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Watching Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi play poker on television could give you some of the necessary skills to begin grinding down opponents in your own games. Phil Hellmuth’s “White Magic”, his term for hand reading ability, may just seep through your TV screen and into your mind as well. The great play and elaborate bluffs we see on televised poker keeps us glued to the set. The question is, does watching poker on TV have the potential to make us better players?
Who doesn’t love listening to these guys talk poker on TV?
Lon McEachern and Norman Chad pepper their World Series of Poker commentary on ESPN broadcasts with insight into how the hands went down and alternative lines of play that could be taken. Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton and his World Poker Tour sidekick Vince Van Patten don’t mince words either when it comes to calling out ill-timed moves and berating even elite poker stars when they think they’ve botched a hand. We often find their play-by-play commentary comical, but we’ve also got to ask ourselves if we’re taking mental poker notes simultaneously to prevent these flaws in our poker game.
Critics are not so amused, pointing out that televised poker edits out everything but the most exciting hands, tempts viewers with millions of dollars in prize money, and doesn’t have much to contribute for players looking to improve their game. BestPokerBooks.org warns in an article on its site, that “You watch the pros having fun and winning money with this style on TV, but playing with weak cards and out of position is usually a great way to going broke in your local 1/2 and 2/5 games.” Another argument against televised poker is that fans need to be protected against gaining a false sense of confidence (from learning to imitate what they see on TV) and thus becoming bad players.
Personally, I’m in favor of watching televised poker. The invention of the hole cam in 1997 opened up the game to a much wider audience, giving viewers access to more information than the players. Televised poker has been able to teach new players the rules, terminology, and strategy and give viewers a basic explanation of the game. It exposes players at all skill levels to some of the biggest names in poker who motivate us to achieve success and explore new styles of play. Here’s what a writer had to say in an article on the website hspokerfan.com: “If you really want to have a hot hand on the table then the first thing you should do is watch as many poker games as you can. You should watch first how the professionals do it before you engage yourself in a round of poker.”
Players on NBC’s Poker After Dark paid a $20,000 buy-in per episode, but the show’s late night audience could tune in at no cost. On Saturday nights, I’d watch and learn as the players discussed their strategies from the prior week. Poker After Dark also taught me the basics about how to play Pot Limit Omaha, which otherwise might’ve taken me far longer to pick up.
Televised poker tournaments are must-see TV. When a player I admire is dealt a hand that gives me trouble, I have the advantage of seeing how he handles it. When A-Q is dealt, does he 3-bet or call, and what line does he take when he misses the flop? Recording the tournament, allows me to go back over any hands I consider critical to my game, and focus on an individual player’s hand. Keeping track of the blowups and disasters helps me to avoid making the same mistakes in my own game.
In the past, I’ve come across some interesting studies done on “observational learning”. One of them put two groups of people in an MRI machine and had them watch a video of building and taking apart an object. Group A knew that they would be asked to repeat what they saw while group B did not. The brain scans of the individuals in group A, who were “actively” viewing, lit up differently from the group B participants. What does this tell me about televised poker? In my opinion this means that watching poker with the intent of bringing what you learn to the felt when you play the game yourself will lead to a better payoff than kicking back with beer and chips, simply allowing the information to wash over and “just” entertain you.
The thought process behind buying a product you see advertised on TV. The same process works re: info gleaned from a televised poker broadcast.
Other studies indicate it’s more important to practice a skill, not just watch and learn. The “golden path”, then, would be to find the right balance between practice and learning. Start by taking note of interesting TV hands to discuss in poker forums, with poker buddies, or even plugging them into poker software for in-depth analysis.
Finally, with all that said, it’s also important, while you work on your game as you watch, to enjoy the show. For me, there’s nothing better on television than a poker tournament or cash game, featuring players I love to watch competing for a prestigious title and loads of cash. The best part is, unlike other sports we watch on TV, poker is a game we can get in on ourselves, so I’ll see you at the final table!
Online poker fans have long been familiar with a number of different types of poker disciplines. These include flop games like Omaha and Texas Hold’em, Stud games, hi-lo games, and even exotic poker games like Badugi. True poker fans, however, know how to have fun playing poker even when it’s not being played against other competitors. That’s to say, sometimes you can have plenty of fun playing poker against the house, plus you could even walk away from those types of online poker games with a nice boost to your bankroll as well. Here are three types of online poker games that might be worth a try next time you need a break from your regular grind at the online felt:
Red Dog is one of the simplest variations of poker. Though there’s a good amount of luck involved, there’s also plenty of mathematical computations you need to make when placing your bets.
Gameplay is relatively straightforward. You place a bet and then two cards are dealt. In order for gameplay to continue, the two cards must not be consecutive in value (i.e., 7, 8, 10, J, etc.). If the cards are consecutive, you get your bet back and the game starts again. If the 2 cards are the same, you’ve got a shot at getting really lucky, as a third card is then dealt. You’ll get paid out at 11:1 odds if that third card has the same value as the other 2 (a 2-outer to all of you hard core poker players out there).
Assuming the 2 dealt cards are neither consecutive nor the same (which happens most of the time), the hand is declared a “spread” and you’re then invited to wager on the outcome of the third card and get paid out accordingly depending on how large the spread is between the 2 dealt cards. The farther apart the spread, the lower the payout (e.g., 1:1 on a spread of between 4–11 cards). The closer the spread, the higher the payout (up to 5:1 on a spread of 1 card). You can also press your luck by choosing to double your bet before the third card is dealt.
You only lose your bet if the third card doesn’t fall within the spread of the first 2 cards. Simple, right?
The more decks being used, the lower the house’s edge on you, so it pays to hunt out an online casino that offers 6- or 8-deck red dog poker such that you have the best probability of winning. Click this link to be redirected to a site that’ll help you find the right online casino at which you can find some good red dog poker games.
Here’s one place to play great alternative types of online poker
Three-card poker is a game that enjoys tremendous popularity both in land-based casinos as well as online casinos. It features two types of bets: ante and pair plus.
Gameplay: The player plays exclusively against the dealer and each side is dealt 3 cards, with all 3 of the dealer’s cards kept face-down. After evaluating the strength of your three cards, you decide to play/raise (double your ante bet) or fold (thus surrendering your ante). The dealer then reveals his/her cards.
Ante bets: If the dealer fails to qualify (queen high or better) all ante bets are paid 1:1 while the play/raise is returned to you. If the dealer does qualify and beats your hand, you lose your ante and play bets. If the dealer qualifies and your hand is better, your ante and play bets get paid at 1:1.
Ante bonus: If your hand is a straight, a 3-of-a-kind, or straight flush, you’ll usually receive a bonus of anywhere from 3:1 to 5:1 automatically.
Pair plus bet: This bet relates only to your hand, regardless of whether or not it ends up beating the dealer’s hand. You must have at least a pair to be paid even money on this bet, If you’re lucky enough to be dealt a straight flush, the payout could be quite high, depending on the payout table offered by the casino you’re playing at.
My personal favorite when I’m not playing “real” online poker is to play the slots-style poker games otherwise known as video poker. There are countless variations from straight up 10s or Better & Jacks or Better to Deuces Wild, to Joker Poker, to Bonus Poker to Double Double Bonus Poker, and beyond.
Video poker can also be played both online and in live casinos in both single- and multi-line varieties. Often, you’ll be able to find video poker machines that play up to 50-lines (i.e., 50 hands) simultaneously, thus offering pretty high payouts.
The best part of video poker is that there’s strategy involved and that with the correct play based on mathematical odds and payout tables, you won’t be at the complete mercy of the “poker gods” of luck. Often, video poker games will also offer the chance to win big if you play the max coins, in the form of a progressive jackpot. What’s not to like about that?
*Cardplayer Lifestyle would like to thank the Guest Writer, a member of the Casinokiwi team, for this post.
Recently, as we are all aware, the World Series of Poker made its first trip Down Under in what was considered to be an extremely successful foray into a new Asian Pacific market. The stars of the game came out in force: Daniel Negreanu made the headlines by winning the main event, while Phil Ivey also won a bracelet and Phil Hellmuth, Ozzie’s own Joe Hachem and many other “big names” all made appearances. The tournament series itself ran from April 4th to April 15th awarding 5 WSOP bracelets.
The World Series of Poker as we know it; you know, that one in Vegas (which should really have its own distinguishing name now), kicks off on May 29th ending on July 15th with the Main Event playing out in November. The 2013 WSOP tournament series will hand out a total of 62 bracelets, one more than last year, as there will be a new High Roller bracelet up for grabs.
Then we have the WSOP Europe in Paris in October, which will of course feature plenty of bracelet events. This begs the questions: whilst the WSOP is fantastic for the game of poker, are there a few too many events now, and has this lowered the value of the coveted WSOP bracelet?
Doyle Brunson didn’t even pick 2 of his bracelets up, Johnny Chan has them all locked in a vault, Hellmuth gave 10 of his away to friends and family and Peter Eastgate auctioned his Main Event bracelet off for charity. To each player WSOP bracelets mean something different. Leaving money aside, one must wonder: are the bracelets worth a lot less now to the players? Publicly, of course not! Privately, I would imagine there’s a fair amount of discussion and jokes flying around after each series. To the 99.99% of us that will never own one, we’ll never know the non-monetary value of a bracelet and let’s be honest we would take a bracelet from Vegas, Melbourne, Paris or anywhere. The bigger question is whether or not the game will suffer from WSOP overkill. In my opinion the answer is no.
The WSOP is the Grammy’s of the poker world. The bracelet is the coveted #1 Billboard single. To put it bluntly, why play a gig in a friend’s garage when you can play the Montreal Jazz Festival? The WSOP like nothing and nobody else in the poker industry can and does provide that kind of stage for the world audience. It takes poker to a level that nothing else can, providing mainstream news coverage and giving poker fans a chance to see the stars in action at the very highest level of the game. Without the WSOP other smaller poker tournament series would not be afforded the same amount of column inches and they would not get the recognition they too deserve. The WSOP brings the stars of poker together and that spreads, it trickles down and the whole game benefits. On saying that, maybe 3 WSOP-branded series around the world is now enough and maybe the line needs to be drawn there. For those that may argue the big WSOP events do little for grassroots poker, think again. The WSOP has led to a million and one small events and there’s always the WSOP Circuit events that bring the game to a city near you.
Do you think WSOP bracelets are losing their value? Sound off in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
Marcus Harmon is the editor of Sunshine Poker Rooms a source of news and opinion on the game of poker.
As frequent visitors to this poker site know, part and parcel of living the cardplayer lifestyle also means doing a good bit of other gambling in casinos the world over. From time to time we’re happy to bring you some interesting stories, info, and other content related to non-poker gaming, such as roulette and blackjack. In particular, we found this infographic to be quite intriguing. Take a look for yourselves and see what you think.
24hpoker – Roulette vs BlackJack Infographic – An infographic by the team at 24hpoker
Poker is considered a game of skill rather than a game of chance, and in that sense is unique among other methods of gambling. Poker players are very strategic with their gameplay, and utilize both skill and experience to read their opponents. Skilled players identify what their opponents will do with their cards, and use that knowledge to calculate whether to bet high, bet low, or fold.
That said, poker players must practice how to play the game effectively. Over the last decade, one of the most popular ways to practice poker has been via online poker rooms and betting sites. Many of the world’s most recognized poker players achieved celebrity status specifically by winning online poker tournaments. The victors were invited to participate in televised championship tournaments, which in turn helped expand the popularity of poker throughout the world.
Poker became very trendy in North America when these TV championship tournaments were broadcast, and online poker sites later targeted North America to capitalize on the game’s popularity. The UIGEA was passed in 2006, banning all online poker sites from servicing the American market, but online casinos in Canada still allow Canadian poker players to compete among the rest of the international poker community.
Online casinos and poker sites allow players from all over the globe to compete in one gaming hub. This is important for the game itself because poker is a game of skill and there are many different ways to develop those skills when competing against players from different countries around the world. As a result, players incorporate new skills into their own gaming style and develop unique ways to play the game.
Online poker remains one of the most popular pastimes throughout the world, and new players are always registering accounts to compete on the virtual tables. Practice does make perfect, and there’s no easier way to practice than playing online – register an account today, and see what poker skills you can learn.
*Cardplayer Lifestyle would like to thank the Guest Writer for this post.
11AM, a loud knock on the door. I pull the blanket over my head. Another knock. I wake up and slowly drag my feet to the door. I look at my watch and see it’s only 11. Damn. I went to sleep at 7AM after a long and winding poker game. After being stuck quite a bit, I managed to beat the rake and cooler the nits to get back to even. Nothing will return the 10 hours I spent on the table, paid god-knows how much in rake and ‘enjoyed’ the constant smoking of my tablemates though. I open the door and see a smiley delivery man. I sign the sheet with my eyes half shut, grab the package and open it. SHIP IT HOLLA BALLAS! The cover screams over a bright yellow background. I put down the book and fall back into bed.
Ship It Holla Ballas! tells the story of a group of young, bright college dropouts who managed to make millions off of the poker boom following Chris Moneymaker‘s legendary WSOP Main Event win in 2003. Although the book uses the crew’s 2+2 nicknames and not their real names, any true poker fan, or just someone with access to Google, can realize that the book focuses on two online poker legends: Andrew “Good2CU” Robl and David “Raptor” Benefield. Through their eyes (as well as those of some other famous players like Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and Tom “durrr” Dwan) unfolds the short history of online poker. And it’s told the right way – interesting, thorough and appealing to both poker enthusiasts and readers who think a “boat” is something you sail on. It correctly highlights the role of the poker community and the importance of the 2+2 poker forums.
Many chapters in the book focus on the crew’s antics and mischief – and there’s a lot of it. That’s what happens when 19-year-old kids suddenly have ridiculous amounts of money. Prepare for strippers, booze, drugs, and Rolexes. It can get a bit repetitive, and often your mind quickly shifts from “damn, this kid is crazy!” to “damn, what a douchebag!” It’s interesting to see how the different characters dealt with their sudden success, both in the book itself and in retrospect. Some of the characters stopped playing poker professionally despite making millions (most notably David “Raptor” Benefield who was considered one of the absolute best), whereas some are still in the elite of the poker world (Dwan and Robl of course).
A common conversation topic among poker players nowadays is “what if I started playing online poker in 2003?”. Well most of us did not; those days are gone. Not only have the games become infinitely tougher, but governments around the world are still making it difficult for online poker to thrive like it used to. Though legal online poker seems likely in the future, new taxes on winnings (they didn’t have tax laws in place back in online poker’s golden age) make profitability that much more difficult to attain. So things are not getting easier for us poker players. It seems we will not get a chance to print money like Robl or Dwan did any time soon.
But reading about how they made their millions is sure as hell entertaining!
After reading a few chapters I feel motivated and ready to play. I open up 12 tables and grind away. A couple of hours, a few successful bluffs, and hero calls I am a few hundred dollars richer. No hookers and blow for me, but tonight at the pub, first round is on me.
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QPC’s has deployed the finest finishing and collation equipment in the industry to manufacture card and board games with any number of cards in the game. From the standard 54/56 cards to trivia games with 1,000 cards, we can print and collate them for you.
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As a high-quality manufacturer of custom playing cards, we offer a different breed of niche products that concentrate solely on the poker playing card and board game industry; wherein great care is taken to ensure that the playing card games and products we manufacture are of a consistent color and shade as specified.
At QPC’s, stringent quality control methods go into manufacturing playing cards, and we have a major advantage over other standard printers. We are a preferred production house for customized playing cards, custom board games, and much more. Our orders require the utmost attention-to-detail over numerous quality issues faced by normal printing houses.
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Are you looking to create customized decks of poker playing cards for a memorable gift at promotional events or maybe as a way to commemorate your special or charity poker event with impressive personalized party favors? Our custom playing cards serve as a great gift and keepsake for teams, clubs, organizations, and much more!
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*This is a sponsored advertorial post.
Many poker articles and books give players lots of general advice. Here are 4 very specific moves and situations every poker player should have in their “arsenal”.
This is a move to make when you are Under the Gun or UTG +1 (i.e., first to act). Start off just by limping/calling the big blind. Often, the pot will be raised by one of the other players (if not, you get to see a flop for cheap). If no one 3-bets the original raiser, here is where you make your move. Make a BIG re-raise back at the original raiser – you will be taken very seriously and most hands will fold.
The reasoning behind this move is simple: TONS of players will make this type of play with monster hands in early position. Therefore, your bet tells a very believable story and has a high chance of success!
*When NOT to make this move:
Many times you might find yourself betting out with a drawing hand on the turn against a single opponent. If your opponent folds, great! But if he/she calls, immediately you start wondering if you should bluff if your draw doesn’t come. In the meantime, the river is dealt and your opponent is watching you debate your move. In other words, you may be giving away valuable info.
To prevent this from happening, bet out before the river comes (in the dark)! This will throw your opponent off guard and prevent you from accidentally giving off any tells; as you’ll have made your move already.
*When NOT to make this move:
3. The Counter Fitter BluffYou’ve made a decision in advance to “go for it” and bluff to win this pot; no matter what. First of all, good luck!
To better “sell” your bluff, ask the dealer how much is in the pot and take a minute to “calculate” your bet (if you’re in a home game, just stack the chips in the pot to count it up…). This will get your opponent thinking that you’re trying to maximize your value, and thus be far more likely to put you on a strong hand.
*When NOT to make this move:
“Aggression aggression aggression” may be the overall key to poker. However, if you find yourself with a nut drawing hand in early position on the turn, as tempting as it might be to fire at will you might want to try checking and letting someone else do the betting for you (you may even get some extra callers before it’s your turn to call the bet). The payoff here is in having multiple players still active in the hand if your nut draw hits. You’re more likely that at least one player (possibly more) will call off their stack to you on the river.
*When NOT to make this move:
*David Shatsky is a longtime member of the Cardplayer Lifestyle family. We’d like to thank him for this guest post.
Do you have positive or negative experiences making poker moves like these? Are there any other awesome poker moves you’d recommend people make to profit at the tables? Share your thoughts with us below.
Ask anyone who enjoys playing casino games whether poker or roulette is a better game and they most likely will give you a quick and definitive answer. However, personal preferences alone don’t make one game superior to another, so I decided to look into the issue a bit further, defining specific categories and staging a 3-round roulette vs. poker showdown to determine which is truly superior.
Let’s examine a scenario in which you are attempting to double your winnings.
The odds of roulette are pretty straightforward based on the type of roulette game you are playing. So, for example, in European roulette the house advantage is 2.7% and you have a 48.65% chance of doubling your money per bet.
Calculating the exact odds of doubling your money in poker is a bit more complicated because every hand is different. For the sake of this example, we can assume that since we are trying to double our money, we will be going all-in before the flop. The odds of you blindly winning an all-in (and doubling up) against a single opponent in Texas Hold’em poker with any 2 random cards is 20%–25%, obviously far lower than the roulette odds.
Round 1 winner – Roulette
In our first example, we were trying to double our money as quickly as possible, so we went all-in before seeing the flop. In this example, however, let’s assume we are talking about a skilled player, with a far better knowledge of the game of poker. The odds of doubling your money at roulette remain static – so still 47.3%. In poker, however, skilled players usually tend to win over the long run and are thus far more likely to eventually double their money. As a matter of fact, the odds of them doing this shoot up to well over 60%.
Round 2 winner – Poker
Playing roulette involves choosing a winning number, color, or sequence on the roulette board and having the wheel spin and land on the corresponding number/color you have chosen. It is incredibly easy to begin playing roulette.
In order to make the most money from your bets, however, you need to increase your skill by learning about all the different playing options available to you, such as reverse martingale betting.
Playing poker involves a complex set of rules in order to participate in the game on the most basic level. Becoming a skilled poker player often takes many years of hard work. Many people enjoy increasing their skill in the game and claim that it’s one of poker’s advantages over other casino games. However, in terms of ease of overall gameplay, roulette is definitely the winner, hands-down.
Round 3 winner – Roulette
After three rounds of showdown we’ve got poker with 1 win and roulette with 2. Undoubtedly, some people will disagree with our methodology and the specific barometers that we used to measure game superiority. Feel free to express your criticism or support below in the comment section.
The benefits of webcams to online poker players are many: they let you watch your opponents, prevent cheating, and stop multi-accounting. While you’re sitting comfy and cozy at home alone, you get all the fun of being surrounded by friendly people, have facial expressions and tells to go by, and have the opportunity to win big money. With webcams, poker becomes a form of entertainment that’s not just all about the money.
The idea of introducing webcam into online poker has been hotly debated in the poker community for a while. People against the idea have cited the tendencies of online poker players preferring to play half dressed, without smiles on their faces (like robots), or while eating; all of which paint webcam poker in a much more negative light. They also say that it’s tantamount to an invasion of privacy, which is something online poker players prefer (otherwise they’d be playing in a live setting, right?).
So then, would you consider webcam online poker a privacy disaster or rather a new virtual opportunity to socialize?
Many online poker rooms with webcam poker options push their benefits, trying to carve out a niche as the quintessence of being social online while playing poker. On top of that, they’re happy to remind players that webcams will allay all their fears that they might be playing against bots or multi-accounters.
Some of the main advantages of playing webcam poker include:
Still, some players are quite wary of webcam poker, as they consider anonymity the most important part of playing online. Here are some reasons certain players will almost never be convinced to play webcam poker:
If you’re quite the slob, party hard, and don’t care to look civilized, webcam poker certainly isn’t for you. Moreover, you’d honestly be doing everyone else a favor by not showing your face at the online poker table.
Almost all online poker rooms that offer webcam poker also have strict codes that all players who opt in must follow. Here are some rules common to most such rooms:
1) Webcam on Face
While playing, your face must be visible at all times. If your webcam is pointed at something else, and that means ANYTHING else, you’ll receive a warning from a moderator.
2) No Nudity
An online poker room is simply the wrong place for this sort of thing. Regardless of how good you look, flashing any extra skin is going to get you banned – no questions asked.
3) Hats
Just like at live poker tables, it’s okay to wear hats while playing webcam poker, so long as opponents can see your face clearly. If not, then lose the hat, or you’ll lose your account.
4) Sunglasses
You are allowed to “hide behind” sunglasses at webcam online poker tables. If you feel as though this will prevent your opponents from getting a read on you, then more power to you.
Failure to adhere to those policies could lead to your online poker account being suspended or even permanently banned from the site you play at. So the bottom line is that if you want to try webcam poker online, you better be prepared to follow the rules of play. The fact of the matter is that the online poker rooms have these rules in place in order to prevent rudeness, abuse, and ensure player protection from scams.
Webcams are an exciting new development in the realm of online poker. If you decide to give them a try, just stick to the rules, wear a smile (and decent clothing) and you’ll be just fine. As for whether you should wear your personality on your face and focus on being more social, or try to keep a stone cold poker face while grinding out a profit, we’ll leave that question up to you.
With webcam poker, as much as the action is taking place online, everything truly becomes more real – including the prize money. Check out the list of the best online poker rooms out there and give it a go.
Do you believe that 50% of online poker traffic will come from mobile apps? Well, this could happen as soon as 2014.
The trend is shifting to mobile, especially with more people buying iPads, iPhones, and Android devices instead of bulky PCs and laptops. That said, most high-ranking professional online poker players will still rely on large screens and downloadable software. These guys aren’t the ones who are likely to be playing with a cup of coffee during lunchtime. They play hard, smart, and serious. Thus, mobile poker apps are likely to bring in the large pool of recreational online poker players – those who play to have fun and possibly win some cash along the way.
Most people use their mobile devices for entertainment only. They check email, play games, and update their Facebook pages; and with increasing regularity they prefer to do this on larger tablets than on mobile phones. Demographically speaking, most of these people are women and older people; clearly not the stereotypical online poker players.
In any event, online poker rooms continue to look for new technologies to make the mobile poker experience better than ever. For example, you can now enjoy multi-table poker on your mobile device; playing at up to 4 tables simultaneously. Superb graphics, fast software, and plenty of bonuses are guaranteed. The more mobile technology improves, the brighter the potential future of mobile poker. More and more people are starting to play mobile poker than other entertainment games. Many online poker rooms also hold special tournaments exclusively for mobile users. Cashing out and making deposits into your account on the go are now a reality. However, such widespread accessibility can also have some disadvantages.
Mobile poker could become incredibly addictive. As it is, most people are already glued to their smartphones. Throw in the gambling elements and adrenaline-fueled excitement of online poker and you’ve got yourself a major potential addiction. With people able to play from anywhere at any time, including at lunch, on breaks at work, or during their commutes even recreational fans of the game may soon find themselves completely consumed with online poker on their mobile devices.
Those with addictive tendencies and who seriously love the game of poker will find ways to play even if they’ve got no Internet connection nearby. To counter these negatives, many online poker rooms have implemented strict policies to try and curb accessibility to those who don’t know how to gamble responsibly. For instance, some have implemented pre-set loss limits.
The more new mobile poker apps that are being developed, the more sophisticated the graphics and features are becoming as well. In fact, plenty of iPhone mobile poker sites can boast decent software and fast deposit and withdrawal transactions. The competitiveness on the market promises to provide us with advanced, user-friendly, and easy-to-navigate software. With every new type of smartphone that gets released, the online poker operators will respond with excellent software to run on it.
Other value-added content these operators have begun to provide include the latest interviews with top players as well as tips and strategies that can help make recreational players a lot better. And of course, these are being made available on both the iOS and Android operating systems.
Thus, if you are still in doubt about the mobile future of poker, why not go ahead and keep an eye on what happens in this exciting field over the next two years. If what’s happened thus far is anything to go by, future developments should be quite impressive to say the least.
The majority of poker players today are long term losing players. A player may think he is most definitely making the only right move, while a more experienced player is laughing at him from the other side of the felt. There are many factors to consider and much experience to acquire before you can be certain that you’re definitely making the proper plays in poker.
If you want to win, you cannot be a passive player that rarely bets or raises and just limps through the game and only relies on massive rakeback to survive. Betting, raising, and going all in are absolutely crucial to getting ahead. Just calling and/or betting too much or too little can be quite disadvantageous to your game. If you bet too much, you may find other players rarely call you, leaving you to win only small pots or losing a large portion of your stack. If you bet too little, you may actually be inviting your opponents to dominate you. When deciding upon how much to bet, you need to consider how many blinds you have as well as the size of the pot. It’s not a bad idea to start off your betting with three times the amount of the big blind.
Position combined with the number of players in the game can also help determine just how valuable your hand is. It can be the deciding factor on whether to go all-in or just fold. (For example, say there is a full table; you have 10bb and presently are on the button. The five players to act before you have all folded and the small blind and big blind still have to act after you. You’re holding an A8 offsuit. Because of your position, you can go all in here. But, if you were in the “under the gun” position (the first to act in the game) at a full table, it would probably be in your best interests to fold that exact same hand.)
With endless combinations of hands and plays, you will often encounter quite a few plays which you will not be 100% sure how to react to. Hands that are difficult to play in Texas Hold’em SNGs are A10, AJ, and AQ, as they are often way overvalued. You may even see some people in the beginning of a tournament, with well near a hundred blinds in their stack ignorantly going all in with this hand. These people do not understand that these are not premium hands and will often bet their entire stack on them. The value of these hands all depends on how deep you are in the game, your position in the game, and the amount of blinds that you have in your stack.
What about AK you ask? With this hand, it is usually a good idea to bet, and then, depending on the flop, determine whether or not to bet, raise, call or fold. Small pocket pairs? Sometimes it pays to set mine (hope to flop three-of-a-kind), but if it’s too expensive to do this, they should be immediately folded.
One of the most difficult, yet beneficial, aspects of tournament poker play to master is playing “on the bubble.” The bubble is the situation in which the number of players left is equal to the number of spots that make the money + 1. This situation greatly affects how players play (as nobody wishes to be the bubble boy and make no money for all their efforts). Your range and rules of play may change a lot at this point. You may make plays that you would not dare to at earlier levels of the game. You should view the bubble is your chance to get ahead and acquire loads of chips. Players in the bubble tend to play much more passively or much more aggressively than usual. Seeing at least one player go all-in every hand is quite common. If you remain inactive at this later stage of the tournament, the blinds are likely to begin eating up your chip stack. While many stages of the tournament can pretty much be played on “auto-pilot,” the bubble is a situation in which you must really increase your focus.
With so many different influences and contributing factors it is hard to be certain if you are always making the best possible plays. The key is stepping back once in a while and examining the whole situation at the table: position, your hand, the blind levels and number of players left (in a tournament). If you follow the advice from this article, you’ll be sure to feel as though your poker game is at least a little stronger.