888poker pro Sofia Lovgren is here to answer all of your poker problems. Email us at pokerplayer@plyp.co.uk or Tweet @pokerplayer365 now!
Go crazy!
Do you play home games with your friends and if you do what games do you play? We’ve got one coming up and I don’t want to just stick to no-limit hold’em as it gets a bit boring. Can you recommend anything to spice things up? Terrence M
Yes, I sometimes arrange home games with friends and my brothers.
We always play no-limit hold’em though. We never play for big money and it’s more a social thing to have fun and some drinks. We sometimes throw in a Crazy Pineapple game (played like NLHE but with three cards – you have to discard one after the op), to get some more action. That could definitely be something for you to try.
Poker in the hood
I’ve never used a HUD but I was thinking of starting as I’ve been watching some players on Twitch who use one and I can see how it could help your game. Now I’ve seen that certain sites have started banning them. What do you think of them and would you recommend that I start using one? Mike Joseph
Personally I think poker would be better without the HUD as it takes away some of the charm of the game. But these days all regulars are using one – and I have too, for the past three years now. It gives you a lot of valuable information about your opponents. For example, if you can see that a player is three-betting light, you can exploit that and oat or four-bet him more.
It will de nitely increase your win rate so I think you should start using one! If you just Google and search tutorial videos you will nd loads of advice about how to get started.
There are lots of changes going on and more sites are discussing limiting the use of third party software. If HUDs are completely banned in the future it shouldn’t affect you too much as you’re used to playing without one.
I’ve played millions of hands without these tools and I’m sure I would bene t from it if all players have to play more on feeling, instead of basing decisions on all of these statistics.
Cresta Run
I’m on a really bad tournament run at the moment – I just can’t seem to go deep in anything and I’ve only made min-cashes for the past couple of months. I know that variance means this is going to happen for periods of time, but I’m starting to feel like my con dence is going. Would you recommend switching to low-stakes cash for a bit to get out of the rut? Helen Langford
I totally understand you and I’m sure most poker players recognise this feeling. Just as you suggest, when you are in a bad run it’s a great idea to step down a level to get your con dence back, until you are back in a winning mood again. Keep the faith and you’ll start winning again.
Angle shoot?
Can you help solve an argument? I was playing low stakes (10p/20p) cash with some friends at a home game when this hand cropped up.
Someone who had just been stacked announced a raise and then put a £10 chip in – he’d bought back in for two £10 chips. He then quickly said, ‘Oops, I didn’t mean to do that.’ I had A-K and put him all-in. He called me quickly and turned over Aces. It’s a friendly game so it didn’t cause a problem, but was my friend angle shooting? He claims it was an innocent mistake. Dave Scott
I would just laugh it away. When you play home games with friends it should be more about having fun, than winning money. It might be different in a casino, but I think he did an absolutely excellent job here!
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