General Online Cash Game Strategy Tips
The cash game tips in this online poker cash game strategy section are primarily meant to improve your online cash game play but are also valuable for live cash game poker play. First of all, we will cover the question why you should always play the no limit variant when playing holdem poker, after that we will move on to more specific cash game tips and cover specialized cash game strategy suitable for both beginners and advanced (online) poker players.
2.3.1 No Limit, Limit or Pot Limit? No Limit!
Play at PokerStars
Maybe you are a limit player, or maybe you play both limit and no-limit. The Dominate Online Poker E-Book and Website have been primarily designed for no-limit holdem (although limit and pot-limit players surely can profit from the great promotions and from the tools here as well). Now, you might ask, why should I play no-limit most of the time instead of limit? Well, first of all no-limit, they say is the Cadillac of Poker, but that’s just a saying.
The genuine reason to play no-limit holdem is that in no-limit a fish (bad player) must pay a significant larger amount of money for their mistakes than when they play limit holdem. THATS the reason! If you have read Sklansky’s ‘theory of poker’ you have, of course, come across his fundamental theorem of poker which is stated, in short, as following:
‘Every time a player plays differently than he would play if his opponents hole cards lay open then he makes a mistake and loses; on the contrary, every time a player plays the same way as he would play if his opponents hole cards lay open, he would make no mistake and he’d gain.’
This saying is the ground rule for all poker games as it touches the fundamental borderline between good players and bad players: a player who is good at reading another player (and his cards) will make less mistakes than a player who is bad at reading another player (and his cards).
Now suppose a bad player, who makes a lot of mistakes, plays the game of limit holdem: he would surely lose in the long run, but because there is a betting limit in this game, he won’t have to pay as much for his mistakes as he would have to in no-limit holdem, where there is no limit (hence the name) in betting. If you have trips and your bad opponent has top pair (thinking he is winning), in, for instance, 1/2 limit you can only bet 2 (pre-flop and on the flop) or 4 (post-flop) and raise and re-raise by 2 and 4 (pre-flop and on the flop) or 4 (post-flop). In no-limit you could (re)raise the fish all-in with your maximum buy-in of 200 dollars…
Monday, June 6, 2011
How to play poker online
Learn how to play poker
poker for dummies image You’ve watched every episode of High Stakes Poker… You’ve seen every WSOP on TV… You’ve read every poker book you could get your hands on, and now you can’t wait to get started - great! You’re at the right place. This is a one-stop tutorial for anyone who wants to learn to play winning poker.
The lessons start with a quick overview of poker rules, poker guidelines and basic strategy. In this first section, we have included statistics developed by major research groups that will help you decide on how and where to play. After that, we guide you through the process of downloading poker room software, creating your first online account, and growing your bankroll with a valuable sign up bonus, using our exclusive bonus codes.
We explain different poker games in detail; you’ll learn how to play them all. You’ll learn poker terminology, you’ll learn betting rules... You’ll learn everything you need to know in order to play and win! We have reviewed all the top poker rooms, so you can choose the best place to play. We also list all of the major tournaments- freerolls, qualifiers, satellites, speed tournaments, guarantees... We’ve listed them all in one place to make it easier for you to find the fish.
We have also set up a section dedicated to Linux and Mac players- it’s hard to find a good poker room for Linux or Mac, but we’ve made it simple. We discuss poker rooms that support Linux and Macintosh platforms, and what utilities you will need to install on your computer for them to work properly.
Our tutorial contains everything you need to know about online poker, all in one place. If you’re ready to win...
poker for dummies image You’ve watched every episode of High Stakes Poker… You’ve seen every WSOP on TV… You’ve read every poker book you could get your hands on, and now you can’t wait to get started - great! You’re at the right place. This is a one-stop tutorial for anyone who wants to learn to play winning poker.
The lessons start with a quick overview of poker rules, poker guidelines and basic strategy. In this first section, we have included statistics developed by major research groups that will help you decide on how and where to play. After that, we guide you through the process of downloading poker room software, creating your first online account, and growing your bankroll with a valuable sign up bonus, using our exclusive bonus codes.
We explain different poker games in detail; you’ll learn how to play them all. You’ll learn poker terminology, you’ll learn betting rules... You’ll learn everything you need to know in order to play and win! We have reviewed all the top poker rooms, so you can choose the best place to play. We also list all of the major tournaments- freerolls, qualifiers, satellites, speed tournaments, guarantees... We’ve listed them all in one place to make it easier for you to find the fish.
We have also set up a section dedicated to Linux and Mac players- it’s hard to find a good poker room for Linux or Mac, but we’ve made it simple. We discuss poker rooms that support Linux and Macintosh platforms, and what utilities you will need to install on your computer for them to work properly.
Our tutorial contains everything you need to know about online poker, all in one place. If you’re ready to win...
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Top 10 Common Mistakes in Poker
A successful poker player is a player who makes the best decisions most of the time and minimizes the amounts of mistakes in his/her decision-making. Every player is human so we all by nature, make mistakes, even the seasoned pros. What separates the great ones from amateurs is that when they do make a mistake, they normally minimize their losses. A small mistake here and there is frustrating but huge mistakes can cripple a bankroll. However, not all mistakes are created equal and compounding errors can add up to big losses over time which makes it vital for players to plug any and all leaks in their game. Today, we will go over the top 10 poker mistakes, in no particular order as it is vital to correct all of them.
#1: Playing Too Many Hands
This is most likely the most common mistake you see at the tables. It is an absolute fact that most poker players are too loose with their starting hand selection. This means you should have a distinct advantage over all of them if your opponents are playing hands that don’t have much in terms of expected value. However, if you play this way with them, you lose your edge and will surely spew your money away. To combat these overly loose players, you’ve got to stick with premium hands especially when you’re at full table. In short-handed games, you can afford to open up a little bit but the more players, the tighter your hands should be. Say you limp in with bad cards in hopes of hitting something on the flop. But you don’t. All those blinds add up. If you do it 25 times over 3 hours, guess what? You just blew 50 bucks without even losing a big pot. If you do this 4 times a week, that $100 off of your bottom line. At an 8-player table, focus on playing hands like pocket pairs, suited connectors, A-X suited, or two face cards. Leave the junk hands like K-4, 5-8, 6-2, and 10-7 alone. Just fold them pre-flop and save your money for when you actually have something.
Seems easy right? Then why do so many people make this foolish fundamental error? The reason most people play too many hands is because they want action. Who wants to sit there and wait forever until they get good cards? The person who wants to win does. You must be patient. If you’re playing good solid poker, you should often be bored. That’s right, bored. You just don’t get that many playable hands in a given game most of the time. That’s a fact.
2: Playing Position Poorly
Every credible poker book out there preaches the importance of being in good position. Positioning is the single most important factor in this game. When you have good position, you get to see what your opponents do before you have to act giving you more information with which to base your decisions on. Based on their behavior and betting, you can make an informed decision about what you want to do. Everyone checks to you? Take a stab and try to steal the pot. A player bets and is raised? Get out of there. It’s that simple. Good positioning is also known as late positioning and this simply means you act last on all betting rounds. The mistake most players make is playing the cards without considering their positioning. For instance, the way to play pocket Aces in the big blind is totally different than the way to play it on the button. In late position, you obviously raise, in early position, you can call and then re-raise if someone shows aggression later on. This goes for all starting hands and all positions. Your basic strategy should be to play more starting hands from a later position and do so aggressively.
Your bluffing should also happen when you have good positioning. Why? Because that’s when you’ll have the most information on the players at the table. In early positioning you want to play FEWER hands because your options are limited. However, if you happen to raise pre-flop and are first to act, this is a good bluffing opportunity because you have the first chance to do so.
3: Being Too Predictable
While you play, you should be studying your opponents. You need to realize that your smarter opponents are studying you as well. What does this mean for your game? Simply stated, you can not afford to become predictable. When you become predictable you can’t win, because whenever you get good cards, you just won’t get any action. When your weak, you will get pushed around. How do you avoid this? Analyze your own game. Identify your betting patterns and change them from time to time. Just mix things up. Bet the same amounts whether you have suited connectors or pocket Aces. Eliminate all the consistencies in your betting and your opponents won’t be able to figure you out.
4. Playing The Wrong Stakes
This next statement is going to sound simple enough. The stakes you play in is usually what determines the skill level of the opponents you play against. If you’re outmatched, nothing else matters because ultimately you’re going to lose and lose big. On the other hand, if you’re better than everyone at your current level, then maybe it’s time to “step it up a notch. So how do you get it right? Well, playing the right stakes is a delicate balance. To figure it out, you should do so scientifically. Try to calculate your profit per hour. If you see that you are a consistent winner at a certain game try and move up. If you see you’re losing, drop down a level. It’s that simple.
#5: Not Knowing When To Quit
How easy does this one seem on the surface? If you know when to get up from a table it will save you a ton of money over the long term. Whether you’ve either just won a ton of money or just lost a ton of money it’s now time to leave. Why? Because in either case, the tendency from that point forward is going to be to lose. You’ll either lose your profits or dig yourself in a hole deeper but either way, it’s not good for you to stick around. Losing streaks are damaging because they take hold of your mental being and prevent you from coming back. No matter what you try to do, you will continue sinking into the abyss of losing until all of your money is gone. Just go home and live to fight another day. With winning streaks, it’s kind of the same thing. When you win, you think you can’t lose and there’s a tendency to lose it quickly on stupid moves. So remember, if you’re winning big or losing big, just stop playing for the day. Go again tomorrow and buy yourself a nice dinner.
#6: Not Knowing The Odds
Knowing the odds and probabilities in poker is a standard for success. You can be somewhat successful being able to read your opponents and basically guessing at the decisions to make, but the real players know the odds. You don’t have to be a math genius to figure them out either. There are countless tools out there that can teach you simple formulas or percentage grids to know your chances of hitting your hand. Odds calculators are great at this and are free at many sites.
#7: Focusing Too Much On The Cards
There is a key principle that all players should keep in mind, play the players, not the cards. Sounds simple enough right? While its true that the cards determine who’s the winner for a hand but that’s only when a hand plays out until the showdown and all cards are flipped over. The best poker players hardly ever make it to that level in a hand. Why? Because they either force their opponents to fold or fold because they pick up a read on their opponents and make plays on them forcing them into bad decisions. The only times you should be flipping your cards up at the end is when you know you have the best hand and you’ve just milked some poor guy for a huge pot. You need to focus on the player first and foremost, not your cards. You need to figure him out, tendencies, patterns and habits and then attack him relentlessly.
#8: Getting Too Emotional
Emotional control is a big part of poker. You’ve got to be able to “let go” and become unattached from the outcome of the game. If you become to involved emotionally, you can’t win. Emotions do tend to run high in this game as your mixing luck, money and machismo into one game. This could be a recipe for disaster for most players. You need to have in the back of your mind that the worst is possible. You will experience bad beats and lost hands on the river. If you expect this can happen, you won’t because distraught when it does happen and you can succeed. If you forget these things and you forget about being logical, you can not win. You must stay in control of yourself and your emotions. By doing this, you can avoid going on tilt which is the single biggest bankroll drain there is. Be focused on playing your best and eventually the result will show.
#9: Not Getting Help
No one was born a poker player. You had to learn from somewhere didn’t you? But it doesn’t stop there. You need to keep looking to improve. There are three main ways to improve:
1. Learn from experience.
2. Learn from someone who has mastered the game.
3. Read poker books and articles.
The problem with experience is that it takes many years to master the game. It takes a very long time to learn through experience so you need to seek other ways to improve. Learning from proven poker strategies and “field-tested” techniques are the absolute fastest ways to pick up the game. Reading articles such as these and books on strategy are the way to do this. When you make a mistake, ask yourself questions and challenge yourself if you’ve reacted optimally to situations.
#10: Thinking You Are a Natural
It’s amazing how often I hear someone say, “I’m a natural poker player…”What does that mean? Poker is an extremely complex and multi-faceted game which involves mathematics, psychology and many other things. When you’re cocky and think you’re a natural you will not seek ways to improve. You need to be humble and realize that there’s always room for improvement, no matter how much success you’ve had before. New strategies won’t miraculously come to you. You need to seek help.
For more poker strategies to help you with your poker game, visit our Poker Strategy section.
Source: aintluck.com
#1: Playing Too Many Hands
This is most likely the most common mistake you see at the tables. It is an absolute fact that most poker players are too loose with their starting hand selection. This means you should have a distinct advantage over all of them if your opponents are playing hands that don’t have much in terms of expected value. However, if you play this way with them, you lose your edge and will surely spew your money away. To combat these overly loose players, you’ve got to stick with premium hands especially when you’re at full table. In short-handed games, you can afford to open up a little bit but the more players, the tighter your hands should be. Say you limp in with bad cards in hopes of hitting something on the flop. But you don’t. All those blinds add up. If you do it 25 times over 3 hours, guess what? You just blew 50 bucks without even losing a big pot. If you do this 4 times a week, that $100 off of your bottom line. At an 8-player table, focus on playing hands like pocket pairs, suited connectors, A-X suited, or two face cards. Leave the junk hands like K-4, 5-8, 6-2, and 10-7 alone. Just fold them pre-flop and save your money for when you actually have something.
Seems easy right? Then why do so many people make this foolish fundamental error? The reason most people play too many hands is because they want action. Who wants to sit there and wait forever until they get good cards? The person who wants to win does. You must be patient. If you’re playing good solid poker, you should often be bored. That’s right, bored. You just don’t get that many playable hands in a given game most of the time. That’s a fact.
2: Playing Position Poorly
Every credible poker book out there preaches the importance of being in good position. Positioning is the single most important factor in this game. When you have good position, you get to see what your opponents do before you have to act giving you more information with which to base your decisions on. Based on their behavior and betting, you can make an informed decision about what you want to do. Everyone checks to you? Take a stab and try to steal the pot. A player bets and is raised? Get out of there. It’s that simple. Good positioning is also known as late positioning and this simply means you act last on all betting rounds. The mistake most players make is playing the cards without considering their positioning. For instance, the way to play pocket Aces in the big blind is totally different than the way to play it on the button. In late position, you obviously raise, in early position, you can call and then re-raise if someone shows aggression later on. This goes for all starting hands and all positions. Your basic strategy should be to play more starting hands from a later position and do so aggressively.
Your bluffing should also happen when you have good positioning. Why? Because that’s when you’ll have the most information on the players at the table. In early positioning you want to play FEWER hands because your options are limited. However, if you happen to raise pre-flop and are first to act, this is a good bluffing opportunity because you have the first chance to do so.
3: Being Too Predictable
While you play, you should be studying your opponents. You need to realize that your smarter opponents are studying you as well. What does this mean for your game? Simply stated, you can not afford to become predictable. When you become predictable you can’t win, because whenever you get good cards, you just won’t get any action. When your weak, you will get pushed around. How do you avoid this? Analyze your own game. Identify your betting patterns and change them from time to time. Just mix things up. Bet the same amounts whether you have suited connectors or pocket Aces. Eliminate all the consistencies in your betting and your opponents won’t be able to figure you out.
4. Playing The Wrong Stakes
This next statement is going to sound simple enough. The stakes you play in is usually what determines the skill level of the opponents you play against. If you’re outmatched, nothing else matters because ultimately you’re going to lose and lose big. On the other hand, if you’re better than everyone at your current level, then maybe it’s time to “step it up a notch. So how do you get it right? Well, playing the right stakes is a delicate balance. To figure it out, you should do so scientifically. Try to calculate your profit per hour. If you see that you are a consistent winner at a certain game try and move up. If you see you’re losing, drop down a level. It’s that simple.
#5: Not Knowing When To Quit
How easy does this one seem on the surface? If you know when to get up from a table it will save you a ton of money over the long term. Whether you’ve either just won a ton of money or just lost a ton of money it’s now time to leave. Why? Because in either case, the tendency from that point forward is going to be to lose. You’ll either lose your profits or dig yourself in a hole deeper but either way, it’s not good for you to stick around. Losing streaks are damaging because they take hold of your mental being and prevent you from coming back. No matter what you try to do, you will continue sinking into the abyss of losing until all of your money is gone. Just go home and live to fight another day. With winning streaks, it’s kind of the same thing. When you win, you think you can’t lose and there’s a tendency to lose it quickly on stupid moves. So remember, if you’re winning big or losing big, just stop playing for the day. Go again tomorrow and buy yourself a nice dinner.
#6: Not Knowing The Odds
Knowing the odds and probabilities in poker is a standard for success. You can be somewhat successful being able to read your opponents and basically guessing at the decisions to make, but the real players know the odds. You don’t have to be a math genius to figure them out either. There are countless tools out there that can teach you simple formulas or percentage grids to know your chances of hitting your hand. Odds calculators are great at this and are free at many sites.
#7: Focusing Too Much On The Cards
There is a key principle that all players should keep in mind, play the players, not the cards. Sounds simple enough right? While its true that the cards determine who’s the winner for a hand but that’s only when a hand plays out until the showdown and all cards are flipped over. The best poker players hardly ever make it to that level in a hand. Why? Because they either force their opponents to fold or fold because they pick up a read on their opponents and make plays on them forcing them into bad decisions. The only times you should be flipping your cards up at the end is when you know you have the best hand and you’ve just milked some poor guy for a huge pot. You need to focus on the player first and foremost, not your cards. You need to figure him out, tendencies, patterns and habits and then attack him relentlessly.
#8: Getting Too Emotional
Emotional control is a big part of poker. You’ve got to be able to “let go” and become unattached from the outcome of the game. If you become to involved emotionally, you can’t win. Emotions do tend to run high in this game as your mixing luck, money and machismo into one game. This could be a recipe for disaster for most players. You need to have in the back of your mind that the worst is possible. You will experience bad beats and lost hands on the river. If you expect this can happen, you won’t because distraught when it does happen and you can succeed. If you forget these things and you forget about being logical, you can not win. You must stay in control of yourself and your emotions. By doing this, you can avoid going on tilt which is the single biggest bankroll drain there is. Be focused on playing your best and eventually the result will show.
#9: Not Getting Help
No one was born a poker player. You had to learn from somewhere didn’t you? But it doesn’t stop there. You need to keep looking to improve. There are three main ways to improve:
1. Learn from experience.
2. Learn from someone who has mastered the game.
3. Read poker books and articles.
The problem with experience is that it takes many years to master the game. It takes a very long time to learn through experience so you need to seek other ways to improve. Learning from proven poker strategies and “field-tested” techniques are the absolute fastest ways to pick up the game. Reading articles such as these and books on strategy are the way to do this. When you make a mistake, ask yourself questions and challenge yourself if you’ve reacted optimally to situations.
#10: Thinking You Are a Natural
It’s amazing how often I hear someone say, “I’m a natural poker player…”What does that mean? Poker is an extremely complex and multi-faceted game which involves mathematics, psychology and many other things. When you’re cocky and think you’re a natural you will not seek ways to improve. You need to be humble and realize that there’s always room for improvement, no matter how much success you’ve had before. New strategies won’t miraculously come to you. You need to seek help.
For more poker strategies to help you with your poker game, visit our Poker Strategy section.
Source: aintluck.com
Thursday, February 11, 2010
No Deposit Bonuses available / Free Poker Money
There are many sites which give you free money to play online poker. I recommend two of them, seems to be the best.
Your Poker Cash is my first one. To get this no deposit bonus you have to create your YPC account, of course with your real personal information. Because is a free money offer, you have to verify your information, by telephone. They require also a photo id and a code written by hand. All you have to do is to choose a poker room: PartyPoker, TitanPoker, FullTilt, UltimateBet, AbsolutePoker, Cakepoker and wait about one week to receive the first 50$.
Advantages: - you receive 50$ free
- you can't lose your own money
- after you collect enough points you'll be able to request another 50$
Disadvantages: - you can't withdraw the bonus
The second is PokerStrategy. Here, after you create your account, you'll have to choose your game play, a poker room, complete your information and to pass their 20 questions quiz. You're ready to request your money from this hard work:)
Obvious, to complete your request, they might want a photo with you holding your ID. This is kinda awkward, you feel like you make a photo shoot, before you go to jail!
Advantages: - the same, except the last
- you can make money by collecting strategypoints
Disadvantages: - you can't withdraw the bonus
- you can use money only to play poker
It's a good start for those who don't want to risk their money and learn to play for real money, avoiding tilt and prepare for a stupid bad beat !
Have Fun:)
Your Poker Cash is my first one. To get this no deposit bonus you have to create your YPC account, of course with your real personal information. Because is a free money offer, you have to verify your information, by telephone. They require also a photo id and a code written by hand. All you have to do is to choose a poker room: PartyPoker, TitanPoker, FullTilt, UltimateBet, AbsolutePoker, Cakepoker and wait about one week to receive the first 50$.
Advantages: - you receive 50$ free
- you can't lose your own money
- after you collect enough points you'll be able to request another 50$
Disadvantages: - you can't withdraw the bonus
The second is PokerStrategy. Here, after you create your account, you'll have to choose your game play, a poker room, complete your information and to pass their 20 questions quiz. You're ready to request your money from this hard work:)
Obvious, to complete your request, they might want a photo with you holding your ID. This is kinda awkward, you feel like you make a photo shoot, before you go to jail!
Advantages: - the same, except the last
- you can make money by collecting strategypoints
Disadvantages: - you can't withdraw the bonus
- you can use money only to play poker
It's a good start for those who don't want to risk their money and learn to play for real money, avoiding tilt and prepare for a stupid bad beat !
Have Fun:)
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