Archive for the ‘Online Poker Advice’ Category

Party Poker is Ramping Up its Poker Playing Team

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Kara Scott, an up and coming poker player, has signed on to be a member of Team Party at Party Poker.

She will join other members of the team in representing Party Poker at poker-related events and tournaments throughout the world. Other members of the team are Felipe Ramos, Ian Frazier, Remy Biechel, Bodo Sbrzensy, Steward Scott and Mike Sexton. Sexton is a 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee.

Scott is considered a player to watch. She won the PartyPoker.com Sports Challenge III in 2008, and in 2009, she was named co-host of ?High Stakes Poker?, a television show. She replaces AJ Benza, and will share hosting duties with Gabe Kaplan by offering commentary with Kaplan in the booth and interviewing players during breaks in game play.

Scott was good enough to cash in during both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker main events. She is the only woman ever to cash in on two main events. In all, Scott has won more than $550,000 in live tournament play over the years.

As a member of the Party Poker team, Scott will host some events and participate in tournaments around the world. Party Gaming also offers one of the best online casino expereinces with Party Casino that boasts over 120 games including roulette and if that isn’t enough they also have Party Bets and Party Bingo.

Currently Party Gaming sites do not accept USA Casino players. For more information check out our Party Poker Review.

Getting Past Bad beats in Texas Hold’em

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Play Online PokerA regular player of Texas Hold?em would know that some days are just not your days to play well. One bad beat follows another and it can get quite disappointing when all your moves just don?t seem to pay off. Whether it is protecting your stack, trying to beat aggressive opponents or just getting a good hand ? nothing seems to be working for you.

So, how do you manage such a situation before you stack runs out? Well, it?s very tough to control a bad beat and just as difficult to control the cards you get. However, what you can control is how you handle the situation.

Changing The Way in Which You React
The first thing you need to understand about bad beats in texas holdem event at online poker rooms is that they don?t cause the actual harm. It is how you react to them that can really destroy your game for the evening. Extreme frustration and anger can only lead to bad decision making and thus cost you your hands, your stack, your game and eventually a tournament. You have to be very careful about the manner in which you handle bad beats because a bad session could count against you in a competitive tally.

What you need to do is calm down and rationalize after a particularly bad beat. Understand that this can and does happen to every player of Texas Hold?em. Assure yourself that you played to the best of your ability but it still didn?t turn out right. This is what will truly make you into a professional player of the game.

However, if you choose to get frustrated and lose your concentration as well as faith in your own Texas Holdem game, then it will only lead you to make bad decisions. You will try and bet on the wrong hands in order to revive your stack. But other players will pick up on your desperation, recognize the fact that you are on tilt and make you lose even more of your money.

What You Can Do In Case of a Bad Beat
That is why it is necessary to school yourself for such a situation, whenever it may occur. In case you are having a bad beat, just do the following:

1. Maintain discipline in your game and don?t get carried away.
2. Focus on your the cards in front of you and not on your bad beat.
3. Take the right decisions and free your mind of too much frustration and anger.

These may seem difficult to follow but what you need to do is practice. That will definitely help in getting you to minimize your losses.? Now go fine one of the best online poker rooms to play.

Rules for Managing Your Bankroll in No-limit Texas Hold’em

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

Play Online PokerIt can be difficult to manage your bankroll playing online poker or in the casino card rooms. It is even difficult for the most amazing poker players in the world. When playing no-limit Hold?em, especially with cash, managing your bankroll properly is most likely more important to your long-term success than any other part of the game. This is why it is important to exercise strategies for bankroll management when playing cash games and tournaments. This is especially true because the amount of money required to comfortably play in different variations of no-limit Hold?em is quite different.

How you manage your bankroll depends on your personal circumstances as well. If you are lucky enough to make a comfortable living, then you may be fine depositing $50 to $100 weekly. But if you are a college student not making a lot of money, but wants to accumulate a little bit of money, it is important to strictly manage your bankroll. If you do not exercise self-control, you may go broke sooner or later. This is how variance comes into poker play, especially when playing no-limit Texas Hold?em.

All about variance

To create a good example, we are going to ignore rake impact although it does have a huge impact in real life. But let?s just say that after playing 1000 $10 sit-n-go poker tournaments, you make an average profit of $4.30 per game. This means you have a return on investment (ROI) of 43%. You have experienced both good and bad variance when playing these 1000 games. During the good periods, you probably made an average of a $20 profit per game. During your bad periods, you may have broken even or lost money. This is considered variance, which is experienced any time you have a short term deviation from the profit you expect to make in the long term. This is the very reason why you must practice proper bankroll management. If you ignore the ups and downs that poker is known for, a short bad luck run can exhaust your bankroll. So make sure you practice bankroll management so that you have a reserve of buy-ins that will allow you to weather the variance storm.

Below is a chart that shows a bankroll strategy that works for single table sit-n-go?s. Don?t forget that the skill level of your opponents increases as your buy-in level increases. This means you will need to have more buy-ins in your bankroll. This will prepare you for potential variance, since it will be more difficult to keep your ROI the same as your levels increase.

Cost per Sit-n-Go Buy-ins in Bankroll Total Bankroll
$5.00 20 $100.00
$10.00 25 $250.00
$20.00 30 $600.00
$30.00 40 $1,200.00
$50.00 50 $2,500.00
$100.00 100 $10,000.00

Next is a bankroll management scheme sample for no-limit hold?em cash games. You?ll notice here that the skill level of your opponents will increase with your blind levels. This means you will need to have a bankroll of more big blinds in case of variance. You will definitely have to work harder to maintain your ROI as your stakes increase.

Cost per Big Blind Big Blinds in Bankroll Total Bankroll
$1.00 1000 $1000.00
$2.00 1200 $2400.00
$4.00 1400 $5,600.00
$10.00 1500 $15,000.00
$20.00 1750 $35,000.00
$50.00 2000 $100,000.00

Now go find one of the best online poker rooms to play.

Using Tells in No-limit Texas Hold’em

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Play Online PokerThe information gained from tells can be invaluable while playing No-limit Texas Hold’em at online poker sites, but only if used properly. When used improperly, it can cause your game to become overrun with confusion, and cause you to start second guessing your own strategy. You should always be observing your opponents, even when you are not in a hand, in the hopes of picking up on patterns in their play. Here we will discuss what to look for and what to ignore when playing No-limit texas Hold’em.

Basics of Tells: Live No-limit texas hold em games.

Typically, you will not see blatant tells like Teddy KGB’s Oreo cookie tell from the movie Rounders. If you spend time looking for these type of Hollywood style tells, you are wasting your energy. Here are a few different types of tells you can look for when playing No-limit Hold’em, whether in a casino or a home game.

Weak Means Strong: Often when a player is holding a strong hand, they will deliberately act weak, trying to deceive you. If your opponent is attempting to appear weak, be wary; he may actually have a very strong hand.

Watch Your Opponents When They Look at Their Cards: Your opponent’s initial reaction when seeing his/her hole cards for the first time will most likely be genuine. Carefully observe your opponents as they receive and look at their hole cards. Wait until it is your turn to act before looking at your own cards.

Staring at the Flop: When a player misses the flop, he/she often will stare at the board, as if hoping to conjure up new cards to their liking. This might tell you that they are willing to fold to any bet. Be careful though, if the player knows you are looking for this, they may do it intentionally to deceive you. This is known as giving off a “false tell”.

There are many tells that you can pick out if you are observant enough, and a great many books have been written about spotting tells. If you are interested in learning more, you might want to pick up a copy of what many consider the greatest book on this subject: Caro’s Book of Poker Tells: The Psychology and Body Language of Poker by Mike Caro. Widely regarded as a must-own for serious poker players, this book should be a great help during your journey into the world of tells.

Basics of Tells: Online No-limit Texas Hold’em Game

Tells play a much lesser role in online poker since you are unable to physically see your opponents and because they are not tethered to their chair, such as in live poker. This means your opponents could be watching TV, surfing the web, talking on the phone, using the bathroom, or any number of other things you are able to do in the privacy of your own home. The level of reliability you give to online tells should be adjusted to take this into account.

Nevertheless, here are two tells you should be aware of while playing online No-limit Texas Hold’em

Instant Check: If a player has no intention of continuing with a hand, sometimes they will click the check/fold box. This makes the player check instantly when it’s their turn to act. This can be an indication that a player has no interest in fighting for the pot, and it could be an easy opportunity for you to bet and take it down.

Constantly Timing Out: Occasionally you will have a player at your table that is consistently timing out. This can be an indication that the player is distracted by something or playing multiple tables, either of which would most likely mean that he is playing a very tight game. Be aware of this, as it could mean they are more likely to have a big hand when they get involved. Of course, consistent timing out could also mean that their internet connection is having trouble staying up, and have nothing to do with their level of attention.

Now that you have the information, go find one of the best online poker rooms to play.

Pushing Around

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

Play Online Poker It doesn’t matter if you play off line or online poker. Everyone wants to build a large stack during a tournament. Some of those people don?t know what to do with those chips though. You have to use them effectively to control the table.

The big stack should be the bully while trying to build their stack bigger and eliminate players. If you can control the table and dictate the size of the pots then you can get much better reads. You can play at the blinds more and if re-raised be pretty certain that they have a hand.

Bullies should always be aware of their opponents chip stack size. You don?t want to raise will 8-7 suited and have your opponent go all-in behind you. Doubling them up is bad even with the right odds.

If you think the short stack is going in with Ace little or a small pair then it?s your job to make a call with a hand like KQ suited and try to eliminate them. Just ensure that the all-in is not huge enough it will really hurt your stack.

However, if you are getting bad cards, that doesn?t mean you use bad sense and just go on aggression. You should still fold. Playing bad cards will only create bad situations. If you have been pushing the table around, your opponents are not going to give you credit for premium hands.

Think about your hand and what your opponent would do with it. If they are a short stack and would fold then that?s what you should do. If you think they would go all-in, then do it first and put the pressure on them.

Being the bully requires you to gamble with some of your chips. It?s okay to lose some as long as you win overall. Being the table captain, will require some getting used to if you have never been the table bully but once you master it, you will be in a better position to win more chips and the tournament.

And always remember to look for the best online poker bonuses and research the best online poker sites before deciding where to play.