AboutChris Expertise I am a professional poker player and game theory expert. I can answer almost any question related to poker, from your local home game to winning big tournaments or playing at a casino. I am the head cash game instructor at pokerxfactor.com, and I run a site for poker coaches at http://www.foxpoker.com, give lessons (I'm usually booked at least two weeks ahead of time) and I know a little about the online poker affiliate business as well.
Experience I've been playing poker for a living for 4 years, and have written about the subject extensively. I have sold articles to places like twoplustwo.com and Deal magazine, and I write a monthly column called The Online Fox in Poker Pro Magazine and Poker Pro Europe. I run a poker magazine at www.blindstraddle.com and a rakeback site at www.pokerwhip.com.
Education/Credentials I've read the books, talked to the old timers, and done my time at the tables. That's all the education a poker player gets. I own over 100 poker books and have read them all at least once.
Awards and Honors "Best Article" award on pocketfives.com for 2005 for my bankroll management article. All my other "awards" have been in cash, and I've already spent them. Poker isn't about trophies, it's about money.
Many major tournament wins online.
Past/Present clients Too many to list. I run http://wwwfoxpoker.com I also work for PokerXFactor.com as a consultant and fixed-limit Hold Em expert.
Thanks for your willingness to answer questions in this venue.
I've been learning to play low-limit hold'em live, and just wanted your comments surrounding the following question.
Is Fixd-Limit Hold'em Beatable?
Please consider the following aspects:
- the rake: (in my venue, they take 10% up to $5, PLUS a $1 drop for the Bad-Beat Jackpot)
- stakes: 3/6
- relative strength of the players: I'm sure you know that, in general, the games swing from loose-passive to loose-aggressive, and it is very rare, indeed, to find a tight-aggressive table.
Based on the above, how many hours of session playing would you consider necessary? What would you consider to be a minimum session buyin amount? Do you subscribe to the "play opposite of your opponent" theory; that is, if your table is loose-passive, play tight-aggressive, if tight-weak, play loose-aggressive?
Thank you for your comments.
Terry
Answer With the rake that high and the stakes so low, the game is very close to unbeatable. IF the game is beatable at all, it would require expert play and a lot of studying the game. If you can get your cardroom to start a game at 6-12 or higher you have a beatable game with that rake structure. I would recommend starting with Ed Miller's excellent book Small Stakes Holdem, which you can find on Amazon. An approach as simple as playing the opposite of your opponents won't work these days, but the games are very beatable if you can get the stakes a little bigger so that the rake isn't taking such a big chunk.
The swings will be much larger than you think, and you will have 20 hour chunks of play where you end up down. Remember to treat it as one long session and keep accurate and exact records of your wins and losses over time if you want to get serious about the game.
