Curtis Mayfield III's blog

We're Not there Yet?

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:00:44 +0000

Last night I spent all of three hours grinding away at the tables in a large multi-table tournament. True, this is my nightly ritual and I enjoy playing this particular tournament. I have acahsed several times and made the final table a few times over the past 2 months or so. I thought last night I was finally going to reach my goal of getting tot he final table with a substantial amount of chips.

Seriously, when you get to the final table and have a large chip stack it gives you that added boost of confidence knowing you are not simply looking for a hand to push with. No, this time it was going to be different. I was playing a bounty tournament and had knocked out four players on my way to the final eighteen. Now I am an average stack and the hand of my tournament is dealt to me in the form of [Ad][Td].

WSOP All-Star Tournament

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:12:06 +0000

It looks like the Tournament of Champions has been rebranded into the All-Star tournament. I gotta admit that I am more than stoked to hear that the Tournament of Champions is back in action. This was one of the highlights of the WSOP in my opinion because if the star studded table where there were virtually no weak spots. Each and every player was an established tournament professional.

This time around there will be twenty seven spots in the tournament. Five of those spots are already pre-selected. Those players include Joe Cada, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Phil Hellmuth and Barry Shulman.

Reckless Aggression doesn't Help

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:51:08 +0000

Many times when poker players are running bad they tend to get impatient. We will sometimes play hands that we shouldn't play in hopes of picking up the chips we lost in the previous pot. Usually this kind of play takes place in no limit scenarios whether it's Omaha or Hold'em. In any event reckless aggression doesn't help your cause. In order to win in cash games or poker tournaments you need to be able to keep your composure and manage your thoughts even after taking a bad beat.

I know that is easier said that done most of the time but it is something that each of us are capable of doing with a little or a lot of effort. Imagine trying to be overly aggressive with someone that is just as aggressive a player as you are. It's kind of pointless to do so because they have the same playing philosophy. Being able to recognize this will save you chips and save you heartache too.

Stand your Ground in Smaller Tournaments

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:38:01 +0000

Once of the keys to winningn consistnely in poker tournaments is being able to play back at your opponents at just the right time. This particularly true in smaller tournaments with forty-fiver players or less. The reason for this si if you have that few opponents the blinds are goingto eventually become a problem and stealing the blinds becomes even more of a premium play. Without being able to play back at your opponents you will be giving up too much as the tournament moves forward and the blinds grow to $100 / $50.

Single table tournaments tend to play quickly not only because there are only nine opponents but because the action forces you to take more risks for fear of the blinds crashing down on you. It really is not that hard to determine that you have to play fast in order to win. Usually you are going to see tight play early on and the pots will not be as large as in a normal multi-table tournament. This is prime time to play up your image when you are in the blinds with re-raises when holding almost any pair against a known blind stealer.

Win the Pots with Information Bets

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:57:22 +0000

When you are in a situation that allows you to bluff there are times when you have to be prepared to fire the third shot. This particularly happens when you are holding a middle pair like [J][J] or [T][T] and you call a raise in position. When there are only two players involved and you are heads up you cannot simply fold the hand even with a board like [Q][8][2]. The reason is because many times your opponent will be raising with hands like [A][K],[A][J],[A][Q]. Yes, it is possible you would be beat with Ace Queen but you still need to give yourself a chance to win the pot.

With that board I am going to make a small bet to see where I am at in the hand. Many times you will find that either you get flat called or you win the hand outright. Let's say the turn brings a [9] giving you and inside straight draw. Again, you decide to bet out and you get flat called again. You can now be fairly comfortable your opponent is on Ace King otherwise he would have raised. Armed with this information as long as small cards hit on the river you can make a strong bet on the river to win the pot. True, you had the best hand all the way through but many times players will incorrectly fold with a bigger card on the flop instead of making information bets.

Don't Always put Your Opponent on Ace King

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:36:14 +0000

For the longest time I have witnessed player after player getting railed assuming their opponent is holding Ace King. This happens from the first hand of the poker tournament when everyone has the same amount of chips all the way to the end of the poker tournament. For some reason online players will not give credit to their opponent and that is a really bad spot to be in. I think we all can relate to being short stacked and having to call or push with just about any pocket pair.Those are not the scenarios I am referring to.I am referring to two entirely healthy stacks that get involved in a hand and then there is a re-raise, which indicates strength, and all of the sudden instead of folding [T][T],[J][J] or even [8][8] a player pushes their chips in the middle only to find he is a 4 to 1 dog against [A][A] or [K][K].

Win Your 2010 WSOP Main Event Seat!

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:48:12 +0000

Have you begun your journey towards winning your WSOP Main Event? If you have not then there is no better time than the present. There are so many ways to win a seat and plenty of time to do it. Poker rooms around the world offer single tables, sit n go's, multi-player poker tournament, re-buy tournaments in just about any form of poker that fits your game. You do not have to qualify for the WSOP by just playing No Limit. Many people seem surprised by that but it's true if you happen to play online.

Brick and Mortar casinos tend to lean towards the no limit games and that is to be expected. But keep in mind that there are plenty of opportunities to get that seat if you seek them out. There are also a number of ways to win your seat for free too. So if you look long enough and far enough you can gather the information necessary to play under the circumstances that best fit your game and increase your shot at winning that coveted WSOP Main Event seat.

Hollywood is Place Not a Poker Strategy

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:24:52 +0000

You have heard the term Hollywood many times before. The one unfortunate thing that has been a result of the televised exposure of poker tournaments is the Hollywood effect. This occurs when a player knows he has to fold and goes into his deep thinking act before finally releasing the hand. Trust me, It does no one any good to have to wait an additional two to five minutes on a hand you know you are going to fold. This also happens when the board clearly displays what the winning hand is and yet a player decides that he will hollywood anyway.

The fact of the matter is that you gain no additional respect when you delay an obvious folding hand. True, there are times while playing poker that we all need to take a few minutes to think through a hand. The difference is that these times are usually when all of your chips are on the line versus every single hand. So the next time you are thinking about waiting a few minutes for effect before folding - DON'T. It's not worth the time or the effort.

Change Gears Frequently

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:02:17 +0000

Did you ever wonder why you seem to get called all the time when you are bluffing a pot? Usually there are two reasons for this. The first reason is because you simply have run into a hand that is much stronger than your own. The second and most prominent reason is because you have become predictable. Yes predictable! In order to win poker tournaments or cash games you have to change gears in order to become unpredictable. Otherwise, your chances of winning are slim to none.

How do you change gears?

You change gears by playing hands differently and from different positions relative to your chip stack and how your opponents are playing against you at that time. For instance: If you happen to be playing at a passive table you may decide to raise from early position with small pairs and suited connectors knowing that it is unlikely you will face a re-raise. However, you will still raise your large premium pairs from that same position. You may continue to do things like this from various positions until you have to showdown a hand.

Annie Duke WINS NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:05:32 +0000

It's that time of the year again. The NBC Heads-Up poker championship has begun. Although the structure is ridiculously fast it is still a great event to see some of our favorite poker players go at it head to head. I love the format in that there is a featured table with two headliners and then they go from table to table as key plays take place. The show is very well produced not only in terms of the poker action but also the post game interviews that are done after someone either advances or busts out of the tournament.

As fate would have it Annie Duke won the 64 player event and emerged from the star studded field to beat Erick Seidel 2-1. Duke walked away with $500k in cash and is the first woman to win the prestigious title. Congratulations Annie Duke!