sobra tulin laruin

What: 2-player poker game, heads up match. Each player gets 500 chips.
Matagal ko na ito nilalaro pero ngayon ko lang na-realize paano talaga manalo dito. Thanks God for giving me fortitude. There was a time sumuko na ako pero I really love this profession.

To win consistently, try to make it to 700 chips, you can go all-in every hand after that to steal pots with little retaliation from opponent. This will send all sorts of unpracticed moves/reactions from different players so you can act accordingly (most common: fold to their obvious raise when they find their range: top 10% of hands).

It is most likely that other player is looking for big hand or pair (which is effective in other poker games) but if he doesn't find those quick, he/she will just fold his chips to you every hand. His/her brain is yelling "No, I gotta fold; I need a good hand to play" so folding is the habitual move they will quickly decide to do and that is what we want them to do.

If other player is not folding a lot and playing back against your strategy regardless of what starting hand they are playing, strong or weak, then chances are you are the one being hunted so just find other prey. To have positive risk expectation playing this game, you want to look for an opponent who has strong habit of folding their hand, that playing straightforward is engraved in their soul.  Greatness in poker involves basic prey selection skills, a lot of image building and precision retaliation moves versus various opponent types.


Going all-in is the easy part for this type of game. What you will need learn is how to not bust out and make your way up to 725 chips. You will need mastery of folding to evade opponents weapons, 3-betting out of position and appearing weak then suddenly waking up with a monster hand / monster bluff.

If you are just beginning to learn how to play this specific game, mistakes will happen (shoving your hand to AA,KK, or an already made hand) but this is a mistake we can live with because it will rarely happen once you get a hang of it. You have to be at peace with the fact that we can also make mistakes and that a 100% mistake free session is simply impossible. Turnovers are part of the fun and challenge of any game specially here. The player who won't be able to grasp the tactical requirements of the game is the one who's brain is preoccupied with non-essential information to winning this format; information like the current emotional state(sadness or overconfidence) and bankroll status.  

Will be updating this post of game video recording later this week.  Feel free to give me feedback! Sabihin ninyo sa akin ano questions ninyo tungkol sa poker at susubukan ko mag-post about that topic.

Cheers and happy gaming,

J