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21/12/09 last update Every day updated with new tips for you to become a
World Class Poker Player!
Information Hiding
Information hiding is a
defensive aspect of deceptive play. You are not so much concerned
about extracting extra value on a single hand, or bluffing someone
out of a single pot. Instead you are worried that if you do not play
deceptive sometime then when you do get a legitimate hand it will be
too easy for an opponent to fold correctly, and when you do have a
weak hand it is too easy to push you out of pots. You are trying to
protect your future action as much as make a particular hand
profitable.
If you Want to Improve you Poker Skills you should try playing in low limits
or some tournaments with a low buy-in fee. Practical lessons are really good as
long as you have some theoretical knowledge.
More..
You'll Need Some Basic Poker Mathematics
Let's see an example to see
how it works. Let's say that you play in a major tournament and your remaining
chips are 5500. The blinds are 100-200. By making 5500/200 = 27.5 you can see
how many rounds you can stay in game without playing just waiting for the right
time. That means that you have no pressure and you won't get blinded out. That
number is really important to see if an opponent is pressured and you can take
advantage of that.
A quick guide that shows what are the pot odds you
give to your opponent after a bet:
Bet
Odds you give
2x the pot
3 to 2
The pot
2 to 1
¾ of the pot
7 to 3
2/3 of the pot
5 to 2
Half the pot
3 to 1
1/3 of the pot
4 to 1
¼ of the pot
5 to 1
Some poker sites give you some buttons to make a
raise exactly the above amounts (2/3 of the pot, 1/4 of the pot etc).
Read
more..
Another important thing is Calculating the Pot Odds
Let's say that in
a pot there are 540 and you have to pay 60 to see the flop. 540/60 that means
that you get pot odds 9/1.
What are Pot Odds?
Pot odds is the
ratio of the current bet to size of the pot. So if the bet is $10
and the pot is $100, you are getting 1 to 10 pot odds. What this
means is that if you happen to be in this exact situation many times
over, you would break even if you managed to win one pot for every
10 you lost.
Using Pot Odds
We can use this
information to determine whether to go for our draws. If we
expect to make our draws more frequently than the pot odds (1 in
10 in our example) then we would be very likely to call. If we
make our draws less frequently than the current pot odds then we
would be more likely fold.
In the previous example if there had been only one
opponent betting the $10 against us with a $100 pot, and we had
a 1 in 5 chance of making our draw, we would typically call
since the pots odds are 1 in 10.
It's important to note that we are losing money on the
call and would have preferred to check and see the next card for
free. How so? Well against one opponent betting $10 we and he
together put in $20 this betting round and we only expect to win
it back 1 in 5 times, so we are losing $6! If we fold we save
that $6, but lose the $20 of the $100 pot we expect to win on
average. So by calling we lose less than by folding. But both
actions lose money, which is why if you are playing against
someone on a draw you should bet even if they are getting proper
odds to call. You make money for every dollar they call--not as
much as if they fold but you can't force someone to play poorly!
A Good Advice for Serious Poker Players is
Observation
Observe your
opponents even if you have fold your hand to see how they play their good hands,
or they trash hands, what hands they really think that are good, how they
play when they have the nuts. See if a player is aggressive or conservative. Read
more..
Build your Table Image
How you have
been playing at the current table. If they think that you are an aggressive
player or a tight one. You can use this knowledge so if they think you are an
aggressive player and you hold Pocket Aces (AA) you should play it aggressively
because the other players will be suspicious if you slowplay it.
Deception Concept
It is playing a
strong hand as if it was weak, and a weak hand as if it was strong.
There are two reasons for deceptive play: - Induce a mistake: make
an opponent fold a hand which had you beat or make them bet or call
with a hand you have beat - Information hiding: Mask the true value
of your cards, so opponents who are trying to determine what cards
you hold from your actions have a tougher time of it.
A quick guide for Multi Table Tournaments:
Early stages: Play tight and fewer hands. Although the blinds are small
don't fall on that trap. Middle stages: Loosen up a bit and play your
normal style. Also bluffing time begins! Final tables: Play a bit
more loose, try to avoid some pot battles with a lot of players and try to go all in
with short stacks
Read more..
A useful tip is to avoid Slowplaying
some
good hand when there is a flush draw or a straight draw possibility or generally a free
card can beat you so make them pay for it. Also when there are a lot of people
in a pot avoid slowplaying.
On online poker players seems to be more loose
that live poker
Having this in your mind, use it as an advantage with your
monster hands.
Read more..
Don't chase unless it's
free or cheap!
If you are are for a flush draw or a straight draw
don't chase your opponent's big bets! On online poker you ll see that
players overvalue these situations and play their hands till the end. If
you have some profitable pot odds then you should play with drawing
hands. Especially an inside straight is more hard to come since your
waiting for 3 cards. If you have an open end straight you are waiting
for 6 cards.
Example:
Your hand
8 9. Flop :
6 7 2
You can hit your straight
with a 10 or a 5.
In the deck, there are three 10s and three
5s.
If you have any question or want to ask for more poker tips or how you should play some certain hands, contact us from the
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