This is the second installment of an ongoing blog in reference to help poker players with hands, and certain situations in poker tournaments/games. First of all, a little about myself and poker background. I've been playing poker (Hold'em, 5 Card Draw, Omaha) for many years, but only started playing online back in 2004. I had a nice run for a few years before deciding to take some time off because of college, wanting to enjoy other aspects of life and just needing a break from the game. The run included many terrific cashes with a 1st place in the stars 11$ re-buy for 7k, a 1st place in the $150+12 for 14k and 2nd in the $320 for 11k. I netted approximately 120k in winnings over a 2 year span and things were on the up and up. Then all of the sudden it happened to me. Something every poker player goes through from time to time, I went BROKE. Absolutely, totally BROKE. When I was down to the felt, my thoughts automatically became "Am I ever going to be up again?!?". Well, I wasn't for a very long time and still haven't completely recovered. So then while in college I obviously thought about poker and when I will return to the game with maybe a new attitude, more appreciation for the game and unfortunately a smaller bankroll - a MUCH smaller bankroll. Several residences, credit hours and poker books later, I'm back on the poker scene and feeling ready for action again. But yeah, that's more then enough of the life story, on with what I came to blog about. Poker.

There are hands in poker that I just haven't figured out how to play. Do I raise PF, open fold, or maybe limp in? The hands I'm talking about are small connecting cards. These hands are generally some of the hardest for me to figure out. Lets say in early position I get deal a T9ss. This also goes for all lower suited connectors like 23,45,67 ect. I would usually limp in if it's early to mid levels of a tourney and see how the action goes. I'd open fold to mostly any raise, if I limp and somebody raises behind me, I surrender the hand. But if I'm on the button I might just throw in a raise and see if I can't provoke some action and hope I get a flush/str8 drawing flop. So with the T9ss (or other lower connectors) I button raise and get the SB, BB and a caller or two. Flop comes Qs-Js-4d, this is the kind of flop I'm looking to get. I have a low end flush draw, and open ended str8 draw. Although neither of the draws are too the nuts, it is likely with no raises other then mine PF that my opponents stayed in with an Ace-high spade flush draw or AT. The SB throws in a bet with let's say a pair of Q's and a couple of other callers bring in the action to me. I'd make a raise about pot size or maybe a little less and hope that I don't scare away any of the callers. That way if I get an 8, K, or any spade on the turn I've got myself a made hand and could lure in my opponents chips. Basically, that's how I'd play a hand like T9 sooted with a halfway decent flop. The value in these small connecting cards isn't PF of course, it's after the flop assuming you get a piece of it and have some solid mathematical draws. Otherwise, especially deep in a tourney you don't want to call a medium-to-big raise with these cards because vs a higher pair your hand is close to dead. Again, these hands still confuse the heck out of me, but my feeling is I'm getting better at playing them.

Lastly I'd like to cover playing AK and AQ offsuit. I know in the Super System Doyle Brunson says that he'd rather have AK then either AA or KK. I see where he is coming from, but the luck I've had with AK makes me believe that I'd rather have 72off and just muck away. AK and AQ have cost me so many tourneys, so many dollars and given me so much aggravation, but they still light me up everytime I get them in the pocket (because I do win with them on occasions). In early position I like to make a small raise about the size of the pot and hope somebody plays back at me, that way I can bump it up some more. The mistake that I make is committing all my chips with AK and risking 4-5 hrs worth of a tourney with this hand, but yeah I'll probably keep doing it. The value lies in that many players tend to put way too much value in AQ,AJ,AT, KQ,KJ (esp. when sooted) and when you get all-in pre-flop w/ AK vs these hands deep in a tourney, it's usually 75/25 or 70/30 that your a favorite to scoop up a large pot. I will take those odds all day long. But on the other hand, when your up against any pair Queens and under; your a small 55/45 dog hoping to win your coin flip. Usually I like to stay away from limping with AK/AQ, it's just not protecting the hand well enough. Allowing a caller to stay in with garbage and beat you. Otherwise I usually will gamble and flip a coin with this hand 80% of the time. So, that's it for this blog. I'd appreciate any questions, constructive criticism, opinions and comments anybody has.

Ok, so I decided that writing a blog on here would be easier and less time consuming then starting a website and posting blogs there. Also may get more traffic. So, a few things I want to address are BR management and what the best tournaments are for your dollar. Let's say you have a $200 BR, is it dumb to play in an $11 rebuy or even a $11 tournament since that about 5% of your account? Or to take shots in higher tourney's is ok because of the potential higher payout margin and ability to pad your bankroll easier. Or if you are working with a $200 BR should the minimum tourney you should play be like $5. I think that's what I'd do, but looking for others opinion. I've heard that you should really only use 1% of your BR to determine what type of buy-in you should get into. Maybe that's hanging on too tight to your roll or it could mathematically be the right way, not sure. The variance used in determining and picking which tournaments to enter is important as well, because certain fields of opponents could potentially be easier to build a stack against then others. Entering one big one above your means is ok, but if you don't cash in that...your best to stick to the smaller ones or the 1% of your BR tourneys.

Another thing I'd like to cover is how I play small pairs in early to middle position and would like to hear others opinion. Usually if I'm a few hours into a tourney and have built up a decent stack, I like to just limp in with pairs that are say 7's or below. These hands really don't have much value if you don't hit a set on the flop and a board like K-T-9 comes out, your hand is about dead. So, do you try and scare away callers by raising, or do you try and sucker in a potential double up if someone is holding either KQ/AQ/QJ/QT and you have 77 and the board is Q-T-7. If you make a good size raise the player holding QT/QJ/KQ may fold and you risking losing out on a potential big pot in this scenario. By smooth calling with the low pair I.E. 77 here, it gives you the option to either call a re-raise or get in cheap with the hand and totally bury your opponent. Any pair higher then sevens or eights I think demands a raise pre-flop to get out any SB or BB stragglers looking to badbeat you. So is smooth calling low pairs in early to middle position that great of a move? I think it is, but looking for others take.

Also, I read and I think everybody knows that in the Super System Doyle says that the best way to play AA and KK in early position is to just flat call. Then you can shove back if somebody behind you puts in a raise. I'm not trying to say that he is wrong, but I think even making a min raise early (when blinds are high) will occasionally lead to your opponent thinking you may be trying to steal the blinds and he could shove a ton more chips for you to punch back with. My point being if you smooth call and your opponent smooth calls your really not getting any of his chips in there. When the board comes out and you then have to protect your AA or KK, the pot is going to be less juicy. A min raise could bring on more action then just a limp, or maybe not?