Posted by Trix @ 12:00 AM, Friday Oct 30th, 2009
Category: Poker
In poker, there are several instances that require either a short term, or long term change of playing style.
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If you play with the same people every week and are selectively aggressive in attacking weakness, it is only a matter of time before these poker players see how you are playing poker and observe that you probably don’t have a strong hand a reasonable amount of the time. Then, it is only a matter of time before you find yourself regularly called or reraised when faced with marginal poker hands.
In this instance, you might find you need to tighten up your play significantly. Switching your poker playing style in this way will often feel uncomfortable, but it is good for developing your poker skills, and should show some results in the short term. Just as poker players notice you are playing aggressively in the first place, they will soon begin to notice you are showing down strong hands most of the time and back off.
It is usually important in poker not just to change your playing style to keep people guessing, but altering the way you play different hands each time you are in those situations, will confuse opposing poker players too. If poker players know you can play hands in interesting different ways, and are capable of anything when you are in a hand, opposing poker players are often far less confident about playing a pot against you. Of course when you switch your poker play around in the short term, or the long term, you need to do so in a way that is not too detrimental to the amount of chips you are picking up in good situations.
Posted by Trix @ 12:00 AM, Friday Oct 23rd, 2009
Category: Poker
The poker world has been eagerly awaiting this years main event final table, and the reasons run deeper than simply wanting to see a known face win the big one.
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Phil Ivey is widely regarded as one of the absolute best poker players on the circuit, and to see him win the main event would first of all, be great for the image of poker. Without wishing to sound mean spirited towards previous recent winners, many of them have been amateurs that simply got a lot of luck when they needed it most.
The very nature of poker as a part luck game means that the best in the world will not always win every poker tournament, but there has been a cycle of unknown poker players winning the main event for several years. Phil Ivey is already a very respected and feared poker player at the tables, and has already won two bracelets this year alone. With a total of seven bracelets to his name, no one could argue that he doesn’t deserve to be there, and most people would love to see him win.
If a poker champion who is already well known across the world wins the main event, it gives weight to the argument of skill being a very big factor in poker. With the second shortest stack at the table, it is not going to be easy for Ivey to win, especially with an amateur poker player who has almost 60 million in chips between himself and the title. Regardless of his chip defecit, his skill is such that you would never bet against him coming back to win it in November.
Posted by Trix @ 12:00 AM, Friday Oct 16th, 2009
Category: Poker
Poker play often differs in terms of both general styles and individual plays, from player to player. Some players are most often passive in the way they play poker hands, and some are mostly aggressive in the way they play, although it is fair to say that most players try to mix their plays around where possible.
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You could argue that poker is about balance when it comes to strategy, because if you are too passive you leave a lot of chips out there that could have been picked up with a simple bet. But also, if you bluff at too many pots, you can end up losing a big pot just because you didn’t back down and felt compelled to fire again on the turn or river.
Finding a happy medium between these two polar points of poker play is usually a good way to play, but as ever, taking into account individual poker players and circumstances is important. Generally speaking, aggressive poker players tend to take much bigger swings during a poker game, and so there is certainly an argument for tightening up if you do happen to have a good upswing during a tournament.
Patience can help you a great deal in these same poker tournaments however, as other poker players will be getting eliminated whilst you take no risks at all by folding your hands. The one key point to be made in the long run is that aggressive poker players tend to either get eliminated or make it far into a tournament, and given the prize payout structures, aggression has to beneficial in terms of MTT strategy.
Posted by Trix @ 12:00 AM, Tuesday Oct 13th, 2009
Category: Poker
This is an interesting poker hand from a poker strategy perspective. The poker hand begins with Chan being dealt (Jc,9c) and Seidel (Qc,7h).
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Chan makes up the blinds and Seidel checks, with the flop falling (Qs,8d,10h). Seidel then makes a bet of 50k and Chan does some theatrical thinking before smooth calling and setting a trap. The (2s) falls on the turn meaning that Seidel is drawing dead, and after Seidel checks, Chan again lures him into a false sense of security by taking the time to think, and finally checking behind.
The river is the (6d), and surely feeling his top pair is in front, Seidel pushes the rest of his chips into the pot. Chan immediately calls to win his second WSOP main event in a row. This poker hand demonstrates perfectly how you can respond to an aggressive poker player when you hit a flop very well.
Chan had to feel that Seidel had some part of the flop due to the 50k raise, but he resists the urge to reraise, feeling that by convincing Seidel his poker hand is weak, he can extract the most from his poker hand. The turn card brings a second spade to the table, but again Chan resists the temptation to raise and protect his hand. He is an astute enough poker player to know he has little to fear from a Flush. An aggressive poker player would certainly see picking up a Flush draw as good reason to follow up his bet on the flop, with another bet on the turn.
Seidel checks however, and Chan does too, knowing that his position of second to act means that Seidel is forced to make the first move on the river. This poker play works out perfectly when Seidel bets it all on the river, and is understandably surprised to see Chan instantly call and turn over the nuts.
Posted by Trix @ 12:00 AM, Monday Oct 5th, 2009
Category: Poker
Every player has their favourite poker games, and if they play regularly online, they will often have their favourite tables too. The main reason players usually develop a best poker game is because they are successful at it, and that applies to tables and stake levels too.
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Players often need to be playing the right game type to perform at their best and truly feel comfortable, and it would be fair to say that in particular, stake levels are important. It can be a little daunting when you move up to higher levels of cash games, and these are probably not the best poker games for you if you cannot afford to go on a bad run.
The best poker games are those that you play regularly and are comfortable in, and for the general poker population that is often Texas Holdem. This game has become hugely popular over recent years and many people will tell you that this is the best poker game. Some players prefer Omaha though, as it’s four hole card format brings a great deal more draws and excitement into proceedings.
How you judge the best poker games in terms of the forms of poker game that are available to us is entirely up to the individual you happen to be asking, but you would have to say that some games are more widely played than others. it is likely that as players become better and better at Holdem that many players will switch to Omaha as a new game where they know player will make plenty of mistakes, and there are certainly signs that Omaha is increasing in popularity.