02.17.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 6:30 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
You have control over at least two factors that help determine a win in poker: your psychology and your opponent’s psychology. Ok, you don’t have control over your opponent’s psychology, exactly. It’s artistic license to phrase it that way; it sounds better. However, you do have some power when it comes to your opponent’s psychology and you need to be aware of it if you’re going to in any serious number of games.
Welcome to the world of power tells!
A tell is a habit, behavior, or reaction, somehow physically manifested, that reveals some information about the player’s hand. Rather, it reveals information about the player’s response to their hand – whether it’s good or bad. Tells can be used most effectively to figure out if your opponent is bluffing or not; whether they have a strong or a weak hand; whether they are trying to give you false tells!
The tells most often featured in top ten lists are, not surprisingly, the most common tells you encounter at the poker table (in real life).
The Eyes: A window into the sole, the eyes of a player are goldmines of information so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many professional poker players have taken to wearing sunglasses when they play.
There are the most common tells for the eyes and what they suggest about the player’s hand:
- Long looks at cards: many players can’t help but stare at big hole cards.
- When a player looks to the left, this suggests they are looking to steal the pot. The look suggests they want to see what the remaining players are going to do.
Facial Expressions: Facial expressions are another window, not always as clear as the eyes, but certainly quite revealing. Many professional poker players have gone to great lengths to hide their face as well.
- Look for signs of discomfort, unhappiness, or nervousness as these are classic signs of a weak hand.
- Watch out for repetitive characteristics too (twitches and such) as these are a strong indication of the same.
The Act: A lot of poker players, particularly inexperienced ones, try to act a particular way, thinking that it will deceive their opponents. Well, it doesn’t. At least, it shouldn’t. In it’s most simplistic form, the act in a poker game is an effort to communicate the opposite message. A player trying to act as if they have a good hand – raising their voice, trying to look intimidating – is probably bluffing. One who is trying to look intimidated – twitching deliberately, for example – is working to suggest that their hand is weaker than it is.Watch for classic signs of anxiety. Use your own judgment to detect anxiety as much as the advice here, but remember that anxiety is often revealed by the flexing of muscles, palpitating heart rate, dry throat, eye and pupil dilations. Look out for what psychologists call the fight or flight stimulus response. In poker, someone with a big hand can exhibit these characteristics, so too when someone is bluffing.
When someone has a big hand, their voice may become slightly higher. They may try to make comments to off-set the other players.
Something you may decide to try: some of the most experienced players will look at the vein on the top-side of their opponent’s face to check for changes in blood pressure. Trembling hands can be another sign of a big hand.
Glancing at chips and hole cards: Many player look quickly at the chips and it can be a sign that they are planning to attack; peeking at the chips is generally a subconscious reaction. Some players have the similar habit of looking at their hole cards. Generally this is a sign that they are bluffing but again, you should use your instincts and experience to make a determination.
Repetitive betting patterns: These are common in novice players but they may work their way into advanced games too. Experienced players are not infallible and they may overlook their own habits. If you pick up on a repetitive pattern, respond to it as you feel appropriate. If your opponent always checks when he has a strong hand or folds after being re-raised, take these patterns into consideration to assess the value of their hand.
Body Posture, Attitude, and Chip Stacking: Watch out for hunching, slumping, and straightening of the posture. Mostly, players slump when they have a weak hand and lack confidence. If a player appears increasingly attentive to the game – looking physically and mentally more alert – this is generally a sign that they have a strong hand. Watch out for leaning in as this is generally a sign of weakness masquerading as strength.
Chip stacking habits are another give away – perhaps the ultimate give away of a player’s general habits. If your opponent presents unorganized and sloppy stacks of chips, they are probably a loose aggressive player. Well-organized chip stacks naturally denote a conservative and tight player.
Tags: Poker Gameplay, Poker Tells, Table Play
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02.15.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 7:18 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
One advantage of playing poker online as opposed to in real life – at least if you’re an avid player – is the option of playing more than one table at the same time. At first, the thought of multiple table play is awe-inspiring. You start to think about how much money you can make. Playing two tables, you can make double the money…playing three, you can make triple what you make on one table. When these thoughts start running through your head, it’s important to think twice and really consider how much of a problem it will be to juggle tables.
Yes, before you go headfirst into multiple table play, there are a number of things you need to think about. Playing multiple tables can decrease your edge, it can make tilt worse, and you can become careless. Unfortunately, playing multiple tables creates huge unnecessary risks if you don’t manage your bankroll and stay 100% focused at all of the tables, thinking about everything from you card values, your table position, your opponents’ positions and playing habits.
That said, if you’re a seasoned player, if you’ve mastered the art of tight aggressive play and table position strategies, playing multiple tables, two tables instead of one, might be something to try.
The first thing you should do if you want to try two tables at once, is adjust the display resolutions on your PC so that you can see the tables as clearly as possible without damaging your eyes. It’s a bit of a balancing act.
You should then exercise considerable caution when you choose your tables. You need to choose tables that allow you to see your hand all the time. You can’t afford to miss a single detail of play; mistakes are too costly.
When and where you play online are two other things to think about. Table selection is underrated in poker but it’s something you need to practice.
The best way to choose a table online is to assess the available information. Specifically, you need to assess the average pot size and the flop percentage. These two statistics should be visible online. You should choose the table with the largest average pot size and the highest flop rate. The larger the pot, the larger your potential profit. The higher the flop rate, the more players are staying with poor or mediocre hands.
Identifying the types of players at the tables is another key to multiple table playing. You should watch for tight players, as they are the most predictable types of players and the easiest to play again. One of the best ways to play them is bluffing. They tend to fold unless they have a very strong hand.
Loose players should never be bluffed; they should be trapped with strong hands. Tight aggressive players should be avoided. You should play this way yourself. Don’t have tight aggressive players as opponents.
One of the last things to think about when it comes to multiple table play: the time of day you play.
If possible, play late at night and on weekends because drunk players and those who are playing for fun are more likely to be accessible. If you’re serious about making money, you need to pray on these weaker players. Playing late at night and on weekends will help you maintain a strong edge.
A couple of tips for multiple table play. You need to reduce the action required on your part. If possible, avoid flipping between screens. Try to keep both screens visible. Also, you should be very careful about hitting buttons. You can easily make a mistake, hitting call when you meant to fold, or raise when you meant to call.
Another problem of multiple tables is that you’re unlikely to be able to concentrate on assessing your opponents and watching the betting sequences because you have to move between tables. One solution is to play one game on a site your familiar with – against players your familiar with – and then another game on another site to which you’re relatively new. This way you can compensate on the site you’re new to by focusing on the play there and allowing your instincts to take over against players you know well enough.
Most players who advocate multiple table play say that two tables at once are manageable if you’re rested and not too distracted by other things. Particularly if you have the opportunity to play against a bunch of weak players, playing two, even three tables can have a very positive effect on your poker income.
Tags: Multiple Table Poker Play, Online Poker, Poker Strategy
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02.14.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 8:15 am by Valentino Viccetzar
There are several types of poker players out there. If you play often enough, you’ll encounter most of them.
The loose passive player becomes involved in almost every hand with weak cards. Their philosophy is that any card combination can win and should be played; that’s the loose play. However, the loose passive player is just that, passive. They decide to play with any hand but they rarely play with any aggression. They rarely raise despite calling most of the time. They play too aggressively with weak hands and too cautiously with good ones.
The loose aggressive player is also involved in a lot of hands, all most all of them in fact. They are the polar opposite of loose passive players in that they raise as often as possible, with virtually nothing to go on. They’re bluffing most of the time and although they may hit you hard in the short term, in the end, you’ll be glad to have these players at your table.
The tight players, whether they’re tight aggressive or passive, they tend to get involved online with strong cards. That said, tight passive players are easy to bluff and, because they only play good hands, fairly predictable. The way to deal with these players is quite simple: back off if they’re playing with any aggression.
The only type of player you should be is tight aggressive. This is the type of player you will want to be after you’ve had a run of bad luck playing any of the other three styles.
The tight aggressive player makes the right decisions. They tend to get involved with only the strongest cards, but when they get involved they play aggressively so they’re difficult to bluff. They raise, check-raise, and force other players. They build up a good pot.
If you aren’t a tight aggressive player already, you need to become one and ideally, you will be the only one at the tables you decide to play.
When it comes to handling the different styles of play, loose to tight, aggressive to passive, a whole range of strategies may serve you. Among the best strategies for loose aggressive players is the biding of time. They tend to trip themselves up with over eager play; bidding too much with cards that have little value. Bluffing often presents a risky proposition but it may be a judgment call if your cards are marginal and you’re doing a good job of managing the old bankroll.
Tight passive players, on the other hand, (avoid tight aggressive players) can be bluffed quite easily. When they are aggressive, and it’s rare, you know they’re likely to have a strong hand; backing off becomes a good idea. Otherwise, you can steadily wear away at these players who by nature pass up many opportunities to cash in on strong hands.
Perhaps one of the most devastating and frustrating experiences for experienced players online is losing big to new and bad players, the players who know next to nothing about the game. Unfortunately, many skilled players have lost out to newbies since the explosion of internet poker. When Chris Moneymaker walked away with 2.5 million in 2004, hundreds and thousands of people began dreaming of similar success at the table.
What seems to irk experienced players is the version of beginner’s luck these poker newbies enjoy. When you’re on a tilt against a newbie, you’re psychological strength is really put to the test. They know nothing about the game and it’s usually apparent. They win with crazy cards and you’re left wondering why you read so many books on poker over the years if you can loose so much to such ridiculous moves.
The thing to remember, though: experience and skill do eventually triumph. Believe it. They do. Don’t let your vexation knock your game off balance. Stay focused and stay calm against all crazy beginners. Be gracious. Don’t give them any advice about how they should play (unless you want the advance to sting you in the future). Let mistakes be made; let all newbies pay for their inexperience. Even if they have a run of good luck, newbies will pay you in the end.
Regardless of the type of player your up against, you should concentrate on playing tight and aggressive poker. Don’t give your money away making daring bluffs but do fight to the death when you know your cards are good. In the long run, tight aggressive play is the only method that brings in results. Don’t forget it.
Tags: Poker Player
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02.13.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 5:29 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
Since the first organized World Series Poker tournament in 1970, poker tournaments have become extremely popular. In the last few years, poker tournaments televised on major sports channels have attracted millions of viewers. The multi-million dollar tournaments that attract the leading poker players around the world have spawned hundreds of online poker tournaments of various sizes. Although the prize pools vary in size, the larger tournaments have prizes of more than one million dollars.
Although the winnings are great in most cases, there is a major difference between successful money players and successful tournament players. Tournament players cannot bide their time in the same way that a money player needs to. In a tournament, the player has to win all the chips on the table if they want to progress; they cannot afford to wait and bid their time. They must play with an aggressive edge.
One of the most important tournament skills is a strong psychological presence. It sounds odd and a little unnerving, but luck has a lot to do with tournament success in poker. To compensate for this, you need to try to make yourself as lucky as possible; think positive, don’t let your moods swing with the tilts. Be sensible but keep up the aggressive plays. In tournament poker, you need to get all the chips on the table in a certain amount of time, against the added pressure of increasing blinds. You can’t afford to let a run of bad luck hit you if you want to get anywhere in the tournament. You must do whatever you can to maintain a positive outlook.
As a general rule, you should play tight at the beginning of the tournament, when the blinds are low; this is the only time you can afford to sit and wait for other players to make mistakes. As the blinds rise – as they do in tournaments – you need to start gambling aggressively.
Controlling your tournament gambling should be the gap concept, introduced by David Sklanksy. The basic principle and practice of this concept is that you should open the betting whenever your hand makes it prudent. You can open the betting yourself with a marginal to semi-strong hand and it’s a lot easier to bet with yourself. However, if the betting has already been opened, if someone else makes a bet before you, then you must have a strong hand to call.
Table positions also come into play in tournament poker. You should play tight in the early positions and let the people playing after you take the lead most of the time (unless you have a hand that warrants aggressive play, such as high honors). As you move to later positions, particularly the end positions, you should look to bluff and play semi-strong hands.
Online distractions aren’t such a problem, but you can still get put off by some of the pop-ups and information bombardments. You shouldn’t worry about the other tables or the other players in the tournament. Your focus needs to remain on the table and chips you’re trying to accumulate.
Your focus in a tournament needs to be on your table, on your position, and on your opponents play. Good tournament players look to shift gears, alternating between tight and aggressive plays as the situation calls. Watch your opponents for sighs that they are following one or other of these strategies.
Follow the strategies yourself. Remember that survival is key to winning a tournament, more so than in money games. You can’t be eliminated from money games, per se, but you can and will be knocked out of tournaments for careless mistakes.
To win at tournament poker you need to train your brain to focus above and beyond money game play. In tournaments, how you behave towards your opponents, how you respond to your opponents on a psychological level, can have an impact on your game if you don’t check yourself. Some of the best advice from tournament champs is to play our own cards. Don’t think about anyone else’s cards and don’t try to analyze or critic the plays of anyone else. Never voice your opinion about anyone else’s plays, strategies, or styles. It’s never worth dwelling on someone else’s game except to understand them as an opponent.
And the last snippet of tournament-play advice: trust your instincts. Know the guidelines for poker play – for tournament and online tournament play specifically – but trust your instinct and feel for the cards. The leading tournament poker players play by feel much of the time. You should too if you want to win.
Tags: Freerolls, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournaments
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02.10.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 5:26 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
The ability to assess the effect of your table position and your opponent’s table position on the value of bets will improve the outcome of your poker play. You’ll make a more accurate assessment of the value of your hand and you’ll also have a much better sense of what your opponents are playing with.
Poker has four different table positions, regardless of how many people are playing in the game: there’s the dealer’s position, the early position, the middle position, and the late or end position.
Players in early positions should avoid playing marginal hands and should limit themselves to playing only strong to very strong hands. The middle position players should assess how the early players have acted. If the early players haven’t raised the stake, then the middle position player can raise with a marginal to strong hand.
For obvious reasons, those in the end position know the most about their opponents and can play aggressively. Last position players can bet with a wide variety of starting hands, even relatively weak hands, if their opponents have not acted. They can decide to call a bet knowing that no one is going to raise, thereby reducing your risk.
In a full game with ten players, as an early player or EP, you are one of the first three players to act. The person immediately to the left of the big blind is said to be “Under the Gun” or UTG. They are under the most pressure to act, to start the action with a raise.
Middle position usually begins at the fourth player in sequence; the fourth player left of the dealer or the button, as is sometimes the situation in online poker. Like early positioned players, middle position players or MP players still have relatively few advantages and considerable drawbacks relating to their position in the game.
As an MP player, you are at risk of “squeeze” plays. A squeeze play, as the name suggests, is about being forced to act, generally to call a bet by an early position player, when you know you’re likely to get raised. On the other hand, in the middle position, you have an advantage over early position players and you can make a strong assessment of their cards. Particularly if you have a strong hand, you can bet and play aggressively in the middle position, and you should. If your hand is marginal, you have to consider the likelihood that the last position players will take a stand.
The end position or late position players, called LP players for short, have the strongest position at the table because they are the last people to act. The cut-off player, called the CO for short, is the player in the second to last position. LP player have the strongest position because they can make a strategic play, a steal or bluff, to win the pot if no one else has made a move. In Texas Hold’em, the last player’s position-based advantage is the strongest and their opportunity to make a steal bluff is the strongest.
On the other hand, if EP or MP players have raised, as an LP player, you need to determine whether they’re bluffing or playing with a strong hand. If you make the wrong assessment, drawing on what you know about the cards and your opponents’ styles of play, it can be costly so weigh the information you have carefully.
Another situation that the LP player experiences almost exclusively is the semi-bluff, which involves raising an EP or MP player who made a bet. To make a semi-bluff, you need to have a fairly strong hand, such as a straight or a flush. You can raise to scare your opponents, encouraging them to fold. The semi-bluff also encourages your opponents to consider you and what you might have before they make their next move if they are considering a raise on the second round.
To make the most of position strategy, you need to be aware of your position all the time. It sounds easy but it’s not; getting caught up in your hand leaves you oblivious, so you need to practice focusing on your position for each individual hand at each individual turn.
The general rule to keep in mind goes something like this: play strong hands in early positions; the later your position, the better your chance of making a winning play with a marginal hand, such as a flush or a straight.
Tags: Multiple Table Poker Play, Poker Strategy, Table Play, Table Position Play
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02.09.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 5:24 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
Heads up poker involves only two players. A recent phenomenon, it gained popularity in recent years thanks to internet poker sites and the sit ‘n’ go games they offered. For players looking to develop their poker playing skills, heads up play is an excellent opportunity. It’s not only a fun way to play the game it’s also a great way of learning to think and stay on you toes – a very important and good habit to develop for your poker game.
Sites offering heads up play include most of the online poker world heavyweight. Buyins are anywhere between about $1 and $5000 dollars and the competition range includes easy-to-beat newbies and world-class aficionados.
However, there are a few major differences between heads up poker and regular poker, from Texas Hold’em right through to Draw poker. In heads up, you can’t afford to be timid with mediocre hands. Yes, even with on honor card, a jack or a queen, you should take a chance. In heads up, you pay for ever hand you play. If you wait for the high honors, particularly if you’re waiting for an ace to make your move, you’re going to be losing some serious bankroll before you get anywhere.
Heads up teaches you to bluff and how to read your opponents. Post flop play also becomes very important to your success in this game. You also need to hone your awareness and understanding of positions at the table because they become extremely important in heads up poker as well.
As a general rule, you should play aggressively when you are at the button position in heads up. You should play the majority of your defensive poker after the flop, reducing the risks you’re running. Although a lot of your short-term success depends upon your opponents and how they play, if you always attack from the button and defend off it, you’ll come out on top.
You should be aware of your opponents, as you would be in any other situation. You should be prepared to spot weaknesses; frequent raises and check raises that leave the vulnerable, passive plays from the button; excessive or limited bluffing. Watch out for these traits and be prepared to respond to them, compensating your aggressive or defensive plays depending on your position. Watch out for strategy errors and analyze them whenever they occur.
When you’re in last position and you have a strong hand, you should definitely at least call. In most cases, you should raise with a strong hand to minimize your opponent’s chance of bluffing successfully, weight up your chances in the knowledge that it is generally – not always but generally – best to play tight in last position when in doubt.
In first position you should be more aggressive, check-raising your opponent when you have a strong to very strong hand. When your hand is weak and you’re in first position, you are in a strong position to bluff but, depending on your opponent and your read of their strategies, you may want to check and fold if they are likely to bet.
It’s worth noting that high limit players tend to be every aggressive in heads up games. You can spot these players easily by their propensity to raise and reraise as often as they can with mediocre and bad hands.
As far as your own play goes, heads up poker should give you a very powerful wake up call about any weaknesses you have. It’s a trial by error for a lot of players when they first try the heads up game. Many play a few rounds, realize their weakness (the reason they’re losing), quit, and adjust their problem. The more you try the format and use it as a way to learn and improve your game, the more you will get from the experience.
In heads up poker, as in every other format, you should try to play by instinct and feeling as much as possible. In fact, the heads up format offers a great opportunity to learn and hone this play technique, too.
When you play one-on-one, remember that a good player knows the guidelines and will follow them when in doubt, but they’ll also try to be in-tune with the game and the cards, trusting their instincts about their opponents, the relative value of position, and the general situation.
It sounds obvious, but the real key to winning heads up poker is being in touch with your own game and proactive when you spot a weakness in your strategy.
Tags: Heads Up Play, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournaments
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02.08.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 5:34 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
At the moment, online poker play and betting strategies are in their infancy. Betting often follows very basic patterns and online play is no where near as sophisticated as it might be simply because a lot of players are not experienced or seasoned at the table.
Most of the games played online leave a lot to be desired in terms of sophistication. That said, it’s a lot easier, at least in theory, to test and practice new betting and play strategies when you’re playing online so try a few of the suggested strategies below if you’re looking to improve your game.
How you bet and play depends on the type of poker you’re playing (Texas Hold’em, Draw Poker, Stud Poker, etc). But regardless of the game, the first and most important strategic decisions is whether or not to play with the cards you are dealt at the beginning of the round. When you’re playing classic poker, say, draw poker with five cards in a draw, your odds of having a playable hand are easier to assess, compared to the two cards you have in Texas Hold’em. It’s simply a case of probability. If you have three kings, an ace, and a queen, you know that odds of your opponents having similar high cards are reduced by sizeable factors. Only one of your opponents can have a king, for example.
One of the most effective strategies at the beginning of the round is to analyze the value of your cards based upon their intrinsic value – their value in the deck – and the additional value based on your position at the table. Reviewing the cards themselves is easy enough, but you need to take into account your position at the table with an understanding of what the different position do to the value of your cards and to the value of your opponents’ cards.
In poker, there are four table positions: the dealer position, the early position, the middle position, and the end position. When someone says, “I’ve got position on you”, they’re sitting to your left and will always make their play after you’ve made yours.
As a general rule, the closer you are to the end position, the better for you’re bet. In end position, you have the luxury of reviewing the bets of your opponents and, with a keen eye for what’s going on, you can get a good picture of what’s going on before you bet. The dealer or players in the beginning and middle positions don’t get nearly so good an understanding of the cards as you do before they bet each round.
However, the experienced player will learn how to make the most of their position regardless of what it is. After all, you can’t always be in the end position during a long game.
Regardless of your position, you should raise in Texas Hold’em with AA-QQ, AKs, JJ, TT, AK, and AQs. Applying this as a standard, when you have sets or values in Draw Poker or Stud Poker, you should raise or reraise if there has already been a raise by one of your opponent. If no one raises the pot and you’re in the end position, in Texas Hold’em you can call with pair values as low as 88 or 99; make the play with similar card values, adjusting for the type of poker you’re playing.
Remember that the objective is to establish the odds of your opponents having better cards than you. Being alert to your opponents’ actions is an important step to assessing what your own should be.
Regarding specific card combinations and your response – whether to raise, reraise, call, or fold – there’s plenty of schools of thought about how you should bet according to your position. Most advocate choosing a method of bidding, a set of rules to follow religiously. In reality though, poker is a game played by human beings. Yes, your opponents are human and with that in mind, you should consider basic psychology as a component for your betting strategies.
You should read up on all types of betting strategies if you’re an avid player and you want to win. You should read about all the different combinations and how different schools suggest you play them because this is yet another way of increasing your ability to assess whether your hand is the strongest out there.
An understanding of your opponents’ bets is going to boost the odds of you being right about the value of your own hand. If you happen to play bridge, you’ll know the strategy of placing the points and then the cards based on the bidding and the play. If you employ a similar card-placing technique at poker, you’ll be well on your way to making your bets near to infallible.
Tags: Online Poker, Poker Gameplay, Poker Strategy
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02.07.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 5:17 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
If you want to get a lot of practice playing poker, sit and go poker is a great, fast-paced, and fun way to play. In many ways, sit and go poker is like playing a big multi-table tournament without spending hours.
Good strategies for sit and go poker are fairly similar to strategies for playing regular games of poker. On the other hand, sit and go tournaments are structured in particular ways. The structure of most sit and go tournaments is this: there is a one-table freeze out and the top two or three places pay out. Most games start off with at least nine or ten players at a table.
As with every version of poker, every game and every tournament, each individual player needs to develop their own strategies. However, there are a number of basic strategies that have proven successful over a long period.
Play tight in the first few rounds: In the early stages of sit and go games it makes a lot of sense to play tight. Most importantly, you should consider that most of your opponents at the beginning of the game will play with a considerable degree of recklessness. Beat them out. Play conservatively; let the loose players bleed themselves out of the game. Reserve your energy; be cautious. Observe your opponents, those who look likely to stay in the game.
In the early rounds, most guides suggest watching the ratio of risks to rewards. The blinds are low in most sit and go tournaments so there is little to gain by bluffing and focusing on snagging the pot with a weak hand. Another thing to consider: in the early rounds, the pot itself isn’t very big anyway.
Take into consideration things like your table position and the habits of your opponents. Keep in mind whether you’re facing a loose or tight player; an aggressive or a conservative player. In an early table position, in the first few rounds, you shouldn’t play with a hand weaker than ace queen suited or a pair of queens because the risk isn’t worth taking. In later positions, you can afford to be a little more adventurous but still, the best strategy is not to get carried away.
When your table has lost a few players, as the binds are rising, then it is time to play more aggressively. Most seasoned players will look to take control of the game when there are two or three players left at the table; it’s generally best to make a move.
Middle Round Strategies As the blinds begin to increase, as the tournament progresses, it comes time to open up the play and become more aggressive.
When you’re ready to take over the game, play aggressively in the later rounds, continuation betting is one of the most popular options. A continuation bet is one placed after the flop, in succession to a raise. Most of your opponents will check your raise; you should bet anywhere between half of the pot and the whole pot.
The objective in the middle rounds is less about simply staying in the game – although that’s still important. But you need to make some progress; build up a stack so you can keep paying the blinds.
The best tactical advice is to look for tight players to go up against. You need to look for tight players from whom you can steal the blind. It’s quite common for everyone to enter the pot as the game tightens up and you should consider raising if you have a decent hand, such as two face cards, an ace, or a pocket pair. As you’re playing against tighter players in the second round, beware of players who respond aggressively to your raise. Those who call and particularly those who reraise are likely to have a strong hand. Most experienced players will throw in their hand at this. The general advice is to fold in response to a raise or a reraise unless you’re holding a very strong hand. Make the most of late positions at the table to play aggressively.
Final Rounds – Keeping It Cool When you’re down to head-up play, in the last rounds of the tournament, be prepared to think and act fast. That’s the nature of this particular version of the game towards the end. There shouldn’t be a pot at the end of the game that you’re not involved in. Not unless you want to fall out of the game. Your play needs to be open and aggressive. Don’t be cautious with a good hand. Challenge your opponent to go all in if you can.
Remember that sit and goes are designed to be a lot of fun and good practice. Try not to take things too seriously because second place is just as good as first, and so on. You’ll win some money and, most of all, improve your game so you can win some money in the future.
Tags: Poker Strategy, Sit and Go
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02.03.07
Posted in Poker Strategy at 3:56 pm by Valentino Viccetzar
Overview On the one hand, the basics of Omaha poker are quite similar to Texas Holdem. On the other hand, the game is quite different.
Omaha is similar to Texas Holdem in the sense that you play with cards against the board. In Omaha you hold four cards instead of two and there are five community cards. To make a hand, you need to play two holecards with three board cards. The betting strategies are the same as those used in Texas Holdem.
Generally, Omaha is subject to the same rules at Texas Holdem. The only rules that are different apply to the board. In Omaha, you have to use two cards from your hand and three cards from the board. The most common varieties of Omaha poker are high-low splits and 8-or-better.
Starting Hands In Omaha, starting hands are critical to winning. They exist before the flop and they bring a strong edge against the field when they are in place. An important rule for Omaha: avoid weak hands and do so from the beginning; from the start. Playing good starting hands and raising opponents before the flop are the basic winning tactics in loose-game, low to middle limit Omaha.
Omaha hands consist of three of the give community board cards plus two cards from each player’s hand. The ratio is always three of the board and two from your hand to make a winning combination. You can use the same or different card combinations to make high and low hands.
Understanding Omaha Values An important point about Omaha poker: you get a higher percentage of your final hand sooner, receiving four cards for your hand instead of two, as in Holdem. Seven ninths of your hand is known on the flop; when it comes to betting, you also know a lot more and thus can make more informed decisions. Compared to Holdem poker, Omaha has much less to do with random outcomes. It is a game won by interpreting information; Holdem depends upon interpreting uncertainty.
That said, what matters in Omaha poker as much as in any other variation: the probability of winning. In Omaha, the number of cards and the combinations of winning hands are what count. This version of poker is about accuracy, clarity, and, we’ll say it again, about information. You need to look at the various combinations of your hand: what is the best combination of three cards from the board and two from your hand? What is the weakest combination? You also need to look at what cards are not on the table or in your hand and use that information to assess what hands your opponents have. As you can see more cards in Omaha than you can in, say, Holdem or Stud poker, you’re chances of being right about the chances of winning with a particular hand are that much higher.
Why play Omaha poker? Omaha poker is one of the best forms of poker for making money. It’s mathematically simple in the sense that, if you only play good starting hands and you find opponents who play almost every hand, the odds are totally in your favor to win and you can win quite substantial amounts, even with a small bankroll, by simply applying basic principles of probability.
Another reason to play Omaha poker before Holdem is that bad players have very little chance of thriving at this version of poker. Luck plays such a relatively small part in winning and you can make very informed decisions about the game you play.
A few important concepts The River Game: You may hear players refer to Omaha as a river game, which is basically saying that the final card determines the winning hand. This theory emerged because it often seems that only two players per round have viable hands. Weighing this theory as a strong one, many Omaha players have been known to hold off betting until the last card comes down.
In reality, before the flop, you should play hands that have a high expectation; you should manipulate the pot size and you should try to manipulate your opponents. After the flop you should begin to roughly calculate the probabilities and deduce how favorable your chances are to win. Again, you should be working to manipulate the pot if you have a strong hand.
Pot Manipulation: To win at Omaha poker, you need to manipulate the pot to some extent. This means you should make a determination early on whether it’s worth betting snd you should act on your determination.
Cooperation: Greedy players don’t play Omaha poker very well. You should cooperate with your opponents to extract bids from weaker players. Greed will cost you money in Omaha poker.
Tags: Omaha, Poker Basics, Poker Game, Poker Rules, Poker Strategy
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