Poker - The Evil Twin Paradox

One of the key tenets of understanding how to play winning poker is to understand the concept that I call "the evil twin."

In the course of a cash session, you will be presented with a number of decisions. And you will be creating decision situations for your opponents. To the untrained eye it seems impossible to know what to do. For example, lets say you raised pre-flop with a pocket pair of sevens. Its folded around to the big blind who immediately calls. The flop comes out:

Queen; Five; Deuce

The big blind comes out betting. Its your turn to act. What do you do?

These situations come up over and over again. Your opponent either has you or the evil twin is that he doesn't. In a nut shell, this is what good poker is all about - dealing with the situation of the evil twin. The player who makes the right move in these situations more often, will be a winning player over the long run.

So how do you make the right play? The short answer is that its much more complicated than it appears. I've created a course on the "Evil Twin" concept at PokerSlamU.com. But in a nut shell, you are in a duel. The more unclear you make it for your opponent - the better. Most people will just fold if they are unsure. The more data you can pick up on your opponent - the better.

When it comes to your image, the most common and best strategy is you want to be perceived as a relatively tight player. You, most of the time, want your opponent to fold. Believe me, those pots add up fast. If you're having a card dead day, you can still have a profitable day if you can successfully create a tight player image, raise no more than once every two rotations or so. Consistently bet your cards. That is the best I can tell you in a paragraph.

When it comes to choosing a twin when you are put to the test, take as much into account as possible. Most players who are betting out do not have it. Most players do not like to be raised and are intimidated. Understand what each player is capable of doing. Most recreational players, for example, are incapable of making a big bluff re-raise against a tight player. These are only a few of the critical pieces to the puzzle that you are putting together.

Feel becomes critical. I'm most comfortable in a 5/10 no limit game. Whenever I dip down to 1/2 or 2/5, I don't do as well. I find the players are more willing to call. There is less at stake. Smaller stacks. Less at stake. So if I'm card dead, I have a hard time manufacturing wins.

Find your comfort zone. What game best fits you. The better you get, the more successful you'll be at the higher limits.

Play Poker for a Living?

When you really think about it; it is extraordinary that people can go to a card room, play poker and make enough money to pay the bills and live rather comfortably. They even have to pay their own health care insurance. Their tax rate, however, is a little lower.

I've been questioned about this a number of times during my radio interviews. The interviewer is often incredibly shocked. "You mean they just play poker? That's it? They make a living from it.? I don't believe it." I try to explain to him that the IRS has allowed people to put as their official occupation "Poker Player," for some time now. I'd estimate that 50,000 (plus or minus a few thousand) people in the US alone consider themselves professional poker players and list themselves that way on all official government forms. I know it sounds hard to believe, but its the truth. I, myself, derive a major source of my income through poker. You can do it because its a game of pure skill and there are a lot of unskilled players out there.

I've lately been approached my some financial Wall Street types to help them with their game. I guess its not surprising that more and more people are looking for other sources of income. We know there are a lot of Wall Streeters looking for work and there is no work to be had. It seems to me that there is an increase in the number of players looking to get better and make some extra cash playing the game. I see a little more activity in the big games then I did before the economic downturn.

So if you are thinking about taking this route, make sure you get those skills sharpened. I'm not saying you NEED to take my online courses at PokerSlamU.com. There are other ways to get the experience and the requisite abilities. You could play thousands of hands on line and that'll take time and money. And who wants to mess with those corrupt online proprietors. Those stinkin' Asolute Poker guys who let Hamilton use a software program that allowed him to see everyone's hole cards. Who needs 'em! The other way to learn is to hire a personal coach. I've seen this work, but it is expensive. The going rate is $300 - $500 per hour. Make sure the guy has documented success or really good references. There are also coaching web sites that only cost between $19 and $49 per month. They are mostly geared to the online player and are not very systematic in how they present their information. Its mostly a lot of young guns playing poker online and talking at the same time. "This is why I bet that. . .This is why I folded." etc.

But for $4.99/month, a full money back guarantee, a great FLASH interactive player that works on both your computer and your mobile phone and 50 courses that build on one another; you can't go wrong. At least check it out. You won't be sorry.

Course Demo is UP!

As many of you know, my latest venture is PokerSlamU.com. It's a site that will eventually have 50 courses on poker. It will start with some preliminary courses on the rules of the game, but it will then have Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 courses on Basic Hold 'Em, Tournament Play and Live Games respectively. Since I'm a former Business School Professor, I couldn't help but structure the courses like a University Major. Each course will build on the preceding one. You can also specialize in online, tournament or live play.

I'm proud to say, I've finished the course demo and it can be viewed online. I hope to have the first batch of 12 courses up within a week or two.

This venture is very similar to the company I started back in 1998, CEU.com. In that case, I created an online course delivery system for insurance agents. It was a new way for them to get those pesky CE credits that the states where now requiring. It's still going strong today. The difference is that in the case of PokerSlamU.com the technology is much better.

Let me know what you think of the interactivity, the clarity and the sound. The platform is FLASH 10 and I've been very pleased with its capabilities and ease-of-use for the viewer.

I'll keep you posted as courses are added.