» Poker

The European Poker Tour

The Monte Carlo round of the European Poker Tour is one of my favorites, as it takes place in one of the grandest casinos known to mankind.  The setting is apt for Europe’s premier poker tour, as its known to be the home to some of the richest people on the continent. read more…

Poker Jargon

When setting you heart on mastering poker, you have to realize that it will take you months if not years to go from amateur to experienced player. This is not a game for the faint hearted. To get you started on your journey, I have made a list of some of the most commonly used poker terms.

Most commonly used poker terms:

Poker Bets:

• Blinds: Players are forced to make a bet in place of an ante. The player who sits on the left hand side of the dealer first pay the small blind and the player after him pays the big blind.

• Draw: Players are said to be on a draw when they are hoping for more cards from the board to complete their hand.

• Preflop: This is the betting round that you make after you get two hole cards, and before there are any cards on the board.

Poker odds:

• Pot Odds: The poker odds you get when you draw.

• Implied Odds: Implied odds is like pot odds but it also take into account the wagers you will make as the game continues. This means that you can call on the flop but still have the advantage of implied odds of creating bigger bets if you hit your draw on later rounds.

Poker Cards

• Board Cards: Community cards placed in the middle of the table.

• Flop: Holdem’s first three board cards.

• Turn: Holdem’s fourth board card, the one after the flop.

• River: Holdem’s fifth & final card, the card after the turn.

• Outs: These are the cards that you can get that will improve your hand.

Poker Games

Shorthand: When a poker game has six or less players.

Longhand: When a poker game has seven plus players.

Limit Poker: When a poker game has fixed-size bets.

Position: This is where you sit at the poker table. The best position to be in is the dealer as you then get to play last, after you get a sense of what the other players are doing. The worst position to be in is the small blind spot because this player is the first to act.

More on Poker Pot Odds

In a previous blog we have looked at the basic principles of pot odds in poker. Let’s now look at it in a bit more detail.

If you read the previous blog you would know that the pot odds was quite simple. It was as follows: read more…

Poker Strategy: Pot Odds and Probability

It is necessary that all poker players should understand pot odds and probability. The good news is that it’s not a difficult concept, easy to understand (even for non maths geniuses), and one that you will always be able to use in the future.

In short, pot odds is what happens when you compare the cost of playing to how much you can win. For example, let’s look at this poker game that’s on the flop. read more…

Mental Poker Mistakes to Avoid

You need your wits about you when playing a game of poker and it is often mental mistakes that cost players the game. Whether it’s choosing the wrong tables or bad bluffing, it’s worth eliminating these mistakes to help improve your game. read more…

Gilles Augustus Wins UK and Ireland Poker Tour Coventry

The third leg of the Pokerstars UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) wrapped up this weekend. The UKIPT is very popular and 368 players attended this leg held in the UK Midlands, all hoping to win the £46 000 prize money on offer. read more…

Playing Middle Pairs

Texas Hold’em poker players almost dread getting dealt a middle pair because they are so tricky to play. Middle pair can get you in so much trouble and the purpose of this article is to help you make smart decisions when you have to play such hands. For all the examples used in this lesson, your middle pair will be two jacks. read more…

Sky Poker Free Bankroll Promotion

Sky Poker is currently running a cool promotion where new players will automatically receive up to a £150 FREE no deposit bankroll.  The promotion is called “The £150 Welcome Draw” and all new accounts are automatically credited with a mystery no deposit bonus.  The mystery free money amounts are either £1, £50 or £150 which will show up in your account within 72 hours.

To receive your free bankroll simply go to sky poker and create a new account.  During the account creation process when you see the box to enter a promotional code, enter the code: .

Furthermore, if you do decide to make a deposit to your account, you will also receive the usual £500 New Player Welcome Bonus.  All you need to do is deposit a minimum of £10 and you will receive up to £500 in bonus money.

So what are you waiting for!  Go get your free money now by clicking the banner below:

Why Online Poker is Better than Live Poker

Some people play poker exclusively online, without going anywhere near a live game. Others like to mix it up and play poker live and on the internet. Despite the huge popularity of online poker, there are still some poker players who avoid online poker and instead prefer the green felt to the click of the mouse. These people are missing out on the huge opportunities offered by online poker. Here are some of the reasons why online poker is better than live poker:

Action 24/7

The number one reason why online poker is better live poker is because there’s always a game to be found. Sure, some times of day are busier than others- such as evenings and weekends. But it doesn’t matter what time of day, there’s people playing poker online 24/7. Possibly the most annoying aspect of live poker is waiting around for a game to start. Of course this is assuming they even have enough people wanting to play poker. While with online poker, you might not be able to always jump straight into the game of your choice, there’s never much waiting around.

Comfort of Home

Not only are there an abundance of poker games waiting for you, you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home. There are no travel costs, no worries about how you’re going to get home, or getting stuck in traffic. There’s no need to bother getting dressed up either. Heck, you can even play poker naked if you like. Doing this at a live poker game would get you locked up. Let’s not forget, you also save money on food and drink, as the fridge is never far away when you’re playing online poker.

Online Poker is Cheaper

Online poker doesn’t just save you money on travel, food and drink. The poker itself is also much cheaper, which is particularly beneficial if you’re just starting out learning how to play poker, and don’t want to spend too much. If you go to a casino or card room you might find many cash games below $1/$2. The rake at live poker venues is also much higher than at online poker sites. Plus if you win a hand playing poker online there’s no obligation to tip the dealer – you can’t anyway!

Play More Poker Hands

The most noticeable difference between online poker and live poker is the hands per hour ratio. When you play poker online there’s no waiting around for the dealer to shuffle the cards, potential miss-deals, working out the pot, and the players are generally much quicker to act – to name just a few things. You get to see so many more hands per hour playing online poker, which means more opportunities, more decisions, and less boredom.

Multi-Tabling

Many online poker players like to play on multiple tables at the same time. Just playing one table at a time means you get to see more hands per hour than in live poker, but if you’re playing on multiple tables then obviously this becomes an even bigger factor. Playing multiple tables also reduces the variance, and you can play at much lower limits – thereby spreading the risk. If you are playing poker in a live venue, let’s say a $1/$2 NL game, you’d probably want to sit down with about $200 – which is at risk on any given hand. You could spread this same $200 across multiple tables, at lower stakes, when you play online.

Tracking Your Game

It’s always nice to know if you’re winning, losing, or breaking even at poker. Sure, you can keep notes on how much you’re spending when you play live poker. I used to keep a spreadsheet to track my income and expenses from live poker games. But sometimes it’s easy to forget how much was spent, particularly with re-buy events. Of course, this is just basic tracking. When you play poker online you can get instant hand histories, and access to a huge wealth of data. It goes far beyond just saying if you’re a profitable player or not. You can find leaks in your game and plug the holes. By analysing your play you can improve your skills as a poker player.

Bonuses and Promotions

Online poker is a fiercely competitive industry, and with so many poker sites looking to attract customers, there are a multitude of bonuses and promotions on offer. Casinos like to offer promotions to their patrons, but when it comes to poker they care much less. Poker rooms don’t make much money for casinos, so they don’t really bother trying too hard. However online poker sites are only too eager to offer bonuses and promotions, be it 100% signup bonuses for new poker players, or re-load bonuses for existing players. They really want you to play poker at their site, which is something you can and should take advantage of.

Conclusion

I think the advantages of online poker that have been outlined so far, are fairly comprehensive. Of course playing poker in a live environment has its advantages too – such as the social interaction, and being able to see players’ reactions. The purpose of this article is not to knock live poker, but to give valid reasons for why online poker is superior in so many ways. It’s fair to say this has been achieved. Good luck at the tables!

“That’s why a crazy Internet kid is very unlikely to win one of these things”

What do you think about that statement?   Out of context, it’s blatant, and sounds like some old blow-hard who doesn’t really know what he’s talking about.   The fact is, that’s the 2005 WSOP champion talking about a wave of ultra aggressive poker players who appear to be willing to gamble all their chips in every hand they’re involved in.  “I had quite a bit of respect but you know what? They know nothing about poker, these kids really know nothing. These kids are just … idiots,” Hachem said.

The World Series is underway, and already the players who are left are guaranteed at least $36,626, while the top prize of $8.55 million will be awarded at the final table in November.

“We’re playing for one of the biggest prizes in history and they’re getting … five hundred million blinds in there with second pair,” Hachem said. “To me, the reason I’m upset is because it’s disrespectful. We’re playing in the world series, we’re not just having fun at a local home game. These guys are pushing chips around like it’s nothing.”

Do these sentiments echo the feelings of most players or is this an outdated attitude in a game that is changing at a faster pace every day?  With online poker, players who are ultra aggressive are paid off, and if not they are able to load another table within seconds.  To these players its strictly about math and maximising their ability to make money.  It seems that older players are trying to hold on to the way it use to be, and are having difficulty adjusting their games to match the new age player.

To Hatchem’s credit he is one of only two former main event champions left in the tournament, along with last year’s winner Peter Eastgate, and so must at least be willing to adjust enough to stay competitive…

“Look, their style may be the way they play on the Internet and that’s what they’ve got to do because they can open up another tournament every 10 seconds,” Hachem said. “It’s fine, right, but you’re playing here, you got so much time, you got so much going for you and these guys just want to go to war every hand” he said.