can figure out when your high is in danger from a low player –- people play a lot of low cards in O8B, so when low cards hit, a lot of players will hit something, whether it be a low or two pair or a straight. Also, when you know you’re the only one going in one direction in a multiway pot, raise and reraise. When you’re in the opposite situation, try to keep the pot as small as possible, especially in O8B, where you likely are being quartered.
OMM: Columbo's One Minute Mystery deals with the issues of playing rags when the price is right and then hitting those rags with a coordinated board. What to do, what to do?
MAIN TOPIC: Home Game Problems: Since we brought up how to start a home game a couple of weeks ago, we thought it was a good idea to help deal with problems that may arise. Plus with the uncertainty of Internet poker's future, you might find yourself playing more with friends, etc. Here are some highlights:
Before you play: Sit down and agree to basic rules or have rules posted for all to see and agree to use those for settling disputes. A good place to go for this information is Robert's Rules of Poker.
Three tournament players left: PLAYER #1 is on the button, PLAYER #2 is the SB, PLAYER #3 is BB. The button player gets knocked out. Now what happens to the button? Answer: It goes backwards to Player 3 because he can’t pay the BB twice in a row. Money takes precedence over position.
Don’t splash the pot: Be sure to put the bet in front of you. People watch too many movies and see Teddy KGB splash the pot any time he wants. Well, no, it doesn’t work that way. It slows the game down because when we can’t see how much you bet we have to ask, plus it raises questions of honesty, etc.
Extra chip in the pot: Sometimes, especially in split games, you will have an odd chip in the pot because the small blind folded or someone went all-in with an odd amount of chips and the pot needs to be split. What do you do with the extra chip? Three ways to deal with this. (1) The right way is to give it to the player who had the worst position in the hand. So if the UTG and BUTTON players are splitting the pot, the UTG gets it. (2) Leave it in the pot for the next hand, which a lot of people do but really isn’t recommended since that rewards others and penalizes the players who won. (3) Cut the deck for it. But this takes time and slows the game down.
One player to a hand: Don’t let anyone show their cards to anyone else at any time unless the hand is over. Show one show all.
Don’t talk about your hand while in progress: Sometimes, when people have folded say, 7-2, and the flop coms 772, they pound the table, or let out a disgusted sigh. This is unfair to the other players. And don’t say “I folded a boat!” This lets other know that those cards are out and makes their hand more or less powerful, etc. It’s poor etiquette.
There are more tips/issues but you have to listen to the show. 8-)
HAND OF THE WEEK: This was THE highlight of my career, other than maybe winning that first tournament I ever played at Derby Lane. The lesson learned here is, sometimes when the only way you can win is to bet, you have to bet, regardless if it’s limit or not. You need to fire the final bullet to pull off that bluff. The hand came against Kenna James in the Razz tournament and I started with (KQ) 2. After five cards I had a 246 showing to his A37. I chose to check raise here to plant the seed that I could beat a 7-low. Ultimately I went brick-brick-brick, but bet it the whole way. The final bet was just enough, and although my hand may have been good, I was fairly certain I needed to bet to win. He mucked so hand history wouldn't reveal his hole cards. I could call him and ask, but I think it's better this way. I went on to finish second in this event, and it was clearly the turning point for me. So remember, you may need to bet it the whole way, but be sure your opponent believes the story you're telling along the way.
-- Chris
