However if you play below certain levels then you may find that staying at the same site is better for your chances of making money. This is mainly because of the fact that your existing player notes that you have built up over what will be a very substantial amount of time have an awful lot of value. This can be looked at by way of comparing it to a business that has been in existence a fair amount of time and has built up a client base of regular customers and goodwill with its suppliers. Pokerroom in terms of player numbers fits the bill on that score because at peak times then you can find around 40,000 active players at any one time.

But also as a serious poker player then I am aware that you need to build your earn rate in increments in cash poker games. By that then I mean that you need to base your play on information retrieval and this is how the best online players make money…..they simply use the information that is available to them far better than the masses. So by that I am referring to the fact that the site lobby needs to be clear and functional and by this I am talking about the vital key game data that any serious online player needs to be able to make money consistently. This means being able to game select and player numbers are vital here.

It also means being able to see the stack sizes clearly because as a no limit hold’em player then you will be either playing a deep stack or a shallow stack if you are a regular player. The best players are either playing deep or shallow but never an in between stack and so that basically means that if you can see what the stack sizes are then this is a total indication as to how good these players are potentially. Also the site lobby on Pokerroom has great stats on the average pot size, number of hands per hour and also how many players are seeing the flop. If you are the type of player to go after and chase bonuses then they also have a 100% sign up bonus up to $1000 if that grabs your fancy.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The bluff call is used when a player has an extremely weak hand like 8d and 4d. The way to use a bluff call is to raise the bet pre-flop. Some would never think of this because it looks like such a weak hand. That is the whole point of the bluff call. The first step of this strategy is to raise a very weak hand pre-flop.

The flop is shown after the hand has been raised and your opponent calls. Here is the scary part. The flop comes and it is Qh, 9d and 9c. This is a nightmare for you if you aren’t purposely using the bluff call strategy. Your opponent will likely make a heavy bet. They probably hit something little. The chances that they hit trip nines are next to none. Call the bet. Don’t raise but just call. Raising may look suspicious to your opponent. He will think that if you did hit the nines you would slow play it. Don’t put up this red flag.

Here comes the fourth card now. It is a 3s. This is no help to you, but then again- you aren’t actually looking to hit a hand. If your opponent bet on the flop they will probably pose a sizeable bet on the turn. This is where the bluff call comes in. You not only want to call this bet but you re-raise all in. This will intimidate your opponent to the point where they will throw down their high pocket pair and say good call. Viola! This is the bluff call executed perfectly.

Remember, you were never trying to call your opponent till the end. You had absolutely nothing. This bluff call works to player’s advantage because of the fact that it uses the cards on the board along with strategic betting to manipulate the other player.

The key is to use this strategy with the right cards at the right time. If you try to bluff call an opponent and the opponent realizes it, you may lose your whole stack. There is quite a bit of risk involved with the bluff call and it is not recommended for beginners.

Another tip is not to use this strategy when playing players that believe in any hand they have. Players that chase hands to the river are not good players to use this against either. These players will call your all-in with weak hands like low pairs. At this point, even a low pair would have beaten you.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A short stack is defined as a stack that has fewer chips than the equivalent of forty big blinds. So if the big blind is ten dollars you must at least four hundred dollars to not be considered a short stack. You may also be considered the short stack if you have the fewest chips out of all of your opponents. This

A short stack means that you have less room to make bad decisions in Texas Hold’em. This is surely not the time for gambling with mediocre cards or trying special plays that you use when you are the chip leader. This is an important time to make educated moves and to execute other plays well.

The first thing you should consider is what hands to play. This is important because short stacks are not encouraged to bet past the flow very often. Less money is bet on the pre-flop and flop in any tradition game of Texas Hold’em. Betting past these points will require you to lay down a lot of chips. Precise hand selection is crucial when you are playing with a short stack.

The common question usually arises, “So what hands should be played with a short stack?” The answer to this question is obviously not an easy one. The big idea is to play hands that have a lot of strength when the flop is dealt, rather than hands that have mediocre potential. Short stacks do not have enough money to “chase” hands.

Large, suited face cards are ideals hands for a shirt stack. Having suited face cards allows for a flush opportunity or a high pair after the flop. Never play small pairs. The chances are high that your pair in the hole will be beat by an opponent’s pair made on the flop. The hands that are recommended to play with a chip stack of forty big blinds or less include: JJ, QQ, KK, AA, AQs, AKs, AJs, AK and AQ.

You can see that the goal of playing short stacked is to hit a high pair on the flop if you are not dealt a high pair. Once you see that you have a high pair (either from the flop or you were dealt one) you need to bet heavy and be sure that you are not beat by a silly card on fourth street or the river. A bad beat will be the end of your game. The bottom line: when you see that you have a strong pair, force your opponents to fold by scaring them away with a large bet.

Being short stacked is not ideal in poker, but when you are you can use these strategies to get yourself out of the hole.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Play the Hand: When you’re at a short-handed table, you don’t need to be as meticulous about which hands you play and which you fold. As the blinds climb higher and higher, you can’t afford to be folding hand after hand. When you start playing lots of hands rather than folding, players are going to think you’re “tilting.” Once they start to think so, they’ll be more likely to call your bets to see what you have. When they do, you should be able to take the pot most of the time.

Slow Down When Things Get Crazy: Inevitably, in a short-handed Hold’em game, things start to get out of control. When this happens, play your cards a little closer to your vest. Let the other players battle themselves into bankruptcy while you hang on to your chips, then pick up the pieces afterward.

Don’t Be Afraid to Lead: When you lead the betting, you’re signaling to your opponents that you have a strong hand, something they should be afraid to call lest they lose their stack. This puts them on the defensive, and some of them will end up calling with bad hands just to try to get a decent flop, which usually translates into easy money for you. If your hand is particularly good, try re-raising before the flop. This should make your opponent even more nervous, and he’ll either lose his nerve and give you the first round or call, which means you’ll be able to rake in even more. If they’ve been constantly betting low amounts, it’s safe to assume they have at best a mediocre hand.

Don’t be Predictable: It sounds like it should go without saying, but the key to victory in a short-handed game, or any game of Hold’em, is to be unpredictable. You do this by continuously altering the way you play each hand. Try slow playing a good hand, but the next time you have a good hand, play it heavy. Players will figure that since you slow played last time, you don’t have a good hand this time, and they’ll be surprised when you sweep them away on the bet. It’s always a good idea to challenge your opponents on the river. If they’ve called you to that point, chances are they won’t stop there. If you’re bluffing, though, it’s obviously not a good idea to call on the river.

These tips should help you bring home the winnings in a short-handed Hold’em game. Remember that these are only particularly effective when there are three players remaining in the game, not at a full table.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Poker players tend to “fish” for information.  Many poker players will often say certain phrases trying to get you to lash out at them and give that information away.  Some players may ask you if you want them to call or if their bet scared you as well as many other possible phrases. In addition, some questions may seem totally unrelated completely but are in fact just a way to get you to speak. Most importantly, the reason that you shouldn’t speak is because it’s not necessarily what you could possibly say but it’s the way that you could possibly say it. When a poker player (or any human for that matter) is under stress, they can do strange things.  When you have a weak hand, there are ways that you show it and very observant poker players are able to pick up on this vibe.  It could be the way you sit, the way you breathe, pauses that you create, etc.  It could be anything that gives away your position to your opponent.

Keep in mind, you are not in an interrogation with a lawyer present, you have no reason to answer a question your opponent is asking you. Nowhere in the rules of poker does it state that you must communicate and befriend your opponents. If your opponent asks you a question, say nothing – you don’t have to! Or you can just hang out to the best poker sites online, when no speaking is required at all. By not speaking at all, you guarantee yourself of not releasing any type of information that your opponent(s) could use against you.  On the other hand, don’t be rude either. If you feel you can answer a question accurately and with no compassion, then do so.  However, if you feel that you may give something away, if you feel nervous or something similar, then say nothing and wait until the hand is over before speaking to your opponent. In addition, never speak to your opponent if it is a poker related question or conversation – only speak if it’s unrelated to poker. Once it becomes related to poker if it wasn’t to begin with, then stop talking immediately and just play the game.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

All “Pink”: At first thought, this may sound like it has nothing to do with poker since most decks are red and black. The term all “pink” refers to having a flush that consists of all hearts and diamonds.

Bad Beat: You may have heard of “bad beat” jackpots or rewards. A “bad beat” is when a high hand is beat by another high hand that had very slim chances of happening. For example, a bad beat would be when two players have a high flush but the river card makes one player’s hand a straight flush.

Capped: This term is only used in a poker game that has limits. A limit game only allows players to raise so many times. Once the maximum number of raises has occurred the game is referred to as a “capped” game.

Drawing Dead:  This is a position that a player never wants to be in. “Drawing dead” happens when players have gone all in. A player is considered to be “drawing dead” when there is no possible way for that player to beat the other, regardless of the cards that come out on the board.

Kicker: A kicker is a card in a player’s hand that is unpaired. If two players have the same pair, the player with the highest kicker is the winner of the hand.

Loose Game: This situation happens often at a low stakes table. A “loose game” is one in which a lot of players play almost every hand. A loose game makes it harder to steal pots because there are so many players in each hand.

Nuts: This is another term that sounds out of place at the poker table. A hand that is the highest possible hand is referred to as having the “nuts.” For example, an ace high flush would be a “nut” flush.

Passive Play: This is considered to be a strategy for a conservative player. “Passive play” is considered to be when players are checking and betting rather than raising.

Scoop: This term is only used in poker games that have a Hi-Lo option. Each pot is split between the highest and lowest qualifying hands. A “scoop” occurs when one player wins both the Hi and Lo portion of the pot.

Show Down: All betting must be finished for a “show down” to occur. A “show down” is when players have gone all in and there are cards that still need to be turned on the board.

Stub: This is the cards in the deck that have yet to be dealt. Players look evaluate the “stub” to determine the chances of seeing the card they need to make a hand.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

But remember that implied odds apply to limit Texas Holdem poker as well so even here, one has to be a bit careful when identifying a potential “fish”. For the novice, “implied odds” are the estimated number of bets/pot size that will be in the pot at the end of the hand.

Failure to extract the maximum amount of money from the hands that you win is a sure sign of weak play. We all sometimes miss bets and raises but the “fish” are guilty of glaring errors. You no doubt have heard of the term “value betting”. This basically means betting on the end with mediocre hands that you are still quite sure is the best hand and you are also sure that your opponent has a hand that is not only inferior to yours, but that they will also call with it. Weak players are terribly guilty of this and I must see this type of error literally dozens upon dozens of times a day.

There is a lot more that can be discussed here but this is a very involved topic and not something that could be covered in one single series. The definition of a “fish” is very vague as it implies a poker player that is weak. However this is a very grey area as any player who was experienced and technically proficient may be a “fish” in a game full of world class players. But yet a big winner in a small poker game could well be classed as the “shark” in the game.

So in a strange way, a shark can be a fish and a fish can be a shark. What it all depends on of course is where you stand in the particular food chain and how that correlates to the games that you are playing in. If in a certain line up of ten players, you were technically the tenth best player then you would be the fish. If in a different line up of players, you were the best player then you would be the shark.

Poker is a strange game in so many ways. Skill and good play isn’t always rewarded and this tends to tilt many players and this is quite possibly the toughest part of poker. But to know where you fit in with regards the poker food chain is not only a very important piece of information, it may also keep you safe form loss. It isn’t just about technical knowledge either. Knowing poker theory is good but it only counts for a small percentage of the overall game of a skilled player. I don’t believe that poker skill can be found through reading or watching coaching videos, it can only be arrived at by a process of doing it repeatedly.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

One must remember with these things that nothing is ever set in stone and most players can and will adapt and change. Once you sit down in any poker game, the playing patterns of your opponents will reveal many things to you. For instance, any player who is calling a high percentage of the time especially in a game like limit Texas Hold’em poker unlike Omaha is a definite fish. There is simply no way that any player can be a long term winner in any poker variation who has a high calling percentage unless it is someone like a very skilled no-limit player who is constantly limping in because they feel that they can dominate the opposition. Many of the hands that players call with are long term money losers. This is very difficult to spot from the play of a very small number of hands, especially when a player is getting lucky with junk.

It takes poker simulation software that can run the same hand in the same situation literally hundreds of thousands of times to see the patterns emerge. Another classic “tell” of a weak player is the failure to take aggressive action of any kind unless the “fish” has a very strong hand or the nuts. Many players who are either inexperienced or weak shy away from raising because it makes them feel uncomfortable. This lack of aggression costs them dear because not only are they losing bets in the pots that they win, they are also losing entire pots by allowing hands that would have folded to stay in and draw out on them.

A player who does not raise at the appropriate times in poker is akin to the blackjack player who fails to take advantage of positive situations by not doubling and splitting. When you have the best of it, you want more money on the table, it is as simple as that. Failure to do this is losing poker and once you have spotted players doing this, make sure you remember them for these people are a major part of your earn rate.

Another example of “fishy” play although a bit more subtle is when players draw to hands without receiving the necessary pot odds. This is especially the case in structured betting games like limit hold’em. Be careful though not to apply this concept to big bet poker because implied odds are far more important in those particular disciplines. In a game like limit hold’em for instance, if you observe a player who is calling bets and raises with totally inadequate hands, then this is a definite fish.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Let’s look at the first scenario listed: pocket pairs can give you and edge over all opponents by increasing your chances of flopping trips or a full house. This is significant because triples or a full house will likely be the top hand at a typical table game. The second scenario happens because of what was mentioned previously: the strength of pocket pairs decrease as each card on the board is over turned.

With this being said, there are different types of pocket pairs which require them to be played in different ways:

High Pocket Pairs

High pocket pair hands include all the face cards: AA, KK, QQ and JJ. These are four of the highest pocket pairs possible. These hands look strong at the start of a hand, but don’t be fooled. These hands require medium to big bets in order to scare players from limping in. On the other hand, you don’t want to bet big enough where you scare all players out of the hand because you won’t win anything. If you decided to limp in with high pocket pairs you may be beat by one of the weakest hands, depending on the flop. Most poker players agree that these are the hardest hands to play because of the diligence and strategy they require.

Mediocre Pocket Pairs

These pairs consist of those ranging from 7s to 10s (77, 88, 99, or 1010). These pairs should be considered strong, but not played with too much confidence. Remember, if one person is holding a face card and there is a face card on the board, then you are already beat. Most professionals suggest either folding these cards instantly or playing them heavily (by betting big). These are the cards that you don’t slow play, unless a trip comes out on the board. Just remember that these cards must be played carefully or else you will be in for a big loss.

Low Pocket Pairs

Pocket pairs that are 66 or lower are once again tricky hands. If the blinds are relatively low and no other players are raising pre-flop then it is recommended to limp in. All you want to do is see the flop. If the flop does not give you trips and someone bets then you must fold. If the hand is checked all around then check and pray that the next card gives you trips. Bottom line: Do not put more than the big blind in the pot without landing trips. It will only lead to a smaller chip stack for you.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You may or may not see the same faces whenever or wherever you play poker. Obviously on the internet, there are large volumes of players and many will be unknown to you. It is vitally important to be able to classify your opponents very quickly wherever you happen to play. Nearly all of what I will be talking about here will not apply to internet poker sites simply because you cannot see your opponents.

Whenever you sit down in any poker game be it private or casino, you will or at least should be watching your opponents. Weak inexperienced players tend to stand out. You do not need an advanced qualification in psychology to be able to spot a new player. Any player who looks in awe, wonder or perhaps excitement at a poker table as they approach it may be playing poker for the first time. They could be playing live poker for the first time in this era of internet poker or they could simply be playing in a casino for the first time. They might even be in awe of a certain location (i.e Vegas) and be feeling very nervous or excited.

However, this look can be misleading and is certainly not proof of low skill level. This is simply because many internet players have good technical skills at certain forms of poker that may be superior to many of their live opponents. Therefore you will have to accumulate more data either based on the quality of their play or other factors that will be discussed shortly.

Another sign of lack of experience in either live poker or poker in general is poor chip handling. Fumbling and dropping chips is a sure sign that a player is not used to handling them. Although once again you have to be careful with this because skilled internet players would not have this ability if they didn’t have much live game experience.

Anyone who is ignorant of the rules of the game is likely to be a “fish” although beware of the actor who is trying to throw a smoke screen by pretending that they don’t know. Anyone who is unaware of poker etiquette is likely to be playing poker for the first time or at least is inexperienced. Notice here that I said “unaware”, this is because there are many players out there who simply do not care about poker etiquette. If you do not know poker rules and procedures and do not know what I am talking about when I talk about etiquette, better look out for those gills because I am referring to you. Look out for part three coming soon.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.