Archive for the ‘Holdem’ Category

The Good and Bad of Limit Hold’em

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Following is an analysis of the pros and cons of one of the variations of poker that may be helpful to you.  Once upon a time, Limit Hold’em was the most played online poker game.  There remain on the net many low and medium limit games in the poker rooms, and a few with a $100/$200 limit.  It continues to be the easiest game to find and is a sure bet to continue on that path as only a few players are able to rise to the $20/$40 level.

There are beaucoup books written exclusively on limit games.  The multitude and availability of the literature devoted to the game gives it a major advantage.  The game is thoroughly studied and an apt student can learn much from these books along with experience at the table.  The decision making process is not terribly complicated in limit hold’em and basic mathematical aptitude can lead to instant mental calculations while involved in a game.

The mathematical phenomenon of dispersion becomes less of a factor in limit games.  Thus enabling even the rookiest of rookies with the worst cards at the table to occasionally be saved by dumb luck.  For a dramatic reference to the particulars of dispersion, read Terry Pratchett’s Rincewind novels.

There is virtually no poker game untouched by statistical dispersion.  Huge losses happen to the most expert of players, a major deterrent to a lot of would-be players.  Higher dispersion rates can be found in no-limit and tournament games making limit poker less intensive psychologically.  Limit Hold’em can be indulged in with little money in one’s bank and there are several unique computer programs designed for limit poker.  Two of which are Poker Tracker and Poker Office.  These programs are very helpful especially for low limit players.  They can be of use during play as well as after whenever you need to analyze or calculate statistics of the game at any point.

The above advantages lead to one of the few disadvantages of limit poker.  There is an ever enlarging pool of experienced, knowledgeable opponents.  So while the game is highly accessible, it is becoming less profitable.  Non-virtual poker venues make their money chiefly from the rather small rake reducing the pot during every round.  These rooms depend on their profits not from the number of players they attract.  What keeps them running is at the end of a series of games, the percentage from the total hands played may make their income rise to amazing sums.  The limit games that include expert players may be not only less profitable but may actually result in a loss.

You will not find many games of limit Hold’ em off line.  Limit Hold’em doesn’t seem to contain the features to make it a casino and club game staple.  The aficionados of limit Hold’em love it for what it has – the essence of poker which is the card combinations.  It apparently is just not as memorable and socially rewarding as being able to converse with fellow card-playing chums around a table made of real wood.

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Limit Hold’em: Plusses and Minuses

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

A brief analysis of the pluses and minuses of certain poker games may help. Limit Holdem was once the single most popular game on the net. There are still many low and medium limit games being played and some $100/$200 games. So that the game remains one of the most accessible and prospective, and is likely to remain so for some time to come, especially since not many players rise to the levels of $20/$40.

What may be considered a significant plus of the game is the amount of literature devoted to it: many of the contemporary books on poker are devoted to limit games. It is a well studied game and it is possible that a thorough student may learn much from the experience of others. As a result decisions are simpler to make in limit hold’em and most of them are easily supportable by basic mathematic tools for quick mental in-game calculations.

Moreover, dispersion is less of a threat in limit games. That coldly calculating deity determines the chances of every player involved at a given moment and even the worst and unluckiest rookie may luck out (if you don’t want to go into actual statistics, just read any of Terry Pratchett’s hapless-Rincewind novels for a dramatization of this point of games and life).

Generally speaking, all poker is necessarily subject to statistical dispersion: big losses inevitably happen even to the best of players (even when they play ideally with what they have in their hands) and are what turns many off the game in the first place. No-limit and tournaments have higher dispersion than limit games, which means that limit poker is not as psychologically intense. Relatively low bank rolls suffice for limit holdem and there are many specially designed computer programs for limit poker: Poker Tracker and Poker Office offer help which is not to be sneezed at, particularly so for low limit players. These programs are useful both during the game and after, when you want to make an analysis of any part of it or calculate general statistics.

About the only minus of limit holdem is the constantly growing number of well-trained, well-informed opponents. But that is the direct result of the pluses just listed and makes the game, though accessible, not as easily profitable as one might hope it to be. The chief source of income for poker rooms is the seemingly small rake deducted from the pot during each hand. Rooms therefore rely heavily not on the number of players in their rooms. But at the conclusion of a series of long games, the percentage of all hands played may reach surprisingly high sums and limit games against good players may result in near-zero or even negative gain.

Finally, limit holdem is not widespread offline, offers little exposure to the nonvirtual outside world, and lacks the aspects which make casino and club games so rich in important and memorable experience. Certainly, those who love the game find most memorable that which is the essence of poker – the combinations of cards; but just like talking face to face to a company of people is more memorable than chanting to a hundred “friends” in ICQ, so playing poker at an actual table of wood (rather than of 1024×768 pixels) you can actually knock on (makes a nice bluff) makes for a more intense and exciting experience.

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Attract More Poker Fish With a More Amiable Poker Game

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Those serious, arrogant poker professionals gathered around the table in big shades and hooded sweatshirts are out for blood.  They are not attracting amiable amateurs, they are attracting expert players who are the only ones who are not intimidated by their demeanor.  This may be good for TV’s World of Poker, but certainly not for the good players who want to pick up a few bucks.

The average amateur is looking to join in a poker game for some fun and is not really concerned whether he wins or loses.  He’s looking for a way to spend some time with people, a chance to get away from the office routine, or to play with real people instead of online.  He’s going to zero in on a table where everyone seems friendly, relaxed and having a good time.  He is not looking for skilled poker players, just those who enjoy the game and each other’s company.

To the players who want to constantly earn an actual income at the table, these guys are a godsend.  An individual player will probably not lose a lot, but will do so consistently.  If the pro wants some dough he has come to the right place.  These good ol’ boys seeking fun will stay longer, place riskier bets and lose more when they are having fun.

The table where no one looks at anyone else, where no conversation is going on, and everyone is pretty much disguised so no faces can be seen, is keeping the amateurs away in droves.

Conversely, the table with conversation and laughter where everyone is complimenting each other on their “great play” will attract the amateurs.  The amateur sees this behavior as trustworthy and will keep coming back for more.  They will lose all right, but they will do so with such a fine disposition, having received entertainment value instead of money.

By keeping the weaker opponents in a fun loving mood, you will keep up their poker hopes.  They must be good, they are having such a good time.  Luck, being the fickle lady that she is, is sure to fall on them some times.  The relaxed ambience of this table will attract more amateurs, making it a golden opportunity for the player looking for serious money.

True poker professionals have not just honed their poker skills and technique, they have also created an public persona and the ability to use this persona to strategically manipulate the game.  They create an attractive, relaxed, trusting environment for the unsuspecting good time boys.  The suckers will happily lose a little and be thankful to you for entertaining them so well.

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Who is Really Sitting at Your Online Poker Table?

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

I am fairly certain that most of you at one time or another have encountered one or more of those whimsically humorous paintings from the fine series of poker playing dogs from the anthropomorphic imagination of Cassius Coolidge.  These paintings feature a comfortably middle-class group of canines, dressed appropriately for the occasion in a dark poker den enjoying a rousing game of poker.  Turns out they may not be so whimsical, but the poker players of whimsy are not our canine friends, they are poker playing primates.  That ape icon of a player on your online poker site might be – an ape.  Technological advancements of today include the IT company, Primate Programming Inc.  Yes, they have taught primates how to play poker and win.  Primates not only wield tools to improve their lives they wield cards.

Primate Programming Inc has found that great apes (who share 97% of DNA with us) are competent IT specialists and are employed by PPI.  They enter a training program and upon graduation perform their services with PPI’s clients while demanding very low wages.  Somewhere down the line, it was discovered that these employees also can be taught to play poker showing a particular knack for no-limit Texas Hold’em.

Go ahead, I know you don’t believe this, so please google “primate programming inc.”

I am not making this up.

No-limit poker appeals to these employees because of their natural bent for playful (and sometimes serious) displays of aggression.  PPI tells us that is this quality that makes them outstanding bluffers.  Aggressive bluffing in no-limit games allows the player to bet it all at any time.  This rule of the game requires edgy, aggressive behavior and the rather rare skill to bluff.

Since there is no way to identify the poker players online due to its anonymous nature, no one knows if their opponents are human or something other than human.  That player who started off betting small and showing his lame cards to all, the one who much later bet large, had everyone call, then gleefully showed aces was probably one of the non-humans.  The players had no idea he then jumped up and down, pounded his chest and demanded a banana.

Apparently, and not coincidentally, the primate poker players early employment as computer programmers led them to independently, according to PPI, create programs to aid and abet their poker game.  PPI is not talking about the specific contents of these programs.  These apes could have a professional online poker career, but that is not their nature.  Once outside the office, they will probably neglect their training and revert to being the real primates they are, propelling themselves with their arms from branch to branch and climbing fences.  In any case as long as they are paid, fed and have their girlfriends and boyfriends nearby, they will continue with their poker games.  Authors of no-limit poker books should take note.  They may have to come up with some rewrites.

There is ongoing investment of money and effort taking place in the research of these programmer apes.  Norm McAuliffe, a Yale biology Phd and the scientist leading the discovery research team at Primate Poker Inc is now hiring profitable primate-players to play for cash in rotation shifts 24/7.  Mr. McAulliffe is very much committed to his business model and plans to continue his work.

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Canines Bring Poker Out of the Smokey Basements and Backrooms and Into the Light

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Most of you will instantly recognize the series of paintings titled Dogs Playing Poker created by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.  Mr. Coolidge was born into a family of Quaker farmers who were very much into abolition and was named after one of the most eloquent orators of the time who was given the resounding nickname of “The Lion of White Hall.  Coolidge, nicknamed “Cash” by friends and relatives, did not receive any formal training in the arts, but was nonetheless a prolific artist, publishing his drawings in papers before reaching the ripe old age of 20.

Cash’s favorite theme was, oddly, those big dogs Mastiffs and Saint Bernards, engaging in very human activities.  In 1903, he was commissioned to do a series of paintings on this very theme.  In nine of the sixteen paintings commissioned, very respectable, genteel dogs were gathered together to drink beer and whiskey and indulge in a cigar or pipe as they played five-card draw poker.  These furry gamers dressed in fur coats or wool suits would fill up a cozy den-like space whose only source of light was a shaded lamp over the table.

These reasonably well-behaved gentlemen are members of an established, respectable class of town folk, who though certainly not stodgy, are quite proper enough.  If you can conjure up Sergio Leone’s movie “Once Upon a Time in America,” you are in the right time period.  But the artist is not focusing on the greed and dark violence of the illegal underground clubs depicted in Leone’s movie.  He allows poker to come out of the darkness of all this into a more wholesome, mainstream faction of society where decent folk who may be wagering on a game, are certainly not into it for more than a few token pennies, and are indulging in a rare sip of whiskey and small pipe or cigar while their wives are away.  By this time, poker was becoming a respectable and common pastime for most American males.  It was no longer viewed as just as way to make a quick, risky and dangerous buck.

Well-respected gentlemen around 1875 were attending large evening poker games.  A monthly rag called “Poker Chips” was one of the publications devoting itself to the game and most others published poker-related articles.  As the century ended, rules became codified for draw-poker for the first time and were in force in all of the poker clubs.  Some reporters went so far as to claim that baseball was no longer the national past time.

Little by little, the skills at poker and skills at using a weapon were becoming the premier attributes of many a manly man.  If a man had the ability to play a good game of poker, he was considered also to be a fine soldier, sheriff, law man of any persuasion and a solid, honest political leader as well.  As a matter of fact, in World War I in Europe in 1918, poker was the most enjoyed form of entertainment among the troops and of one Harry Truman.  Truman actually greatly enhanced his own skill at draw and stud poker as an artillery officer.  Upon the signing of the peace treaty, while the troops were awaiting their transport home orders, Harry T. and his troops whiled away the time playing endless hands of poker.  A habit they continued well after arriving at their homeland.

It is the ability to bet large and shrewdly, take big risks, and bluff successfully for profit of course, that is also perceived to be the mark of the man that survives in battle, is willing and able to take on dangerous jobs like law enforcement or to be successful at any type of occupation that requires brains and muscle.

Cash Coolidge was around at a time that gave him every opportunity to observe the sort of person, the clothes, the card games and the milieu in which all of these elements came together in basement clubs that gave rise to the essence of his art.  Through his art, which consisted of a vivid imagination and anthropomorphic humor, he created a representation of the life of the bourgeoisie at the time enjoying a game that had been around for more than 200 years.

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Mastering Poker: Is it Worth the Effort?

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Anyone can learn poker rules quickly enough, online access and interface are easy, and there really is no reason not to try. Online poker is vastly successful. There isn’t a gambling site online which does not offer poker games. A dedicated player becomes part of a community, acquires friends, and perhaps even his livelihood.

All or most poker game varieties are available for download for free. They offer safe practice for the novice. You get to try your hand against p.c. opponents and may adjust difficulty so as to easily experience successive winning, feeling the pleasure of addiction spread through your system like a shot of good liquor.

All online games are played with you cozily in front of your computer. You don’t have to worry about minimalizing your body language or reading the faces and posture of some ten human opponents, each with his or her make up, ticks, and poker-face tricks. But despite this fact, the mild fun of perfecting your strategy against software is rather like doing your best at tennis against a wall or shooting up cardboard targets – it is not really comparable to live action. Technically, there may not be much similarity between a gun fight and a game of poker, and you can depend on a professional not to have a sawed-off shotgun pointed at you at the other end of the table, unless you are shooting a Robert Rodriguez movie. But the parallel is warranted since both gun fights and poker for real (as opposed to virtual) money involve a constant sense of danger.

And this is precisely what makes games against a human opponent not merely lifelessly fun, but eerily fun, – the kind of fun which makes for the most powerful addiction. Somebody who has never handled anything more dangerous than Spider Solitaire on their laptop in the lecture hall may well wonder whether poker is anything more than a game of patience. And it is important that he or she realize that besides skill, chance (or luck, however you might choose to evoke this deity) is the essence of the game. And hence, a live poker session without the possibility to reset, and only the possibility to Fold, is pervaded by danger.

This is precisely what turns many people off. But which also makes as many people feel irresistibly “alive” while betting on the value of their hands. You must have the money, the time, and the energy to spend – but these are controllable factors. You had better be willing to make the effort to learn strategy, but you must also have a lucid and refined appreciation of the element of Chance. A player who does not, and who perhaps approaches the game simply in the crude hope for a few good quick wins will loose and will grow tired of trying. The taste of danger then is sour and one wishes to rinse it out as quickly as possible.

To the real player danger is delicious. That’s why he is at the table/computer. The player knows his stuff and his bluff, knows what is practically within his power, and does not indulge vain fantasies. He or she is there for the chance just as the rock climber is there for the sheer height. One must learn to hear the music of chance in the game; then, even an unlucky session will have been worth the effort.

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Dont Get Caught in the Rakeback or Multitable Trap

Friday, September 11th, 2009

As poker players we have a lot of different goals when we play poker. Some of us play strictly for the fun of it. These players’ goal when they sit down at a poker table is to have a good time and share some laughs with their friends. They may have a couple of beers and a cigar and be completely happy if they walk away losing a few bucks. That’s OK as long as that’s the reason you play poker. Some of us play for money. These players’ sole purpose for playing the game of poker is to turn a profit. In reality most of us are some sort of combination of the two.

If you do play the game for money and seek to make some or all of your income from poker, you should be looking to move up in limits and play in the bigger games. Bigger games mean bigger money right? Unfortunately you generally find tougher competition and less loose wild players at the higher limits as well. This means that you need to continue to evolve as a poker player and improve your game as you move up from limit to limit. It seems natural that the more poker you play, the better you should get at it. There are some traps that people fall into on their way to the big game though and some players never find their way out.

The main thing that I often see happen to up and coming poker players is that they begin to play too many tables at once. These players believe that they can continue to make more and more money by adding more tables at the same limits. This may be true but there is a limit to the amount of tables one person can handle. The real drawback here is that you stop learning and improving your game. If you find yourself playing 16 tables of 1/2 limit hold’em for months on end, you have fallen into the multitable trap. Its time for you to drop down to 2 to 4 tables at a time and start moving up in limits. Multitabling is a great way to increase your dollar per hour income. Just make sure that you don’t stop learning and getting better at whatever form of poker you’re playing. Moving up should be your primary goal. The real money is in the big games and 20 tabling .50/1 is never going to get you there.

Another related trap is the rakeback trap. While rakeback is great and should be taken advantage of by every serious online poker player, you should treat it as what it is; Something extra. Players often get caught up in earning as much rakeback as they can rather than trying to get better and move up. I often see players playing online who stop moving up when they get to 3/6 or 5/10 limit hold’em. These limits will allow you to make good money just in rakeback if you play enough tables, but, again the real money is in the big games.

If you play poker to make money, real money, than make sure that you keep your goal in mind and remember where that real money is being made. Its being made in the big games. Not by playing 16 tables of 1/2 limit hold’em with a 30% rakeback deal.

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Mastering the HUD (heads up display)

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

There exists a tool for online poker players to view other player’s statistics at the table, this tool is referred to as HUD (heads up display). This tool is indispensable to the skilled professional. Professional online poker players often play several tables at a time, many will play anywhere from four to sixteen tables at once using several monitors. When playing this many tables at once it is virtually impossible to keep track of every opponent’s playing style. So, in a glance you can view who plays how and their stats using a HUD. Let’s look at how it works.

On your hard drive is stored the histories of every hand you play online. They are then imported into a tracking software and stored into a database. This database is then read by HUDs along with the current hand histories for live tables. The stats are displayed directly on the table which then enables poker players to make a quick decision based on the playing styles of their opponents. Now let’s see how beneficial it is in actual play.

An opponent’s weaknesses can be exploited by watching them closely and learning their style. You can gain a massive advantage over your opponents with a HUD in conjunction with a data-mining software program. Without studying them in real time you can move from table to table and always know how your opponents play. The software does it all for you. Some players may fold the flop 60% of the time, but always check raise the turn. If this is seen on the player’s stats, when they call the flop, then you can often expect a check raise on the turn. This may be the time to save two bets and check behind with a mediocre hand. You would have to watch this player closely for thousands of hands to realize their standard play when they make a big hand, instead a HUD does the watching for you. You will pick up on some players easily when they raise 50% of the time before the flop but you’ll know what you’re playing with before the first hand is dealt with a HUD.

You will also be able to see your opponent’s hole cards after the hand is over if they go to shutdown.  This is another useful tool a HUD offers.  Even if the players muck their cards so you can’t see them your HUD will still pick up the data. Knowing what a player will call a river bet with is helpful because it helps you value bet the river against players who showdown weak hands.

A heads up display should be used by anyone playing poker online. If the professional use them so should you.

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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Poker

Friday, September 4th, 2009

The beginning of online poker not so many years ago spawned an interesting poker question. Which is better, online poker or live brick and mortar table games? While the two generally have the same or similar rules and structure, there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to each form. So to answer our question…. It depends.

The main advantage of online poker boils down to speed. The games are so much faster than live poker that if its volume that you want, there is no substitute. All of the dealers responsibilities are done automatically. There is no time wasted on shuffling, counting chips, dealing, or gathering the cards. These time consuming actions are all done instantaneously by the poker room’s software. This means that there is less time wasted and more time spent playing poker. This equates to 60, 70, or more hands every hour. This is if you only play one table at a time. Most online poker players take advantage of ability to play multiple tables at once. Some players even use several monitors and play 6-8 tables or more at a time. This will allow you to play 600 or more hands an hour. This equates to 20 or more times the number of hands you would be able to play in a live game. So for the winning poker player, more hands per hours should equal more winnings per hour right? Unfortunately its not that simple. Read On.

Live poker also has some advantages. While you will only play twenty to thirty five hands per hour, you should be able to make a lot more per hand on average. The competition in live games is extremely weak when compared to similar limits in online poker. It has been my experience that the 20/40 limit holdem game at the local casino is much softer than online games as small as 1/2. This means that you should be able to play live games at much higher stakes without being “out of your league” skill wise. In fact some players at these levels in a casino often are unaware of poker information as basic as hand rankings. I’ve seen players who are unaware that their two pair is going to loose to a flush even after the cards are all turned over. Players this weak might as well have ATM embroidered on their baseball caps. For a skilled poker player we would imagine that higher staked and weak opponents lead to more money right? Perhaps…

The financial advantages to online poker and live poker are different and will be seen differently by different players. But there are other factors that can help us decide if online poker or live brick and mortar games are best for us. Live poker has a social element to it that online games just don’t have. If you want to get out of the house, have some conversation, and possibly sip on a cocktail, than live poker may be much more rewarding for you. Online poker, while lacking in the social aspects, has its own unique advantages. You are able to play anytime from anywhere that you can connect to the internet. You can play in your underwear if you like(if that is advantageous in your opinion). The bottom line is that it’s convenient, fast, and allows you to take advantage of other tools like rakeback, poker software, poker bonuses, and all that good stuff. If you’re looking for convenience, nothing compares to online poker. If its the money your after though, online poker probably affords you more opportunities to pad your bankroll.

Since both forms of poker have their advantages I guess that we can conclude that its a draw. Online is better for some players where as live games suit others. It all depends on what you want to get out of your time at the tables.

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Live Poker vs Online Play

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Since the birth of online poker there has been a debate going on as to what form of poker is better. Online or live in a casino or card room? The answer, unfortunately isn’t as easy as a simple either or. Like most questions in poker the answer is, “it depends”. While live poker and online poker have basically the same rules, there are a lot of differences.

If its speed and sheer volume of hands that you’re after than online poker is the hands down winner. Dealing, shuffling, counting chips, and collecting cards is all done automatically by the poker room software. A lot of time is also saved by knowing how much money is in the pot at all times and how much money is in each players stack. When you also factor in the clock that is put on each player when it is their turn, you start to get double and even triple the amount of hands per hour when compared to a live game. Another thing to consider is the fact that you can play several tables at a time online. If you are good enough to play six to eight tables at once you may well get 600 or more hands in every hour. Under some conditions you may well end up playing more than 20 times the number of live hands that would be dealt in a similar amount of time. As a skilled player, the more hands you play the more money you make right? The answer again is “it depends”.

Playing live poker has its advantages too. Poker is not all about the quantity of hands that you play. Live poker generally has much weaker opponents than similar levels online. You get a lot of casual players who just happen to give poker a try since they’re already in the casino. You will also get players who are unaware of what hand beats what. These players are just asking you to take their money. Soft players lead to soft games. Ive played in 20/40 limit holdem games in the casino that were much softer than 1/2 games online. These stakes are 20 times that of the 1/2 online game that I mentioned, and you should be able to make a lot of money per hand in these games. So for the winning poker player we would assume that higher stakes means more money to win right? Maybe and maybe not.

Since each game has its advantages and disadvantages financially, there must be something else to separate these two forms of poker. There is. Live poker offers a much more social environment. If you’re looking to have some fun and shoot the breeze with the other players, than live poker in an actual brick and mortar casino or card room would probably suit you better. On the other hand, internet poker offers its own conveniences. If you’re only looking to play for a half hour or so, you may not want to drive to the casino, park, get on the waiting list, ect. If you play online all you have to do is fire up your computer and find a game. You can even play in your under ware, your old sweat pants that your wife won’t let you leave the house in, or nothing at all. The other advantages that online poker has are all the software available, rakeback, bonuses, and multitabling. If you’re all business, than online poker may be the better route for you.

So what did we learn from this little discussion? Neither online poker or live poker games are definitively better. It all depends on what you aim to achieve at the poker tables.

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