Phil Hellmuth Quotes

Ultra-aggressive players have a knack of making otherwise sound players commit huge stacks of chips with relatively weak hands, like A-Q.

In tournaments, players typically raise when they enter the pot. In cash games, though, players are more likely to limp in before the flop. That's because cash games are usually deeper-stacked, meaning that players will have a higher ratio of chips in relation to the blinds than they would in a tournament.

The goal of hyper-aggressive poker is to create a wild and crazy image that will return dividends when you're eventually dealt a monster hand.

When you play No Limit Hold'em, the ideal strategy is to take minimal risk, do little bluffing, and hope that weaker players call you when you have a strong hand. But that's the perfect world. Sometimes you'll face opponents that play very conservatively and will rarely pay you off when you have the goods.

Very few players want to go home wondering if they've folded the best hand. They feel humiliated when they're bluffed out of a pot. As a result, these players make calls with marginal hands that put their entire tournament at risk.

In tournaments, you want to steal the blinds as cheaply as possible without risking a high percentage of your chips.

Check-raising with a drawing hand on the turn is simply a kamikaze gamble. It might work once in a while, but if you consistently attempt it, too often you'll find yourself watching the rest of the tournament from behind the rail.

Some players like to add a little more spice to their no-limit Hold 'em game. They add a live blind, also known as a straddle, where the player to the left of the big blind voluntarily puts up twice the big blind before looking at his hole cards. The player in the straddle then has the option to raise it up when the action returns to him.

Many players in the big blind get in trouble by calling pre-flop raises; they try to do too much. They don't want to get bullied, so they attempt a tricky check-raise bluff or overplay their hands in an ill-advised effort to push back.

Before you even consider making a value bet, try to determine if the bet will have any value at all. Attempt to put your opponent on a hand that he'd likely call a bet with on the river. To do this, you'll have to mentally play back the details of the hand. Think about your opponent's playing tendencies.

In cash games, you're apt to see more players staying in to see the flop. If you have a hand worth playing, your best options are to either limp in or make a slightly larger pre-flop raise to build the pot and narrow the competition. A raise of four times the big blind should do the trick.

Limping in - entering a pot by calling rather than raising - is more complicated than raise-or-fold poker because you'll end up playing more hands. Also, it's difficult to put players on a hand when they're in the pot without making a pre-flop raise.

Before you decide to play with live straddles in your home game, remember that this twist essentially doubles the size of the game. It's often used by players who have been losing and are trying to get lucky and win a big pot.

The benefit of fast play is that you'll get players to commit their chips with relatively weak hands since it will be hard for them to believe that you have a strong hand every single time. The downside is that your opponents will raise weak when you have nothing at all, forcing you to fold.

The correct strategy in heads-up poker is based on identifying and acting upon your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

In order to maximize your profits at the poker table, your goal should be to play completely opposite of the way other players at the table perceive you. Simply put, if opponents label you a conservative player who never bluffs and only plays premium hands, you'll do better playing aggressively and bluffing frequently.

Players talk about pot odds all the time, especially when they try to justify a call that they made. Whenever I hear this line of reasoning, though, I can't help but wonder if they properly thought through the consequences of their call.

Look, I never enjoy risking my tournament life with a marginal hand, but if you want to be a poker champion, that's exactly what needs to be done. Just don't do it too often!

Any call that jeopardizes a big chunk of your chip stack just because you think your opponent might be on a bluff is flat-out wrong.

As a general rule, the more precious the chips you'd consider betting, the more you should lean toward playing it safe. Check it down; cautious play is usually the recipe for long-term success in poker.

Blind stealing is not exclusive to late position play. You can steal blinds from any position, and you should!

It's one of my basic premises for tournament play: Choose to bet the lesser amount when a smaller-sized bet will accomplish the same objective as a bigger one.

In poker, position is power. When you've got position, play more hands and apply more pressure before the flop.

Less control can be exerted in Limit games because it's more difficult to force players out of pots with structured betting. In No Limit, though, hands can be protected from being outdrawn by making large bets that force opponents to fold weak draws.

Don't try to make a big bluff on the turn with a drawing hand. With only one card to come, even a big draw is an underdog against a made hand. Keep the betting small.