Posts Tagged ‘Online Poker’
Pot Limit Omaha vs. Texas Hold’em starting hand values
Texas Holdem and Omaha, though similar in terms of personal and community cards (’flop’, ‘turn’, and ‘river’) are quite different in terms of starting hand values.
To begin with, the best starting hands in Pot-Limit Omaha are ones in which all four cards are closely connected and double-suited. Obviously, the best of the best starting hands is AsAhKsKh, but it is not as powerful as either AA or KK is in Hold’em. In an online poker Hold’em ring game, while AA or KK is usually way-ahead of any other starting hand, Omaha is a whole ‘nother poker game and no one starting hand, however pretty-looking like AAKK or AAQK, is ever that far ahead!
Because of the myriad possibilities of hands in Omaha, you’ll want to quickly muck hands that are unconnected or unsuited. JJ38 is not worth its weight in salt. The JJ, even if trips are made, is still a mediocre hand. I’ll say the same of 10,10,3,3. That is another awful Omaha hand and should be avoided like the plague. Whereas a set of 3’s is a rare gem in Hold’em, a set of 3’s in Omaha in any game with more than two players is quite useless(!) as there are too many hands that beat it. Many new players are shocked when their full house 33’s-full-of-JJ is beaten by JJ-full-of-22’s on a 3s, 9s, Jc, Jd, 2h board; this, however, is standard! Someone else will easily have a J9 or J2 to beat the useless set.
Playable hands include 9s8s5c6c. If a flop can be seen cheaply, it has so many possibilities to make the nut straight that, if it hits, you’ll usually end up winning a lot of money, and, if it doesn’t, it can be easily mucked! Another such hand is QcQs10s8c: this hand is double-suited, there is the possibility of hitting a high set, and plenty of straight-potential.
An important note: while any flush in hold’em is a very very strong hand, even with a pair on board, any flush that hits in Omaha that is not the NUT (best) flush should be quickly folded when faced with a big raise. That’s standard Omaha poker strategy. Of particular value in Omaha are hands that have the ability to make nut flushes like As10sKd9d. If three spades hit, bet this big and strong and then delight in being called by someone with KsJs2c5d.
September 30th, 2009 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Learn to Play Poker Online
For all those who have been playing poker with friends and family and would further wish to channel your skills towards online poker, you have probably hit the right space. Learning how to play poker online is pretty simple, however winning could be a bit difficult.
While playing poker at home, you can see your opponents face to face and therefore you can make better decisions based on that. However, switching from the traditional game of poker to the online version requires a lot of practice. You would be required to know the basic rules of poker, in addition to the online etiquette. While playing the online version of the game, there are chances that you would be coming across some expert players. Therefore your game has to be full of effective strategies.
While getting started at the game of poker, you would possibly experience some immediate gains or losses. Although the losses come first, your strategy should always try to minimise the losses and maximise the profits. Consider to learn poker from a professional or someone who has the experience of playing several poker tournament.
The biggest challenge here is to find the appropriate poker mentor who would guide you through the various stages of the game. This is where internet plays a major role. There are several hundred poker training courses online and you need to do your own bit of research in order to pick the one that would perfectly suit your needs. Ensure that the course you register with is updated about the latest developments in poker. There are quite a few scamming sites on the internet that claim to teach expert poker skills, all you have to do is stay away from them. Lastly, there are several websites that would allow you to register and practice poker for free. These are the places where you can actually put your theoretical strategies into practice.
September 13th, 2009 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
How to win real money playing online poker
There are many reasons why people play online poker. Some play just for the fun, some play for the competition, while others play the game just to pass the time. However, the reason most are playing online poker is to make money. The only challenge is that you have to be able to win at the game in order to get any money.
The most important and also the first step to start winning is choosing a game. It is best to start out with just one game and focus on mastering it until you move on to another one. There three games that most will choose from: Texas Holdem, 7 Card Stud and Omaha Poker. There are some other poker games but are rare and left to be played just for entertainment. Once you have chosen your game, you must know and learn all of the rules to that game. As soon as you master the game, you can then start to strategize.
Once you have your game of choice, you are well on the road to winning at online poker. The next step after your choice is made is to master the techniques of the game. It will be important to start to get to know how to read your opponent and adjust your playing according to their style.
Choosing your online poker room is also a very important choice in your goal of winning at poker. The right or wrong room can make or break your success. You can possibly lose money if you choose a site that has poor software, too little whales and too many sharks, or even a rake structure that is not fair. It is usually recommended that once you find a good room for yourself, stick to that one. Don’t hop from room to room unless you are just trying them out. Staying in one room will help you to be able to spot the players who are easy and those who are pros. You will be able to use the software to the full extent and be the first one that is able to pick up promotions that are going on.
There is a lot of advice and help for those who want to learn how to make money playing poker online. The most solid way to do that is to learn how to play the game and play it well. This will involve both learning the basics of poker and the basics of the site you are playing on. If both of these are achieved, almost anyone can learn how to make real money at online poker.
June 29th, 2009 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Mobile Casinos – Just Like the Real Thing
In the present scenario, online gaming has gained a lot of popularity. Now as the technology forges ahead, one can play casino games through their mobile phones. A majority of us are equipped with cell phones and with the increasing coverage facilities, mobile casino has a lot to offer.
Mobile casinos were initially brought into the market by a company called Spin3 that specialises into “Microgaming”. There are only a limited number of online casinos that offer mobile casinos, however the numbers are steadily increasing. It is best to be associated with the mobile casinos that are affiliated with the reputed online casinos. In order to get started with the mobile casinos, the players are required to pre-register and throw in some of the funds. There are various deposit methods that are conveniently available to the players.
Unlike the online casinos where the players can download the entire pack of games, the mobile casinos offer only a variety of games. The games such as mobile slots, mobile roulette and mobile poker are the ones that are downloaded the most. The players can open a WAP version of the casino on the mobile phone and download the games directly from there; however it would be best if you could download the games from a computer. You can download the games one by one; however there are only ten games available so far. Mobile blackjack, mobile poker and mobile craps are just some more added to the existing list. These games are easily downloadable since they happen to be 200-300 kb in size. Although, there need to meet certain criteria before being used. However, most of the modern phones usually meet the mobile casinos requirements. It would be ideal if you can check whether the game is compatible to your phone prior to downloading it.
May 10th, 2009 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Increase Your Odds With Poker Odds Calculator
The free poker odds calculator is being used widely to calculate the odds in the game and make profitable decisions. There are a range of online odds calculators for poker and all you need to do is feed your hole cards as well as the starting hand of your opponent. Once this information is processed the poker odds calculator would display your winning odds in every hand of poker.
Texas Hold’em poker is one of the most popular forms of poker in the casinos today and hence a lot of game enthusiasts prefer playing this game online with the help of the poker odds calculator. There is a minimal charge associated with such a kind of software; however some of the online poker rooms offer the use of these poker odds calculators with a deposit, you can sometimes try poker room with free poker money no deposit first. Such calculators are developed with the intention to assist the newer players in making better decisions pertaining to betting or folding in hands in the game of poker. There are also poker odds calculators that function in real time and would start calculating the odds and provide suggestions in the online poker tables as soon as you receive your hand.
The players get a chance to customize the styles of different poker calculators. These poker odds calculators are equipped with quite a lot of advanced features that could be used once the players are familiar with the basics. These programs could be run along with the online poker tables in a small window on the screen and you can drag it in accordance to your convenience. There are hundreds of online poker rooms that enable the use of such poker odds calculators in real time and where you can also take advantage of online poker bonus codes.
May 5th, 2009 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Comparing Poker and Blackjack
There are plenty of card games to choose from you are at either a land based casino or an online casino, you may have noticed that two of the most popular games are Texas Hold ‘Em poker and traditional Blackjack. Both these games have been very popular and are probably the most populated areas in any type of casino. And while these games are very popular they are very different in the ways that they are played.
One of the main differences between Blackjack and Poker is that Blackjack is basically played with your odds in the hands of luck and a little strategy and is mostly player against the casino. The game can have as many players as there are seats available and each player is playing an independent game from the next player but all are playing against the dealer or the house. In poker players are all playing against each other and a bluff factor is introduced so that not only do you have to play the hand that you are dealt but you also need to play the other players at the table and all their different personalities.
Poker has become more popular than ever and online casinos that offer poker usually have a large amount of members that do only that. Many people like both poker and blackjack for different reasons. Some say that if they are feeling lucky they can sit at a blackjack table and make a quick small stack grow in a matter of minutes. Its advisable to play online blackjack to sharpen your skills before playing blackjack in real tournaments. While poker is more so a game of skill with a smaller element of luck and that it takes much more time to make money at poker than it does at almost any other casino game.
Either way both games take time to learn and could be very lucrative and entertaining.
February 25th, 2009 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Different Betting Structures in Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem poker game is played both as cash game and tournament game. These two games follow different strategies.
Cash games - before invention of tournaments most of the players used to play poker for real money. They used to bet actual currency or chips which represented currency on the hands. These games which feature actual money on individual hands are called as ring games or cash games. In Texas Holdem most of the players play no-limit or fixed-limit cash games. The strategies followed in these two games are entirely different. In the no-limit game players find it difficult to gear down for limit, while limit players lack in courage and feel necessity of limit to excel. In limit games size of bets are restricted, they do not allow people to bluff. Most of small stake games involve more players in each hand and vary from extremely passive position (less raising and betting) to extremely aggressive position(high raising).
Tournaments - Texas Holdem can also be played as tournament. Poker tournament is not played with currency; it is played with chips (representing currency). In standard play all players have to “buy-in” fixed amount of money and start the game. The play proceeds until one player has accumulated all the chips and the money is distributed to players based on the place they finished in tournament. Most of the times in tournaments only 10% of players receive money and others are left without anything. Playing tournament is entirely different from cash game. The strategy followed by this game varies widely depending upon chips a player has, amount of chips others have, the tournament, playing styles of opponents. Some of the proficient players recommend beginners to follow tight playing strategy while other players recommend following loose playing strategy. In loose playing strategy players should play more hands. In these tournament games the binds and antes increase regularly and sometimes reach to their maximum at the end of tournament. Sometimes players make mistakes at the end of tournament; they play more hands at the end when compared to the beginning. This leads to severe loss at the end.
November 26th, 2008 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Strategy to Follow While Playing Texas Holdem Poker
Most of the professional Holdem gamers prefer tight-aggressive approach. In this strategy each player plays relatively few hands (tight) and places bets and raises them aggressively. The position where a player sits is important; it helps him in achieving more benefits from the game. Especially in a no-limit Texas Holdem game players who act at a later stage have more advantage than those who act before. This implies that players play fewer hands from early positions than later positions.
Position is Power
Position is the place where a player is sitting in relation to the dealer’s button. This position is quite important for any player; it can help him in winning or loosing the game. The position plays an important role because of the fact that Texas Holdem follows Clockwise betting strategy. This position helps a player to decide and know the moves of the opponents. It will help him to choose any one of bet, raise, fold or call. There are many positions in accordance to the dealer button; these positions decide the performance of the player and his winning chance. Before knowing about positions, players should understand some technical terms.
“Dealer” or “Dealer Button” or “Button” is the best possible position, player in the dealers seat will be last person to act on the flop, turn and river. “Under the Gun” is the first player who takes action in the hand. This player will be to the left of big blind. This position is the worst position in Texas Holdem Game but this player will have better position pre-flop compared to blinds. “Big Blind” is the player to the left of the small blind. “Small Blind” is the player who is left to the dealer button. “Cut off” is the player who sits right to the button. This position is called as cut off because the player sitting here usually “cuts off” the dealer ability to steal blinds by placing bets.
- The small blind has the worst position after the flop. He has to invest half of the bet.
- The big blind invests the whole bet and similarly has a poor position.
- The player who is under the gun has worst position pre-flop. At a later stage he has junk position.
- The best position during any round is the dealer button
November 20th, 2008 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
Betting Aspects of Texas Holdem Poker
Game limit determines the betting structure of the game. High limit games are those which involve more money. Low limit games are quite opposite to high limit games. There are basically five limits in poker game namely Fixed Limit, Spread Limit, Pot Limit, Half-Pot Limit and No Limit.
Structured Limit or Fixed Limit- as the name suggests the bet of this game is fixed or set. These games are generally called as $1/$2 or $20/$40. Here the bets which are placed at initial stages at the time of flop or pre-flop are the starting digits. For example if the game follows $5/$10 strategy then the initial stage minimum bet is $5. At the time of turn and river this amount doubles. $10 is the amount placed when the turn card is dealt. In Texas Holdem poker each player can place maximum of four bets in each round i.e. he can bet, re-raise it again, re-raised and be re-raised again.
- Spread Limit- This is the stage where players can bet within certain range. For example in a $1-$5 game, player can bet between $1 and $5 during the betting round. Some times there are four amounts like $1-$5-$10-$10, that means each player can bet between $1 and $5 for pre-flop and flop. When the turn occur the betting goes up to the third number i.e. $1-$10. At the time of river the bet goes up to the last number i.e. $1-$10.
- Pot Limit- This is a stage where player can place bets on any amount between the costs of big blind and size of pot. Sometimes few games have pot limit like “$1/$2 pot limit”, at this point the minimum bet players can place should be larger than those two amounts i.e. the amount placed by the player should be greater than $2. In pot limit, first player is allowed to place bet 3 or 4 times. This bet should be greater then the size of the pot.
- Half-Pot Limit- this limit is popular in Europe. Here the strategy is similar to pot limit except that a player can bet amount which is between cost of big blind and which is up to half of the pot size.
- No Limit- here the players can place bets on any amount between the cost of big blind and minimum amount a player has to have at the table. For example if a game has no limit of “$3/$6” they do not show any impact on the bets placed by the player. Only thing is the player’s minimum bet should be larger of those two numbers.
November 13th, 2008 / 1 Comment » / by suicidalsam
Steps Followed While Playing Texas Holdem Poker
Series of Steps Followed While Playing Texas Holdem Poker Game
The betting structure in this game varies, some times antes are used and some times the game starts with two players to the left of the dealer. These players place predetermined amount of money before the game starts. This event is called as posting the blinds. Once the bets are placed dealer shuffles up 52(Standard deck) playing cards. At this movement each player is dealt two face down cards, these two cards are called as hole or pocket cards. Once players have two cards in their hand next round begins. In this round players place their bets. First bet is placed by the player who sits left of the two players who posted the blinds. This round is called as pre-flop.
- Betting structure depends on the game an individual is playing.
- While placing bets, players can raise, bet, call or fold.
- Once the betting round ends, dealer discards top card of the deck. This card is called as burn card. This card is discarded to prevent cheating by players.
- Once the highest rank card is discarded, dealer flips the next three cards on the table. These cards are dealt face up and are called as the flop. These three cards are communal cards and can be used by any player in combination with their two pocket cards, for forming a poker hand.
- After the flop another betting round starts. This time the bet is placed by the player who sits to the left of the dealer.
- Once the betting ends, dealer burns another card and flips one card on the table. This card is called as turn card; this card can be used by players to form their five card poker hand.
- Again the betting starts, this time with the player who is left to the dealer. At this stage the betting’s get doubled.
- Finally in the last stage dealer burns a card and flips one more card on the table. This card is called as river. Once the card is placed players can use combination of any of those five cards on the table and two pocket cards to form the best five card hand. Here the final betting round takes place starting with the player left to the dealer.
- After this betting all players begin to reveal their hands. It starts with the player who is left to the last player to call. This event is called as showdown. Players use the whole combination of these seven cards and make the best five cards hand.
- The player who shows the best hand is declared as the winner, some times tie occurs between the players, at this time the dealer comes in and flips one more card on the table and checks the card combination of those players. Player with highest ranking card is finally declared as winner at this place.
October 27th, 2008 / No Comments » / by suicidalsam
