05.04.08
Posted in Poker Related, Texas Hold'em Strategy at 12:55 am by NigelB
If you are new to the game of Texas Hold’em, you might not be familiar with “Fishing for Information”. This should occur when your are involved in a hand and you are not quite sure what you opponent has so you throw a bet on the table just to see where you stand in the hand. Here is an example:
Let’s say you start the hand out with a pair of tens. You raise the pot and get 2 callers. The flop comes out nine, eight, four but they are all diamonds. Well, your hand may be still good or you may be dominated by a flush. In this situation you may want to bet even if you are out of position just to see what your opponents might have. Since you raised pre-flop, there is a good chance that your opponents may have some over cards. You betting makes it difficult for someone to call with only over cards and a flush possibility on the board.
In poker always remember, information is power. You should attempt to get information out of your opponent by any means necessary, even if it means loosing a couple of poker chips every now and then. If you are a newbie try this technique at your next home game or tournament a couple of times. You may surprise a few opponents as well as surprise yourself by winning a few extra pots.
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04.27.08
Posted in Poker Related at 3:04 am by NigelB
Are you an insatiable poker player seeking a new set of chips? These chips are not only used for playing card games, they can be on the roulette and blackjack tables at casinos. There are many different varieties of poker chip sets, so make sure you get a set that is right for you. Most of the poker chips are made from plastic but there are also poker chip sets that are made from clay and wood. Apart from these types, poker chips can be composite or even ceramic. Most people have composite sets at home. They are made from high quality resin and some metal, so that the chips weigh according to the regulations.
Poker chips come in different colours and designs. They can be two-toned or three-coloured. Apart from that there are three ordinary styles - the “dice” style, the “suits” style and the “diamonds” style. The first type, the dice poker chip sets features the face of each side of the dice around the outside edge of the poker chip. The third type, the diamonds poker chips have diamonds around the chip’s outside edges.
If you are a collector or need a new hobby, then why not start collecting poker chip sets? Poker chips depict such items as motorcycles and cars. Not to forget that there are also poker chip sets which feature your favourite team’s logo. There are many varieties of poker chip sets, you just have to chose the one you like the best.
When buying a poker chip set you should think about how many people you like playing poker with and buy as many chips as you night need. If you play with a few friends, then a 300-poker chip set will be enough. In case you are 8-10 players, then it is best if you purchase a 700-poker chip set.
If you are wondering where you can buy poker chips from, the answer is any fine gaming store and from trusted dealers on the internet. If you ready to pay some extra money for the set, then you might visit some sites which allow you to custom create your poker chips.
It doesn’t matter what type of poker chip sets you are searching for, there is a great variety of them to choose. Don’t purchase the first one you come across. Take your time and find the poker chip set that will be right for you, one that will suit you best. In case you have the money for a custom set, then be ready to face up to the envy of all your friends that you play poker with.
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04.17.08
Posted in Poker Related at 1:38 am by NigelB
When you are playing at a poker table you may want to a glance at the rest of the players as they are being dealt their cards. Some poker players have a tendency to give away what type of hand they are holding without calling, betting or raising. If you really think back to the last time you played poker, you may think of a couple of your friends tells.
If you are playing with some good friends, really start to take a look at their body language as they are dealt their cards, even if you fold your cards. Some poker players may scratch the tip of their nose when they are holding a good hand. Some players may take a drink when they are holding a pocket pair.
It may seem a little crazy but it’s true. If you really start to pay attention you will pick up on some tells that you may not have picked up on before.
One of the oldest tricks in the poker book is to use your body language once you make a bet. You can use this for good but it’s more fun to use it for evil :)
When a person bets and then stares you down or sits forward in his/her seat, then that is a clear sign of weakness. When a person makes a bet and then sits back in his/her chair and acts as if they don’t care, than that is a clear sign of strength.
Hint:
Now that you know this, you may want to try it out and do the opposite. When you want someone to call you, sit forward in your seat and stare them down. Even talk a little bit. You may coax them into calling you. Try this technique a few times but don’t overdue. You may be surprised at the result.
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04.12.08
Posted in Poker Related at 1:57 am by NigelB
A novice poker player just learning the game may think that getting good at poker requires learning how to bet and how to raise. This is true, you will need to know how to bet, raise and call well enough to manipulate your opponents into thinking certain things.
A more experience poker player however, knows that the game is not all about offensive moves. Every now and then you have to learn how to protect your stack with an excellent defensive play. When you are truly becoming a good well rounded poker player, you are going to know how to execute offensive and defensive moves to stay alive.
A great example of this can be found in how one plays pocket aces.
Whether you are slow playing pocket aces or betting hard, you must watch out for those aces being cracked. This is one of the hardest things for beginning poker players to learn. Just because you were dealt a monster hand pre-flop does not mean that the hand always holds up post flop.
If you have played poker for a good amount of time you have probably gotten your aces cracked at some point of your poker career and it is probably because you weren’t paying good enough attention.
Hint
If you are playing aces hard pre-flop and a player calls you, then you continue to bet hard on the flop and forth street and you still are getting called you may want take a look at the board and seriously consider what your opponent has.
Your opponent could be slow playing trips or even some kind of wacky two pair combination that you would never think he/she would have. The fact is that aces are a killer hand pre-flop but a pair of aces can be beat by many different hand post flop.
So look for the signs that you might be whipped and don’t be a stubborn poker player when you see these signs. Cut your losses and try to get the table to next time.
Poker (as in other games) glorifies the offensive play. But to become a better poker player you must learn how to play offensive as well as play defense.
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04.09.08
Posted in Poker Related at 11:17 am by NigelB
So what should you do when you have a big pair and the board flops an ace?
Here is the situation:
You have been dealt QQ and you are the big blind. You have six calls in front of you and you try to measure everyone’s hand by raising the pot to 3 times the big blind. Four people now remain in the hand including you. The flop comes out AJ4 and you are the first person to act. What do you do?
If you have played poker with any consistency, you have been dealt a hand like this and inevitably something like this will happen to you. Your feeling really good about your big pair but there’s that darn ace starring you in the face.
Well, not knowing any anything else about the table like betting patterns and style of play, a good strategy here would be to bet hard. What this is going to do is draw information from your opponents.
There are a couple of possibilities why someone who hang around after the big blind raised to three times the size of the pot. One could be a big pair, AA KK JJ. Another could be and ace with a big kicker, AK AQ AJ. Some people will hang around and test the waters with a smaller pair, 10-10 99 88.
When you are the first to act and you bet big, your opponents’ hands start to become a little clearer.
Let’s say that two people fold and one person calls. The strategy here is to definitely at least put your opponent on an ace and maybe start to keep an eye out for the possibility of trip jacks.
Remember poker is a game of information. On forth street, keep that thinking cap on and make sure you don’t dig yourself and early grave with a silly pre ordained all-in call. No need to give all your Poker Chips away on a hunch. If your opponent keeps calling you on all streets or re-raises you on one of them, you may want to think about folding and choosing another battle to fight.
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04.08.08
Posted in Bluffing, Poker Related at 1:06 am by NigelB
Stake out your opponent
What type of players are you playing with? Are you playing with sharks? Are you playing with rookies? Before you stick your hand in the cookie jar, it is a must that you find what the level of play is at your table.
Take mental notes on how each player is playing. Some players play with reckless abandon. They will call or raise you with just about anything. But some players, when faced with a raise will fold with just about anything short of the nuts.
If you’ve found this player, you have found your sucker!
This type of tight-passive player is one that you want to take advantage of. Typically, you will be able to take advantage of this type of player and collect their Poker Chips all night long.
Choose your hand
Some poker players have a lucky hand that they love to try and bluff with. Do you know whose lucky hand this is 10-2? If you watch poker on TV than I bet you do.
You could do this yourself or you could just pick a marginal hand at the right time and see what happens. A good bluffed hand is not about going all in from the start of the hand, a good bluffed hand is about out playing your opponent.
So the lesson here is it’s not so much about the hand you choose as it is about out playing your opponent after the flop.
Go hard or go home
So let’s say that you have staked out your opponent for the whole night and you have chosen a good enough hand in which to bluff. Great, now how much do you bet?
The rule of thumb here is that you want to make your opponent think that you have the nuts right? Well, you do this by betting like you have the nuts.
The point where most poker newbies make the mistake is either betting too much or too little. For instance you may be looking to bluff the table but you go all-in when there is no need for it. Or you try to bluff the river but you only bet 1/10 of what the pot is.
If you’re going to bluff make sure that you bluff like you have the nuts.
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04.06.08
Posted in Poker Related at 11:31 pm by NigelB
When playing poker at a casino or even at a local home game, you always want to make sure you protect your table image. Whatever type of poker player you are you want to get that across to the table early and often because it may help you down the road.
If you are a tight player, you want to show the table that you are a tight player. Don’t get caught calling to the river with a marginal hand. This could definitely ruin your table image.
You might ask, “Well, why would you want the table to recognize that you are a tight player?” Tight players typically hold one key advantage at a table. They get the ultimate respect when they finally get around to playing a hand.
A tight player might receive the benefit of a doubt late in a game where an opponent is looking to make a bottom pair call or fold a hand. Typically if a player is deemed tight the opponent will recognize this, fold the hand and look for another battle to fight.
Moving to the other end of the spectrum if you are an extremely loose player that you definitely want the table to know this. A loose player wants to know that he/she will play any hand at any time.
This also comes in handy when the flop doesn’t reveal the best cards in the world for an opponent. Players will know that the loose player calls and bets with just about anything. This might scare other players away for fear that a loose player caught something on the flop.
The game of poker is an extremely psychological game and it is key to play with the minds of your opponents. Therefore, establish your identity early and often and it could pay off for you in the end.
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Posted in Poker Related at 4:26 am by NigelB
Here are the definitions of a few known poker terms for the novice poker player.
Live Cards
In texas hold’em, these are hole cards that you hold that still have the possibility of being paired. You may hear this frequently when there is an all-in call. The person that may be loosing at the time may say, “I’m behind but I still have live cards.”
Donkey
This is sort of a new poker term. A poker donkey is characterized by his or her poor poker play. A poker donkey may think that they are playing well but in reality they are just really lucky.
Check Raise
This is done by checking initially, but when the bet comes back around to you, you raise the bet. This is usually considered to be a trap that you are laying for a more aggressive player at the table. This also can be a great bluffing tactic.
Ante
This is a small bet that every player is required to make before the hands are dealt. This bet is in addition to the big and small blinds. Usually ante bets happen when the blinds are extremely high.
Runner Runner
This is a poker hand that is made with the turn and the river. Usually this is looked at as being extremely lucky and has nothing to do with good poker play. Hopefully you’re not making too many runner runner hands because it means you’re really not playing that well, but on the other hand, every poker champion did it with a little bit of luck right.
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04.04.08
Posted in Poker Related at 2:14 pm by NigelB
It’s a fact that you will not always be able to start out with a great hand in poker. People that don’t play poker and some novice players have the attitude that they will just wait on great cards, play the good hands that they get and rake in those Poker Chips.
This is a great strategy but there’s only one thing wrong with this statement, poker players are bound to have days where there are no good cards and you have to become creative.
That being said, you must learn to mix up your play every now and then when the bad hands are coming and learn how to represent a hand.
Representing a hand means that you may not have a great hand but you try to make your opponent think that you have a certain hand by your style of betting. I’ll give you an example.
Let’s say that you are dealt a suited 6-7 of clubs and you go ahead and call the raiser from your big blind spot. Immediately the opponent will think that you have a hand. Not a chance that they will think you have a suited 6-7.
The board flops a K-10 of hearts and a 5 of spades. Well, clearly you missed the flop completely but here is a prime opportunity that you can represent a flush draw.
If you bet big in this situation, maybe about 3 times the big blind your opponent will think one of 2 things. You may have flopped top pair or you are on a flush draw. Either way you are in good shape on the button.
If the turn reveals another heart you will be in prime position to steal the pot with a bet.
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04.02.08
Posted in Poker Related at 2:05 pm by Administrator
In the game of poker, information is everything. When playing poker, it is key to guard as much of your information as possible. For this reason, it is key to keep your poker hand concealed when you win a pot.
Many amateurs like to show their hands off when they win. Some like to taunt their opponents while others just like to be congratulated on making a good bet or good read.
However, by doing this you will be divulging precious information that may come back to bite you right in the butt.
Poker players are trained to remember key situations in a match. They key in on subtle things that you may not think mean anything. They will watch how you reacted when you got a certain hand (pocket kings for instance). They will remember how you bet your small pairs and draws. Did you scratch your face and do a terrible acting job when you had the nuts. All of these things are critical pieces of information that you want to keep to yourself. The less your opponent knows, the better shape you will be in.
So the next time you bluff someone off the nuts with a 10-3o, make sure you keep it to yourself. No need to gloat. Act like you’ve been there, rake your Poker Chips and move on to the next dealt hand.
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