You have to watch High Stakes Poker down at the Golden Nugget, Sin City… makes great entertainment, I could watch it all day!  Good way to pick up some texas holdem tips.

One of the best things to watch, apart from how the poker pros play the cards, is the dialogue between them. Trying to put each other off their poker game, play out of their comfort zone and upset their poker strategy.

Peter Eastgate taking on Tom Dwan and getting to know each other better.  Hello Mr. Dwan this is the World Series of Poker champion… from Denmark, Northern Europe… across the Atlantic… just in case you didn’t know.  Or foreigners as Doyle Brunson refers to them…

A lot of poker action from Tom Dwan in this clip, even though his apparent nut hand gets beaten, he still does ok.  Dwan plays so many hands that the others think he has to be bluffing some of them, thing is he does have a run of good cards.  Thats poker!

Online casino gambling is growing in popularity every day.  Various casino games are offered online, but still the favorite is online poker.  There are many skills required to play poker and there are different styles of playing.  Poker professionals are often described as aggressive and tight.  But in general, a  good poker player needs to master the following three critical poker skills: math skills, discipline and psychology skills.

1. Math skills
A good poker player knows general percentages or odds.  He knows that you have a nearly one in eight chance of winning a set when you hold a hole pair, and that at the flop you have a nearly one in three chance to complete a flush draw.  A good player knows the significance of ‘outs.’  ‘Outs’ are the number of cards that can make your hand better.  Count your ‘outs’, double them, add two, and you get the rough percentage shot that you have got at hitting.

A good player can calculate the ‘pot odds.’  To know ‘outs’ has no sense unless it is translated into calculated, rational betting.  If you know that your chance of hitting is 20%, what do you do in this case? Well, when you have figured out your chance of winning, you should divide the pot size at the river (for example, the current pot and the money amount you believe will be added via future bets) by the amount that you need to place in.  If your chance of hitting is 20% and your bet is 50, if at the river the pot is more than 250, call and otherwise, fold.

2. Discipline
A good texas holdem poker player doesn’t hope to be lucky; he hopes that others do not get lucky.  A good poker player understands a different game needs a different discipline.  A disciplined limit gambler can be a rash no-limit gambler and vice versa.  And a disciplined limit poker player is tight pre-flop all the time.  He doesn’t play many hands, he plays only those that have a big chance of hitting.

But, a disciplined no-limit poker player differs a lot.  Such a player isn’t very interested in paying very many blinds; instead of this he/she does not wish to get trapped.  The major difference between disciplined no-limit and limit players is that the limit poker player keeps off piddling away his chips gradually while the disciplined no-limit poker player keeps off losing all his stack in a single hand.  Therefore, a disciplined no-limit poker player plays many hands.  However, good no-limit poker players know when to throw hands away in order not to get into trouble.

A disciplined gambler knows exactly when to play and of course when to quit.  The player knows when he/she is on bit and knows when a game is too juicy to throw it while ahead.

3. Psychological Skills
A good gambler isn’t a self-cantered gambler.  When a poker pro enters a poker room, he constantly empathizes with his opponents.  He strives to guess what the opponents think and realize the decisions that they make and the reasons why they made those decisions.  The poker pro always tries to answer the following questions:

What has my opponent got?

What does he think I hold?

What does the opponent think that I think he holds?

So, the first step is to know the answer to these questions, the second and more important step is to manipulate the answers.  If you hold a pair of kings and the other player holds a pair of aces, and both of you are aware what each other hold and are aware that each of you knows what the other holds, why play poker?

A good poker player manipulates the latter of two answers by fast playing, slow playing and also bluffing to baffle his opponent.  A good poker player knows psychology is vital in a no-limit poker compared to a limit game.  Limit poker games frequently turn into mathematical battles, while no-limit poker games feature a strong psychology element and are therefore thrilling to play or watch!

I was chatting with my old mate Jim, who I always call on Christmas day, about the quality of poker information out there.  We were reminiscing about how 15 years ago you had to search far and wide for a good book on Poker Strategy.  Now there are hundreds of books and websites all offering their opinion on poker.

The issue now is quality of information.  Jim was telling me about a good site he had looked at, that reviewed online poker – a Texas Holdem Portal.  That’s what you need nowadays, one place that will take you through the steps of playing poker.  But the fact that it is written by Holdem Pros really does it for me.  These guys have been there and done it!  They don’t just know the theory, they’ve put it into practice and they have been for a while.

Where do you go when you need help with your game?  You turn to a Pro.

If you’re looking for a truly “stiff” rakeback deal, you may not even know it yet, but you are in fact looking for a poker prop deal. A prop deal is basically a rakeback deal on steroids, as even the weakest prop deal offers players a 70% rakeback. Some prop deals offer as much as 100% or even more: I’ve seen and offered one deal which gave a 135% rake return.

So what’s the deal with these prop setups? Can any poker room offer more than 100% rakeback and if so why? If there are such great rakeback deals out there, how come regular (30% or so deals) are still being offered?

To answer these questions one at a time: prop deals are usually offered by new start-up online poker operations which still have difficulties securing a basic “player liquidity”. This means they’re unable to fill up some of their tables on all limits, all the time. A poker room without action on all limits, all the time is a non-viable operation, it cannot survive. New players, signing-up in the usual way, will not be getting the service they require.

This is why poker rooms need prop players. Prop players are paid to play, and in return they bring “player liquidity” to the site. This is why it’s possible to earn such an incredible rakeback.

Can the room afford to offer such deals? Well those which can’t, won’t be around for too long. It is something they have to invest money into, it is one of the most efficient ways to get the “player liquidity”.

How come there are still much smaller percentage rakeback deals offered? Simple: a prop deal – though rather enticing at first sight – might not be the right kind of setup for everyone. Being a successful prop means that you have to be successful under difficult circumstances. A poker prop may not be allowed to play on any limit he/she desires.

Several prop players will be forbidden from playing at the same table, they won’t be allowed to wait in queue at full tables either. They will usually be required to sign in with a prop manager before they start propping, and they will have to obey a bunch of other restrictions depending on the policies of the site that hires them.

In short, being a prop can be a pain in the neck, and if you’re not a good player who can handle pressure, you will probably not appreciate the atmosphere in which you’ll have to play. Regardless of its drawbacks though, a prop deal is an excellent way to turn otherwise losing players into long term winners.

If you reckon you have what it takes, you’ll see that you’ll find it much easier to walk away with a profit at the end of the month when propping.

Heh Chris, sorry its taken a while to get back to you. I’ve been hard at it, trying my luck at the tables. Here’s my advice.

Oh and David, who wrote to me way back, I hope you’ve found an online poker site, I mentioned Party Poker in a previous blog, it’s a great site. But do a search and whatever you do, stick with a reputable site.

Chris, it’s quite obvious that you’re in a bad streak, something all poker players have to deal with from time to time. A bad streak is a period when nothing hits, and if you manage to get a hand, an opponent always flips over a superior holding. You get the feeling that you can’t win, which is an unpleasant feeling for every poker player.

But how do you get out of this losing streak? First of all, you should NOT move up in limits. That solution to this common problem has devastated many bankrolls in the past and chances are that the same thing will happen to yours, if you decide to “win back what you’ve lost”. When you lose a lot, you move down, not up!

Moving up in limits to “try to get rid of them (bad players)” doesn’t make any sense when you think about it. You are frustrated because you always push with the best hand and some donkey always draws out. If you play with higher stakes, that won’t happen that often. But that’s only because the people at, say, $2/$4 are better poker players.

Who do you want to play against? Good or bad players? I know for sure that I would choose those who make bad calls all the time. Sure, you’ll get sucked out on more often against inferior players, but in the long run you will win.

It’s hard to say what you should do with your strategy since I really don’t know how you play. But in general, when trying to get out of a down streak, you should play a tight game (which I think you do) and be quite aggressive. If people wish to draw against your good hand, make sure they have to pay for doing it.

…and lastly, don’t forget to analyze your game after every session. Maybe everything is not the opponents’ or the streak’s fault. Could you have played differently in any situation?

Good luck, I hope your luck turns!

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.

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

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.