Daniel Negreanu

“Beating a tight game requires focus. You'll need to seek out every opportunity where you can steal a big pot. One way is by representing a hand that your opponents probably can't beat.”

“The value of small pocket pairs comes from the possibility of flopping three of kind and winning a sizable pot. To that extent, playing this type of hand is a low risk/high reward proposition.”

“Playing middle pairs like 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, and 7-7 can be difficult but only if you overvalue them and mistakenly play them as you would premium hands.”

“There's no doubt that position is a very important aspect of the game. But some players take this concept to the extreme and consequently miss opportunities when they refuse to play hands out of position.”

“Hyper-aggressive poker works best in deep-stack tournaments.”

“I like to peruse the Full Contact Poker online forums to read and comment on posts about interesting poker hands and whether they were played properly. I find that many of the contributors consistently suffer from the same problem: they are far too preoccupied with statistically insignificant aspects of a poker hand.”

“Don't try to make a big bluff on the turn with a drawing hand. With only one card to come, even a big draw is an underdog against a made hand. Keep the betting small.”

“In cash games, you're apt to see more players staying in to see the flop. If you have a hand worth playing, your best options are to either limp in or make a slightly larger pre-flop raise to build the pot and narrow the competition. A raise of four times the big blind should do the trick.”

“Powerful drawing hands, like a pair with a flush draw or even conventional straight and flush draws, are often good opportunities to try a semi-bluff - making a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but leaves you some outs if it is.”

“Tournaments are won by aggressively going after smaller pots with a range of starting hands. The trick is learning how to do that without becoming reckless.”

“Never underestimate the importance of preparation for any single poker session or tournament.”

“Soft playing destroys the integrity of the game of poker, and it's wrong - flat out wrong.”

“Many players in the big blind get in trouble by calling pre-flop raises; they try to do too much. They don't want to get bullied, so they attempt a tricky check-raise bluff or overplay their hands in an ill-advised effort to push back.”

“You have to play more hands than usual to be successful in tournament poker. While a conservative approach can help you squeak into the money, the only way to win is to mix it up and get involved with a wider range of starting hands.”

“How players react to questions that you ask can give definitive information as to the strength of their hand. Even an opponent who says nothing at all might be sending a silent signal. A mere shrug, an awkward smile, or even a frozen stare can be meaningful.”

“Less control can be exerted in Limit games because it's more difficult to force players out of pots with structured betting. In No Limit, though, hands can be protected from being outdrawn by making large bets that force opponents to fold weak draws.”

“It's rare to find these true coin flip situations in Hold'em but surprisingly common in Omaha. That's one of the reasons why Omaha is the perfect game for action junkies who relish the notion of flipping coins for large sums of money.”

“Playing Limit Hold'em will certainly improve your No Limit game. There are subtleties to the Limit game that will enhance your technique at the No Limit tables. Mastering these uniquely aggressive Limit tactics will enable you to steal more pots when you sit down to play No Limit Hold'em.”

“Playing tricky poker doesn't have to mean making bizarre moves or playing way out of character. Rather, it's simply about taking advantage of what you know about your opponents and how they perceive your style of play.”

“Any call that jeopardizes a big chunk of your chip stack just because you think your opponent might be on a bluff is flat-out wrong.”