Comments on: Ultimate Texas Hold’em

By: marco

marco — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:48:18 +0000

thanks!

By: stephenhow

stephenhow — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:13:07 +0000

I’ll probably write a UTH applet sometime soon. I’ll keep you posted on it’s progress. Other than an iPhone app, I haven’t seen any places to practice the game yet.

Steve

By: marco

marco — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:46:51 +0000

just discovered the game in my local casino and love it. (even though i obviously had a wrong strategy for i always played the trips).

do you know if there is a place/site/service somewhere in the internet where i can play it online? I’d like to try out your strategy on a low level, before i enter the casino and play with 100 ante… maybe there’s some game with another name – as far as i found out the name is copyrighted by shufflemaster.

keep up the good work!

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:01:53 +0000

Some thoughts, though not math-ish:

Kelly does not apply here because it is a negative E.V. situation. There is no optimal Kelly number for the game unless you are playing with an advantage, which is nigh-impossible in this game.

Raising 4X does introduce tremendous variance but remember you are only betting it when you have the advantage. In that way it is similar to doubling down in blackjack. It’s not like betting the trips bet or the extra coin to play Super Times Play video poker. You don’t have the advantage on those bets and they just increase variance.

Anyway, I’m just talking out of my butt here so maybe Stephen could post some math to back me up.

By: Juan

Juan — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:08:07 +0000

Richy – looks like Stephen’s first scenario for 100 antes fits your
situation nicely – good luck!

Juan (MathProf)

By: stephenhow

stephenhow — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:59:56 +0000

I put in the 2x bet with 5’s in the strategy chart for completeness. Of course you’re supposed to 4x raise this hand preflop, but many won’t do it. So, I include all flop cases you should bet 2x on, *not* assuming that people have already 4x raised these situations. It’s their 2nd chance to bet. (A lot of times I see people miss their 4x bets, then miss their 2x bets, then finally 1x bet their monsters.)

For pocket 3’s, only raise if no 3 seen in other players hands. For pocket 4’s, only raise if at most one 4 is seen in other players hands.

Sure, post all trip reports! People find them useful. Good luck!

By: stephenhow

stephenhow — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:55:55 +0000

I address this issue in my latest post on session outcomes given bankroll, goals, and time.

By: Richy

Richy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:50:13 +0000

Hi,

min. bet is $2. Are $200 at the beginning enough to raise 4X pre-flop or will the money swings kill all the money too soon?

Thanks

By: Juan

Juan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:55:13 +0000

Stephen – Just to clarify, I’m referring pre-flop to only the minimal gain situations;
of course the big and modest gainers can always be justified as long as
one is playing with sufficient bankroll.

Juan (MathProf)

By: Juan

Juan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:50:15 +0000

Some thoughts on the 4X raise:

Since the ante and Blind are horrendous bets, we are all inclined to “go for the
throat” pre-flop. However, this bet must be treated like an insurance bet in
blackjack – totally unrelated to the original wager; your river bet is the one bet that is
original bet related because if you don’t bet one unit you lose Ante and Blind.

When raising 3X or 4X we introduce tremendous variance (big money swings) and
it seems to me that betting 4 units for a miniscule gain in profitability would be
“overbetting your bankroll” in Kelly terms.

Stephen and others – all thoughts appreciated
Juan (MathProf)