Learn Play Poker

Hey Everyone,

How are you all doing this week, I am busy working on a new project for work so I have not had time to blog too much

I have an article prepared for you though, this one is about the differences between poker software and instant play poker sites. There are lots of choices out there when it comes to forms of playing poker but these are the main two.

Which do you guys prefer? I would be interested to know the overall opinion of people who actually enjoy poker

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Online poker is a different game and must be treated differently than live poker.  It is different on several main levels I will discuss in the following paragraphs.

The first difference is the speed in which the game is played.  You have precious little time to make decisions online. Depending on the site you play you can have as little as 20 seconds to make a decision.  Your turn comes fast and you need to know what to do.  The online player must be more prepared with mathematical probabilities learned and strategies developed.

The speed of play should be considered a good thing by all good players.  It is good for two reasons. First, if you are properly prepared and can make good decisions quickly you are of course at an advantage.  Secondly, quicker play means that more hands will be dealt over the course of the session.  This gives the good player more opportunities to win money than they would enjoy at a live game that is perhaps five times slower than online poker. The more rope you give a lesser opponent the better the chance they will hand themselves with it.

The other obvious difference is the method you use to read other players.  In a live game you have many ways to read another player and try to guess his cards.  When playing online you cannot see his face, you cannot tell if his hands are trembling and you cannot look at his neck and see if his vein is twitching.  These are all signs that tell you in a live game valuable information about your opponent.

Online you need to look for different clues, there are clues available.  The first clue is the instant check in a round of betting.  When you see an opponent check instantly it is very likely he selected the check/fold button before his turn to act.  This tells you he has a poor hand and would have folded to a bet.  You can and should bet to drive him out based on this information.

Another tell to look for is observing how much time it takes a player too bet and then observing their cards at the end of the hand.  Quite often you can determine the strength of a players hand by the time it takes him to bet.  Many players have habits you can learn and employ to your advantage.

Hey Everyone,

Just a smaller update today. I have got a new article ready for you. This one discusses recommended strategy when faced with a bad hand in online or casino poker. Let me know what you think.

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I define trouble hands in poker as hands that can often win a small amount of money but tend to lose large sums when they are beat. Since Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker I will use this game to illustrate my points.

In my opinion and hand with an ace and second card other than king is a trouble hand. You generally cannot win a big pot with this hand unless you flop two pairs. If you flop anything higher than two pair the deck is crippled and you win small. If you flop a pair of aces you generally win a small pot but can lose big when up against ace-king or a higher hand. For this reason I often thrown away these hands pre-flop.

For my money a small pocket pair is a much better hand to play than ace-jack for instance. With the small pair the hand is defined instantly after the flop. You either have a losing hand or a very likely winner. With ace-jack you have a trouble hand if you pair only the ace. You likely have the best holding but are vulnerable. It is a hand that wins small but loses large.

With the pair you not only have a much easier read, you also have a hand that is much better disguised. If you miss the flop and are faced with only a small pair can easily fold to a large bet. If you hit the flop and make a set you now have a very powerful hand that can be played in a variety of ways. If you hit your set with an ace on the flop you can represent a pair of aces and rake a huge pot when faced with an opponent that can beat a pair of aces but not the set you will hit one of every seven times you play with a pocket pair.

The same hold true when playing suited connectors. A hand like nine and ten of diamonds has much more potential than a trouble hand like ace and ten off suit. By throwing the weaker aces away and substituting hands like low pocket pairs and suited connectors you increase your profit potential enormously. You retain the table image of being a tight player and score big when you do hit a hand with hole cards your opponents do not expect you to be playing.

Hey Guys,

Hope you are all well, I am abck at work after a nice bank holiday Monday. For you overseas readers that just means us hard working guys in England (with the least holidays in the world pretty much)actually get a free day off (kinda). Either way I had myself a lie in before initiating a fun evening of gaming and poker with my best friends.

We ended up playing a combination of Mario Kart Wii, Texas Hold ‘em and 7 Card Stud. Loads of fun and I came out the winner of our stud contest (after some killer bluffing) and it was definitely a good win for me.

I didn’t do so good in the Hold ‘em game, mainly because I went all in on a flush and my friend hit a full house on the river (sigh) but thats the fun of poker

This weeks article looks at a response from a question I received from one “Hank Smith” of Suffolk, England. He basically asked me what are free roll poker tournaments and what are they used for?

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Yes all of the freeroll tournaments I have seen offered online are in my opinion good.  It would hard not to define something as good that offers you the chance to win an asset without risking any money.  The key question becomes not whether they are good but rather which ones are best.

Online poker free rolls generally offer a prize in one of two forms.  Some offer cash or physical merchandise as a prize.  These tournaments often attract thousands of players fighting for a proportionally small number of prizes.  The chances of winning a prize are slim even for a great player.  Still you have invested nothing but your time into the venture; if you enjoy playing they offer a venue with no risk.

Some online free rolls offer entrance into tournaments with much larger payouts.  These tournaments are generally much easier free rolls to win.  In most cases the percentage of players that win prizes is much greater.  This allows you to employ a much more normal style than you must use in a large tournament that offers very few prizes.

Choosing free rolls is again a matter of researching what is being offered and finding which ones are best.  All of the major sites offer free rolls but some are much better than others. Your personal style of play is vital to choosing which freeroll to participate in.  I advise that you create accounts on as many of the online sites as you can to maximize the benefit you receive from playing freeroll tournaments.

Once you have entered a freeroll understand the prizes offered and adjust your play accordingly.  One of the major sites offers a multi table tournament freeroll that attracts several thousands players but only pays the top nine finishers.  If you play this tournament you cannot play a normal style of poker.  In a tournament with this structure you need to accumulate many chips very quickly.  You need to take chances and play a much more aggressive style of poker.

There is only in my opinion one potential negative aspect to free rolls. You must not allow them to alter your play when you play for real money with a different structure.  Always keep aware of your objectives. These free roll tournaments can cause you to develop a playing strategy that is flawed when used in a more normal setting. Do not allow yourself to become a reckless and sloppy player.

Hey Guys,

Been a busy week but how are you all? I am starting to feel a little beter and on the recovery path from my cold but was definately not a fun one and I am major tierd as a result of it (as usual:) )

Anyway I have been a bit ill for poker recently but still managed to play some online games in, I am having loads of fun on the new WasSPoker platform, it always busy and still free to play. It is also canadian/American friendly so I get to meet plenty of good players to test my skills against. So far I am up after an initial deposit of $400 I have $630 in my account. Will maybe think about taking some out soon. They actually do have some ace little games on there too I may check out when I have more time.

your article today is about one of the most fundamental player based tactics in poker, the bluff. It is also the last in the “poker Players Series” *cry* Never Fear! I am working on more articles as we speak so you will be getting new content still next week.

Enjoy and I hope you don’t get the cold going around!

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There are several different kinds of bluffs one can make in the game of poker. Each present excellent opportunities, but only if they are made correctly.

The most common bluff is called the semi-bluff.  A semi-bluff is made in an attempt to disguise your hand and is usually made when you have a large draw but no made hand.  The idea of a semi-bluff is to make your opponents think you have a pair or some other hand of value.  In reality you usually have a flush or straight draw when you make this bet.  When you make your draw this bluff disguises the true power of your hand.

A second type of bluff is a reverse bluff, also often called slow playing a hand.  In this instance you are trying to make your hand appear weaker than it really is.  You make this bluff by checking when it is your turn to act rather than betting.  You can also make this bluff by taking your time and appear to agonize of a decision to call a bet.  This type of bluff is a great strategy of you are at a table with many aggressive players who will fuel the action.  If you arte playing with a group of passive players it is often the wrong strategy to use.

Bluffing based on the board is another form of the bluff.  In these instances the cards you hold are irrelevant. You are using your powers of observation to deduce what cards your opponents hold and acting accordingly.  For instance, suppose you have observed that two of your opponents play only high cards. You are in a hand with one or both of these players.  The game is Texas Hold’em; you hold a king of spades and a ten of clubs.  The flop is dealt two of diamonds, five of clubs, nine of hearts.  You have absolutely nothing but your observation of opponents leads you to believe they likely have nothing as well.  In this case you are making a bluff based only on the texture of the board which obviously does not help players that play only high cards.

The final bluff I will discuss is the scare card bluff.  This bluff is made on the final betting round when a card is dealt that can make a big hand like a straight or flush.  You make this bluff of course on someone who showed strength early in a hand.  When you make this bet you are trying to convince a player that holds a set that you just made a flush or straight to beat him.  This bluff needs to be made with a large bet, quite often by putting all of your chips in the pot while holding a losing hand if called.  It is the ultimate bluff a player can make a bluff that has the highest risk and highest reward.

Hey Guys,

How is everything this week? I have a touch of the tired bug, mainly a side effect of my cold . I think there must be a bit of something going round at the moment

Still managed to get an article finished up for you all however, this one is about a darker side to the game than we usually consider, cheating, most specifically cheating at online poker.

As much as we would all love to think everyone plays fair we must face the world is simply not like that, while the majority play well there are a minority spoiling the fun (as with everything). I have seen many varities of online poker cheat in my time (from both rooms and other players) and i’m not going to “discuss” them all so you know how to do them. I’m jsut oging to talk about the behaviour in general and hand out a little advice.

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I do not believe online poker cheating is a very big concern. I regard all of the major sites to be operated honestly and 100% above board. The concern about cheating in my opinion is more about player collusion and not any direct action by the site itself. Understand the poker sites themselves make large sums of money from the rake at table games.  They do not have stake in who wins a given hand. If they were to ever get caught cheating the ensuing bad press that would occur would wreck their site.  They do in fact police their sites as best they can. As we will discuss below there are forms of cheating that are hard to detect.  If you feel you have been subjected to cheaters you can and should report them to the site you are playing.

Player collusion is of course a concern every player must be cognizant of.  When two or more players at a table know each others cards they have a great advantage. This advantage manifests itself in two ways. First by knowing what cards have been burned you have a keener awareness of what your chances of making a hand are. You also have more information as to what hand an opponent has. Secondly if you are playing at a table with confederates you can use position to maximize your profit.  For example suppose you know a player you are colluding with holds the nuts and cannot be beat.  If you are in position between your confederate and another player in the hand you can raise bets in an effort to extract as much money from the unsuspecting player as possible.

The key thing you need to know is how to spot collusion at your table.  You should try to take note of who you play with, try not to play at tables that seem to have the same players playing as previous sessions.  Watch also for the same players seemingly playing to each showdown together.  Another thing to keep keen awareness of is obvious improper play.  If you see a player call and raise bets all the way to the river without either good hand or a draw to a good hand you need to move to another table.  Players playing in this manner have ulterior motives that likely involve collusion, which is a form of cheating. You should use the buddy list function offered by most poker sites to identify these players and avoid them.

Welcome back guys,

Here as promised with the start of a new article series all about poker players themselves.

The series will look at a lot of different aspects of people who play the game instead of the game itself, knowing your opponant is the key to victory in any game and by reading through this series of five article you will definitely have a much better understanding of how people behave at the tables as well as how to conduct yourself for the best results.

The first article in the series looks at an increasingly important question considering the recent increase in quality female players into the more professional regions of our favorite game. Do Men and Women Play Differently?

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In general I do believe there is a difference between male and female poker players.  I believe however the difference is more pronounced at lower levels of play.  If you are a truly good poker player your gender is not much of a factor.  The skills that are required at a poker table are not gender specific; both genders have the same ability to play well. Poker is a mental and personality type game.  A man’s built in advantages of physical size and strength do not offer any advantages at the poker table as they do other form of sport.

The main difference if how the other player react to a woman sitting at the table.  This is especially true if the woman sitting down is young and attractive.  A truly good male player would not let this affect his play.  In reality though this does not often happen.  When an attractive woman plays at a table many changes instantly occur.  Male players generally become much more aggressive when in a hand against other males.  You often will have a situation where several players attempt to become the “alpha dog” at the table.  You will notice more bluffing; the pots will certainly be much larger.  More often than not however the play against the female will not be as aggressive. Rightly or wrongly most male players will instantly regard the female as lesser competition and act accordingly.

What does all of this mean to you the poker player?  It means you need to adjust your play accordingly.  If you are a man sitting at a table in the situation above you need to change gears and play a tight aggressive brand of poker.  You need to be patient and wait for the right hand.  Remember when you make a good hand there is a good chance opponents will be thinking with something other than their brains.

The other thing you need to do is consider all players equally.  Whether it is an elderly man or a young attractive female you need to regard them equal.  Over the course of a poker session you have very limited chance to rake a huge pot.  If one of these chances happens in a heads up showdown with a female you cannot allow chivalry to alter your sense of proper play.  Trust me when the tables are reversed she will not afford any kindness your way.

Hey Guys,

Here is the first update after the “big break” as I am naming it. It is carrying on the “Poker Basics” series and looking at the basic rules and differences of five and seven card stud poker.

Stud is an excellent version of poker and one of the best for playing with friends, it is also rising in popularity in the online poker scene when Texas Hold’em is loosing ground to various forms of poker as people get more experimental and broad minded with their games. The game is much more fun in some respects as people can’t just “fold” out of every single hand until they get pocket aces.

Any comments or questions are appreciated, for more advice why not visit a poker forum where friendly members are sure to help you out.

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Five and Seven Card Stud poker are great games that have been played for many years. The movie “The Cincinnati Kid” starring Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson was based on a high stakes Five Card Stud game. While neither game achieves the level of popularity as Texas Hold’em they are both popular and challenging in their own right.

Five Card Stud poker begins with each player putting an ante into the pot. Unlike Texas Hold’em you cannot play a hand of stud poker without placing some money into the pot. All the players are then dealt one card face down and one card face up. There are no community cards in stud poker; each player has their own cards. At this point here is a round of betting. The first person to act in each betting round is the person with the highest visible hand. If two hands are the same the first person to be dealt the hands starts the betting. Like any other poker game the order of betting moves clockwise until everyone has had their chance to bet. In stud poker you must bet a predetermine amount set by the table stakes. You can also raise a bet by this predetermined amount. In most cases a cap of four bets is allowed in any one round. If the stakes are $1 in a particular round of betting the betting will stop when it reaches $4 for the round. This rule prevents players with large amounts of money from steamrolling players with lesser available funds.

The game continues with the dealer dealing three more face up cards to each of the players. After each face up card is dealt another betting round occurs. Each time the board is examined to determine the highest visible hand. Unlike Texas Hold’em the same player does not start the betting during each round. After the last round of betting any players remaining in the hand show their hold card and the highest hand takes the pot. Five Card Stud is a bluffer’s game, quite often players win without a very good hand.

Seven Card Stud differs from five card stud only in how the cards are dealt; the other rules are the same. In this game you start with two face down cards and one face up card. A round of betting then occurs. As the game progresses the players are dealt a fourth, fifth and sixth card face up. A round of betting takes place after each card is dealt. Finally a seventh card is dealt face down, leaving each player with three face down cards and four face up cards. The final round of betting then occurs and if more than one player remain they show their cards, highest hand wins.

Well guys, what can I say?

Just a big SORRY.

The site has been down for a good week and a half and while it totally wasn’t my fault it means no-one could read or click anything here. Hopefully the problem is no completely sorted and we won’t be seeing anymore white screens of nothing.

I will be posting a content update in a second and we then continue to post them once a week along with regular post and news more often which is what was supposed to happen from the start.

One again i’m really sorry everyone, pleae give this blog another chance

-Frank Woodford