The Poker Mag

First of all, I would say for any players starting out in the game, make yourself aware of the hand rankings by playing poker for fun. I started out with Five Card Draw which helped me grasp the general rules of the game, and understand how the betting worked.

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If your ultimate goal is to play Holdem well, then there is no harm starting off in an online poker room playing for 1 and 2 cent blinds in a cash game either. Once you understand the basics however, I would not advise immediately moving up to bigger tables, because there is much more to poker than originally meets the eye, and you could find yourself losing chips fast. Do not feel worried about having to read up on the finer points of the game, as we all need to give our learning curve a boost sometimes. Most online sites offer tips and poker schooling for new players, and I would spend some time watching poker tournaments on television too. In this way, you will begin to see how very basic Holdem is played, and the contrast with poker at higher levels.

As most poker players will tell you, when you are starting to play the game seriously, it is better to play too tight than too loose. If you go to a local tournament as a beginner, I would say fold anything preflop that isn’t, either pocket sixes or higher, or (A,J) (A,Q) (A,K) (K,Q). The (K,Q) and (A,J) are marginal, but on the whole, these hands should be fine to see a flop with, as long as there isnt a big raise preflop. Other than that, raise when you hit the flop, and never be afraid to consult books or other players for advice.

As poker players, we all get curious as to what would have happened on the flop after ourselves, or an opponent has folded. Checking through the cards to find out, is known as ‘rabbit hunting’ and isn’t something you could do in a professional tournament really. In our local game however, it does happen sometimes, and on this particular evening, myself and my opponent decided to look and see what would have happened. From fairly late position, I had (K,K) in the hole, and put in a raise.

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The small blind reraised, the big blind folded, and after some consideration I pushed all in. First of all, I felt if he did indeed have a hand, he might call, which I wouldn’t mind too much, but I was wary of the fact that any hand he could call with would probably contain an ace. With that in mind I felt I would be happy to pick up the pot right there, but if he wanted to play the hand, I was going to make sure it would cost him everything to do so. After sitting and thinking for some time and saying he thought he might be in front, my opponent laid the hand down. It is important to remember that I have a table image of being capable of anything here, and as that of a player who likes to bluff. So I wasn’t too surprised when my opponent turned over (A,9).

Then of course, we checked the flop that would have fallen….(A,A,4). Needless to say, my friend and opponent wasn’t too pleased, but that soon changed as we checked what the turn and river would have been. Had he called, I would have needed one of two kings left in the deck, and incredibly, I would have hit both of them with a King on the turn, and another King on the river. My opponent missed out on the chance of a great bad beat story of course, but somehow… I don’t think he will mind too much.

As everyone who plays online poker will have noticed, Omaha and Stud tournaments, as well as ring games, are sparsely populated compared to Holdem. I can understand this with the surge in popularity of Holdem recently, but you would think that players would take an interest in the other games once they tire of playing Holdem constantly.

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It is my feeling that online sites should do more to promote these games by offering special tournaments or bonuses attached to the games. It would be a shame if all the new poker rooms didn’t offer anything except Holdem because nobody ever played the other games.

Even in live events you always find people playing Holdem tournaments, but how often do you see Omaha games being held? For this reason I am trying to drum up some interest in this game from the regular Holdem players as I feel it offers an exciting alternative to the normal Holdem game. Offering these side games as a smaller buy in tournament helps attract interest of course, as people are never keen to risk money on a game they aren’t too familiar with.

In terms of online poker rooms it would be quite simple to get players into Omaha or Stud rooms, you would just have to offer double the player points in these games. Although players developing likes and dislikes for games is not something we can change entirely, I think as players, we should take the time to play different games so that the old favourites are not lost.

As most players know, there are a select few players in the game who have developed their talents to the finest they can be, and earn a living by playing poker. Of the millions of people who play poker the world over, these , and poker players around.

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You would be foolish if you thought you could put in some serious practice for a few months then go to the WSOP with your savings in hand and win, because the chances are, you will leave empty handed. If you are serious about your poker though, my personal view of how best to turn pro, would involve setting aside a small amount of money each month that you can afford to lose. With this money, deposit some onto an online site of your choosing, and find out where there is a local live tournament going on. In this way, I have practice of live tournament play twice a week, and however much more practice of online play that I wish to participate in.

I feel this has strengthened my game a lot, and after 8 years playing the game, I generally feel my poker game is as good as it has ever been. The important thing is not to rush into bigger games, and to wait until you are getting good results often at your local tourney, before trying a bigger tournament. Whilst you are doing this, you can try your hand at the satellites, where your skill could earn you a seat in a major tournament for a small buy in. As long as you are playing regularly over a long period of time, and always examining how to better your game, eventually you will reach a level where you want to move on to bigger things. Jumping straight in at the deep end will almost always result in losses.

Some players I think, will be of the mind that nothing compares to putting in the hours at the tables and finding your own way around the game.

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Personally I agree, and would not wish to mould my own play around that of someone else whose book I had read. Having said that, I do not think there is any harm in taking on board someone elses view on how to play hands, and incorporating it with your thoughts in order to form your style of play.

Some of the greatest poker players in the world have penned books, and the wisdom they have in the game can be extremely helpful. I have two such books, one by Doyle Brunson, and one written by Phil Hellmuth, and I feel that they both helped my learning curve greatly as a younger player. When you consider what these men have achieved within the game, it would seem foolish not to read what they have to say about the tactical elements of poker, especially given that they have 21 WSOP bracelets between them.

As I mentioned earlier, the aim of reading a good book written about the game, is not to memorise everything that is said and do precisely that, because then you would not be playing to your own strengths. The point of reading such books is to understand what is being said, and to bear it in mind when you are playing. Perhaps experiment with a few ideas you have read about, and see which of them works out for you as a player.