This is the first poker video that I ever publicly released. I never imagined it would receive such great feedback and lead me to building PokerTrikz. At the time, I was a regular at the 200NL 6 max games on Full Tilt Poker. I wanted to do some live commentary while I played to force myself to think through my plays and for the ability to review the video afterwards to spot leaks. This is not supposed to be a starting point for new users to online poker because I discuss some intermediate concepts that I was developing at the time. There are three great hands in the first 10 minutes of the video, which I promise will teach you how to get more value from a common situation that arises.
Watch or Download Trikkur 1
Right Click and Save Link As …
Interesting Hands
1:25 with 
– I raise on the button with AK and the Big Blind defends. The flop is 
and I make a standard continuation bet. The turn is the 
and my opponent checks to me. I decide this is a good time to Check for Value because I could easily get blown off my hand by a check/raise all in. He could have definitely check/called the flop with a club draw and it is unlikely that he will call the flop, turn, and river with a bad Ace. This leaves me in a spot where I have a ton of showdown value, but I don’t want to get check/raised off my hand and my opponent will not call 3x value bets with a worse hand. I check behind on the turn and the river is 
. He bets about 70% pot into us and we make an easy call with the winning hand.
2:50 with 
– This was a good multi-way pot that showed how to induce a bluff on a river with a marginal hand. There is a raise UTG, the button calls, and I make the call with Eights. The flop is a monotone 
and the action checks around. The turn is the 
and I lead out $16 into the $21 pot with my overpair. The UTG raiser folds and the button calls. The river is a relative blank 
, but there isn’t a lot of reason to bet with my hand. Worse hands will just outright fold to me and better hands can call or raise. This is a great spot to check/call in order to induce a bluff. I check to my opponent and he bets about 55-60% pot, which I snap call and win a nice pot.
5:30 with 
– The immediate next hand shows the same exact concept. There is an OOP poster and we get a 5-way limped pot when I complete in the small blind. I am not sure why I actually completed in this spot and I would highly recommend just folding here. However, I strike gold on the flop of 
. I lead out very strong with a $9 bet into a $9.50 pot and get one caller. The turn is the 
and I fire $21 into a $26 pot and get another call. The river is a blank 
and I decide to try the check/call to induce a bluff against the same exact opponent one turn later. We check and the villain bets $44 into the $67 pot, which we call and win again versus his bluff with A2.
Key Concepts
- Checking for value
- Check/Calling to induce river bluffs
True Poker ranked #1 for US Players
After the closing of PokerStars and Full Tilt to US Players in 2011, most of us were forced to change poker rooms. I decided to start playing at a smaller poker room called True Poker in November of 2011 and I was happy to see them grow significantly throughout 2012 and 2013. They have been around since the early 2000s and have an amazing track record of fast cash outs and player security before and after the events of Black Friday.
They are the only poker room that accepts US players to receive an 'A' grade in payment processing throughout the entirety of 2012 and 2013 in the online payment processing report. They offer a 100% up to $1000 bonus for all new players, but if you sign up at True Poker through PokerTrikz you will also receive 27% rakeback for every $1 you rake. Rakeback deals have been rapidly disappearing these last few years, so I wouldn't miss out on this chance to get a good rakeback at a trustworthy poker room.