Have had two winning sessions since last post. Others were down, some bad ones. Had one session in which I lost 4 times in a row with a flush. Went in ahead 3 times, went in on the river when some guy made a boat against me after making bad calls throughout the hand when I flopped the nuts.

Anyway, I’m keeping my head up. Bankroll is still alive, and I guess that’s all that counts — I’m not Gus Hansen yet.

I feel bad too — same opponent saw his aces get cracked in about two hours twice, by the same player…

I called his all-in with a “I sure hope you don’t have them this time”… He did have ‘m…

Got to love a little luck! Thanks, Poker Gods!

Suited connectors and small pairs are great hidden hands. If you hit the flop with a straight or a flush or trips, these hands can be very profitable. You need to understand that about 85% of the time this will not happen. But when it does you can use it to your advantage and rally clean up.

The ‘Rule of 5 and 10’ is a good rough guide for whether to call with these marginal hands.

1. If it costs you less than 5% of your stack pre flop then you should usually play.
2. If it costs you more than 10% of your stack pre flop you should usually fold.
3. If it costs you in-between these amounts then use your table knowledge to make the call.

When you are in the awkward in between stage of whether to call or fold you need to use all those notes you should have been making since the beginning of play. A good position on the table late or on the button is a good place to call. If the player making the raise is very tight and they suddenly raise 5 time the BB preflop this would be a red flag to fold.

You should look at your cards carefully before setting your hands. The best way to do this is by sorting them by rank and then by suit. Becoming quick at this will kelp you to have more time to arrange your hands. Of course if you are playing online you have the benefit of sorting your cards with a click of a mouse button.

Your first hand is supposed to be the strongest, so anything less than a full house is considered a marginal hand. If you are able to make a full house or better you would want this as your first hand. After your first hand is made should then start looking to make straights and flushes. If one of your hands must duffer to make the others good then always sacrifice the middle hand. Although your middle hand must be stronger than the three card hand there are situations where you could leave the middle hand with a simple straight to give your last hand trips or a high pair.

The skill of Chinese poker is finding the optimal configuration from the cards you are dealt to maximize profit.