One of the first components that you need to look at when managing your bank roll and determining your level of risk is temperament. You can classify poker players into three kinds: the plodders, the normal players, and the plungers.

The plodders will not take the risk of getting broke and will just put in small amounts into their game. The normal players will go for moderate risk if they somehow find themselves in a good position of advantage. The plungers go for the extreme risks just like mountain climbers who want to conquer Mt. Everest.

The risk you need to know is how you want your bankroll to go. Of course you want to grow it and not go the opposite way, going broke. Poker players may go from plodders when winning to plungers when already tilting. You need to look at your life goals and see what risk you are willing to take on the poker table. Are you planning to get married? Have kids? Grow your business maybe.

Your bankroll can be categorized to large, medium, and small. A large bankroll may take about a year to build and losing it is disastrous. A medium bankroll needs about six months and losing it can be very disturbing. A small bankroll can be built for a month or even less and losing it may be a bit distracting.

Your temperament should be very stable and not change thru the games. You can adjust the risk that you want to take for big games. You need to recalculate your bankroll when you win or when you lose to determine your risks and avoid being broke. Once you have set your risk and you lose that determined amount, quit for the day. There is always a next time when you are having a bad beat. Never force the issue.

JUST PLAY THE TOP TEN HANDS!

Phil Hellmuth really is an idiot, isn’t he? He talks about stack sizes and he picks the worst ever example, one where the big blind is forced to call, so he’s forced to gamble, often with a weak hand. I don’t know if he’s on drugs, but he looks ridiculous.

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Check raising

When you do a check-raise, you have the opportunity to put more money into the pot. You will be raising the bet of your opponent, they will see the next card but they will need to put some chips in the middle first.

One good thing about this move is getting more money into the game but this can also back fire. The move shows some strength and you might just intimidate your player to fold. You can also lose the opportunity to do the raise part if your opponent also checks behind you.

Betting out

When you bet out when you are first to act, you deprive the opponent of a free card when they check after we decide to check. Although the bet will demonstrate your strength, it does not compare much to the power of a check-raise which gives our cards some factory of mystery (and of course profitability).

When we bet out then we get more money into the pot and also disguise what we are holding. The downside though is that you dismiss the opportunity of getting as much money compared to a check raise.

What to do when first to act

When you are to act first, it is best to bet straight compared to a check-raise. The check-raise is a lot more useful when you are in bluffing or semi-bluff scenarios.

Small ball poker involves the startlingly aggressive play of a wide range of starting hands. However, you only use small bets for each hand which eventually will be raised to quite a sum. It will inevitably save you from losses when certain plays don’t work to your favor. The small ball poker playing style is mostly used for MTTs, and rarely on SNGs and games involving cash bets.

You can always exploit the small ball poker style when you have a strong hand and you’re trying to disguise the strength of your hand. You can also create a loose table image with a small ball poker style. When you play small ball poker, you also lure and spot opponents who have weaker hands.

More than the timing of your bets, the image that you project to your opponents plays a key role in the success of a small ball poker game. They should be aware that you’re employing a playing style. If they’re just going to end up calling on all of your bets at a loose table image, you might have more success with a tight and aggressive playing style.

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Goddamn I love this guy…

Anyway, funny stuff. The 2009 World Series of Poker were the shiznit!

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Dutch people have all the skills.

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Allen Cunningham is a douche, he wanted credit, lol!