Top Poker Tip-Strategy to Start Playing Poker Like a Pro Overnight!

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Here's a quick tip I use, you have to be quite disciplined but trust me it will pay off! When in Early Position (i.e next to the blinds) only play the following hands:-

Paired - Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens, Nines, Eights
Suited - Ace King, Ace Ten, King Queen, King Jack, Queen Jack
Unsuited - Ace King, Ace Queen

Your probably asking Why? Well if you call the blind with only these hands in Early position it means that if someone in Mid or Late position makes a hand and raises then you can confidently call his raise or even re raise without having to fold and loose your Blind! Simple but very affective!

When playing from Mid position you can afford to play slightly looser and I would recommend only playing the following hands

Paired - Sevens, Sixes, Five
Suited - Ace Nine, King Ten, Queen Ten, Jack Ten, Ten Nine, Nine Eight
Unsuited - Ace Jack, Ace Ten, King Queen, King Jack

This reason you can play slightly looser is because you get to see what the Early Position player have played which will indicate what you can do with you hand.

When playing from Late position you can a lot looser and I would recommend you play the following hands from this position

Paired - Fours, Threes, Twos
Suited - Ace Eight, Ace Two, King Nine, King Eight, Queen Nine, Jack Nine, Ten Eight, Eight Seven, Seven Six, Six Five, Five Four
Unsuited - Ace Nine, King Ten, Queen Jack, Queen Ten, Jack Ten, Ten Nine

You can play these hands again because you get to see what nearly every one your opponents has done with there hand and if you read my Article on "Tells" you should be able to pick up on who has a good hand and who is bluffing!

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Playing Small Pairs in Texas Holdem Poker

Small pairs can be tricky to play in Texas Holdem. While they may be the best hand before the flop, high cards can give your opponents pairs and ruin your hand. You should also factor in the chances of hitting trips, which can often win a big pot from an opponent holding an unimproved high pair. This article looks at the pitfalls and benefits in playing small pairs.

When dealt a small pair the number of opponents who act after you before the flop can be a critical factor in how you play. With 8 or 9 opponents still to act you can not be sure whether there will be a raise, re-raise or even an all-in behind you - suggesting you should act cautiously. If most of your opponents have folded (of limped) to you when last to act, you can be more confident in taking a flop without a large raise forcing you off of your hand.


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Calling a raise before the flop with a small pair will depend on how many chips you and your opponents have in play. You will often need to hit trips to win the pot - and this will only happen approximately one in eight times. To make your initial call 'mathematically correct' you need to have 10 to 12 times the bet you are calling, the extra chips are required since you will not get your opponent's entire stack every time.

If you miss the flop and have multiple opponents still in the hand it is usually wise to fold your small pair when someone bets. This is especially the case when there are high cards on the flop - cards which are likely to have hit the kind of hands your opponents are calling with.

If you took the lead in the betting before the flop and see your opponent check then a 'continuation bet' is often profitable. By representing strength you may also see opponents check to you again after the turn. This allows you to either take a free river card or fire another bet depending on the tendencies of your opponents.

To summarize, the best way to play small pairs is when it is cheap to see a flop from late position. Your objective is to hit a 3 of a kind and win a big pot from an opponent with aces (for example). Where you miss then folding to opponent strength is usually best, though you may be able to win the pot with a continuation bet under the right circumstances.

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What is the Poker Deposit Bonus?

The concept of poker deposit bonus is one that has caught on greatly in popularity in recent times, especially among online poker enthusiasts.

As the concept of poker deposit bonus becomes more and more popular, several meanings are getting attached to it - though for the most part, it is taken to refer to money which the various poker sites add to the accounts of the people who deposit money with them for poker playing purposes. This the poker sites do either to encourage more people to play poker with them, and also to attract new poker players to their sites, seeing that some of these online poker signup bonuses are paid to new players who deposit money into their poker accounts for the first time.


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For the most part, the poker deposit bonus is quoted both as a percentage and a dollar amount. And for the poker deposit bonus to be attractive, it has to be outrageous. Something like a 20% poker deposit bonus, for instance, simply won't wash with most people seeking to play poker - who on the most part tend to be highly ambitious people with big dreams and seeking to win 'big-time' and get the money to make their dreams come true. If they wanted modest returns, after all, they'd be in forex or in the stocks. Poker is for the big boys, who can take big risks and earn big bucks. So for most part, the minimum acceptable poker signup bonus is 100% - where a potential poker player who deposits something like $100 into their account gets another $100 to play with (to make $200) added by 'the house' into their online poker account. For the most part though, 200% seems to be the highest available poker signup bonus.

Take note though, as mentioned, that there tends to be an explicitly mentioned dollar amount cap to most (virtually all, in fact) of the poker signup bonuses. Some sites offering a poker deposit bonus will, for instance, state that that they are giving a 100% or a 110% percent bonus, but quickly add a rejoinder that they are doing so only up to $100, $200 and so on, with very few (if any) going anywhere above $500 on the maximum side.

It is also noteworthy that a number of these sites offering a poker signup bonus tend to limit it geographically, so that for instance, the bonus is available only to players within given geographical jurisdictions, like the United States only. Thankfully, the number of sites in this category (those who limit their poker deposit bonus geographically) are in the minority.

The question as to whether the poker signup bonus is a worthwhile bonus depends on whether or not you believe the adage which says something to the effect that the 'house always wins' in gambling circles. If you do, then you take the poker deposit bonus offered to you knowing that the people offering it to you are bound to make much more from you in the long run. And if you don't believe that the 'house always wins' or have found a unique way of winning against the house - then the poker signup bonus is something you should make a run for.

courtesy of http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Manny_Jones


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Texas Holdem Poker Rules

The term Texas Holdem poker rules (which is derived from Texas Hold 'Em - Texan English for 'Hold Them') refers to one of the most popular versions of poker, especially in casinos.

In recent times, Texas Holdem Poker Rules version of poker has been widely popularized by the wide exposure it has received in the World Poker Tour (run by the Travel Channel) and the World Series of Poker (run by ESPN).

Playing poker using the Texas Holden Poker Rules involves four major actions, namely the shuffle (with the blinds and the deals done at this stage), betting, the flop, the fourth and the fifth streets - and the final betting, which is followed by declaration of the winner.


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At the shuffle stage, the person playing poker using Texas Holdem Rules deals with all the classic 52 cards which make the standard poker deck - which the player has to shuffle fully if the game is to be termed as fair. Shuffling is closely followed by putting the blinds - which is essentially placing money in the poker pot before the cards are dealt, to effectively make Texas Holdem Rules Poker a betting game. In the version played in casinos, the process of dealing is automated through a round disk which moves round from player to player, so that all that a player has to do is place bets, with no one actually doing the 'dealing.'

The shuffling and dealing complete, the effective bet-making begins, and this is where the fun of the game is, as every participant who gets a turn to bet can either 'fold' 'raise' or 'call' - moves which determine what they eventually come of out the game with.

To insure against the possibility of one of the participants cheating in the game, the topmost card in the deck is burned (which simply involves removing it). This is then followed by the flipping of the cards onto the table, which is typically followed by yet another round of betting by the participants.

In the fourth and fifth streets of the game, two more cards that happen to be on top of the deck are burnt (removed from the deck), followed by the third and fourth rounds of betting - the first and the second having taken place immediately after the shuffle and during the flop.

During all the previous stages, the participants are supposed to have accumulated a 'community' of cards which they consider their best bet, and it is during the final betting stage - where the winner will be made manifest that these are brought to light. The winner, in this case, is the player with the best hand where a hand is described as the combination of cards that a player happens to be holding, which could be anything from the royal flush (which is the best possible hand in poker) to the high card (which is considered the worst possible hand in poker), but which, in the absence of better hands would still be one used to judge the winner in a given Texas Holdem Rules game - and many other types of 'hands' in between the Royal flush and the 'high card.'

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5 Tips on How to Play Poker

The number of people searching for tips on how to play poker has been on the increase in the recent past, as more and more people become awake to the potential joys of this game - especially after the emergence of online poker which is taking poker to new frontiers.


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In response to the needs of the people looking for tips on how to play poker, here are some 5 tips on how to play poker, tips that if you observe them consistently, can go a long way towards making you a notable poker player in your local circles, and possibly even in the national circles.

The first of the 5 tips for playing poker is something that is very obvious - but which many seemingly proficient poker players opt to ignore, namely observing the other poker players you are playing with and their moves - and resisting the temptation to just focus on your own strategy without trying to see how that strategy will work out when brought up against the strategies of your opponents. This is about the psychology of poker, and it is about observing things like the number (and types) of hands your opponents are playing, and their 'raising' tendencies - like how frequently they raise and their (endowment in terms of hands) when they raise.

The second of the 5 tips on how to play soccer is that you should resist the temptation of playing a passive game, and infuse some aggressiveness into your game. Yes, it pays to observe how your opponents are playing, but don't push it to a level where you are just making counter-moves to the others, and not making any aggressive moves of your own, because doing so puts you at a severe disadvantage, handing as you do, control over the game to the others.

The third of the 5 tips on how to play soccer involves understanding the importance of positioning - and like the second tip on how to play poker, this is about trying to take as much control of the game as position through a wise choice of a playing position. Ideally then, you should try to take a 'late' playing position which gives you as much insight into the moves of your opponents as possible, and resist the 'me first' tendency of wanting to be the first person on the table to make your moves because by so doing, you would be opening your game (for reading) to your opponents, who might use that information to push you to a wall.

The fourth of the 5 tips on how to play poker is to 'avoid playing too many hands, especially at the start' - as this adds absolutely no value to your game, and opens you to making major mistakes you might come to regret later on in the game.

The fifth of the 5 tips on how to play poker is about resisting the temptation to speculate and chase against the odds, because - as any poker pro will tell you- the game is more about strategy than about luck, with luck (which is what you'd be going after in chasing after the odds) playing a very small role as far as success in the game goes.

courtesy of http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Manny_Jones


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Luck Versus Skill in Playing Poker Games

Is poker a game based on luck or skill? This debate has been going on for quite sometime now. The group of people who are into the game, say that the rules and strategies are required to play this game. Without skills, one cannot dream of winning this pot. Whereas the other group who are watching poker from a distance, feel that it's a game totally driven by luck and probability. They feel that it just another game of gambling or lottery requiring no skills.


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But if you think harder then poker is a game which has tournaments. We never heard of any other so called gambling tournaments like say blackjack tournament. The famous poker legends definitely didn't win the World Series of Poker, twice by fluke. From various studies it is clear that a player with knowledge of the game fair better compared to a layman. In Pennsylvania where gambling was being prohibited, a judge named Thomas A. James Junior, declared Texas Holdem to be a game driven by skill and thus does not fall under the category of gambling. This clearly spells out that poker requires much more than sheer luck.

But again if you see it from the other side, then a lucky player with the right cards will go a long way and even win a particular game. And you will have to agree that a bit of luck is required everywhere. Even a skilled poker player will need some luck to push him further towards winning the pot. But poker is generally badly confused with gambling. Moreover it is difficult to say that it's a game of skill, when a game of payer is played only once. At such a situation it is difficult to predict that which of the two (luck or skill) contributes to the game.

The most rational thinkers will not bother getting into the debatable topic of luck versus skill. They know that poker players should be well aware of the rules, bets and strategies to be able to make the best hand of five cards. A completely ill-informed player cannot go a long way. Luck is again a factor that ensures an easy win. A great set of cards does have an advantage. Where skill can be relied on, luck is not reliable. One cannot go on winning consecutive games on the basis of luck. A player with both good luck and good skill will definitely win the pot but a player with both bad skill and bad luck shouldn't hope much. So let's just say that poker requires both luck and skill in the right combination.

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Who Else Wants to Know the 5 Texas Hold 'em Poker Secrets to Winning?

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Let's face it, in Texas Hold 'em poker you don't need to count the cards to determine your odds of winning. Simple Rules with thrilling secrets! Now let's get down to the 5 secrets of winning at everyone's favorite poker game!

#5. Patience - Be patient when you get a bad hand. Money that is not betted is not lost! When you get a bad hand "Fold" it and call a Flop and wait for better hands to spend your money on. So make sure, your money is only spent on the better hands! This increases your chance of winning.

#4. Keep an eye on Opponent - Don't play every card. Most are lousy hands. Your opponents have the same fear of losing in the hopes of waiting for the right hand, just like you. Let them play the lousy hand, and you only play the hand that is better!

#3. Practice, practice and practice - Start with the lower limit games, build experience and confidence with it. Then move on to higher limit games. You can still have fun and profit at the lower limit games.

#2. Mindset - Book smarts are not going to help you to win. You need to have the correct winning mindset in you. You need to be psychologically fit to beat other opponents at the no limit games. That is attained with right practice and perfection of the game. You need to start believing in your moves and be confident at it. You need to be optimistic and never let fear stop you.

#1. Get the basics right! - You need to be in a fine grip to calculate pot odds and implied odds. Those are some of the basic stuffs. And when you have played at least 100 lower limit games, you have mastered the rules.

Be assured that all people lose bets, just take that as a stepping stone to success. Learn from them and just keep moving forward. Surviving losses is part of the game for everyone. You better work hard to make those mistakes soon and learn from it.

courtesy of http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Robertson



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