Category: Gambling and Casinos

Being suited is always important in Texas hold’em because it can bring you best benefits on many levels. Cards are following more that just one purpose and that is always a good think. If you have QK of the same color or even 10-9 or any other suited consecutive connectors you should play them every time you can get a good pot out this hand. As always, late position is suitable for this kind of strategy too. There is a difference in value between a consecutive hand like QK simple and QK suited. Let’s just consider the fact that suited connectors are hands that are not played often in Texas hold’em. They are only played when the situation is just right.

When you are focusing on playing suited connectors you have to keep in mind that many times you will get a card that is consecutive to the ones you have but it is not in the same suit as they are. This means that many times you will be playing many more marginal hands that you expected or planned too. If you only keep the suited plan, then you just drop whatever hand doesn’t follow the pattern.

If you intend to go for a flush then if you only play the suited connectors you will have a straight flash so that is going to be a much more power flush than the normal one. And also, playing suited gets you more often to flush draws that to straight draws and a flush has more power than a straight in Texas hold’em.

A reason to play only the suit connectors is the fact that when you start playing the off suit connectors you can stumble upon many many problems. For example, you will be simply playing in more pots, playing more hands, and statistically you have more chances to lose. You will almost all the time go for straight draws and if someone has one, and they might, you will loose to a flush. You will find yourself making more difficult decisions and have more chances to be wrong. You can also lose to a better straight. There are many cards that can beat your hand even if you manage to make the hand. This is why you should always try and ply only the suited connectors.

When you decide and play that suited connector you are holding check always the cards displayed on the flop. If there is even the slightest change that someone else might take your decision, then go along with it only if you have high connectors, especially connectors from the high end of the suit like A, K, Q.

If you intend to create for yourself an image of a bad player you can. The question in not why you can do that but it is mostly why you should do it and only then how you can accomplish this purpose. The idea is that at some point in your game you might get lost within the rules you have read about and learned about and because of this you will play tighter and tighter, not willing to risk money on hands that are just not worth it. After you learn a thing or two about poker you start realizing that you were initially playing too loose and too many hands and now you will fall into the other extreme and play too little hands. This will cause you win small pots because your games style is going to be too readable and people will start fearing you.

You will have to understand that the odds are there for everyone, they are not there to fight against you, they are there for you. You are not at war with the odds you are at war with your opponents and you must act accordingly. Remember that you must add value to you good hands and for this you have to play stupidly sometimes and confuse the opponents so they will lose their respect over your game and when you really have a hand you can benefit from it.

So, if you want to be seen as a bad player you can always:

– Raise from under the gun. Being under the gun means you are sitting next to the blinds, in the right. If from that position you bet twice before having to see your cards and everyone at the table will clearly label you as a gambler. The players that have some experience will see how you did this from the worst possible position and they will assume you are a beginner or you just play bad.

– Bluff and let them catch you. Every player hopes when he or she makes a call that they are on a quest to expose a bluffer. Trying to keep you honest is what you need them to do, because if they see now you are bluffing they will assume you will do that again so they will call endlessly on your bets even when you have a strong hand of course.

– Start with weak cards and take them all the way, so high to even beat a better hand with them and you will make a name at the table that you play bad cards. This is what you want them to think when you will have your strong hand.

If you manage to make the table label you as a bad player then you can get ready to make some serious money on your next big hand.

No one can really tell the way their game is, if it is good or not. But the streak of wins and losses can give a pretty good idea on that. To determine whether a play is perfect or not or to find out just how the perfect player would play poker, you must first look at the player itself.

In a poker player’s evolution there are three important phases. First they are novices. Being a novice means you are fairly new and don’t know much about poker, no matter what you may think. The problem with novice players is that they can remain in this stage forever. Because evolving means some effort and they are just not ready to make that effort. Novice players play too many cards, they don’t know the strategy or worse, they know it but can’t decide when to apply it or wrongly apply it. Novice players lose most of the times. The next stage is called the booksmart player stage. A booksmart player is a player that read a lot about poker and he is currently discovering that he should play fewer hands, he should apply strategy and this way he is making some money. Then, after passing through this stage a player climbs up to the expert category or the situational expert stage. When in this stage, you can even play more hands than a booksmart player does without loosing.

Being in the final stage is ideal. Almost any player that takes the time to learn or read a thing or two about poker can easily get to be a booksmart player, but from that point to the final stage the road is long. Poker is a interesting game because the gap between how good you hand is in comparison with the hand of you opponent is inverse proportional to the money amount you will win from that hand .if your hand is just a little bit better than you opponent’s then the cases are that you will make a lot of money, much more than when winning over a hand much lower than yours. Or if you are just about to lose because of the little gap between you too, you will probably make a lot of money if you do win. Basically beating them barely makes the profits. So to make a lot of money, hands that aim just that are over-played by the situational experts. This in not a thing that can be learnt from books and it takes courage and perfect understanding of odds to pull it off.

Poker parties are the growing ‘thing’ these days, in the 20 to 30 age bracket. Where their fathers had weekend games, with the guys gathered round in t-shirts, in a room full of cigar smoke, the younger set likes to set up a more organized affair.

So imagine it: a folding poker table in the living room, martinis in the kitchen, and custom printed card in the automatic shuffler. The host, as banker, passes out poker chips from a set of casino-style, regulation clay chips, the guy to his right gets the dealer puck, and the game begins….

There’s an ambience to all of that which is hard to ignore and harder to forget. A well done poker party reschedules itself.

Why is Poker so Much Fun?

It’s no surprise, really, that the rising popularity of poker parties has gone hand in hand with the rising popularity of online gaming generally, and online poker rooms particularly. The Internet is an incredible advance in communications, connecting people with each other, as well as with products. Poker, in many ways, falls into both categories.

It’s a social game. That’s really at the heart of its popularity, both in “real life” and on the Web. When you play poker, especially with a group of friends, you’re sitting around a table with your cards and your chips and maybe a drink, and there’s camaraderie there; talking is natural. In the online poker rooms, the gamers and the administrators both have created a system that allows as much as possible of that naturalness to come through.

Poker Etiquette

There are rules to playing poker online, and I’m not talking about the rules of the game. Those are the same online or offline. I’m talking about the rules for talking to each other, using the chat system in the room, and generally being social.

In all online poker rooms, “table talk” is forbidden. Bridge players will know what I mean; using a series of codes to let other players know what your holding. This will get your IP address banned from an online poker room. Also, in many poker rooms, if you stop answering the chat, or skip your turn in the hand, you’re done for the game; they’ll assume you’ve left the table. Now there’s a rule to like.

The Excitement of the Game

But there’s something that all poker games, whether online, or at a casino or martini bar, or in a living room, have in common, and that’s the thrill. Let’s face it, poker is popular because it’s an exciting game. Is it gambling? Yes, it is, and if you lose a big stakes game, you can really lose big. But it’s not just gambling. Poker combines elements of casino chance with elements of player skill. Yes, you can get a bad hand, or a lousy hole card, but in the long run, if you know the game, you do well anyway. That’s what really brings people back.

Getting Started

So now, you’re decided. You’re gonna start a game. But what do you need? You’ve got a deck of cards, and a few boxes of matches, but is that enough?

Of course, it’s not enough. There are some essential supplies to give any game the right ambience. You’ll want a table, to start with. You don’t have to buy a free standing poker table; you can find smaller folding tables, or even folding tops to place on your existing table. Poker tables are more than just a conceit; they have markings on them showing where to hold your cards and chips, who is the dealer, and were to put the pot. You can get by without a poker table, but if you’re new to the game, it’ll sure make things easier on you.

You’ll also want a good set of poker chips. Poker chips come in a lot of varieties, colors, weights, styles… what to get is up to you. Casino regulations stipulate painted clay chips, at least 11.5 grams each, with the denomination printed on them. Casino poker chips like this aren’t hard to find, and are usually reasonably priced. Your best bet is to buy a set of at least 250. Most poker games have 5 players, and you’ll want enough chips to go around. Poker chips are also sold in batches of 500, 650, or even 1000. Again, how many you need is up to you.

If you’re like me, shuffling cards is a challenge. There are automatic card shufflers available to do this for you, and they’re fun to watch, too. Many casinos permit electronic shuffling at the table, so don’t think that you’ll be losing that Vegas spirit if you use one.

This should get you started. Once you’re on the poker party bandwagon, you’ll figure out what else you need!