| Phil Galfond |
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| Poker Pro's Corner - Poker Pro's Corner | |||
 Phil Galfond started out killing cash games online while still in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and just a few years later he is luring thousands to an online table on Full Tilt Poker appropriately called Rail Heaven – one of the richest games on the Internet. At the 2008 WSOP he showed that he could tackle live tournament poker when he defeated an insanely impressive field on his way to his first bracelet in the $5000 pot-limit Omaha event, and $817,781. The young phenom – who recently moved to New York – answers readers’ questions this month.Which is better – nine-handed cash games or six-handed? How are they different and how much should your play change? – Joe in New York Neither game is inherently better. It depends what you are looking for. I personally prefer six-handed games. The shorter-handed a game gets, the larger the edge the best player at the table has. You also can correctly play more hands and bigger pots, so it’s less boring. If one of your best attributes as a player is your discipline, a nine-handed game would probably suit you better. If you feel uncomfortable in big pots with weaker hands, a nine-handed game is for you. It’s a common misconception that the two games should be played much differently. When you’re on the button and everyone has folded to you in a nine-handed game, you should play the exact same way you would if it were the exact same scenario in a six-handed game (with a few very minor differences that aren’t worth mentioning). Same goes for all positions, except the first three. If the first three fold, play it like a six-handed game. People playing from early position in a nine-handed game should have very tight hand ranges (you included). You should keep that in mind and adjust accordingly. How different are online cash games from live cash games? What are the major things to be aware of? – Benny, Ft. Lauderdale Live cash games are often played with deeper stacks. Most online games play at around 100 big blinds, while many live games are played with over 300, depending on what you play. Live cash games are generally much softer for the stakes, so if you can afford it, you can probably play a bit higher live than you can online. Also, people will be playing more loose-passive in live games. This is due mostly to them getting bored. People want to see flops and showdowns, so they will play hands that they normally shouldn’t, and will be happy to show them down. With a $2000 poker bankroll, what kinds of limits should I be playing? – Chris, New Orleans If you want to play no-limit hold’em or pot-limit Omaha cash, you should be playing $.25-$.50 or $.50-$1 – probably $.25-$.50 to be safe. One important factor is how easy it will be for you to move down if you start to lose. Some people’s pride can’t handle moving down in stakes. If that’s you, start at $.25-$.50 until you have a bigger roll, or maybe lower. I’m not qualified to comment on limit games or multi-table tournaments (MTTs). For sit-n-gos, you should probably be playing $50 buy-ins – but don’t play sit-n-gos. The truth is, your swings will depend on your win rate, which depends on how good you are. Unfortunately, more than 90 percent of poker players misjudge how good they are, so it would be a bad idea for me to tell readers to trust their judgment. I am a girl poker player – how can I use this to my advantage at the tables? Do guys automatically assume a girl player is a certain way, so I should play opposite that? – Amie, California There is definitely an advantage to being a girl at the table, if you know how to use it. Girls in general play tight-passive. They don’t make big bluffs, and they don’t call down very light. So, many people will try to run you over and fold when you play back. That means you should be calling down light and bluffing A LOT. (Until they notice, of course.) I also know a lot of girls who have guys take it easy on them. I’ve heard tons of stories of guys showing a girl their hand to be nice. I guess you should just be aware that this might happen, and be friendly at the table to make it more likely. What is the best way to track your wins and losses, and is this really important to do? – Big Moe From Kokomo There are a few different kinds of software that track results. Poker Tracker is the most popular since it’s been around the longest. I think most of them are good. If you play live, you can keep a notebook full of your records or use a spreadsheet on your computer. The second part of the question is more important. You definitely, definitely should track your results. First, you need to for tax reasons. Second, most people’s largest leak is that they can’t evaluate their own skill objectively. A large database is a fantastic objective evaluation of you. Yes, there’s variance, but when you’ve played 100,000 hands and are still losing, it’s time to take a closer look at the way you’re playing (which you can do with your database!). You can look at your results across different games or different limits to determine where you might be making the most money. You can estimate your hourly rate. You can see who is losing a lot, who you do particularly well against, who is doing very well and why they might be better than you. Tracking results is a no-brainer. How do you know when you should drop down in levels? Is there a certain percentage of your bankroll that you lose or is it more like consecutive losing sessions? How do you know? – Chained Heat, Waupun, Wisconsin Well, you should drop down in levels for one of three reasons: 1. Your bankroll is too small for the level you’re playing. 2. You would make more money at a lower level. 3. You want to. Bankroll requirements are often argued about, but there are some general consensuses. You can search any poker forum and many books or poker websites to find the requirements for your particular game. I suggest being over-rolled if you can afford to be patient with moving up. It’s much better for your sanity, and therefore, your play. As I’ve already explained, I don’t really trust you to gauge your own edge in games. Unfortunately, that’s just what you’ll have to do when deciding what stakes to play. You can use your database to help your estimates, but in the end, you need to try and be honest with yourself. Are you beating $5-$10? If so, would you make more at $3-$6? People often don’t think about the reason “I want to” as a legitimate reason to drop down in stakes, but I think it’s the most legitimate reason. If you are stressed, unhappy or uncertain about playing higher stakes, just move down. Your health, sanity and happiness are much more important than your hourly rate. There’s absolutely no reason that you have to play the highest stakes you can afford to. How do you handle playing marginal hands out of position? Like if people raise and you have hands like A-Q and 8-8 in the blinds – do you reraise there or just flat-call? – Fat Bob in Biloxi The answer to this question is 100 percent clear-cut: It depends. There’s no situation in poker that there will always be a clear answer to, except for calling an all-in on the river with the nuts, or whether to fold the nut low. (Actually even then, I can think of exceptions.) The most important things to consider are: stack sizes, your opponents, your image, your bankroll and your skill in large pots/difficult situations. In general, shorter stacks, more straightforward opponents, larger bankroll and higher skill level in tough spots should lead you to reraise. The opposite should lead you to call. Also, if the BB is a fish, you should call to let him in. If you don’t know what to do if you are four-bet, that makes it more of a call. If you have a clear five-bet or clear fold, that would make it more of a reraise. I know you are probably looking for a specific answer. The problem with people learning from others is that they usually don’t realize what they should be learning. Everyone wants to know what to do in a specific scenario, and I could tell you, but you can’t learn that way. Poker is a very complex game, with tons of variables. There is an infinite amount of specific scenarios that can come up. Learning how to deal with some of them won’t help you deal with the others. You need to learn the reasons behind the plays so that you can apply that reasoning to every new situation that you find yourself in. Learn how to think, not how to play. (OK, fine…In general, with 100BB stacks, against average opponents, I reraise with A-Q most of the time and call with 8-8 most of the time.) I hear people say never open-limp, but with low pocket pairs is that not an acceptable play? What about at a loose table? – Christian, Vegas My philosophy on poker has always been very “anti-rules.” What I mean by that is: I don’t think people should tell you to always do something, or never do something. It makes your brain shut off in those situations, which stunts your learning. I think there are definitely times where open-limping is the best play, and not only with pocket pairs. The reason people suggest not open-limping pocket pairs is that if you are raising all your other hands and only limping pocket pairs, you’re giving your opponents way too much information. Even if limping is the best play in a vacuum, you give up whatever edge you get from that play on later streets when a decent opponent can read your hand better. If your opponents are weak, then this matters less. If you want to limp, have a specific reason. Think about how transparent your hand will be. Think about what you accomplish by limping. If you think you should limp after that, do it. Even if you’re wrong, you’ll have put some thought into your game, which is worth much more than that decision. I often see players over-betting the pot – I don’t know how to read this. Do you have any advice on what that normally means? – Confused, Maryland It depends. Most players over-bet with a very unbalanced range. Some people bluff way too much. Others always have the nuts. It’s your job to find out what kind of player they are. Generally, a more conservative player will always have the nuts when he over-bets. A player who is tilty or angry or hostile in general will be bluffing more often than not. This is usually the type who wants to show you how tough he is – the type who thinks he’s the best player at the table. It’s a common misconception that aggressive players are bluffing a lot when they over-bet. The truth is, they bluff some, but they also can value-bet thin, meaning they have a lot of value hands in their range. The best advice I can give is to be observant and make your best guess. When is slow-playing A-A a good play? Can you give examples of where you wouldn’t raise or reraise with this hand preflop? – Keane, SoCal Slow-playing can be a good play for a number of reasons. The best reason is usually that your opponent will bluff off a lot when you disguise your hand, or will stack off with top pair on the flop. Another good reason is if your image is such that a raise or reraise won’t get much action from worse hands. So, an example would be $25-$50 no-limit hold’em, $5000 stacks. I raise in the cutoff with A-A to $175, the SB raises to $600 and everyone else folds. The SB is very aggressive, but can make laydowns. I’ve been very tight so far and he views me as easy to run over. Given that scenario, a call is clearly better than a reraise. Here’s another: $10-$20, $800 stacks. I raise in the highjack to $70, the BB reraises to $200. The BB is a player who only three-bets very strong hands or total trash. Since his strong hands will likely get all the money in on the flop anyway, and he will fold his weak hands to a shove, I might as well let him hit a pair or bluff with his weak hands, so I call.
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