Betfred Poker
Online poker craze -06/11/2007
Nowadays, the internet is filled to the brim with hundreds of online poker rooms and possibly tens of thousands of online poker players. Drawn by the popularity of the game, most of these people have never played a single live poker hand in their lives, and some of them can't even play poker at all. They have no idea about blinds play, about rakeback and other basic concepts.
I remember I read somewhere how the abundance of fish made learning poker online extremely difficult. It has only recently struck me how right the guy who wrote that was. The quality of play in most poker rooms is so bad, that one finds it difficult to learn anything from the other guys. Swimming might be difficult to learn when alone in the pool, but it's damn near impossible when that pool is filled drowning newbies trying to fight their way to the brim.
At play-money tables, there's a clear explanation as to why the game is so godawfully bad. Nobody has any real money on the line, so people basically fool around, and they do not take the game seriously. There's seldom a hand that even sees a flop, most of the play goes down preflop, even though poker should be a postflop betting game, and not a preflop lottery. All that is understandable however.
In massive freerolls you can also see this kind of lunatic behavior at the beginning of the tourney. My theory regarding that is, that there are players out there who do not plan on seeing any later stages of the game. Since it's all free, they just fool around as if it were a play money game and that's that. There are other players still, who use this mad approach as a strategy. Again, because it's all free, they can afford to do whatever they want so they play like madmen to see if they get lucky. If they do get lucky a couple of times, they cool down and play on, on a bigger bankroll and with better chances.
Explaining to myself, why so many people play so bad at real money ring tables, is something I never quite managed to do.
You see, whenever someone hits all in before the flop, you can be almost 100% sure he has a pair of As. Or Ks or something of the sort. I simply do not get the idea why they have to hit all in preflop. If it's a beatable pocket hand (and they're all beatable given the right circumstances), it's a bad idea. If the hand is truly unbeatable, it is a bad idea again. It's like these guys have had enough and they just want to move on to the next hand. If they truly have a monster, they should work it, not scare everyone away and cash in their own money. It's even more puzzling how some people play along with this, and call such all ins. They figure they may have a chance at whacking the other guy, so they call. This way, poker quickly turns into a game of bingo, with people waiting for the community cards to be dealt and checking on their own two pocket cards whether they won or not.
All of this is probably the result of the obsession most new players have with starting hand charts. AA is obviously the best starting hand but it gives you no right to turn the game into bingo. First of all, there are countless possibilities 2As can be beat, and second: poker is a betting game for cryin out loud. Do you hate the betting part? The postflop game? That's what poker is supposed to be about.
Whenever a good player plays a starting hand, the reason why he plays it is hidden in the postflop part of the game. It's not what he plays, it's why he plays it. As long as you do not understand why the starting hand chart recommends this or that or the other hand as playable, you won't ever become a winning player.
How often has it happened to you, that some guy beat your trips after having reraised you on the flop and then having been hit both on the turn and the river for a straight?
There are people out there who play like this. Hard to believe, but next time you see it don't be surprised. And no, it's not a good idea to play like that.
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Poker Tournaments - Winning or Placing in the Money? by Joakim 05/02/2007
You don't have to win to make money in a poker tournament. Tournament prize pools rewards many places with money finishes. You should always try to win any tournament you enter, but when you're close to the money, realize that placing still has its benefits.
Win First
Poker tournament players should never enter into a tourney with the goal of finishing in the money. Your aim should always be to win the whole thing. When you take the in-it-to-win-it approach, your game is more confident. You make bolder plays and act with right kind of aggression. Tournaments reward aggressive players, so don’t be timid when you enter a tourney. Develop a strategy. Know your strengths, hide your weaknesses and approach your poker games with a winning attitude.
Always Try to Place
Winning is everything, but sometimes placing doesn't hurt either. As stated above, hoping to finish in the money is no way to enter a tournament. Still, after you've been playing for a while, you'll realize that adjustments will sometimes have to be made to make your tournament experiences to be profitable. If you've had a horrible run of cards, a couple of bad beats or just made some silly calls that you shouldn't have, then you need to revise your approach. If you find yourself playing too recklessly, tighten up. If you're chip stack is dwindling, don't go on tilt. Don't try to win the whole tournament with a couple of hands. Be patient. Realize that sometimes you can't win them all, but you can always play smart and try to make your day profitable. Playing on the Bubble
Tournament payout structures vary considerably, so make sure you know how many spots will get paid. Always keep an eye on how close you are to making it in the money. When you're playing on the bubble, you need to keep two things in mind. First, don't do anything stupid. An all-in bluff against a bigger stack is not the right play at this point. Don't beat yourself. Conserve your chips and avoid reckless clashes that can bust you out. The second thing you need to keep in mind when playing on the bubble is that most of your opponents know that they're near the money. That includes all those short stack players who are just trying to squeak their way into the lower levels of the prize pool. Take advantage of these super-tight short stacks. Steal their blinds. Raise the pot pre-flop and make these players fold. If a short stack player is just hanging on and hasn't played a hand in days, this player does not want to put their tournament life on the line. Use their tightness against them and take the chips that they don't want to play with. The object of any poker tournament is to win the whole thing. Still, players that play smart can try to win and try to place. These two strategies don't have to be mutually exclusive. Always try to keep pace with your opponents. Start taking a few more risks when your stack begins to lag behind the competition. Don't go all-in on one foolish call, but don't play so rock tight that you don't have enough chips to compete with. When you're on the bubble, don't let a reckless, overly-aggressive play end your day. Don't forget to take advantage of the players that are just biding their time until they make it in the money.A nice place to get some tournament experience is Titan Poker.