17 Sep

Discipline In Poker

Category: Poker

I was speaking to a friend of mine who was told me that after he plays for about an hour he is able to doule his bankroll going into the game. After another hou or so he says that he ends up losing all of his winnings and the money he came in with oiginally. He also explained how he was losing his money because he could not keep could not keep focus and he was losing his consintation.

This is a very easy problem to overcome. One the has plagued even the bes of poker players. I myself used to play and lose money money after winning a few hands but that all ended as time passed, I read strategies and books, and really began to focus and learn about poker.

One of the first things I did was stop playing after I won money. This way I would not begin to lose money. I got rid of the habbit of playing loose after I won money and I also stoped betting when I had weak hands. When you leave after you win money, you will only know hoq to win and you will remove the actions that cause you to lose money Of course if you are not making money there are other strategies

This is another strategy used to help you anylize how you win and how you lose. If you print out the games you win, you can study them and use them as a reference in the future. This is a great way to learn what wins and what loses. When many people start out, they beleive that pocket aces are the best hand in the game. Statistics will tell you that they are, but proffessionals will tell you that this hand is not as good as it may seem. That is a topic for another day…

If you are winning and then start losing, Leave the table and do something else. This way, you will keep your money and you will be happy.

One huge mistake my friend made was to play 2 tables at once. This is not a good move. This causes you to lose money in actuality because you can not concentrate on either one now.

14 Sep

Emotions In Poker

Category: Poker
One of the things I love most about poker is the psychological and emotional aspect of it.

And I’m not talking about outplaying your opponents. I’m talking about the emotional effect the game has on you when you win or lose, or go on that great winning streak or horrible losing streak.

Most players play this game with their hearts on their sleeves. What I mean by that is that they live and die by the hands that they play. They are absolutely elated when their pocket aces hold up, or they turn that flush and take down a huge pot. On the other hand, they are devastated when someone hits their 3 outer on the river to take a pot away from them, or when someone calls preflop with 72o and beats their high pocket pair with trip 7s on the river.

So what is it about these emotional swings that I like?

A key, often overlooked attribute of a good poker player is that they stay in control of their emotions at the table. Regardless of how happy or upset they feel about that win or loss, they maintain an even keel and stay in control. This allows them to be at their best at all times without being ruled by their emotions. Emotional poker is usually bad poker.

When I see a player at my table who is overly emotional at the table, I see dollar signs.

You’ll find that a lot of bad players tend to be the ones that get too emotionally invested in the game. Because of this, I’m hoping they win as many pots as possible through bad play. Not only because it means I have a better chance of winning that money myself (since it is now in the possession of a bad player), but also because of the affect it has on their psyche.

And what do bad, excitable players think after they’ve had a really good winning streak, or after they’ve scooped a huge pot off of an obviously good player? They think that THEY are good! I want them to believe that when they lose it’s just bad luck, and when they win it’s because of their skills.

I’m cheering for them to win all of the pots I’m not involved in!

In short – don’t let your emotions rule your game. Both the incredible high, and lowest of the low feelings can have a negative affect on your game by either a) making you feel invincible, or b) putting you on tilt.

Stay on an even keel, and let your poker skills and knowledge do the talking.

12 Sep

History of poker

Category: Poker
There are a lot of different opinions as far as the origin or poker is concerned. However, there is no evidence or data about the origin of this game. But the name and present form of poker is more likely to be derived from elements of various games. Based on the consensus, poker due to its basic principles is definitely a very old game.

Birthplace of poker: When it comes to the possible poker birthplace, there are several suggestions, just like the variations in the game itself. Based on a very popular belief, poker is a game invented by Chinese in the 900 AD. There are possibilities of this belief being derived from Chinese dominoes. According to other people, the Persian game “as nas” is the origin of poker. It is a Persian game involving 5 players and a special deck of 25 cards with 5 suits. However, this is a game that can be recorded back to 19th century.

Based on another theory related to the birth of poker, French “poque” can also be taken into consideration. Around 1480, the French settled in New Orleans and used to play “poque” which was basically a game that involved cards, betting and bluffing. This game played by the French can be considered to be the first to include a deck that consisted of diamonds, spades, hearts and clubs. Many are of the belief that the origin of modern cards can be found in the Indian card game of Ganjifa. Due to various claims, it is not very easy to narrow down on the right birthplace of poker.

Poker and its earliest reference: in the year 1834, Jonathan H.Green made the earliest written poker reference. In this poker reference, certain rules were mentioned by him for the “cheating game” that used to be played on the riverboats of Mississippi. According to him, this was a game to be played with 20 cards and by using kings, aces, jacks, tens and queens. Either two or four players play this game and each player is dealt five cards. By the time it was written by Jonathan, this had become a popular cheating game. According to the people who had taken to Three-Card Monte, the 20 card poker game seemed to be more legitimate. There is a lot of debate about the origin of the word “poker” as well. According to game historians and dictionaries, this came from 18th century French game “poque”. However, other references point to pochspiel, a German game. There are many websites where you can be a part of a poker forum to know more about this game.

09 Sep

Texas Holdem Poker Has It All

Category: Poker

It’s obvious to everyone that Texas Holdem is the most popular form of poker in the world today. It’s unthinkable to have a brick and mortar or online poker room that doesn’t spread Holdem in one form or another. It’s also the chosen game for the biggest poker cash tournaments in history, including the main event of the World Series Of Poker which decides the world champion each year.

The reasons for Holdem’s success as a game are numerous, including it’s easy to learn rules, complex advanced strategies, quickness of play and well proportioned balance between luck and skill. It’s inherent properties seem to offer something for all types of poker players. Action junkies will love the quickness play and sophisticated bettors can enjoy learning the endlessly debated advanced strategies possible. Another big part of the games growth comes from the actuality that the cards and odds often allow for rookie players to win a session or tournament against practiced players. Achieving results, even just occasionally, always encourages new hobbyists to continue playing without intimidation.

Will Holdem always be the poker game of choice, or is it possible another game will become the new favorite? Older poker games like Stud and Draw could possibly regain some momentum however this is an unlikely scenario as these games are currently being shunned by many new action players for their naturally slow pace of play. Other known games like Guts (2 or 3 card poker) seem a little too wild and precarious for most players and Pan (chinese poker) is immediately seen as being just too complicated.

It is more likely that a newer game like Crazy Pineapple or Badugi would take over as the number one. Pineapple is essentially a spin-off from Holdem and Badugi is a fun new form of 4-card poker that is played triple-draw for low. These new games can be exciting poker alternatives when a bit of variety is needed in our playing sessions.

Keeping Holdem as a foundation to their poker activities, most players seem to learn the rules and dabble in the other poker games after a year or two of play. Regardless of these tendencies, it’s certain that the Holdem craze is not going to end anytime soon since it has been the introductory game for the biggest wave of new players in history.

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