http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUAG...

I bought into Full Tilt for $90 and after many hours of play at the 5-cent / 10-cent tables worked my account up to $400. I finally started to think "You can't do this with mere luck--I have learned how to beat the game, beat the other players, and overcome the house rake."

Then after a few tough breaks I lost $100, and I got mad so I went to a higher stakes table, and over the weekend I went into meltdown mode. I blew the entire wad, every time I had a bad beat I went to a higher stakes table, until finally I bought into a $1 / $2 game with my last $50 and tossed it all in the middle with KK. He flipped over AK then then spiked an ace on the flop. I think I have about 3 bucks left in the account.

Here was one hand that I really disappointed myself with. I'll present it as a puzzle.

<< POKER PUZZLE #5 >>

At a $1/$2 table, I am dealt QJ of spades in middle position. I limp in for two buck. Everybody folds around to the big blind who raises it up to $6. I call.

Flop comes, 10-10-A rainbow, with no spades in sight.

He thinks about it for a while, then he checks. I normally would be inclined to bet into his apparent weakness but for some reason I was feeling like a wuss. I just check and pray for my "miracle King" to make my straight.

Turn comes the King of spades.

With $13 in the pot, he bets $5. I raise it up to $10. He raises it up to $20. I go all in making the bet $48. He calls without hesitation.

Question #1: What cards did he flip over?

As for <poker puzzle #5>, I think it's a great hand. Before answering the questions, I have comments on the turn. I know that min raises do have value sometimes (mostly if you really know how to correctly evaluate the information you get from it), but usually they are terrible bets. They allow others to chase hands with the proper odds, and therefore don't really get you enough information. Make a real bet and earn some real money.

<Question #1> Since you are asking this hand this way, I'd have to assume that you lost and this player isn't a complete idiot. My money's on KK, but I wouldn't be too surprised if he had any other full house either.

<Question #2> Well, we don't have all the information we need. It depends on what we know of this other player's playing style. What will he raise from the big blind with? Also, is he sneaky or straightforward usually? Did you pick up any tells, or even just got a general feeling from his actions? If this were an online game and the first hand I played (so I don't know anything about what cards our opponent would play in which ways), I'd like to think I could fold to the raise to $20. Give players credit until you know that they will play less than a full house there.

I would say that he had AA. It makes sense, the raise preflop, checking the flop, calling the allin on the turn.

I would be quite surprised if it was A10.

All of you are thinking in the right direction. He either had AA or KK.

In the case of AA, he would raise preflop, and then flopped such a monster he checked it over to me.

In the case of KK, again he would raise preflop, but the ace made him a little nervous so he checked. Then but when he spiked the K he came alive.

AK doesn't make as much sense. If you flop 10-10-A with AK you have a very strong hand but you might to worry about somebody on a draw, e.g. if they held KQ or QJ like myself then you really would have a small fear going into the turn. It's just not a checking situation.

He did in fact show me KK.

<puzzle #5, question 2>

Here's a game that proves that the winner is the one who makes the second to last mistake. I found it amusing because rarely do you see a game where material means so very little.

NN vs Sneaky, ICC blitz

1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. Bb2 Nc6 4. Bc4 Qb6 5. Qf3 Nf6?! <This is called "taking it on the chin." If the threat of e5 is worse than its execution, then I say: bring it on!>

click for larger view

6.e5 Nd4 7. Bxd4 Qxd4 8. exf6 Qxa1 9. fxg7 Qxb1+? <...Qxg7 would give a simple advantage to Black> 10. Ke2 Bxg7 11. Qxf7+ Kd8 12. Qxg7 Re8 13. Bf7 d6 14. Bxe8 Kxe8 15. Qxh7

click for larger view

15...Be6 16. Qh8+ Kf7 17. Qxa8 Qxc2 18. Qxb7 Bc4+ 19. Kf3 Qf5+ 20. Kg3

click for larger view

<chessgames.com>: <McCool> The first "real" kibitz was this <21 Dec 01 - Smartypants: I hear he's been having a good year> posted to Viktor Korchnoi on December 22nd, 2001.

This link contains the answers to that dad-blasted "figure out the next page" puzzle that's been driving everybody batty. For those who haven't seen the puzzle, it starts here http://n.nfshost.com/1.html and I advise you to never go to that site, in fact if you can, block that domain at the firewall level. Save yourself!!

OK, here's the solutions: