Texas Holdem Poker

Is there a great divide amongst poker players today? Are we subconsciously or consciously dividing our opponents into two distinct categories? This is the debate that took place last night through a war of words and chips.

On a whim I decided to head to the Seminole Indian Casino last night. As I signed up for the .50/1.00 No Limit Hold’em, I mentally prepared myself and switched on the ‘Maniac’ act. I was basically going to spend the first ten minutes at the table convincing everyone that I was an absolute lunatic with no regard for winning or money.

Within minutes I was seated with $100 in front of me and I made sure everyone knew I was there. I went with a blend of a rich, drunk, gambler who just came to have fun. After I broke the ice with back to back jokes aimed at my expense, I picked up my first hand in the big blind, 8h 4d. With two limpers and the small blind completing, I made it 4 times more the big blind. Everyone folded and I quickly flipped over the 8-4 offsuit with a huge laugh.

Sure enough the next hand I picked up two rags again, Js 3d. I made it 4 times the big blind and got only one caller, I guess they weren’t convinced of my act yet. The board fell Kh 9d 2s. I bet out six dollars into the pot of about nine. My opponent quickly mucked and almost before his cards hit the muck, I slapped over the J-3 offsuit exclaiming “I love GAMBLING!”

As I looked around the table I could see a mix of disbelief, anger, and one particular player who looked like he really wanted to hit me. As the cards hit the felt for the next hand, I noticed that the player who I had just bluffed, who ironically was the player who looked like he wanted to hit me, sat up in his seat and was ready for his turn to act. Thinking he must have a big pair, I peeked down to find the 7h 8s. After taking a second to think, I figured this was a great spot to put in my last maniac play before switching gears. I fired out a bet of four times the big blind, knowing if I hit the flop hard I could probably double through him and if I missed, I could still show my maniac play for advertisement.

When the action came to our opponent, he immediately raised it the minimum to 8 dollars. The rest of the table folded to me; I am calling with any hand I have here, as it’s only costing me 4 to win 13.50, that means the pots laying me about 3.37 to 1. I am only about a 2.7 to 1 underdog to AK offsuit and even if he has AA or KK I am only about a 5 to 1 underdog. Figuring the implied odds of the times I hit my hand, I can easily call here. One smooth call later and luck strikes the felt in the form of a board reading, 3d 7s 8c.

I paused and finally decide to bet out like I had the previous hand. I fired out a bet of 12 into the pot of about 17.50. Leaving me with about $80 behind, give or take a bit. My opponent took the bait and ran with it, instantly re-raising to $30. There’s now about $60 in the pot, my opponent has about $60 left and I have about $80, facing a call of $18. I decided my opponent wouldn’t be able to get away from his big hand and exclaimed, “All-In BABY!” He insta-called and I flipped over my cards after he showed his Ad Ac. The turn and river brought two blanks and I doubled my stack. My opponent was visibly furious and yelled, “I HATE gamblers, don’t they know this is a skill game.” I thought about putting him in his place with the statistics he laid me by raising the minimum, including the implied odds, but for the sake of my session I held off.

This session and encounter has had me thinking all night about the prospect of two separate players, gamblers and skill players. Is there a divide? Are gamblers players that chase draws against all the odds and call gutshot straight draws over and over? Do skill players always make the ‘smart’ decision? Are they the type of player that can lay down the big pair when the gambler sucks out on them?

I spent my early years as a poker player believing I was a skill player. I made the calculated decision at every opportunity, I was able to make big lay-downs and stay alive till I was in a better spot. I was killing micro-stakes games and steadily moving up the ladder of poker. Then I ran into players who were able to play all sorts of hands ranging from Q-3suited to AA in the same manner. They always seemed to get paid off when they had the nuts and were able to pick spots when to make moves with the 7-8 offsuit. Weren’t these in fact the players that are more skillful then myself?

This is an interesting debate that takes place on the tables through action at all levels, from the ‘bullies’ at the .5/.10 No Limit holdem Poker tables, to the Sammy Farha’s and the Dan Harrington’s of the elite levels. In my eyes the ultimate player and the player we should all strive to become is a mix of the two players. We have to be able to make other players believe that we are loose, wild players, therefore paying us off when we switch gears and tighten up.

I am not suggesting you should start re-raising and raising Under The Gun with any rags, I am simply giving you a glimpse into the game plan of some of the elite players. If you can achieve some “cheap” advertising, too go along with a wild table image, you will be paid off much more handsomely. I was able to walk away from the .50/1.00 table up over $300 because of advertising my image, luck, and intelligent play. The three key ingredients to combining the gambler and skill player. I hope you can gradually add these moves into your game.

If you are a poker tournament player you already no this, but there no perfect way to play a poker tournament. Whether you play online poker, in a casino or just in home games, you can’t win them all. To help improve your tournament game there is a few basic things you can do.

First and foremost you need to know that you can’t win them all, consistency is the key to becoming a successful Holdem tournament player. For example if you play $10 tournaments online where the winner takes home $60, winning one of six should be your minimum expectation. Style doesn’t necessarily matter, but it is easier to find consistency if you are a tighter player. You need to know yourself as a player in order to find a way to be a winner over the long run, so the first step is always to look in ward and know your own strengths and weaknesses. I am going to go over a few steps that will help you become a better tournament player, and not necessarily game strategies.

Picking Your Tournaments

I can never say this enough “Know Your Limits”, if you can’t afford the tournament, don’t play in it. As I stated earlier you can’t win them all, so if you can only afford to play one you might be throwing your money away. Picking your tournaments is made easier if you are an online player, depending on what software you use, your probably going to have a lot of options. There are few questions you need answered before you sign yourself up, What is the buy in?, What is the blind structure?, What is the payout structure and How long will the tournament last approx. ?. This is where is becomes important to know yourself, picking the right poker tournaments is the first step to becoming successful, here are some guidelines. For tight players, you will look for long blinds giving you time to set up your game and you might want a payout structure that pays out more places then a bulk to the winner. For the more aggressive player a faster blind structure will be fine with you, the higher the blinds the bigger your advantage will be over the tighter players. As for the time the tournament last, it’s a pure time to money ratio thing. Why would anyone play a $1 tournament that is going to last 4 plus hours for the chance to win 10 dollars, the only reason is to waste time.

Getting Started

Now that you picked your game and have been assigned a seat, its time to play. For me personally I like to get to know my opponents over the first few hands or blind levels, learning there tendencies and hopefully picking up some tells. Other people will tell you to get in the action immediately, by doing this you will let the table know that you are there to win. Of course none of this matters if you pick up pocket aces on this first hand, the more tournaments you play the more comfortable you will become during the start. Early in tournaments its important to realize that it is long game and to put your chip stack at risk with a big bluff or marginal hand might not be the wisest decision. As an example you pick up pocket aces on the third hand of a tournament, the cards come out Jd – !0d – 9d – 8c – and 2d, there are flushes and straights out there and you have neither. If your opponent puts you to the test, this might be a good time to lay down those aces. Basically early in tournaments, be patient, pay attention and let the game develop.

Be Yourself at the Table

Once again back to knowing yourself, if you’re a talkative person then go ahead and talk, if your are quite then be quite. The minute you change who you are obvious tells will show up in your game, and yes no matter what you think, you have tells. To avoid giving off obvious tells, be who you are, if you don’t talk when you are playing hands, then for your sake don’t start talking when you are bluffing. It sounds simple, but you will be surprised by the amount of players who make these very simple mental errors. Some rules to follow, Never let someone get you off your game, Always be consistent with your demeanor, relax and have fun at the table. You cannot avoid tells, but by being your self and being consistent at the table at least you will make your opponents work to find out what they are.

Texas Holdem Poker Tournament is an art form, not a math question, there is no perfect solution. If you follow some of these basic steps you will become more successful and have more fun at the tables, because we all know winning is more fun then losing. I will never be able to stress this enough, You Can’t Win Them All, so its very important to know your spending limits. The best Holdem players in world are what they are because they have played a lot and learned a lot of these lessons along the way. Putting strategy aside, if you follow this basic knowledge and you will see a positive impact in your results, if you don’t you might want to consider changing the way you play. Holdem tournaments are fun and exciting and I hope you enjoy every minute at the tables.

As you start to play more and more Texas Holdem there are a few things that you shouldn’t do in live games. Playing online poker eliminates a lot of ethical things that you might run in to whether you play in home games or at casinos. The more you play, most of these things will become second nature to you and won’t be a problem. I am going to explain a few things to you that you shouldn’t do a poker table.

Slow Role - Slow rolling your opponents will serve only one purpose and that is make them upset. Slow rolling is when you delay flipping over your winning hand, forcing your competitor to role there hand over thinking they have a chance to win the pot. At the showdown, show your winning hands and do not embarrass your opponents. This will only make players angry and serve to make your experience at the table less fun. Slow rolling is a problem because it is eliminated in online games, when you make a transition to live games, just treat people the way you hope you are treated.

String Betting - A string bet is when you make more then one motion at the pot, and is another thing you cannot do when playing online. You will not be able to make one of these bets at a casino and I suggest you don’t allow them in your home games. String betting can force reads from your opponents and is against the rules in all poker games. To avoid string betting use verbal declarations of your bet sizes or simply count your chips out before you make a motion toward the pot. Enforcing string betting at home games will make it second nature to you and help you in more structured games.

Hit and Run – More of a home game rule, you should never show up at a game win money and leave immediately. This is not a good way to get yourself invited to play in games. Doing this in a casino or online is one thing, but when playing in home games this will upset your hosts. Poker is more then just winning and losing, it is a social game. I am not saying you have to sit and play as long as the rest of the table, but if you can only play for a short period of time you should tell the other players ahead of time. If you hit and run a game you can be assured, you won’t be on the top of the invite list the next time.

Soft Play - Soft play can ruin a Texas Holdem game faster then anything else. Soft play is when you take it easy on another player at the table usually because of a previous relationship. Whether you are at a table with a friend or spouse or whatever, poker is not a team game and each player should be looked at as equals at the table. We have all seen this before, but might not have noticed, friends who never seem to play pots against one another. Trust me there no better feeling then beating someone you are close to in a Texas Holdem hand, you will have bragging rights for the time being. If this is a problem for you maybe you should play at opposite tables, soft play makes the game less legit and more importantly less fun.

Teach – Made popular by World Series legend Phil Hellmuth, never berate your opponents for making mistakes. Telling people what they did wrong, when they did it wrong and how they should improve will not help you make money. Put there mistakes in your memory bank and use it against them at a later date, don’t let them use one of your tirades to figure out your style. If you want to help someone that’s fine, but do it when you are not at the table. Why would you ever want to give someone the tools and knowledge of how to beat you? You are going to run into bad players and they will beat you. Play your game and have a long memory and never help another player beat you.

Drinking - This ones up to you and it depends on the kind of game you are playing in. Drinking impairs your judgement and will not make your Holdem game better. It depends if you are playing in a big money game ( don’t drink ) or in a social nickle and dime game with friends. My suggestion is, if making money is your top priority you shouldn’t be drunk at the table.

Show Off - This applies to online poker as well, showing off your skills is a sure fire way to lose your money. The best way to prove you’re the best player at the table is to win, not to show off your skills with big plays. As a poker player you need to the right times to slow play, bluff ro move all in, but if you a looking to prove a point you will make mistakes. Confidence is fine, but don’t allow it to change your game.

Texas Holdem is an easy game, but if you follow some of these ethical do’s and don’ts is will be more fun and profitable to you. I suggest you enforce these things in home games, so that they become second nature to you. The last thing you want is to increase your stakes and play with new people or at a casino and to have these simple things be on your mind. Every players goals should be to win money and have fun at the tables.

If you are having success playing online poker there is no doubt you will eventually want to give a live action game a try. Beyond the obvious there are a lot of subtle differences between the games. You need to look beyond just betting patterns and look for physical tells your opponents are giving you. As a live poker player you also need be aware of tells that you may be giving your playing competitors to use. Things are not given to you easily in live games as they are online, you will have to calculate your own pots and bet amounts. There is specific amount of time for which you have to make your decision, and there are  rules that you have to follow. I am going to explain a few things that will help you in your transition from online games to live action poker.

The biggest difference in playing live poker versus online poker is that you have physical chips in front of you. Before you start to play you to make yourself comfortable with amounts that each chip represents. The chip amounts/colours will vary from home game to home game and casino to casino. When playing in live action it is important to remember that verbal bets are always binding. By this I mean if you say that you $5, but only put $4 in the pot, you owe another $1. The verbal declaration of $5 is the bet that will count.

Pet Peeve – Your in a pot and you make a bet of $10, your opponent announces that he “calls your $10 and raises you $20″. You cannot call and raise at the same time you have to do one or the other. You should say, “raise to $30″ or “raise $20″.

String betting is another rule you will not run across when playing on an online table. When playing live poker its important to note that you can only make one motion at the pot with your chips unless a verbal declaration is made. An example is if you want to bet $100, you cannot place $50 into the pot and then go back to your stack and put in $50 more, the original $50 would be binding. There are multiple ways to avoid this problem, one is to always count your bet amount out before you motion at the pot, if are going to bet $100 count it out behind the line and then place it into the pot in one motion. I would also suggest making verbal bets, by saying the amount you wish to bet out loud it becomes binding and you can’t make a string bet. By making verbal bets you will also eliminate the chances of you making a mistake adding up your chips because the dealer will insure the fact you put the right amount in the pot. The over sized chip rule is one that a lot of players don’t know. If you place one over sized chip into a pot, it is a call, if you want to raise with an over sized chip you have to announce raise. An example is if your opponent bets $1 and you put a $5 chip into the pot without saying anything, you are only calling.

Control your emotions, when playing in front of your opponents they will see the emotions you let them see. When playing online you can kind of hide the fact that you may be on tilt, but when playing live games you may have your emotions on your sleeve. If you feel the onset of tilt, I suggest get up and take a walk, go to the washroom, get a drink whatever just get away from the table and collect your thoughts. Drinking alcohol while playing poker is also not suggested, just like anything else drinking impairs your judgment. Unless your just in for fun and the money doesn’t matter, getting drunk will not turn you into a winner.

Pet Peeve – Your playing in a casino, you get into a heads up pot with a guy who is loud and obviously drunk. You raise pre flop with pocket aces and the “Drunk Guy” calls quick as if the cards didn’t matter. The flop comes with Ace – 4 – 10, you bet he calls and the turn comes Jack, there is no flush draw and you make a big bet. The “Drunk Guy” without thought says, “GAMBLE” and shoves all he’s chips in the pot. You call and you have him where you want him and he flips up 2 – 3, guess what the river comes a 5, he made a wheel. The “Drunk Guy” wins, and lets you know about it with a lot of happy yells and maybe a little dance.

The Clock is when players think another is taking to long to make a decision and ask the director/dealer to put a clock on the player. Unlike online there is no specific amount of time you have to make a decision and you will find some players who take along period of time to make easy decisions. Calling the clock on someone will no doubt upset your opponent and I don’t suggest doing it. If an opponent takes way to much time and you feel its been to long (it happens), just call for the clock and depending on where you are playing your opponent will have to make a decision.

If you have learned how to play the game online, you already know how to play, but knowing these simple rules can make you transition to the live casino easier. I suggest that when playing home games you follow these rules as well, it will make it easier to remember them when you play in more structured games at casinos. I hope you enjoy playing live poker, it is a different game and you will have lots of fun. Have fun and good luck at the tables.