Bluffing in real life vs. online poker

Posted on May 6th, 2008 in Articles by admin

There is a world of a difference between bluffing in real life or playing at a casino and playing online poker. Yes, there are a number of little differences that you need to adjust to, in order to get the hang of playing the game. It is common knowledge that most people tend to act in a different manner on the Internet than they would in real life. So, it makes sense to say that people would also probably play differently online than they would in reality.

Poker played at home is very different from the game played at a casino. And, the transition that takes place from playing poker online to playing the game live will always be a long journey and a hard one at that. The online games will always have a simple structure, as opposed to the live game. Online games don’t really value the best game style; instead they tend to value the best hands made.

This would mean that online poker games are all about luck and have very little to do with strategy. So, if you happen to be an online poker player and you want to turn professional and play at casinos, then you need to know the essential differences between the two game types – the competition and the bets.

At the beginning of a live poker game, you will notice that the antes are all gone and the blinds have taken their place. Blinds are also forced bets that are placed by the first person playing after the dealer. After the bets, the human factor plays a big role in live poker. The competition or game style is the most important factor when playing poker. Styles that are used in online poker games are not very popular for live games.

While playing live poker, you are playing for real money and not for any extra pocket change. The main difference between live poker and the Internet version is that your scope for winning more games online is much higher, since there are more online players available.

The best part about online poker is that it is highly accessible and very fast. So, you no longer have to wait for the cards to be shuffled, and the deals are super fast. You get to play at multiple tables.

As far as live poker is concerned, you get to socialize while playing the game. It is also easier to stay focused and observe each and every move of your opponents. From trying to read your opponents’ minds to guessing their moves, you are able to connect to each other better.

All in all, playing at casinos gives the game a more ‘real’ feel to it. Even if you happen to an experienced online poker player, you might find the real thing a lot more intimidating!

Poker basics: Texas old’em hand ranks

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 in Articles by admin

In Texas Hold’em poker, hand ranking is considered to be one of the most basic elements. This is the first thing that every poker player must learn before starting to play Texas Hold’em. There is hardly any difference between the hand rankings of a common game of poker and Texas Hold’em like Draw poker, Omaha or Seven Card Stud. As a Texas Hold’em player you should remember that every suit has the same exact value in this game as well as in other poker games. Kicker is also a very important concept and is used when two players make similar poker hands like a pair of aces. In such cases, a player with the highest card will win the pot.

Texas Hold’em hand rankings:

When you compare hands in the game of poker, you need to follow certain basic rules:

1. When a hand is very probable, it loses its power to make a player win. For instance, Royal Flush is the hand that is not very likely to be seen and this makes it a very powerful hand of Texas Hold’em.

2. There are five cards in a poker hand. A player can take these cards from any combination of community cards and hole cards. Cards that are not included in this will not be considered.

3. The card ranking in Texas Hold’em poker goes from Ace, which is the highest, to the King, Queen and Jack, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3 and 2 that is the lowest.

4. As far as poker suit ranking is concerned, there are no differences because all the suits are equal.

Royal Flush: It is a combination of the poker cards with the same suit: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten.

Straight Flush: In this game, you can find five cards of the same suit in one sequence.

Full House: In this House, three cards having the same denomination are combined, while the other two cards are of different denominations.

Flush: Five cards of the same suit are combined in Flush.

Straight: Straight is a five card combination of different suits in a sequence. In this case also, if the player has the highest card, he or she will have a better hand compared to the opponents.
Three of a Kind: This is a three-card combination of similar denomination along with any other two cards.

Two Pair: This hand combines two denominative pairs of cards along with one other card.

One Pair: This hand has a combination of one pair of cards that are denominative, along with three unmatched cards.

High Cards: In this case, there is no existence of other hand combinations. The winner is the card with highest ranking.

Poker basics: table etiquette

Posted on April 1st, 2008 in Articles by admin

If you want to enjoy the game of poker then you should learn the unwritten rules of this game. This is as important for success as the actual game plan and strategies of poker. If you play this game with the right kind of etiquette then other players will also respect you. Make sure that you follow the poker etiquettes and enjoy the game. Some of the etiquettes are:

• The basic thing you need to follow in this game is politeness. Try to be as polite as possible and think that you are playing with your good friends and not opponents. Don’t swear at other players because bad behavior can harm the quality of poker.

• You should never toss your poker chips because this can help your opponents to count your bet. There are strong chances that you will be forced to put in more chips, so don’t be tempted to spend more money.

• Players should never get involved in cursing the card dealer because if you don’t like a hand or don’t win, it is not the fault of the dealer.

• You should never rely on the card dealer in the game of poker, especially if you lack the skill of reading hands. If you are a novice then avoid it strictly and don’t ask for help from other players.

• One hand for one player-this is another etiquette that needs to be followed by the players. Do not advice your opponents.

• Playing the game of poker very slowly is not considered to be good poker etiquette. Many players feel that a slow game will bring a lot of surety. If they keep on thinking like this then no excitement is left in the game and players will get impatient. So if you want to avoid having a bad reputation among your fellow players then avoid playing slow.

• Pocketing the poker chips is not considered good etiquette. This should be avoided in order to bring down the chances of losing everything that you have.

• A poker player should act only when a situation demands and not before that. If it is not your turn then avoid folding even though no interest is left in the game for you. Early folding will send a sign to your opponents and you can lose a lot.

• If you are playing in a real life casino then avoid eating while playing because your opponents many not enjoy touching greasy cards.

• When you play, do not expose your poker cards because it can lead to loss.

These are some of the etiquettes that need to be followed by every poker player in order to gain respect and enjoy a good game.

Common mistakes made in online poker

Posted on March 31st, 2008 in Articles by admin

There are some common online poker mistakes that novices as well as experienced poker players make. If you want to be successful in this game, you have to practice certain strategies so that more pits can be won. You should learn to avoid these common mistakes and get an advantage over your opponents.

Distraction: Winning a poker game is all about skills, but you also need to have some attention span. You need to concentrate on the details of this game. In case of distraction, players don’t use their skills and leave everything to luck. If you are a novice, then you should learn handling more than 3-4 games at a time. Playing at home can ruin your attention to a great extent due to the phone, radio or TV; so make sure that you avoid all these distracting elements as far as possible.

Use of auto-play functions: The main function of the auto-play button is to speed up the game. When you use this button you must know that it is being used at the cost of your poker chips. In online poker, players are very far from each other and the only tells in this game is the duration taken by a player to act on his hand.

Delay in check: weakness
Instantaneous check: weakness
Instantaneous call: strength
Quick bet: strength

The first tell is all about understanding of the psychology of this game, but other three are based on auto play buttons. Clicking on the automatic check button when you have a weak hand will convey your weakness.

Too much talking: There are many online poker players who talk a lot because according to them this will not serve as tell. They fail to realize that besides the use of the auto-play button, talking can be the biggest online poker ‘tell’. So never waste time in talking to your opponents.

Never make enemies in poker: Try to avoid making enemies in this game because it is not a good idea. Avoid saying anything to your opponents when you win a pot, instead just drag the chips in a gracious manner. Don’t whine when you lose a game because making enemies will mean-they will gun for you.

To show cards: This is another mistake made by players in online poker. It is not a good thing to show your cards because according to some players this puts others on tilt and makes them less confident. So it is better to avoid hurting your opponents because it can hurt and place you out of a good game.

5 Ways To Conquer Poker Tilt

Posted on February 21st, 2008 in Articles by admin

by Henri Junttila

The river card peels off, it is harmless, until your opponent flips over his hand. You’ve just lost the huge pot on the river to a runner runner straight. You feel yourself getting warmer and the frustration builds up until you just don’t care about what happens.

For the next few rounds you lose more and more money. All the while you think about that horrible beat you got. He was practically drawing dead and he won, how can it be?

You know why you’re reading this article. This happens to all of us and you are not an exception. I am glad you’re reading this because that makes you one of the few that have the guts to take a hold of this phenomenon. It is not easy to face yourself and improve in this way.

There are simple steps to eliminate and minimize this kind of behavior. I call this poker tilt or simply tilt.

In simple words, it is when you lose control that bad things happen. It often looks like you have control when you do not.

Here are 5 ways you can start minimizing tilt:

1. Fear - There is fear in everyone of us. Some have more, some have less. It doesn’t make you any better or worse than anyone else. It does sound new-agey, but trust me. After over 3 years of playing poker and battling with my inner demons, I know there is truth to this. I am one of those people who try stuff out before telling others about it. And this time I am telling you that you have to identify why you are tilting. You cannot banish something before you have identified it.

2. Identify Your Goal(s) - What is the reason you are playing poker? Most non-professionals get mad because they lose to bad beats. Why do they play poker? I would assume it is to have fun. My #1 goal is to have fun and making money comes second. I started playing poker because I enjoyed it and I intend to keep it that way. What is your goal when you are playing? What is the need to feel like crap while you’re playing? So what if you lose some money. Play the limits where the money doesn’t hurt and have some fun!

3. Listening To Yourself - Have you ever thought about listening to your mind and observing your body? What are the signs of you going into that zone of “I don’t care about anything”? My signs for example are that I get a feeling in my chest, I get hot and start to sweat. Frustration and anger build up and this is when I know I have to stop playing unless I want to lose money. Sometimes I slip and keep playing, it happens to everyone but everyone has lapses. The more you do this, the better you become. If you even practice these steps a little you are way ahead of most people on this earth.

4. Knowing When To Quit - Let us face it. We will not be able to control ourselves, we are not robots. That is why you have to learn when to quit a game. Learn what your signs of poker tilt are and quit before you start making those bad moves! If you are an aspiring poker player and would some day want to make money playing poker then this single poker tip will be HUGE for your poker game, I promise!

5. Fun - Keeping it fun is what has kept me from going insane. It is all to easy for me to fall into a rut of making money, making money and making more money. Money is not where happiness lies, it is the things that it can give us. Freedom is one of those things and of the most important for me. And if I cannot keep poker fun then why would I want to play? Ask yourself these questions and see what comes up :-)

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