The key to all successful poker is information. Without information you will be gambling blindfolded. A situation that looks the same on a superficial level usually isn’t – it’s always a sum of all the players involved. For this reason you should avoid certain situations when you’re new to a table.
Always take some time to get to know the table and your opponents when you sit down. Try to play cautiously until you have a good grasp of your new table. Identify the players that stick out, like tight aggressive and very loose players. Get to know how large a standard raise is, if the table is tight, loose etc. If you have players at the table that you played with before you should try to see if they play their regular game, or for some reason play in a different way than usual.

All this is off course easier to do in a live game, where you play against the same opponents for longer periods of times. It can also be done online, but here you have to keep in mind that the nature of a certain table can change very quickly. Always try to analyze how the game changes when players leave or enter the game (especially players that stick out in any way.) If a maniac for example leaves the table it can go from loose to tight in a second.

Your worst enemy can often be yourself. Therefore it is equally important to know what state of mind you are in. Often you can’t know this until you sit down at the table. You might be restless, tired or upset for some reason and this will almost certainly affect your game. So take some time and try to read yourself when you sit down at the table.

Playing with caution in the beginning on a session will help you avoid dangerous situations in which you don’t know where you stand. This decreases the risk of taking a big loss early on, which could threaten to ruin your whole session. I would argue that a big part of the losses good players experience can be blamed on sessions starting in a bad way, which affects their game more than they are ready to admit. This can often be avoided if you play cautiously until you feel you have a good grip of the game.

Good luck at the tables!
Mike G

Read more about betting patterns here.

After playing poker for a long time, both online and offline, I have to tell you – I love online poker! When I started out playing back in the days, Internet didn’t even exist and if someone would have told me that in ten years you will be able to play poker on your computer with players from all over the world I would have laughed and called them crazy.
The Internet revolution
But the Internet revolution came and changed poker forever. In the beginning I was skeptic and couldn’t really see how you could play poker against someone who wasn’t sitting across the table. I mean what happens to tells, social interaction and so on?

Still I realized that I had to see what all the fuzz was about and once I tried online poker I was hooked. The first site I played at was the classic True Poker a poker room that was using realistic avatars, movements and sound, ages before PKR came along. But it wasnt until I found Party Poker that I got my real online schooling. The action at Party Poker was fast and loose - and still is. Man I loved the sit n’ gos, even at the $100 level, which was pretty high back then, the action was crazy. Before two rounds were over half the field was usually busted - and a solid player like me could make some serious money. But it wasn’t only the great action that hooked me; I also realized that online poker had some big advantages that could be exploited.

The advantages of playing online
You could take notes of your opponents and their style of play. This was before the poker rooms incorporated the note taking option in the poker software. At first I was using a notebook where I wrote down the information by hand, but it was hard to organize and I started using Excel instead. That the detailed recollections of my opponents’ actions had a great impact on my bankroll is an understatement.

Another novelty online was the speed. I could play more than twice as many hands per hour online as I could at my local poker room - and this was only at one table! This together with the possibility of multi-table play fundamentally changed the way poker was played.

Multi-tabling
Multi-table play is different in many ways, and there are both advantages and disadvantages. The major disadvantage, as I see it, is that it is impossible to have the same level of knowledge of how your opponents play. But even though this affects your winnings at the table, the fact that you can play several at the same time more than makes up for it. The major advantage is that you won’t get bored playing tight, solid poker, which is good news for a rock like me.

So all that I can say is that I am glad that I was wrong – I fell in love with online poker once I tried it and have never looked back since.

Mike G.

As you probably know my playing style is mostly tight-aggressive, even though I try to vary my play in order mot to get too predictable. One of the most important tools a player has if he wants to keep his opponents guessing is bluffing. If you don’t bluff you will have a hard time beating anything above nickel and dime games in either limit or no-limit holdem.
Players that don’t bluff will hardly ever get paid for their strong hands, easily be pushed out of pots when they have marginal holdings and fail to make the most out of many potentially profitable situations. But bluffing to much can be disastrous.

When to bluff
So when should you bluff and when should you avoid it? – As always - it depends. Bluffing is all about timing.

If you, like me play pretty tight you will have great opportunities to make successful bluffs. Your opponents will show you more respect, than a player that are in there hammering at every pot. But even I have to choose my spots with care. To make successful bluffs you have to know your opponents.

The naked check-raise
Let me give you an example. Some players will bet every time it is checked to them – as long as the board is not super scary. I try to check-raise these players no matter what I am holding, whenever I get the chance. This is a good move for several reasons. Because they usually don’t have anything, they will mostly fold, making my bluff successful.

After a while they will also be more reluctant to bet when I check, which occasionally gives me free cards. This naked bluff is one of my favorites, because if I get any action, I have an automatic fold. (To avoid becoming too predictable I occasionally check-raise in the same situation with strong holdings. You should always keep your opponents guessing.)

Know your opponents
This was only one example of a good spot to bluff. The important thing when it comes to successful bluffs, is knowing your opponents. Are they tight, over aggressive, will they lay down a pair with a weak kicker when facing a re-raise etc. When you manage to answer these questions with some accuracy, your chances of making successful bluffs will increase.

Good luck at the tables,
Mike G

Read more about check-raising and other special moves.

I know I have been speaking about money management in previous blogs, but it is a very important (maybe the most important) factor when it comes to becoming a successful poker player and I thought I would elaborate a bit more on the subject. But not necessarily focus on the money per se.
Play within your limits
It is a known fact it does not matter how good a poker player you are, if you play on a level to high for your bankroll you will almost inevitable go broke sooner or later. This is because poker is a game with great fluctuations, and you need to have a bankroll that can withstand them. I am sure this is old news for most of you. But there is also another important aspect I want to stress – your comfort zone.

Let’s say we have a player with more than sufficient funds to play $2-4 no-limit Texas holdem. How many buy-ins can he loose before it is time to quit? Well, it really depends! If loosing another buy-in hurts him emotionally, he should quit right away. He is then leaving the comfort zone, which will put him off his a-game.

Your mental state
So it is not only the monetary losses you should worry about – but your mental state. How many buy-ins a player can loose without it affecting his game differs a lot between different players. The important thing to know is when you’ve reached your limit.

It doesn’t matter if you have been really un-lucky and you think that the other players all suck, if your losses affect you to much emotionally, you have to quit. Even small changes in your game can have a great negative impact on your results.

Stop and analyze bad session
So when you have a bad session, take a break and analyze the situation. This is especially important online, where the action is really fast and you can Ask yourself the following questions:
- Why are you loosing? (Bad luck, getting out played, etc.)
- Have the losses affected you negatively in any way?
- What is the reason for me to continue the session?

Once you have answered these questions for yourself, you will have a good idea weather you should go on playing or not. Nothing will cost you more in poker than continue playing when you are in the wrong mental state. Remember that the important thing is your long term results.

Mike G

The World Series of Poker is at full swing and we are already at event eleven. It’s hard to keep interest up with so many events going on – I mean, what does a WSOP bracelet mean these days when there are at least 55 of them up for grabs. I am still waiting for the big ones like the $50,000 HORSE Event and the (in)famous Main Event. But things are already getting interesting with the controversy between Tony G and the Schulman family.
CardPlayer lost to Bluff
The Schulmans are the main owners of CardPlayer magazine and used to be the ones providing live coverage from the WSOP, but not this year. The exclusive rights to provide the live coverage, including the chip counts, this year went to Bluff Magazine. They in turn sold the rights to provide live chip counts and updates to PokerNews.com where Tony G is one of the main owners - and this is where it is getting interesting.

Tony G goes ballistic
I can imagine that it is quite costly to buy the rights for the chip counts from Bluff and then have a 40 person staff running around the tables counting chips. And it is understandable that you would go ballistic (especially if you are Tony G) if someone uses that information on their own site as soon as you make it available, which is in fact what CardPlayer seems to have done.

Tony G could off course not stand for this and he wrote a threatening statement in his blog where he talks about how he is from the streets and would not stand for anyone stealing from him, yada, yada, yada. But the question is, is providing chip counts that are made available on the internet stealing? Probably not.

You can’t own public information
NBA recently lost an interesting case against Motorola. Motorola developed a delivery system for real-time statistical updates of NBA games and was sued by NBA for doing this without authorization from the league. The district court in New York ruled in Motorola’s favor and stated that: “federal copyright statute forbids ownership of purely factual data”. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t see any difference between this and what CardPlayer is doing and it will be really interesting to see how the issue will develop.

Well, well what do you know. While I was writing this text Tony G put up another post on his blog. It says that CardPlayer has agreed to stop posting PokerNews chip counts’ and follow the WSOP guidelines for media reporting from the events. The two parties are supposed to meat in Vegas in about two weeks to discuss the matter.

It is too early to say what will happen now. But I will definitely keep you posted.

No matter if you are going to Vegas or not; keep your head cool and good luck at the tables!
Mike G.

If I ever read another poker article or blog about poker and the good life, or about what poker pros do with their winnings, it will be too soon. I love poker, but I don’t give a heck about what poker players do with their money.
I mean, I am not making millions, but earn a good enough living. It’s no coincidence that you never read about what car I drive or the brand of my watch in this blog. My interest is mainly in poker, if you want to read about the other stuff, read a lifestyle magazine or a fashion blog.

I admire Paul Wasicka as a poker player, but I don’t want to read about which new car he is thinking of buying - the topic of his latest blog at Bluff magazine. And I not interested in young Scandinavian poker pros writing about renting houses in the most expensive areas of California in their blogs. Why you wonder? Because I have a life and couldn’t care less if Paul Wasicka drives a Lexus or a BMW. So please Paul and all you other blogging poker pros, write about interesting stuff like how you play middle pair heads up or how to handle large swings in Omaha and leave the other stuff to the glossy magazines.

And for the ones of you that don’t agree with me I only have one piece of advice: log off, walk outside and start enjoying your own life.

Over and out,
Mike G, who usually takes a cab.

I usually advocate rather tight-aggressive solid poker on this site. But hey, I like action as much as the next guy. Some people don’t like to play against maniac players, but I am not one of them. I have found that solid (semi)tight-aggressive poker works well against maniacs and my craving for action is satisfied.
First I want to emphasize that when playing against a maniac your swings will be a lot bigger than usual, but if you and your bankroll can handle it you are usually in for quite a ride.

So what do I mean when I call someone a maniac? For me it is a player that is unpredictable and plays any two cards super aggressive with little or no regard of the cards that are on the table. This might be someone that is drunk, on tilt or just a bad player that likes to push other players around. But don’t confuse maniacs with skilled super aggressive players like Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson, who might come across as maniacs at first, but use their aggression with great feel and timing.

Now when we have identified the maniac we have to know how to handle him. A maniac will often change the whole texture of the table. You are sitting at a tight rather boring table were few hands go to a showdown and you don’t get much action on your premium hands, but this can all change in an instance if the right player comes along. Raising every hand and making suck-outs with ridiculous holdings a maniac can stirrup the calmest of tables and sometimes even tilt the whole table.

With a maniac at the table more players want to see the flop, because they know that if they hit big they have a good chance winning a huge pot. Drawing hands decrease in value because you will usually be charged a too high price to chase them, but at the same time hitting your hand hard will make you a lot of money.

Pre-flop I usually handle the maniac in one of two ways: I try to see flops as cheap as possible with hands like JTs and small pocket pairs, you will rarely be allowed to limp so you usually have to pay more to see a flop with them than in a normal game, but as long as the stacks are deep it will be worth it in the long run. With premium hands like AKs and high pocket pairs (that plays best against few opponents) I try to isolate the maniac. The easiest way to do this if you have the maniac behind you is by check-raising. You limp and when the maniac makes his usual raise you play right back at him forcing the other players to fold. If someone else calls or re-raises you have to reevaluate the situation.

If I have isolated the maniac I usually proceed aggressively with little regard to the cards that come on the flop. Without a made hand I will only hit the flop one time out of three, but so will also my opponent. With speculative hands I only proceed when I hit the flop hard, either making a big hand or a big draw, otherwise I usually fold. With big draws (12 outs or more) I usually proceed with aggression, either forcing my opponents to fold or getting all the money in to ensure that I get to see the last two cards. With a made hand I often let the maniac lead on the flop to keep him in the pot.

These are only a few tips on how to handle maniacs, but I hope to be able to write more on the subject later on.

Good luck at the tables!
Mike G

Read more about no-limit Texas holdem here .

In the last Card Player magazine one of my favorite poker writers, Bob Ciafone, is writing about no-limit games with very deep stacks. I thought I would elaborate a bit on this interesting subject.
I often find myself at a no-limit table online with somewhere between 2-4 buyins when I have a good session. When this happens it is important to make some adjustments, because if there are other deep stacks at the table there is a lot more at stake all of a sudden.

So how do you adjust when you are up against other very deep stacks? I tend to play strong hands (like high pockets) more aggressively preflop. If someone wants to see the flop with a speculative hand, I make sure to charge him a substantial amount for it. Forget the standard raise of 3-4 times bb, I raise closer to 10 times bb with my premium hands. And always proceed carefully when I get called. To get commit your entire stack with pocket aces or kings when someone flops a set is a very costly mistake when the stacks are deep.

When I have position against the other big stacks I like to see a lot of flops. I often call raises with medium suited connectors and middle pocket pairs. The implied odds are a lot better than usual and when you flop hard you have the chance to win yourself a very big pot. But be careful with low pockets, even though set against set is rare, it will prove very costly when it happens.

Position is more important in no-limit poker than in limit poker, and when the stacks are deep the importance of position is even greater. My starting hand requirements are very strict when I am in early position and the stacks are deep. I avoid drawing hands and play only the very best starting hands when I am UTG or in the blinds.

Don’t forget that when you have a very large stack the other players tend to give you respect. Use this fact, a flop bet will a lot of the time give you the pot when your opponents have missed their hands.

Read more about deep stacks in Bob Ciafone’s column here.

The third annual National Heads-Up Championship has come to a close. A great line-up of poker players went head to head at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas this weekend and after the smoke had cleared Paul Wasicka was the last man standing.

The last year has been great to Paul Wasicka. Few had probably heard about Paul before he finished second in the World Series of Poker Main Event 2006, taking home over $6 million. He also finished in the money in two other events during last years WSOP. After that he has been seen in the fabulous TV-show High Stakes. And now he has finally proved once and for all that he is no one hit wonder – beating some of the best players in the world in no-limit Texas holdembecoming the new Heads-Up Champion.
Wasicka brought home $500,000 after beating Chad Brown in the final match. On the way to his final victory he also beat Joe Hachem, T.J.
Cloutier, Name Lee, and one of my personal favourites – Shannon Elisabeth. I think this will definitely be Wasicka’s year and will not be surprised if he managed to go far in this years WSOP as well.

So watch out for former bartender from Texas. He has only been playing for two years and will only be getting better.

Read more about no-limit Texas holdem here .

Hi guys,

Today I want to talk about something that can’t be stressed enough: game selection. This is maybe the single most important skill for online poker players that want to become truly successful.
You can be one of the top players in the world, but if you only play against other top players that are equally good as you or even better, you will have a really hard time making any money. But you can also be a pretty average online player, but be very good at selecting the right tables and therefore make a lot of money. What games to chose is hard to say in general. Personally I like really loose and aggressive games with huge pots, but the backside of these kinds of games is that you will have huge swings. You should only play in games like this if you and your bankroll can handle the swings. In general it is good to look for games with a high percentage seeing the flop. What game that suits you depend on how you play. For aggressive players a tight, passive game can be perfect, you can steal a lot of small pots and easily back down when someone else shows strength. If you use the tips on this site and play a solid tight, aggressive game you will do fine in a bit looser games, preferably with players that are more on the passive side.

My best tip is to keep track of the players on your favorite poker site. Make notes about the ones that frequently play at you level and add the bad ones to your buddy list. To learn to choose which table you play at with care will improve your results more than you might imagine.

This article about betting patterns will help you improve your table selection skills.