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Poker Tips & Guides

Running Your Own Home Poker Game

April 26th, 2013

You’ve watched poker on TV, played online and now fancy having a game with a few friends at home. Playing at home with friends is easy to set up and can be a great night, but there are a few things you need to consider to make it a real success.

Cards

Cards are obviously the most important thing to have, since it is a card game after all! Don’t just reach for that manky old deck you’ve taken on holiday several times though, they’ll be scrappy and most probably bent and marked.

Cheap paper cards just aren’t up to the amount of shuffling and play needed for poker. It’s worth investing in a deck or two that will last for a good few games, for this 100% plastic cards are best as they are more durable. We recommend Kem Arrow, or Copags which are both available from winningsupplies.com or Gamble.co.uk

Chips

You could play with your copper coins you’ve been building up or even a bit of monopoly money, but for that real feel you can’t beat using some decent casino chips. You can get chips from just about anywhere at the moment, but like most things you get what you pay for! It’s worth getting at least a 500 piece chip set to ensure you have enough for all your players. Cheaper sets tend to contain lighter chips which just don’t give the satisfying feel that heavier ones do. Ideally you should try to get clay filled chips which are 11.5g in weight, and it’s always best to get ones that come in a case for convenient storage.

Buy in

It’s best to set your buy in at a level that all players can afford and are happy to pay, a good gauge might be keeping it below what you’d spend on a Friday night down the pub. Beginners may be unhappy putting too much into the pot as well as they will think they are just going to lose it. If you’re all veterans you may consider playing for more. You also need to decide if you’re doing a rebuy or freezeout tournament, how much the rebuys are and how many allowed. The blinds form the prize fund so it’s worth making it clear at the start how this will be split and to how many players. A good guide is to pay first and second places for under 8 players, and the top 3 players above that. Alternatively you could have a winner takes all game.

Blinds

It’s important to have a blind structure set up beforehand to keep the game moving and ensure you’re not there all night. Setting the blinds to rise too quickly and you’ll have finished in no time, too slowly and you’ll still be there when the sun comes up! Having the blinds rise about every 30 minutes should lead to an approximately 5 hour game. The big blind is also always the minimum amount you can bet. It’s worth downloading a blind timer and running it on your laptop or PC if you have one nearby. These automatically count down the blind time for you and tell you what the blinds should be at all times. Quite a good one is Tournament Director which has a free 30 day trial.

Food and Drink

It’s not a home poker game unless you have a few beers to keep you going, stock that fridge up ready! Always start the game when you’re sober though so that everyone is clear about how the game is set up, the blind levels etc etc. Food wise, you don’t want to get your cards, chips and table covered in it so stick to crisps.

Other things to consider

If you have novices playing it may be worth printing off a hand rank guide so they can quickly and easily see what they have without having to consult others. Make sure people know your house rules and stick to them, no acting out of turn, soft playing or rabbit hunting should be allowed.

Playing poker at home with your mates is one of the best ways to play it, making it that bit more professional with our tips will make it just that bit better. Enjoy!

Winning Omaha Hi Lo Secrets

April 23rd, 2013

Tips, Tricks, Strategies, and Tactics to Win at Omaha 8

Here are some tips for winning at Omaha hi lo:

Keep in mind that Omaha hi lo is VERY different from Texas holdem. The difference between having one hole card combination and having six hole card combinations is THE crucial difference between these two games, and it affects all of your decisions.
The other major difference between Texas holdem and Omaha hi lo is that you MUST use two of your hole cards to make up your final hand. If you get confused about this, you’ll lose lots of money needlessly.
It takes big hands to win in Omaha hi lo. Full houses are rare in Texas holdem, but they’re pretty common in Omaha hi lo. So a winning Omaha hi lo strategy is a tight Omaha hi lo strategy.
The addition of the “hi lo split” changes your strategy too. Not only do you have to look for what might be the best possible high hand, you have to look for what might be the best possible low hand. If a low hand is possible, then you need to be prepared to split the pot, which changes a high hand’s profitability.
How well your hole cards play together is the critical question when deciding how to play your cards before the flop. You have six combinations. You want a lot of those six combinations to play well together, if not all of them.
If the flop doesn’t fit your hole cards well, then get out of the hand. This is one point where Texas holdem and Omaha hi lo are similar. Fit or fold.
Since aces play both low and high, it’s important to play starting hand which include them. Your goal with your hole cards is to have both high hand potential AND low hand potential.

Omaha hi lo is a fun game, and it’s also potentially very profitable for a winning player. The tricks and tactics for winning at Omaha hi lo will become clearer the more practice you get at the table.

Why Poker is Like Dating

March 28th, 2013

Dating sucks. Poker sucks. Dating rocks. Poker rocks. It depends on your perspective to figure out where your really stand. If you’ve been taking a beating in poker and in relationships, this guide is definitely for you. There are a lot of similarities between good poker and great relationships. If you’re really set up getting the right stuff done, you need to make sure that you’re thinking about the bigger picture. The last thing that you really want to do is find that you just can’t hang with the big boys anymore. You might be raising when you should be folding. You might be getting aggressive when you really need to slow play. There is nothing wrong at all with playing slow. You just need to make sure that you know when you’re playing slow for the right reasons.

Poker is like dating — it’s all about selection. You need to make sure that you’re playing premium hands and good hands. 95o is not a good hand. 72o is not a good hand. T5o is not a good hand. A-garbage is not a good hand. Just because you have an A, K, or Q doesn’t mean that you’re automatically going to win. You need to really ensure that you’re trying to be selective, especially when the blind start going up. That’s the best time to actually start playing tight. That’s the best time to really start looking at the type of gameplay that you’re honestly going to be interested in. if you just think that you can rush in, well — neither your gambling life or your dating life is going to be very stable for long.

Poker is also like dating, because you might have the best intentions…and still not get anywhere. Even worse, you might play by the rules and still lose everything to someone that just rushed in with a bad hand and a bad image. This is life. Things like that happen. You can’t get discouraged and think that your poker playing days are over. That’s just not the answer to everything. You’re going to have to focus a lot more than normal and really make sure that you’re thinking about all of your options. There will be other hands, just like there will be other women coming around. You can always live to play another day.

Poker is also like dating because there’s a time and a place for rest. You might be burnt out on poker. You might be burnt out on dating. Staying in either world too long will make you absolutely crazy. The right hand will come along, and the right person will come along. It’s all about how you honestly feel with life. You can’t think that everything will just be fine merely because you say so. You have to think about taking a break. Give yourself time to see what you really get out of the situation. Take some time to breathe and relax. Dating can be competitive, and when you’ve gone through so many dates that your eyes are beginning to cross, you know that it’s time to step back.

Of course, these are just analogies. Real dating and real poker have a lot of twists and turns. If both are things that you want, then you need to focus, study well, and just get out there. Having a good time is far better than speculating, you know!

We Went Back to Poker – And We’re Glad We Did!

March 4th, 2013

Going back to poker might sound silly, especially if you’ve already played so many hands that you’re starting to see pocket aces in your sleep. However, there is a time and a place for rest, and a time and a place for return. Let’s cover both in this guide.

When do you need to take a break from poker? When you can tell that it’s messing with how you run your life. If you find that you can’t seem to really do anything else but play poker, and it’s making you cranky…it’s time to go. You should feel like poker adds something to your life. Even the top poker pros take breaks. Poker can get really intense. Remember — just as you’re trying to hack into the mind of your opponents, your opponents are trying to do the same thing to you. Everybody knows that guy that isn’t a really good poker player, but they seem to always have something nasty to say to the players who are great poker players? He’s doing it on purpose to unnerve you. He wants to throw you off your game. He wants to get you mad so that you stop thinking logically and start playing from the gut. That’s not a guy that you really want to be around. That’s not a player that is looking out for your best interests. So instead of letting guys like that get to you, you need to take a break. Play something else. Bingo? Slots? Scratch cards? There’s a lot of other games that you can play that aren’t so head to head. If you still want a strategy game, you can start working on your video poker hustle a bit more. Video poker is a lot more complicated than it looks, and it should keep you company for a while. It also doesn’t involve other people, which can be a good thing.

What about when you’re ready to return? That’s when you start looking at your mental state. Are you relaxed? Are you stressed out still? If you’re still stressed out, then you really need to think about staying “in rest mode” a little bit longer. The rest is necessary because it means that you’re going to be working on yourself. You’re going to be making sure that you’re healthy and ready to tear it up all over again. This is something that people don’t seem to get. They have to make sure that they’re doing everything and anything they can to keep their mental state up. Look at the professionals. They don’t let poker get to them, because if you do… the game is over. You have a lot of money to win, but you can’t do that if you’re stressing over what everyone thinks of you. Make good poker players, deal with mistakes as best you can, and let the rest go. Poker is supposed to be a hobby, done for entertainment purposes.

Sure, there’s a thrill to winning at poker — we would be lying to you if we said that we weren’t interested in winning. But there’s only so many times that you can win at poker and plenty of times to lose at the game. It’s still a game, and you could have the best hand you could make…only to catch a bad beat and lose a lot of money. This is why you have to make sure that you never bet more than what you can afford to lose. Gambling with the rent money is bad for business. Gambling with money that your children need is a bad idea as well.

Keep your head up and keep playing, but make sure that you do it on your terms. The wins will feel sweeter, and you won’t care as much about the losses. It’s your world, after all!

Concepts for the Beginning Texas Hold’em Player

December 21st, 2012

For those that are just starting to play William Hill Texas Hold’em they are going to find that there are many people that are going to offer advice and if the person were to do a search for concepts related to Texas Hold’em they would find numerous websites devoted to this subject. However, there are only two concepts that the person needs to remember in order to succeed at Texas Hold’em and ensure that they make some profit from playing this game.

First off, the person needs to know how to calculate pot odds in order to know whether they should play or not. Pot odds basically boil down to the number of chips in the pot and the chances that you have to win with the hand that you have. If you find that the chance is good, then go ahead and play your hand. However, if you find that the hand that you have is not the best, and then consider how many other players that you are up against. If there is a high number than chances are that someone has a hand that can beat you and the odds are not in your favor.

The next concept deals with your starting hand and your position in the game. Those that are in the later position of the table will be able to find out what other players are doing and base their decisions of what the other players have done. Thus if you notice people making small bets, then chances are they are doing this because they have no hands. Those that play in the first position will find that they have to gage this on the information that they have in their hands which could make this harder. As far as the cards that someone has in their starting hand, this is going to tell them just what they should do. A good hand is going to be worth pursuing. However, no one should take a risk on a bad hand just to see if they have the luck to win. If you find that your hand is a good one then chances are that you will have the best hand in the game and should play this.

Overall, keeping these two concepts in mind can help a beginner to start their game and make a win. However, it is the experience and playing time that will help the person to become someone that people fear playing at the table. However, without these two concepts in mind the person will find that their poker playing days are cut short from too many losses.

Poker Players

December 5th, 2012

Australian poker forums are the ideal venues for Ozzy players to come together and shoot the breeze about anything poker related. These forums provide a super platform for engaging with fellow Aussie poker players. Discuss the WPT, the WSOP, the Aussie Millions, the Aussie Poker Freeroll tournaments and poker videos to your heart’s content.

Poker players will relish the opportunity to cash in on super poker satellite tournaments at all leading Aussie poker sites. The Australian National Poker League is an A-grade poker club where national poker needs are discussed and issues resolved.

If you aren’t familiar with poker, you may wonder why people love to play it so much. Well, there are many reasons. Poker is one of those games that follows the old adage “easy to learn, hard to master” Each of the poker variants – for example Texas holdem, Omaha hi, or seven card stud, to name just a few, has its own nuances. The differences between those games are easy to learn, but each subtle rule variation can affect how you play. Even the betting limits can make a difference.

Once you add in the social elements and psychology, you end up with a very interesting game that gives you a mental workout. If you’re playing free poker games online, you can enjoy the nuances of the game and treat it like chess, or any other strategic casinos game. If you are playing an online poker tournament for money, you get the added thrill of making risk vs reward judgements. Even if you are only playing for a very small amount of money, this can still be very exciting with online casino bonus. Playing in tournaments where a big prize is at stake is even more of a thrill.

For many, it is the social aspect of poker which is the biggest attraction. Regular players get to know the fellow members of the online poker community, which has a good amount of camaraderie among the regular players.

In conclusion, some people play online poker for the social aspects, some people play for the thrill factor, and some people play for the cerebral part of the game. The beauty of online poker is that it has something for everyone.

Playing Too Many Hands in Texas Hold’em

November 1st, 2012

When it comes to playing Texas Hold’em poker, there are several errors that people can make that will cost them game. However, one of the biggest errors that a person can make is to play too many hands. This is one of the biggest errors that are seen when beginners start to play and they will find that when doing this that they are greatly decreasing their chances of ever winning a game. The game of Texas Hold’em is one game that has to play with plenty of patience, and in reality the majority of players that are considered to be good throw away around 75% of their hands before they see the flop.

The first two cards that a person gets when playing can almost show the person if the hand is worth trying for or not. When looking at the first two cards, there are around 169 possibilities that the person can get, and only 40 of these combinations is something that most people win with. Many people have the idea that as long as they have an ace that they are golden. However, it really boils down to the combination of the two cards. Statistics have shown that those that were given an ace and an eight are going to find that over time they could lose money, whereas someone that is given a pair of aces has a greater chance of winning the game. The problem is that many people end up playing those cards that are going to make them lose in the end, and this is an error that can be corrected.

The person simply has to learn what combination of cards is going to give them the playing advantage. There are various websites out there that break down the couplings that people could get and discuss just what the person could win or lose over a lifetime. Given that most people are never going to play this long, however, it does go to show that the starting pair is the key to success.

Therefore, those that are beginning in the game of Texas Hold’em should do some studying along the way to ensure that they are making what is considered to be one of the biggest errors of playing the game.

Correcting the error will take patience and the person will find that they may be folding on hands more than they are playing, but when they do play their hands they are going to find that the chances of them winning are greatly increased. And there is no greater thrill than winning a hand.

For more poker tips and casino news, check out casinohints.co.uk.

Do You Play The Right Cards In Poker

October 22nd, 2012

It’s been said that in the world of poker, the cards that you don’t play are equally important when compared to the cards that you do play. Of course, we’re using loose terminology here. Properly stated, we mean the hands that you fold, and the hands that you play. Everyone thinks that they have a sure thing when they sit down to the poker table, but do you really? It’s going to take a lot of grinding day in and day out to get consistent enough to really discover whether or not you actually have a sure thing or if you’re just kidding yourself. It’s going to be up to you to figure out what you do on that score. Some people feel that you will need to play just about every hand, because you never know when you’re going to get lucky. It’s been our experience that the people that truly believe this tends to be newer players. However, older players make the argument that psychology is just as much a part of the game as the mathematical portion. We think that it’s going to be a matter of being selective. If you’re seen to play every last hand that you get, you might be pushed into playing a pot that really is stacked against you. Trying to ride the river to the finish line is a gamble that can cost you a lot in the long run.

Controlling your own psychology is going to be highly important when you’re trying to figure out what type of moves you want to make in the world of poker. Yes, you will probably want to prove yourself, and you will probably want to push very hard in order to make sure that you get things accomplished in a very specific fashion. There’s nothing worse than trying to rush yourself in poker.

Of course, you might feel that you’re ready to play poker because you’ve been playing Zygna Poker for a long time. Folks, life in the real money world of poker is nothing like it is on these social media poker games. When you’re dealing with virtual chips that don’t have a real world value, you tend to make gambles that don’t cost you anything. So what if you push all in? You can always get more chips the next day!

It doesn’t work that way in real money poker. So you need to make sure that you don’t get too terribly sucked into poker just because you’ve been playing those free games all of this time. If you really want to judge your poker skill, judge it when there’s real money on the table. We’re not saying that free practice isn’t a good thing — it definitely can be, and often is. However, there definitely does come a time where you need to really make sure that you’re going to be able to take care of your overall poker strategy. And that’s when you need to look at your psychology, the hands that you’re getting dealt, and how you respond to it.

Don’t always get caught up in the type of poker play that others play into — you can’t control what they do. You can however control your own responses. Keep these points in mind and you’ll be just fine!