Archive for the ‘Poker Strategy’ Category

Online Poker Tells

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Even though you are not able to see the players you are up against in real live when playing online there are still a couple of tells that you will be able to use to your advantage when you play online poker.

 

 

  1. Fast Bet
  2. Fast Check
  3. Betting Patterns
  4. Wait and Bet
  5. Telling Their Hand

Fast Bet
You can almost always be certain that when someone is betting fast they are trying to scare you away from the pot. When you want someone to fold you should bet fast since it looks scary to your opponents as it makes you look strong.

Fast Check
This is a really good tell in online poker. When a player has a weak hand he will sometimes click the check/fold button which means that he will instantly check if it is checked to him. When you see a player instantly checking like this you can be fairly sure that he is not sitting on a huge hand. If you bet here you will be able to take down the pot 9 times out of 10. But be aware that some players use this tactic to fool you and make them look weak when in fact they are holding the nuts. So you need to get the feel for the player before you try to make a move against him.

Betting Patterns
It is very important to pay attention to the betting patterns of your opponents at the table as this will give you a good idea of what kind of hand they have. Some players are raising their aces a lot harder pre flop than is they would be holding a hand like AK as they don’t want too many callers. It is always a good idea to notice these betting patterns and to take notes of how the different players are betting with different hands.

Wait and Bet
When you see a player at the table who is waiting longer than normal to make his bet is safe to make the assumption that he is holding a decent hand and trying to decide how much to bet into the pot. If you pay attention to the time each of the players at the table take to bet in their hands you will get a good idea of when they are holding a good hand and when they are not. If the player takes a lot of time to think and then just checks then he is most likely just out to scary you and make you think that he holds a big hand.

Telling Their Hand
A lot of players will tell you their hand in the chat after the hand is over and they have mucked a winning or losing hand. When they do this they are lying 99% of the time. Just think about it, why would they first muck their hand and then 5 seconds later tell you their hand. The only reason they are doing this is to play with your head and make you think that you made the wrong decision, don’t let them get to you and don’t fall for this trick.

Adjusting to a loose game

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Adjusting to a loose game is a whole lot easier than adjusting to a tight game. Since most of the loose players at the table are poor and losing players all you need to do when finding yourself at a really loose table is to sit and wait for premium hands and try to trap your aggressive opponent.

Another good thing to keep in mind is to only play when you are in position against the aggressive players to make your edge even bigger since you don’t have to worry about him three betting you.

When playing against a loose and aggressive player you can afford to be the passive player and just wait for the big hands to bring down some big pots, it is important that you narrow down the hand selection a lot when you are up against this type of players.

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Adjusting to a tight game

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

In order to become a successful poker player you need to be a master of the ability to change gears. In this article we will go over some of the strategies that can be applied to a tight game.

Many poker players make the assumption that they will not be able to make any money playing at tight tables, they are wrong. A good poker player will be able to adjust his game to make him a winning player even at tight tables.

A tight player will always be making the mistake of folding way to many hands, this is something that you can take advantage of and take down a lot of small pots. As they will be folding a lot more than a loose player you can raise with a wider range of hands then normal and in this way you will be taking down a lot of small pots. Eventually the tight player will pick up a good hand and call your bets but by then you will be playing with the money that you have been winning in all the small pots and not having to risk the money you initially brought to the table.

Try out this strategy without risking any of your own money by getting a no deposit poker bonus to your favourite online poker room.