Roy answers your questions

Q. In Hold’em would you call a raise holding 22 on the big-blind?
A. Roy Says: Only if it was a tiny raise from a player going all-in during a tournament. Here’s why… from the outset you can only be a marginal favourite – tackling an A-K for example or 4/1 against if you are taking on any other pair. If any picture card or Ace flops you will have to fancy you have gone behind and cannot call any bet. So, you really need to hit a 2 on the flop and you are 15/2 about doing that.

Q. What is a ‘rainbow’ flop?
A. Roy Says: This is a flop containing cards of three different suits.

Q. Do you keep a record of your winnings and losses?
A. Roy Says: The biggest mistake I made in 2003 was not continuing with my record keeping that I meticulously kept during 2002. I made money every month bar one in 2002 and was determined to rectify that loss when I added up the figures for that month. More importantly, by keeping records you can identify what games are profitable for you and which ones are not. This gives you the option to seek ways of improving weak games or, as most do, concentrate on the profitable ones!

Q. How do you play Aces in Omaha?
A. Roy Says: A pair of Aces in your hand in Omaha is nowhere near as strong as in Hold’em and much will depend on the rest of your hand – for example, do they have kickers of the same suit? Or the potential to make a straight? But, basically, you will be going into a head-to-head situation as strong favourite against most hands. So, ideally, you want to get as much money as possible into the pot pre-flop. In this scenario numerous high-stakes players will bet the maximum amount on the flop regardless of what it is as it is highly probable their opponent is holding no more than a single pair and cannot call such a big bet at this stage.

Q. What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you whilst playing poker?
A. Roy Says: I was in Barcelona at the bar talking to a fellow player, Dave Colclough, about the closing stages of major tournaments. He explained that the re-raise is a massive move at vital stages of a tournament, like when you are on the verge of making a valuable final table or down to four or five at that final table. "It’s very hard to call a big re-raise at that stage because you automatically put your opponent on Aces or Kings and so find yourself laying down decent hands," he said. "That is where there are sizeable movements in chip stacks, not in completed hands." Later that evening I was watching him at work in the final of the main event where there were just four people remaining. "Raise" said the player in seat one, "re-raise" said our hero pushing his entire stack forwards from seat 4. Guess what, Dave was right as his opponent thought for the whole of three seconds before calling and turning over his pocket aces! Our hero was then forced to expose his hand that contained no more than an 8-9. Great move but bad timing!

Q. In Hold’em after the flop what hand could have the most outs?
A. Roy Says: An open-ended straight and flush draw has 15 outs making it an odds-on shot to make. For example… if the flop comes 3c-Jc-Qd you would like to be holding Tc-Kc meaning any one of three 9‘s, three Aces and nine Clubs would make your hand.

Q. What is the best venue/tournament you have been to in Europe?
A. Roy Says: This, for me, is not hard to answer as the Master Classics of Poker at Holland Casino in Amsterdam stands out. That said, there is no such thing as a bad venue as most make you very welcome. I have a soft-spot for Casino Ray in Helsinki – intimate with friendly staff, players and management.

Q. In an all-in pre-flop situation, which starting hand would you prefer in Hold’em QT or 77?
A. Roy Says: The key to this is… a) What are you doing all-in with QT and b) What made you think you were taking on an under-pair? Whatever the scenario the odds make the made hand (77) 55% or 5/6 favourite and that’s good enough for me.

Q. Last night I raised pre-flop with Ac-Qc, I had one caller who bet when the flop came 2c-8c-Qd. Considering I had top-pair with top-kicker and a flush draw I went ‘all-in’ only to lose as my opponent was holding pocket 8’s. Should I have seen this coming?
A. Roy Says: I’d say you did nothing wrong. You can never really interpret your opponent being on three-of-a-kind and very few people would call a raise with Q-8 or Q-2, so you had to believe you were winning. The old saying is "always leave yourself outs" and you did that too as there were still plenty of clubs left in the deck to give you the flush. Quite simply you were unfortunate to come up against a player willing to call a raise with a middle-pair who was lucky enough to hit ‘trips’.

Q. If there is just one piece of advice you could give to a beginner what would it be?
A. Roy Says: Avoid playing in too many hands. It’s a common mistake by most newcomers who believe you need to be in to win. Conversely, to consistently win you need to be very selective about your starting hands.