Omaha Hold\’em: Texas Hold\’em with a Twist

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Feb 1,2010

There is always something new and exciting in the world of poker. The latest thrill is Omaha hold\’em. You all know the game of Texas hold\’em with its two-card deal, Omaha hold\’em offers the twist of a four-card deal.

The additional cards force you to make a choice of which cards you want to play. You have more options than in Texas hold\’em, but you also have more decisions to make. In essence, the crux of the matter is which two of the four cards in your hand do you want to play based on the community cards dealt on the table. With Texas hold\’em, there is no choice to make, you must play the cards you have been dealt to you to your best ability. With Omaha, you still play with only two cards, but it\’s up to you which two those will be.

The result is that you get to play more hands and have more opportunity to win. What many people don\’t realize is that poker isn\’t only about the cards. If that was the case, then you\’d probably have more fun playing bridge, but because of the betting involved it adds a new dimension to the game and forces you to keep your wits about you.

The rules and play of Omaha are the same as for other hold\’em games. Each player is dealt four cards to use in the round. At this point, if your cards are such that you wish to continue the play, an initial bet is placed. This bet is called the big blind. You determine from your hand whether to call, raise or fold.

The first set of community cards are dealt to the table face up (the flop) after the initial round of betting. Here is where you determine the strength of your cards. The next round of betting occurs here and you can once again choose to raise, call or fold. Once betting is complete, the next community card ( the turn), is dealt to the table and the next round of betting begins.

Once the last card is dealt (the river), the final round of betting begins and here is the card that will make you either a winner or a loser. Either way, you are ready to start all over again to either win back a loss or add to a win. The rounds of betting allow you to judge the strengths of your opponents\’ hands and with experience and developing your skill at perception and insight, you will know when to bet and how much.

Poker in whatever form offers the challenge of playing against people like yourself and not just cards. People are unpredictable poker players until your knowledge of their playing style makes them far less so. Once you get the modus operandi of their play, you can determine what they will do next.

Experience is the answer to making the unknown play of your opponents into something you can figure out and use. Keep at it. Keep challenging yourself and good luck.

The author takes advantage of the highest Virgin Poker Rakeback. Please visit Rakeback Solution to also sign up for Virgin Rakeback.

Poker: When to Stop Playing

• Author: Tom Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Jan 28,2010

To stay and play or not to stay and play, that is the question. If we leave too early, we are tortured by the thought of future potentially winning hands. If we leave too late, we have already lost our shirts and not potentially, which is even worse, especially that last grisly hour. We will never know why we overstayed our hand and are doomed to repeat the error when next we face the table.

It is crucial to be able to stay or leave based on a logical analysis of the situation, not an emotional impulse. If logically you have matters to attend to – liking picking up your wife and kids or attending work – you must be able to leave immediately. Sometimes a desperate hope for by now certainly imminent better luck is so strong that you miss dates and business appointments. But, the longer you stay overdue, the worse you play, because you know you are supposed to be elsewhere and that possibly your are ruining your life and career.

Poker should be undertaken for amusement, not self-flagellation. If you are not having fun, leave the game, before your play and your psyche both suffer. Some players begin by taking up poker for R & R, only to find themselves overwhelmed by the game, yet are glued to their chair for some unknown reason. They are overcome by some obsession to stay the course, unwilling to leave as a loser, but continue to lose and suffer. The well-balanced player will chalk the loss up to experience, maintain their good humor and leave the game, knowing that it isn\’t always like this.

To overcome such pitfalls, the source of the problem must be discovered, and that can be done by the realization that the problem has nothing to do with the game intrinsically. If you insist on performing a pointless activity of self-torture that you cannot possibly enjoy but neither can you get up and walk away from, you have a problem. If you are not staying at the table for the poker, then you are deluding yourself and avoiding what is really troubling you.

If this is you, I\’m sure you will find that this psychology affects other parts of your life and activities as well. Try training your concentration on other aspects of your life when you find yourself pondering the stupidity of remaining in a losing situation at poker hand after hand. Envision yourself in other functions instead of half-assed playing in a doomed game. You may be able to identify the source of your idiotic obstinance and change your game and your life for the better.

Keep an open mind when doing this mental exercise, it may be anything from job dissatisfaction to suppressed anger or grief. Once you have come to a conclusion, deal with it, and you will more easily be able to cut your losses by leaving the table.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Absolute Poker and competes in the monthly Races and Rolls Rakeraces.

categories: holdem,hold\’em,poker,card games,games,gambling,recreation,sport

A Poker Decision: Which Game Should You Choose?

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Jan 21,2010

Omaha is an interesting game and, as many attest, is quite profitable, but there is comparatively little material you could find to learn safely from, and Hold\’em is in fact a good place to start for anyone. At the present time Hold\’em ranks as the most popular game in casinos and online and has received much attention in media and literature (online and in book form).

Having decided that, there are still several more personal questions to ask yourself before deciding which Hold\’em variant to try. It is of utmost importance for any poker player to know whether they are risk oriented or not, or, to be more exact, to what extant they like to risk.

If you are the one that goes sky-diving and opens your parachute at the last minute, you thrive on risk. If the mere thought of sky diving at all makes you quiver all over, you do not. If you fall into the first category of risk but cannot control your impulses, just watch other people play the game the game and stay out of it yourself. If you are unable to figure out the degree of risk you are comfortable with, there are tests available to help you determine this. For the risk takers, no-limit cash and tournament games are the best bets.

Decide for yourself if you are a mathematician or a psychologist. Human calculators will be comfortable with limit games. The body language deciphering psychologist will be most at home with no-limit and multi table tournament (MTT) play.

No-limit and MTT games are both very good poker forms for you to develop your game if you are willing to put in the time to learn them well. Due to the rarity of the high-level limit games, you won\’t find as much chance to develop your skills as you would in no-limit and MTT. The best place for future world poker champions to grow their game is in tournament play.

The least potential for players desirous to grow in the game is limit poker because of their rarity compared to no-limit and tournament games. The best games for would-be poker champs are tournament games.

Limit poker is far more prevalent and available online than in casinos or clubs. Tournament poker should gain the attention of all players in public establishments because it is the only form of the game officially designated as a sport.

If you are looking at playing poker as a major (or only) source of income, what you want to do is zero in on games with an excessive complement of weak players. Limit hold\’em is not one of the forms of poker that fits this category because of the aforementioned plethora of literature on the game. Your target is no-limit and tournament poker, where of course you will focus on learning as much as you can about the game. As a beginner, stay below limits of even $1/$2. In SnGs go no higher than $20+$2, and for no-limit, below $100. At these lower limits, it is sufficient for beginners with a basic knowledge of the rules of the game to play without risking too much. Playing at higher monetary levels requires intense study of the game and a depth of experience. Even then, there is no certainty of consistently winning, but that\’s why we play the game in the first place, lack of certainty.

The above suggestions are all well and good for first steps. With experience and continuing education, you will be able to answer many of your questions clearly on your own.

The author of this article plays online poker and gets Rakeback at Gutshot Poker where they offer the highest Gutshot Poker Rakeback.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Limit Holdem

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Jan 15,2010

Following is an analysis of the pros and cons of one of the variations of poker that may be helpful to you. Once upon a time, Limit Hold\’em was the most played online poker game. There remain on the net many low and medium limit games in the poker rooms, and a few with a $100/$200 limit. It continues to be the easiest game to find and is a sure bet to continue on that path as only a few players are able to rise to the $20/$40 level.

What may be considered a significant plus of the game is the amount of literature devoted to it: many of the contemporary books on poker are devoted to limit games. It is a well studied game and it is possible that a thorough student may learn much from the experience of others. As a result decisions are simpler to make in limit hold\’em and most of them are easily supportable by basic mathematic tools for quick mental in-game calculations.

To add to this, dispersion is not the factor in limit games as it is in others. Dispersion is a coldly calculating entity that determines who is lucky and who is not. With limit poker, even the lousy player with lousy cards can be the lucky winner sometimes. To understand more about how dispersion affects the game of poker and the game of life, read any of Terry Pratchett\’s Rincewind novels.

There is virtually no poker game untouched by statistical dispersion. Huge losses happen to the most expert of players, a major deterrent to a lot of would-be players. Higher dispersion rates can be found in no-limit and tournament games making limit poker less intensive psychologically. Limit Hold\’em can be indulged in with little money in one\’s bank and there are several unique computer programs designed for limit poker. Two of which are Poker Tracker and Poker Office. These programs are very helpful especially for low limit players. They can be of use during play as well as after whenever you need to analyze or calculate statistics of the game at any point.

Now for the bad and the ugly. Because of the quantity of information available on the game, there is a large and ever-growing number of knowledgeable, skilled players. So the game while it is easy to find, is not very profitable. Poker rooms make their money from the small amount taken out of the pot for each hand. So, poker rooms earn money not from the number of players, but from the percentage of the total number of hands played at the end of a long series of poker hands. This sum more often than not turns out to be quite a tidy one. Limit games which include good players can wind up with minimal profitability or even a loss.

While the availability of limit poker is not a problem online, off line is another story. There is little exposure in the non-virtual world because limit poker does not include the features that make a poker game attractive to casinos and card clubs. It is the camaraderie around the table, the laughter and chatter, that makes the game rewarding and memorable to most people. This cannot be found online but requires a group around a table. The limit player gets his thrills from the true essence of poker – the combination of cards.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Virgin Rakeback and Poker Heaven Rakeback.

Serious Poker is No Lure for Poker Fish

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Dec 16,2009

Nothing keeps a poker amateur away from the table so much as the types regularly seen on TV’s World of Poker. You know the types, they wear big shades, big hats, or big hooded sweatshirts completely shutting out all humanity. They appear arrogant and intimidating and they are. They keep anyone but players like them away from the table.

The average amateur is looking to join in a poker game for some fun and is not really concerned whether he wins or loses. He’s looking for a way to spend some time with people, a chance to get away from the office routine, or to play with real people instead of online. He’s going to zero in on a table where everyone seems friendly, relaxed and having a good time. He is not looking for skilled poker players, just those who enjoy the game and each other’s company.

For a player intending to earn a regular income, it is important to be able to cater to these basic desires of the average amateur. Each amateur will not loose much, but if you entice a constant stream of them you will constantly gain. Moreover, an amateur is likely to stay longer at a table, dare more, bet higher, and loose more with a good will if they are having a good time.

At a table where nobody initiates any human contact and there is no way to see what the opponents look like behind their cases of armor nothing keeps the amateur to leave as soon as they lose once, never to return.

The amateur is seeking the opposite of the above. He wants good conversation, friendly company, and a table where the players compliment each other on good play. This table engenders a feeling of warm fuzziness and trust for the amateur and will suck him right in. They will return to this table again and happily lose money to you. Remember they are seeking entertainment not an income.

By keeping the weaker opponents in a fun loving mood, you will keep up their poker hopes. They must be good, they are having such a good time. Luck, being the fickle lady that she is, is sure to fall on them some times. The relaxed ambience of this table will attract more amateurs, making it a golden opportunity for the player looking for serious money.

This gregarious, relaxed persona is not necessarily born to the expert players. They learn it along with the skills and techniques of the game and practice, practice, practice. This allows them to manipulate situations to their advantage while projecting a very positive and entertaining experience for the little fishies that took their bait. And, the fishies will thank them for providing them with such an entertaining time at the table.

The author takes advantage of the highest Poker Kings Rakeback. Please visit Rakeback Solution to also sign up for Poker Kings Rakeback.