| Hevad ‘RaiNKhAN’ Khan |
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| Poker Pro's Corner - Poker Pro's Corner | |||
 His “outgoing” antics at the 2007 WSOP final table got him noticed, but serious Internet poker players already knew who online pro Hevad “RaiNKhAN” Khan was – the guy who was once banned by PokerStars. He was even thought to be a “bot” because he played so many tables at once.
 His “outgoing” antics at the 2007 WSOP final table got him noticed, but serious Internet poker players already knew who online pro Hevad “RaiNKhAN” Khan was – the guy who was once banned by PokerStars. He was even thought to be a “bot” because he played so many tables at once.He explains the controversy this way: “I’m an avid fast-paced video-game player. I hit about 12 tables smoothly, then I pushed it up two or three extra tables each day to test my limits. Thirty tables! It was a pinnacle of my multi-tabling record. People began to report me through email on PokerStars and I eventually had enough of it so I made a new nickname (RuhRohBark). I got banned for having that account because it was obvious to PokerStars that RuhRohBark was RaiNKhAN and it seemed as if I was attempting to defraud PokerStars by making a new nickname, which I made solely to avoid the annoying people who kept reporting me for being a bot. “I sent them a response email claiming that I would record myself if they promised to “unban” me for a period of at most an hour-long session to prove my innocence. I filmed the video, posted it on a website and sent the link to them. I was free, and now a notorious multi-tabler with a reputation built off of false accusation.” Now, after finishing sixth in the 2007 Main Event and cashing for $900,000, he has shown the world his talent. His latest accomplishment is winning the Sunday Warm Up on PokerStars for $98,000. He answers questions from Poker Pro readers this month. I am just starting out playing micro-stakes NL cash games online. I would like to know what is the best first book for me to read as a very early no-limit beginner. – Dotty in Duluth, Minnesota I would read The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. It will teach you fundamentals you need to build yourself a solid game. In the later stages of a tournament, if you had 9-9 under the gun and the blinds were 1000-2000 and your stack is about 25,000, do you open with a raise or limp? I know a lot is dependent on the table and stack sizes, but I’m just looking for general strategy here. I have a tendency to overvalue my pocket pairs and end up getting crippled. – Johnny Hold’em, Sheffield Well, in this spot, with those blinds and antes, I’m sure there is a ton of dead money in the pot. Raising here with 9-9 and being called is kind of bad, because almost any overcard scares you and there is more than a 50 percent chance that one will flop. I would shove all-in because even if you get called, you are still in good shape a decent amount of time. Let’s say you are in the small or big blind and get a solid card combination such as K-Q suited. You make a sizable bet and end up with just one caller from middle position (you have no idea how he/she is playing yet). The flop comes something completely off like 7-4-9 rainbow. What do you do in this situation? I always stall like crazy because I don’t know what to do. Do you bluff here? If the middle position player knows anything about poker, he/she knows that you most likely raised with big cards from the blinds. With a flop such as the one above, they know that the odds are good that you completely missed the flop. So if I bet out on the flop, then they know I am bluffing, correct? What do you do in these situations? Fold on the flop? – Mav2005, Michigan Well, not necessarily. I mean, think about the times when you raise with Q-Q, K-K, A-A there and you bet out, then get angry when they fold quickly. Just lead out the flop here and see what they do. If they raise you, chances are they hit, but at the same time if you hold a big hand here and they raise you, then they are dead meat because sure they raise you off of A-K or A-Q or K-Q, but when you hold a big hand they are going to pay it off. I was in a game where I was against three calling stations. My normal play is to tighten up and only bet with good hands or draws, which I did in this situation. I never made any hands, though, maybe 1 in 50. They would call no matter what the bet was: preflop, flop, turn or river. They were even calling all-ins from other players with K-4 offsuit. How should I deal with these kind of players in the future? – Broke in Boise Well, the problem most people deal with in the poker world is handling the swings. The players you mentioned are going to pay you off when you hit the nuts, but apparently this time you didn’t do that. You need to have a great deal of patience, because if poker was that easy and you could sit down and flop the nuts every time you found a game full of these bad players, then you would be a top-notch competitor with very minimal effort. Stay patient and focused, because eventually their money will be yours if they are truly that bad. When you are playing multiple tables, what kinds of hands are you playing, and is it just a generic strategy you are employing? – Madjon, London I tend to play a lot more ABC style of poker when I play mass tables; however, I do use the limited time I have to analyse each table situation a bit more in-depth in order to gain a more solid read on my opponent to make the most optimal decision. Despite these efforts, I do sacrifice profit in the long run per table by minimizing my focus. What are your thoughts on the squeeze play from the blinds? When is it appropriate and is it best to reraise or just shove it in? – James, Milwaukee I’m not a fan of using this play, since it’s so common among players these days. But, I guess to give you a more informed answer, the best time to execute it would obviously be when you feel your opponents are getting out of line. Just make sure he has lots of room to fold (he isn’t committed to call your reraise). How do you know when you are a winning player? How do you know that you are “crushing” a certain level such as $100 no-limit? What poker statistics do you all use to gauge your success in the game? – Needthatmoney, Sioux Falls, South Dakota I would say if you can pull a highly profitable month (10 to 20 buy-ins a month) for like two or three months straight putting in about 1500 hands a day, every day, then I would say you are crushing it. I don’t use any poker stats, but I hear Poker Tracker is very useful. What do you think of limping with aces in first position? – Michael, Portland, Oregon I think it’s terrible, because people don’t respond to early-position limps by raising unless they have a big hand, too. If they do raise your limp and you reraise them, then they might think you have A-A and fold. If you made a normal raise, you would get fully paid off by like J-J+. Perhaps this is a question without a definite answer, or maybe even an obvious answer. How would you decide between playing sit-n-gos and cash games as a means to improve your overall play? Which one is easier to learn to play? – Dumbo_89, Novato, California You would need to decide which format of poker is more fun to you, since it’s my belief that you cannot be a winning poker player in the long run unless you have a love for the game. Sit-n-gos are more gambling-type, fast-paced poker with smaller stacks and more showdown. Cash games are more image-based and have deeper stacks with tougher decisions. They are more challenging for the mind and more profitable, but also require more patience since people will not be all-in as often. Sit-n-gos are easier to play. How do you deal with suckouts and bad beats? I’m not moaning about them. I know they happen. I was just wondering how you cope? Not the odd one, but when you have a night with loads happening – the runner-runner kind that really sting. Before you say I know I need to get my money in good, I’m happy with that part. I’m trying to build a bankroll through sit-n-gos, micro-stakes and satellites. Any advice would be most welcome. Cheers. – Maria, Tucson, Arizona Losing bothers me, but I just shrug it off. The more experienced you become the more disciplined you will get about your level of “caring” about losing to bad beats. If the beats really bother you that much, then just stop entering tournaments and watch a movie while you finish out the rest of your session. Your method to build a bankroll seems solid to me, so keep grinding! What are people talking about when they mention hands that flop well in no-limit hold’em? – James K., Tom’s River, New Jersey They are talking about hands that flop more than one type of favorable board, texture-wise. For example, 7-5 suited, J-10 suited, K-J offsuit. All of these hands don’t have to flop top pair to be disguised to your opponent and get you paid off. With 7-5 suited you could flop K-7-5 flop and get paid off by A-K. With J-10 suited you could flop a straight on several ends, two pair, trip tens or trip jacks and get paid off almost every time.
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