Tuesday 24 July 2012

When To Bluff While Playing Poker Online?


When playing online poker, a bluff is a bet made using the hand. You may show that you have a big hand when you actually do not or vice versa. Bluffing is one significant part of poker. It is unlikely to be a good poker player without bluffing. Also, bluffing is no easy thing in a poker game, only the good pokers players can sense the situation intelligently and decide when to bluff and when not.

Types of Bluff In poker the Semi bluff is the type of bluffing which means betting on the hand that still stands the possibility of winning. Then there is the Stone Cold Bluff in which you bet even though you have nothing. Then there is Opposite Stone Cold Bluff in which you show a weak hand though you have a big one.

Reasons to Bluff

You can bluff in online poker because there are not many people in. also, if you missed on any of the flops. When your opponent’s players are conservative you can also bluff when you know that all other players have bluff. If you repute among the fellow players is of a conservative one then it’s advisable to bluff and the most appropriate reason to bluff is to make money. Then there are also reasons when one should not bluff because it can end up ruining your game. It may result in you losing a lot of money and you getting used to bluff all the time without any valid reason. There is also high likelihood that you might get caught bluffing and that would be one embarrassing moment. Also do not bluff if you are afraid of taking any risks though when playing online poker you have to take risks or else you really cannot play. It’s advisable to bluff when flop comes and you are late in position, and none of the players is showing a strong hand. Also when you are playing against a conservative player and the flock is not too high. If the player you are playing opposite to has a lower chip stack and is also a conservative one and you come is late position then it’s a perfect opportunity to play the bluff in playing online poker. Sometimes its beneficial to get caught bluffing once in a while cause it gets the other players thinking that you are bluffing even when you are not. Bluffing is most beneficial in high stack games, in limit games it fails to make much of an impact. Bluffing in a game like poker comes with experience, it’s handy once in a while but too much might stagger your chances of winning. Apart from all other factors, quite often intuition also helps you tackle the situation and decide whether to bluff or not. To sum it up it’s not a hard and fast rule as when to bluff in playing online poker, the experience comes through playing more and more games and mastering it.

Monday 23 July 2012

Learn More About Playing Poker Online: Cash Games Vs Tournaments


The game rules for both tournaments and cash games are almost the same but playing both of them with the same strategy is not very profitable. There are some differences in strategy so to be good at it you need to apply the strategy keeping in mind the situation in which you are playing. With poker there is way too much variety, too many different formats and there are some fundamental differences between online poker cash games and tournaments.

Poker Tournament when playing poker online

A cash game runs continually while a poker tournament starts at a fixed starting time. All players buy ticket to the event and each one start with the same number of chips at exactly the same time. The game for each individual continues until the person has lost all his chips. A fixed number of players who finish are then given the money starting from the winner and going backwards. On most occasions it is 10% of the total number of players at the beginning.  In tournaments when playing poker online it is not advisable to take large risks because there is no refilling and so the number of chips you start with is all you have. Tournaments require quite a large bank roll as opposed to cash games. The most important thing in a tournament is keeping your chips. Tournaments are often multi-table.

The tournament consists of three stages:
Early
Middle
Late
Since almost all the players get to play the early stage of poker, they tend to be well experienced with it.

Stack Sizes
The win in a poker tournament depends on two factors. Namely:
Your stack size compared to the average size of stack
Your stack in comparison to the blinds
In short, when playing poker online your win depends on the number of chips you have. Once you lose your chips, your tournament is pretty much over. Hence the number of chips needs to be kept safe cause there is no refilling unlike a cash game.

 Cash Games
It is one of the most popular forms of poker. In a cash game the number of chips of each player depends on the bank roll, hence richer players will undoubtedly have greater chip stack. Hence those with more chips can take greater risks in the game. Cash games when playing poker online are way less risky than the tournaments though the winning amount is often not that large. One of the most distinguishing factors between cash games and tournaments is that in tournaments the luck plays a very vital role, as for cash games luck is not that important. In a cash game the variations depend a lot on the way the player is playing, the aggressiveness of a player tends to affect his game too often. Cash role includes only one table. A player is a cash game is allowed to quit at any time he feels like and exchange the chips for money. Unlike tournaments, refilling of chips is allowed in cash games. The blinds stay the same, unlike in a tournament, where they increase.
Learn more about playing poker online: Cash Games Vs Tournaments

Saturday 14 July 2012

The Ultimate Pre-Flop Strategy When Playing Poker Online

The Ultimate Pre-Flop Strategy When Playing Poker Online Arguably the most important decision you will make playing Texas Holdem is before the flop on whether your choose to play the hand or let it go. Winner of the Big One tournament along with an incredible $18 million, Antonio Esfandiari recommends the key to playing poker successfully in three simple words. Tight, selective and aggressive. The consensus is that you should be playing between 20-35% of the hands pre-flop. Many amateurs are under the impression that you need to play a lot of hands to make money in Poker. This is incorrect. The truth is you only need to play at the most 1 out of 3 hands to make not just a good living from playing poker online but a successful one at that.

When playing poker online, it is highly recommended that you play premium hands such as A-K, A-K (suited), KK, AA aggressively with a pre-flop raise. Why not, right? You would have one of the best starting hands in Poker. Get your money in the pot, regardless of position. A raise of between 3-5 times the big blind should be sufficient. Ideally, you would like to receive atleast a call to build the pot. The amount you should raise depends on the players playing at your table. Are they willing to call a raise with pretty much anything? If the answer is yes, I would highly suggest you raise the amount slightly more. This is however down to your judgement of the players around you. Do not worry, this is not an exact science and you will become better at judging your players with time. Like with everything else in life, you become better with experience, particularly with bad experiences.

 With hands like A-Q, K-Q, K-J, J-10, K-10, A-J,Q-Q and there are few more of these types of hands. I would definitely play try to see flops with these as cheaply as possible when playing poker online. It is important to remember that more often then not, you will be dominated by a better hand such as A-K. Pre-flop you will be losing your hands 75% of the time against A-Q. If there is a raise and a re-raise pre-flop I would recommend for your piece of mind and bankroll you muck these hands without thinking about it too much. Trust me; you will save a whole lot of money in the long-run by folding these types of hands in situations as such as this.

 Moving on, connectors, suited connectors and same suited pocket cards, I am fan of playing if there are a lot of players playing and you can play by calling. I do not play these hands after a raise. This form parts of the small ball strategy used by Poker players. With creative hands like these, you would want to see flops as cheaply as possible. This is a strategy I have employed myself with great effect when playing poker online. 

Finally, with pocket pairs from 22-JJ, I would call a raise pre-flop and see if you can catch one of your two outs on the flop. Regardless of what cards appear here I would lead out with a bet, if I get called there is a good chance that my hand will be no good. As mentioned earlier, there is no substitute for experience when it comes to playing poker online. It is a fact that the more hands you play,the better player you become. Good Luck!