Ladbrokepoker – What Makes Poker Different
www.ladbrokepoker.com – When I say ‘different’, I am referring to other games and sports of course, and there are many things which make poker very different. The first of which is the way the players act whilst at the tables.
There is absolutely no place in the game for sore losers, or people that vent their anger at other players when they lose a big pot. What you should bear in mind is that in poker, you will get just as much respect for losing with grace and dignity, than you will from making a classy play, or a great fold. The game is played primarily by people who understand the nature of their game, and know that no matter how well they play, they still might lose. The fans watching the game at live events should adhere to this too.
If a player gets eliminated from a tournament, the fans should applaud that player, rather than cheering for their player who has just knocked them out of the game. Aside from this, poker is different because it brings people together socially to enjoy themselves and compete. As I briefly mentioned earlier, another key difference with the game is that you can sit down and play the best poker of your life and still lose. It is true that you will reduce your chance of losing with better play, but we all understand luck plays it’s part, both for, and against you.
The fact that there are many variations of the game such as Omaha, Stud, holdem, and Five Card is unique too, and for all these reasons that make poker different, I hope the game is enjoyed on an ever incresing scale, the world over.
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Pacificpocker.com – Getting Aggressive With Your Play Due to Necessity
www.pacificpocker.com – This is something I felt compelled to do in my most recent tournament, and I would like to think it was more through design than frustration at not making much headway with my chipstack.
I had spent an hour and a half hovering around the amount of chips I had started with, and as the blinds stepped up another level, I decided to get busy. As a concious decision with logic behind it, I wouldn’t say that this was rash or careless of me, but I did end up getting involved with some hands that weren’t exactly premium. First of all I raised in fairly late position with (Q,J) and a small stack moved all in with (7,7). I had called because it didn’t cost me all that many more in chips, and I caught a Jack on the turn to win.
After picking up some more blinds I moved up to 9,000 in chips from what was 6,000. Unfortunately my loose aggressive play caught up with me when I raised preflop again in later posotion, this time with (A,9) suited. I got called and subsequently beaten by (A,Q), but I stand by my decision to start playing that way.
I think sometimes you can be too cautious for too long and before you know it the blinds are eating your stack. If you pick a time to step things up you undoubtedly risk confrontation with other players when you may not have the best of it preflop. Despite this, when you need to pick up chips, it is better to invite that confrontation from one player, rather than get so short you get called by several.
Fulltiltpoker.com – Recent Crucial Hands
www.fultiltpoker.com - I had only increased my stack a little during our local tournaments first hour of play, but eventually, my big break came during the second hour.
One of the players at my table who is notoriously aggressive with his play, made a pot sized raise preflop, and with action folded around, I decided to make a loose call with (A,8) of hearts. The range of hands that he could raise with, was broad enough for me to feel I had a good chance of being in front, but I was well aware of my potential problems if an ace were to fall on the flop. As it was, the flop came down (3,7,8). With top pair and top kicker, many people would say ‘bet out and try and win the pot there and then’. The fact was, that I felt certain I was in front, and furthermore, felt there was no chance of a free turn card arriving, because if I checked the flop, I knew he would bet out without having caught much, if anything.
True to my expectations, he fired out 1,500 chips into a 1,200 pot, and I shoved all in for 4,500. I was a little surprised when he called, but my judgement was essentially correct as he turned over (A,7) for second pair. With my understanding of the nature of his play, and the well thought out check on the flop, I had dragged him into losing a 10,200 pot, rather than getting aggressive myself on the flop, and winning a 1,200 pot. This goes to show that unorthodox plays can pay dividends when you consider the particular type of player you are up against, and react accordingly.
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Ladbrokepoker – The Many Forms of Poker
ladbrokepoker.com – From it’s humble beginnings, poker has branched out into many obscure variations of it’s original form. It seems that in different parts of the world, players have experimented with, and left their indelible mark upon the game, as new twists are added to the game.
In this way the game evolves ever further, the more it is played, but has it now reached it’s pinnacle of development? For me, the answer would be yes. I think all the experimentation with poker and a standard deck of playing cards has already been done, and in the modern day, development comes in the way the tournaments are played, and in the online poker rooms.
I personally know of several variants of the game of poker, and such is the diversity of the game, that we even have variations within variations, an example of which would be Omaha, with it’s hi/lo version. All forms of poker help develop your general understanding of the game I feel, and H.O.R.S.E events are very important in keeping the older games alive, as well as finding the best all round player. We all have our favourite versions, and for most people today, that is Holdem.
There will always be sections of people within their own game, refusing to be changed by the tide of interest in modern games. I know of one such group of older gentlemen who play 9 card poker, splitting their 9 cards to make three seperate hands. The object is to win all three of these ‘front’ ‘middle’ and ‘back’ hands in order to win the pot, otherwise the players all throw a coin into the pot and deal again until somebody wins.
There are so many variants of poker across the world I feel, that you might never get a chance to play them all, but for my part, I feel it is well worth trying something new when the chance arises.
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Pokeroom.com – When Shortstacks Move
www.pokeroom.com - Shortstacks moving all in is something which you can sometimes anticipate during a poker tournament. When in the latter stages of a tournament, always look for someone who will be crippled by big blinds going through them in a few hands, and put yourself in their position. If you are in this shortstack situation, to have any chance of winning a tournament, if you have found yourself dangerously short and the blinds are dangerously big, you will be looking to double through very soon.
So when you limp in before a very short stack has acted, always factor in the possibility that there is chance it will cost you more to see the flop than you anticipated. Be especially wary of someone who has just taken a bad beat and had their stack decimated too. This type of player can sometimes feel irritated, or as if it’s pretty much already over, and consequently shove the last few chips in on the very next hand.
Sometimes of course, you will happen to be in the big blind and a short stack will push all in. In some cases you can call with almost any two cards because firstly, it won’t cost you too much extra, and secondly, you may well not be far behind percentages wise, even if you have a hand like (8,6). You are likely to have 2 live cards remember, and if you have the chips to call, and it isn’t too much on top of what you already have in the pot, by all means call.
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Partypoker.co – How has Technology Helped Poker?
Partypoker.co.uk – Well first and foremost, the obvious way in which poker has been helped by advances in technology, is the multitude of poker rooms available online.
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These rooms give people the confidence to learn and play the game from their own home without feeling foolish because they are unsure of what they are doing. Freerolls and play money games offer them the chance to learn at no financial cost too. The convenience of being able to sit down in their own home and choose whatever type of game they want to play, has caused a huge surge in the popularity of poker I feel.
Online poker rooms are not alone in instigating this change however, televised tournaments have also brought a great insight into how the professionals play the game, to those who have already developed a passing interest.
I know I personally found these programmes fascinating myself, and the development of the under-table camera, was a huge leap in conveying what was happening and why. Without this idea, I don’t think such shows would be what they are, because you need to be able to see everything that’s going on under the cards, to understand the players and their actions above the table.
As live updates come in from major tournaments through online outlets these days, and with the readily available odds calculators and other helpful tools, poker has been made much easier to understand. For all these reasons, technology and development have played a huge part in expanding the amount of poker players in the world, and I feel this trend will continue over the coming years.