Online casinos and poker

Seven-card stud is a complicated game, significantly more so than hold’em. Successful stud and hold’em players both must attend to the betting actions of their opponents to figure out their likely holdings. Stud and hold’em players both must have a good understanding of how their starting hands are likely to develop into profitable or unprofitable final hands. Both must be able to calculate ‘outs’ and understand pot odds and implied odds. But in stud alone, the good player must also keep track of his opponent’s exposed cards. Knowledge of these exposed cards, both the ones in play and the ones that have been folded, allows the good stud player extra insight into the chances that his hand will improve.

Knowing, for example, that three hearts have been folded during the play of a stud hand may convince the good stud player that drawing for that flush doesn’t make sense.

These exposed cards are extra pieces of information available to stud players. But, counterintuitively, this extra information may hinder stud players from properly evaluating their hands.

In hold’em, players’ hands develop simultaneously and identically as the board progresses from the flop to the turn and the river. All players share the same board. All watch it as it is turned. Accordingly, all but the least experienced and worst hold’em players are aware that a third card of one suit on the river, for example, may mean a flush for an opponent. Players with two pair are correspondingly careful about betting when that happens. Players on the turn drawing for a straight, when there are three suited cards on the board, are similarly cautious –- aware that they may be drawing dead.

But in stud, players are sometimes so absorbed in their own hands, and how they are developing, that they may not be paying attention to how their hand is stacking up against the hands that their opponents are likely to hold.

This is especially true of the beginning and intermediate player who has learned which starting hands to play and which to discard. He waits for one of few powerful starting hands, gets one, and then if the hand improves as hoped, he continues to play until the river, bound to ride the horse he jumped on at the beginning of the ride. What he’s failed to recognize is that absolute improvement is not nearly as important as relative improvement.

Here’s an example from a recent home game I was in. The lineup was pretty soft –- primarily recreational players who liked to call. One player was more serious, though not necessarily more skilled. He understood the importance of folding poor starting hands, but didn’t appreciate the importance of looking around and evaluating his hand relative to the rest of the hands that were out.

He started with a three-flush on third street. He called, as did four other players. On fourth street he hit a fourth suited card. Two of his opponents paired their door cards. The higher of the two pairs made a double bet. The other player raised. The player with the four-flush called.

This was a terrible call. True, he had a four-flush and, with his flush cards all live, had about a 50% chance of making his flush. But he was against at least one and maybe two sets of trips right off the bat on fourth street. They also have about a 50% chance of making a full house. He should have folded his flush draw.

Here’s another example. A player with a split pair of jacks raised the bring-in. Two players with overcards called. The first held a king, the second a queen. On fourth street the player with the split jacks caught a blank. The player with the king caught an ace. The next player caught a six:

(J 4) J 2
(x x) K A
(x x) Q 6

The second and third player checked and the first player, with his pair of jacks, bet. The next two players called.

On fifth street the player with the jacks caught another deuce; the second player caught a blank and the third player caught a jack. None were suited.

(J 4) J 2 2
(x x) K A 4
(x x) Q 6 J

The first player, now with two pair, bet. The second player raised. The third player re-raised. The first player called, as did the second player.

The first player made a terrible call. Unless each of his opponents is a maniac, logic and observation require a fold here.

True, the first player improved. Improving is good in a vacuum. But the betting action and exposed cards of his opponents demonstrates that he is very, very far behind. The second player must have either kings or aces up or trips. The third player almost surely has trip queens or trip sixes. In any case, jacks up, with one dead jack, is a huge underdog and very unlikely to improve to a winning hand. He should fold to the double bet rather than continue to draw for one of three cards that will give him a full house (and quite possibly a losing full house even if he makes it).

The problem for stud players is that they, like all poker players, begin their poker lessons by learning hand values. This is how poker is taught. We’re all taught that a full house is a strong hand and a pair is a weak hand. In hold’em, since all hands are derived from a common board, players immediately recognize that all hands are relative. A flush is a good hand –- but only if the board can’t make a full house. Trips are a good hand, but only if the board can’t make a straight or a flush.

But in stud, players are inundated with data –- up to eight exposed cards on third street and then more on each successive street, plus their own hands. It’s easy for them to put blinders on and just think about their own hand and its chances of improvement – neglecting their opponents’ hands and their opponents’ chances of improvement as well.

The good stud player pays attention to all of the data and weighs his hand’s chances of improvement relative to the likely improvement of his opponents’ hands. Sometimes, though his hand may improve –- but when weighed against the likely superior improvement of his opponent’s hand, the best move is still to fold.
21 Magic Casino

Huge numbers again marked the biggest Sunday online events, with the biggest tourneys at Full Tilt, PokerStars and PartyPoker all easily exceeding their pre-event guarantees. The biggest payday from the night’s action went not to the winner at Stars, ‘StudMaverick,’ but to the winner at Full Tilt’s once-a-month $1 Million Guarantee, where ‘GulahPapyrus’ came from behind to win over $206,000.

PokerStars Sunday Million

The massive recent turnouts for the Sunday Million at PokerStars continued again last evening. This most recent edition drew 7,520 entrants and generated a $1.504 million prize pool, with 1,080 players cashing and first scheduled at

$212,064. ’spank01′ grabbed the lead as this tourney’s final table came together; spank01 had amassed nearly $18 million in chips, with ‘Tiwo’ and ‘BluStarZ16′ the closest pursuers.

First blood at the final table came in its first minute of play, when Tiwo and ‘mariaras’ got the chips in; Tiwo had the best of it with to mariaras’s , and the board changed nothing. Tiwo, though, found pocket nines less lucky against ‘StudMaverick’s pocket queens a short while later, and then exited in eighth after running into ‘Pier85’s , finding no help when the board brought .

Pier85 picked up the next knockout as well, sending a short-stacked ‘MagicCoin’ to the rail in seventh. The chips went in before the flop and Pier85’s made a boat with the board’s help, easily topping MagicCoin’s . Next to fall was ‘goonertone7′, who was also all in before the flop and also against Pier85. goonertone7’s hand looked strong against Pier85’s , until the board ran out to give Pier85 the flush.

Pier85 remained the most active player at the table but ran into worse luck after that, and bowed out in fifth after losing most of his chips to ‘macthemac87′. Pier85’s final hand saw him all in with , which lost a race against StudMaverick’s when the board arrived .

At this point the final four players examined possible chop numbers but decided to play on. BluStarZ16 nixed the deal, likely looking to knock out a short-stacked spank01 first. BluStarZ16 made good on his efforts by calling, with a modest , spank01’s all-in push with . BluStarZ16’s hopes came true when the board delivered a friendly , for two pair and the knockout.

At this point the last three haggled for a bit but eventually agreed to a chop by Stars’ chip-count formula, leaving $30,000 for the winner. StudMaverick had the lead at the time and came out with the largest share in the deal, and then finished off BluStarZ16 soon after. In that hand, the chips went in pre-flop with BluStarZ16 showing to StudMaverick’s , and the board gave StudMaverick a winning straight.

StudMaverick entered heads-up action against macthemac67 with a 7:1 edge and was never seriously threatened. The end came when macthemac67 pushed pre-flop with and StudMaverick made the call with . The board rolled out , giving StudMaverick the flush and the win.

Final Results:

*1. StudMaverick — $171,445
*2. macthemac67 — $117,783
*3. BluStarz16 — $104,819
4. spank01 — $60,160
5. Pier85 — $45,120
6. goonertone7 — $33,088
7. MagicCoin — $23,312
8. Tiwo — $13,536
9. mariaras — $8,873.60

* — three-way deal for remaining prize money; $30,000 to eventual winner

Full Tilt $1 Million Guarantee

Full Tilt’s monthly ‘$1 Million Guarantee’ tourney with its higher $500+35 buy-in drew another nice turnout, with 2,252 players on hand. The prize purse reached $1,126,000; 351 spots paid and first place would collect $206,564.70. ‘aaalvin’ held the early lead at this final table, his nearly three million in chips almost twice that of his nearest competitors.

aaalvin also picked up the first final-table knockout, his easily besting ‘Tadadonk’s when the flop brought the for the set. Eight hands later, ‘tkap243′ bowed out when his was no good against ‘Catenaccio’s pocket kings, with the board offering . After an extended stretch of seven-way play, however, Catenaccio would be next to his depart when his lost a race against ‘Fidget65’s . The board on that hand came , to send Catenaccio to the rail in seventh.

Sixth was decided soon after, when ‘JBT449’s proved no match for aaalvin’s waiting , the board bringing . Five-way play again extended for a considerable stretch, before ‘SkewpTroop’ hit the rail. SkewpTroop was down to virtually zero after dropping a big pot to Fidget65, and threw in the last of his chips behind , only to see ‘GulahPapyrus’ show . The board came for the knockout.

Fidget65’s own run came to an end after a open-ended straight draw went unfilled. Fidget65 moved in on a flop, holding , and aaalvin made the call with . The turn and river came and and the field was down to three. aaalvin continued his run by sending ‘heyfreddy’ to the rail in third; in that hand, aaalvin’s held up easily over heyfreddy’s as the board delivered .

This left aaalvin and GulahPapyrus to battle for the deepest money. GulahPapyrus doubled through to take a commanding lead with A- against aaalvin’s Q-5; the all-diamond flop included a five to pair aaalvin but the river brought GulahPapyrus one more diamond for the flush. Both players remained aggressive, and the end came when aaalvin pushed with and GulahPapyrus called with . The final board came , and GulahPapyrus walked away over $206,000 richer.

Final Results:

1. aaalvin — $206,564.70
2. GulahPapyrus — $126,787.60
3. heyfreddy — $82,986.20
4. Fidget65 — $66,208.80
5. SkewpTroop — $50,107
6. JBT449 — $36,032
7. Catenaccio — $26,461
8. tkap423 — $20,718.40
9. Tadadonk — $15,764

PartyPoker $300,000 Guaranteed

A healthy 1,735 players were on hand for yesterday’s $300,000 Guaranteed at PartyPoker, generating a total prize pool of $347,600 and easily eclipsing the event’s guarantee. First place here was scheduled to be $67,665, barring any final-table deals. After doubling through just outside the final table against ‘Jennifer2113′, ‘NLJFF’ arrived at the last ten seats with nearly two million in chips and a sizable lead.

Exiting in tenth from the final table was ‘btigris’, who was all-in pre-flop with but ran into ‘The_2_0ezx’s pocket kings and found no help on a board. ‘AAAKK99′ finished in ninth after his last stand with was no good against ‘LordLuckbox’s , with the board running out . ‘lutkatutka’ then finished off a short-stacked ‘Jennifer2113′ and only seven players remained.

Next, ‘gizzer11′ pinned his hopes on , top-pair/top-kicker after an flop, but lutkatutka showed for the set; after the board finished , the field was down to six. lutkatutka made it three in a row when his easily held up over ‘KitDeLuca’s , the board running out .

‘FaceAndi’ was knocked down to barely a big blind’s worth of chips after losing an A-K vs. 10-10 race against LordLuckbox, but won three straight showdowns, doubling or tripling through each time, to move back into the hunt. The last of those came against NLJFF, who then bowed out when his couldn’t catch against LordLuckbox’s waiting pocket deuces.

FaceAndi’s run back into contention ended in fourth place, when he called a pre-flop all-in from The_2_0ezx. The race was on when The_2_0ezx showed to FaceAndi’s , and the board missed FaceAndi and narrowed the race to three. Those three were closely bunched in chip count and soon agreed to a deal, with The_2_0ezx the official winner.

Final Results:

**1. The_2_0ezx — $43,400
**2. lutkatutka — $43,100
**3. LordLuckbox — $42,063.50
4. FaceAndi — $18,391
5. NLJFF — $14,921
6. KitDeLuca — $11,451
7. gizzer11 — $8,848.50
8. Jennifer2113 — $6,072.50
9. AAAKK99 — $4,511
10. btigris — $2,949.50

** — three-way deal for remaining prize money