[ADAMtheEXPERT]

Ok, first of all, let me say that I hope everyone is having a Catarinaful day. No, I'm never going to forget her.

I want everyone to know that I'm sorry for all my bratty, petulant and annoying behavior.

And, those that help me, are obvioulsy very caring and tolerant people.

BUT, just like MONK . . . with all my annoyances, I do deliver that which hy'all so badly need:

CORRECT POKER INFORMATION




Now, I know that everyone is totally fixated on NO limit, as this is what we see on TV.

BUT, the sad reality of life is, No limit requires IN BORN talent, and is not something that you can be TAUGHT, if you do not have the instincts that all the best players do.

For this reason, I'm going to spend a lot of time on LIMIT games.

LIMIT games require TEACHING, NL requres TALENT.


Today's topic, is important to anyone playing games with large jackpots.

In live play, some places offer special 100,000 jackpots, usually during certain days and times.

ONLINE, can get up to half a million dollars, or even more.


Now, these games require you to alter your playing hand standards, as well as flop calling standards.

AND, a few other things, that we will go over.


ATE has lost to nice jackpots (nice for me) because the other person did not know how to conduct themsevles in a jackpot game.


I don't want this to happen to YOU! But, by the same token, I dont want hyou blowing off chips, in situations where even with a chance at 50 to 200,000 dollars . the implied odds are not there.


The first thing we need to do, is to know what the qualifications are for the jackpot, in the particular club/game you are playing (remember, for you internet only dude's and gals, "game" is what y'all call "room"

Then, we Kneed (going to creat my own spelling for many words, from now on) of course the amount, and of course, the percentage payout.

Although it was ruled illegal in California for many years, the practice of paying a share "to the table" is now just about universal.

sOME PLACES pay 40 % for the losing hand, UHthers (others) pay 50, some 60%. For the giant internet jackpot, the big share is much less.

Awl you Kneed to nough is how much you would get for winning the jackpot, and how much for CRACKING the jackpot.

These are pretty much So. CAL terms, so let's define:

Winnin g means having the hand that loses, and cracking is the hand that beats it.

Ha ha, the other night we got down to t hree players, and the Hustler pays 40-20-40 The table share is 40%

So . . . . the clucking person NOT involved in the hand, would get the SAME amount as the person winning the jackpot.
!!!!

Normally, ATE is NOT "down" with playing three-handed jackpot games, but it was irresistably fun to sit there, knowing that you could MUCK your hand, and still win the same as the person gettting the jackpot!

Most places do NOT even allow the jackpot to be paid, with less than 5 players, but the Huslter apparentlhy has this rule.

Is it worth paying that extra buck in rake? Not at the level that the jackpot was (around ten Thowsand)

Ok, Ok, I'm done with the deliberate new spellings, still reserve the right to do them accidently.

However, if you had the chance to play like 3 handed in a HUNDRED thousand dollar jackpot, AND the other players were PFROTW . . . .

This would be different. You'd actually st ill be taking a little the worst of it, as the 40,000 that you would win still doen'st make up for paying an extra dollar

BUT . . . sometimes FUN, thrills, as well as a possible LIFE CHANGING amount . . makes a small -EV worth it.


Can't figure it exactly, but from my stats, I would say that you'd be losing like 20 cents (in expectation) out of every jackpot dollar they took.

BUT, if the players were poor, and you had a positive EV for the play of the game. . What the hell.


Ok, moving on. There are several different qualifications, and each has it's own standards of what you would play (other than normal playable hands)

AND, there also is a different set of behavior, depending on the qualifications. (does anyone mind If I just say "Qual" starting to see the advantage of this abbreviation thing, when not OVERDONE)

Ok, let's continue:

(1) Any aces full or better. This was the mainstay in So California for years and years. Still exists at some clubs, like the Hollywood park and I belive the Commerce.

Typically, the jackpot doesn't get that big, as it's comparatively easy to hit. Also, the size of the game factors in, as there are more 3-6 tables, than 6-12.

Sometimes, it still can get to like 20-40 thousand, but more often you are looking at 2 to 10,000.

IMPORATNT IMPORTANT HIMPOURTANT (-H)


As happened to ATE back in 1989, the any aces full jackpot features the highly-annoying and POTENTIALLY LETHAL (there have been fights, and who knows, maybe someone was killed)

conecpt of COUNTERFEITING! No, this is not limited to omaha!

And, in fact only the hold em games had this feature. VEry stupid, just a way of allowing the casinos to not pay the thing quite as often, and VERY bad for public relations.

IN the games with any aces full, IF SOMEONE HAS AN ACES FULL THAT USES ONLY ONE HOLECARD, YET WAS BIGGER THAN THE ACES FULL OF THE QUALIFYING {pocket pair} aces f ull . ..
then POW! no jackpot. The rules state that the jackpot is only paid if the HIGHEST BEATEN HAND. qualifys.

Thus, if you have 44, and there's AAA 9 3 out there, and someone has AK or AQ or and ace with a nine or higher (you can tie the board, very important) and that person with t he one-holecard 9 calls down every b et.

BANG! you lose the jackpot. Dealers are taught to intercept any hand that called, if someone realizes that they are a jackpot killer, and tries to muck their hand.


THUS, NOT ONLY do you factor this in to your playing standards, but you also MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST alter your behavoir because of this.


So, because of the fact taht the tiny pocket pairs are just SO easy to counterfeit, we still would reject the tiny pairs, IF THE PLAYER COUNT and position is not right.

I.E. if there are like 5 people in for one get, go ahead and play that 33 or that 22. BUT DON"T just automatically play regardless of the number of bets to you, or the number of players, just hoping to hit a jackpot.

WHEN it's an any aces full jackpot, with the typical 4 to 10,000 total, and the approx 1600 to 4,000 payout for the losing hand.

It's just not worth it, especially considering the pretty good chance of counterfeiting.

AND

AND the equally upsetting, but at least not EVIL concept of

Oh, I"ve got AK YES YES YES

you scream, as you whip over those fours. Only to have someone SLOW ROLL their 9's and say Yeah, jackpot for ME

Suddenly you go from 40 or 50 percent, down to like 2.75%

SMALL PAIRS are NOT good in any aces full jackpot games, and should be played MAINLY to win a big pot, when the bet to you is cheap, and the player count be STEEP ( I made a ryme)

NExt, we must consider your actions, and behavior when the flop comes that could produce a jackpot.

The casinos like to try to scare us, by saying "any statements about the jackpot will void the jackpot"

BUT, the fact is, that ONLY if the dealer "narcs" (Ed note "narcs" is a US term, meaning "tells" or "snitches" Comes from the word "narcotic.' A police officer that works narcotics was sometimes called a "narc" and the word just became synomanus with someone that was a tattletale)

And, if the dealer tells, then she or he would stand to lose hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars in tips.

Now, it's still possible to lose the jackpot due to making statements, so I would not just totally disregard this rule and be totally blatenet about it.

Like, you would not say, flop quad three's with 33, and say

Hey, I've got quads, everyone with a bigger pair stay in.

That would be really BLATENT, and pushing it. It would be far better to either check, or if the pot was huge BEFOREFLOP, (like three or more bets apiece) Then you may elect to bet, as anyone with a higher pair would call anyway. BUT

BUT if the amount you would win is like 50,000 dollars, and it's 3-6 hold em . . . . . and you have 33 with a 33 8 flop.

I think I would just check, and sacrifice the 3 buck calls. ONce the turn hits, if anyone has a SF draw or obvioulsy hits thier pair, they are calling .


Ok, BUT considering that the threat of getting counterfeided is much greater than losing due to someone telling on you.

WHENEVER THE THIRD ACE HITS THE BOARD, AND YOU HAVE A POCKET PAIR SMALLER THAN THE RANK OF THE OTHER CARD ON THE BOARD, OR IT'S JUST THE FLOP OF AAA
YOU MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST

(did I mention MUST)

Bet and raise and do anytihg you can to try to get people out

AND AND AND


announce "pocket pairs ONLY please" don't kill the jackpot.


Franklhy, I would even offer a cash payout to the other players in the pot.

like if you're getting 5k

"300 bucks to fold and not kill the jackpot"


POCKET PAIRS ONLY


Even if ou have to say "are you aware that if you call with a (nine, let's say with AAA 9, and you have 44, or 66 or whatever lower than 9)
you will kill the jackpot, and you will not get your t able share, or the 300 extra?

THE SAD FACT IS THAT NOT ONLY DO MOST PLAYERS NOT EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE COUNTERFEIT/JACKPOT KILLER,

But that many think that they are actually GOING TO GET THE FREAKIN JACKPOT.


Frankly, (yeah, I know I'm using that word too much)

I would annouce this, as soon as you sat down, especially if it's a really really big jacjpot.

But, certainly if YOU have a pocket, and the flop is AAA, you dang well better start thinking of defending yourself, and your jackpot monehy, agaisnt a possible counterfeit.

and DONT EVEN THINK!!!! of EVER,

I mean fking EVER checking, or failing to raise with your small pocket, if all the potential jackpot killers are acting AFTER you!!!

Don't even THINK about it.

yes, perhaps the person betting doen'st have the ace, or not a big enough kicker.

BUT, making an extra raise of a few bucks to try to protect a few THOUSAND bucks, makes sense, N'est pas?

(French, means "is that not correct"?)


In the event that you get caught up in a rasin war, and there is

AAA xx out there, and you have a pocket pair, you're just stuck calling, even though it sure looks as though you are up agasinst quads, AND another pocket pair.

Even if you have only 33, the other person raising may just be doing so to try to get out the counterfiet card, and/or a larger pocket pair.

So, to sum up: in an ANY ace full, we do not just autoplay tiny pairs, and we MUST VERBALLY and with our bets and raises, DEFEND agtainst losing the jackpot to a counterfiet.



Next, we have the "Aces full or tens(sometimes jacks) or beter.

This is now the most common qualification, and for good reason.

The amounts pump up to MUCH higher amounts than an any aces full, and there is MUCH less counterfieting.

And yet, it's not like SUPERimpossible to hit, like the quads or better.

This qualification offers the best blend of amount vrs. difficulty to hit.

Casinos know that hitting large amounts, is very good for business. .but errrrr. So is freakn'in having that huge amount up there on the board.

So, they want it to be hit, just not TODAY>


Obviosly, in this game, the tiny pairs are just about totally unplayable. I mean, you've all seen what ATE has said about 22-44 (and mostly 55 as well) They just are scum-sucking hands, and should routinely be thrown away, except in the loosest of games, with tons of players making really bad calls.

Like, if there are going to be 7 or more players in just about every pot, and you have people still calling the turn with things like unimproved AK's
(when you f lop set) And people still calling with gutshots when the board is 2 5 8 5 (and you have 22)

Yeah, ok go and play.

But, in an AAA1010 or better jackpot, you are much better off saying your money to make a few extra calls AFTERFLOP, then spending it on rag pairs.

This is especially true, as I said the jackpot amount is much higher than an AAF jackpot.

Here in LA, and back in Minnesota, there are clubs that have 100,000 jackpot during certain days and times, regardless of how high the regualr jackpot is. And, franklhy (therer's that word agains) sometimes the dang regular jackpot gets that high anyway.

As such, you must be prepared to CALL a lot more flops containlin an ACE, (and you have 1010 through kk)

Than you would otherwise.


It's pretty simple, actually. You factor in the pot odds, and the implied POT odds, and then add in the IMPLIED JACKPOT ODDS

(a world-exclusive, new terms, totally invented just now by ADAMtheEXPERT, the top expert in the world in poker)


Example:: 100,000 jackpot, 50% for first.

You have 1010, and there is a raise with 5 players. you KNOW that this person has a good kicker, if they indeed have an ace hand.

The flop is A 4 8. The preflop raiser bets. You know that they tend to not bet KK if the flop has an ace.

Thus, they either have a set of aces, or the AK.

NOw, in a 4-8 game, the pot would be 40 dollars, the implied odds (if you hit set) would be like around 64-4 (if no one else calls)
and the IMPLIED JACKPOT ODDS, would be 50,000-4

The odds of hitting A, A (if they indeed have AK, or AQ) are just under 1000-1.

ZOH! You are getting IJO of 12,500 to 1 on your $4 call, when it's only 1,000 to one agsint you getting the jackpot.

Again, you dont WANT to call, but you HAVE to. This is why I want you to save the money on the micro pairs, and spend it calling f lops with an ace

ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH TINY CARDS.!!

This is TRES important. If the flop is like A K 5 and you have 1010

Unless they have AK, the jackpot won't be paid, even if the freakin' 1000 to one A A hits!


Next concept: Playing MORE suited connectors than you normally would.


Again, this is something that can be overdone! Making a high-low straight flush jackpot is like EONS harder than the typical

AAA + Ace,kicker and 1010-KK way that is like 95% of all jackpots paid in AAA1010 or better.

So, you don't just go and play every 23 suited that you get. It's just not worth it.

However, for larger ones, like 56 s and the like, WHEN DEALING WITH A VERY LARGE AMOUNT, LIKE THE 100,000

you would be more inclined to play, maybe even cold-call a raise.


HOWEVER, remember that in any AAA1010 or better, the jackpot really deonst normallhy get high enough to just play all sorts of low-ass connectors, only during the speciall times.


Next, we have the Any quads jackpot.


This is much harder to hit, than AAA1010, but usually you dont really see that much higher of a jackpot.

The notion of getting quads over quads beaten is so unlikely that again we dont just go ahead and play any pocket pair.

playing suited connectors, is a much better bet, as it's much easier to hit a flop with at least a g ood draw, than it is to hit a set.


So, in this game, you really don't play more hands than you normally would, certainly NOT pairs.

A little more lattitude towards the hands like 45, 56 suited,


Sometimes, there is like quad EIGHTS or better. This is what party poker had, when we US players were st ill allowed.

Again, it's important NOT WHAT THE JACKPOT IS, BUT HOW MUCH YOU WOULD WIN!

They were pretty deceptive, with like 400,000!!! or higher. BUT, they t ook off a "seed" for the next jackpot, and the payout was such that you only got like a quarter of the posted amoutn, I think

(if anyone has the exact figure, please post it here)


Considering that the rank of pocket you need to be beaten (8 is pretty much playable anyway, we really don't have to make much adjustment.

if you can win 100,000 or more, go ahead and play ANY suited CONNECTOR, for one bet, and those with max, reach (54s and up)

even for two bets cold.

BUT, the thing to avoid like the plague, is the concept of playing any hand taht could possibly hit the jackpot.

The fact is, that EVERY HAND, except for 23 offsuit, COULD hit the jackpot

BUt, we dont want to go broke, just becasue our 2 5 suited COULD hit
3 4 6, 88 and someone COULD have 88

That's just TOOOOOO long of odds, to make the preflop investment worthwhile.

dont get "jackpot fever"

We've all heard tales of someone's 74 offsuit, hitting like a board of

77373, and someone had 33.

BUT, let the LIVE ONES t hrow away THEIR money, not you your's



So, how do we play? Typically, the most important thing to remember is to NOT ever raise with a jackpot hand, when there are more cards to come. you may bet, if the situation looks as though anyone with a chance to win the jackpot will stay in anyway.

BUT, just don't raise! And, if the amount of the pot is small, and your "REP" is tight, don'dt bet the flop.


In omaha games, where everone is HIP to people having huge hands when the board is paired

you should NOT bet your quads, IF THERE IS A STRAIGHT FLUSH Draw.

Poeple KNOW that them making a regular flush won't be good, and also know that even if there is a jackpot, that they are getting the small share.


Now, if you DO elect to bet, make FREAKIN' SURE THAT YOU G IVE A CODE PHRAZE, TO INDICATE THAT YOU HAVE A JACKPOT HAND!

Obviously, on the internet with records of what you said, this is NOT the case.!1

But, if you are playing 4-8 omaha, with a 12,000 jackpot

And the flop is 10109. and you have quad tens, for God's sake if you do bet say

"gee if I got the JAAAAAACKPOT, I think I'd take a trip to Tahati!


This was NOT done, and poor ATE lost 3k

All the $%&#%^&*#%^*#%^*#%^&*#%^& had to do, when raising with his fking straight flush, was say that, And I would have won.




anhyway, nuff fer now, hope you all liked it.



adam
_________________
Adam

[ivan]

Thank you very much for writing about Limit HE... I like the game a lot.

Haven't read the article yet, but I will do it later and maybe ask a few questions.

Thanks!
_________________
Life is a joke..... get into it.

[Downtown]

Hi Adam,

I wonder if you could address the proper strategy for a slightly different jackpot rule.

At the Casino du Lac Leamy in Quebec, Canada, they have a bad beat jackpot which I think is extremely difficult to hit.

In order to qualify, the minimum beaten hand must be Aces full of Jacks or better, while a player must have a pocket pair in their hand (AA minimum for a boat or a pocket pair with two more on the board for quads). A straight-flush must also use both hole cards.

Therefore, holding AK on an AAAxx board does nothing, nor would holding any other pocket pair unless you hit quads with the other two community cards. Holding the Ad on a TdJdQdKd board also does nothing (except win the pot, obviously).

The jackpot routinely climbs above $100,000 as it is not hit often (only been won twice in more than a year since poker was offered) while every table takes a jackpot drop.

How do these stringent qualification rules affect the advised strategy for the standard AAATT jackpot?

Thanks for the information and looking forward to your response.

[ADAMtheEXPERT]