Learn Play Poker

LIVINGSTON, Texas – The Indian tribe living on the Alabama-Coushatta have a hard existence. As it is money is tight and the tribe have to make the little they have stretch as far as it will go.

There are differences between live and online poker. Each day the number of poker players is increasing. The game has changed significantly since the online version was introduced and the popularity of the version is on the rise always. However, nothing much has been contributed to the online poker game and so, the game is still in its growth period, as far as online poker is concerned.

The games don’t have many differences though. If you are good in a casino or at live poker, then you will find online poker pretty much the same and can easily win if you get used to just a few differences and with the use of software instead of live cards. In both the games, you will need good cards which will give you an edge over your opponents and of course you don’t have to ‘tilt’, whether it is the online game of the live poker. If you are a beginner, whether you are playing the online poker or the live poker, you should always stick to your ‘level’ and if you are advanced enough then you can play at your earned level in both versions of the poker.

But having said that, there are differences especially with the strategy. First, when you consider the fact that in live poker you can only play one table and not six as it is possible with online poker and that it is easier to ‘read’ the people in live poker, then for sure you will approach the game differently. The online games are more involving and need more concentration than the live games. The live games are quite passive and so here, the player will be quickly compelled to limp at any position; but if the tables haven’t been raised already, and he limps with any reasonable hand. If you are playing the online game, the tendency is to play more hands. However, in the process the players might make mistakes on the amount to bet.

As mentioned earlier, the online game needs more planning and concentration since you can’t see the players you are playing with, to read them. The game therefore becomes tighter than the live game and so it is advised that one should opt for ‘open rising’ if you want to opt for stealing blinds and also in setting up a heads up pot. When this is done, you then go on firing bets and lead in betting to make good profits. In the live game, it is better to start with a limp go on getting money from there, taking advantage of the ignorance about size pots.

Hey Everyone,

Hope your ok guys, got a lot going on this week with my house, we are on another decorating spree and its spare room and stairs this time. Not so great becase painting and papers those high bit is no fun.

The weather has also turned this week and Britain loses its summer again. Looks to be going the same way as last year meaning floods and rain for 3 months. I look forward to roads closing and me getting annoyed with traffic.

Lol but on a light note we have some great poker stuff going down, if you didn’t already hear Virgin Poker is comming to Nottingham which is really cool, I hope local poker fans do this best to support the event and try and get tickets.

There is also a bunch of stuff going down at WassPoker this summer, a whole bunch of sxclusive poker tournaments so why not check them out?

The article below is not one of my favourites but it was requested by a reader so I am hoping a lot of you out there wanted to know about this subject too.

The subject is poker calculators, something which I sometimes don’t  always condone but they are not completely unethical. Read more and make your own mind up, I would be interested to see what most people feel about poker calculators so leave comments as you wish.

———-

Poker calculators are online tools that illustrate to a user the value of many different poker hands.  Poker is a constant game of percentages, you must make many decisions based on what you think can happen during the remainder of a hand.  Poker calculators give you the tool to gain this information.

There are two kinds of poker calculators available.  Passive calculators allow you to input cards for several players and then with the press of the button show you the odds each player has to win a given hand.  You can step by step tinker with the cards to see how different holdings compare.

Active calculators are a different animal altogether.  They attach themselves to the online game you are playing and instantly give you your odds of making a certain hand.  Within seconds of dealing the cards they will tell you what your chances of making each rank of hand are. This is of course extremely valuable information you need to make an informed opinion.

In the game of poker you are constantly faced with decisions. You need to have the correct information to make these decisions properly.  Your success or failure at the poker tables is often a direct result of making proper mathematical decisions.  Using a poker calculator you can quickly learn you have a 35% of making a flush when you have flopped four cards of the same suit.  Even more importantly however is that you can learn how much a backdoor or gutshot draw in combination with your flush draw affect the value of the hand.  It is often easy in poker to calculate in your head the value of one specific drawing hand.  Poker calculators teach you the value of hands that have multiple draws with speed you could never match in your mind.

Another key use of poker calculators is for games like Five and Seven Card Stud poker.  In these games there are many cards dealt face up to other players that affect your hand.  When drawing to a straight or flush it is very important to know how the other players upcards compromise your drawing possibilities.  It is an impossible task to generate this information in your head with the same speed and accuracy as a calculator.

In conclusion I advise every player to spend time with both active and passive calculators, learn the odds. But at the same time remember poker is a game of more than odds. Like any other machine a poker calculator must be used properly but not relied on too much.

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?

———-

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!

———-

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.

———-

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.

Hey Guys,

How are you all today?

I am busy at work this week, lots of stuff flying in and out the office and it’s all hitting me

Anyway I did have time to finish off the latest article in our “Poker Players” series, it’s about famous poker players and should be some handy trivia for the next time your down the pub or in a poker room. It’s not one of the articles that is going to particularly boost your strategy but it’s still interesting to know

I have been spending a lot of time on WassPoker this week, if you have not already checked it out I recommend you give it a try they have a lot of freerolls on over the next month as well as it being a busy poker room. Had some good beats and wins already but I may write a little more about them soon

Hope you enjoy the article, as always comments are welcome!

———-

Doyle Brunson is perhaps the most famous, and probably most loved, poker player of all time. Nicknamed “Texas Dolly” Doyle Brunson has won ten events in his lifetime at the World Series of Poker, the game’s premier event. He has won the main event (No Limit Texas Hold’em) of the World Series twice.
He won both main events while holding 10-2 as his starting hand. This hand is now known throughout the poker establishment as “Doyle Brunson”, making him the only poker player to have a specific hand named after him. His booked titled Super System is looked upon by many as the bible of poker strategy.

Phil Hellmuth is commonly referred to as the “poker brat”. His antics at the table are very similar to those of John McEnroe on the tennis court. He draws much attention to himself when he complains about a bad beat or berates a player for making a play he thought was unwise.
Phil creates controversy and is a person who is either liked or disliked but rarely ignored. Behavior aside you can also make the case that Phil Hellmuth is the greatest No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament player to play the game. He has won a record eleven World Series of Poker events. He is a specialized tournament player; he is certainly not regarded as a great cash game player. In tournaments however his record is second to none over many years. Any discussion of the greatest players of poker must have his name near or at the top.

Chris Moneymaker is a famous player for a variety of reasons. First consider his name, if you were to create a fictitious story about his exploits in poker you could not come up with a better character name than in real life. His fame comes from what he meant to the game of poker. Chris won only one World Series of Poker event, the Main Event of 2003. The storyline behind his victory is what fueled the massive popularity boom of poker in this decade.
He won entry into the Main Event through a low dollar amount satellite on an online poker site. In the main event he knocked out famous players like Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey. Then while playing heads up for the Championship he made perhaps the most famous bluff in the history of poker on Sammy Farha. He proceeded to win this head up duel and claim the championship with a full house. His tournament win showed players throughout the country they too could hit it big without having to invest large sums of money to play. This was the fuel for the massive engine that drove poker to heights it now enjoys today.

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

Hey Everyone,

How are you all? It was nice to see England warm up this weekend for, ooh, two days? before the ice returned. Hope you all had a nice weekend, I had plenty of fun we had a mini house party and we watched the Simpson’s Film on Blu-Ra, I completely forgot how funny it is

Anyway the reason i’m posting today is to ask everyone out there if they have any tips for sleeping better. I am currently strugglisng big time getting to sleep every night and its starting to effect almost every aspect of life, i’m just so tired! I don’t want to rely on sleeping pills to much as I have to get up early and drive and taking drugs to sleep is dangerous in those circumstances.

I’m open to a lot of ideas so post some comments and i’ll try them out. The good thing about nto sleeping much is that i’m catching up on my online poker Although I am making bad decisions because i’m tired.

*sigh*

Not won a table for weeks

Hello People,

Got the next part of my poker basics series today, it looks at Omaha Poker and gives a brief introduction to this variation.

Just a post and go today i’m afraid because I am really busy at work, remember if you would like to learn to play poker in more detail drop me an email or visit this learn to play poker tutorial page.

—–

Omaha poker is has many similarities but one key difference when compared to the much more popular game of Texas Hold’em. The mechanics of the game are similar in many ways. You are dealt cards preflop with a round of betting. There is then a “flop” that consists of three community cards followed by a round of betting. Next a fourth community card, called the “turn”, is dealt followed by another round of betting. Finally the fifth and final community card, called the ‘river”, is dealt. If more than one player remains after this round of betting their cards are shown and the best poker hand wins.

Omaha poker present two big changes when compared to Texas Hold’em. First you are dealt four face down cards instead of just two. The other key requirement is that you must use exactly two cards from your hand and three cards from the board. In Texas Hold’em you can use any of the seven cards available to you. If the five community cards form a flush then you have a flush. In Omaha poker you must use exactly three cards from the board and two from your hand. If you are dealt four of a kind face down to start a hand this is not good. You in reality only have a pair, a pair that has no chance of improving since you also hold the other two cards of that rank which will never be dealt.

Omaha is a dynamic game in which drawing hands sometimes are preferable to flopped pairs or even sets. You do not have to declare which cards you are playing until the hand is over. It is a game of redraws. With four cards in your starting hand the average winning hand is much higher in Omaha than Texas Hold’em. Quite often two players will both make a straight after the flop. If you do not have a redraw to a higher hand like a higher straight, flush or full house your hand is vulnerable. This is a concept that many inexperienced players do not understand. The often place themselves in a position where they can either split the pot or if their opponent hits his redraw they can lose it entirely. To play Omaha successfully you need to retrain your strategy ideas. It is often wise to throw away a big hand rather than allow your opponent to ‘freeroll” you for the entire pot.