Poker Strategy and Game Theory

Drinking and Smoking

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:41:00 +0000

We always associate poker games with a bunch of poker players drinking some whisky and constantly smoking at a poker table. However, this is just another poker myth. The fact is that alcohol and cigarettes are the worst ally for any poker player.

Everybody handles alcohol differently. But, when it comes to poker games the best thing to do if we want to win big money is to be sober. This doesn't mean that when playing poker one shouldn't drink at all.

Poker hands are much more than a game. Poker is a way of life and a very important social event. We can have a couple of drinks during a poker hand, but never mix different alcoholic substances, or have drinks that we are not used to drink, for we don't know the effect they will have on us and, therefore, on our poker skills.

After a couple of drinks, no matter the alcoholic substance we drink, we are not so much in control and our poker skills are not at their best. When playing poker with not very good poker players, this cannot make too much of a difference, and we can even make some money. However, when playing poker with professional poker players, having had some extra drinks can make us loose lots of money.

Are you ready to become a Poker Professional?

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:37:00 +0000

So you think you're ready to take the next step in your poker game, but you don't know where to begin? Saying that you are going to be a professional poker player, and actually becoming a professional poker player are on two completely ends of the spectrum. Professional poker players usually do not recommend the lifestyle they have chosen for absolutely anybody. It is a very stressful roller coaster ride of a life, that drive many people to pick up a new occupation.

But, if you are at the stage of your game that you have decided to become a professional, then I am sure you have weighed the pros and the cons of the decision, and are jus tnow looking for a way to get started. The first thing that you need to do is to build your bankroll. No, you cannot make the decision to become a professional overnight. You need save your money for a long time to have a suitable bankroll to back you. My advice would be to pick up a day job as a fall back plan, and that way when you are on a bad stretch of cards you have something to pay some bills. Also, when you have a job it makes you think of the money you are playing with in the proper light. It may improve your game if you know you are putting a bet out with hard earned money.

Money management is the key to turning pro. You need to be able to set limits for yourself every single time you sit down at the table. Being smart with your money is the key. Set up two limits for yourself. Set an amount of money that you are willing to lose, and either the amount you want to leave with if you're up, or a time limit you're going to sit down for. Both are strong moves strategically, especially when you have the will power to get up from the table when you're winning a bunch, or the will power to stop throwing money at the rest of the table when you're playing bad or having a terrible run of cards.

Running Bad V.S. Playing Bad

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:31:00 +0000

All players, including winning players, run bad from time to time. Sometimes you have great pot odds to make your call but your cards just don’t hit. Sometimes you correctly raise to knock out your opponents and then someone (mistakenly) calls but manages to hit his miracle draw.
"Running bad” is just poker parlance for having a run of bad luck. It’s the land of bad beats and bad cards. There’s nothing you can do but ride it out while minimizing your losses. And don’t fret too much. It happens to all poker players from time to time -- even the professionals.

Recognizing the difference between running bad and playing bad is as difficult as it is important. If you think that you’re just running bad, you’ll be unlikely to change your game. In fact, for the most part, you shouldn’t. You should make only the adjustments necessary to compensate for the change in your image that your long string of losses has produced. But aside from that you should continue to do what you’ve been doing. The cards are at fault, not you.

But if you’re playing bad -- there's something wrong in your game you're overlooking -- you must change what you are doing or you will surely go broke. Think of it as a leak in your game. If you don’t fix it, no matter how cleverly you maneuver at the table, you will eventually sink. Since you are causing your losses by playing badly, it is you who must fix them.

Bluffing Tight Players

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Bluffing tight players is one of my favorite things to do. The success rate with bluffing tight players is extremely high, why??? Well its easy, there TIGHT!!! Tight players will only call bets with large holdings, but be wary if they do call you, chances are you are beat or way behind.

Tight players are very easy to bluff, because they take away the gambling aspect of the game. Tight players play a solid game and only have large hands when they are in a pot. But the reality of the game is that players will miss the flop more then 70% of the time, so with this in mind you should be betting during that 70% of the time with tight players. Chances are they won't be calling you with bottom pair, as oppose to very loose players who might go to the river with it.

Tight is right, but Tight won't fight, is a generaly rule I like to follow, If I see a tight player at the table I will expose his weakness, which is a unwillingness to play a pot without a big hand, poker is all about exposing these weaknesses and for tight players being bluffed out of pots is one of them

Bluffing Loose Players

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Bluffing is essential to profitable poker. Being able to bluff maximizes your win potential. But be aware you must know who to bluff and when the right situation is. Bluffing loose players usually is not very profitable.

Loose players by nature love to call down hands. In a sence you can call them non believers. Loose players tend to become very attached to their hands and don't have very high folding tendencies. There call rate is by far always much higher then there fold rate. Again back to basic poker strategy, you should always raise or fold never just call. Losse players always fail to understand this, calling is right in some situations but not at the frequency that loose players do.

They are unbluffable, and I would suggest you don't try a big bluff with a loose player. As a general rule, only good solid players can be bluffed, but remember, bluffing is the art of story telling, you must make sure your story makes sense for the bluff to be successful.

Playing in position

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Poker by nature is a game of position, position is what enables us poker players a medium to see what information is available. Being able to see what you opponents does first gives you a very large competitive advantage. Because of this you can base your play or decisions based on what they do first. If you are out of position then you are the one who is giving out information. Although there are ways to play out or position optimally, I will no discuss that at this present moment, and stick to a more basic approach to my begginer readers.

If you are in position it is much easier for you to raise with a big hand. Simply because chances are the action will take place before the action reaches you, if you look at it from the flip side, if you are in early position and raise, you are subject to a re-raise, and this will make your decisions much more difficult, to play good poker you want to keep things simple, and being in a tough situation is not one of them.

Also if you are in position you can play a much larger range of hands, like suited connectors and cards that are similar. The reason for this is that these are drawing hands and you almost always want to be drawing in late position, again because you know what is going on before you. You should keep it a common rule that if you are playing in early position, you should be only playing large hands like pockets from 77 and up, to suited connectors with a min of JQ suited, but also remember these are trouble hands as well, so be cautious

Bankroll Management

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Another important aspect to a good poker player is good bankroll management. Personally I do not like to play at limits with less then 500 big blinds. As a general rule, if you are new to the game you would be better off staying at limits where your bankroll is not less than 1000 big blinds, this is because you must factor in the fact that you will have more losing sessions if you are a new player.

Poker is a game of variance, and the financial swings will cripple someone without the proper knowledge of bankroll management. I've known people who have blown there entire bankroll on 3 sessions of poker. What was my response "WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID?". If proper bankroll management is utilized and you play well, then your bankroll will only increase. But you must remember that you will have losing sessions, and you can not let this affect your game in the immediate future. You must leave yourself more ammunition to fight another day. Why waste all you bullets on a losing battle when it can be won another day!

Once you have dominated that limit you are playing then move up, as your bankroll will reflect the winning you have been acheiving. But also remember as you move up, the competition becomes more difficult and your swings may increase as well.

Playing against Women

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:53:00 +0000

This is a topic that me and my girlfriend always discuss after a session of poker. It has come to our attention that guys tend to take it easier on attractive females at the poker table. Guys always seem to check it down with the best hand or tell the girl what they are holding and that they are beat.

I mean if you playing against a girl who your trying to marry that may be the right thing to do, but as a professional this is what pays the bills, I really don't care if I am going to get this girls attention, im just hoping her wallet can sustain my next car payment.

But I do not speak for all poker players, some do play recreationally on the weekends, and yes playing like this may get you her phone number, but remember you are in esscence paying lots of money for that phone number, because of your lack of aggresion.

By checking it down for a girl, or disclosing your hand to her, you are giving her a competitive edge over you. Again if you are playing poker to make money this is a huge mistake, but if you are playing for fun and don't care about losing money then by all means, go for her. But if not then don't give her this competitive edge, because she will not show you the same mercy when she has a made hand, I wouldn't be surprised if she shoved you all-in with the best hand, even after your generosity

Bluffing

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:44:00 +0000

If you do not bluff, you can still win, but not win as much as your potentially able to. Bluffing opens up you game to other opportunities to take money from you opponents. Think about this scenario:

The board is K clubs, Q clubs and 3 spades, your holding the 10J clubs, giving you a straigt flush draw, you check to your opponent and he bets the pot, you call, the turn is a 2 hearts, you check and your opponent checks. At this point you should realize that your opponent does not have much, why would he check the turn with such a draw heavy board if he actually had a hand, unless he was on a draw. The river brings a 8 diamonds, missing all draws. The play here is to BET, even though you missed your straight flush and you only have J high, a bet here represents a hand, and your oppenend has showed so much weakness so a BET here is the right thing to do.

Bluffing is all about tricking your opponents and representing something you dont have. The perfect bluff makes your oppenents think you have something you don't, as the great Houdini once called it you must use "Misdirection"

Value Betting

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Value Betting is an important aspect to the game of poker. You can not maximize your profits if you do not value bet the best hand on the river. But many of you are asking, how do you know you have the best hand?

Well this is were your reading ability and judgement skills come into effect. If you are in position and it is checked to you on the river, then chances are you probably have the best hand if you have a hand thats not total air, say minimum top pair. In this situation I would bet out a quarter of the pot. If you get raised your probably losing so let your hand go.

By value betting on the river you ensure that you extract another bet from that player at a show down on the river. Many bad players will even pay you off with bottom pair if they think you are bluffing. Thats why it is important to value bet the river whenever you think you have the best hand, even if it is only one pair.

Table Selection

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Table selection is an important aspect to your poker game. You should always remember this:

"If you dont' see any fish on the table, you are the fish".

To play profitable poker you have to be able to spot out thouse individuals who are making the mistakes, if you do not see anyone making any mistakes, you are the ones that are making them.

Poker is a game of maximizing profits and minimizing losses, and table selection is a important aspect of this. If you are on a weak table, you can out play players and maximax your profits on other pepoples mistakes.

You must remember, to be a winning poker player you want to swim with the fishes not the sharks.

Check Raising

noreply@blogger.com (norman) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:32:00 +0000

Check raising
Sometimes check raising shows the most strength in certain hand situations. Betting out could mean your on a draw, or hold bottom pair, but a check raise shows significant strenth in your hand that would relate to having at least top pair, a set or even a made hand, like a flush or straight. This is where you can use this to your advantage

Check raising with a draw
Check raiseing with a draw stongly disguises your hand, when your flush or straight hits, your opponent will not know you have it, and will pottentially get paid off on the river when you fire a large bet, your opponent will most commonly think your bluffing in this situation

Check raising with air
This is not strongly recomended but can be used against weak players and really tight players. If you sense weakness then this is always the correct play, but if you get called on the flop, and still feel that your opponent is weak, then you must have the finess to fire a second bullet on the turn,

Check raising with mid pair or bottom pair
This play again only works when you sense weakness from you opponents. If you get called you will have to assume that your oppenent has you beat or is on a large draw, this is where you reading ability will help you make a better decision. But if you do hit that mirricle pair up, or hit a set, your opponent will not believe it and you will get paid off on later streets.