Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - Million Pound Challenge 2008: Meet the pros

Bio
Pro Tips

Phil Ivey

Considered the best poker player in the world
5 WSOP Bracelets before his 30th birthday
1 WPT Championship

Learn, Chat and Play with Phil in London!

Phil Ivey plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

Phil grew up in New Jersey, where he started his pro poker career in Atlantic City.

Phil won his first World Series of Poker title at the age of 23 when he beat Phil Hellmuth and Amarillo Slim in the Pot-Limit Omaha event. Two years later in 2002, he won three more WSOP titles. Phil also won two Bellagio tournaments, one World Poker Open tournament, two Commerce tournaments, and has made his share of World Poker Tour final tables. Phil Ivey

2005 was a good year, with two more WPT final tables, a second place finish in the WSOP Circuit Event at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, and the addition of his fifth WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. Phil won $1 million for his first-place finish at the Monte Carlo Millions tournament. Amazingly, only 24 hours later, he won an additional $600,000 for his first-place finish at "The FullTiltPoker.Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo."

In January 2006, Phil received three incredible honors, being named Player of the Year by All In Magazine, Bluff Magazine, and the UK Gaming Awards.

Most recently, Phil placed second in the Omaha Hi/Lo event and third in $50,000 HORSE event at the 2006 WSOP. With these two events, he was able to cash for more than $800,000. In February 2008, Phil won his first-ever WPT Championship, taking down the title at the Los Angeles Poker Classic. It was Phil’s record-setting eighth appearance at a WPT final table, and the victory moved him into the top-10 on the all-time tournament money list.

Away from the felt, Phil can often be found on the greens near his Las Vegas home where he lives with his wife.

Don't Read This Tip

Phil Ivey

When it comes to advice about poker, my attitude is very simple: seek it out, absorb it, but while you're at the table, forget it.

I'm a firm believer in learning the game by playing the game. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of great resources around to help players improve their games or that poker books and tutorials don't have their place. They do. However, the problem I see with people who rely on these kinds of aids is that they end up playing poker like someone else or - even worse - like everyone else.

One of the things that makes poker great is that it's a game where there's really no right or wrong way to play. Every player has their own approach to the game and the key, in my opinion, is to take the things you learn from other players and incorporate them into a style of play that works for you.

There are some players who take a very mathematical approach to the game, and for them, it works. They study the odds and make decisions based on whether they think they're getting the right price to commit their chips to a pot. It's a solid way to play, but the fact is, it's not the right approach for everyone. What's more, even the best of these players will tell you that math only takes you so far.

Calculating the odds can certainly help you decide whether you're making a smart move, but it doesn't take into account who you're playing against. There are many times when you can do all of the math you want and your decision still comes down to intangibles and a feeling about your opponent or the situation you're facing. Does this guy have a hand? Can I push him off the pot? Am I getting myself into trouble here? Even if the odds say you should play, your gut may be telling you something else, and that's something you can only develop by playing.

Relying too much on other peoples' advice can actually make it harder to develop this kind of reading ability because it tends to clutter up your head. You get so focused on thinking about odds, probabilities and strategies that you forget that you're playing against someone else and that you have to try and figure out what he or she is doing. Are they scared? Will they fold to pressure? Are they a maniac? In my opinion, these are the important things to keep in mind during a hand.

It's been said before, but it bears repeating. Poker isn't about the cards; it's about the players and the situations. Winning players understand that sometimes you have to take chances. Sometimes they work and other times they don't. Whether you win the hand or not, you have to make the play that you believe is best.

At the end of a hand or a session, go back and study the things you did well and be honest with yourself about where you made mistakes. Don't, however, overanalyze how you could have played a hand differently because this can negatively impact how you approach your next hand or session. Identify your mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Just because some play or move didn't work the way you wanted doesn't mean you were wrong to try it. As I said before, there are just some things that you have to learn by playing.

So here's my advice. Read this tip. Read other tips and poker books. Talk to your friends. Absorb as much information as you can. But at the end of the day you have to trust your instincts and play your own game - not someone else's.

5 WSOP Bracelets
2 WSOP Rings
2 WSOP-Ringe
WSOP Main Event Champion 2000

Learn, Chat and Play with Chris in London!

Chris Ferguson plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

By 1999, Chris had spent exactly half his life at UCLA. After five years as an undergrad and another 13 as a graduate student, UCLA awarded him a Ph.D. in Computer Science and told him it was time to leave the nest of academia. He went reluctantly.

He didn't wander very far. A year later and only 300 miles away, it was new school meets old school as Chris defeated TJ Cloutier to win the Main Event in the 2000 World Series of Poker. It marked the beginning of a professional career, with a record unmatched by any player of the last decade.

Long before any of today's popular poker sites existed, Chris started playing over the Internet on an IRC channel, and quickly became its highest ranked tournament player. In 1994, he recognized that his knowledge of game theory was a powerful weapon and began playing in the small tournaments in and around LA. A year later, Chris played in his first World Series of Poker event. Despite playing relatively few tournaments in those first five years, he made seven final tables and had 12 money finishes, peaking at fourth place.

In the new millennia, he made his mark.

Chris won the Championship Event in 2000, now famously chronicled in James McManus' Positively Fifth Street. It was his second bracelet that year, following his win in the 7-Card Stud event. A well-rounded player, Chris won his next bracelet in the 2001 Omaha Hi/Lo Split event, followed by two more wins in 2003.

Since he started playing in the World Series, he has won a total of five bracelets, made 25 final tables, and had more money finishes (42) than any other player. Add in three World Series of Poker Circuit championship rings and, Chris has earned more than $6.7 million playing poker in the WSOP and WSOPC alone.

In March 2008 Chris navigated his way through a tough 64-person field to score a win at the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Having made the final three out of the last four years, Chris showed why he is considered one of the world's most skilled poker players.

Chris recently returned to the world of online poker, this time applying his own ideas to improve Internet poker. He put together a team of players and programmers to design the software for FullTiltPoker.com, and now focuses on ensuring that Full Tilt Poker's customers have the best software and the best games in the industry.

His talent with playing cards doesn't stop at the poker table. He is well known for his ability to cut a carrot in half by throwing a regular playing card from a distance of 10 feet. When he's not slicing vegetables, you can probably find Chris dancing West Coast Swing in a local club. Whether it's cutting up a fruit salad or cutting a rug, he is constantly challenging himself to learn something new. Because although UCLA may have told him it was time to go, Chris has never really left school.

Goin' Pro

Chris Ferguson

"Should I quit my job and play professionally?"

Should I drop out of school and just play poker full time?"

I get these questions all the time and I always give the same answer: "Unequivocally, absolutely not. No way."

Clear enough?

If you want to explore being a professional poker player, you have to start out doing it part time. Spend your off hours thinking about poker and studying the game. Read and play and learn.

Before you even think about quitting your job to play full time, you should be making more money at poker than you are in your current employment. Don't think that one big tournament win provides all the evidence you need that you're ready to play professionally. You should be showing consistent profit over a period of at least six- months. Only at that point should you even entertain the idea of becoming a full-time pro.

Even then, you should be wary about taking such a step. Poker is a great pastime, and playing it casually is a lot of fun when you love the game. But when you become a pro, you have to play poker five or six days a week. In time, playing cards will start to feel a lot like a job. I happen to love every occasion I get to play, but for many people, it can become a grind.

On the tournament circuit, you can play well and still go months - or even years - without a big cash. In ring games, the hours can be brutal. When you're a cash-game pro, you want to be playing when the other players are off their game. This means you should start late, when people are getting tired and gambling a little more than they should. So you might play from 11PM through the morning, and sleep most of the afternoon. Keeping these kinds of hours can be difficult for those who want to maintain a more traditional social life.

Another risk is that you may not play enough. It can take a lot of self-discipline to put in enough hours at the table. With no boss on your tail, you might find it tough to put in the hours that you need at the times that are most profitable.

Before you make drastic changes to your life - before you even ask the questions posed at the start of this article - you should know that poker will work for you. You should have long, profitable periods that serve as evidence of your abilities. You should have put in enough hours to know that you can really enjoy the game, even when it becomes the center of your professional life. You should know that you can endure some long, tough, unlucky stretches.

If you're really sure you've got what it takes and poker does become your career, I look forward to meeting you at the table.

Nicknamed "The Sheep"
The first player to win Championship titles on both the WPT and EPT
3rd place in the WPT Championship

Learn, Chat and Play with Roland in London!

Roland "The Sheep" de Wolfe plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Roland de Wolfe chose an unusual road to becoming the big, bad poker player he is today. In his younger days, Roland spent much of his time hustling pool in bars - one-handed.

As Roland grew older, he still continued to play pool and snooker, but those games took a backseat to the regular paychecks provided in covering poker tournaments as a journalist. He soon rose in the publishing ranks to become the poker editor of a British gambling magazine, Inside Edge.

The lessons Roland learned covering poker soon translated into personal success at the tables when he began playing professionally just three years ago. He scored his first major win in the summer of 2005 when he claimed the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris title, besting the previous year's winner, Juha Helpi.

Later in 2005, Roland cashed in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em event at the World Series of Poker and in the $15,000 Main Event at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

In early 2006, he finished third at the $25,000 WPT World Championship, taking home more than $1 million. In June, Roland had two cashes at the WSOP, including a third-place finish in the $2,000 No-Limit Shootout. Most recently, Roland earned more than $691,000 by taking home first place at the European Poker Tour's Main Event in Dublin, Ireland and is now the only player to win championship events on both the WPT and the EPT.

When he's not playing in live tournaments or on FullTiltPoker.com, Roland enjoys grueling work outs at the gym.

Getting Paid on a Monster

Roland De Wolfe

One of the most profitable situations in poker is one in which you've flopped a monster and someone else is betting into you. It's an incredible feeling but, alas, one of the rarest occurrences in the game.

In reality, making money when you've flopped a great hand is one of the hardest things to accomplish in any game. It takes a combination of factors to get your opponents to bet into you - or even call your bet. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean it can't be done. Keep the following tips in mind the next time you flop the nuts, and you may just be able to increase your stack substantially.

Pay attention to the board's texture. Sometimes you'll flop a monster and can't get paid no matter what you do. Most often, this will happen on a really scary board like A-A-K rainbow. There are just very few hands that your opponent could be holding where he'd even consider putting chips into the pot.

Now, change things up just a little and say you've flopped a boat on a board of Ah-Kh-Ad. With a potential flush draw out there, you now have two things working in your favor; your opponent may think you're on the flush draw or he may be on the draw himself. Either way, you're much more likely to get action if you bet this board than you would on the rainbow flop.

The fact is you're probably not going to get your opponent to put anything into the pot unless he's connected with the board in some way. Sometimes this means checking your monster down to the river in hopes that he catches something that makes him think his hand is good.
Size your bet to your opponent. This is a concept that takes a little work to master but is based on a simple principle - know your opponent. The strategy you employ against a tight opponent is probably going to be different than the one you employ against an aggressive one, and knowing who you're facing across the table will make your decision easier when you're trying to figure out how to extract that extra bet.

For example, if I've flopped a huge hand against a very tight player, I may try to overbet the pot in an effort to make it look like I'm stealing with a weak hand. Hopefully, he'll read my play the way I want him to and either call or re-raise me to push me off the hand. Conversely, I may make a very weak bet against an aggressive player, hoping that he'll come over the top and try to steal the hand. In either case, I'm trying to play into my opponent's image of me and get him to commit chips that he may not put into the pot otherwise.
Image is everything. Along those same lines, another key to getting action is to make your opponents think you're giving action, even when you're not. Talk to the other players at your table. Make them your friends and draw them into conversation.

By developing an engaging table personality, your opponents will have the impression that you're playing more pots than you actually are, which can help you convince them to pay you off when you've made a huge hand. If people think you're loose when you're actually playing tight, they're much more likely to chase their draws or call with weak pairs than they would be if you're a complete rock.

Of course, there's no sure-fire way to guarantee that you'll get paid when you flop a huge hand. Like most things in life, it's about being in the right place at the right time. But if you size up the table successfully and the variables line up in your favor, your monster may not scare away the action after all.

Nicknamed "The Great Dane"
The only player to win four WPT titles
Winner of the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event

Learn, Chat and Play with Gus in London!

Gus Hansen plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Gus was born on February 13th, 1974 just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark and grew up playing a lot of sports, especially tennis.

Gus has always been fascinated by numbers and math. When he was introduced to backgammon, it became a challenge and he practiced intensively until he was ready to test his skills around the world. Gus ended up in New York, touring backgammon and gin rummy clubs, and hanging out with guys like Huckleberry Seed and Phil Laak. It was during this time that Gus was introduced to various types of poker, including Stud games.

Gus played his first World Series of Poker in 1996 but, looking back, says he had absolutely no chance of winning, as he had never really played No-Limit Hold 'em before then. After being knocked out on the first day, Gus decided to start practicing more, testing new plays and experimenting with different styles. Experimentation and mixing-up his style has been part of Gus' game ever since.

By 1998, Gus found himself playing more poker than backgammon, and making more frequent trips to Las Vegas. When the World Poker Tour kicked off in 2002, Gus had developed a loose, aggressive style that immediately paid off, both in terms of money and recognition.

Gus won the WPT's inaugural event, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Later that year, Gus took down another event, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship at the WPT's L.A. Poker Classic.

During the WPT's second season, Gus won the invitation-only Bad Boys of Poker tournament and, in early 2004, earned his fourth WPT title at the Caribbean Adventure tournament. Gus was also in contention for another title that season, but had to settle for third place in the Bellagio Five Diamond tournament when his pocket 10s failed to hold up against his opponent's A-Q.

Gus reached yet another final table during the WPT's third season, but ended up with a third-place finish in the Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament. All in all, those four WPT wins and five final table appearances earned Gus induction into the WPT's Walk of Fame the first year they launched it. To this day, Gus remains the only player on the WPT with four titles to his credit.

In 2005, Gus decided to play fewer tournaments in order to focus on his cash game. Still, even with the reduction in tournament play, Gus made it the final table at the FullTiltPoker.Net Poker Invitational from Monaco and won the Grand Final of the inaugural Poker Superstars Invitational.

In 2006, Gus has been even more selective about his participation in tournaments and other events. Recently, he played in the second season of High Stakes Poker where he won the biggest pot in the show's history ($575,700) defeating Daniel Negreanu's 6 6 with his 5 5 on a board of 9 6 5 5 8.

In 2007, Gus continued to build on his growing list of tournament championships, bringing home $1,192,919 for his first-place finish in the $10,000 Aussie Millions Main Event in Melbourne, Australia. Gus added another $1.7 million in tournament winnings to his bankroll in 2008 when he finished second to fellow Full Tilt Poker pro David Chiu in the WPT’s World Championship at Bellagio.

When not playing tournament poker, Gus is a regular participant in the "Big Game" at the Bellagio battling it out in as many as 13 different poker games with players such as Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, and David Benyamine.

Online, Gus can often be found in a high-limit Pot-Limit Omaha game or an Omaha 8/B Limit game on FullTiltPoker.com. On occasion, he can also be found in low-stakes Limit Hold 'em and Razz games, along with low-limit SNGs and some of FullTiltPoker.com's larger tournaments.

If Gus isn't playing poker, there is a good chance you can find him on the golf course, the tennis court, the squash court or playing soccer with his friends, as he finds that playing sports and working out help him maintain the physical stamina he believes is needed to be a successful poker player.

Gus also finds time in his schedule to provide poker commentary for both Danish and American television shows, and is always ready to play a high-stakes backgammon match against anybody who would like to challenge him.

Gus is currently single and resides in Monte-Carlo, Monaco where he spends a lot of time with his family.

A Monster at the Aussie Millions

Gus Hansen

Hand 133 - Crucial hand 7 - Biggest Hand So Far - Busting the Defending Champ

Blinds: 4000/8000/1000, My position: SB, My hand: Ac Qs, My Chip Stack: 389,000

Defending champ Lee Nelson has been moved to the table. He opens in middle position for 24,000 and I decide to just call with my Ac Qs in the SB. The BB folds. The flop comes:

Qh Qc 4c

I think it is fair to call it an above average flop!

I check and as expected Lee bets 44,000 into a 64,000 pot. Having flopped three Queens with top kicker, or as some would say “a Monster”, I have a couple of different options:

1. Calling, trying to trap Mr. Nelson would be more tempting with no flush draw on the board. Another draw-back is that calling simply fails to put more money in the pot. For it to be a real trap, I would have to check the turn as well and could thereby easily give Mr. Nelson two free cards. I don’t like it!

2. The mini-raise – doubling his 44,000 bet to about 100,000. Trying to keep Lee in the loop but forcing him to put a little more money in the pot. It might also be interpreted as a cheap steal-attempt thereby inducing Mr. Nelson to make a move. I like it!

3. Standard raise – to about 150,000. Put even more money in the pot but might force Lee out of some marginal hands. Has some merit!

As you can see I prefer the mini-raise.

After some deliberation I make it 100k. Now it is Lee’s turn to think. Surprisingly fast he goes all-in putting a total of 326,000 towards the middle. Pretty happy about the development I don’t hesitate to call. After all – I am holding the third nuts - or more likely “the nuts” since Lee would have played it a little slower if he was holding either Q4 or 44.

There is now 716,000 in the pot, so the next two cards are very crucial for the outcome of this tournament. The defending champ is all-in and I am left with less than 50,000 in front of me. Whoever wins this pot will be well on the way to the final table and the other guy headed – or more or less headed – to the sideline.

Showtime:
Lee: Kc 9c
Me: Ac Qs

Winning percentage before the turn:
Lee: 23.1 %
Me: 76.9 %

Turn: Jh

No club but now he has a gut-shot as well. His winning percentage stays the same.

River: 3h

Nice - I win the 700,000+ pot.

So what really happened here? How did we get 700k in the middle at this stage at the tournament?
Let us take it from the top:
Lee’s opening raise from middle position with Kc 9c - a play that has my utmost sympathy.
My call in the blind with AQo is definitely not mandatory and I would generally lean towards the re-raise. Being out of position, facing a tough opponent with a big chip-stack, I opted for the more conservative call.
Checking the flop – Very straight forward as Lee will most likely take a stab with any two cards.
Flop bet by Lee – Good solid play! Continuation bets is a big part of winning tournament strategy and should be performed a very high percentage of the time – especially this time where he actually has a flush draw to back it up!
My mini-raise - described earlier in the hand.
Lee’s all-in move – OOPS. I do not agree with this play.

A much better option would be to just call and see what develops. Lee is in position and has the luxury of awaiting my next move. If I had an air ball there is a very good chance that I would give up and he would be able to take it away with a medium-sized bet on the turn. On the other hand if I had a Queen I would probably move all in on the turn and Lee would be able to get away from the hand without losing all his money. Not to forget, if a club comes on the turn we would get all the money in with me having the drawing hand.

As you can see Lee would have gained a lot of information by flat-calling. Not only would he have a better idea about the strength of my hand but he would also get to see whether a club showed up or not!

Furthermore, contrary to what people think I am actually a very tight player :-). At least in some situations… Very rarely do I check-raise a big stack on the flop with absolutely nothing. I was in a comfortable position and not especially looking for a spot to pull off a big bluff. Analyzing the hand again and again I have come to the conclusion that my most likely holding is a random Queen, with the Ace high flush draw next in line. None of which the Kc 9c fare well against.

I am not quite sure why Lee opted to move all-in but I have a strong feeling that my reputation played a big part in his decision-making.

Over $2.8 Million in Career Tournament Earnings
11 WSOP Cash Finishes
7 WPT Cash Finishes
1 EPT Title

Learn, Chat and Play with Patrik in London!

Patrik Antonius plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Patrik Antonius is one of the most widely recognized players in poker today, and with a record like his, its no wonder. Since taking up poker as a profession in 2002, he’s amassed almost $3 million as a result of his skill and aggressive style.

While Patrik played poker for years with his friends, it wasn’t until he started playing online that he got serious about developing his game. Within just a couple of months, his game improved along with his results. By December 2002, Patrik had amassed $80K and brought his game to the next level.

Shortly after, Patrik moved to the US where he continued to put in hours of play. In addition to building upon a steadily increasing bankroll, he won a satellite entry into a WSOP event before returning home to Finland. He cites both the event and solid advice from seasoned pros as invaluable in his development as a poker player.

In 2005, Patrik lit up the tournament circuit. After cashing in two WPT tournaments, he went deep in three WSOP events, earning a combined total of almost $100K. Not one to let the cards get cold, he followed this up with impressive back-to-back performances on the EPT circuit. He took third in the Main Event in Barcelona for $145K before going on to win the EPT Baden classic for more than $340K. True to form, Patrik finished the year with his biggest cash to date. He took second place in the WPT Five Diamond Classic, earning over $1 million.

Since that time Patrik’s steadily built on an already impressive record, continuing to add both WPT and WSOP cash finishes to his list of accomplishments. Most recently, Patrik made the final table at the first event of the 2008 WSOP. He finished in seventh place, earning $124K.

While Patrik is clearly a world-class professional, there’s more to life for him than just poker. His competitive streak extends well beyond the game – he’s still a top-notch tennis player and an avid golfer. When he’s not dominating the court, the course, or the felt, Patrik spends his personal time with his fiancée and daughter.

If you want to see him in action, look for Patrik playing online at Full Tilt Poker.

Nicknamed "The Rock"
2 wins in 2005
Finished second in the WSOP $50K HORSE tournament and in the $10K Pot-Limit Hold ‘em tournament
Former member of the MIT Blackjack team

Learn, Chat and Play with Andy in London!

Andy Bloch plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

Andy started playing casino poker at Foxwoods in 1992, entering some small $35 weekly tournaments once a month. By the end of that year, he'd won one of the World Poker Finals tournaments, a $100 entry fee No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. That was the first time Andy had ever played No-Limit Hold 'em.

In 1997, Andy skipped his last week of law school classes to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event. He was the guinea pig in a low-tech hole-card cam trial. Tom Sims was looking for a volunteer to "sweat" and record all his hole cards, and Andy agreed. His records turned into a two-part "Card Player" Magazine article. After passing the bar in '99, he decided to delay his law career and went back to poker.

That career got delayed even further when Andy made two WSOP final tables in 2001, a first place finish back at Foxwoods in 2002 (playing 7-Card Stud), and two World Poker Tour final tables during the tour's first season; finishing third both times.

Back in 2005, Andy scored two first-place finishes, winning the WSOP Circuit Limit Hold 'em tournament at the Rio in Las Vegas, and the Ultimate Poker Challenge $10,000 Final Event. Additionally, he secured a sixth-place finish in the Mirage Poker Showdown Pot-Limit Omaha tournament and a seventh-place finish at the Ultimate Poker Challenge's $2,500 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament.

In 2006, Andy cashed five times at the 2006 WSOP alone. And, in the $50K HORSE event, Andy placed second, winning more than $1 million dollars. In 2007, Andy had another strong WSOP, finishing seventh in the $1,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event and 11th in the 10K World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. He followed that up with another final table appearance at the World Series of Poker Europe, where he finished eighth in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.

Andy came back strong again at the start of the 2008 WSOP, finishing second in the series’ first event, the $10K World Championship Pot-Limit Hold ‘em tournament where he pocketed $448,000.

Andy also runs the very popular (Unofficial) World Poker Tour & World Series of Poker Fan Site, and is always looking for ways to use his poker skills and his law degree to make the world a better place.

Playing Over-Cards

Andy Bloch

For many players, there's nothing prettier than peeking at their hole cards and seeing paint. A-K. K-Q. Q-J. They're all big hands and, often times, very playable ones, especially in position. Sometimes though, your masterpiece of a starting hand can lead to a very ugly result.

The fact is over-cards can be some of the trickiest hands to play well if they don't connect with the board. So how do you avoid going broke when you whiff with your overs? In the words of Kenny Rogers, "you gotta know when to hold 'em and you gotta know when to fold 'em."

Let's say you're in late position or in the blinds with over-cards and are facing an all-in bet after seeing a ragged flop like 8-5-3 rainbow. What do you do? The answer is an unequivocal "It depends". First of all, what could your opponent possibly be betting here? Top pair? An over-pair? A set? Your read of your opponent's hand should greatly influence your decision because if he's holding anything but a set, you may have odds to call.

That brings me to the next question: how much is he betting? If your opponent's all-in bet is worth half the pot or less, I think you have to call with any two over-cards so long as you think they're still live. Over-cards give you six potential outs to the board, meaning that you're only about a 3-1 dog against top pair if you have no straight or flush draw possibilities. Your over-cards may even be ahead if you think your opponent is pushing all-in on his own draw or is bluffing at the pot.

In situations where you're not facing an all-in bet, the decision becomes a little harder because you must not only consider the size of your opponent's current bet, but also the size of his next potential bet. If you're both deep stacked and you call on the flop, you could find yourself facing a sizable bet on the turn. In this situation, I believe mucking your hand and looking for a better spot is the preferred option.

Another thing to consider in this type of situation is your position relative to your opponent. If you're playing from position, you may want to consider staying in the hand even if you miss the flop – especially if you can do so cheaply. For one thing, calling a cheap bet on the flop might let you hit one of your overs, giving you what may likely be the best hand. For another thing, being in position can let you try and steal the pot away on the turn or river if your opponent shows further weakness on those streets.

Facing this same situation out of position is much riskier as your opponent has control of the hand and gets to act behind you on every street. I'm much more likely to throw my over-cards away here and look to play a better hand later on.

While position can be a key factor in determining if you carry on with your over-cards, the texture of the board is also something to be considered. On a flop like the one earlier – 8-5-3 rainbow – I'm much more likely to at least see the turn with my two over-cards than I am if the flop is more coordinated, like 9-8-7 or something that brings flush or straight draw possibilities. Why? Because unless my opponent is holding a pocket pair, it's just as likely that he missed the flop the same way I did. On a more coordinated flop, there are more ways for my opponent to connect and, even if I hit one of my cards, I could be drawing dead against a flush or straight.

If I'm in a pot with multiple opponents, I'm even more likely to play my over-cards conservatively because there are that many more hands that can easily beat me. Where I might try to continuation bet the flop against a single player, I'll almost certainly check against multiple players because I don't want to give someone the chance to raise behind me and force me to give up chips I don't need to waste.

If someone does bet and another player calls, I can very easily give up my hand without having lost too much. If, on the other hand, someone else bets and the action folds back to me, I can determine whether I want to fold, call or possibly even raise in an attempt to steal the pot myself.

When all is said and done, the key to playing over-cards successfully is not to fall in love with your starting hand no matter how pretty it may first appear. Play your hand smart after the flop and you can avoid an ugly result.

Nicknamed "The Professor"
2 WSOP bracelets
2 WPT titles
2003 WPT "Player of the Year"

Learn, Chat and Play with Howard in London!

Howard Lederer plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

After college, Howard moved to New York to pursue his passion for chess. It was in the back room of a chess club that he discovered poker - he was immediately hooked. For the next two years, he played poker relentlessly, clocking 70 to 80 hours a week. He went home broke nine nights out of 10.

Luckily, Howard found the Mayfair Club and became part of a group of players who were the first to experiment with No-Limit Hold 'em in New York. They'd start at 4PM and wind down by 2AM, when all the players would go to a bar for a lively discussion of the day's game. Everyone was new to the game, but the ideas flowed freely and their games improved dramatically.

In order to take his game to the next level, Howard moved to Las Vegas in 1993. Howard's game continued to improve and he earned his first of two Hall of Fame titles when he won the $2,500 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw event at the 1994 Hall of Fame Poker Classic. A year later, Howard earned his second title by defending his Deuce to Seven Draw title at the 1995 Hall of Fame Poker Classic.

After five more years of hard work, Howard won the first of his two gold bracelets in the $5,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event at the 2000 WSOP. A year later, he won his second gold bracelet in the $5,000 Deuce to Seven event at the 2001 WSOP.

Howard continued to hone his skills and in November of 2002, won his first WPT Championship title in at Foxwoods. In March of 2003, Howard won his second WPT Championship title in the $5,000 Limit Hold 'em event on The Poker Million cruise.

Just one month later, Howard won the first of his three Bellagio titles in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold 'em event at the 2003 Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic. His second Bellagio win was in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold 'em event in April 2004. His third Bellagio title came just 13 days later in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event.

Though Howard plays a more limited tournament schedule these days, he still loves to compete – and to beat the competition. In December 2007, he reached the final televised table at the prestigious Poker Millions in London. He quickly followed that up in January 2008 when he won $1.25 million – the largest payday of his career - after winning the $100K buy-in tournament at the Aussie Millions.

When’s he not playing, Howard enjoys providing commentary and analysis on FullTiltPoker "Learn from the Pros" and FSN's "Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament," lending credence to his nickname, "The Professor."

Further cementing his nickname, Howard enjoys running a Poker Fantasy Camp where people can play with and learn from the best in the game -- just like you can when you play on FullTiltPoker.com.

Playing Large Fields

Howard Lederer

During the World Series of Poker, players are confronted with massive fields. For example, in the 2007 WSOP*, nearly 3,000 players bought into the first $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em event. Throughout the Series, it was common to see starting fields of 1,500 to 2,000. Many players who are accustomed to playing in smaller tournaments can be overwhelmed by the prospect of competing against so many people. Some feel they need to make major adjustments to their games in order to be competitive. They play faster than they normally would, playing marginal hands and looking for opportunities to gamble.

I think this is a big mistake. You should never alter your strategy to compensate for the size of the field. When you sit down to play in a tournament, you should concentrate only on things you can control. Whether you're playing against 200 or 2,000 players, you should be focused on how you're going to beat the other players at your table. Let the rest of the tournament take care of itself. If you manage to make good decisions against your opponents, you'll have the opportunity to accumulate chips and survive as the field dwindles.

Think of it this way: if you were playing in a tournament where the blinds double every hour, the difference between beating a 300 person field and a 2,400 person field is a matter of surviving an extra three hours. If you manage to stick around, you'll have the opportunity for a nice payday. But if you gamble excessively in the early stages and bust out, you've got no chance at all.

In any tournament, the determining factor in whether you should play a given hand is the size of the blinds. If you have 10,000 in chips and the blinds are 50 and 100, there's no need to play A-J in early position. But if you have 10,000 in chips and the blinds are 1,000 and 2,000, you need to move in with that same hand. It's the blind structure that should determine how you play, not the number of players in the event.

In the WSOP* Main Event, I've seen a lot of players feel pressured by the vast size of the field. But it's a false pressure. The Main Event has a great structure. The blinds increase slowly, so you can play patiently and look for your spots.

You can't win any large event in the first hour or the first day, so don't worry about what's happening elsewhere in a tournament. Play your game and do your best to beat the players at your table. It's the surest path to success in any tournament, no matter the size of the field.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrahs"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with Full Tilt Poker or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

Nicknamed "JJ"
3 WSOP Bracelets
3 Best All Around Player awards
5 WPT final tables

Learn, Chat and Play with John in London!

John Juanda plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

John started playing tournaments in 1996 and won the World Poker Open Championship in 2001. The following year, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet (in the Ace to Five Triple Draw Lowball event), and then won two more WSOP events in 2003.

In 2002, John was named Tournament Champion of the Year, and was the 2001 and 2002 Runner-Up in the Card Player "Player of the Year" standings. He also has three Best All-Around Player awards.

John made 15 final tables in 2004, and placed fifth in both the 2005 Five-Star World Poker Classic and the 2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Most recently, he earned nearly $500,000 in Monte Carlo, Monaco after winning the Monte Carlo Millions Consolation tournament, finishing sixth in the Monte Carlo Millions Main Event, and finishing second at "The FullTiltPoker.Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo."

Recently, John beat out some of the best poker players in the world including Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Jason Gray, and Jeff Lisandro to win the 2006 Aussie Millions Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge. He received $1,000,000 in Australian Dollars, which works out to around $732,000 in U.S. Dollars, and that suits him fine.

Don't Play a Big Pot Unless You Have a Big Hand

John Juanda

I'm at Foxwoods playing the $2,000 No Limit Hold 'em event. We all started with $3,000 and now I've got $15,000. At my table is Richard Tatalovitch, a player whom I've competed against many times.

I raise pre-flop from middle position with K-J offsuit and Richard calls from the big blind. The flop comes 9-6-4 with two diamonds on the board.

Richard hesitates for a moment before checking, and I put in a pot-sized bet. Richard thinks for a while and calls. All of a sudden, I don't like my hand -- so much.

Imagine my relief when a non-diamond J hits the turn. Now I have top pair and a pretty good kicker. Then Richard comes out betting. Uh-oh.

Now, let me back up a moment and mention that when someone hesitates before checking, it's usually a huge tell. But Richard is the king of delayed action, so I ignored his tell and bet the flop anyway. And his bet on the turn just screams, "Raise me! I dare you!"

I go into the tank and my thoughts go something like this:

1. He flopped a set. That explains the smooth call on the flop - he's trying to trap me into staying, hoping I'll bet the turn, too.

2. No. If he had a set, he'd have checked the turn and waited for me to hang myself right then and there, or let me catch something on the river. He can't have a set.

3. The jack helped him. I don't have the jack of diamonds. Maybe he does, and he called the flop with a jack-high flush draw. If so, I like my kicker and my hand.

4. He's betting on the come with a flush or straight draw and is hoping to buy the pot right there.

I run through these possibilities and reach no conclusion.

Normally, I would just call here. We both have a lot of chips, and I don't want to put them all in with nothing but top pair. Then, I have the misfortune to remember a hand from a month earlier at Bellagio:

Richard had been running bad and was complaining about a string of horrific beats. I saw him check and call with top boat because he was afraid of quads! A guy that afraid of monsters under the bed isn't going to check-call top set on the flop with a flush draw out there.

"All in!" I declared.

Oops. This is now a Big Pot. And rest assured, top pair doesn't even resemble a Big Hand.

In the four years I've been playing with him, I've never seen him call so fast. I am drawing dead to his perfectly-played 9-9.

Sometimes, we all forget that big cards don't always equal a big hand and that the smart move can be to play conservatively instead of going for the quick kill. As for Richard - he had the good sense to be in a Big Pot with a Big Hand, and the patience to make it pay off.

2 WSOP Bracelets
Co-Author of Super System 2
Male or female, one of the world's best poker players

Learn, Chat and Play with Jennifer in London!

Jennifer Harman plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

Despite a reputation as a cash game player, Jennifer is making her mark in the tournament world. She won her first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2000 playing Deuce to Seven No-Limit, and her second bracelet in 2002 in the $5K Limit Hold 'em event. Jennifer is the only woman in the world with two bracelets in the open events.

Jennifer took a year off to have major surgery but came back strong. Since returning to the circuit, she's finished fourth at the World Poker Tour Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, fifth in the inaugural Professional Poker Tour event, and second in the WSOP Circuit Championship Event at the Rio.

During her time off, she wrote the Limit Hold 'em chapter for Super System 2, considered the Bible for any player getting serious about poker.

When she's not playing in tournaments, you can find her at the highest limit cash games at Bellagio playing among the best players in the world or playing online at FullTiltPoker.com.

Big Blind Play in Limit Hold'em

Jennifer Harman

In Limit Hold 'em, the big blind is one of the toughest position to play. You're out of position, and that's never a good thing, but usually, you'll be getting excellent odds to continue with the hand. Against a single opponent who has raised, you'll be getting better than 3 to 1 and, in most hands, you're no more than a 2 to 1 dog. The problem is, you'll often find yourself going into the flop with shaky cards and, at that point, you're sure to face some tough decisions.

Before I talk about some tricky situations that develop in the big blind, I want to note that you can make your life a little easier by folding some hands pre-flop. If you're holding a medium Ace and you're facing an early position raise from a player who you know plays only good cards up front, then fold. It may seem like you're getting a nice price to continue, but in this spot, you're only going to get into trouble. When you miss the flop completely, it's going to be tough to continue and, if you hit an Ace, you may lose a lot to a hand that has you dominated. I'd rather play 6-7 against an early position raise from a tight player than A-7.

There are some hole cards that are just hopeless. If I'm facing a raise from any position and I find something like J-2, T-3, or 9-4. I'm going to surrender the hand.

The really difficult situations arise when you hold a mediocre hand, something like A-8 or pocket 6s, and you face a raise from late position. Many players will raise with just about anything in the cutoff or on the button, so it's tough to know where you stand with these medium strength hands.

What should you do?

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. My best advice is to vary your play so as to take advantage of a particular opponent's tendencies. For example, if you hold A-8 in the big blind and face a late-position raise from a player who tends to be a little weak after the flop, you should probably re-raise pre-flop and then follow up with a bet on the flop most of the time. Against this type of player, this kind of action will force a lot of folds.

If the opponent who raises in late position is tricky and very aggressive post flop, I'll often call the pre-flop raise and then check-raise on most flops, whether or not I got a piece of the board. Even if the check-raise doesn't win the pot, this move helps keep a tough, aggressive player off balance.

Of course, you'll need to consider the flop as you move forward in the hand. If you call a pre-flop raise with pocket 6s and see a flop of T-Q-K, there's little point in going to war. Give your opponent credit for some hand that beats yours and look for a better spot. But this doesn't mean that you should be willing to give up on anything less than top pair.

Against a single opponent, I'll play second pair pretty aggressively. Sometimes, I'll lead at the pot with this hand, and sometimes, I'll check-raise with it. Taking this aggressive approach with a shaky hand allows me to play my big hands in the same manner. When my opponents see me check-raise, they won't know if I'm making this play with as little as second pair or as much as a set.

As I said earlier, playing from the big blind in limit poker is tricky. In my opinion, it's one of the toughest spots in all of poker. My best advice is that you should stay alert to your opponent's tendencies and look to mix up your play. If you're on your game, it will be tough for other players to put you on a hand while you'll have a pretty good idea of what they're doing.

Good luck.

Nicknamed "Clever Piggy"
5 WSOP Bracelets
Finished fourth at the 2006 WSOP Main Event
2005 WSOP Player of the Year

Learn, Chat and Play with Allen in London!

Allen Cunningham plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Allen attended UCLA where he planned on pursuing an Engineering degree. While he enjoyed his studies, Allen also discovered that playing poker in some of the local casinos was an enjoyable and profitable past time. Soon, the success he experienced at the tables led Allen to leave school and pursue poker full time. It's a move he hasn't regretted.

At the table, Allen's engineering background has led him toward an analytical approach to the game. Allen remains quiet, controlled, and focused no matter what happens around him.

This style has paid off for him, beginning around 1999 when he enjoyed his first professional success at the Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker. That year, he was named "Best All Around Player" after reaching the final table in five events, including victories in the $300 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament and the $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament.

Two years later, Allen won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $5,000 7-Card Stud tournament. He followed that up with another bracelet in 2002 when he won the $5,000 Deuce to Seven No-Limit tournament.

Allen had another strong WSOP in 2005; reaching four final tables and earning his third bracelet for winning the $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament. His performance also earned him a brand new pick-up truck and the title of ESPN/Toyota WSOP Player of the Year.

In 2006, Allen won his fourth WSOP bracelet in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament, and finished fourth at the WSOP Main Event earning $3.6 Million. In 2007, Allen’s picked up where he left off, winning his third bracelet in three years - and the fifth of his career - in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold ‘em event. This victory ties Allen with fellow Team Full Tilt members Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson on the all-time bracelet list and makes him one of just 16 pros who have earned five or more bracelets throughout their careers.

In addition to his WSOP titles, Allen has also earned victories in the Ultimate Poker Challenge's $3,000 No-Limit Hold 'em tournament and at the $5,000 No-Limit Hold 'em event at the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic.

With all that he's accomplished, Allen's still proudest of the title he recently earned from his peers who voted him the Best All-Around Player under 35. He hopes to hold on to that reputation for quite awhile.

Even when he's not playing tournaments, you can usually find Allen at a poker table. He enjoys playing a variety of cash games, including Pot-Limit Omaha and mixed games like HORSE. He also plays online regularly at FullTiltPoker.com

Stealing the Blinds

Allen Cunningham

The middle stages of a poker tournament can be a tortuous and tedious experience for even the most seasoned pro. The long trek toward the money, combined with a variety of potentially tricky scenarios you may face along the way, make it difficult to come up with one sure-fire strategy to help you through. That said, one aspect of mid-tourney play that’s extremely important is picking up pots pre-flop.

If you’ve been card dead in the first few levels you may only have as many chips as what you started with, or you may have been lucky enough to double or triple up early on. You may be minutes or hours away from making the money, depending on the number of entrants, and the average chip stack may be 20, 30 or even 40BB, based on the structure.

No matter what the situation is, however, it’s important to remember that once the blinds start to represent a decent percentage of your stack, you want to steal as much as possible. Raising the blinds a fair amount also balances your play and gets your big hands paid off more often. You’ll lose a few of your raises with speculative hands when people come over the top of you or call, but you’ll win a few as well, and raising will convince people to play back at you on those times when you happen to have big hands.

Bear in mind it’s still important to pick your spots. Continue to play tight from early position – stick to big pairs and AK – but from late position, start to attack the blinds with a variety of playable hands. At this stage of the tournament, if you’re going to play a hand, you should be coming into the pot with a raise every single time.

From the cutoff or hijack, for example, I’m going to open with hands like 9Ts, any Ax suited, all pairs, two picture cards, and even looser hands than that from the button. If I’m in late position and facing a raise, I’m either going to want to smooth-call with a really good hand or re-raise bluff them to pick up the pot pre-flop.

If somebody makes a pre-flop raise that’s more than 10% of my stack and I have a hand I want to play, I’ll consider moving all-in over the top of them. Any smaller re-raise commits me to the hand and flat-calling gives me no idea of where I’m at. If I smooth-call, my opponent is likely to bet first after the flop and without top pair or an over-pair, I’m going to be forced to either fold the best hand or, possibly, move all-in with the worst hand.

For example, let’s say somebody opens in mid-to-late position for 300 and you’re on the button with T-T and 2,000 in chips. In this situation, I would assume the raiser is opening with any two picture cards, any pair or suited Aces, so a hand like T-T is definitely strong enough to play against their range.

I think the best play here is to move all-in. This will put some pressure on your opponent if they don’t have a very good hand and they’ll be likely to fold. This move also helps you avoid the trouble you might face if you just smooth-call the raise and over-cards come on the flop. If you’re holding T-T and the flop comes Jack or King high, you really have no idea what your opponent has if they lead out, which means you will probably have to fold.

I’d recommend moving all-in with 8-8 or 9-9 in this situation too because you’ll get more action pre-flop and maximize the value from your coin flips. If someone raises pre-flop with A-Q and you elect to just call with a mid-pocket pair, they’re likely to miss the flop and check-fold. However, if you go all-in over the top and they call, you have a good chance to take their whole stack and set yourself up for the rest of the tournament.

By moving all-in with hands like A-K, A-Q, 9-9 and T-T in these situations, you’re giving yourself more opportunities to win pots by either getting your opponents to lay down marginal hands, or to make calls that put them in coin-flip situations. By mixing up your game a little and making these moves with monsters every once in awhile, you can also get your opponents to make some calls where they’re huge dogs.

Remember, the first goal of tournament poker is to make it into the money. By aggressively attacking blinds and antes when you think you’re likely to be a favorite in the hand, you can build a stack that will help carry you through the tough patches you may face in the middle stages, and put you in position to play for the win once the bubble bursts.

Three WSOP Bracelets
Over $6.5 Million in Career Tournament Earnings
Winner of the 2005 Tournament of Champions
First Player to Make 2 Separate $1 Million Cashes in 1 Year

Learn, Chat and Play with Mike in London!

Mike Matusow plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Like many other professional players, Mike's career began as a dealer. After countless hours spent turning cards and analyzing hands, he decided to put his money where his mouth was and start playing for himself. He honed his skills playing late-night games at Sam's Town Casino in Las Vegas and, after achieving some success, decided to play full time.

Mike earned his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 1999 and his second in 2002. He had another strong showing at the 2005 WSOP, finishing ninth in the Main Event and cashing for $1 million. Shortly thereafter, he followed up his Main Event performance by winning the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions and earning his second million-dollar payday of the year.

In 2006, Mike finished second in the No-Limit Hold 'em event at the Las Vegas "FullTiltPoker.Net Pro Showdown from Red Rock Casino," and three days later he finished third in the No-Limit Hold 'em event at the Tournament of Champions, also in Las Vegas. Just a month later, Mike had a final table appearance in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold 'em event at the 2006 WSOP, where he finished seventh and cashed for almost $90,000.

2007 held more successes for Mike. He took second in the prestigious Bellagio Cup III WPT No-Limit Hold 'em Championship event, taking home $671,320 for his effort. Mike's performance followed a successful campaign at the 2007 WSOP where he posted three top-20 finishes and cashed for more than $125,000.

Since the beginning of 2008, Mike's had several more solid performances. After a lucrative ninth-place finish in the National Heads-Up Championship where he earned $25K, Mike ran deep in the Wynn Classic to earn another $26K. But it was Event 18 of the WSOP where he hit his stride. He bested an all-star field of 85 entries in the $5K No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball event and took home over $537K - and his third WSOP bracelet.

If you want to learn more about Mike, you can chat with him at FullTiltPoker.com.

Finding the Low Cards in Omaha Hi/Lo

Mike Matusow

A while back, I played a hand in an Omaha Hi/Lo Limit tournament that had everyone at my table jumping off their chairs. They thought I was crazy and couldn't believe my play. But I made the right move. In fact, the play illustrates an important Omaha Hi/Lo concept that's not widely understood.

Here's how the hand went down.

It was a nine-handed table. The under-the-gun player raised and another early position player three-bet. Two other players called the bet cold. It came around to me in the big blind, where I held 9-K-Q-2. This is usually considered a pretty trashy Omaha-8 hand. But I didn't fold here; I four-bet. I then flopped the nuts and took down a huge pot. When they saw my hand, the players went crazy. How could I four-bet with that kind of trash?

I could do it because I made some good assumptions based on the way my opponents played their hands. This was a tournament, where most players tend to be pretty cautious. Few will play any hands that don't contain Aces, and just about everyone is sticking to hands with a lot of low cards.

So when the under-the-gun player raised, I felt pretty confident in assuming that he had an Ace with some other low cards. The same goes for the player who three bet. The two callers must also have had hands that they thought were pretty strong. I could be all but certain that all four aces were dealt to these players, and that they held a lot of the deck's low cards.

I was also confident that, in this hand, the flop was going to come at the high end of the deck and that I'd have a chance to sweep a huge pot because there would be no qualifying low. And that's exactly what happened.

This hand shows that in Omaha Hi/Lo, you can often make some good assumptions as to what cards remain in the deck and what the flop is likely to hold. For another example, say that you're in the big blind and it's folded to the cutoff, who raises. You see 9-T-J-Q. With all but one player folding, you can be pretty sure that almost everyone else held a number of medium and high cards. So the deck is ripe with low cards, which will probably help your lone opponent's hand. Your best move is to fold this hand pre-flop and wait for a better spot.

Of course, the better your position, the more information you'll have. So you shouldn't even consider playing certain hands in early position. Something like 2-3-4-5 might be playable from the button or the big blind if there hasn't been a lot of action. The lack of raising would show that the Aces haven't been distributed and are still in the deck. But in early position, you just don't know what's out, so you need to muck the hand. The same goes for hands like T-T-J-Q and T-J-Q-K. There are times when prior action will show you that these hands are worthy of a three-bet or four-bet. But in early position, it's best to just let these kinds of hands go.

Being able to predict a flop is part of what makes Omaha Hi/Lo so much fun. You really can't do these sorts of things in Hold 'em. If you hone these skills, you're sure to be a tough Omaha Hi/Lo player.

Member of The Hendon Mob
Expert Poker Commentator

Learn, Chat and Play with Barny in London!

Barny Boatman plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Before becoming a poker pro, Barny worked in countless jobs; from movie reviewer to chief computer programmer for a multinational company. He loves adventure and has always been a traveler, living and working in such disparate places as Barcelona, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka.

In recent years, Barny has worked as a commentator for numerous televised poker tournaments, including Late Night Poker, The World Heads Up, The Poker Million, Poker Million the Masters, The Victor Cup, Celebrity Poker Club, The European Poker Tour, and The Poker Nations Cup. He has also recorded a television series called Barny's Home Games, a show in which he visits and plays in home games all around Great Britain. He'd love to do the same thing in the U.S.A. some time.

Along with the rest of the Hendon Mob, Barny runs thehendonmob.com, Europe's foremost poker portal. He's very proud of the site, mostly because their famous players database is visited by thousands of visitors from around the world every day.

Like most tournament players, Barny focuses mainly on No-Limit Hold 'em. He has been at the final table of many major events around the world, including the Master Classics, the European Open, the Irish Championships, the British Open, the Euro Finals of Poker, the Aussie Millions, and The Poker Million. His recent victories include the Finnish Open Championship.

Barny started out as a 7-Card Stud player and, in 1999, was Europe's top-ranked player. He topped the European Omaha rankings in 2000 and 2001, and won the European Championship 7-Card Stud event in 2002. Barny was Britain's top finisher in the World Series of Poker Main Event in both 2000 and 2001. In 2002, Barny set a new record by reaching three WSOP final tables in a row, earning him the award for outstanding tournament performance of the year.

If you want to learn more about Barny, join him at the table on FullTiltPoker.com.

Taking Your Hands Off the Wheel

Barny Boatman

There's no question that poker includes an element of gamble. Any time you risk something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome, you're gambling. But there is a way in which poker is the exact opposite of gambling, because poker is all about making intelligent decisions. It's all about control.

Gambling, in its purest form - buying a lottery ticket or backing a number on roulette - is to deliberately relinquish control of your money and leave the outcome to fate. If it's your day, if the Gods so wish it, you will get lucky. In poker, on the other hand, you're always striving to leave as little to chance as possible.

So how do you achieve control in tournament poker? Is it by avoiding gambles? By only playing strong starting cards? Only betting made hands and never bluffing or drawing? Of course not.

If you sit and wait for good hands all the way through a tournament then, like the roulette player keeping faith with their favorite number, you're leaving the outcome to chance. The great paradox of tournament poker is that in order to stay in control you have, amongst other things, to choose the right moments to gamble.

If you're doing 75 on the freeway and are just a few feet from the car in front of you, then even if you're the world's best driver, you're out of control because if the car ahead suddenly brakes, you can't avoid a crash. So it is with a stack which is too short to make opponents pass for a re-raise. Any time an opponent applies the brakes, your stacks will collide - at a time of their choosing - and you will need luck to survive.

In order to stay in control, you must strive to maintain a playable stack, which can mean pushing over the top of a late raise with the worst hand when you have a good chance of making your opponent fold. You don't want to have to make this play, but you have to recognize when it's the right time to put your chips in the pot. Too soon and it's a reckless unnecessary risk. Too late, and it's transparent and unlikely to work. Too often and you develop a credibility problem.

Sometimes your stack has gotten so low that you know you'll be in a showdown the next time you enter a pot. The only control you have left is the choice of when to push, and even there you are running out of room to maneuver. Don't just wait until you're all-in on the big blind. Instead, look for situations where you'll be in a showdown with the best possible ratio of chips to opponents, and where your cards are liable to be live. A well-timed gamble will give you a shot at regaining a playable stack.

Some very good tournament players deliberately seek early gambles in big pots; happy to get all their chips in at the first level with a flush draw against two pair, because they feel the edge and extra control a big stack would give them is worth that early risk. That wouldn't be my approach in a deep stack event, but I understand the reasoning behind that style of play.

In tournament poker the balance between gamble and control is constantly changing. Recognizing where you and your opponents are in this shifting landscape will help you make good decisions and give you a vital edge.

Nicknamed "Rocky"
Member of The Hendon Mob
He is an accomplished actor with numerous television and stage appearances

Learn, Chat and Play with Ross in London!

Ross Boatman plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Ross was a regular at Stella's poolroom. It was a lively place with plenty of action, but what really caught Ross' attention was the back room where they played poker. Ross didn't have the money to play with those guys, but they let him sit and watch, and he learned plenty.

A few years later, Ross was playing in a regular game with friends and it provided a lot of fun and lasted for years. Eventually though, it reached a point when all his friends owed him so much money that none of them wanted to see him anymore. It was then that he decided he would rather keep his friends than their money. He stopped playing with them and made his first visit to a casino; the Victoria Sporting Club.

Ross was a regular at the Victoria for several years, playing mostly cash games. Bit by bit though, the tournament bug began to take its grip and by the mid-90's, he had hit the road and was playing in small tournaments all over the U.K. Since then, Ross has traveled far and wide. He's won tournaments and made final tables in, England, France, Holland, Wales, Slovenia, Spain, Ireland, Austria, Australia, Monte Carlo and the U.S. Just recently, Ross placed sixth in the No-Limit Hold 'em event at the 2006 European Poker Tour Grand Final.

If you want to learn more about Ross, join him at the table on FullTiltPoker.com.

How to Bluff Against a Solid Player

Ross Boatman

When trying to steal pots in No-Limit Hold'em, you have to ask yourself questions like: "How likely is it that my opponent has a hand?" and "Does my bet (bluff) make sense in the context of the way the hand played out?"

Asking these questions is important. Answering them accurately is critical.

A recent example of a bluff and counter-bluff came up at the $5K No-Limit Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker. I was down to the final two tables and had 6-2 off-suit in the big blind. The small blind called and I checked. The flop came down J-T-6 with two diamonds. My opponent checked and I thought, "I'll take one shot at this." I had a pair and position, and I was going to try to take the pot right there. When my opponent called, I pretty much gave up on the pot.

The next card came a diamond, making a possible flush, and my opponent checked again. I also checked, giving him a pretty good idea that I didn't have the flush. The river card was a blank and he came out betting.

I knew I didn't have a hand, but my read made me pretty sure he didn't have one either. I didn't think he'd hit a flush, and I knew I could make it look like I was trapping on the turn with a flush myself so, after he bet $16,000, I raised to $50,000. After about a minute, he let go of the hand.

Now, let's take another look at the action here. When my opponent checked the flop, I saw the opportunity to make a play and tried to steal the pot. He obviously called with some kind of hand. We both checked the turn when the possible flush came and he led out after the river brought no obvious help to either of us. He could have been trying to trap me with the flush, but I just didn't read it that way. When he tried to steal the pot, I couldn't just call even though he almost surely had my 6 beat. Still, I was pretty sure I could make him lay down his hand with a raise.

For these types of plays to be successful, you have to think ahead of the bet you're making and ask yourself how likely it is that the player has a made hand. He had to have a flush to call my raise on the river unless he thought I was making a play.

Any bluff or counter-bluff you make has to be calculated. Any play should be based on some information from the betting, the player, or from some any reads that you're able to make. This one wasn't so much a read on the player, but a read on the situation. Even though it was possible he had made his flush, I wasn't convinced. That's why I thought I could make him believe I had connected by raising on the river. To him, the action made sense. It looked like I'd made a semi-bluff on the flop, betting with a draw. I'd checked on the turn in order for him to bet on the river so I could raise him with a made hand. He was an intelligent player and I think that's the way he read it back to himself.

You always have to try and gather as much information as you can before you make those kinds of plays. You need to know that the player you're up against is intelligent enough to read the situation. You don't want to be making an advanced play like that on somebody who's not going to be able to make sense of it.

By making smart reads and taking advantage of these opportunities over the course of a tournament, you can help build your chip stack and put yourself in contention for the final table.

Nicknamed "The Elegance"
Member of The Hendon Mob

Learn, Chat and Play with Joe in London!

Joe Beevers plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Joe is the only person of The Hendon Mob who actually lives in Hendon. Joe used to play as part of a blackjack team that traveled around to various London-area casinos. It was while playing in a casino in Luton (26 miles from London) that Joe got invited to play in his first poker tournament. It was a $10 Stud re-buy event and Joe didn't fare particularly well. Joe became determined to learn and play better. He was at University at the time, studying finance, and by the time he left with his BA, he was making enough money not to go back into full-time work.

He traveled around Europe with Barny, Ram and Ross, playing in most of the major festivals and, in 1999, was invited to play in the first ever televised poker tournament, Late Night Poker. They set up thehendonmob.com as a contact point for poker sponsorship and the brand quickly became one of the best known in poker circles. They continued to attract media on both national and international levels, and became forerunners in corporate poker sponsorship.

Joe has had a fair amount of success in televised poker tournaments, making three of the six Late Night Poker final tables. He finished second in SKY TV's Poker Million - The Masters, second in the 2004 World Poker Championship in Dublin, and he also made the final table of the 2004 Victor Poker Cup.

His first major success was in the 1997 Master Classics of Poker, and he also won the 2001 Irish Prelim Open, the 2002 European Omaha Championship, the 2003 Irish Open, and the 2004 Four Queens Championship event. His best cash came in 2005 when he finished seventh in the World Poker Tour Championship event at the Bellagio, collecting $188,000. He also went deep in the 2005 World Series of Poker Championship, collecting $46,000.

2007 saw Joe’s best year to date. Playing in about 16 hand-picked tournaments, Joe managed to cash in nearly half of them, including a victory at the Great Britain Poker Tour’s Grand Final for £87,000. He followed that up with the first televised victory of his career, taking home $1 million in the Poker Million Grand Final broadcast on Sky TV.

In 2008, Joe became the only British player to qualify for the Great British poker team in three consecutive years, helping the team regain the Poker Nations Cup which they last won in 2006.

Married with twin girls, Millie and Lola, Joe likes to spend his time away from the table surrounded by family and friends, and watching live sporting events whenever possible.

If you want to learn more about Joe, join him at the table on FullTiltPoker.com.

The Pain Barrier - Manipulating Your Opponent

Joe Beevers

There are many factors that affect your decisions at the poker table. Obviously, the cards you're dealt often dictate whether you'll even consider getting involved in a hand, but they're just one part of the equation.

Once you're playing, things like your physical state can also affect your play. If you're hungry, tired or even a little drunk, you're not likely to play your best, and your decisions may not be as smart. Emotion is a factor too. When you're winning, you often feel like you can make any hand you need to win a pot. When you're losing, however, a continued string of beats can seem unbearable. This can lead to tilt and keep you from playing at the top of your game.

Using this kind of information against your opponents is one of the keys to becoming a winning player. If you know they're a little tired or a little tilted, you can determine if they're likely to call a well-timed bet or bluff.

For example, let's say you river the nuts and want to induce your opponent to put more money into the pot. What do you do? The answer often depends on your opponent, and what size bet you think you can get them to call.

One factor to consider is how well your opponent is doing in the game. Are they winning or losing? Let's say you know a player sat down with $500 and they now have $710. This player is much more likely to call a bet of $140 to $170 on the river than a bet of $220 or $250, because the additional money pushes them through what I like to call their "pain barrier".

For your opponent, calling a $170 bet means they'll still be up for the session, even if they lose the pot. Calling $220 or more means they'll be down. For many players, the psychological difference between these two scenarios is huge, even if they don't realize it.

There are other factors that can help you manipulate your opponent's pain barrier at the table. For example, a player who is sitting with case money (i.e., they don't have any more money in their pocket or stored in the cashier) is much more likely to be pushed off a hand by a big bet if they're holding any kind of marginal hand. The pain barrier becomes even more effective if you know your opponent is about to quit the game. They might have had a phone call from a spouse or be going to dinner soon; then the $250 bet in the situation above works even more often, as most players don't want to finish their session on a losing note.

Obviously, using the pain barrier won't work every time but, if used properly, it's a great weapon to have in your arsenal.

Nicknamed "The Monk"
A devout Buddhist, he stays focused at tournaments by meditating during breaks
Finished fifth at the 2005 WSOP Main Event

Learn, Chat and Play with Andy in London!

Some bad beats hit you like a train. Others haunt you in the dead of night. Still others, like the ones that sidelined Andy Black after successive World Series of Poker appearances in the late 90s, will put you on a path to enlightenment.

Raised during the height of "The Troubles" in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Black learned poker from his mother. She taught him the game in order to distract him from the sectarian violence inflaming the world outside their home. It also helped with his focus. As a young man, Black did so well in school that he went on to study law at Dublin's Trinity College. In the end, however, the draw of card rooms was a bigger pull than court rooms.

Black's first major tournament was the 1997 WSOP Main Event. He was seated with poker legend Stu Ungar, and the two gregarious men struck up a fast, albeit short, friendship. To Black, it seemed like the future hall of famer was taking him under his wing. Ungar had other plans. He used every tool in his arsenal, including trust, to separate Black from his chips. Black was crushed. He was sucker punched and only had himself to blame. Little did he know that Ungar, who went on to win that Main Event, had actually given Black his first lesson in Buddhism. After all, Black wanted to win more than anything, but a Buddhist can only attain Nirvana through desirelessness.

The following year, Black returned to the WSOP Main Event with a documentary team in tow. They were supposed to chronicle his triumphant return but instead they got a close-up of his agonizing defeat. Thus began Black's five-year sabbatical from poker. He gave away all his possessions, moved to England, and started living an austere life as a strict Buddhist.

Thanks to his devotion to Buddhism, Black returned to poker in 2004 with a firmer grip on his emotions. With a keen single-mindedness, he racked up impressive wins at European tournaments, World Poker Tour events and, in 2005, he entered the WSOP, finishing fifth in the Main Event.

Besides achieving Zen at the poker tables and by playing online at Full Tilt Poker, Black attains fulfillment by donating his time and effort to charitable organizations and causes.

Playing Aces in PLO

Andy Black

Players who are new to Pot-Limit Omaha tend to make more mistakes with Aces than with any other hand. They get themselves into really tough situations - ones where they can lose a lot of money. Avoiding these spots is one of the keys to playing PLO profitably.

Here's the kind of situation that newer PLO players sometimes find themselves in. Say it's a $2/$5 game where all the players have about $500 in front of them. There's an early position raise to $15 and a player in middle position with A-A-x-x re-raises to $50. Four players call the $50. Now the flop comes down J-7-2, rainbow.

The Aces might be good here, or they might not. It's very hard to know. This is the kind of spot where it's very easy to make a big mistake - either by putting in a lot of money while a huge underdog, or by folding the best hand.

Novice PLO players get in this sort of trouble because they don't really understand how Omaha differs from Hold 'em. In Hold 'em, if you start with a big pair like Kings or Aces, you know you're a big favorite before the flop. But this isn't the case with Omaha. For example, pre-flop, Ac-Ad-4s-7h will win only 51 percent of the time when heads up against Js-Ts-9h-8h. Throw a couple of other hands in the mix, and Aces become extremely vulnerable.

Because so many hands are so evenly matched, Omaha is a game where what you catch with the community cards is usually more important than what you start with. You're looking to make big hands - nut straights, nut flushes, and big sets.

Still, hands that contain Aces are usually a decent favorite when played heads up. And, with Aces, you always have the opportunity to make top set or, if you're suited, a nut flush. So you're going to want to play these hands, but you often want to be more cautious pre-flop.

If there's a raise in early position, you don't have to re-raise with A-A-x-x, especially if that re-raise would commit you for only a small portion of your stack. When all the players have deep stacks, a few will be happy to call your bet and see a flop. Then you're likely to find yourself in the sort of situation described at the beginning of this tip. You won't know if your hand has held up on most flops. And when you do hit your set of Aces, you're not likely to get a lot of action, as your opponents won't have much difficulty putting you on a hand.

However, there are some occasions when you want to play Aces aggressively pre-flop. When there's been a lot of action and a raise will allow you to get about three-quarters of your stack in before the flop, go ahead and make that big bet. At that point, you're looking to force some folds and, hopefully, play heads up. With that much money committed, you know the rest of your stack will be going in on the flop no matter what comes.

Of course, once you're in the hand, your Aces can lead to some very profitable post-flop situations. You might catch top set while an opponent makes a lower one or your nut flush might take a big pot from someone who made a lower flush.

So slow down with your Aces pre-flop in PLO. Your deceptive play will win you some big pots when you make a big hand. Plus, you'll avoid losing a lot when the board doesn't fall your way.

Nicknamed "Gentleman Ben"
The UK's most successful cash game player

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Ben Roberts plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Ben was born in Persia, but moved to London when he was a teenager. A few years later, he also started playing poker. He was on holiday, sitting with friends on a beach, when someone took out a deck of cards. Ben was hooked from the first deal, and it's never let him go.

Since then, he's honed his skills by playing all over Europe. He focuses on all the No-Limit and Pot-Limit games, mostly out of necessity because those are the only games available on the continent.

Ben's predominately a cash game player, working those tables so he can build up the money necessary for tournament entry fees and expenses. Of the tournaments Ben's played, he's made it to the final table several times, including the $3K Pot-Limit Hold 'em tournament at the 2001 World Series of Poker, the $10K No-Limit Hold 'em tournament at the 2004 Grand Prix de Paris, and the $3K No-Limit Hold 'em tournament at the 2005 Five Diamond Poker Classic.

In 2006, Ben cashed in the Pot Limit Omaha and Short Handed No Limit Hold 'em events at the World Series of Poker. So far, Ben's best finish came in 1998, when he took sixth place at the WSOP Main Event.

Even though he's played poker for years, the game wasn't Ben's first passion. For a long time, he wanted to be a professional snooker player. Even though he was good and had the dedication to make a go of it, there was, as he says, an important element missing from his game... talent. He could see it others, but not in himself. But that all changed when he started playing more and more poker.

Ben still lives in London, and when he's not playing poker, he spends his free time with his children and reading as much as he can.

If you want to learn more about Ben, join him at the table on FullTiltPoker.com.

Tilt Control

Ben Roberts

About two years ago, I wrote On Cavemen and Poker Players, which talked about the importance of learning to control your emotions at the poker table. Since then, I’ve had time to further refine my views on this topic, especially when it comes to the concept of tilt.

To begin, let me state the obvious: tilt happens to everyone. In fact, it’s safe to say that tilt is one of the most feared words – and concepts – in poker. So, what causes tilt? Well, that’s different for everyone. For some, it’s a bad run of cards or continuously getting unlucky when you’re opponents hit their miracle two and three-outers on the river. For others, it’s just playing poorly for an extended period of time.

No matter the cause, however, the fact remains that once most players do finally go on tilt, all bets are off and their games suffer. They end up playing the wrong cards in the wrong situations or at the wrong times and losing a lot of chips. For some players, this can be the beginning of a vicious cycle that feeds upon itself and, eventually, destroys their confidence along with their bankrolls.

Knowing what causes tilt is one thing, but the bigger question is, what is tilt? Personally, I believe it’s a chemical reaction that takes place in your brain. It’s similar to the primal emotion of being in danger, coded into our DNA just as if we’re in the forest being hunted so many thousands or years ago. Instead of being chased by some wild animal, we’re being hunted by other players looking to gun us down with another bad beat.

The effect of this primal emotion is enormous – your whole chemistry changes and you go into a different frame of mind that will completely change the way you play the game. The key to stopping this from happening and going on tilt is the ability to separate yourself from that emotion. Rather than playing based on that primal instinct, you should continue to play smart, thoughtful poker without worrying about your short-term results.

In order to achieve this, you must train yourself to believe that winning and losing at the poker table, at least over a short period of time, both have the same meaning. This might seem counterintuitive at first, because the object of the game is always to win. But you have to accept the fact that you can’t win every hand and that losing is a part of the game.

Look at how you approach a coin flip situation. If you’re winning at the time you’re faced with a coin flip, you’re going to be more hesitant to take that chance because you don’t want to risk losing what you’ve already won (and possibly more). If, on the other hand, you’re presented with the same situation when you’re losing, then you’re probably going to be more willing to take the risk and go for the coin flip because you want to win your money back. Either way, I think both cases are detrimental to your game because in either situation, you’re more worried about the short-term outcome rather than about playing solid poker over the long term, which is what being a winning player is really all about.

When you become indifferent to winning or losing over the short term, you won’t have to worry about going on tilt because you’re focusing simply on playing good poker. That’s all that matters at the end of the day – playing well. As poker players, we can do nothing more than to play our best game and let the cards fall as they may. When you adopt this attitude, your long-term results will take a turn for the better, no matter what kind of variance you face over the short term.

1 WSOP Bracelet
Over $2.9 million in career earnings
19 WSOP cash finishes

Learn, Chat and Play with Rob in London!

Rob Hollink plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Rob Hollink has always been competitive. As a young man, he was an avid sportsman actively engaged in tennis, soccer, and basketball. Unfortunately, his professional career was cut short due to injury. Undaunted, he found a new competitive focus. With strong backgrounds in both mathematics and economics, it came as no surprise when Rob rapidly developed into a solid professional at the poker table.

After experiencing a great deal of success in the casinos in his native Netherlands, Rob turned his efforts to the tournament scene. He immediately established himself in 2001 by taking first place in the 10K Pot-Limit Omaha event at the Euro Finals of Poker in Paris. He immediately followed this up with final table and first place finishes before heading to Vegas for his first WSOP appearance. Going deep, Rob finished 18th in the $5K Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better event. Upon his return to Europe, he finished out the year with several more spectacular tournament finishes.

Since that time, Rob’s been a regular at final tables all over Europe and the US, taking first place in more than 10 events and cashing in 15 WSOP events. Rob closed out 2007 with yet another final table at the EPT Baden Poker Festival, where he finished fourth in the €2K No-Limit Hold ‘em event and took home over €38K.

Since the beginning of 2008, Rob has taken his game to the next level. Following a respectable EPT cash finish in San Remo, Italy, he headed back to the US for the WSOP. Rob went deep and cashed in the $1.5K Pot-Limit Omaha event, but that was only the beginning. Just days later, he took down the $10K World Championship Limit Hold ‘em event to claim $496K and his – as well as the Netherlands’ – first WSOP bracelet.

As a result of his continued tournament successes, he’s established himself as a true professional. If you want to see Rob in action, look for him playing online at Full Tilt Poker.

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