Let’s face it; nobody takes up poker because they love the idea of sitting idly at a table while folding for hours on end. But, in a full ring game with eight or nine other players holding cards, it’s proper to spend most of your time folding because there’s too great a chance that one of your opponents holds a powerful hand. But, in short-handed play when only three or four people...

I get asked a lot of poker strategy questions, from beginner to advanced. Some are easy, but some involve the kind of math I can’t always do off the top of my head. When that happens, I rely on one of a number of free tools to calculate the probability of winning the hand. Here’s an example based on a hand posted on a website I run: Our hero was playing at a small stakes No-Limit table...

People often ask very specific questions about how to be a winning tournament player: •How many chips am I supposed to have after the first two levels? •Should I play a lot of hands early while the blinds are small, then tighten up later as the blinds increase? •I seem to always finish on the bubble. Should I tighten up more as I get close to the money, or try to accumulate more chips early on? Surprisingly,...

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...