Texas Hold 'Em Power Plays: 2008

It is a sure sign of the popularity of Texas Hold 'Em when the cruise ships now have poker tables and run cash games as well as tournaments. I just returned from a very nice cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy and offer the following Power Plays for cruising.

1. The cash game on Celebrity is a good one. It is a $1/$2 no-limit game with a buy-in of $50 to $200. The house takes 10% up to $15 from each pot and that rake is outrageous but the game is so good that you can still easily expect to make about $100 per hour because of the competition. Some people come to the table expecting that a game with blinds so small will be a low stakes game. These people will pay $2 to see any flop and will fold any two cards if there is a raise as much as $10. You do not need to worry about these folks. There are other players who play so tightly that they see maybe 2 or 3 flops an hour. You do not need to worry about theses players either although if you find yourself in a hand with them, you can bet they have something. Other players will play almost any two hold cards even against a big raise. You do not need to worry about these players because they generally will not be able to beat any real hand. I saw several players who claimed not to know the game very well, having only watched it on tv. As a good player, I was skeptical of those claims but it became very clear very quickly that they were generally telling the truth. You do not need to worry about those players. I found a couple of players that wanted to discuss every hand before, during, and after play. While I find this somewhat annoying, these players are generally pretty easy to beat because their actions are very predictable. That was pretty much the table night after night. This is not a difficult group especially when there are two or three drunks among them.

2. How do you play with opponents like this? Generally follow all the other good rules. Don't bother to play your hole cards for a call unless you are slow playing something very strong or you are in one of the blinds or the pot odds are just too good to pass up. Either fold or raise significantly. I did this on the first few hands I played. Some of the players thought I was loose and would raise any two starting cards. Others thought I just had very strong hands. Others thought I was just throwing money around and wanted to get a piece of me when they eventually got some cards. Of course, all of those players were wrong.

3. Watch out for the Cruise Ship poker tournaments. On Celebrity, the house took a whopping 20% of the total buy-in. That makes the odds of winning so small that one should think twice about entering at all. The buy-in was modest and will be modest on most ships. The tournament is set up with a small amount of tournament chips (2,000 on Celebrity) and rapidly increasing blinds (every 15 minutes) with the intent that a tournament with 11 players is concluded in an hour to an hour and a half. This makes success dependent on getting some playable cards early and turns the predictability of the outcome into something approaching Bingo. I entered once and won the tournament in about 50 minutes because I was able to catch some cards and take advantage of what I learned playing in the cash game. It was good entertainment value but not very good poker value.

Lingo

Aggressive -- when applied to a poker player, this means one who bets or raises in large amounts. Being aggressive when one sees a chance to win a pot is a Power Play and must not be confused with loose or soft play which is not a Power Play.
Big Blind -- a forced bet that the player must put up before the cards are dealt. The big blind rotates clockwise around the table with each hand. The player with the obligation to post the big blind sits two seats to the left of the player designated as the dealer. The player in the big blind bets last on the first round of betting but bets second on all subsequent rounds.
Call -- match the bet of a previous player or, before the flop, matching the size of the big blind
Chase -- trying to fill in a hand that is not already good by calling bets and hoping that the next community card or cards will complete a straight, flush or other good hand
Check -- declining to bet when given the opportunity -- can be thought of as a bet of zero
Check Raise -- checking on your first opportunity to bet during a betting round and, after another player who bets later makes a bet, raising the other player's bet in the same round of betting
Dark -- taking some type of betting action before seeing the cards
Flop -- the first three community cards turned face-up by the dealer after the first round of betting
Flush -- five cards of the same suit. If more than one player has five cards of the same suit, the player with the highest ranked cards in that suit wins. This is one of the reasons that Aces are so important.
Fold -- decline to participate in a pot by giving your hole cards to the dealer
Hole Cards -- two cards dealt to each player face down at the beginning of the hand
Inside Straight -- an opportunity (?) to draw an additional card to complete a straight when only one card will do. Be careful. This is a sucker bet. For example, your hole cards and the community cards give you 8, 9, J, Q. You have an inside straight draw because you can complete your hand with only a 10. Also called a Gut-Shot Straight Draw.
Loose -- a style of play characterized by players who stay for almost every hand and bet with hands that more conservative players would fold. Loose is also called soft. Loose should not be confused with aggressive.
Open-Ended Straight -- an opportunity to draw an additional card to complete a straight with either of two cards. For example, your hole cards and the community cards give you 8, 9, 10, J. You have an open-ended straight draw because you can complete your hand with either a 7 or a Q.
Raise -- increasing the bet of an opponent or, before the flop, increasing the size of the big blind or a previous bet.
River -- the fifth and final card turned face-up by the dealer after the third round of betting and before the fourth and final round of betting
Set -- three of a kind, also called trips
Slow Play -- having a very strong hand but calling or raising the minimum amount in order to convince the other players that you do not have a strong hand
Small Blind -- a forced bet generally one-half the size of the big blind that the player must put up before the cards are dealt. The small blind rotates clockwise around the table with each hand. The player with the obligation to post the small blind sits on the dealer's left. The player in the small blind bets next to last on the first round of betting and first on each subsequent round.
Turn -- the fourth community card turned face-up by the dealer after the second round of betting -- also called fourth street

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