I play poker on my desktop, in my room. During these cold winter nights of New England, I usually have a down duvet to keep me warm, however my right arm is always exposed to the air, as I need to keep the mouse hand free to make those $$$ decisions. (It’s my own little corpse arm, letting me know I’m still alive… much like how I always get one answer on tests incorrect, just to maintain my humility) However, at the start of this season, I was able to get my hands (not literally) on a space heater, which I positioned directly below my mouse – - too easy.

What happens when your decisions at the table cause your internal temperature to rise? When you get all your money in with AA against a disguised set of threes, or they get there on a draw to your top pair? Suddenly, you find yourself sweating, your face flushed, and you begin to strip off your blankets, shoving your blessed space heater to the corner.

Those moments are fun.

Classic Seesaw of a Hand …I miss recess

Preflop: Standard preflop raise with suited paint, especially when both players on my left are tight/passive

Flop: I flop good, top pair + straight draw, but my passive oppenent check/min-raises…warning bells should go off hear, as two pair, set, of even made straight are possibilities when a player like this CMRs. I flat call, I’ll see turn with position.

Turn: Not necessarily a bad turn, it’s a scare card for him or a counterfeit card. I check behind for pot control, thinking I will call 33% of pot bet or less on river.

River: Gin for me. Now he’s filled up with an underfull house, thinks his straight will get paid by three Jacks, or will be willing to call off a lot for a chopped straight. I bet for value, and his KQ goes down to the up/down flop/turn/river.

Interesting 3-way pot

Preflop: Because these two players are both tight and short, I flat call instead of 3-betting because one of them is likely to reshove and do I want to play AQo that hard?

Flop: I think I’m great hear, and when he continuation bets small, with a flat call my villain #2, a raise is automatic. The RR all-in AS WELL as the CALL is obviously warning bells, but the amount is so small I think AQ is priced in.

P/F Raiser had QQ, which explains the small c-bet on flop. I have no idea what villain #2 was thinking with AA, but discussion with a friend showed a possible different avenue in my preflop play:

If I disregard their playing styles and reraise like normal with AQo, then most likely QQ will RR all-in, with a snap call by the sneaky AA, and I can definitely get away from this hand preflop, only losing $30 or so instead of $75. This does require the second player to have a hand worth over-shoving to a 4-bet, which I think is rare. My friend has always been consistently aggressive though, so this is his line. Regardless, I don’t think anyone can get away from this post-flop.

Biggest hand of the day

This hand began with a aggro-regular raising in MP. The button, another regular position-player, 3-bets. He could have a wide range here, and to me it looked like a isolation/squeeze play. Now, a fourth raise with AA I think would set off bells in both of these players heads, but the OVERBET is different. The overbet looks like a resteal, a second squeeze, to try and push out the other players, because thus far, both of the raises are standard position bets, with wide wide ranges of hands.

I decided the overbet would be much more likely to get a call, and JJ went for it. Luckily, it held.

Good luck at the tables!

The “Nuts” in poker is the best possible hand given the cards available in a specific situation. It is a fitting slang term developed over the years for a game dominated by whiskey, guns, and testosterone. You most certainly needed big clanking family jewels to play in the saloons in the Old West, where you were one crooked comment away from getting a six-shooter pointed at you, nuts or no nuts.

Fortunately for us, poker has become a lot less dangerous and a lot more popular, flooding the programming on television channels such as ESPN, The Travel Channel, The Game Show Network, and even mainstream NBC.  These tournament airings offer a lot of money, a lot of fame, and a lot of adrenaline.

However, this series, new to PSA, is not going to focus on the celebrity of the game, but rather the nuts and bolts of everyday card games. As a regular player both online and in casinos, I have found hand analysis to be helpful in evaluating decisions, noticing trends, and improving my poker skills. Hopefully, this will be a constructive addition to those looking to improve their skills, or as the case may unfortunately be, looking at what NOT to do.

I currently play 200nl and 400nl, where the average wins range from $150 to $500 a day. Since I started at 10nl three years ago, my game has come a long way, but still has a long way to go. January’s goal is $3k, currently at +$1,685.

Just as an aside, if you are new to the game, these links contain helpful tutorials and even a chance to play for Play Money to get your feet wet:

Pokerstars Tutorial (largest online site in the world)

Wikipedia’s Texas Hold’em Page

Cardplayer Magazine (News and info)

So, the day’s biggest loser: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1951312

Pre-flop: I have a fairly tight image here, and raising as ‘first to act’ shows strength. I may flop good, but it isn’t necessary, as I will be betting the flop about 90% of time regardless.

Flop: A standard continuation bet. I’m not thrilled about my top pair, as my 8 kicker is often beat in a showdown. However, this player is aggressive, and he could be floating the flop to steal on turn, or calling with flush draw/strong king.

Turn: I give him the opportunity to try and buy the pot, as my check here looks weak. With only $52 left, my check/raise all in has about zero fold equity. It is a bad move, given that he effectively put me all in with his half-stack bet.

Biggest Winner: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1951345

Pre-flop: Early position raise, I flat call in position hoping for more players and to flop a five. If it is heads-up, I have position and can evaluate is post-flop betting.

Flop: Flop is gin. No real draws, so I elect to flat call his continuation bet, hoping he catches up on turn or decides to 3-barrel bluff.

Turn: He bets again on this brick of a turn. I raise for value, looking to get called by AJ-QJ, AA-TT. He tanks, shoves all in, obviously thinking I’m trying to bluff raise him. It’s fun to get it in when your opponent is drawing dead.

That’s it for now, good luck at the tables!