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Wow. I must say when I got a call in the morning from a friend telling me about this new format on Full Tilt, I was circumspect. When I got a second and third call, and then a fourth, all before noon on day one, I became excited to try it out. I logged on shortly thereafter and haven’t played regular poker since.

Rush poker is fast, be prepared. I can get upwards of 500 hands per hour on one table and upwards of 800 on two tables. The way it works is after receiving a hand along with the normal buttons, there is a quick fold button. Once you determine that you are not putting money into the pot, press the quick fold button. When it is your turn at that table, your hand will be folded. Meanwhile, you will not have to wait; you will be transferred immediately to a fresh table with a fresh hand.

The positions are random, though the big blind goes to the player that hasn’t seen it for the most hands. So, out of a thousand players you will seldom find yourself playing with the same people. You certainly will not have to deal with that same guy who is constantly stealing your blinds or the guy who will constantly three-bet you in position or from the blinds when you steal. There is no flow, no Meta Game. Every hand comes in isolation to the one before or the one after. There are no patterns that you can exploit, nor can your opponents.

If you are like me and enjoy multi-tabling, you might enjoy playing Rush poker. I often find that in playing eight tables, I can lose some of the flow. While statistical tracking software can help indicate player patterns, I can admit that I am missing out on some vital information- that is the sacrifice to be made in favor of diffusing risk by playing many tables. But with Rush Poker everyone loses that. Now I am on the same playing field.

All in all, I love it. I get hands fast, and that means more money. That also means that the downswings (if you believe in that sort of thing) can be faster too and the damage can be extensive. However, in all, this format (like every format that came before) will pay off skill. I don’t recommend bluffing, I don’t recommend calling the obvious bluff (because it is obviously not a bluff) and you will do just fine. Give it a try and I will see you on the virtual felt.

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Getting ready to log off of Full Tilt for the day, I limped under the gun with As-Kc. A middle position player raised to five times the big blind and was called by 2 players. I thought about three betting here, representing that I had limped with Aces or Kings (which I would have done there), but I settled on a call (Bad). If I flop an Ace, I will get a lot of action from AQ. The flop was Ac-5s-4c, giving my top pair, top kicker and the back door flush draw to the nuts (with my King).

I checked (worse), and to my dismay, it checked around. The turn was the 7s. I lead out for two-thirds of the pot and was called by the original raiser. That surprised me. I was, of course, fearful of the other two players more. Was this a float? Did he sense weakness? Perhaps he had pocket Kings or Queens? Maybe he flopped a set of aces or turned a set of sevens. The river was the deuce of spades. I checked to trap, and he bet the pot. That was a big river bet. What could he have? He couldn’t have the 6-8, he was the raiser… he couldn’t have the AK of spades; not only would he have bet that flop, but I had the Ace of spades. Could he have raised with the King Queen of spades and back doored the flush? That didn’t sound right either.

As the timer ticked down, I called to see the Queen/Ten of Spades. This was yet another expensive lesson. He wouldn’t have bet Kings or Queens there, I suppose he could have had the set of sevens that I feared. This was not a good place to bluff. The size of the bet confused me though… why so much; or right, he back doored the flush. I should have folded, not just because I was beat, but because I didn’t think it through carefully. What was he bluffing with? It would have to be a stone cold bluff; not too many of those out there. And with the Ace and two flush draws, this was a terrible place to bluff. He knew that well enough to check the flop rather than represent the Ace and get called by the club flush draw. This was one of my worst calls yet… worthy of ridicule.

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“I should know better than to bluff that idiot.”

Someday I will stop saying that, but until then I will have to continue to fight that raising reflex when playing with bad players. I just can’t help it sometimes. It is like the cards are face up sometimes. and I just can’t help stealing. The problem I run into is the inability of bad players to play through the hand and ask themselves what they can beat. If they cannot tell the hand that I am representing, I can’t possibly fold them.

Playing in my regular game ($0.50/1.00), I limped under the gun with the 7-8 suited. I just love suited connectors. And though I don’t encourage limping in first with anything but premium holdings, at my game I often feel that my read on my opponents offsets my positional disadvantage. This time there were several limpers, including the blinds.

On the flop of 9-8-5, the small blind checked, and the big blind bet $3. I called with second pair, position, and a gutshot strait draw, as well as the back door flush draw. The action folded to the small blind who raised to $7. He didn’t mean to raise, he threw out the wrong color chips because he is color blind and had a dirty stack, substituting a $5 for a $1. The big blind, who thought it might be an accident, hemmed and hawed and finally called. Smelling weakness, I raised to $30, less than a pot-sized bet.

After the small blind folded, the big blind thought about it for quite a while and went all in for another $10. One player pointed to me and said, “Straight,” while another shook him off and said, “Set.” Yet another proudly exclaimed that I had aces. Unfortunately, I had neither. And though the table was very impressed with my play, my opponents 9-4 off suit held up, and I had to reload.

That bet would have worked against any thinking player. They would think, I had an over pair, a strait, or a set. Why else would I have called a bet and then reraised a check raise? How could I have called the first bet with any hand worse than top pair? And unless I limped in first position with a 9-3, he couldn’t beat any top pair.

I probably wouldn’t have felt so bad had I not started out the evening with the reminder not to bluff that specific player… but I did it anyway. I just can’t help myself when I smell weakness.

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Playing in a 1-2 No Limit Holdem table at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach, Florida, (I am a gluten for punishment; still buy-ins are limited to $100) I have a stack of about $400, and everyone else is short- below $100. This is my last round, as I am hungry and bored. I limp after 2 limpers with 6-7 of hearts. It limps around to the button who goes all in for $8. The blinds call, as do the limpers, one of whom goes all in for $9, and we all call to see the flop eight ways. The flop comes out 8-5-4, rainbow.

The small blind bets $7, and it is folded to me. I have a gutshot, top pair, and a back door heart draw. I certainly can’t fold for $7, but do I want to raise with that hand and 4 people left to act? So, I settled on a call; everyone else folds. Two players are all in for the $70 main pot with $14 in the side pot. The turn is a 4, not a heart. The small blind bets $15 with $25 left behind (these short stacks frustrate me).

I am getting less than 10-1 on my gutshot, and I may be drawing dead? What can I beat here? I suppose I can beat sixes or sevens, though I doubt he is double barreling with those hands. I can’t beat pockets eights or better, I can’t beat the 6-7, I can’t beat pocket fives or fours. I can’t even beat 8-9! What hand can I beat?

With another $25 behind, it is going in on the river. Considering that I could be up against a strait or a boat, I laid it down. How can I put any more money into a pot where I may be drawing dead or to a chop? On the flop I had decided to see the turn and if it were a heart, I would stay, if it paired the board, I would go, and if it were a blank, I would decide on the turn. It wasn’t a heart and it paired, so I stayed with my plan and folded. I was pretty sure I would see a boat… with 2 players all in, I would get to see the hands.

The small blind shows 8-6, and the all in players muck. That was the only hand I could beat, and I hadn’t even included it in my list. Maybe I should have min-raised the flop, maybe I should have folded. Maybe I should have not even seen the flop and saved $7 or $9. As the cards lie, I should have put all my money in… but against the range he could have, I folded. What do you think?

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At any table there is going to be a minimum and a maximum buy-in. And what I am usually asked by new players is what is the right buy-in. The answer, as it always is in poker, is: It depends. At the Venetian, and so many casinos, the range at the 1-2 table is $100-$300. Online the range is usually 20-100 big blinds.

When playing with 50BB live at a 1-2 table, it usually seems a little short to me. But I know many people that see that as the right price. With $100 (the only buy-in in Florida where I am playing this week), you can play patiently and aggressively without giving anyone the right price (implied odds) to call a raise from me. However, that means that you onlywill be called correctly when you are beat. But that also means that you don’t have the odds to call a raise to see a flop because you don’t have the implied odds. In other words, as flops will typically cost $12-$15, you will need to put in 10-15% of you stack. You can’t do that too many times until you need to rebuy. And if anyone 3-bets you, you cannot call correctly to see the flop, you likely will have passed your commitment threshold.

On the other hand, playing with a short stack also can frustrate your opponents. Cash game players hate the all in or fold mentality that runs deep in tournament strategy. We like to see flops. If every time I raise, you go all in for $100, you soon will have a lot of my chips. However, it is worth noting that going all in over a raise will work every time but the last time. If you have difficulty in laying down a big pair, maybe it will help to buy in shorter.

I like to see flops, I like to have my implied odds, but I also don’t need to buy so deep. I typically will buy in for 100BB and reload if needed. When I get down to $150 I will throw another $100 under my stack. That way, I always will have enough to double up and still get ahead. If I drop down to $100 before I hit my hand, I will be even when I double. That is no fun.

Playing a shorter stack can take away many of the difficult decisions that we face in deep stack poker. However, if we want to improve our game and patch leaks, we need to challenge ourselves with these situations, as well as put ourselves in a position to win a big pot. While there is no clear right answer, there are always lots of wrong ones.

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Or so says the sign adorning the walls of my poker room. But that is not the case; a pair of balls does not beat the nuts. How many times does someone bluff all in only to find their opponent with the nuts while holding nothing more than ace high or a pair of fives.

We make so much of aggression, but it works every time but the last time. Recently, I had a new player join my private game. He sat immediately to my left, and on the first hand I had to bet him out on the turn. So, the second hand I felt I needed to take a more aggressive stance, as firing 3 barrels worked once but may not work again. So, flopping the nut flush draw, I check raised half my stack. Only he called and spiked trip jacks on the turn. I, of course, went all in like a bozo and got stacked.

I suppose that my bluff would have worked again had he not turned trips. My big balls just couldn’t bet him off the nuts. I suppose I could have checked the jack, knowing he had trips, but I had a pair of balls and I wasn’t going to lay them down or check call weakly.

Shortly thereafter, my friend (and nemesis) raised preflop in position and bet the flop, only to get raised. He pushed all in expecting his weak opponent to fold. Only this time, he insta-called and turned over top set. I saw it, but I wasn’t in the hand. So, I just sat there and laughed. (If you can’t laugh at yourself, laugh at your friends) A pair of balls (and it is his sign) just couldn’t beat the nuts.

When looking over an opponent’s stats on Full Tilt with the same friend, he said that it is profitable to three bet him every time if he folds every time. But the lesson here is not to 5 bet that opponent. Be aggressive and take down the small pots in position, but when he check raises, maybe let him have it rather than bluff all in. Don’t put your whole stack in, he will let you steal the next one. If he has let you steal pot after pot, maybe this time he has the nuts and it is better to just wait for the next one.

I will continue to look for aggressive opponents who will try repeatedly to bluff me out of the pot. It will work; I can make some big lay downs. But eventually I will call, and I will walk away with the whole stack. And with any luck, I won’t bet my balls into anyone’s nuts this week. I am off to the Venetian; if you are out there, come on by and ask for Figmond.

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In poker, as in life, folding a losing hand is the hardest thing to do. Putting all your money in with a monster is easy; folding that same monster is where we lose all our hard earned profits. We wait for hours, sometimes, to get pocket aces. We put our chips in excitedly and look astonished as the pot gets pushed in the other direction. Where did we go wrong?

The mistake comes not in reading the board nor reading our opponents but in our failure to read the action. When the smoke clears, we shake our heads and mutter, “I knew I was beat” as we push our remaining stack in the direction of some stranger. As I wrote a few weeks ago, “‘All in, all in, all in’ is usually a good indication that one pair is no good.”
What is it about human nature that translates patience to attachment; the longer we wait for aces the less likely we are to lay them down when we are beat. I have written many articles about laying down big hands. I find myself especially adept at making big lay downs; maybe too adept … sometimes I feel like a target. Fail not, when I test the waters with a big call rather than a big lay down, I seem to be wrong more often.

When I look at the action in front of me and my aces in the hole, I say to myself, “They’re just a pair of ones,” and throw them away if needed. I never tell the other players at the table, I just complain about AK if asked.

Where I lose my money is when I flop set under set. I know it’s a cooler; this is why we bankroll properly. But I can see it when I am not in a hand. I suppose when I lose a little with a boat or a set I should call it a win, as my opponent will lose his stack when the situation is reversed. But knowing you are beat and paying off on the river is still paying off when you are beat. I am hoping that someday, I can fold to those slim river value bets. When the action says fold, I should fold for $500 or for $50.

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