Poker Essays
The
Surreal World of The Poker Gold Rush.
By
Andrew LeRoy. July 17th 2005.
Yesterday
Joe Hachem, a poker player from Melbourne, won the
World Series of Poker. If you are reading this essay
I guess you would know all about it. (If not catch
up with the news at CardPlayer.com)
'Hash' has been a well known player on the Melbourne
scene for some time. I've come up against him in some
of the larger tournaments and occasionally in the
10/20 Limit Holdem game at Crown. It wasn't that long
ago that 10/20 was the biggest public game of Holdem
you could get into in Melbourne apart from the major
tournaments! What is blowing my mind is that Hash
has got through a field of over 5,000 world class
players to win around AUD $10 million!!!
This
tells me three things.
1.
Hash is a world class player.
2.
Hash is the luckiest bum ever born. I mean, it's not
as though when Hash sits down the rest of us run.
There are at least 10 other guys in Melbourne alone
with equal credentials.
3.
Poker is now incredibly HUGE and is set to rival horse
racing in betting turnover within 10 years.
Poker
growth has been exponential in nature over the last
three or four years. This growth is a combination
of the use of the Hole Card Camera in televised poker
changing it from very dull to incredibly interesting,
and internet gambling sites making the game readily
available and pushing televised poker to gain revenue
via popularisation. Those of us who have always played
knew poker was a great game and great fun, now everyone
else is discovering it and jumping on board... and
why not!
The
implications for the 'smart gambler' are large. It
used to be that you had to be very good to play winning
poker in a public card room. Now all you have to do
is show up, play tight and bet for value. Gamblers
who used to dump their money at roulette or on the
ponies are now heading for the card room. They are
used to losing and are there to have fun. IT'S A GOLD
RUSH. Used to be that around 3-4 players would see
a flop at the 10/20 at Crown. Now its 5.5 - 6.5 and
they will call raises without a moments hesitation.
They are there to play.
The
GOLDEN RULE in a loose game is play tighter from
out of position and looser from good position. Most
of the extra profit comes from playing drawing hands
from late position. Most of the mistakes made by 'good'
players come from overvaluing hands which don't do
well multi-way.
To get your mind thinking in the right way for a loose
game, consider this: I'd rather have 44 from last
position with 5 loose, passive players ahead of me,
than AJ under the gun with 5 loose runners behind
me! In a multi-way pot you will never be safe with
AJ. You hit the J they will be lining up to outdraw
you. You hit the A and you may be out-kicked or up
against 2 pair. If you hit 2 pair there will be straight
draws which will stay all the way. Don't get me wrong,
it's a profitable hand, but it requires skill at the
table to get the most out of it. 44 though is easy.
Hit a set and bet. You may even get the odds to look
at 4th street if you miss, or a free card if they
are really bad.
Continue
to next essay
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