Basic Hold’em Continued

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General
• Date: Jun 29,2008

We’re going to take a look at limit Hold’em games today and try to work out a few basic playing strategies that will hopefully help you increase your game.  Follow these tips at your own caution; they come with absolutely no guarantee, but if you find an improvement in your game afterwards – please stop by to say thank you!

So to start, let’s recap on Hold’em rules.

1) – The Highest hand wins.
2) – Ace plays High & Low for straights
3) – You can raise three times
4) – Players may use any number of hole cards to make their hand.

Okay – so, how do we win this game?

From the rules we can recognize that Texas Hold’em is a ‘high-card’ game.  So, the highest card wins.  This obviously means exactly what it says, and it confers a little bit of advice as well.

There are three stages:

Flop
Turn
River

Only play your stronger hands!

This means being very selective and when you are early in the betting sequence, not afraid to fold.

Button

The button is an important feature of Texas Hold’em.  It is a little marker that signifies who the "dealer" would be if the game had one. 
If you are left of the button by one or two spots, you will be required to "post the blind" This means you are required to bet a pre-determined amount this round.  If you are posting blinds, stay in until the flop.

Tomorrow we’re going to continue, and talk more on hand strategy, so in the meanwhile have a play in some of our sponsored rooms and get a feel for the game.

Hold’em and other Poker.

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: General
• Date: Jun 27,2008

Hold’em has brought a huge influx of poker players back to the tables, both experienced and ‘newbies’ at the same time. As a result, there is a great contrast of players out there, and many people may be experienced at poker, but inexperienced at Hold’em in specific.

Today we’re going to take a quick look at some Hold’em fundamentals in order to hopefully improve your game, and teach you some discipline! Like any betting game, Discipline is the number one rule.

So – You need to learn discipline for yourself. Remember and work a system and play within your own limits. Even if you think you’re a pro if you play risky hands expect to suffer. Only play within your system, and only play what you can afford to lose..

Betting; the heart and soul of any poker game. If we play for money, this is where it comes down to. Many players show their hand by the amount they bet, and in no-limits Hold’em good betting is a very important strategy. There are two kinds of betters, those that play for money, and those that play for ego. Betting is not about winning, it’s about taking a percentage of the pot based on odds. You put your money in, when you have a high chance of winning and when that chance improves, so does your wager. It is important to regulate your betting behaviour, and follow through with the discipline rule.

Remember, poker may just be a game, but these two rules above, are the foundations of any poker game regardless of whether it is Hold’em Omaha or any other. They also apply to both online and offline poker rooms and they take a lot of practice. Be patient and follow your own rules and you will develop as a strong poker player.

WSOP Day 22

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jun 21,2008

It’s now day 22 of the WSOP and today Texas Hold’em is not at the forefront of the WSOP surprisingly, but today the popular games are Omaha, and 7 Card Stud.

Texas Hold’em has been dominating the WSOP in recent days, with the no-limit Hold’em being played frantically yesterday.

So today – to take a break from the all too popular, we’ll take a quick look at Omaha, and see how it differs.

Omaha – being very similar to Texas Hold’em is known as a flop game.  There are a number of variations; however the most popular is Omaha High. 

Unlike Hold’em, Omaha players are dealt four cards to their hand not two.  After this, the betting is identical and the winner is the player who can produce the best five-card hand with THREE of the table cards, and TWO of his own.  This is possibly the largest difference, as it makes the game somewhat more calculated and clever than Hold’em, with even professionals needing a longer amount of time to calculate their move.

So that’s Omaha – now let’s take a quick look at 7 card stud. Seven card stud used to be the big name in poker before Texas Hold’em became the popular game it is today. However many people come to poker knowing only Hold’em. So – briefly

Betting is clockwise – and the person with the highest hand starts.
Two cards are dealt face down, one card is dealt face up to each player.

Following this – four cards are dealt face up, and one card is dealt face down.

After the cards are dealt, we reach the showdown.

Later on we’ll go into a little more detail about Omaha, Hold’em and the other forms of poker. Stay tuned for more information, reviews and tips.

WSOP Continued…

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jun 19,2008

Right now we’re almost halfway through the World Series of Poker, and rightfully so, half of the golden bracelets have been given away. Just out of general interest today, I checked the ticker on the website to find out that there has been a grand total of $65,806.684 prize money already.

The World Series is a tournament for legends. Many come but few are successful. I’ve been an online poker player for a long time, and it’s helped me develop a strong game and I’m almost dare i say – semi professional. But to take my games to the next level, I need to think about Vegas, or as I call it, the city of Gold…

So – what exactly are WSOP gold bracelets? Each year, there are a total of 54 bracelets made, and they are made from solid 18-carat gold. Crafted by the exclusive international watchmaker Corum, the bracelets are painstakingly produced in yellow gold for the regular events, and precious white gold is used for the main event. They are also finely decorated with diamonds, garnets and other precious stones and every stone is hand-set into the bracelets. With each one featuring approximately 53 diamonds, which represent the number of events in the WSOP, which bring the grand total of gems used in each bracelet to a staggering 3,000 (give or take a few hundred).

We have seen a couple of bracelets over the years, and the new ones are strikingly distinct. However we think now the old ones are very precious and one cannot even put a price on such a valuable artifact.

Online poker has its place, and so does offline poker but I would like to compete in the WSOP for a coveted gold bracelet. This is truly one prestige item that shows your worth in the poker industry.

Maybe one day……

WSOP 2008

• Author: Ed
• Filed under: Tournaments
• Date: Jun 17,2008

Today there’s a little to be learned about the World Series of Poker. right now its making its show on ESPN, and we thought that you might like to know a little about the popular gambling event. It’s not an online based tournament, but to develop a firm and solid play style it is important to analyse all forms of play to make your game stronger. Because of this we like to take a look at all the events happening in poker, not just online poker and we aim to write about interesting things. So to start off – we’re going to do a little informative piece about what the WSOP really is and how they were formed.

The World Series of Poker started a long time ago, back in 1970 when Las Vegas was a small and innocent city. Back then there were maybe 70 poker tables in the whole state, never mind city of Las Vegas! Back then in a stuffy hotel room is where it all began. Back then it was run by a few casino owners who soon became legends – Benny Binion, Tom Moore and Vic Vickrey.

What a memorable way to start the World Series. This first championship featured maybe 30 people. Some names included Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, Rudy “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone as well as Benny Binion.

This was actually just meant to be an ‘annual’ get together, but as fate may have it, Binion decided that this was an opportunity not to miss. So he set out on his own to market the ‘get-together’ into the World Series of Poker.

It’s quite ironic that what seemed like an annual get together would turn into the World Series of Poker! Had it not been for a few small-time pros (Tom Moore and Vic Vickrey) there mightn’t have ever been a World Series! So next time you are watching ESPN and your favourite sport (Poker) Pay a little tribute to the small time guys who invented the big-time competition.