Archive for advice

Distractions When Playing Online Poker

May 15, 2008 at 4:17 pm · Filed under advice, game, hold em, important, mtt, no limit, opponents, players, tilt, Tip of the Day

It’s always tempting to have either the TV on while you are playing online poker, or to start checking your emails or facebook account when you are not playing a hand.

While this can help to eliminate the boredom from a cold deck, being distracted from your poker game can have very serious consequences if you intend to play poker for profit.

If you play online poker you should be focused on the game in hand at all times. When you are not involved in a hand, use your time to study your opponents and look for betting patterns and players going on tilt.

If you play in a MTT, you will often get regular breaks of around 5-10 minutes for every 90 minutes of table play. You should be using this time to update your Facebook, or replying to your emails if you really feel you need to.

Those that do not focus 100% on their game run the risk of not picking up on critical tells and information about their opponents. If you are playing for fun, or micro limit games then this may not matter much to you but if you are playing to turn a profit and want to be on top of your game, then keep yourself “in the zone” and avoid unnecessary distractions where possible.

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Flopping Four To A Flush

May 11, 2008 at 4:03 pm · Filed under ace, advice, aggression, bet, board, cash game, check, community cards, draw, expensive, flop, flush draw, fold, folding, hold em, live game, no limit, nuts, opponents, players, poker, position, post-flop, pot, pre-flop, raise, raising, re-raise, sit-n-go, slowplaying, strategy, texas holdem, Tip of the Day

Let’s say you are playing a hand like AdTd. The board comes down Jd 6s 6d. There’s potential trips, full houses and two pairs out there depending on what your opponents may be holding. You need to find out where you are and quickly.

If you are first to act, or no one has bet yet, then put in a good sized bet. About 3/4 of the pot should do.

If someone has bet in front of you, then you shold raise them back.

The wrong thing to do its to check/call and wait to hit your flush.

If you bet/raise on the flop, you not only take control of the hand, but you give your opponents the chance to fold. Remember, it is always better to win a small pot than lose a big pot and aggression will often narrow the field of players you have to compete against on the turn.

If someone re-raises you back over the top, then you now have the option to fold on the flop before the more expensive turn and river cards are dealt. A fold on the flop is always cheaper than a fold on the river.

If, by the river, you miss your flush, because you have shown strength in previous rounds of betting, you have the option to very convincingly represent a strong hand.

If you hit your nut flush by the river then it’s a standard play of reeling them in. Bet, do not check on the river and collect your pay day!

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Six Seat SNG Strategy

May 9, 2008 at 5:30 pm · Filed under advice, cash game, freezeout, hand selection, hold em, mtt, no limit, online, poker, sit-n-go, six seat, sng, strategy, texas holdem, Tip of the Day, tournament

Crushing the six seat SNG

Having trouble building your bankroll? Grinding it out becoming too boring?

The six seat SNG will build your bankroll faster than any other game on the planet. Just be prepared to take the game seriously!

In a ten handed SNG we have nine other players to beat to take down the top prize. However in a six seat we have only five other players to beat.

The drawback in the six seat is that only the top two get paid.

However as a percentage of the total prize pool the six seat is better value for money with a pro rata payout of $7 against $5 in the ten seat for each player in the $10 buy in game.

So why is the six seat such a value proposition?

First of all it’s teeming with fish. There are plenty of action junkies here looking for a quick fix and many of them are looking to bluff their way to the prize money.

Playing solid poker against these players will always have you looking up their trash hands.

Secondly there are very few players who specialise in the game format. Most players have “given it a go” but very few take the game seriously and that is why it is so easy to beat.

Of all the different formats available you should stay away from the turbo and super turbo versions of the game. The blinds rise too quickly for you to be able to fold a hand and it’s more a case of push shove poker.

However the standard game is an absolute goldmine to any reasonable No limit player and you will have great success by following some simple straight forward rules.

Tight is Right!

In fact tighter is righter. Because of so many action players when you get a hand to play with you always get paid off big time when you do play so there’s no need to play many pots.

Bubble play is a more important skill

Very often two players will bust out in the first couple of blind levels and the third will go when the blinds are still 50/100. You have plenty of time to play measured and patient poker and wait for your opponents to make the false moves.

Heads up play

Because players tend to bust out earlier than they should relative to the blinds you often get to play extended heads up. If you are a good heads up player then you get to win the tourney more times than coming second.

Build your bankroll

The six seat SNG lasts for around forty minutes depending on how quickly the fish bust out. If you play one table at a time and avoid races, looking for spots to take down the blinds you can win this game very easily.

Article contributed by sixhanded.com

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Adjusting Your Poker Strategy

September 21, 2007 at 11:38 am · Filed under advice, aggressive, betting, bluff, game, loose, passive, players, poker, raise, re-raise, starting requirements, strategy, table, tight, tips

The most common types of poker game you are likely to encounter are listed below as well as tips for adjusting your poker strategy accordingly.

1. Tight Poker Games
When the opponents you face are playing a tight game, you should lower your starting hand requirements and bluff a little more often.

2. Loose Poker Games
If you find yourself playing a loose game, you should tighten up your play and bluff less.

3. Passive Poker Games
When you are playing a table of passive players that dont raise and call too often, you should be raising more of your hands and you should fold everything but premium hands to a re-raise.

4. Aggressive Poker Games
If your opponents are aggressive, you should look to check-raise your strong hands so instead of betting straight away, you should check and allow your aggressive opponent to bet it for you. You are now able to raise when it is your action and you will have earned one more bet than you usually would have had you come out betting.

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