Gus Hansen is today a poker player but it wasn’t like that most of the time. Actually, Gus Hansen is Danish and he used to play sport when he was a kid like a lot of Danish boy. His sport was the tennis and he was quite good at it. At 15, he was a national champion. But, he wasn’t so interested in sport and when he became adult, he decided to earn money with backgammon and casino games. Unfortunately, he couldn’t live properly with this game and even if he became a world champion at it he started to have an interest in something else: playing poker and try to be a professional poker player.

The player attracted quickly the attention of the other player by his atypical style and through it he became an intimidating player. As he said, he doesn’t play cards, he plays poker players. It is the only player who won 4 World Poker Tour tournaments and he has received an invitation for the famous and prestigious tournament: poker superstar. The tournament invites just the best players of poker and it is very hard to get a seat at this table.

In 2007, he won the Aussie tournament of poker “Aussie Million” where he won the big jackpot of 1 192 919 USD. During the tournament, the player recorded all of his good hands and used them to write a book about how to play poker.

The book is titled Gus Hansen, Every Hand Revealed. Imagine that you can have access to the head of a professional player but in the head of a player who is not scared of anything and who loves playing poker by bluffing, a guy able to irritate his adversaries and push them until the fault and eliminate them. He shares with you his secrets which allow him to win, a little bible of the poker.

Between colleagues, we organise a maximum of parties between us and we like to share a number of events together, everyone brings something different by their culture and their personality. We are working in a centre which organises a number of internet conferences through the world. It is a way for them to save money by not travelling around the world for meeting. Anyway, every week, someone organises a party or something such as a cinema, a restaurant, an attraction park. This week, I decided to invite everyone at a poker night. There is no obligation and if you don’t want to come because you have something else, it is ok but when you live a big city such as London, it is important to see some people because it is quite easy to feel lonely in London. So, I have sent an invitation through facebook and I have already received 15 positive answers.

I have however a little problem, I have to receive 15 person but my house is not big enough for that. I am sharing a house with 3 other flatmates and we have just a little living room. But on the other hand, I know exactly how I will organise my poker night.

If someone wants to get involved in this tournament, the person has to give £5 for the fees. If everyone participates, we will get £75. So, the amount will be share between the first and the second winner. The winner will get £50 and the second £25. It is not so bad.

Then, after that, people arrive somewhere (I’m still working on it). Then three tables will be available with a minimum of 5 players on it. I am expecting 7 players on every table. It would be possible to rebuy-in before the break but after it, it won’t be able to rebuy-in.

You are a new player and you would like to start playing poker at the pub with some drinks. Don’t hesitate; London is full of pubs where you can play poker in a friendly atmosphere. So, how does it work? It’s simple. You just need to go to a pub that organises these types of events. So it is quite easy to find one close to your place, British pubs love poker and I am pretty sure that one it is just beside your house or in your area.

Most of the tournaments are around 7 to 8 pm at night and it cost about 5£ for the registration. You have to know that in England it is forbidden to ask more than 100£ for a tournament in a pub. So the total of the fees has to be equal at 100£. Some pubs, when they received too much money from this kind of events, they give the difference to associations or charity.

So, after that, the manager of the tournament has to organise the tables. So, it is quite often that there is just 4 tables available. The manager asks you to pick up a card and if you want to know where you are, you have to check the suit of your card and the suit of the tables. It has to match but that is obvious.

After that, the person who picked the ace up is the dealer and the other players of the table have to sit in the order of the cards. If you have a 2 you are just beside the dealer and etc... When everyone is seated, the dealer has to distribute 2 cards to everyone one by one. Also, the person just beside the dealer on the left is the small blind and the person beside the small blind on the left is the Big blind. It means you have to play your compulsory bet before the cards are dealt. (Blind Bet)

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Checking and calling is not considered to be tight-aggressive poker play and it is not an advisable way to play winning poker. However, all poker terms have their place and for example, playing Omaha Hi’Lo the same way as you would play Texas Hold ‘em doesn’t work. Omaha poker demands that checking and calling should be used; in fact this is absolutely routine. 

An Omaha, post-flop play is decreed by the pot odds and players are generally pretty strict about their starting hands. Playing Omaha in an overly aggressive manner does not make for winning the game. Even the best players – pros and players with a lot of experience will call and check in Omaha and it is considered to be an optimal strategy.  

Pot odds in Omaha nearly always warrant a call and it is also a common practice when playing Seven Card Stud. Checking and calling is also advised in limit Texas Hold ‘em games when playing against overly aggressive players or what is commonly referred to as “maniacs”, however conditions do vary. So much depends on the quality of your opponents and the table image. 

Maniacs tend to bet indiscriminately, in essence they bluff their money away so why bet into them? Let your opponents do this for you and check to overly aggressive players, this may give you credit for a hand.  Check and call when you have a straight or a flush and a bet is not likely to win the pot. This may happen in a multi-way-pot when there are still more players to act behind you.