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Final Table leaderboard

July 20, 2006

It's the same story at the World Series of Pocker. The 'Final Table' leaderboard has 9 players who have made 2 trips to the big dance.

When playing at two tables, there are more opportunities for something to go wrong. If you lose two bad beats pretty close together and then go on tilt, you are jeopardizing your bankroll at two tables. If you are like many players who get too upset when something goes wrong, I would not recommend playing at two tables. Although there are downsides, there is a great advantage to playing pocker on more than one table. You can increase your overall hourly earning rate.

• Many players use the check/fold button when they plan on folding their pocker hand to any bet. This is especially true with players who are playing two tables. I have found it difficult to generalize about players who bet or raise instantaneously on the flop. Some players raise with good hands, while others raise with weak hands trying to buy a free card. This is especially true with preflop raisers who try to buy a free card with overcards.
• You can see how just a little bad luck can turn a good session into a bad one at the World Series of Poker. That is in a session. Look at the results over a month. Let's say you have 60 nut flush draws. You should hit 20 on average. If you only hit 10, you miss out on 50 big bets (10 pots x 5 x 1 big bet). Now let's say your opponents hit 30 of theirs. That's another 50 big bets you lose on average. That's 100 big bets in one month turning what could be a winning month into a losing month.
• Just when I was starting to feel good about my game I can't find the time to play against the poker player of the year. Of course, not playing pocker is one thing but slacking on the exercise is just plain lazy. I won't bore you with all my excuses but I had three great family vacations last summer with my three families...the result of divorced parents and a marriage. After all that family time, my wife and little boy needed our own vacation so we went off to Spain.

So create an environment which is conducive to improving your game. What are some things you can do? Read your email before sitting down at the tables. Make sure that there is not a TV near the computer to tempt you. Don't answer the phone! If possible, schedule your pocker playing time outside the main social time of your family activities.

He could be raising with a set, a pair of tens, or maybe even a hand such as 77 hoping that you are holding a hand like AK. A tricky opponent might even raise with a hand like QJ or a diamond draw. With this type of board against certain opponents, you should be more likely to call with an overpair or top pair. One final situation to discuss is when you need to call a raise cold, forcing you to pay two big bets to see the river.