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 Where to start for money
Hold'em is a tricky game, and it's really difficult to gauge whether you're playing well, or not, simply because it has that "any crap hand can win" luck factor. On the subject of bonuses, there are differences between say, Pacific Poker Bones, which tend to encourage you to play at higher limits (bonuses are usually worked out on the amount you stake) and the Inter/Will Hill/Empire/Party which are paid on either the number of hours you play, or the number of hands completed. Clearly, as a novice, you need the latter. There's also a subtle, currency related difference in bonuses. If you play at William Hill's GB£ site, you get £5 an hour, but at the us$ site it's $5 an hour. This is a significant difference with the £ approaching $1.90 It's might be worth noting that the wagerlogic sites often email you re additional boni on certain days of the month, like say, an extra $10 for pocket queens. They also give bad beat bones and royal flush hand-outs. It's unlikely that you'll ever get a royal, (I did once, but Murphy's law had me at another site that didn't pay the damn bonus.) Anyway, the best thing to do, is be patient, and wait until they're paying these special, date specific bonuses, and only play whilst you're getting your £5 per hour, and only play at the $1/$2 tables. This technique should ensure that you don't loose too much at hold'em, and you might win a bit, even if you're a novice. BTW, I don't follow my own advice. But it would be the most logical thing to do. -------------------- "I have enough money to last me the rest of my life unless I buy something." -Jackie Mason "Big bet" means the larger bet in a fixed limit game... in a $10/$20 game, the big bet is $20. How much you can make of course depends on the "quality" of the competition, and how you win pots -- win several pots beating one opponent in a tight game, win one pot in a loose game against many opponents. In lower limit Los Angeles games you might only be dealt 20 hands an hour, with everybody playing ever hand. If you are playing right, you won't play very many (meaning you wouldn't win very many too) but when you win you win huge pots. In higher limit online games, it's not uncommon to face one opponent, where what you both basically do is split up the blinds. These different roads might even lead to the same profit an hour. Personally I never think about money wagered as long as I stay within my bankroll. Then you just decide which game is most profitable to you, or has other reasons to play (most player's brains and stomachs would be better off making $40.05 an hour in a passive game than $40.06 an hour in a wild game). Sites to avoid Most online poker rooms are legit. But a few are outright scams to be avoided. Here are the sites to avoid at all costs. www.sunrise-poker.com: They refuse to let players cash out. www.lonestarpoker.com: Refuse to let players cash out. www.propoker.com: A rigged game, programmed to deal you a losing hand every time. www.cccpoker.com: Affiliated with the land-based Concord Card Club in Austria (an excellent card room by all accounts), the online card room has zero player traffic, cs emails frequently contain viruses, & while cashouts do arrive they are a significant hassle www.rakefree.com: Not yet online, rakefree is owned by the former CEO of pokerspot.com, a poker site that went bankrupt under very dubious circumstances a few years back. When pokerspot went under, players lost all of the money in their accounts. www.worldpokercentral.com: I've seen 2 posts on B2G about these guys, and they've only been operative a few days. There is strong evidence that they are affiliated with Pro Poker (they share the same IP address among other things). Their "too good to be true" looking bonus and prop programs are also red flags. These are all the bad sites I know of. If you want to play poker online, stay away from these ones and stick to the ones with solid reputations. The most common mistake most holdem players make? Not taking advantage of their position.Which is the smarter move. Raising with Ace-king in the blind or raising with pocket tens one away from the button or on the button.Although the ace-king is a slight favorite, heads up, in the real world the tens will win more money.When the ace-king gets a favorable flop he will win a small pot, but 3/4 of the time he be forced to bluff or check and is really at the mercy of the players following him. The pocket tens on the other hand can bet or bluff depending on the nature of the hand.Even when an overcard flops you bet knowing your opposition puts you on a better hand.When the betting makes it is obvious that you are beaten, muck em.Calling that last bet, when you are beaten is futile and expensive.Stay tuned, more tips on the fine art of holdem will be forthcoming.. I play mainly No-Limit tourneys, and even with a full table you'll often get into a position where you're heads up with a showdown pre-flop. In these situations you've got to know the power of a small pair. If you're getting short stacked and need to double up, a small pair is often the time to take your chances. If you can get heads up with your small pair then your only fear is a bigger pair, against everything else you're either a small fav or a big fav. You're dream opponent will be a big stack trying to take you out and calling with something like A5s, if you've got 66 in your hand you'll be a 2-1 fav You're actual point at the start of this thread about AK vs TT and the position of play when your on a full table is a lot more complicated. Is it a tourney or cash game? Is it limit, pot or NL holdem? If it's a tourney then what stage are you at, what's the blinds and what's the stack sizes of the players? Are your opponents tight, agressive, lose etc? Even with a lot more info about the hand you'll often still get the answer 'it depends' and that's what makes poker such a great game Bluffing Bluffing....Look, I'm no expert, but I read a lot...and this is the advice wot I have read. Basically, in a long handed game, say 7 or more players, you really don't need to bluff. This is because with so many players, someone is almost bound to have a hand that beats yours, and is also prepared to call your bluff. So only play strong hands. This is incredibly boring, as it means you play about one hand in 12, and on a bad day, you might not play a hand for well over half an hour at a time. This only play good hands strategy isn't original or interesting, but it is effective because for some reason I can't understand, few other players stick to it, and few adjust their play to allow for your rock-like credentials. It's still a good idea to bluff sometimes, the idea isn't really to win anything out of it, but almost to get caught bluffing. If you do this people will say "Ah, that C.M. , he's a bit of a bluffer". This means that the next time you play a hand, even if its a pair of AAs, people will say "Ah, that C.M. , he's a bit of a bluffer" etc. Hopefully they will raise against your bet on your impossibly strong hand, & you clean up. Well that's the idea anyway. I think it's probably best not to bluff more often that once in every 10 or so hands that you play. That's a guess. I don't know for sure. As you're only playing 1 in 12 hands, that means you bluff about once every blue moon. But you get the idea. In short handed games esp with 3 or less, then you need to bluff a lot. In this sense, it means raising loads in order to convince your opponent that you have a strong hand. Strangely, because there are only a few players, if you have almost any hand of any quality it probably is stronger anyway. This tendancy to raise a lot in short handed games makes them very aggrressive, so pref. should be avoided by the likes of us. They're difficult to win, unless you really have a feel for the game, which takes time. I'll give it another year for my ability LOL! Because of all this, when selecting tables, the thing I most look out for is full tables. They're easier for beginners. -------------------- "I have enough money to last me the rest of my life unless I buy something." -Jackie Mason The way I see it, in limit poker there are only two good times to bluff, the semi-bluff when you have a four flush or open ended straight.In other words you have the worst hand, but a very good chance of making the best hand. Sometimes you have both , with 15 cards that can make your hand.I particularly like having a pair and the flush draw. Of course if it's the top pair, you are not bluffing. The other time to bluff is the position bluff, when you are last or second last and everyone has checked. I prefer to do this after the turn card, too many players will call after the flop with over cards, and the bigger bet on the turn discourages callers.Remember they have no idea what you have, in their mind you could have slow-played a set, or have made a set or two pair on the turn.Some poor players can't be bluffed, so it's a good idea to know if this type player is in the hand.Just the other day, I saw a bluffer called , and the caller couldn't even beat an ace high, which of course what the bettor had.. If you play low limit against more players, then do not bluff or very rarely, because there are players who never fold. If there are 1-2 opponents only, then of course you have to bluff, when you feel your opponents do not have good cards. If the pot is large, then the bluffing is bad idea, because if the players fold, then they lose lot of money, so some of them will call. If the pot is small, then the bluff can be good. (I'm quite good low limit Hold'em player.) Low Stakes Online Poker Great Way to Learn The key to winning in the higher stakes game is one to have sufficient $ to outlast the inevitable losing streak, in 10-20 I buy in with $500, but my total $ that I can afford to lose is $4000, which I believe is a minimum.Being a gentleman and a gracious loser are good qualities to have, also.You are going to have monster hands beaten...I actually lost a hand where I had four aces.It is burned in my memory.I'm a terrible bluffer, but I ve overcome this by using an obvious tell. My right hand tremors due to an accident some years ago. Early in the game I will use it throw my chips when I have the nuts or near nuts.Later I use it when I bluff or semi- bluff. More than 90% of the time I'm able to steal the pot.A semi- bluff is like a four flush and a lower pair.Do not be a calling station, your opponents will run over you. If you have a hand your going check /call, it is best to bet. I generally play only good cards, meaning tens or above in early position,but have played many suited connectors late and on the button.I make it a point to show my opponents these mediocre hands, so that don't always assume I have big cards when I call or raise.If the game is loose, play tight. If the game is tight play loose. The idea is to keep your opponent guessing.Protect the big blind, too, especially if there are no other players in and the raiser is the button.I could write a book on this subject, but others have done it better than I.I have played with some of the best and used to beat former WSOP champ the late Bill Smith like a drum.He had an obvious tell, which I was surprized no one else picked up on.Whenever he was dealt a premium hand, he would take a drink from the ever present beer and change body positions ever so slightly to make getting at his chips easier.There are even tells in the online games, like betting patterns. On truepoker you can chat with your opponents and can see if they they take a second or third peek at their hole cards. Most realistic of the sites I've visited.I suggest you download their software, and watch the real money games, it is a great learning experience.You will soon be able to identify tendencies of certain players and have a good idea of what to expect when you actually get in the game... thenks to www.blackjake.net jon don
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