June 24, 2008
Thinking about becoming a professional poker player? Think anybody can do it? Think again. Becoming a pro takes years of practice. You need to know the game inside out and know how to read people. To play professionally you need to be able to grind it out. Having the discipline to sit and play for long amounts of time and staying focused even when the cards are not going your way.
In the world of poker, there are a fair amount of players that can grind it out when they need to. When these players are in action they can sit at a table for hours, and play solid poker the entire time. The things that makes a player better than average is the ability to read people, folding when you know your beat and capitalizing when you have the best hand.
Problems arise for the other people who are trying to grind it out, when he or she starts feeling lucky and they begin to play hands they shouldn’t. Even if they get lucky a few times and win with cards they know they shouldn’t have played. Sometimes boredom becomes a problem, and if you are thinking about becoming a professional poker player, you cannot get bored: to be successful you have to be disciplined and grind it out hand after hand.
Many people think that playing poker for a living means sitting at a table and winning constantly. He or she thinks that they can sit down for an hour and get a red hot streak of cards, and leave with four times the amount of money they came with. Sounds great, and if it happened all the time like that, no one would have a regular job. We would all be playing poker for a living. Being a great poker player you have to be able to take the good days with the bad. Sticking it out and continuing to play when you have lost four times the amount you came with.
The reality is that a professional poker player has to play exceptionally for hours at a time, and for days, weeks, months, and years, at a time, to make a living from poker. You are not going to sit and win every time you play. You have to be solid and consistent and really know the ins and outs of poker.
Playing poker for ten hours and not playing a single hand is what a true grinder does. There will be times when you win big and there will be times when you can’t get the cards you need to come your way. The ability to show discipline will help get you through those times when the cards aren’t going your way.
To become a professional poker player means you can’t compromise your playing style. You have to play an intelligent form of poker all the time. You can’t take risks that statistically are not worth taking. The pot may be massive, but if you don’t have the cards you need to be able to lay the hand down.
April 24, 2008
There are a number of different tournament options offered by each poker room and by online poker as a whole. The Sit-N-Go style tournaments are quickly becoming a new player favorite. The format is exactly what it sounds like; these tournaments typically have six to ten players and play like poker pick-up games, starting as soon as enough players sit.
As with any of the many tournament styles, there are a lot of different strategies for how to play and win in a Sit-N-Go. Of course all strategies are designed to do one thing: win money. All Sit-N-Go strategies have another basic focus: playing and winning as many tournaments as possible. Naturally you can’t always win, but having a healthy win to lose ratio will guarantee you always come out ahead.
For this particular Sit-N-Go strategy, the process is broken down to demonstrate the best way to play an individual tournament. Sit-N-Go tournaments differ from larger tournaments where the play is hard and fast. In other tournaments, as the blinds increase you have a high risk of getting trapped by aggressive players that want to start narrowing the field. The one table style of Sit-N-Go promotes a more relaxed pace, making patience a real virtue for successful players.
The relaxed pace does not mean you should have a relaxed strategy. The ideal Sit-N-Go playing strategy is to be tight with your chips but aggressive with your cards. This means you are going to be folding a lot over all, and playing hard when you do play a hand. Many people confuse playing a lot of tournaments with playing a lot of hands. Sloppy playing will not create a positive win-lose ratio. In this Sit-N-Go strategy the idea is to stay safe and hold your chips until the end, when the field has been narrowed and the blinds are high.
Why hold back? Because even as you stay tight, other players will get loose and eliminate themselves. The tournament is going to be decided in the last rounds, so your primary goal is to stay in the game. It is ok, even advisable, to play a good hand when you’ve got it, but otherwise this Sit-N-Go strategy is about making the majority of your moves at the end.
By the end of the tournament you have the advantage of knowing the players and their individual styles better. You are in a better position to play more loosely, as any risks you take now have a much greater payoff. Other players may be tightening up now as the blinds grow and the stakes get higher.
This is when you make your move, taking advantage of the big blinds by playing hard and fast before the flop. Go all in early, and most players are unlikely to have a starting hand that is worth the risk. You can build your stack quickly with a couple pre-flop pots in the end rounds, and have the potential to double it should anyone call your all-in.
As always, the successful use of this strategy depends on your own consistency and your ability to determine when your hand is worth the bet. To win Sit-N-Go with this theory of play, the idea is to come in like a bear and go out like a bull.
April 18, 2008
Poker is a game of many that has hundreds of variables that will affect the game. There is no other game like it and as a beginner it can be very difficult to understand and learn the game. With so much to learn, it is hard to know where to start and a lot of mistakes will be made. The one thing to keep in mind is that there will be a lot of mistakes; and that is okay. The best way to learn in poker is to learn it yourself from making mistakes. Still, there are some common mistakes that can and should be avoided as a beginner.
Afraid to Play - One of the biggest mistakes a lot of beginners make is that they are actually afraid to play and get involved with hands. The only way you will be able to learn is if you get in the game. You will see players with the best possible hand call when they could have easily put the rest of their chips in and got a caller. Do not be afraid to bet, call and get involved.
Not aware of the Math - This is a big one. Poker is a game of probabilities and statistics. If you do not fully understand the math you are at a huge disadvantage. Assuming that the game is just a simple game of chance is a very big mistake. You might as well go play blackjack or just give your money to charity.
Over-estimating Suited Cards - There is a fairly big problem with this is as well. You will hear so many people saying that they just had to play a hand because it was suited. That is really the most ignorant thing a poker player could say. Suited cards are not near as valuable as people think they are. They only bring the value of the hand up slightly.
Playing too Many Hands - This is just the opposite of the first mistake. This normally happens once players get used to the rules and the game. Playing too many hands is a big mistake that will lose you a lot of money. You should only be viewing around 20% of the flops played during a session. That means that you should be folding a lot more than calling.
Poker Etiquette - It is okay to learn as you go, but one thing you really should know before you play is the poker etiquette. There are a lot of things you just cannot do at a poker table. If you don’t know what those things are, you will probably do them. They are mostly just basic things that you must look into.
If you can avoid these five mistakes outlines above, you will be off to a pretty good start. Like mentioned before, there is just so many mistakes that could be made. You will make mistakes, and you might even make the same ones you just read about. That is okay; all you can do is try your hardest to limit your mistakes, and learn when you do make them.
