The Theory of Poker – David Sklansky Holdem Poker Book - David Sklansky - Two Plus Two Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players No Limit Hold 'em: Sklansky is a very, very, very smart hold 'em instructor; that said, his other hold 'em book is more useful than this one.But it is, as I said, very focused on game theory, and thus rather dry.Poker. Nov 30, 1987 Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players book. Read 27 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Texas Hold em is not an easy game to play well.
by David SklanskyTwo Plus Two Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 10Editor’s Note: This article was first published in the March, 2012 issue.
The new IGT heads-up limit hold ’em machine plays you even. There is no rake. The rules are the standard ones. The button has the small blind equal to one-fourth of a big bet, and the other player is the big blind, which is half a big bet. So, in a $20-$40 game, the button puts up $10 and the big blind is $20. In this article, when I use numbers, a $20-$40 game will be assumed.
When you buy-in, the machine gets the button on the first hand. From that point on, the button rotates as long as you do not re-buy or add to your stack. If you play the big blind and then add money, you will get the big blind again. Notice, that this is not an edge for the machine as long as you buy-in a large enough amount and you quit on your button. If you do that, you will always be playing with more than enough to play the hand through the river, and on half of those hands, you will have the button.
This is not true if your initial buy-in is not large, perhaps 20 big bets or less. The reason for this is that the button's edge increases as the stack increases up to the point where you have more than enough to play a hand. So, let's say that you bought in only enough to play one hand through the river. Such a strategy gives the machine an edge. Do you see why? The literature seems to indicate that the edge the button has against a good opponent is approximately one-tenth of a big blind EV wise. But, that assumes a full stack. If your first hand is played with just enough chips to go through the river, your second hand when you have the button will often be with a smaller stack and a smaller EV. So, a loss on your first hand will hurt you EV wise. But a win will not help you. (because that extra money won’t be in play the second hand).
IGT probably understood this concept and therefore did not require a large buy-in. In fact, they only require that the initial buy-in be 2½ big blinds. They probably thought that anybody who bought in for that little was giving them an extra edge since they would often go totally broke before they got the button, and they are basically right about that. A player who buys in small with the intention of quitting after two hands, if he gets that far, will find that he gets the button less then 35 percent of the total hands played.
IGT apparently forgot that the button's edge is not exactly proportional to the stack size. In fact, if the stack size is below 1½ big blinds, it’s zero. Do you see why? It's because the button can never fold. If it does, it leaves itself with only one big blind. So it is better off racing for three big blinds since it has at least a 33 percent chance of winning.
Had IGT allowed a buy-in of 1½ big blinds, a 4 year old could beat it because the first hand would be a coin flip. That is there would be no disadvantage to being in the big blind. And, when you did win that first hand, you would have a small advantage on the button somewhere between 2 to 3 percent of a big blind. So playing $20-$40, every other $60 buy-in would theoretically earn about $0.50, and that's about $50 per hour. Add to that the player's club perks available at those casinos that give points and you might be able to increase that to perhaps$80 per hour.
Unfortunately, you cannot buy-in that tiny. The least you can buy-in playing $20-$40 is $50 (or 2½ big blinds) and when you do, the button has an edge on the first hand. But, it's not much, and it comes only from the fact that it can fold pre-flop and you cannot. If you folded, you could save $30. But that's always worse EV wise than racing for a $100 pot. But the button can save $40. So it should fold any hand that is less then 40 percent against two random cards. Now, I can tell you from experience that the button does not play this situation perfectly. But even if it did, its edge is only about 2 percent of a big blind, and it would be folding about 15 percent of the hands and saving about $2.50 on average when it does fold. The remaining 85 percent of the hands will be split about 44½ to 40½. So if you buy-in $100 one hundred times, the machine will make about $40 total when it has the button. You will make about $6 from the 15 times he folds pre-flop, and you play the button with a $110 stack. Plus, you will win some amount the 40 or so hands when you double up and get to play the button with $200. Exactly how much that is, I’m not sure. But I do know that if you play the button decently, it can’t be less then 5 percent of a big blind per hand, and that’s if the machine plays perfectly which in my opinion it does not do.
So without going into too much detail, I will say that my observations are that when starting stacks are as high as five big blinds, the machine rarely gets away from a hand once it has committed two big blinds. It seems to fold only in absolutely hopeless situations and bleeds EV with some weak hands that should be gotten rid of.
But even if it doesn’t, a player who plays the button well has a small edge, close to one big blind an hour. If he restricts himself to places that offer generous points, that edge doubles, and it’s not hard to play well when all you have is five big blinds on the button.
It’s also my opinion that the best strategy against the machine is somewhat different then it would be against humans. For instance, I think that there are many situations where you should sometimes limp on the button. But you need to experiment yourself. It may also be true that this technique of playing two hands and quitting and then re-buying is even more profitable if your initial buy-in is slightly greater then 2½ big blinds. Perhaps, all the way up to five big blinds. Remember, my observation is that the machine plays small stacks less then optimally.
To finish, I have purposefully been somewhat imprecise. One reason is that I did not do all the math meticulously. Another reason is that the strategies observed may not be representative of the machine's overall strategy. However, the only thing that I am virtually certain of is that the minimum buy-in, followed by good play on the button, followed by a cash out, is at least a small edge, especially if you are able to use a player’s club card. Of course, IGT can make this all go away by raising the initial buy-in significantly. But until they do, you might want to go out there and grind out some money.
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Find out how to qualify for this book in the Two Plus Two poker bonus program
Synopsis of Tournament Poker for Advanced Players
This newly-expanded version of Tournament Poker for Advanced Players contains over 100 new pages of updated material dedicated almost entirely to today’s most popular form of tournament poker: no-limit hold ’em. Tournament poker is different from standard ring game poker. While they might appear the same from a distance, there are many differences in proper strategy that are often unknown to many experienced cash game players. Some people excel at tournament poker. This is not luck. These are players who have an advanced understanding of what the proper strategy adjustments are, and when they come into play. It is no coincidence that the same competitors make it to the final tables far more than their fair share. This book explains tournament strategies that only a small number of players have mastered.
David Sklansky Poker Pdf
It assumes you already know how to play poker well, but aren’t knowledgeable of tournament-specific concepts and when and where to use them. Some of the ideas discussed include: the effect of going broke, the Gap Concept, how chips change value, adjusting strategy to rising stakes, all-in strategy, final table play, making deals, the “System,” focusing on weaker opponents, unusual plays with aces and kings, moving in against the blind, and much more.
Excerpt from the Book Tournament Poker for Advanced Players: Hourly Rate Considerations
Suppose you were playing a $1,000 freezeout heads-up match against a truly awful player. Because he plays so terribly, you can almost guarantee yourself a win by grinding him out, and taking no chances. You might be able to steal lots of antes, get him to call you on the end when he has no chance, and do other things to almost ensure a win. Because of that, you choose to stay away from big pots where you are only a small favorite. For instance, you wouldnÕt put in a lot of money on fourth street when playing stud, even if your first four cards were a four-card straight flush.
By playing this way, you estimate that you have a 90 percent chance of winning the freezeout. That means that this freezeout is worth $800 to you in expected value.
$800 = (.90)($1,000) - (.10)($1,000)
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(If you played it 10 times, you expect to be ahead $8,000.) If the average number of hours this freezeout took was five, your expected hourly rate would be $160 per hour.
$160 = $800/5
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What if you chose to gamble it up with him, pushing small edges and generally playing bigger pots? Suppose you estimated that this strategy reduced your chances of winning the freezeout to 75 percent? But suppose that playing this way meant the typical freezeout only took two hours, as opposed to five? Your expected earn per freezeout has gone down to $500.
$500 = (.75)($1,000) - (.25)($1,000)
Captain jack casino no deposit bonus codes. but your hourly rate has increased to $250.
$250 = $500/2
So which way should you play?
There is no definitive answer. It depends on a few different things, the most important of which is, what are those saved hours worth to you? If you would have spent them idly, you probably would prefer to make more money at a lower hourly rate. Most people, if offered the opportunity to make $800 in five hours, or $500 in two hours, would choose the former, as long as the job was not too taxing. Unless you are quite wealthy it would be hard to justify giving up $300 merely to gain three hours of leisure.
On the other hand, if you had an opportunity to make money during those three hours, the situation is different. For instance, if someone was willing to pay you $150 an hour to babysit during those three hours, you should, in theory, play the shorter freezeout, earn your $500 in expected value, and then pick up another $450 from your babysitting job. That $950 is better than the $800 you would theoretically earn if you played the long, drawn out way.
Another time where you would opt to play the shorter, though less profitable freezeout, would be when you knew that you could play more than one freezeout with this guy. If he is willing to play you 10 hours a day, playing as many $1,000 freezeouts as he can fit in, you would make a lot more ($2,500 versus $1,600) by opting to gamble. (You also would be more likely to keep him coming back, since he would quit sooner if you were winning 90 percent of the matches.)
There is, however, one other possible reason to play the more conservative style. Namely, your bank roll. If you only have a few thousand dollars to your name, winning the freezeout is too important to take chances, and this is the situation for most people who play tournaments. Unless there is a juicy sidegame, or perhaps a juicy satellite tournament that you know you could get into if you go broke in the tournament, there is little reason to be concerned about your hourly rate when playing tournaments.
I wanna hold em like they do in Texas PlaysFold em let em hit me raise it baby stay with meLove the game intuition play the cards with spades to startAnd after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heartOh o-oh oh oh o-oh ohI'll get him hot, and show him what I've gotOh o-oh oh oh o-oh oh whoaa ohI'll get him hot, and show him what I've gotCan't read my, can't read myNo he can't read my poker face(She's got to love nobody)Can't read my, can't read myNo he can't read my poker face(She's got to love nobody). P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker faceP-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker faceI wanna roll with him a hard pair we will beA little gambling is fun when you're with meRussian Roulette is not the same without a gunAnd baby when it's love if it ain't rough it isn't funOh o-oh oh oh o-oh ohI'll get him hot, and show him what I've gotOh o-oh oh oh o-oh oh whoaa ohI'll get him hot, and show him what I've gotCan't read my, can't read myNo he can't read my poker face(She's got to love nobody)Can't read my, can't read myNo he can't read my poker face(She's got to love nobody). Poker face version glee letra.
If George makes $100,000 a year in 200 tournaments where he is actually sitting at the table 1,000 hours, he has made $100 an hour. If Jane, playing the same 200 tournaments, has sat at the table 1,500 hours, and made $120,000, she has earned only $80 an hour. But most would prefer JaneÕs results over GeorgeÕs. The strategies recommended in this book assume that you would too. And it is yet another reason why avoiding slightly positive EV situations that can get you broke is the right thing to do.
![Holdem Holdem](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125275921/994445522.jpg)
From Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky. ©2002 by David Sklansky. This material appears with the express permission of the author and Two Plus Two Publishing.
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