With the recent boom in the popularity of poker, the game has been flooded with millions of new players worldwide. The increased number of players has forced all poker players to adapt to countless new styles of play. This has created an excitement regarding the search for the secret to winning in poker. However, despite all of the huge increase in players, the way to win in poker has always remained virtually the same.
No matter how many people play poker, the essence of the game still rests in its secrecy. Regardless of the version of poker you are playing, there are always at least a few of your cards that the other players cannot see. This secrecy is your most important tool when trying to win a poker because it provides you with your most powerful tool: the bluff.
Just like your opponents can't see your cards, you can't see theirs. However, this doesn't mean that you cannot dictate the way the game is played, and the way that you do this is by mastering the art of the bluff. The ultimate purpose of the bluff is to make your opponent think whatever it is that you want them to think at that particular moment.
It is important to remember that the bluff can be used as both an offensive and as a defensive tool. For example, if you have a strong hand, you don't want the other players to know it. If they do, they will get out of the hand too early and not continue to bet, causing you to lose potential earnings. In this case, you would bluff offensively my leading them to believe that your hand is weaker than it actually is. Once you have drawn them in and they have bet into the hand, you can then go in for the kill.
The opposite of this is also true. If you have a weak hand, this doesn't mean that you can't win. There is a difference between how strong your hand is and how strong you can make your opponents think it is. If you have a weak hand, you can bluff defensively and get the other players to think your hand is actually much stronger. They will drop out of the hand and concede to pot to you, despite you having a non-winning hand.
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Showing posts with label poker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poker. Show all posts
Friday, July 22, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Premium Starting Hands in Texas Holdem
It doesn't really matter whether you're playing no limit Texas holdem or limit holdem, you'll usually want to raise preflop when you get premium starting hands. A lot of poker strategy is nothing more than applied common sense. When you get a good hand, raise with it. When you get a bad hand, fold it. Often, the simplest and most obvious move is the correct move.
Some Texas holdem players don't get this. They're convinced that every play they make in a Texas hold'em game has to be deceptive. So they'll slowplay their premium hands preflop, and they don't earn as much money with their big hands as they should. Or they'll get crappy cards preflop and try to bluff with them, but they bluff way too often. Be grateful for such players, but don't play like they do.
What are premium starting hands in Texas holdem? Any AA, KK, QQ, or AK is a premium hand preflop. Only rarely will someone else have you beat in this situation. You might have to slow down a little bit with the betting on the flop--you might even have to throw your hand away--but while you're ahead in the race, you need to be getting money into the pot.
For one thing, if you go to a showdown, you'll show that you were raising with premium cards. This will set you up for potential semibluffs or bluffs later in the game. For another thing, the better your hand, the more money you'll want in the pot. And getting money into the pot requires betting and raising.
And sometimes all of your opponents will fold in the face of your preflop raise. That's okay too, because you win those chips without a showdown. There's no possibility of someone drawing out on you when everyone folds. In fact, you don't even have to show your hand, which is the best kind of deception you can hope for in a poker game.
Some Texas holdem players don't get this. They're convinced that every play they make in a Texas hold'em game has to be deceptive. So they'll slowplay their premium hands preflop, and they don't earn as much money with their big hands as they should. Or they'll get crappy cards preflop and try to bluff with them, but they bluff way too often. Be grateful for such players, but don't play like they do.
What are premium starting hands in Texas holdem? Any AA, KK, QQ, or AK is a premium hand preflop. Only rarely will someone else have you beat in this situation. You might have to slow down a little bit with the betting on the flop--you might even have to throw your hand away--but while you're ahead in the race, you need to be getting money into the pot.
For one thing, if you go to a showdown, you'll show that you were raising with premium cards. This will set you up for potential semibluffs or bluffs later in the game. For another thing, the better your hand, the more money you'll want in the pot. And getting money into the pot requires betting and raising.
And sometimes all of your opponents will fold in the face of your preflop raise. That's okay too, because you win those chips without a showdown. There's no possibility of someone drawing out on you when everyone folds. In fact, you don't even have to show your hand, which is the best kind of deception you can hope for in a poker game.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Should Poker Be Legalized?
"Government, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -George Washington
Like many poker players, I lean toward Libertarianism as a political philosophy. For those of you who don't know was Libertarianism is, it's a political and personal philosophy that focuses on individual liberty. People should be allowed to do what they want to do as long as they're not infringing on anyone else's rights to do what they want. This makes it pretty clear that I think poker should be legal, and it should be legal everywhere.
A lot of smart people oppose Libertarianism as a philosophy, and some of them make valid points. Some of them are liberals and some of them are conservatives. What's the difference between liberals and conservatives, and which of these are closer to Libertarianism in temperament. I'd contend that neither of them are truly closer to Libertarianism than the other one.
Liberals believe in individual freedom when it comes to moral choices. For example, abortion is an individual liberty that should be protected, according to the liberal side of American politics. And free speech should be unrestricted. But they believe that individual freedom is less important when it comes to economic matters. Individuals should pay taxes, and the government should spend that money to help people.
Conservatives believe in economic freedom, but they believe in stricter government when it comes to moral choices. For example, many conservatives think that abortion should be illegal. They also don't believe in gay marriage, and some forms of free speech (like burning a flag) should be limited or illegal. But they believe that the government shouldn't interfere with economic matters. Taxes should be minimized, and so should government services. The conservative viewpoint is that private industry will take care of the things the government provides, and they'll do so more efficiently than the government could.
Libertarians, on the other hand, believe in total freedom on both sides of the coin. Abortion should be legal; it's not the government's place to restrict individual freedom. Taxes should be minimized. It's not the government's place to spend MY money.
So, being a Libertarian, of course I think poker should be legal. Why on Earth should the government have any say-so about whether or not I want to take MY money and bet it on a game of cards? It IS my money, right? I'm the one who went to work for 40 hours this week to earn it. Why shouldn't I be able to do what I want to with it?
I'm not sure I understand how anyone in the United States could think it's right for the government to dictate to me how I spend my money, especially not if I want to play poker with it.
Like many poker players, I lean toward Libertarianism as a political philosophy. For those of you who don't know was Libertarianism is, it's a political and personal philosophy that focuses on individual liberty. People should be allowed to do what they want to do as long as they're not infringing on anyone else's rights to do what they want. This makes it pretty clear that I think poker should be legal, and it should be legal everywhere.
A lot of smart people oppose Libertarianism as a philosophy, and some of them make valid points. Some of them are liberals and some of them are conservatives. What's the difference between liberals and conservatives, and which of these are closer to Libertarianism in temperament. I'd contend that neither of them are truly closer to Libertarianism than the other one.
Liberals believe in individual freedom when it comes to moral choices. For example, abortion is an individual liberty that should be protected, according to the liberal side of American politics. And free speech should be unrestricted. But they believe that individual freedom is less important when it comes to economic matters. Individuals should pay taxes, and the government should spend that money to help people.
Conservatives believe in economic freedom, but they believe in stricter government when it comes to moral choices. For example, many conservatives think that abortion should be illegal. They also don't believe in gay marriage, and some forms of free speech (like burning a flag) should be limited or illegal. But they believe that the government shouldn't interfere with economic matters. Taxes should be minimized, and so should government services. The conservative viewpoint is that private industry will take care of the things the government provides, and they'll do so more efficiently than the government could.
Libertarians, on the other hand, believe in total freedom on both sides of the coin. Abortion should be legal; it's not the government's place to restrict individual freedom. Taxes should be minimized. It's not the government's place to spend MY money.
So, being a Libertarian, of course I think poker should be legal. Why on Earth should the government have any say-so about whether or not I want to take MY money and bet it on a game of cards? It IS my money, right? I'm the one who went to work for 40 hours this week to earn it. Why shouldn't I be able to do what I want to with it?
I'm not sure I understand how anyone in the United States could think it's right for the government to dictate to me how I spend my money, especially not if I want to play poker with it.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Texas Holdem Strategy Tips for Beginners
Okay, so I thought it might be fun to launch a blog about my experiences playing Texas holdem. I've been playing Texas holdem since 2003, mostly online, but I do have some live experience too. I was originally a seven card stud player, but I had some buddies who encouraged me to get involved in a weekly private poker game online, so I learned the basics, then I started picking up some strategy. I'm not what you'd considered a professional level player, but I play well enough that I break even. And when I do lose, I don't lose so much money that it wasn't a fair trade for the amount of fun I had at the tables. So anyway, for my first post here, I thought I'd offer some Texas holdem strategy tips for beginners. (I don't feel like I'm a good enough poker player to offer strategy tips for experts.)
1. Have starting hand requirements. When I first started playing Texas holdem online, I had no starting hand requirements at all. In fact, I wasn't even sure what a good starting hand was. And I had no idea that starting hands differ in value depending on how many people are playing in a given hand. You can read more about Texas holdem starting hands here.
2. Learn how to fold on the flop. At least 50% of the time, you should fold on the flop. Most flops miss most players. That being said, aggression can work wonders on the flop too. You just have to take into account how many players there are and how likely they are to call. I like to semi-bluff on the flop, but I'll seldom try to semi-bluff more than 2 players at a time. It's just too unlikely to get more players than that to fold. (The good cards have to be out there SOMEWHERE.)
3. Don't tilt. This was the hardest thing for me to learn. But if you're going to play emotional poker, you're probably going to lose more often than you win. That's fine if you're a recreational Texas holdem player with a lot of money to blow. But otherwise, you need to learn how to make decisions based on mathematical reasons, not emotional reasons.
I'll write another post offering more Texas holdem tips for beginners one of these days, but that's a pretty good start to a brand new Texas holdem blog, I think.
1. Have starting hand requirements. When I first started playing Texas holdem online, I had no starting hand requirements at all. In fact, I wasn't even sure what a good starting hand was. And I had no idea that starting hands differ in value depending on how many people are playing in a given hand. You can read more about Texas holdem starting hands here.
2. Learn how to fold on the flop. At least 50% of the time, you should fold on the flop. Most flops miss most players. That being said, aggression can work wonders on the flop too. You just have to take into account how many players there are and how likely they are to call. I like to semi-bluff on the flop, but I'll seldom try to semi-bluff more than 2 players at a time. It's just too unlikely to get more players than that to fold. (The good cards have to be out there SOMEWHERE.)
3. Don't tilt. This was the hardest thing for me to learn. But if you're going to play emotional poker, you're probably going to lose more often than you win. That's fine if you're a recreational Texas holdem player with a lot of money to blow. But otherwise, you need to learn how to make decisions based on mathematical reasons, not emotional reasons.
I'll write another post offering more Texas holdem tips for beginners one of these days, but that's a pretty good start to a brand new Texas holdem blog, I think.
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