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Mike Schneider - New Partypocker.com Superstar

May 12, 2006

The newest young millionaire finally had a chance to get away from Texas Holdem. Mike Schneider - new Partypocker.com superstar proved that youth does not always give way to experience.

The sad truth is that players who keep you guessing are going to give you much more trouble than predictable Partypocker.com opponents. In most low-limit games, players bluff much too often. After all, when you are playing fixed limit poker all it can cost is one additional bet to see someone's hand. And the pots are usually big enough relative to the size of a bet to make calling the right decision.

A button rotates around the pocker table after each hand, signifying the "dealer" for that hand. Unlike stud, poker history shows where the cards showing on the board determine position, the player with the dealer button acts last during every round of betting. The first two players in front of the button must post blind bets, to stimulate the action. In a $10-$20 hold'em game, for example, the blinds are $5 and $10. Each is a live blind.

The result: good pocker players in loose games often undergo large fluctuations on their road to success. A pro or two will stabilize these games, if for no other reason than they won't be betting and raising every hand. While a good player's win rate might not be as high in more temperate games, he won't need as large a bankroll to sustain himself; and if you emulate him, neither will you. Whenever a game is short, you're likely to encounter a proposition player, or prop.

• If I don't like the hold'em games on the new Poker Star download I can play stud, or lowball, or Omaha high-low split. Those kinds of choices are never available in home games. But I pay for the privilege. That's the trade-off: convenience, variety, and safety - at a cost that can be overcome by solid play. As a cardroom newcomer, you'll find the games are played differently than they are at home. Initially, they will seem much faster.
• Once the river card is exposed, your hand no longer has any potential value. Its value is fully realized - for better or for worse. If that flush draw never materialized, you're left with one pair, and it may not be enough to win the pot. More importantly, your strategic thinking has to change, too. You have no remaining potential upon which to base decisions.
• When you flop a four-flush or a four-straight, you'll have to decide whether to continue with your draw. Here's how to make that decision. You also should be aware of how many opponents you're facing. The more opponents, the more likely the flop will hit at least one of them. If you're unsure what to do, err on the side of caution until you gain enough playing experience to feel comfortable in these situations.
• What you do have, however, is a hand with extremely strong potential. If another diamond falls on the turn or the river, you'll make a flush - not any flush, mind you, but the best possible flush, since your ace precludes anyone from making a higher one. Even if you don't make a flush but were to catch a jack or an ace instead, that might be enough to win the pot.

With 11 people left in the tournament, I decided to risk my Partypocker tournament life against a player named Scotty Nguyen who I felt was most likely bluffing. He was a very strong player and the way the hand played out lent itself to a good bluff on his part. If his hand was just mediocre, I was certain my reraise would get him to fold. Of course, there was also a possibility that he had hit a real hand and I would be in big danger. I'm not going to discuss the hand itself but rather some of the things I considered and should have considered.