Eat Professional Poker Players Alive!

The definition of a donkey
by Frank Wiese

I would like to start off by introducing myself; my name is Frank Wiese author of the brand new book "Eat professional Poker Players Alive!" Being from the Chicago area in the United States, I do come across many instances that I find many bad poker players. The definition of a donkey according to my book is:

Donkey- Someone who is a poor poker player.

This is something that in playing poker, no matter where you play, you a certain to come in contact with these horrible players. I have decided to write this educational column for all of you to get some expert advice on how to deal with these types of players.

From what I have noticed in the world of poker, Donkey's fall into the category of a Loose-Passive type of player. I would like to share a little from my book on how to spot these types of players when you first sit down at the poker table:

Loose-Passive (New Player)

In the NL Texas Hold'em scene, this seems to be another ineffective category. These players only make money in a game with a large number of wild players, and generally depend on luck to be successful. Typically, they will simply call the bets of the other players, disregarding the pot odds or strength of their hand. These players will lose very slowly. Often they are able to stay in against the other players, but unable to beat the house rake. I was this type of player as a beginner. I thought that any two cards could win, so why not play them? This type of play is profitable against Loose-Aggressive players who will typically try to bluff at a terrible flop without knowing that it is likely the Loose-Passive player got lucky with two bad cards in the hole. There really is no strategy this type of player can use to win in the long run, since they are never in control of the betting or players. Loose passive players are also known as "calling stations." They call any bet you place. It's best to avoid bluffing these players because they'll seldom fold once they've seen the flop.

Loose passive players can be a lot of fun, as long as you're getting decent cards. They call everything all the way to the river, regardless of what they are holding. The best way to play the loose passive players is simply let them do their thing. You can play more hands against them because they will play weak hands. Bet at a higher than normal levels only when it's you verse them since you understand their play style.

"WARNING: Whatever you do, DO NOT try to stone-cold bluff the loose passive players. They are liable to call anything even with poor hand."

I would like to discuss the following situation my good friend Alfred found himself in. He was at a $5/$10 No Limit Texas Hold'em table. His hole cards were:

    . He then raises (UTG) under the gun to $50 (five times the big blind). Every one around to the button folds to this big raise. For whatever reason, the donkey on the button calls and the small blind and big blind now fold. So now it is head's up and there is $115 in the pot pre-flop. The flop comes:

. This is an excellent flop for Alfred, he just flopped the nut-flush. There are several ways to play this scenario, wanting to make the most profit from this hand; Alfred decided to slow play this hand. So he went ahead and checked and the donkey bet $50. Alfred went ahead and re-raised $250.00, any experienced player would have folded here, but the donkey was in "calling station" mode and made the call.

The Turn comes: . Alfred is first to act again announces all-in, which happens to be about $600 or so. Unbelievably the donkey, which should have folded by now, makes the call. The pot is huge a little over $1,815.

The River comes: and the donkey revealed his hand . This has to make you wonder why a player would put up this kind of money for such a terrible hand. It is very frustrating to when you are in this situation against these entire players who think they are Gus Hansen. It is days like this that make you want to stop playing poker. When you talk about bad beats, this certain hand has to be near the top of the list. Alfred played the hand to perfection; the donkey had no business making those very bad calls and yet got rewarded for his bad play. Just imagine how stupid he would of felt had there been a different card on the river. I will be addressing strategies in the next couple of issues on how to deal with these types of bad players. Just try to remember that these players luck is short-term and sooner or later they will be broke and you can have the last laugh...

 

 

Playing like a donkey = Going home with no money

by Frank Wiese

In last month's lesson, I presented some expert advice on dealing with players who make unbelievable calls. Amazingly enough, these terrible situations happen all the time in poker. It is very frustrating when you are moving in with the best hand all the way to the turn and watch it get "rivered" away. This week I wanted to do some experimenting on how and why these bad players do this. So I took a break from my "medium ball" strategy and wanted to think and make plays exactly like a donkey. I did this just for kicks and was curious about the results.

At the Carlisle, by the way is one of the stops I play at here in Chicago, I decided to play a $115 Sit-n-Go ten player tournament. There was a loose crowd there that night, so I thought what the hell, let play donkey poker and see what happens.

About three hands into the tournament, it was my big blind and my hole cards were:

"the hammer" In donkey terms, I would put this hand as a premium hand. So it was very odd for me to get excited about this hand. With the blinds being small, everyone folded to the small blind. He was acting very anxious to bet, I looked at him when it was his turn and he smiled at me. A few seconds later, he announced "all-in." I am thinking that I should defend my big blind, granted that this is what a DONKEY would do and called.

He very proudly flipped over his . Everyone at the table was laughing at me and it was a lot of fun to do this and have no fear. Playing the part of a donkey was difficult for me, but after seeing the flop, made this kind of stupid play very rewarding.

The flop came: . WOW this guy was very upset and for every reason he should be.

Every player at the table couldn't believe it. The turn came: and the river was a . That was a quick double-up. After pulling that off, I limped in almost every hand regardless of whatever cards I had. Won some pots and lost some pots. When it got down to six players, I was (UTG) under the gun and to my surprise I actually had a good hand

even for a donkey, it was a suited connector: . I thought to myself, what would a donkey do? So I announced all-in and would you believe that I get three callers. Being the chip leader, I had everyone covered. I went

ahead and flipped over my hand, the next player had ,

the next player had , and the last player showed his .

I thought to myself, this is it; this is why you don't make stupid raises with non-premium hands.

The flop came: . The turn came: and the river was a . So there you go, once again making a play with the worst possible hand ended up knocking out three players. Hostility was in the air now, and now there are only three players left and I had a huge chip lead. Feeling like I could not lose, I kept on playing every hand, because that is what a donkey would do. After 20 minutes went by, all of my chips were gone and I busted out in third place. Which happened to be the bubble in this tournament, so what I have learned by this experiment is that a donkey style of play is very stupid. If I had just went and played my normal strategy, which I usually bring to the table, the results would have been profitable.

Donkeys can be very dangerous, but their luck is very short-term. The best thing you can do is stay out of there way and let them bust themselves out. Going to the bathroom or grabbing a drink is the perfect way for finding an excuse to get up from the table. This can actually give you more chances to avoid these bad players.

Here is a small part from my book, which will help you even more, when you are faced with a donkey at your table in various tournaments.

Loose-Aggressive (Maniac)

Some of the most famous poker players are loose aggressive. These players have no qualms going "all-in" often. The best loose-aggressive players will mix up their aggressive and passive play, making it difficult to read their hands.

They go all-in with or just a simple .

In the poker scene, this seems to be the weakest category. These players are always raising pre and post the flop. This strategy often works against new players and will win a lot of small pots, because it tends to scare off most timid players. These fish will go broke very quickly. I can tell you from experience that Loose-Aggressive players attract sharks. The sharks are fine with letting these fish have ten small pots because they are after the three large pots. This will eventually break the Loose-Aggressive player.

The "Donkey" is exactly that, an ass. He will talk and taunt and loves to push people out of pots by over-betting. He is annoying. He tends to remain in pots with mediocre hands and you won't know whether he's just pushing it. There's no knowing unless you've picked up some kind of read on him. The best thing you can do against the donkey is to watch him. Pick up on the signs he gives when bluffing or when he actually has a decent hand. It is difficult because his bets are so hard that players rarely call him. When you have a strong hand, don't be afraid to fire right back at him. That action puts him on the defensive. Be wary that he still may not back down because then others will mimic you, killing his plays. The donkey then has two options; he can stubbornly stick it out, or back down. Either way, odds are some trash talk will be involved. Whatever you do, DON'T play into the donkey's game. Don't let him affect you emotionally; he would love nothing better than to goad you into betting on a mediocre hand while he's holding something strong.

 

 

Stealing Blinds and Small Pots

by Frank Wiese

This month I wanted to share some ideas on an important concept in winning in today's NL Texas Hold'em. If you give in and start playing marginal hands just to be "in the action," your tournament may be a short and not very sweet venture. You need to have a "long run" mentality as well as patience to make the money. Every once in a while you need to start stealing some blinds when opportunities present themselves. Here is some Expert advice from one of my chapters to get you in the right direction.

Blind stealing is a term used in NL Texas Hold'em for when a player in late position raises pre-flop in a challenge to win the uncontested blinds. This play is often successful because the players in the blinds will have any two hit and miss cards, meaning there is a small chance that they will have a hand worth calling a raise with, permitting you to take their blinds. The first to act will be the players in the blinds and in order to call they need better than a mediocre hand to pay to see a flop.

There are two different positions to take when stealing blinds. You will have the opportunity to steal blinds from late position, and you will have players attempting to steal your blinds. So how should you play in both of these situations? The suggested plays are determined by whether you are playing in a tournament or a cash game.

When should I steal blinds?

Tournaments

Blind stealing is most effective in tournaments like Sit-n-Go's and Multi-Table Tournaments. If you are in need of chips, sometimes you simply cannot afford to wait for a premium hand.

As with all varieties of poker, I don't advocate instantly putting up $10,000 to enter a large buy-in event. Even though the strategies in this book are designed with these events in mind, it is still better to start in lower limits and work your way up gradually and thus building your skills. However, after you have successfully applied the strategies from the previous chapters and win a few low cost satellites that put you in one of these events, I certainly have no problem with that.

Blinds, Antes, and Tournament Structure

When you break down the science of tournament poker to its foundation, it's a battle for the blinds and antes. Usually, the current size of blinds and antes dictates how many hands you should play and also how much you should put into a hand. Let's do an unlikely example to get a full understanding this means.

You are in a small casino tournament, playing NL Texas Hold'em that has no blinds or antes at all. In this present scenario, why would you want to play any hand unless it was A-A or K-K? You could fold every hand until you get premium hands and hope another player plays ball. If the other players have any common sense at all, they will be doing the same thing turning the game into a complete marathon lasting for weeks or even months. This is because the only cause for a flop, turn, and river is multiple players holding A-A or K-K in the same hand. Odds say this rarely happens. Talk about one very long boring tournament!

Now let's look at a complete opposite from the previous scenario. This time you are playing in NL Texas Hold'em tournament that a single table. There are ten players and every player gets $5,000 in chips. The blinds are $2,000/$4,000 with $500 ante. Crazy as this example is, what hands could you rationalize folding in this present situation? Half of your stack goes toward the blinds and a good chunk to the ante, so if you fold you'll be all-in shortly. Chances are if you fold, everyone else will play mediocre hands. This extreme example would eliminate players rapidly and end the tournament rather quickly.

Neither of those extreme blind and ante structures make for an exciting poker game. Most televised tournaments will start you out with $10,000-$20,000 in poker chips and the blinds begin small, usually $25/$50 with no ante. Antes usually don't start until the fourth round. Here is a common basic blind and ante structure used:

Small Blind / Big Blind Ante

$25/$50 None

$50/$100 None

$100/$200 None

$100/$200 $25

$150/$300 $25

$200/$400 $50

$300/$600 $75

$400/$800 $100

$500/$1,000 $100

$600/$1,200 $200

$1,000/$2,000 $300

$1,200/$2,400 $400

$1,500/$3,000 $500

$2,000/$4,000 $500

$3,000/$6,000 $1,000

$4,000/$8,000 $1,000

$5,000/$10,000 $1,000

$6,000/$12,000 $2,000

$8,000/$16,000 $2,000

$10,000/$20,000 $3,000

$12,000/$24,000 $3,000

$15,000/$30,000 $4,000

$20,000/$40,000 $5,000

$25,000/$50,000 $5,000

As you can see, the blinds and antes keep increasing until there is only one player left who has accumulated all of the chips. These levels last for varying time frames depending on which casino is running the tournament. Smaller tournaments will have levels moving quickly. Large buy-in tournaments can last for days; the W.S.O.P. main event has lasted nearly two weeks at times.

To hang onto your starting chip stack, you must win at least one set of blinds and antes per round. The blinds and antes keep increasing throughout the tournament, so folding often isn't going to cut it. Your starting chip stack will be in jeopardy, unless you fight to win more than your fair share of blinds and small pots.

Those premium hands are few and far between when large pots are at stake. In today's poker tournaments, the winner usually wins by staying aggressive, stealing blinds, and going after smaller pots. Practice and experience is the key for doing without becoming reckless. Hopefully, if you have read this far, you will have come to the conclusion of what it will take to become a consistent tournament winner.

Therefore, blind stealing offers a great opportunity for you to accumulate chips. However, at the start of these tournaments when the blinds are very low in relation to your stack, blind stealing becomes less beneficial. This is because the blinds are too small to be worth fighting over and the other players are more likely to call raises because of the blinds size in relation to their chip stack.

Cash Games

In cash games, the blinds are usually very diminutive in relation to your chip stack. This means that from a purely money making point of view, blind stealing is not going to be very profitable. In general, you want to stick to playing good hands and avoid gambling money with weaker ones.

Poker is a game that requires skill and a great deal of deception in order to win. By playing smart-aggressive, you can get far ahead of the other players in chip stack size and despite the fact of losing a few rounds here and there; you can still come out on top. However, blind stealing in cash games should be based on whether or not you feel you can easily out-play your opponents when they call. But be sure not to use this play on every orbit because the players in the blinds will become wary of your game. You may notice the size of pots in a cash game tend to be small. This is because only a few players are playing, which is also referred to as "tight poker."

Tight poker is not a game. It just means that whoever wins that night won't be bringing that much money home. Should we as poker players still play when this happens? The answer is yes. No matter how small the pot is, there is still money in it, and other players will still fight for it.

During such games, there will be a lot of checking. This is done in the hopes of catching a free card, when you have a drawing hand. Putting in a bet will certainly make the other players go on the offensive.

In some poker rooms, several different games will be played simultaneously. The player will not know what kind of game is being played until they are seated. If for some reason, you do not like the table you're at, a request can be made to be moved. This is allowed in land-based casinos. If these players are much more skilled than you, then transferring to a different table is a good idea. There is no reason to compete at higher levels if you are not prepared for it. I don't want you to be discouraged when you're at the casino because there is money to be made, but you want to make the money when it's suited to your advantages. However, should the players you find at a certain table be at a lower level of skill, then it is best to take advantage of the situation and get rich. And when playing online, you can just leave the table and find another one. On certain sites I recommend not jumping into the first table you find, you should watch a round played first, notice the average pot size and then determine if it suits your needs.

If as a poker player you are not able to win at a loose table, chances of wining against players who play for higher stakes are slim. It is best to start out playing low-limit first, to learn the basics and develop them before proceeding any further in higher stakes.

The goal of any form of poker is still to win money. By finding the niche in the several different types of poker out there, playing as much poker as you possibly can and gaining experience, in time you should establish a name, just like those who are in the big leagues. Every single poker book will tell you to not play, or at the very least, to just play against poor players, when you are not feeling your best. In all honesty, this can't be argued with. Unfortunately, the reality is that for a lot of people who play poker, the only chance they may get is to play is for an hour or two in the evening. Other times, they are completely worn out from working all day and enjoy playing poker to unwind.

How should I play against people stealing my blinds?

As a general rule, you should not actively attempt to protect your blinds on every round. You must remember that you are going to be first to act against anyone who tries to steal your blind, so if you call and don't hit the flop the way you hoped for, what are you going to do? If you check, are you going to re-raise his continuation bet (which is very likely) in a challenge to re-steal the pot? Or, are you going to bluff at the pot when first to act?

During the game, you will have no idea what the other player has and you are risking a decent amount trying to take down a small pot. Information is vital and without knowing anything about the other players' hands, protecting your blinds isn't going to be profitable in the long run. Bear in mind that after you have posted your blind, they are no longer your chips. The chips now belong to the pot and not to you. This is the reason why many players lose chips to raises when in the blinds since they believe it still belongs to them, and they have to defend it.

In certain situations however, you can effectively frighten the other player out of pilfering your blinds on future betting rounds. If you sense a player is betting in late position in an attempt to steal, a decent re-raise on your part will make them think twice about trying to steal on future rounds. Even if the other player does call your re-raise, the fact that you made that play shows that you have the capability to those who steal blinds. This play is most valuable when the blinds are small in relation to your stack, as you are not risking much and there is no forced commitment to the pot.

There are many ways of mixing up and improving your NL Texas Hold'em game. Here is one play I added to my game a long time ago and it has really improved my game. It's "Stealing Small Pots."

I began with only betting the flop when I had top pair. I wasn't betting without top pair, no matter what the conditions.

If there were 1 or 2 limpers and I was holding

and the flop: .

I was absolutely happy to just check. I had nothing. Why would I want to bet that flop? I bet that flop now because I want to steal that small pot. Stealing a lot of these small pots that nobody else wants will significantly increase your game.

Of course, there is a time and place for everything and this is no exception. There are certain criteria that I look for before making this play. Normally, I like there to be 3-4 people in the pot with one Broadway (face) card and no obvious draws. If I get called, I don't want to be tempted to bet again at the turn because I think the other player may be on a draw. I'll give you some examples of when this is a brilliant play.

Examples:

If you have on the button, and limp after another player limps and both blinds play.

The flop is with no flush or straight draw. If it gets checked to you, bet. When I say I bet, I'm suggesting that you bet the pot. If the pot is $20, then bet $20. It's doubtful that anyone has a king or they would have bet. If you get called, in most cases, you're done with the hand.

In middle position you limp in with .

The button limps and the Big Blind checks. The flop comes: .

If the Big Blind checks, I will bet the pot. If the button doesn't have an ace, he's not going to call and you steal another small pot with nothing.

There are tons of other assortments of hands and flops where the same play will work. Remember that you have to bet the pot here. If you bet $40 into a $300 pot, you're just looking to get check-raised by someone who probably has nothing themselves. Believe me, if you pick the right times to make this play, the bet that is the size of the pot will be successful 75% of the time or more.

This play will also work in reverse. If you are the Big Blind make a pot sized bet and take it down.

Here's another example. You are in the Big Blind with:

. The flop is: .

If there are only two other limpers in the pot, I will fire out a pot-sized bet. You would be surprised how often this bet takes down the pot. Of course, if someone calls, most of the time you will have to surrender unless a ten or ace hits the turn.

If you want to give this a try, here is what I suggest. Keep a little tally sheet beside your computer and keep track of all these bets for a few months.

I tracked how many times I made a "steal bet," how often it worked, and the total results of these bets. If I bet $10 and took down the $18.60 pot then I got credited with +$18.60. If I bet $5 and ended up folding, I marked -$5.00.

Remember that only hands where you would normally check it around count for these calculations. If you bet with nothing, but then pick up something at the turn that makes you continue with the hand, that doesn't count. If you bet a flush draw or a gut-shot draw, that doesn't count. You only get to count hands where you are truly betting with nothing.

I stopped tracking this after 3 months when I was satisfied with my results. I was successful approximately 76% of the time and the total amount of money I won with these hands accounted for about 18% of my total winnings. This was pure profit with hands that I used to just check until someone else bet in which case I folded. At the present time, I steal these pots that nobody else wants; you should do the same.

When you get really good at identifying these opportunities, you can start limping in when you are in last position with all kinds of hands for the sole purpose of stealing the pot if nobody bets. You'll get check-raised once in a while when you bet so much, but since you are never showing your cards, other players don't know you are betting with nothing. Most NL Texas Hold'em players will not check-raise you without a real hand, so you can fold to the check-raise and just move on to the next hand.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                               

For inquires on having one on one poker coaching with Frank Wiese send a email to : Frank@epppa.com