WATCH TUTORIAL Because there are so many possible starting hands in PLO (270,725), we had to find a way to. 02 Preflop Concepts 16. August 21, 2023 · 9 minutes to read Share Any real money poker site you play at, a beginner Pot-Limit Omaha player should only play hands with maximum equity. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. This is a hand grid. Additionally, Jacks tend to play very well in 3-bet pots, but things tend to get fairly dicey if a 4-bet or 5-bet has gone in. The fastest Pot Limit Omaha preflop advisor! Access preflop strategies from 5BB to 250BB. Although the GTO for Omaha is more complicated and hasn’t perhaps been explored. Our redesigned, unique approach is something we have faith in. While studying No-Limit Hold’em is a great idea for any poker player, it’s not the only way to learn about poker if you’re new to the game. Three-Card Poker Strategy. , the mathematically correct way of playing every single spot. poker minds. In the hand from Hustler Casino Live, popular poker vlogger Mariano flopped a straight flush vs stream regular Andy’s nut flush. These strategies are particularly valuable because. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast Hold'em Preflop Charts. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. In practice, it’s more than fine to round this up to 100% (unless. For example, let’s say you raise first in from Middle Position and the Big Blind calls. Heck, even Mike McDermott recommended it to the professor in Rounders (1998). You need a smart preflop strategy to truly crush Pot Limit Omaha games. Step 3: Multiply by 100 to get the percentage. Go There. My best guess is to keep playing the same preflop strategy as if you were first to act in a normal blind structure. Go There. Also, because aggressive 3-betting does not typically occur in live games, you can flat a relatively wide range from the button without having to worry about a squeeze 3-bet from the blinds. What. 3 PLO Starting Hand Factors. However, a passive c-bet strategy is in order because there is an asymmetric distribution of super-strong hands. Player Type #4) The ABC. bet with hands such as 55 and 88 on K ♦ 7 ♥ 3♠ for 1/3rd of the pot). Join us at and check out our brand-new tool, the PLO Genius - a top-notch PLO preflop trainer and library solution. Nitty Preflop Tendencies and How to Exploit Them. Tip #2: Pay close attention to effective stack size. Become an end boss with this comprehensive Pot Limit Omaha Training Course. No matter what poker game you're playing, passive preflop actions come with a huge downside: You never get to win the pot preflop when. 5/$5) on PokerStars, the toughest game consistently running online. In this article, I’ll be focusing on preflop. Moreover, alternative hands make better candidates for 4-bet bluffs in such scenarios ( A5-suited , some suited broadways, etc. Welcome to the 5-Card PLO Mastermind! This section is exclusive to 5-Card PLO Mastermind members, which includes access to the 5-Card PLO Trainer. Immediately improve your strategy with guidance from a cash game millionaire. 4. 36% favourite. Example 2: Facing a Check. Advanced Cash Game Strategy by Alex 'Kanu7' Millar. 25%. Using a simplified strategy will help you keep track of how many combinations of hands you have on the next streets. “Open small and often. A precise and easy to use visual representation of GTO preflop ranges for 4 and 5 card Pot Limit Omaha. 10 Quick Poker Strategy Tips. PLO is largely dependent on position and hand value, where reverse implied odds should always be present when playing weaker hands. Don’t Get Cute on the Button in Multiway Pots. Hero checks. But if you were to register late with a short stack (20-30 big blinds) you should aim to have 2x or 3x that. Hosted by cash game specialist Gary Blackwood and Upswing Poker VP Mike Brady, Level-Up aims to help players improve their skills and make more money in episodes that are less than 30 minutes. Balance your ranges while learning the optimal way to deviate from that balance. A precise and easy to use visual representation of GTO preflop ranges for 4 and 5 card Pot Limit Omaha. Besides quick access, our focus is on displaying data in the most comprehensive layout possible. Thomas ‘Emty’ Emter uses Vision GTO Trainer to explore the differences between opening ranges in 5-card PLO vs 4-card PLO, paying special attention to cutoff. Use a smaller raise size from early position and increase your size as you get closer to the Button. Train and learn PLO preflop strategy [-30% OFF] Hello dear users, We’re super excited to welcome you to our shared journey into the world of PLO. 6 Learning Tracks that will help you learn crucial concepts and win at any No Limit Hold'em game type. This series will bring you focused episodes in order to learn the principles behind single raised pots strategy in PLO. You’re in a heads-up pot on the river, holding 4♥3♥ on a board of K♠2♥A♥6♣8♠. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. Playing against passive opposition might be easier than you think. Learn how to play Pot-Limit Omaha Poker with our complete, easy-to-follow guide to the rules of PLO Poker. But if you want to crush live games or low stakes games online–where loose and passive preflop play is common–you’ll need a sound approach for multi-way pots. Your range going into the flop is TT+, AJs+, KQs, AQo+, A7s, A6s, A3s, A2s, 86s, 75s, 65s, and 54s, visualized here:Cons of a Cold-Calling Range. The location: High Stakes Poker in the Aria Casino, Las Vegas The stakes: $200/$400 with a $400 BB ante. A precise and easy to use visual representation of GTO preflop ranges. A third bet/raise is made, also called a 3-bet. Table of contents. This quiz will put you in 8 different preflop situations in which you face a raise before the flop. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. Our mission is to provide poker players of all skill levels with the strategies, tactics, and tools they need to accomplish their goals. As easy to beat as counting 1-2-3. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast. I’ve personally played millions of hands at micro stakes, and achieved some of the highest win-rates ever recorded there. Go There. There’s 10,000 in the pot, and both you and your opponent have 10,000 chips behind. Time Collection. An elite training course for serious cash game players. The Lab also includes extensive preflop charts for cash games and tournaments that. Online $5/$10. You can’t win the pot preflop — you’re gonna have to. Expand your preflop ranges to account for the short-handed play. 3. FAQ Logout. 1. The PLO Matrix is a preflop learning tool custom tailored for different rake levels and stack sizes. In preflop spots, you can profitably call raises from the button with a wide range of hands that can be easily and effectively played postflop. High-, Mid-, Low-, Micro stakes, MTT & Heads-up. When the action folds around to the small blind, they only need to get through one player to win the pot. Understand and learn to deal with (appreciate) variance in PLO. PLO has 270,725 possible starting hands, so it is easy to see why preflop mistakes are more common in PLO games. We’re going to play a post flop pot versus a strong range, and that is going to put us in a lot. How preflop strategy changes from 6-max to heads up, for both 50bb and 100bb stack sizes. Go There. When there’s a straddle (or a third-blind) in the game you’re playing, make the following adjustments to your pre-flop strategy: Use a smaller open size when the pre-flop SPR is low. Here are my top 3 tips when making the switch, click on one of the links below to jump to your wanted tip: 1. Unlike raising, open limping is a passive action that does not give you an immediate opportunity to. An 11-out hand has a 23. Paired boards are great for the player who is in position. If someone is playing GTO, it means they are playing 100% perfect, unbeatable poker. Aces in 3-Bet Pots. For example, you raise on the button, and the big blind calls. Both are big-bet games (though the pot-limit restriction in PLO poker takes on greater significance when comparing the two). Also, we strongly recommend reading our tips on how to approach the suggested strategies. It’s very hard to say what the correct preflop strategy is for the Small Blind and the Big Blind in this scenario given that they already have 0. If the cutoff folds, the hand is over and the big blind player wins the pot. Here you can find 10 Basic Pot-Limit Omaha Strategy Tips. Set mining is the act of calling a preflop raise with a pocket pair with the sole objective of flopping a set. Equity refers to the share of the pot that belongs to a player if there were no more actions to be made and the rest of the cards are dealt. The solver wants to check with our specific combination (J♠ J ♦) 96% of the time. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast. When it comes to specific HUSNG strategy, it’s best we break it down by stack depth rather than by format. Today we’ll be debunking 4 big myths about game theory optimal poker strategy, or “GTO,” as it’s now commonly called. Discover cutting-edge strategies taught by legendary pro Alex “Kanu7” Miller. The flop comes K♠ 8♠ 5♦. Go There. Early Position (UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2) The preflop betting round always starts with the player directly to the left of the big blind. Learn More. One of the biggest mistakes players make when it comes to 3-betting preflop is overvaluing their hands. As a general rule, you should play a tight strategy at low stakes, and at mid and high stakes you can come into the pot with a wider range and call more. Go There. Don’t obsess over the theoretically correct strategy. The main reason to raise full pot is to maximize fold equity and avoid paying rake. The articles below start at the intermediate level to catch up the beginners, but quickly ramp up to advanced strategies that can be used successfully at the highest of stakes. John Beauprez: Folding the nuts correctly on the flop occurs most frequently when: 1. 4. Make sure to split your Aces between a fast-playing range (worth getting your stack in) and the rest in a passive way. 3-bet your premium hands (QQ+, AK). MonkerSolver solves PLO. 50 / 5. Position in Omaha. ‘Effective stack size’ is the least amount of chips in front of any player involved in a hand. The cutoff can also re-raise, or fold. Example: 10 people want to play a $1000 event but they all only have $100. No matter what. Be selective. 2. poker minds. Pot Limit Omaha has been gaining more and more popularity as of late, especially in the online poker world. Adapt To 5-Card Preflop Ranges. Nuttiness. The starting point for playing on the flop is the ‘texture’ of those community cards – how well they coordinate and the likelihood of. PreflopWhiz – in cooperation with PLOBeast, LLC – is a Pot Limit Omaha preflop advisor. You can get squeezed out of the pot if a player behind wakes up with a 3-betting hand. Because most opponents who check/call your flop bet will also check again to you on the turn – you. In Upswing Poker's flagship courses (The $7 Postflop Playbook and The Upswing Lab), I teach you the strategies I've spent years developing -- the same strategies that got. Download. There are many. How Gary Adjusts His Preflop Strategy as the Stakes Get Smaller Before diving into the hands, it’s important to understand a key factor at these stakes: high rake . If you never bluff, poker won’t just be boring, it will be unbeatable — assuming your opponents are paying attention. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. poker minds. There’s more to being a successful poker player than having a good preflop strategy and choosing the correct bet size. txt files compatible with PioViewer, Pro Poker Tools and more! Put simply, ICM is a concept used in tournaments to determine the value of each chip in relation to the tournament prize pool. 50/$1. ”. poker minds. How To Extract Max Value in Limit Hold’em. There’s also a free version of Cruncher that is restricted to preflop calculations only. A "brick" is a card that doesn't change the board texture. Pocket pairs are extremely strong multiway candidates since they become a set on the flop 11. Top 10 Pot-Limit Omaha Strategy Tips for Beginners. In Short Deck Hold’em, your chances of flopping an open-ended straight draw are 19% (compared to 10% in a full-deck game). Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast Hold'em. Advanced Cash Game Strategy by Alex 'Kanu7' Millar. This series features: Preflop strategy Postflop strategy Training sessions PLO Tactics Play &…. Don't overestimate your skill. Texas Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and many limit poker games all use a system involving the small blind, big blind, and dealer button, with all other table positions. In regular PLO you can play one of 6 hole card combinations whereas you can play one of 10 combinations in 5-Card PLO. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast Hold'em. This goes hand in hand with mistake #1. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. Make sure to split your Aces between a fast-playing range (worth getting your stack in) and the rest in a passive way. With antes in play, a 2. 10/$0. 25 by 100 to convert the decimal into a percentage. In this. The GTO Trainer Challenge Mode further enhances learning by providing an intuitive and engaging way to understand preflop ranges in all situations. Let’s figure out whether or not we should shovel our 25bb into the pot. poker minds. Which boards and versus which opponents you should consider leading on. Founded by Doug Polk, Ryan Fee, and Matt Colletta in 2015 with the goal of helping poker players get better at the game they love, Upswing Poker has grown from a blog offering free preflop charts to the world. Become an end boss with this comprehensive Pot Limit Omaha Training Course. Everyone else folds and the cutoff calls. One such difference is that preflop hands in pot-limit Omaha run much closer in terms of poker equity than they do in hold'em. Players only flop a pair ~1/3rd of the time, and calling with no pair and no draw is unlikely in most cases. Although a sound preflop strategy is explicitly required to become a winning player, preflop play is just a part of a profitable PLO strategy, so we cannot guarantee such a thing. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast Hold'em Preflop Charts. This phrase drove the pre-flop strategy of almost every tournament regular for years, and it still has some merit. Jeff Hwang has authored multiple books on PLO strategy. Those games are some of. Early stage ICM example hand. Become an end boss with this comprehensive Pot Limit Omaha Training Course. Learn skills for shot-taking successfuly. My bag(1) Clear. Online $0. Players left to act can call with high equity hands that would fold if you 3-bet. In Texas hold'em , a hand such as A ♥ A ♠ is an 82. The player to the direct left of the dealer button posts the small blind and the next player to the left posts the big blind (which is 2x the size of the small blind). The format closely resembles Texas Hold’em with a few distinct differences: Players have four hole cards in their starting hand preflop instead of two. This free Preflop Guide includes 8 easy-to-read charts and crucial tips that. 99% of players will immediately start putting money into the pot, but that. You hold AKo, and double-barrel on A ♦ 7♠ 4 ♥ T ♥. Flop Action. You raise some hands, limp others, and fold the rest. Players only flop a pair ~1/3rd of the time, and calling with no pair and no draw is unlikely in most cases. There are a few reasons for this:Unopened Pots. Even players trying to follow GTO will often play at least slightly too tight or loose. In regular Omaha, the best hands are those where all four cards are connected. Tip #1: Play a wide range of hands preflop. Most Important HUD Stats. Online poker crushers Beasts of Poker have written an exclusive poker strategy article on how to make optimal preflop decisions in Pot-Limit Omaha for us. There’s no reason to discuss post-flop strategy for 4-bet pots if you haven’t thought. 5/2. The cutoff checks and calls your medium-sized (66% pot. We limp pre-flop and see a multi-way flop that. poker minds. Let's take a look at what this means in regard to your strategy. Linus checks. The first module in this track, titled Advanced Preflop Strategy, comes from coach Fried Meulders, widely considered one of the top regulars in the 500NL Zoom games on PokerStars. The right action to take with each category of hand. Note: If you want to win at poker, you need a solid preflop strategy. 4. Versus Hijack and Cutoff: Mix equally between calling and 3-betting. This free Preflop Guide includes 8 easy-to-read charts and crucial tips that will help you play like a pro before the flop. The pay-out structure of multi-table tournaments almost always reward those who finish in the top few spots, at the expense of those who just barely made it past the bubble. Note: If you want to win at poker, you need a solid preflop strategy. PLO Advanced Mastery - $999. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast. The flop comes . Steal Steal Steal. Don’t Get Cute on the Button in Multiway Pots. Strategy 3-Betting PLO Strategy: How to Make the Correct Preflop Play By Luuk Published January 19, 2021 Updated November 6, 2023 A 3-bet is another name. Pot Limit Omaha (or PLO, for short) is an action-packed, high-variance poker game. If you aren’t. Today we’ll discuss 4 […]Preflop Strategy. You can’t win the pot pre-flop by open limping. Advanced Heads-Up Mastery Aces in 3-Bet Pots. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. Let’s take a common example to visualize it better. Stack-to-Pot Ratio 23. 100% up to €500 and €40 free play . With an open-ended straight draw, for example, your chance of hitting a straight by the river is 45. The 4 Categories of Hands. 5. How to develop correct preflop ranges using the PLO Mastermind short stacking Preflop Chart and understand the key differences between 100bb, 50bb and 30bb stack sizes. Go There. It’s an amazing hand to balance the good hands in your 3-bet. Flop Analysis. 888poker ambassador, Vivian Saliba, reveals her start hand tips to get your PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) game up to speed with a good, solid preflop strategy. Every week is dedicated to a different aspect of the game with the goal of having a complete understanding after 10-weeks. For example, 8 ♥ 7 ♥ is a great bluffing hand on a K♣ Q♣ 6 ♥ flop. They are very often holding marginal playability, have marginal run outs, or can deny equity by betting strong and making our opponents fold. 8-to-1 odds against) of making a straight from. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. 4-to-1 odds against). PLO Hi/Lo is a high/low split variant of Pot limit Omaha. The apps offer 5-Card PLO for basically all stakes but can vary across individual clubs. 4% chance of coming in on the flop (3. If you are new to the game you will experience a lot of players that limp, also called limpers. By Chris. The concept of a tight-aggressive poker strategy is simple: play very few hands, but play them aggressively. Both are flop games with four streets of betting and ‘standard’ starting stacks of 100BB. The big blind checks on the. poker minds. Instead, use them as a guide when building your own preflop strategy. Note that you should be. 1. Whether you play low stakes live (like $1/$2) or micro stakes online (like $0. And over the past 100k hands he’s won a staggering 8. g. More players means more variables, and potential for the pot to swell quickly. He has two WSOP bracelets, including the 2010 $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event and the 2018 $3,000 no-limit hold’em online event. The first rule is fairly obvious. Phil Galfond is a pot-limit Omaha legend, both online and live. 2. If you do this it doesn’t matter what your opponent does, in the long run you should win exactly 1/3rd of the time, tie 1/3rd of the time, and lose 1/3rd of the time. poker minds. Note: If you want to win at poker, you need a solid preflop strategy. Out of position you should fold more vs a 3-bet. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast. So, instead of simply 3-betting, say, the top 12% of hands, mix in some. 36% favourite. The player on the button 3-bets to $40, to which Fried reacts by 4-betting his A ♥ K ♥ to $120 out of the small blind. We can speculate why: J♠ J ♦ doesn’t benefit much from protection as the only overcards are A, K, and Q. Today we’ll discuss the three of the most important factors to consider when sizing your c-bets. By not 3-betting preflop, Villain has removed TT+ (and some 88) from his range, handing us the range advantage and, more significantly, the nut advantage. Add to this the fact that seemingly insignificant differences – for example. Playing GTO entails making 0 mistakes, from preflop decisions to c-bet frequencies to river bet sizing, and everything in between. If you would go for a small bet on the flop and your opponent floats (calls without having a. GTO-based play is difficult to exploit. 01/$0. A GTO strategy is completely unbeatable regardless of the opposing counter-strategy. He's now betting under half pot 92. The tree starts from the first preflop decision, at which point a player has 3 possible decisions: fold, call or raise. An elite training course for serious cash game players. Hands with the letter “o” next to them represent offsuit hands, AKo for instance could be A♣. Short: <2. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast Hold'em. Go There. Since you’re so much deeper in these pots, you need to play a slightly more defensive strategy. The initial raiser gets out of the way, the player on the button* calls, and we go to a flop heads-up. Widen your check-raising range as a bluff from the big blind, since most players will bet with too many bluffs / won’t know. PREFLOP GUIDE FOR RAISING FIRST IN 3 The way we chose to display this information was using what is called a Hand Matrix. The more connected your 2 cards are, the more equity your hand will realize. Just like Hold’em, the great game of PLO has its Game Theory Optimal strategy, i. In 3-bet pots, pocket Aces are often used to go for a large bet right away by potting. Those games are some of the. The board is two-tone. Phil Ivey folds from the Cutoff (after having. 5x, stakes high, lowPlaying a 3-bet or fold strategy with your entire range. 395% probability (253. 5 straddles already invested. The right action to take with each category of hand. Unlock success in Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) with our comprehensive guide: '5 Steps to a Winning Strategy'. 65%. The Best PLO Poker Rooms. Although a sound preflop strategy is explicitly required to become a winning player, preflop play is just a part of a profitable PLO strategy, so we cannot guarantee such a thing. Become an end boss with this comprehensive Pot Limit Omaha Training Course. This module introduces a system of ranking your hands using four categories. Articles Quizzes Reviews Our Pros Free Resources. Play and Explain PLO $500 (JNandez) 48 mins. A GTO strategy is a strategy. The short stack strategy is also possible in PLO, but requires a fundamentally different approach to the game. The “squeeze” play — 3-betting preflop versus a raise and one or more callers — was once a staple of TV poker. And finally, flat calling preflop in. In summation, limping pre flop is more acceptable in PLO. This free Preflop Guide includes 8 easy-to-read charts and. Our web application is tailored to accessing preflop strategies lightning quick and easy. Intro to Mixed Strategies (10:53) Preflop Mastersheet Tutorial (15:03) 15BB RFI (13:16) 15BB RFI Alternative Strategies (15:42). But first, let’s take a look at what an ante is. Although a sound preflop strategy is explicitly required to become a winning player, preflop play is just a part of a profitable PLO strategy, so we cannot guarantee such a thing. We break down fundamental ideas in a simple and comprehensive way to give you an edge at the tables, fast. Note: The Postflop Playbook is the revamped version of Upswing's most popular course, The Postflop Game Plan, which over 49,323 poker players have gone through. After each player completes their desired betting action, the dealer turns their face down card up for. 4 folds. Antes are commonly found in tournaments and high stakes cash games. The correct answer is B. The Upswing Poker Lab offers a comprehensive collection of poker strategy lessons that help players of all skill levels upgrade their game. 6. Against a 2. Nuttiness and Calibration 29. 25/0. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast. I'm looking to start learning PLO strategy as a beginner and was wondering about the best resources everyone uses. Heads-up No-Limit Hold’em (HUNL) is arguably the purest form of poker. 3. Smaller 3 bets allow for a larger SPR and a smaller 4- bet size as well. If you want to play like a pro, mix in a 3-bet 25% of the time. An elite training course for serious cash game players. With insights from Ryan Fee and acclaimed poker writer Matthew Janda (from their new GTO module in the Upswing Lab ), we’re determined to clear up these misconceptions once and for all. Upswing Newsletter Hand Converter & Replayer 3-bet Pot Strategies Doug Vs Daniel Insight PLO Preflop Guide The Laws Of Live Poker Level-Up Podcast Hold'em. The fastest Pot Limit Omaha preflop advisor! Access preflop strategies from 5BB to 250BB. VPIP – stands for “Voluntarily Put Money In the Pot” and indicates how often the player elects to put money in the pot preflop. To search for a specific topic, use our search page here. Go There. Di “Urindanger” Dang. You can watch the first 10 episodes by signing up for a free subscription . The turn strategy is vastly different from the flop strategy, where sometimes betting with all flush draws can be theoretically correct. g. 2. Understanding game-theory optimal strategies and solvers is a must if you want to compete at the online tables in the modern poker era. Escape the Micros is great if you want to learn about how to deal with specific tendencies at low and micro stakes PLO, like facing preflop limpers. 25 and 0. It’s impossible to win every single hand or session that you play. A player raises on top of that bet. 6-Handed. 4. In this article, we’re going to focus on the rules for each poker variant in 8-Game mix. A precise and easy to use visual representation of GTO preflop ranges. Effective Stacks $100. Go There. Before the poker boom, people generally played too passively. Effective stack refers to the effective amount of chips that are in play in a hand. Hole cards are kept face down throughout the game, and can only be seen by the player holding them. Also, we strongly recommend reading our tips on how to approach the suggested strategies.