Method

As I stated, the purpose of this blog is to discuss hands of Texas Hold'em I've recently witnessed. That means I will only discuss hands I've personally seen played at my home game, online, or on TV. Each entry will be a hand I think is worth discussion. I will not make up hypothetical hands to discuss certain Hold'em principals, such as pot odds, drawing hands, or pushing all-in. That is how some of the poker books I've read are written. Instead, we will see these principals play out in real hands, and we will see how these principals hold up.

At the start, there are cerrtain limitations we'll need to overcome. I will have to take notes in order to capture every aspect of the hand. But I will occasionally lose some details, especially in online games where hands are played very quickly. Nevertheless, I will do my best to discuss each hand fully. In addition, I realize online play differs greatly from "live" play. So sometimes the discussion of a hand from my home game may focus on how it would turn out differently if played online, and vice versa.

Out of respect to my opponents (friends) at my home game, I will reveal the hole cards of a player only if that player reveals them during the hand in discussion. Sometimes we may discuss a hand where we won't know the hole cards of a player involved in the hand. So part of the discussion could be trying to guess the hole cards based on how the hand played out.

I do intend to protect the innocent. Although, I will discuss hands from my home game, no names will be used. Perceptive players from my home game may be able to discern the players involved in a hand from the context clues, and I hope they will respect my attempts at maintaining anonymity. I will use a short-hand for players that many of you will recognize. "D" will stand for the player in the dealer position, "SB" will stand for the player in the small blind position, and "BB" will stand for the big blind. The player immediately to the left of the big blind is Player A or "A", to the left of Player A is "B," and so on around the table. The same naming convention will be used for hands from online games and TV. On exception, I will identify myself in the hands I participate in. And since I pay more attention to hands I play, we'll probably discuss a lot of my hands.