This poker column has been running in The Guardian for seven years. For basic strategy advice, scroll to the end (September 2005) and read upwards. It gets gradually more complicated, including tournament reports and anecdotes as well as hand analysis, but is all intended mainly for the recreational player.
Whether playing online, with friends or at your local casino, remember the golden rule of poker: never play for sums you cannot comfortably afford. If you start losing, take a break. If you keep losing, stop.
Good luck!
The Guardian 2012
January
And Finally… - 11 January 2012
Five New Year’s Resolutions - 4 January 2012
The Guardian 2011
December
That’s What The Game Is All About - 14 December 2011
Thin Value Bets - 7 December 2011
November
The Best Player In The World? - 30 November 2011
The International Federation Of Poker - 23 November 2011
The 2011 WSOP champ - 16 November 2011
WSOP final 2011 - 9 November 2011
A Great Autumn For Barny Boatman - 2 November 2011
October
A *Really* Bad Beat Story - 26 October 2011
Good Call, Sir - 19 October 2011
The Youngsters Aren’t Always Bluffing - 12 October 2011
A Satisfying Coup from EPT London - 5 October 2011
September
Playing AK on Late Night Poker - 28 September 2011
Very Deep Stacks (WCOOP) - 21 September 2011
Showing Your Cards Voluntarily - 14 September 2011
First Principles - 7 September 2011
August
A Chip Stack Quiz - 31 August 2011
Now Play According To OTHERS’ Stack Sizes - 24 August 2011
Basic Chip Stack Maths - 17 August 2011
More On Chip Counts - 10 August 2011
The Importance Of Chip Counts - 3 August 2011
July
They Didn’t Know The Value Of The Chips… - 27 July 2011
Countdown to the November Nine - 19 July 2011
Lesson Of The Grumpy Geezer - 13 July 2011
The “Ladies’ Event” - 6 July 2011
June
What Was The Chip Story? - 29 June 2011
Badugi As A Split Pot Game - 22 June 2011
Bluffing At Badugi - 15 June 2011
Badugi - 8 June 2011
A New Game… - 1 June 2011
May
The Dangers Of Levelling (Part 2) - 25 May 2011
Remember To Have Fun - 18 May 2011
What Is Levelling? - 11 May 2011
More On The Pre-Flop Betting Round - 5 May 2011
April
The Betting Streets: An Exercise - 27 April 2011
Have The Games Got Softer? - 20 April 2011
Let’s Talk About Loss - 13 April 2011
A Warning PS to the last 3 Weeks - 6 April 2011
March
Last Week’s Riddle Solved - 30 March 2011
Riddle Of The Long Think - 23 March 2011
Take Your Time… But Not Too Long - 16 March 2011
My Book And Broader Strategy - 9 March 2011
Robinson’s Side (of last week’s fold) - 2 March 2011
February
A Very Unusual Fold - 23 February 2011
Kimber & Banana Play A Hand - 16 February 2011
Mistimed Bets At The UKIPT - 8 February 2011
Breaking The Deauville Duck - 2 February 2011
January
Lessons From The Ladies’ Event - 26 January 2011
The Ladies’ Tournament - 19 January 2011
Hero Calls That Should Be Raises - 12 January 2011
New Year’s Resolutions - 5 January 2011
The Guardian 2010
December
Bloom & Antonius part 2: Raising Safer - 22 December 2010
The Low-Key Lizard - 15 December 2010
Pre-flop LAG-ging part 2 - 8 December 2010
Lessons From Last Week’s Weird Hand - 1 December 2010
November
There’s Always Something New - 24 November 2010
Life Lessons Of The New WSOP Champ - 17 November 2010
A New WSOP Champion - 10 November 2010
Good Work, Duthie & Hansen - 3 November 2010
October
Little Less Conversation, Little More Action - 27 October 2010
Playing Phil Ivey - 20 October 2010
Should’ve Changed The Plan - 13 October 2010
An Odd High Roller Hand - 6 October 2010
September
The Devilfish Book - 28 September 2010
British Poker Awards pt. 2 - 22 September 2010
British Poker Awards pt. 1 - 15 September 2010
Underplay, Overplay, Wombling Free… - 7 September 2010
Never Forget It’s A Mind Game - 1 September 2010
August
A Bad Time To Bluff - 25 August 2010
Standard? - 18 August 2010
The Hands That Haunt - 11 August 2010
August Tips For Poker Players - 4 August 2010
July
Not Such A Loose Cannon - 28 July 2010
The November Nine - 21 July 2010
A Surprise From Peter Eastgate - 14 July 2010
WSOP 2010: The Starting Days - 7 July 2010
June
Brits Now Breaking WSOP Records - 30 June 2010
2010 World Series of Poker (4) - 23 June 2010
2010 World Series of Poker (3) - 16 June 2010
British Victory At WSOP - 9 June 2010
First WSOP Bracelet of 2010 - 2 June 2010
May
The People You Meet - 26 May 2010
Dusk Til Dawn in Nottingham - 19 May 2010
A 26-hour Poker Tournament - 12 May 2010
When To Pass Kings - 5 May 2010
April
A Big Fold (pt. 2) - 28 April 2010
A Big Fold (pt. 1) - 21 April 2010
A Notorious Slow-roll - 14 April 2010
The Danger Of An Indecisive Bet - 7 April 2010
My First Game With An iPod - 1 April 2010
March
A Blinds Skirmish - 24 March 2010
A Tough Call In Berlin - 17 March 2010
A Bad Day’s Poker For Someone - 10 March 2010
Playing With Friends: Part 2 - 3 March 2010
February
When Is A Friend Not A Friend? - 24 February 2010
Kamikaze Or Maths? - 17 February 2010
A Quirk To The AK Scenario - 10 February 2010
A Very Surprising Fold - 3 February 2010
January
A Crazy French Hand - 27 January 2010
Agonizing Heads-Up Hand - 20 January 2010
Immortality At The PCA - 13 January 2010
Time To Sober Up - 6 January 2010
The Guardian 2009
December
Fight The Poker Tax - 30 December 2009
What Would You Do? - 23 December 2009
The Lesson Of Bad Beats Online - 17 December 2009
Social Sundays Online - 9 December 2009
Bounty Stars Of Poker - 2 December 2009
November
Launch of the UKIPT - 25 November 2009
Late Night Poker final (part 2) - 18 November 2009
A New World Champion - 11 November 2009
Never Bluffing: Late Night Poker Final - 4 November 2009
October
Heads-Up Aggression: A Last Note - 28 October 2009
More Heads Up: Trends In Poker - 21 October 2009
More Aggression, Less Patience: Heads Up - 14 October 2009
On The Bubble: Any Two Cards - 7 October 2009
September
An Example Of Overplaying? - 30 September 2009
Shoving Light: Not Black And White - 23 September 2009
No Retirement For Me - 16 September 2009
The Mysteries Of Late Night Poker - 9 September 2009
Late Night Poker returns - 4 September 2009
August
Recession? What Recession? - 21 August 2009
Mike Matusow’s autobiography - 14 August 2009
When They Call, Show Your Hand - 7 August 2009
July
Poker In The Dragons’ Den - 31 July 2009
The Best WSOP Final In Years - 24 July 2009
Day One Selection Strategy - 3 July 2009
June
Masochism & Disappointment In Vegas - 26 June 2009
British Medals In The 2009 WSOP - 19 June 2009
Find Tournaments In The UK - 12 June 2009
From Turbo MTTs To The World Series - 5 June 2009
May
Turbo MTTs pt 3 - 29 May 2009
Turbo MTTs pt 2 - 21 May 2009
MTT turbos - 14 May 2009
Sportsmen, Poker And A Sniffy Press - 7 May 2009
April
The Pros & Cons Of Charity - 30 April 2009
A Curious Case Of Etiquette - 23 April 2009
No Privacy Please, We’re British - 16 April 2009
A Super-Cheeky River Bet - 9 April 2009
Don’t Mess With The Mojo - 2 April 2009
March
The Red Herring River Card - 26 March 2009
The World’s Upside Down - 19 March 2009
The Dangers Of Slow Playing - 5 March 2009
February
The Money’s Too Big - 26 February 2009
Taking On An All-In Man With No Pair - 19 February 2009
Premier League: watch and learn - 12 February 2009
UTG raises in the PCA: last comment - 5 February 2009
January
Half-hands in late stages (conclusion) - 29 January 2009
The Joy Of Sixes (last week continued) - 22 January 2009
Team Spirit - 15 January 2009
Losing the minimum - 8 January 2009
The Guardian 2008
December
Another Little Squeeze - 18 December 2008
Hidden advantage of day 1a - 11 December 2008
The funniest P.L.P. hand - 4 December 2008
November
Girl On Girl - 27 November 2008
A Little Quiz - 20 November 2008
WSOP 2008: They Don’t Care - 13 November 2008
Budapest - 6 November 2008
October
Small but relevant hands - 30 October 2008
River value bets illustrated - 23 October 2008
Last week’s hand resolved - 13 October 2008
A controversial hand - 6 October 2008
September
A Huge Hand Or Nothing - 29 September 2008
The Danger Of Poker Awards - 22 September 2008
The Tour - 15 September 2008
New School Term - 8 September 2008
Terrible Table Manners - 1 September 2008
August
Is poker a sport? - 25 August 2008
Online cash game etiquette - 18 August 2008
The Palm Beach - 11 August 2008
You Have No Decision To Make - 4 August 2008
July
The November Nine - 28 July 2008
Most of the time it’s just fate - 21 July 2008
Not the 2008 World Champion - 15 July 2008
Pre Flop Flummery - 7 July 2008
June
Fear of exit - 30 June 2008
Betting on the WSOP - 23 June 2008
Big opening fields - 9 June 2008
Detective work - 2 June 2008
May
Local rules - 26 May 2008
Body language - 19 May 2008
WSOP final table - 12 May 2008
Long-term winning strategy - 5 May 2008
April
The domino effect - 28 April 2008
Flying blind - 21 April 2008
A world-class fold - 14 April 2008
An old fella - 7 April 2008
March
Chasing rainbows - 31 March 2008
Annette Obrestad - 24 March 2008
After a nasty loss - 17 March 2008
Dealers - 10 March 2008
Quit when you’re losing enough - 3 March 2008
February
Hellmuth’s full house - 25 February 2008
Don’t change your mind - 18 February 2008
Price your bets correctly - 11 February 2008
You do realise that’s a 50/50? - 4 February 2008
January
Double flop hold ‘em - 28 January 2008
Dealer’s choice - 21 January 2008
Late night poker - 14 January 2008
Celebrity late night poker - 7 January 2008
The Guardian 2007
December
Induce Mistakes - Part 4 - 17 December 2007
Induce Mistakes - Part 3 - 10 December 2007
Induce Mistakes - Part 2 - 2 December 2007
November
Induce Mistakes - Part 1 - 26 November 2007
Perfect river cards - 19 November 2007
Sharkscope - 12 November 2007
Three aces beat three jacks? - 5 November 2007
October
“Ghosts at the table” - 15 October 2007
Knock-on effect - 7 October 2007
It’s hard to win the same tournament twice - 1 October 2007
September
Annette Obrestad - 24 September 2007
Erick Lindgren - 17 September 2007
Super-satellites - 10 September 2007
World series comes to London - 3 September 2007
August
Premier league poker - 27 August 2007
Rule of three - 13 August 2007
A tough commentator - 6 August 2007
July
2007 WSOP - Part 5: The Winner - 23 July 2007
2007 WSOP - Part 4: Cash Game - 16 July 2007
2007 WSOP - Part 3: ‘Donkeys’ - 9 July 2007
2007 WSOP - Part 2: Roulette - 2 July 2007
June
2007 WSOP - Part 1 - 25 June 2007
Interpreting a river bet - 18 June 2007
When a bad hand is good - 11 June 2007
Mental focus - 4 June 2007
May
The old principles of craftiness - 28 May 2007
Characters in poker - 21 May 2007
‘Bigger deal’ - 14 May 2007
Could be the perfect play, could be suicidal - 7 May 2007
April
Charity tournament - Part 2 - 30 April 2007
Charity tournament - Part 1 - 23 April 2007
Desperate housewives - 16 April 2007
Poker is a slippery game - 9 April 2007
GUKPT - 2 April 2007
March
HORSE tournament - 26 March 2007
Playing like a man - 19 March 2007
Poker tells - 12 March 2007
A monkey could do better - 5 March 2007
February
Group hugs don’t win poker trophies - 26 February 2007
My new nickname - 19 February 2007
Poker nicknames - 12 February 2007
A secret about high-low games - 5 February 2007
January
Seven-card high/low split - 29 January 2007
Lowball - 22 January 2007
Seven-card stud - 15 January 2007
New Year’s resolutions - 8 January 2007
The Guardian 2006
December
Greg ‘Fossilman” Raymer - 18 December 2006
Position in Omaha - 11 December 2006
The benefit of Omaha - 4 December 2006
November
Betting on poker - 30 November 2006
The do-re-mi of poker - 27 November 2006
Another view on Casino Royale - 22 November 2006
Poker variants - 20 November 2006
How to play poker - 13 November 2006
UK poker ban - 6 November 2006
October
Poker robots - 20 October 2006
European Poker Tour - Baden, Austria - 13 October 2006
Poker ban - 6 October 2006
September
How to win £500,000 - 29 September 2006
The European poker tour - 22 September 2006
All-in….. - 15 September 2006
No limit cash games - Part 2 - 8 September 2006
No limit cash games - Part 1 - 1 September 2006
August
Don’t tap on the aquarium - 25 August 2006
2006 WSOP - Part 4: The Winner - 18 August 2006
2006 WSOP - Part 3: Celebrities - 11 August 2006
2006 WSOP - Part 2: Vegas - 4 August 2006
July
2006 WSOP - Part 1 - 28 July 2006
Online behaviour - 14 July 2006
Gambly young opponents - Part 2 - 7 July 2006
June
Gambly young opponents - Part 1 - 30 June 2006
Swimming with the devilfish - 23 June 2006
Recommended poker books - 16 June 2006
Home games - 9 June 2006
Poker is cruel - 2 June 2006
May
Half a hand - 26 May 2006
Your opponents stack size - 19 May 2006
Feeling the greed - 12 May 2006
Counting your stack - 5 May 2006
April
Adam Lee - 28 April 2006
Celebrity poker - 21 April 2006
Women and poker - 14 April 2006
A bad beat whinge - 7 April 2006
March
Tournament pace - 31 March 2006
Online tournaments - 24 March 2006
The tournament trail - 17 March 2006
Mix it up - 10 March 2006
Taking a free card - 3 March 2006
February
Position - 24 February 2006
Look beyond your hand - 17 February 2006
Semi-bluffing - 10 February 2006
Bluffing - Part 2 - 3 February 2006
January
Bluffing - Part 1 - 27 January 2006
Luck v skill - 20 January 2006
Beware the TV - Part 2 - 13 January 2006
Drawing hands - 6 January 2006
The Guardian 2005
December
Suited connectors - 30 December 2005
Christmas competition winners - 16 December 2005
Pocket pairs - 9 December 2005
Christmas competition - 2 December 2005
November
A pair of kings - 25 November 2005
The rules are there….. - 18 November 2005
Ace King - 5 November 2005
A single ace - 4 November 2005
October
Aces - 28 October 2005
Raising - 21 October 2005
How much to play for - 14 October 2005
What not to wear - 7 October 2005
September
Beware the TV - Part 1 - 30 September 2005
Introduction - 23 September 2005