01.31.07
Posted in Gambling Tilt at 3:00 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
Tilts - The Bain of Everyman!
Being on a tilt, a negative tilt, can be extremely damaging to your emotions and thus damaging to your play. Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – all poker players go on negative tilts n their career. It’s more common that some of us would like to think, but what matters is not how and when it happens to you. What matters is that you develop the ability, sooner rather than later, to mitigate the damage of a tilt to your overall game.
Recognize the Tilt
How do you know when you’re on a tilt? There’s no hard and fast rule telling you what exactly constitutes a tilt. You could have one bad hand. You could have a string of bad hands…ah, that’s it. Generally, when you have two or more bad hands in a row, you can consider yourself on a negative tilt. Whether it’s bad play, or bad luck that gave you the results, two or more hands is a good indication of tilting and sign that it’s time to take a deep breath.
Emotional Control Is Paramount
Easier said than done; don’t let your emotions disrupt your play. Poker requires reason. One of the reasons why tilts are so destructive to players who don’t control them: when you’re on a tilt, you’re desperate. You start to make bets in the hope of getting lucky. With a relatively weak hand, you are likely to keep going, praying for the ‘right’ card to show up on the table. Particularly if there’s a lot of betting action, you can end up in serious trouble if you don’t fold with a mediocre hand.
So how do you regain emotional control when you know you’re on a tilt? One of the most effective moves is simply to get up and walk away. In internet poker this may or may not be easier. It depends on your general level of discipline when it comes to poker. When you’re at a casino, you may have one or two people around you who advise you that you should take a break. At home at your computer, you probably don’t have this luxury.
You need to realize that people who are upset – whether they realize it or not – don’t stay focused will probably lose all the money they brought to the table. There’s no other way to but it: you must stay focused and rational while at the poker table. If you’re not focused and rational, you need to leave the table.
Most players, and particularly good players, tilt after a bad beat or when they have a string of unlucky losses. Some players have small tilts after they win a big hand or after they have a strong of good luck that causes them to feel on edge, but these episodes are much shorter than tilts caused by losing.
Tactics to Limit Tilts
While going on tilt is natural, you need to limit them every single time they occur. While the best way is to get up and walk away from the table for a few minutes, sometimes this is easier said than done.
Other tactics to calm down start with taking deep breaths. Focus on your breathing; use something to help you. Listen to music or hum a tune to yourself. Develop a little habit that will help you refocus; it’s a tactic used by tennis players and you’ll notice it if you watch closely. When they lose a point or fault on a serve, many players bounce the ball a couple of times. It looks random but it’s not; watch and you’ll notice the pattern they use (two bounces, a short walk to the edge of the court and back).
Another way to adjust your tilt mentality is to think for a few moments about the really bad beats you’ve had in the past. This only works if you’re a relatively experienced player and you’ve had really bad beats, but you may read enough to find a couple of examples from other people about tilts they’ve chased.
1) Analyze tilts that you’ve had…store the big losses so you can look back and improve next time.
2) Watch how other players react to tilts, particularly if you’re new to the game.
3) Remember that about 7% of the time you’re going to lose out in the showdown based on your opponent hitting a three-outer. Even if you win 93% of the time, you still use and the odds are creep closer to 50-50 in most other situations.
4) Be prepared for bad beats…this is much better than reacting to them on the fly!
Basically, if you through caution to the wind and start chasing the pot, you’re going to lose big time.
Tags: Gambling Tilt, Poker and Psychology, Poker Tilt
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01.30.07
Posted in Poker Theory at 6:18 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
Overview
One of the things that so attractive about online poker is the prevalence of play money. Some casinos have special programs for offering customers free ‘money’ to gamble with. Of course, the principle behind these programs, online as well as offline, is that you will get such a thrill gambling with the so called free money, you’ll decide to keep it up gambling with real money. The aim of this article is to outline the advantages and disadvantages of real money versus play money.
Playing With Play Money
A “free-roll” tournament is one that doesn’t require real money although it pays out real prize money to the winner. Particularly for those who don’t have much tournament-playing experience, free-roll tournaments are really a lot of fun and very low-risk. There’s no risk of losing any money.
You should certainly use play money if you’re a new player or if you’re looking to brush up on your poker skills. There is no need to make any kind of purchase or provide credit card information for play money poker.
The most common types of freerolls are “frequent player points”, called FPPs. This is the best kind of free because all you need to do to acquire these FPPs is to sign up and play. You can then amass points; earning points as part of the loyalty program. Many sites allow you to earn FPPs by playing in the play money games. Many less experienced players should get started without going to the trouble of depositing real money.
Playing With Real Money
A real money buy-in, as the name suggests, requires you to use real money. Online poker sites require you to deposit real funds into a secure account. In casinos, you generally have to buy chips. If you do a bit of money-management, you can plan ahead enough to make online money transfers in a few seconds without transaction fees.
Once you are confident of your poker skills you can decide to take the plunge. Making a deposit of cash to play online involves using one or more of the following money transfer methods:
1) Credit Card
2) FirePay
3) Neteller
4) Switch/Maestro
5) Bank Draft
6) InstaCash
7) Visa/MasterCard
8) ePassporte
9) Wire Transfer
Things to Consider: Real versus Play
It’s increasingly important to consider the legal aspects of online poker playing and online gambling. You need to try and get a handle on the laws that affect online poker play. Unfortunately the laws in most of the countries around the world really are very slow to mature; they’re slow to pickup and change their policies and programs. This is equally true of individual companies. Several online poker sites now do not allow US-based players access due to changes in the law that look to outlaw online gambling, apparently including poker.
Although the best advice is to consult with a legal expert if you have specific concerns, it is still challenging for lawyers and other experts to make definitive assessments of what is a lawful activity and what is not. At the time of writing this article, no person in any country has yet been charged as a criminal for playing online poker with real money.
Another thing to consider: negative tilts in poker can be extremely destructive and bankroll management is something you really need to be on top of if you’re playing with real money. Everyone goes on a negative tilt every now and again. It’s a reality even the best and most experienced players have to deal with; if you make a transition from play money to real money, you must have enough of a bankroll to cover the down tilts and protect your game from your own psychology. Although this is more important when it comes to real money management and it should factor somewhere in your decision-making process about real money versus play money. You should also take into account the kind of game you’re involved in and the kind of players you’re up against. Just as you should shift tables every now and again, there’s nothing stopping you playing with both real and fake money.
Above all, you should remember that poker is a game. If you find yourself playing with real money and being preoccupied about your bankroll in a way that seems at all unhealthy or destructive, you should certainly stop playing with real money and revert to free money.
Whether you play with real or free money you should have fun.
Tags: Online Poker, Play Money, Poker Theory, Real Money
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