Splitting pairs

One of the questions I am asked the most is when to split pairs to go for a flush or straight when setting your hand.  Although this answer gets complicated when you have three to the flush or a gut shot straight draw, it is very easy with four to the flush or open ended straight draw.

If you are open ended (8 outs to hit) or four to the flush (9 outs. Pic below), you must split your pair and go for the straight or flush.  You have a potential royalty and a high percentage chance to hit your hand.

Where this decision gets complicated is when you have three cards to a flush.  Assuming you don't know your opponents' cards, you have to assume you have eight chances to pull two of the remaining ten cards left of your suit.  If the pair is small, you are better off going for the flush, knowing you can also pair up altered if the suit doesn't come.  If the pair is bigger, you need to decide how risky you are willing to play.  If the pair is AA, KK, QQ, or JJ, I am almost always going to play the pair in the back. The starting strength of a big pair in back can make your opponents miss play their hands, especially if you are able to pair up your middle hand , and/or improve your back hand early.

The biggest question is what to do with those middle pairs.  77, 88, 99, TT are hard to commit to in the back when you have a potential flush draw for several reasons.
1) middle pairs usually won't beat anyone in the back if you do not improve
2) it is harder to pair up your hand in the middle because you are limited to lower pairs unless you improve early
3) other players will not have to adjust the play of their hand much unless you improve your back hand early

So when dealing with a three card flush vs middle pair option, I would play the flush unless you have JJ or better.

Pairs vs open ended three card straights are another story.  Always play the pair in this scenario.  The royalty bonus for straights is only 2 pts, and the risk of miss setting is much higher.  You have a much better chance in the hand if you ignore the three card straight draw when you already have a pair, no matter how big.  You may, however, choose to play the pair in the middle if you have a low pair and two or three over cards to start.  For example, you have 6,6,7,8,Q.  You could put 6,6,7 in the middle and 8,Q in the back and any other big cards to try and pair over the 66 later in the hand.

When to abandon a draw

One of the biggest decisions in this game is when to abandon a draw to a royalty hand in the back and concentrate on no miss setting your hand.  There are so many things that can factor into this decision, so it is difficult to pinpoint when to make that decision, if at all. You need to consider the following:

1) the number of outs you have to make the royalty
2) the number of outs you have to make a hand in the back that may not make a royalty, but will still not foul your hand
3) the number of opponents
4) the strength of your opponent(s) hand
5) the potential points win or loss (risk vs reward)

With all of these factors to consider, this decision is a very complicated one.  Lets analyze the following hand according to each of these factors.

Assume you are Tom.

1) there are already 9 spades out, so there are 4 spades left in the deck to hit a flush
2) if you pass on this K, there are no more left in the deck. There is also only 1 more 7 in the deck, so you cannot make trip 7s. Your only non spade outs are the 3 remaining Qs
3) this is a four handed game so any risk/reward decision you make will be magnified compared to a three or two handed game.
4) Mike has a strong middle hand and is going for a royalty on top, however, he is currently in danger of miss setting his hand.  He will need to hit the last 7, one of two 5s, or two of another card.  In making this decision, you should consider it likely that mike will miss set.
John is in bad shape against your hand right now.  He needs two of the last seven diamonds, the last 10, or one of the three remaining As in order not to miss set his hand.
Mark doesn't have much of a hand right now. You are ahead against him in all but the top hand, and you have a great chance of beating him with four cards to come.
5) risk vs reward:  by giving up the flush, you won't get any royalty points, but you are likely to scoop at least two players and a good chance at all three.  That is a total of 18 points by not playing the flush.  If you risk the flush and hit, you are likely to get another 12 points, but have a chance of miss setting and losing. Assuming one player miss sets his hand, you would lose 12 points.  So the risk is -12 vs 12 more than you would get if you abandon the flush.  The ultimate result is being +18 vs -12.  In this case, it doesn't make sense to take the risk.

Play the K in the back and make your pair.

Here is how the hand played out.

John got lucky and hit his flush. Your flush would have come in and you would have won a big hand.  However, long term the better play is to abandon the flush there.

Welcome your comments.

Cheating and poker

I have been playing some form of poker since I was 13 years old.  It started with nickel, dime, quarter guts in the 7th grade and now I play organized poker in home games and casinos on a regular basis.  I play this game because I really enjoy the competition and the conversation at poker tables.  It is the only place you can talk with people from all walks of life in the same place.

I was so happy to see poker go mainstream after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP.  It seemed that the shady back room cards games and the cheating and guns and theft were no longer associated with poker.  This was a relief for me as I loved poker, but never played in any games other than once a month with my buddies due to how scary and intimidating underground and casino poker games can be.  After Moneymaker won (and the birth of online poker), that all changed for me and millions of people around the world.  Regular people poured into the poker world and it seemed that cheating and shady characters were a thing of the past in poker.  Unfortunately, several recent events have proven that there are and always will be scum bags and cheaters associated with this game that we love.

The reality is that, although the number of players who lack any sense of morality is small, they are still out there.  They try to justify their actions as "seeing and edge and taking it".  Their view is that if there is a way to gain an advantage, that is just part of the game.  They have no respect for the integrity of the game or the other players, even if they are "good friends".  This behavior is despicable  and sickening, especially because it taints the game and the honest people associated with it.

Recently, I was playing in some home games where a player was caught using a device that allowed him to know who was going to win each hand.  He and some corrupt dealers ran this scam on the poker community for several months before getting caught.  He robbed the community of an estimated 100k or more over that time.  He could have run the scam for a lot longer if he weren't so greedy.  His behavior and play in the games drew suspicion and finally he was discovered.  Since then, no one has heard from him or his accomplices.  Unfortunately, the poker community lost more than just the money he cheated people out of.  Many players quit playing and the upstanding players left the games.

As many of you know, I had the idea to make the Chinese Open Face Poker app.  I love the game and wanted to make an app so that more people could enjoy this incredible new version of poker.  The world poker community was demanding an app, and we delivered a great product.  For those of you who understand software development, you know how much time and effort it takes to produce a product like this.  Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the habitual cheaters to find a way to cheat their "friends" by playing on multiple devices in the same game.  Once that was discovered, we built a fix and stopped the cheating.  Unfortunately, cheaters are very resourceful and once again found a new, much more malicious and complicated way to cheat.  We have also fixed this problem and are waiting for update approval from apple any day now.

Unfortunately, it is an ongoing battle with cheaters and thieves, not only in poker, but in most aspects of life.  From identity theft to pick pockets, there will always be someone out there ready to lie, cheat and steal to get an "edge".  I believe that this is less than 1% of people in general.  I am hoping that number is the same for poker players as well, but I am afraid that number is probably higher.

I can only suggest that all of you make sure you trust the people with whom you play.  I believe that 99% of this community is trustworthy, but the 1% ruins it for the rest of us.  If you do see someone cheating or stealing, call them out.  Don't let this game we love be destroyed by a small number of sleazy reprobates.

More starting hands

This one was posted on the Chinese Open Face Poker web page for discussion, and I thought it is a good one to talk about.


Most people would play the KK22 on the bottom and the Q in the middle.  This is the safest and the best way to set this hand most of the time.  However, here are some other options and reasons behind setting them.

1) set KhQh2h in the back, Kd2d in the middle.
Obviously, you are going for a flush in this scenario. You also leave yourself a chance at two flushes if you get lucky.

2) set 22 in the back, KK in the middle, and Q on the top.

If you are playing fantasy land, this is definitely the way to go.  Any reasonable shot at fantasy land needs to be taken,  here, all you need is a Q and then get two pair or trips in the back and you have a huge royalty and fantasy land.  Between this hand and fantasy land, you are looking at 30+ points, so it is worth the risk to get there.  If you aren't playing fantasy land, it isn't as good a play, but still a decent option because your top hand royalty is still worth 7 points while the full house in the back if you hit is worth 6 points.

Top hand play

Before I continue with hand setting posts, I have to take a break to talk about top hand play. I have seen so many people make terrible mistakes playing their top hands over the weekend, and I can't stand it any longer.

Rule #1) do not put a non-royalty pair up top before you have it covered in the middle.

I have seen so many people pair up on top with 22,33,44, or 55 before they anything to cover it in the back and middle hands. What makes this play so terrible is that you are risking a miss set without getting any royalty points in return.  I understand trying to put 66 or better up top in order to get a royalty, or even QQ if you are playing fantasy land, but there is almost never a reason to pair the top hand before the middle hand without a royalty possibility.

Rule #2) do not risk a foul in the top hand when you have already made a royalty in the back hand.

I had an opponent the other day who made a full house in the back after only seven cards.  He had Jd in the middle and 4s on top.  His next pull was a 4c and he paired the top hand.  He never paired the middle and fouled his hand with a potential 6 pt royalty in the back.  Once you have made a royalty in the back hand, make sure you do not risk a miss set or you are throwing away points in this game.

Ok, I just had to get that out.  Next post will get back to starting cards.

Setting your hand continued

I want to continue with the starting hand analysis.  Assume you are first to act and do not have any information about your opponent's cards.

Hand 2

At first glance, it looks like there is only one way to set this hand.  Most people would set JsJdAs in the back and 8c6c in the middle. While this is a good way to set the hand, there are several other ways you could play it effectively.

Alternate 1) set JsJd in the back, 8c6c in the middle, As on top

This is almost the same as the above setting, but by putting the A up top, you put pressure on your opponents but securing a strong top hand.  You do put yourself at risk in the middle hand, but you have a decent chance to pair up the middle if you continue to put cards below the J in the middle.  You also have a long shot at AA on the top which is a 9pt royalty.

Alternate 2) set AsJs in the back, 8c6c in the middle, and Jd on the top

Setting this way gives you a long shot at a big hand with two flush draws.  I don't normally like to break up a pair for a two card flush draw, but it is for an A high flush and the J on the top hand is a strong starting point.

Alternate 3) set As in the back, JsJd in the middle, 8c6c on the top

This setting is a little more risky as you need to cover the JJ in the middle.  So, you need to place higher cards in the back to try and pair them up.  This setting favors a middle and top hand win while trying to get a top hand royalty pay out.  Most people tend to focus on the back hand royalties, so this strategy can sneak up on your opponents.  A slight variation on this strategy would be to place the 6 in the middle with the JJ and try for a 7,9, or 10 on top with the 8.

Setting your hand

Sorry for the long delay between posts.  Was busy with the app, holidays, etc.  But now I am ready to get back into writing regularly.  I have played a lot over the holidays and wanted to focus on starting hands and how you set them.  The interesting thing is there are a variety if ways you can set each hand depending on you personal play style.  Below I have included some starting hands with different  ways to set with reasoning behind each strategy.

Hand 1

There are several ways to set this hand.  If you have the benefit of position and can see your opponent's cards, that should affect they way you play your hand, but for the purposes of this discussion we will assume you set first.

Strategy a) set 4s4d6s in back, Kh in the middle, Td up top.
This strategy gives you an opportunity to try for a 5 pt royalty u top with a pair of tens.  You are going for at least 2 pair in the back to cover the bigger pairs you are going for in the middle and top.  You also have a back door chance at a full house in the back.  If your opponent is likely to miss set, you can also play this set up more conservatively by not pairing up the middle and top and just play high cards.

Strategy b) set KhTd in the back, 4s4d6s in the middle, leave the top blank
This is probably the most conservative way to set the hand. Any other big cards drawn can be set in the back to improve the chances of getting a bigger pair in the back.  You don't want to place the 6 on top, because you already have a pair in the middle and are also looking for a high card and a 2 or 3 that you could pair up there.  The 6 is basically a dead card unless you can get two pair or better in the back early in the hand.

Strategy c) Set Td4d in the back, 6s4s in the middle, Kh on the top
This is the most aggressive strategy for this hand.  You are giving yourself a chance at royalties in all three hands, but you are at the highest risk for miss setting your hand.  If you take this approach and are able to improve your flush draws early, you can make your opponents play their hands more aggressively to try and counter your big hand potential.