Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Bluff Sensibly, not Recklessly
Bluffing is the most exciting of all Poker strategies. It is an audacious move, when done rightly. Otherwise, it can turn out to be an extremely stupid tactic. You need to attain absolute perfection with this art if you are looking to use this to gain an edge over your opponents. If you never got caught bluffing, it is almost certain that you have never bluffed. It is always good to get caught bluffing once in a while. However, bluffing too often can lead to worthless bankroll swings.
A player, who plays two hands and wins one and loses the other, will most certainly be on a lower psychological level than a person who has played neither hand. Losing money is definitely as unpleasant, if not more, as winning the same amount of money is pleasant. A $20/40 player who loses $1000 in a single day will surely be more annoyed compared to his feeling of happiness when he wins $1000 in a day. It is a natural tendency among players to try to ‘get even’ if they are losing four or five bets. They might even risk all their winnings to get those five bets. On the other hand, if they are winning five bets, then winning another five bets would not make much of a difference to them. It is quite strange to see how people have different perspectives for two things of equal value.
Before you decide to bluff, you must take into consideration the psychological effect that might be caused by the bluff. Bluffing can be a dangerous move and if you can’t handle loss sensibly, it is better not to bluff at all. There is hardly any doubt about the fact that bluffing is a good tactic. However, going overboard with your bluffing is definitely not good. A person who bluffs actually tries to compensate for the lack of objective assets of his cards with his boldness.
When your bluffs earn you money, it is good. When you realize that you are not getting anywhere by doing it, there is no way people are going to appreciate you for your audacity. Reckless or foolish bluffing is a strict no-no. Do not do it because you enjoy doing it. Do it as an effort to increase your chances of winning.
Bluffing is a good tactic as long as you do it well. Bluffing can win you games. At the same time, you are risking losing the game. So bluff sensibly.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Avoiding Poker Tilt
Poker is a high stakes game – there’s no doubt about that. However, when you allow yourself to be caught up in the rush of emotions of bluffs and bad calls, you’re playing with what’s called a tilt. Maintaining a calm, cool composure when you’re playing poker can be difficult, but it’s this rational thought that will allow you succeed when other players falter.
So what’s the problem with being on tilt? After all, isn’t a little passion and excitement what makes the game of poker so much fun? Well, succeeding at poker requires calculated risk and clear thinking, and you can’t do that if you’re on edge. Think about the last time you got into a fight with a friend or family member. Did you say things you didn’t mean to, or things that you wish you could have taken back after the argument is over? In fact, some scientists have estimated that your IQ drops as much as 10 points when you’re agitated or upset – and this can definitely have a negative impact on your poker game.
The following are some instances when you might experience tilt during a poker game:
- if you’ve lost a few hands in a row – especially if you’ve lost due to mistakes you’ve made. It’s natural to get upset after losing repeatedly, so try to remember that even the best poker players have bad days. If you let yourself get upset over a few bad hands, you’ll fall deeper and deeper into a tilted state of mind, making it less likely that you’ll be able to recover your composure and get back on track.
- if you’ve lost more money than you intended to - let’s face it – we all go into poker games expecting to wind up the triumphant player with towering stacks of chips. But if you’ve dropped a few hands, you could be out quite a bit of cash or even your entire bankroll. If you find yourself in this situation, leave the game immediately – don’t throw more cash at a bad situation. You won’t be able to make good decisions, so the odds of recovering the money you’ve lost are pretty bad.
- if you find yourself getting frustrated with one player in particular - if you’ve ever played against someone on a lucky streak, you know how irritating this can be. It’s tough to watch someone else get all the good hands, and even more painful when that player seems to be immune to your bluffs. If you find yourself singling out another player as your nemesis, take a step back from the situation. If you’re able to bring your focus back to the game as a whole, that’s great. But if not, it may be time to call it quits for the day.
Of course, tilt isn’t always so clear-cut. You might notice an increase in your blood pressure or in your frustration level after just one off hand or after a single bluff of yours is called. Or it could be that you’ve had a stressful day at work and you’re letting your feelings bleed over into your poker game. Try to remember how you feel when you’re playing at your best – you’re cool, calm and in control of the game. Work on getting back to this rational state of mind when you’re on tilt and you’ll be well on your way to winning at the game of poker.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Positional advantage in different poker games
A lot of players underestimate the value of position in Poker. Positional advantage is an important factor that helps you win games.
In Texas Hold’em, the value of position is quite obvious. As a player, you want your opponents to decide before you, so that you can have the final say. In Hold’em, no player has an absolute advantage over the rest. The decisions you take are based on any little advantage that you get to outplay others to win the pot. Although a superior position by itself can’t help you win a game, it can certainly help you make better bets. It is the familiarity of the situation that gives you the edge over your opponents.
Position in Texas Hold’em is a simple concept. If there are two players in a pot, you would want to be the last. You always have a positional advantage when you are seated first or second behind a maniac, or in front of him. All good players have the tendency of playing more hands in the late position and far less hands when they are in an early position.
Position in Seven Card Stud and Stud High-Low is different from Hold’em. Here, positional advantage tends to vary. The highest board showing acts first, starting from fourth street. Hence, if a king high bets first on fourth street, another player with an ace or pairs deuces might act first on fifth street. You might still have an advantage over the player to your immediate right. However, positional considerations in stud games are not as simplistic as in Hold’em. Some hands are more playable if you are not the high hand, while representing a hand is a lot more important when you act first. Certain hands can be played more aggressively if another player shows a king or ace, which means they are more likely to be forced to act first all through the hand.
The greatest difference in positional advantage is between Omaha Hi-Lo and Hold'em. If you are seated last you have some general advantages, but there are certain disadvantages too. For example, if you are bluffing from the last position, you are committing suicide against good players. You just cannot bluff when you are in the last position. Middle position is the most important bluffing position in Omaha, but it is rarely advantageous in Hold'em.
Positional advantage is a key skill that Hold’em players need to develop when they are looking to move to other games. Position offers you significant advantages in a game, so do not trivialize it.
In Texas Hold’em, the value of position is quite obvious. As a player, you want your opponents to decide before you, so that you can have the final say. In Hold’em, no player has an absolute advantage over the rest. The decisions you take are based on any little advantage that you get to outplay others to win the pot. Although a superior position by itself can’t help you win a game, it can certainly help you make better bets. It is the familiarity of the situation that gives you the edge over your opponents.
Position in Texas Hold’em is a simple concept. If there are two players in a pot, you would want to be the last. You always have a positional advantage when you are seated first or second behind a maniac, or in front of him. All good players have the tendency of playing more hands in the late position and far less hands when they are in an early position.
Position in Seven Card Stud and Stud High-Low is different from Hold’em. Here, positional advantage tends to vary. The highest board showing acts first, starting from fourth street. Hence, if a king high bets first on fourth street, another player with an ace or pairs deuces might act first on fifth street. You might still have an advantage over the player to your immediate right. However, positional considerations in stud games are not as simplistic as in Hold’em. Some hands are more playable if you are not the high hand, while representing a hand is a lot more important when you act first. Certain hands can be played more aggressively if another player shows a king or ace, which means they are more likely to be forced to act first all through the hand.
The greatest difference in positional advantage is between Omaha Hi-Lo and Hold'em. If you are seated last you have some general advantages, but there are certain disadvantages too. For example, if you are bluffing from the last position, you are committing suicide against good players. You just cannot bluff when you are in the last position. Middle position is the most important bluffing position in Omaha, but it is rarely advantageous in Hold'em.
Positional advantage is a key skill that Hold’em players need to develop when they are looking to move to other games. Position offers you significant advantages in a game, so do not trivialize it.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Stereotyping Players in Live Games
In live poker games, you only get to play about 30 hands per hour. At this rate, it can take a while to build an understanding of your opponents. Thankfully, there are some general stereotyping guidelines you can follow to get a better understanding of how your opponents will play even if you just sat down at the table. It simply takes too long to learn your opponents’ tendencies in live games. To really beat the game, you’ve got to make a few assumptions based on the player’s apparent age, race, sex, and lifestyle.
Old Guys
Older players, aka "Old Man Coffee", usually have a pretty decent understanding of hand values. A lot of them have hangups about being caught with their pants down, so they’ll be pretty reluctant to call huge bets with marginal hands. Risk-aversion is the name of the game with these players. They sit there, grind it out, and do everything possible to avoid having their head taken off. When holding a strong hand against them, you’ll just have to make small- to medium-sized value bets in hopes that they’ll call you down.
Women
Sure, there are a few exceptions to this rule, but by and large, women are pretty bad at poker. They often have a lackluster comprehension of hand values and are pretty easy to trap into calling bet after bet so long as they have at least top pair. Unlike with old guys, it’s pretty safe to fire larger bets against women. They don’t seem to put as much emphasis on “how much” was bet… only that something was bet. Use this to your advantage. If you want them to fold, just try betting something small to see if they’ll go away. If you want them to call, bet somewhat hefty.
Young Guys
Young guys can be kind of a hit or miss. The “drunken frat boys” tend to play pretty bad whereas the “quiet kid with a hoodie and an iPod” could be one of the best players in the world (thanks to hundreds of thousands of hands of online poker). But by and large, young guys usually play pretty well. When in doubt, it’s best to just stay out of their way. However, if you have a drunken frat boy at your table, don’t be afraid to milk him for all he’s worth if you have a big hand. Often they have some “macho” hangups that disallow folding. Young guys are also easy to induce into making a bluff, so don’t shy away from leading out at the flop if you hit it really well.
Asians
Asian males, for the most part, are completely erratic. A lot of deeply-rooted cultural inferiority leads to them attempting to “prove something” while at the poker table. They like to play loose, make a lot of bluffs, and gamble it up! A term used in the poker world to describe these players is “crazian”. If you run into a crazian, try to trap them by betting big and hoping they pick a poor spot to bluff all-in. The downfall of these players is their inability to admit defeat. However, with all of that being said, they’re often pretty good at poker albeit insane. There’s nothing wrong with staying out of their way and waiting for that monster hand to rob them blind and leave them shouting, “webuy!”
Hispanics
You won’t see a ton of Hispanics at the poker table, but when you do, I’ve noticed a lot of them carry a “just happy to be here” attitude. They’ll generally play very straightforward; if they have a hand, they’ll bet, if they don’t, they’ll fold. You can open up a little more against these guys. As long as you seem friendly and respectable to them, they’ll generally fold a lot to you.
Here is a quick poll from WPT that focuses on nationality more than anything!
Old Guys
Older players, aka "Old Man Coffee", usually have a pretty decent understanding of hand values. A lot of them have hangups about being caught with their pants down, so they’ll be pretty reluctant to call huge bets with marginal hands. Risk-aversion is the name of the game with these players. They sit there, grind it out, and do everything possible to avoid having their head taken off. When holding a strong hand against them, you’ll just have to make small- to medium-sized value bets in hopes that they’ll call you down.
Women
Sure, there are a few exceptions to this rule, but by and large, women are pretty bad at poker. They often have a lackluster comprehension of hand values and are pretty easy to trap into calling bet after bet so long as they have at least top pair. Unlike with old guys, it’s pretty safe to fire larger bets against women. They don’t seem to put as much emphasis on “how much” was bet… only that something was bet. Use this to your advantage. If you want them to fold, just try betting something small to see if they’ll go away. If you want them to call, bet somewhat hefty.
Young Guys
Young guys can be kind of a hit or miss. The “drunken frat boys” tend to play pretty bad whereas the “quiet kid with a hoodie and an iPod” could be one of the best players in the world (thanks to hundreds of thousands of hands of online poker). But by and large, young guys usually play pretty well. When in doubt, it’s best to just stay out of their way. However, if you have a drunken frat boy at your table, don’t be afraid to milk him for all he’s worth if you have a big hand. Often they have some “macho” hangups that disallow folding. Young guys are also easy to induce into making a bluff, so don’t shy away from leading out at the flop if you hit it really well.
Asians
Asian males, for the most part, are completely erratic. A lot of deeply-rooted cultural inferiority leads to them attempting to “prove something” while at the poker table. They like to play loose, make a lot of bluffs, and gamble it up! A term used in the poker world to describe these players is “crazian”. If you run into a crazian, try to trap them by betting big and hoping they pick a poor spot to bluff all-in. The downfall of these players is their inability to admit defeat. However, with all of that being said, they’re often pretty good at poker albeit insane. There’s nothing wrong with staying out of their way and waiting for that monster hand to rob them blind and leave them shouting, “webuy!”
Hispanics
You won’t see a ton of Hispanics at the poker table, but when you do, I’ve noticed a lot of them carry a “just happy to be here” attitude. They’ll generally play very straightforward; if they have a hand, they’ll bet, if they don’t, they’ll fold. You can open up a little more against these guys. As long as you seem friendly and respectable to them, they’ll generally fold a lot to you.
Here is a quick poll from WPT that focuses on nationality more than anything!
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Limits – Should you move up or down
One of the most critical aspects of poker is the knowledge of what limit to play with. When you have been playing poker for a while, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to decide when to move your limits up and when to bring them down. Knowledge of limits is a must if you’re looking to play poker the right way. When you are choosing what limit to play, there are several factors that you must consider. These include your bankroll, an assessment of your skills and general game play, and your tendency of risk-taking. For good players, evaluation of these factors comes naturally.
You can be the richest man on earth with a lot of money to burn. However, when you are playing poker for the first time, it is better to start with lower limits. Poker involves taking certain risks, but the very risks you take have to be calculated not reckless. The opponents you will be playing initially will be easy to play against. Not many poker pros play low limit games. This makes it a safe option to start with. If you think your reputation is at stake, rest assured. In online poker, people know just your screen name and nothing else. They couldn’t care less for who you are and how much you’re worth.
The most important aspect of choosing a limit is deciding whether to move it up or down. Poker experts recommend moving your limits up only when you are at ease playing a particular limit for 7 or more sessions. If you are not comfortable with a higher limit, do not go for it. Poker is a game that offers you fun and not apprehensions about losing your money. Fear has always been equated with failure and if you are afraid of playing at higher limits, continue with your original limits. Moreover, higher limits require a higher bankroll. So, you should also consider this factor before deciding to move to a higher limit. You might be able to survive a couple of sessions at the higher limit, but that does not guarantee that you would not lose money in the following sessions.
In case you have moved to a higher limit, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if you have to temporarily move to a lower limit. However, do not lower the limits when you feel the game is too easy for you and is hardly exciting. In case you have moved to limits such as $25-$50 from a limit of $10-$20, it doesn’t make sense for you to move very low to $1-$2 when you find the higher limit uncomfortable. When the limits are too low, people indulge in loose play. Choose the limits that make your game exciting and entertaining.
You can be the richest man on earth with a lot of money to burn. However, when you are playing poker for the first time, it is better to start with lower limits. Poker involves taking certain risks, but the very risks you take have to be calculated not reckless. The opponents you will be playing initially will be easy to play against. Not many poker pros play low limit games. This makes it a safe option to start with. If you think your reputation is at stake, rest assured. In online poker, people know just your screen name and nothing else. They couldn’t care less for who you are and how much you’re worth.
The most important aspect of choosing a limit is deciding whether to move it up or down. Poker experts recommend moving your limits up only when you are at ease playing a particular limit for 7 or more sessions. If you are not comfortable with a higher limit, do not go for it. Poker is a game that offers you fun and not apprehensions about losing your money. Fear has always been equated with failure and if you are afraid of playing at higher limits, continue with your original limits. Moreover, higher limits require a higher bankroll. So, you should also consider this factor before deciding to move to a higher limit. You might be able to survive a couple of sessions at the higher limit, but that does not guarantee that you would not lose money in the following sessions.
In case you have moved to a higher limit, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if you have to temporarily move to a lower limit. However, do not lower the limits when you feel the game is too easy for you and is hardly exciting. In case you have moved to limits such as $25-$50 from a limit of $10-$20, it doesn’t make sense for you to move very low to $1-$2 when you find the higher limit uncomfortable. When the limits are too low, people indulge in loose play. Choose the limits that make your game exciting and entertaining.
Saturday, May 9, 2020
No Limit Hold ‘em Cash Game Basics
One of the most popular games when it comes to poker is the No-Limit Hold 'em cash game. In a tournament, when your chips run out, your day is over, you spend a lot of your time protecting and defending you stack, where in a cash game, it pays to be aggressive, and if you lose you stack…well, don’t cry, re-buy! Cash games offer a lot of excitement because you are dealing with real money in front of you in the form of chips, not just tournament standings. One might play a tournament for 8 hours and not receive any kind of reward. You may play a cash game for 3 hours and earn more money than you could have won for first place, in a third of the time. There are some centralized standard concepts one must understand when playing No-Limit Hold 'em cash games at any level.
The correlation between a cash game and a tournament is very minimal. Tournament poker often offers a very small stack size compared to the blinds, while in cash games you will often see 100 big blind or deeper stacks at the table. A good way of thinking about it is that your stack is brought back to the same size after every hand in a cash game. That being said, the ratio of your stack size to the pot size will determine the importance of winning a hand versus simply defending your money on the table. If you are losing several small pots, but cashing in on large sized ones, then you will win money in the long run.
No-Limit Hold 'em cash games are ones where not making mistakes is at least as equally important as making the proper play. Advanced players often spot the beginners and coax them into playing a big pot, then force them to make a mistake for a large portion of their chip stack. There are simply just more things to consider when playing a hand in a cash game, and you must be aware of all of them, however generally you want to open with a wider range. Position is crucial, and one of the biggest mistakes rookie players make is playing marginal hands out of position, and making a mistake once the pressure is applied.
Opening hand selection is much wider and more fluid in a cash game than in a tournament. Good cash game players employ many different strategies before the flop to be able to outplay opponents afterward. A good opening strategy is very important to become a winning cash game player. Bluffing as well as semi-bluffing are also integral pieces of cash gameplay. Now that you understand the basics, I encourage you to play, play, and play some more. These tactics are essential to every level of No-Limit Hold 'em cash games and must be used to win!
The correlation between a cash game and a tournament is very minimal. Tournament poker often offers a very small stack size compared to the blinds, while in cash games you will often see 100 big blind or deeper stacks at the table. A good way of thinking about it is that your stack is brought back to the same size after every hand in a cash game. That being said, the ratio of your stack size to the pot size will determine the importance of winning a hand versus simply defending your money on the table. If you are losing several small pots, but cashing in on large sized ones, then you will win money in the long run.
No-Limit Hold 'em cash games are ones where not making mistakes is at least as equally important as making the proper play. Advanced players often spot the beginners and coax them into playing a big pot, then force them to make a mistake for a large portion of their chip stack. There are simply just more things to consider when playing a hand in a cash game, and you must be aware of all of them, however generally you want to open with a wider range. Position is crucial, and one of the biggest mistakes rookie players make is playing marginal hands out of position, and making a mistake once the pressure is applied.
Opening hand selection is much wider and more fluid in a cash game than in a tournament. Good cash game players employ many different strategies before the flop to be able to outplay opponents afterward. A good opening strategy is very important to become a winning cash game player. Bluffing as well as semi-bluffing are also integral pieces of cash gameplay. Now that you understand the basics, I encourage you to play, play, and play some more. These tactics are essential to every level of No-Limit Hold 'em cash games and must be used to win!
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