This is a smart move by PokerStars and one that will inevitably snare more casual players to tourney play. We all know that a decent finish will see an investment in time of several hours so the earlier start times will be welcome to most in Europe.

A round up of many of the tournaments and start times are –

Sunday Kick-Off – 17:00 GMT
Sunday Warm-Up – 19:00 GMT
Sunday Rebuy – 20:00 GMT
Sunday Storm – 21:30 GMT
Sunday Million – 22:30 GMT
Sunday 500 – 23:30 GMT
Sunday Second Chance – 00:30 GMT
Sunday Supersonic – 02:30 GMT

These new tournament start times begin on Sunday 5th June and as a kicker PokerStars are adding more than $200,000 worth of entries to a selection of daily satellites. Check out the lobby at PokerStars for details on the satellites if you are interested in getting a cheap entry.

Try to commit these to memory and before long these considerations will become second nature to you.

Cash Game Starting Hand Factors to Consider

There are 5 main considerations when deciding what to do with your hand when you are playing in a cash game.

Table position

This is arguably as important as the cards you have been dealt in many instances. Considering your position in relation to the other players is critical because if you are in late position it can give you the opportunity to view what the other players do before you make any commitment to the pot. Position is important both pre and post flop and you will need to alter your hand ranges depending on what position you are dealt on the table. For example, if you are in early position you will want to play hands with a higher range than you would if you were in late position when you have information on what the other players plan to do on the hand pre-flop.

Cards dealt

This is probably the first consideration that will pop into your head. The cards you play will depend on the factors listed here and the hand ranges you are prepared to play.

Number of players

The number of players on the table is a factor that should be considered in conjunction with your table position and consequently what cards you are prepared to play. A very simple fact to remember is that the more people playing around a table, the more chance there is of a player having stronger cards than you so bear this in mind when playing on full tables.

Playing style

This can both relate to yourself and your opponents. It is important that you do become predictable to the other players so it is your interests to mix up your play a little so that your opponents have to second guess you. This could be a conscious decision you make in terms of playing in a certain style when you are in late position or you are playing against a particular opponent.

If you study the playing style of your opponents it is sometimes possible to pick up a “tell”. Clearly this is more difficult playing online than in a real cash poker table in a casino but if you are able to spot a weakness in an opponent it will increase the chances of you being able to bluff the player out of chips or lay a trap that will maximise your chances of being paid off in a hand.

Pot odds

Finally when all other factors have been taken into account you should consider the pot odds in playing a given hand. You need to work out whether the number of “outs” you have in terms of making your desired hand is favourable when compared with the size of the pot and the amount of chips you will need to add to see a showdown, etc.

Multi Table Tournament Starting Hand Factors to Consider

Certainly take into account the cash game starting hand principles mentioned above when you are playing in an MTT (multi table tournament) but also consider the following 3 factors.

Prize money offered

When playing in an MTT the prize money will be split down the field to a varying degree based on what type of MTT you are playing. A rule of thumb can be that the top 10% to 20% of the field will receive a payout. You need to consider the prize structure continuously because players’ styles will invariably alter depending on what stage they are at in the tournament. If you simply want to get in the money first and take it from there, you will likely want to play a quite tight game and loosen up once the “bubble” has passed and you are guaranteed a paid place in the tournament. However, take into account that more experienced players will take advantage of tight players in these circumstances and will attempt to steal blinds where they can.

Monitor the blinds

The blinds (and antes) will increase over set periods of time during an MTT so you need to consider the size of your stack of chip relative to the size of the blinds. You don’t want to become short stacked because this will lessen your options when in a pot and will reduce any fold equity.

Your chip stack size

Your decision making process will be informed by number of chips you hold in relation to others around the table, their positions and to some extent the average number of chips held by all the other players in the whole tournament. For example, if you are entering a pot against multiple players who all have chip stacks larger than yours you should be aware that any one of them could potentially knock you out of the tournament if you are playing no limit hold ‘em and one of them decides to go all in against you. Try to only enter pots with players with equivalent or small stacks compared to yours unless you hold premium hands.

On the other hand if you hold a chip lead over others on your table you will be able to bully them by making large raises and stealing blinds against tight players.

If the number of chips you hold is ten times the size of the big blind (or less) you will be short stacked in most tournament schedules. Try not to allow your chips to become reduced to this level if at all possible.

Probability of being dealt

Pocket aces – 0.45%
Any pocket pair – 5.9%
Any two suited cards to the river to make a flush – 6.4%

Probability of hitting on the flop

Turning a pocket pair into trips – 10.8%
Hitting a flush from two suited cards – 0.84%

Probability of hitting on the turn card

Making a straight from a gutshot draw – 9%
Making a straight from an open ended straight draw – 17%
A flush when you have 4 suited cards already – 19%
Making a full house from trips – 15%
Making a full house from two pair – 9%

Probability of hitting on the turn or river

Making a straight from a gutshot draw – 17%
Making a straight from an open ended straight draw – 32%
Making a full house from two pair – 17%
A flush when you have 4 suited cards already – 35%
A flush when you have 3 suited cards already – 4%

Probability of making on the river from the turn card

Making a straight from a gutshot draw – 9%
Making a straight from an open ended straight draw – 17%
Making a full house from trips – 22%
Making a full house from two pair – 9%

The following advice is very simple but should be understood and appreciated in detail to help you to improve your poker game and make you a winning player.

Learn how calling ranges are determined by the scenario at the table.

An easy bite size sentence which when evaluated will in all likelihood become one of the most important poker lessons you will ever encounter.

What Do I Do Next?

As a casual player with a small ever dwindling bankroll you can find yourselves in a rut during games where you genuinely don’t know what to do with a given hand. If you believe you’ve suffered numerous bad beats over time, your judgement can become impaired and your play can suffer significantly.

If you find yourself in this situation you need to go back to basics. Perhaps even step away from poker for a while to allow yourself to clarify your mindset.

When you are ready to play, you need to refresh yourself with hand calling ranges and how this determines your play at the table. A bad player will play the cards. A good player will play the cards and their opponents.

Playing Short Handed Poker

It is acknowledged that short handed play is reserved for advanced players. This needn’t be the case when you have a grasp of calling ranges and how the calling ranges are affected by the number of opponents you have at your table.

I personally prefer playing heads up poker or sit and go’s with as few players as possible becasue my knowledge of calling ranges associated to the number of players around a table is so strong. Once you get a feel for these calling ranges, you game should improve exponentially when playing short handed.

How to Improve Short Handed Play

There are two key elements that you need when playing short handed -

• A strong understanding of calling ranges

• Bravery

In order to understand the calling ranges for a given sized table you can study charts or play theoretical ands through a program such as PokerStove which will give you odds on winning a hand based on starting hands, number of players, etc. However, this will not teach you the real game bravery that you need when deciding to raise big or push all in.

In my opinion the way to learn calling ranges for short handed play and to instil the bravery required to be able to push all in or bet big is to play a number of turbo or hyper turbo sit n go’s. This isn’t standard advice that you will see written on other poker tips sites, but the rationale is very sound.

Super Turbo Sit N Go’s?

A fairly standard super or hyper turbo sit n go will consist of 4 – 6 players max and the blinds will often increase every minute. In other words the blinds can increase after every hand or couple of hands.

In order to play turbo sit n go’s successfully you need to understand that unless you act decisively and statistically correctly you will likely fail. You could simply sit tight and either let the blinds knock you out or allow yourself to get so shortstacked that effectively you have no raise equity so realistically the whole table could call or raise you with no problems holding the worst starting hands imaginable, or you could play decisively according to your table position and calling range.

Therefore, in these sorts of poker games you need to learn a sort of push or fold game. In other words push all your chips into the middle or fold your hand. In doing so you will need to grasp the fundamentals behind what is a good starting hand on a table of say 2,3,4 or 5 opponents and when you determine that you have a strong starting hand based on the number of opponents you need to have the bravery to push all in. This is easy said than done when it is your tournament/game at stake.

Winning Short Handed Play Summary

By playing hyper turbo sit n go’s you will only win hands and progress successfully if you have a grasp on your table situation and the value of your starting hand. Of course there will be variance based on other players that are poor or just reckless but as a training exercise, using turbo sit n go’s should help to sharpen your poker brain as to when to push or fold and give you the bravery to do so.

You will then be able to take these skills to standard sit n go tables and clean up.

I checked their FAQ’s and in black and white I could see that the minimum specifications for software download is a screen resolution of 1024×768.

Remember the 1990′s when occasionally you had to check the minimum specifications for a piece of software? Well apparently in 2011 a poker room wants to curtail its user base amongst an entire set of Internet users. Given that sales of netbooks are outpacing traditional laptops significantly and the native screen resolution for a typical netbook is 1024×768 you would think that software vendors would want to cater to users of netbooks.

I was sure that Everest wouldn’t be so stupid to design software so badly and that there would be a workaround so I got one of their support bods on instant chat and asked them to confirm whether only people using a 1024×768 resolution can use Everest software?

The entirety of our conversation consisted of my question and his rather enigmatic

“Yes”.

So that was it. My attempt to give an online poker room my hard earned money was scuppered by a software development team that apparently doesn’t do usability tests.

Everest poker uninstalled…

Common Hyper Turbos over at PokerStars are -

FPP Hyper Turbo SNG’s to tournaments such as the Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Quarter Million, and Turbo Takedown. These can range in buy in level from 5,400 FPP for 4 seats guaranteed in the Sunday Million in a 10 man Sit N Go field, through to as little as 1FPP for 6 seats from a field of 300 to qualify for the Sunday Quarter Million.

Cash Hyper Turbos can be played to qualify for all of the major tourneys (as mentioned above) at PokerStars and can range from $220 for a 2 seat guarantee from a 6 man field for the Sunday 500 down to $10.20 for 4 seats guaranteed to the Sunday Million from a 90 strong field. One of the most popular cash buy in Hyper Turbos in the $88 game to qualify for the Sunday Million which has a regular buy in of $215.

What Are Hyper Turbos All About?

Essentially at PokerStars at any one time there will be numerous Hyper Turbos running which will invariably offer qualification to one of the more expensive buy in tourneys. This allows PokerStars to lure in players that would baulk at paying e.g. $215 for a tourney entry if they could try to qualify for the fraction of the price. It helps PokerStars to increase the numbers playing in their main tourneys and gives aspirational players a chance of playing in some of the biggest online poker tourneys going.

Hyper Turbo Format

The most important aspect of a Hyper Turbo is the speed with which the blinds and antes kick in. The clue is in the name, you aren’t just playing in a Turbo, but a Hyper Turbo!

Usually you will start with 300 chips in a PokerStars Hyper Turbo and blinds will start at 25 / 50 with a 10 ante and increase every 3 minutes.

Field size as well as the qualification method and number of qualification places can also vary based on the particular Hyper Turbo SNG you have selected. One of the most popular Hyper Turbos is the $88 Sunday Million SNG. In this SNG the field is 6 strong with the top two places gaining entry to the Sunday Million and third place getting $87.68. Other Hyper Turbos include double, triple or even quadruple shootout elements. In other words for a triple shootout you would need to win three, 9 strong tables to win the event overall. Essentially the equivalent to winning 3 consecutive Sit N Go’s, but with the field getting better at the later tables (theoretically).

Why Play Hyper Turbo Sit N Go’s?

There are pluses and minuses applicable to Hyper Turbos as there are with all types of poker games. Adapting to the special rigours associated with Hyper Turbos can be difficult for some (I’ll be going into Hyper Turbo strategy and providing tips in the next section), but many people enjoy playing in Hyper Turbo SNG’s for the following reasons.

1. If you are short on time, playing in Hyper Turbos maybe your best option as they rarely last long, even the events with largish fields.

2. They provide a quick and low cost way to qualify for a large tournament with a steep buy in level.

3. They can be excellent ways to build a bankroll. Take for example the $88 Sunday Million Hyper Turbo. You would need to place in the top 2 from 6 players to get an entry to a $215 buy in tournament. Even if you finish third you virtually get your money back. Many people play this particular Hyper Turbo not to qualify for the Sunday Million but to place in the top 2 and ship the equivalent $215 buy in to tournament dollars which can be used to build a bankroll for other tourneys, or sell the tournament dollars to other players.

Hyper Turbo Sit N Go Strategy

Hyper Turbos are an extreme form of standard SNG Turbos in that there are a reduced number of chips to start with, the blinds increase quicker and antes are introduced straightaway, so in some respects if you have a solid Turbo game, you can alter it slightly to take into account the “Hyper” element. However, if this is new to you then you will need to carefully consider strategy because playing Hyper Turbos is very different to any other form of poker. By taking into account the following points you should be prepared to be unleashed into the world of the Hyper Turbo.

- If you aren’t familiar with ICM, read up on it before you attempt to play in Hyper Turbos, this is also the case to an extent with playing standard Turbos also. ICM will help with determining dollar based equity decisions. You simply don’t have the time to make fancy plays or bluffs, so you need to be fully aware about how ICM can be applied to your play. SNG Wizard is a good tool which will help http://www.sngwiz.com/tiki/tiki-index.php

- Due to the lack of time you will have when playing in Hyper Turbos you will need to adopt a push or fold type of game. You simply do not have the time to wait for killer hands so you will need to work on ranges of hands that are acceptable to go all in with. There is little point in calling bets in this format – it is either all or nothing for the most part.

- The blinds increase incredibly quickly so you need to be constantly aware of the current blinds level and when its due to increase as this will help to determine your plays.

- Given the low amount of starting chips and the quickly increasing blinds you will find that some players will try to steal blinds. Be aware that if you are the BB and have strong hole cards and all but the player to your right have folded then they might be trying to make a steal. If you have strong hole cards don’t be afraid in going over the top of them or raising them all in.

- Any mid to high pairs should be immediate all in bets, along with ace and middle to high kicker.

- If you are playing in a MTT Hyper Turbo SNG you might want to try to slow down the play. This isn’t a tactic that will go down well with some of the other players but it might make the difference between you cashing a ticket or not if the other tables have to see more hands than your table.

- Bear in mind the hand ranges that you are prepared to play and when they arrive, play them hard. Don’t be tempted into playing lesser hands just for the sake of action; you must play a disciplined game to be successful in Hyper Turbos.

- Most importantly, unless there is only one prize on offer (which is rare) it is not your aim to win the tournament. It is simply the aim to get the tournament ticket that is on offer so if the top 6 get tickets it doesn’t matter if you are 1st or 6th. For that reason you need to be aware of the bubble and don’t fall foul at the final hurdle. If you are approaching the bubble you need to carefully consider your chip position relative to the other players and use your discretion and knowledge of ICM to aid you. There is no point in a heroic all in even with a very strong hand that could take you into the chip lead by winning it if loosing it would mean that it would put your tournament at stake.

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Join 888poker now to get your free poker money with no deposit needed.

In addition to the great free poker money no deposit bonus, 888 are running a number of great promotions over the Christmas holiday period. Highlights include –

Cash games – Hit the 888s

Hit a pair of eights or higher and win seats to the $888 Xmas Freerolls. Four-of-a-kind eights will get you into one of the $8,888 Xmas Freerolls on 18th December and 8th January.

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When short stacked you can’t afford to go limping into pots or giving away BB’s unnecessarily, it is not in your interests to bleed chips to your opponents who will in all likelihood have larger stack sizes than yours. You need to have a pre-defined set of hands that you are prepared to play in a given position at the table when you reach a pre-determined level of chips.

Most people determine that they are playing short stacked if they have a stack size in the region of 10-35 times the BB. Once you hit these levels you should consider your short stack strategy.

When you are short stacked you need to take into account the following variables -

• Stack size relative to the BB

• Starting hand strength

• Betting strength

• Table position

• Opponents betting

Stack Size Relative to the BB When Short Stacked

It’s fair to assume that if you are in the 10-35 BB range in a MTT tournament you need to start considering your options. If you are at the lower range, you need to start to seriously consider your options.

Short stack strategy can be tailored slightly depending on how drastically short stacked you are. For example if you only have 10 times the BB you may need to consider betting big with lesser starting hands so you don’t fade out of the tournament due to the blinds and antes. Patience is a key factor in playing poker well, it is even more important when utilising a short stack strategy.

Starting Hand Strength When Short Stacked

As a general rule you should consider playing these range of starting hands if you are short stacked at the following levels –

35 BB

* AA
* KK
* QQ
* AKs
* AQs
* JJ
* AK
* AQ
* AJs

25 BB

* AJ
* TT
* ATs
* KQs

15 BB and below

* AT
* KQ
* KJs
* KJ
* AXs
* AX
* QJs
* QJ

Betting strength When Short Stacked

Simply put if you are in the BB ranges as noted above and you don’t get a starting hand that is the equivalent to the starting hands I have mentioned, you should not be betting at all. If you have a poor hand on the BB and can check to see a flop, that’s fine, you could always hope for a lucky flop and take it from there, but do not under any circumstances call a bet in the hope that you can see a cheap flop. Invariably, a deep stack will see you calling and raise you. Therefore, if you don’t have a playable hand, don’t play it.

On the other hand if you are dealt a strong hand in the range displayed above, it’s time for some action.

There are two schools of thought if you have a playable starting hand using short stack strategy. The first is to bet half your stack with a view to potentially betting the other half post flop. The second is to simply go all in pre flop.

Of course, there will be an element of luck in both betting options. Take into account the relative strength of your starting hands and also the historical behaviour of the table when faced with all in or large raises. A point to consider is that if you have to play short stacked for a while then you can become predictable if you choose to go all in when you hit a large hand every time. You will be faced with the frustrating scenario of nobody calling your all in which would be a waste of your great cards so try to mix up your play between large raises (half the pot post flop if there are callers or 4 times the BB for example) and all in bets.

Folding equity is an important factor to consider when deciding to raise big or go all in. The higher the bet you make, the easier you are making it for your opponent to fold their cards. For example, say that you have 3 callers to your all in bet, 2 of those may not hit the flop and fold post flop due to the perceived weakness of their hand in relation to the amount of chips it would take to continue. Therefore, you are no longer against 3 other players, it us just you and one other player.

Table Position and Opponents Betting When Short Stacked

Table position is a critical element of poker when playing the short or deep stack so it is important to consider your table position and the betting strength of your opponents when you choose to play a hand.

Take into account that if you are in late table position and nobody has raised before you and you have a playable hand that is even at the lower end of your acceptable starting hands list you should be confident to enter the hand with a big raise or all in bet. If in mid position with no raises, play your mid range acceptable hands strongly and if in early position play your very best starting hands strongly.

If there has been a raise or multiple raises before you, it is important that you play the most powerful starting hands in your acceptable starting hands list very strongly. If you don’t have an ace with strong kicker or a very high pair you need to consider strongly whether to enter the pot at all.

Short Stack Strategy Factors to Consider

- Select a range of hands to play when at a given BB level and play them hard. If you get a starting hand not in your range of playable hands don’t play it unless you can see the flop for free.
- Don’t attempt to bluff. If you have a strong hand, play it very strongly and get the chips in the middle.
- Don’t call any bets (certainly in early position), either bet big or make an all in bet.
- Small pairs and connectors are useless starting hands when using a short stack strategy.
- If you make a big pot and your stack size increases outside of the short stack zone, start to play your natural game again.
- Have patience and stick to the plan!

Even the strongest of online poker players have played in a MTT shortstacked. It’s the nature of the game that cards and momentum will ebb and flow unless you favour the uber aggressive style whereby you will either become a deep stack pretty quickly or go down in a blaze of glory before you have the indignity of being a table pauper.

For the most of us, we will consider ourselves to be playing the short stack if we are in the range of 10-35 BB. Note that short stack strategy is determined by your stack relative to the blinds and not when compared to the stack size of your table competitors.

In a nutshell short stack strategy dictates that you only play a small range of high value starting hands, and play them hard. The trick is to determine the correct starting hands to play in relation to stack size, table position, tournament position, opposition and a range of other lesser factors.

Playing a short stack style can be a fairly mechanical way to play poker because you should be familiar with which hands you are going to play in a given position which takes away some of the finer points of the game. In some respects because you are short stacked you have effectively relinquished the element of bluff to some extent – you simply don’t have the luxury to lose your chips to elaborate bluffs. This isn’t to say that bluffs don’t have a role in short stack strategy – they do, but they have to be played with more discipline.

With good judgment and a bit of luck, by playing a solid short stack strategy you should hopefully propel yourself from the realms of the short stack to a more manageable mid or deep stack. At that point you can pick up your normal poker style again and go for the win.

Quite a nice promotion and one that’s bound to increase cash game participation particularly when PokerStars have a countdown of hands played in the lobby and even display a popup during existing games (such as tourneys that aren’t even applicable to the promo) when a millionth hand is nearly there. No doubt punters are rushing to multi table cash games when a milestone hand is imminent in the hope that their table is the lucky one.

The part that struck me about this milestone hand promotion though is not the players that are in the hand but the players that aren’t. Let me explain. When a table is selected as being a milestone hand table it is publicised in the PokerStars lobby and the hand is paused for a minute or two until a moderator explains how things work, etc. This is the time when the vultures start to circle.

Due to the fact that everyone logged into PokerStars knows which table is the milestone table literally a couple of hundred observers descend onto that table waiting in the wings. Now some of the observers might be bloody stupid enough to think that they can sneak onto the table somehow and grab some of the spoils, but most of them are there to basically offer their critique, ahem, on how the players played the hand. In other words post a stream of vitriolic abuse at how the players should have done this and that – not folded, etc.

What makes me laugh about this situation is that there seems to be a band of milestone hand observer “groupies”. Basically people that are just constantly following milestone hands around so they can wait until the hand has been played to add in their pathetic comments and abuse the players on the table. This can go on for hours. A whole sub culture of the same observers who bring up stories of bad plays (in their opinion) from hands played several hours ago. Nothing to do with jealousy of course, I’m sure they just want to share their knowledge with the other players. However, based on the level of grammar, wit, articulation and knowledge displayed by the observers sending in comments I wouldn’t trust them to sit the right way round on a toilet seat let alone offer poker schooling. A radical idea for these “observers” may be for them to actually play poker themselves, rather than spending hours abusing the play of others.

Lets hope that PokerStars get a hold of this situation becasue they have themselves a nice little promotion in the form of the milestone hands promo. Cash game players get precious few promos as it is so it would be a shame to have it soured by the actions of a couple of hundred morons.