Top 10 Poker Tips to Make You a Better Player

May 2, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Want to become a better player, fast? Follow these 10 tips to boost your poker performance & profits. While geared to beginner players, there’s poker tips that even seasoned pros should remind themselves of once in a while.

1. Don’t Play Every Hand / Do Fold More
Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play far too many hands. When you’re just starting out playing poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren’t very good just to be part of the action. But playing more doesn’t mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you find you’re staying in half or more the hands you’re dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.

2. Don’t Play Drunk
Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone & watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of chips. I’ve been that person too - and there are nights where you’re just playing with friends for low stakes and it’s more about the fun than the poker - but if you’re in a casino, watch the alcohol. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to you playing looser and less sharply, even if one’s not ‘drunk.’

3. Don’t Bluff Just For Bluffing’s Sake
A lot of beginner’s understand that bluffing is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There’s is NO rule that one must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many players don’t feel like they’ve won unless they’ve tried a poker bluff. Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It’s better never to bluff than to bluff “just to bluff.”

4. Don’t Stay in a Hand Just Because You’re Already In It
Another common mistake beginners make is to think that “Well, I’ve already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now.” Nope. You can’t win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you’re sure you’re beaten, and there’s no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right away. The money you’ve already put in the pot isn’t yours anymore, and you can’t get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.

5. Don’t Call at the End of a Hand to “Keep Someone Honest”
This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at another player’s final bet, look at the hand, & say “I know you’ve got me, but I have to keep you honest,” as they throw in a final call. It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you’re not sure & you’re gaining information that will help you later on, but if you really feel a player has the hand he’s representing & you’re beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up over an evening.

6. Don’t Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood
When you play poker, you shouldn’t do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt — playing emotionally, not rationally — and you won’t play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take advantage of it.

7. Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table
When you first start playing, it’s enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you’ve got that down, it’s incredibly important to look at what’s going on at the table. In Texas Hold’em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what’s showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.

8. Do Pay Attention to the Other Players
As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you’re not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that’s when you can bluff & steal a pot.

9. Don’t Play at too High Limits
There are many reasons people move up to a higher limit game than they usually play. Good reasons like they’ve been winning consistently at a lower lever & are ready to move up, & bad reasons like the line is shorter for higher limits or you want to impress someone. Don’t play at stakes that make you think about the actual money in terms of day-to-day life or with money you can’t lose. Even if you had one super-good night at $2/4, resist the urge to play $5/10. The next tip explains more why.

10. Do Pick the Right Game for Your Skill Level & Bankroll
One of the reasons you shouldn’t jump into a $5/10 game after winning a huge bunch of money at $2/4 is because as the stakes rise, so does the average skill level of the players sitting there. You want to be one of the best at the table, not the fish who sits down with sharks. If you’re making stacks of money at a lower level game, why move? You’re winning stacks of money. The swings up & down at higher limits are much bigger, and one big night’s win won’t last long at a high-stakes game.

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5 card draw

March 23, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

The rules of 5 Card Draw are similar to the rules of Holdem. The game is played as follows:

  1. A small dealer button identifies one player as the dealer. The dealer button moves one spot clockwise after every hand.
  2. Before any cards are dealt, players must post any mandatory bets, known as ‘blinds’ or ‘antes’.
    1. In Draw, the player directly to the left of the dealer must post the ‘small blind’.
    2. The player two spots left of the dealer must post the ‘big blind’.
    3. The small blind is most often smaller than the big blind, usually exactly half.
  3. After the mandatory blinds and/or antes are posted, each player is dealt five cards face down.
  4. A betting round begins, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind. This player is said to be ‘under the gun’. As in every other form of poker, players can choose to check, fold, bet or call as appropriate throughout the round of betting.
  5. After the first round of betting, players have the option of discarding up to 5 cards, and exchanging them for new ones. It is not mandatory that players discard and exchange- it is strictly optional. If a player chooses to keep all of his original cards, this is known as ‘staying’.
  6. After each player has discarded and exchanged his desired amount of cards, a second and final round of betting begins. The action starts once again with the player under the gun.
  7. Once the final round of betting is complete, any remaining players must show down their hands. As in all other forms of poker, the player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. If two players show down identical hands, they must split the pot.
  8. Once the pot has been transferred to the winner, the dealer button is moved one spot clockwise, and a new hand may begin.
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Omaha poker

March 23, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Omaha Hi poker, usually known simply as Omaha, is very similar to Texas Holdem. There are two main differences between the games:

  1. In Omaha, instead of receiving only two hole cards, each player receives four.
  2. In Omaha, players must use exactly two of their hole cards in combination with three community cards to make their five-card poker hand.

Structurally, Omaha is pretty much the same game as Holdem. Let’s take a look at the rules:

  1. A small dealer button identifies one player as the dealer. The dealer button moves clockwise around the table, and is passed at the end of every hand.
  2. All blinds, antes or other required bets must be put into the pot before any cards are dealt. In Omaha.
    1. The player directly to the left of the dealer posts the small blind.
    2. The player two spots to the left of the dealer posts the big blind.
    3. Generally, the small blind is half the size of the big blind.
  3. After the required bets have been placed, four hole cards are dealt face down to each player. A betting round begins, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind. This player is said to be ‘under the gun’.
  4. Once betting has completed in the first round, three community cards are dealt face up, for all players to use. A second betting round follows the deal, beginning with the player in the small blind. This betting round is known as the ‘flop’, or ‘Third Street’.
  5. Once betting has completed on the flop, one community card is dealt face up, for all players to use. A third betting round follows the deal, beginning again with the player in the small blind. This betting round is known as the ‘turn’, or ‘Fourth Street’.
  6. Once betting has completed on the turn, a final community card is dealt face up, for all players to use. A fourth and final betting round follows the deal, beginning once more with the player in the small blind. This betting round is known as the ‘river’, or ‘Fifth Street’.
  7. Once all betting is complete on the river, any players remaining in the hand must show down their cards. All players still involved must compare their five-card poker hands. The pot is handed over to the player with the highest ranked hand.

Omaha Hi-Lo (Omaha 8):

Omaha Hi-Lo, usually known as Omaha 8, is structurally the exact same game as Omaha Hi. There is, however, one fundamental difference:

  1. In Omaha 8, players can aim to make either the best high poker hand, or the best low poker hand. In the case that one player shows down a winning high hand, and the other shows down a winning low hand, the two players split the pot. In order to win the full pot at showdown, a player must have both the best high and low hand, or there must be no low hand in play.
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Poker Positions and Why they Matter

March 23, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.  In poker, there’s a similar adage that says it’s all about position, position, position.  If you’[re not taking your position at the table into account when playing Texas Hold ‘em, you’re likely playing hands that you should have folded.
At a full table of 10 players, position is divided into four categories before the flop.  There is early position, middle position, late position and the blinds.  Players sitting in the three seats to the left of the blinds are said to be in early positions.  The three seats to the left of the early positions are the middle positions.  The two seats to the left of the middle positions are the late positions.  The blinds, of course, refer to the small and big blind positions.
The number one rule when it comes to position is the later your position at the table, the more hands you can play pre-flop.  This all has to do with information.  When you’re playing poker, the more information you have, the better decision you are able to make.  If you knew what cards everyone else at the table has, you would have so much information you would never lost a hand at the showdown.
When you’re trying to decide whether you should play your cards or fold, the earlier your position at the table the less information you have.  because of this, you should only play premium cards from an early position.  Think of it this way: you can call the big blind with anything in an early position, but there are at least seven more players to act behind you.  Are your cards good enough to call if one of them raises?  If they are not, you have basically given away some of your chips.  In an early position, you are vulnerable to raises throughout the entire hand.
If you’re in a middle position, you have seen more players bet or fold, and there are fewer players to act behind you.  This means you can play lower-valued hands because you have more information on how the hand is going.
In a late position, your list of playable hands has increased even more.  At one of the late seats, only the blinds are left to play after you.  You have seen almost the entire table play, and you should have a better sense as to who may have good cards.  You will also be in a late position in every betting round that follows, which allows you to react to how your opponents play the hand the rest of the way.
Late position is also a strong seat at the table because it is generally believed to be the best seat from which to attempt a bluff or attempt to steal the blinds.  With only the blinds left to act, you can more easily attempt to steal the blinds or attempt a bluff later in the hand because you’ve seen the rest of the table play their cards.  Pulling off successful bluffs or blind steals requires information on the rest of the table, and you always have the most information from a late position.  Bluffing or attempting to steal the blinds from an early position or a middle position can be dangerous because there are so many players left to act that can call your bluff or break up your attempt at a blind steal.
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The Rules of Texas Hold ‘em

March 23, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Texas Hold ‘em is one of the easiest games to learn.  A hand of Hold ‘em starts with the placing of the blind bets.  There is a small blind and a big blind, which is typically double the size of the small blind.  The small blind is placed by the player to the direct left of the dealer and the big blind is placed by the player to the right of the dealer.

After the blinds have been placed, each player is dealt two cards face down.  These are called the hole cards.  Any player can look at their cards at any time.  The first round of betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind.  This player may call the big blind, raise the big blind, or fold.  Betting continues clockwise around the tab le until every player has called or folded.

After the first betting round ends, three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table.  These three cards are called the flop.  They are community cards and can be used by any player at the table along with their hole cards to make up a hand. Once the flop is laid out, another betting round begins.  This time the betting begins with the first person to the left of the dealer that is still in the check (which means they don’t bet, but they don’t fold), bet, or call, raise, fold, or they may check as well if the player before them has also checked.  Once someone bets all other players must either call, raise or fold.  You can’t check once someone else has bet.

Once the second betting round has finished, one card is dealt face-up next to the flop.  This card is called the turn; this is another community card and can be used by any player at the table.

After the turn card has been dealt, another betting round begins.  It is played out in exactly the same manner as the betting round that followed the flop.

After the third betting round is finished, one final card is dealt face-up next to the turn card.  This card is called the river.

After the river card is dealt, the final betting round begins.  It is played out the same way as the betting rounds that followed the flop and the turn.  After all players have bet or folded, any players still in the hand reveal their cards in the showdown.  The player that makes the best five-card hand out, of their two hole cards and the five community cards wins the pot.  After the post has been paid out, the dealer rotates one position to the left.  The blinds are placed again, and another hand is dealt out.

Hold ‘em can be played with a set limit or no-limit betting.  In set limit there are actually two limits set.  For example, the limits could be $1/$2.  In this game, the big blind would be $1 and the small blind would be 50 cents.  The minimum bet during the first two betting rounds is $1.  During the third and final betting rounds, the minimum bet is $2.  Betting increments must be made the same size as the minimum bet.

In no limit, a player can bet all of their chips at any time.  However, a player can only lose all of their chips if they are in a showdown with a player who has an equal number or more chips.  If you go all-in with $100 and another player goes all-in with $75, the most you can lose is $75.

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Poker Pot Odds

March 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

The mathematical game of poker is something that anyone can learn and understand if they take the time to learn the theory and study the numbers.  no matter how much of an instinct-type of player you are, you don’t want to be one of those players who are too lazy to learn how to understand when you have the best of it.
The math of poker is the grinder’s foundation from which he or she builds their game.  The true poker player does not omit it from their game because their ego tells them they need not learn it.
This part of the game should not intimidate you.  The math isn’t hard calculus. It’s just some basic ration and percentages that can become second nature after a while.  Pot odds are simply the ratio of the size of the pot compared to the bet that has to be called.  This has nothing to do with your cards.  It only compares the amount of the bet to the amount of the pot into a ratio.  If the pot has $60 in it and someone bets $10, then the pot odds are 6 to 1.  If the pot is $160 and someone bets $40, the pot odds are 4 to 1.  Learning to calculate the odds for every hand will take a little while to become second nature, but practice will certainly make it so.
Once you understand how to figure out the ratio, you have to convert that number into a percentage.  This doesn’t take genius to understand.  If your ratios is correct, all you have to do is add the two numbers together and divide the second number by the new combined number to get the percentage.  4 to 1 odds would be 4 + 1 = 5.  Then 1 divided by 5 = .20, so your percentage is 20%.
If you’re in a drawing situation and you have to decide whether to stay in the hand for another card, you need to compare the pot odds against the odds that your hand has to win.  Your hand has a winning percentage at every step of the hand.  Your winning percentage for the draw will be determined by the amount of outs you need to hit the winning hand, or what you think will be the winning hand.  You can learn what your winning percentage is by studying an “outs chart”, which displays all the percentages for each number of outs.
This theory must be flexible sometimes.  In some situations, it may be required for a player to use implied odds instead of the actual odds to make the best decision.  Implied odds are an estimate of how much the pot will be at the end of the betting round.  If you have a middle position and there is a bet ahead of you, your decision to call or fold may require that you assume one or more opponents will also call the bet.  This will change the ratio of your pot odds, making some negative chance situations change into positive ones, if in fact those other players remain in the hand.
once you can calculate and compare the two percentages, you can begin to make some of your decisions with this information in mind.  If your pot odds are bigger than your draw odds, you are in a negative drawing situation.  If it’s reversed, then you can call the bet.  Math can make some difficult situations a little easier to decide upon when you find yourself in front of a tough call.
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Live Poker Play Tells

March 2, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

If another poker player is going to give you free information as to what they might be holding, you’d be a fool not to take it.  This is what tells are all about.  If you notice your opponent doing any of -the following, it’s likely something you can use to either win a pot or avoid losing to a huge hand.
Shaky Hands
This is probably the most famous of all tells because every movie or TV show that has an episode featuring a poker game uses it.  If you notice a player’s hands shaking after looking down at his cards or after the flop hits, they likely have a monster.  Unless you’re holding the nuts yourself, you should likely fold whenever you see your opponent’s hand flopping around.  If you’re a hand shaker you need to either get yourself under control or train yourself to do the same shakes when you’re bluffing.
The Speech
Using “The Speech” is all about being a good actor.  Here’s an example of what poker pros refer to as “The Speech”.  We were playing a home game the other night when one player glanced at his cards, declared that he needed a break and shoved all his chips into the middle.  I threw my low pair into the muck, but another player decided he would call.  The speech-giver flipped over A-K suited, which gave him two pair on the board with only the river to come.  he went on to win the hand proving his speech was total crap.  Whenever a player uses “The Speech”, they’re almost always full of it and have a big hand.
Betting Trends
Many bad players give away the strength or weakness of their hands by the way they bet.  Picking up on this betting trend requires a good memory, but it’s well worth it.  One trend I picked up from a fellow player made  it easy to identify his buffs.  Whenever he had a good hand, he would put in a large bet or raise about three or four times the big blind.  However, almost every time he attempted a bluff or a pot steal, his bets would be gigantic, always more than give times the big blind.  Picking up on these betting trends will help you cripple players who fall into these habits.
Chip Glances
When the cards are being dealt or the flop is being laid out, don’t look at the cards, look at your opponent.  Specifically, watch where their eyes go.  If your opponent immediately glances down at their chips, that usually means they have a hand and they’re thinking about how much to bet.  If you catch a player studying your chip stack, that also means they’ve probably got a big hand tucked away.  When they’re checking out your stack, they’re usually trying to determine how much of it they can take with their monster hand.
Questions
Don’t be fooled by players that appear clueless and ask what the bet is or if it’s their turn to wager.  Unless they truly are distracted by something, this could be an act to make themselves look dumb and vulnerable to a big bet.  This is just another fake-out by your opponents, so don’t fall for it.
Chip Toss or Chip Slide
The way a poker player puts their chips into the pot can give away how good or bad their hand is.  If a player casually tosses their chips into the pot, they’re likely trying to hide the fact that they’re holding a monster hand.  If they forcefully push their chips into the middle, this tends to be a sign of weakness.  The aggressive push is an act to try and compensate for their junk hand.
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Betting the Turn in Poker

March 2, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Playing after the turn is an area of Hold ‘em that needs to be first understood and then properly executed.  There’s more to post-turn play than just betting when you have the lead.  To be a winning player, one needs to know when a turn bluff opportunity is in front of them.  This is the point in the hand when a skilled player can determine what type of hand an opponent is likely to be holding, and it is also where opponents will make assumptions about your hand.  I’ll try to outline the process of contemplating the situation and acting accordingly.
Most of your decisions on how and when to bet the turn will be determined by the cards on the board and the opponents you’re in the hand with.  In limit Hold ‘em, if an opponent raises pre-flop, then checks and calls a flop bet with low cards on the board, a turn bet will tell you what they are likely holding.  If they raise your turn bet, you know they most likely have a big pair, or perhaps trips, and they have just waited to raise the bigger turn bet instead of the flop.  If they have a big ace or two big cards they will usually fold to a bet on the turn, and you will pick up the pot with anything in your hand.
Let’s say that you’re in a hand with no pre-flop raises with the big blind and the flop has come with small cards in it.  You bet out and get a call.  Knowing the blind player is capable of having any two cards, the small flop is likely to have hit them if they called your flop bet.  So let’s say the turn card is a big card, preferably a king or an ace.  Betting out this turn will often prove profitable because the blind player will assume that you are on big cards, and think their lower pair is no longer any good.
In a no-limit Hold ‘em game, the turn becomes a place where the hand is often decided.  Betting the turn in no limit is not something one should do on a whim.
The most common mistake players make on the turn is not to bet their good hands big enough.  Allowing players to remain in the hand because you don’t want to top them off about your good cards is not a great idea.  Win pots when you can, and betting with a lead is always the way to go, unless you have the absolute nuts.  If you make a big bet on the turn and get called or raised, then you know you need to watch out for possible draw cards hitting the river.
The turn is also when you show opponents that you’re serious about your hand.  Many players will take a stab at a pot after flop, but few will bluff twice at a pot on the turn.  If you think you’re opponent is on the draw, you will win pots by continuing to bet when no draw cards come.
It doesn’t matter if it’s limit or no limit Hold ‘em, the turn is a crucial point in most hands.  Learning what each flop means will be the most important part of your decision on how to play the rest of the hand.  This is when you should have some type of read on your opponents.  When in doubt, bet anyway and see what effect it has on your opponents.  You will be surprised how many free pots you will begin to pick up.
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Poker Types - Texas holdem

March 2, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

  1. A small dealer button identifies one player as the dealer. The dealer button moves clockwise to the next player after every completed hand.
  2. Before any cards are dealt to the players, any enforced bets must be put into the pot. These enforced bets are usually in the forms of blind bets and antes.
    1. The first player to the dealers left must post the first blind bet, called the small blind.
    2. The second player to the dealers left must post the second blind bet, called the big blind.
    3. The small blind is usually smaller then the big blind- hence the terms ‘small’ and ‘big’ as identifiers. In most games, the small blind will be half of the big blind.
  3. Each player is dealt two cards face down, called hole cards. A players hole cards may be used only by him, and are visible to nobody.
  4. After the deal, the player to the left of the big blind must open the betting action by either calling the big blind, raising, or folding. All players participate in the first round of betting, and continue to the next.
  5. In the next round, known as the flop, or Third Street, three community cards are dealt face up. Betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer. A betting round ensues.
  6. After betting ceases on the flop, a fourth community card is dealt face up for all players to use. A new round of betting begins. This round is known as the turn, or Fourth Street. On Fourth Street, the bet amount doubles to the game’s highest limit.
  7. Once betting is complete on the turn, a fifth and final community card is dealt face up. A betting round follows, known as the river, or Fifth Street. This is the final round of betting in a hand of Holdem.
  8. After the final round of betting, any players remaining in the round must show down their hands. The player with the highest ranked five-card poker hand wins the pot. If two players show down identical hands for a tie, they must split the pot.
  9. The round of Holdem is over after the pot has been returned to the winner, and dealer button moves clockwise to prepare for a new hand.
  10. Now that you know the rules of Holdem, test your skill by playing a complete hand using our interactive tutorial! You don’t have to spend a penny!
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